Chapter 185: Say You Want To Live - 1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: Say You Want To Live - 1
A teacher's grace is as vast as the heavens, but it is the role of a true teacher to make their student accept such a maxim as truth. In that sense, I was a truly great teacher.
Watching Sephi, who had come all this way to help her master after he had set out alone, I was so moved I could have cried.
“Wow. I really raised one hell of a disciple. Look at her, rushing over the moment she heard her master was in danger.”
It was worth dedicating my youth to raising her.
To survive in the back alleys, you need connections. The world was too tough to get by on mind-reading alone, so as soon as I arrived in Amitengrad, I joined a host bar, intending to build a network.
Meeting the heir to a holding company there was a stroke of incredible luck. I pretended to be Sephi’s tutor, bouncing between her and her godfather, Alexei, and milked the situation for all it was worth.
Then, when I saw signs that Alexei was headed for a fall, I quickly cut my losses and latched onto Sephi.
Hah, even thinking back on it now, it was a brilliant move. See? Mind-reading can be useful when you apply it like this.
Anyway. Perhaps I should offer some lip service to the disciple who has come to my aid.
“I’m so touched right now. I never knew your concern for your master ran so deep… It truly was worth the effort to raise you.”
“Could it compare to your concern for me, Master?”
Concern? What concern? He ran off without a word, assuming I'd just follow. He never gives a single thought to those he leaves behind.
The gap between her words and her thoughts is as wide as ever.
But in the end, words are a part of one’s thoughts. The fact that she’s still speaking kindly means I still have some points saved up.
In any case, if she brought the full force of Seamless Cloths, then I shouldn’t be in any danger…
Wait a minute.
“I don’t see anyone behind you. Where are the rest of your forces?”
“Forces? We’re a holding company. The only people we can hire are specialized laborers for professional work. The only one here who can even pretend to fight is Peto.”
Sephi said calmly, gesturing to Peto. I was so dumbfounded I had to ask again.
“You’re telling me your entire force is that clothes hanger on a horse?”
The senior, who had just been demoted to a clothes hanger, retorted.
“How can you call a person a clothes hanger to their face…?”
“Yes. That clothes hanger is all I have.”
“Ma’am… No. I am a clothes hanger.”
He really was nothing more than a clothes hanger. He was just a placeholder; anyone would do as long as they could stay on a horse, wear armor, and swing a weapon. A case where the tool is stronger than the person.
“What? Then you’re not much help at all.”
“I’m sorry I can’t be of more assistance. If there were any mercenaries in the Military State, I would have brought them.”
When Alexei fell, the holding company was forbidden from hiring what were essentially private soldiers. He’s the one who tore it all to shreds, and now he’s pretending not to know.
I thought you were the kind of girl who would break the law for the sake of your precious self and your respected master. Hiring mercenaries or temporarily employing strong soldiers. I guess you’re not quite there yet. The master is disappointed in his disciple.
Tch. This means I’m not completely safe. I can’t rely on just one senior against a threat like the Shadow.
But it’s fine. I have one other connection, a slightly different one, for just such an emergency.
A Captain of the Military State.
“Ah, Sephi. I need to have a word with the Captain for a moment. Could you give us some space?”
Sephi, who would normally have agreed immediately, answered with a delay, as if something had caught on her words.
“…After all you’ve taken from me, after twisting me around as you pleased, now you’re keeping secrets right in front of me? Master, do you have no conscience? I never expected a fair trade where I get back as much as I give. But if I’ve given something, shouldn’t you give something in return for it to even be called a transaction?”
Of course, I’ll step aside. Please, speak in private. I suppose I’ll just have to wait outside alone in the meantime.
Something was strange. It was like her thoughts and words had been swapped.
“Sephi. Did your true feelings just slip out?”
“Not my true feelings, but a reasonable demand. I followed your wishes, Master, detaining the Captain and providing the necessary equipment, but neither she nor you will tell me a single thing. Is this how you’re going to play it?”
Not at all. I have never lied to you, Master.
The points I had accumulated were draining away in real time. Her expression was a mixture of resentment and a flicker of doubt as to whether she should continue to follow me.
Before my Sephi Points ran out, I spoke quickly.
“It’s not because of me, it’s because of the Captain. She’s in the middle of a classified operation.”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“She said she’ll be killed if the secret gets out.”
The word “killed” clearly had an impact. Sephi flinched, glancing toward the inside of the carriage.
A moment later, she regained her composure and replied.
“…I understand. I apologize for raising my voice, Master. I’ll step aside so you can speak in private. I suppose I’ll just have to wait outside alone in the meantime.”
With that, Sephi leaned against the side of the automaton carriage. I gave a slight nod and entered through the open door.
Inside, the Captain, dressed in her uniform, was waiting for me, her hands placed on her knees in a stiff posture.
I closed the door. Along with it, I shut the small window that faced the driver’s seat. It had been a quiet night, but with all the doors closed, a silence that was even more suffocating descended.
The Captain simply stared at me without a word.
To be honest, it was strange from the very beginning. A prosperous life, a relaxed demeanor, a wide network of contacts, and the ability to handle various situations—all unbecoming of someone from District 15. Why did this officer not suspect anything from the start?
Alright, now.
Or perhaps, I didn't want to suspect. Perhaps I wanted him to be an ordinary person, so he could enjoy that ordinary life a little longer. This officer is a failure as a soldier.
Time to face the Captain.
But that ends now.
Her thoughts concluded, and I had chosen my words.
The Captain spoke first.
“Are you the one they call the magician?”
“Ah, that. It’s just a silly nickname.”
I affirmed her guess with a vague smile. There was no helping it at this point. It was better to pretend I was someone of consequence than to make excuses about how the person behind all this was just some petty criminal.
Even if that title was nothing but empty bravado.
The Captain swallowed and began to press me.
“Your actions are clearly illegal. After several days of investigation, this officer has uncovered circumstances of suspected criminal activity on your part.”
Still so formal. This is why I can’t stand by-the-book types.
You have to fight a by-the-book person with the book. I shrugged.
“Got any proof?”
One would think she’d hesitate a little when I so brazenly asked for proof, but the Captain’s edge remained sharp.
“Magician. The circumstances pointing to your actions are overwhelming. If even a tenth of the rumors about the magician are true, you will never see the end of your prison sentence.”
“A Captain of the Military State arrests people based on rumors? Come on, even for the Military State, that’s a bit much.”
“There is also testimony. Three days ago, you took private action against the criminal who attacked Anna.”
“I told you, bring me proof, not circumstances.”
As I spoke shamelessly while cleaning my ear, the Captain narrowed her eyes and pressed on.
“The testimony of this officer, a Captain, serves as evidence. I witnessed a death right before my eyes. The man mentioned the magician until the moment he died, with spices in his stomach. If you are the magician, you are strongly suspected of being connected to his death.”
“What? I was just getting back the spices that were stolen from me.”
There’s no way I’d stuff something that expensive into a man’s stomach. I took the golden spices from my pocket and shook them. Seeing my spices, the Captain was at a loss for words.
“That’s…?”
But they clearly said the spices were in his stomach…
What was she talking about? There was no way all of that would fit down a resisting man’s throat. It was just a little prank I played, scaring him with a rolled-up card.
The only thing he swallowed was a beer bottle cap.
“Wait, that guy didn’t die from cutting his own stomach open because he was greedy for the spices, did he? Surely he wasn’t that stupid.”
“…”
“Whoa. What? Did someone cut his stomach open?”
Wait a second. For real? Who would even think of cutting open a person’s stomach? How utterly heartless.
Looking back, he was clutching his stomach… That action wasn't because he'd eaten the spices, but because he'd been stabbed…
Ugh, how gruesome. A horrifying scene that a sensitive person like me wouldn’t even want to imagine. A person isn’t a package; how could someone think of just cutting them open to take something out?
A simple prank…? Or did he orchestrate it to create this very situation? What, exactly, was his intention…?
“Oh, right, Captain. There’s something far more important than that nonsense.”
Enough with the talk that puts me at a disadvantage. Let’s talk about what benefits me.
I spoke confidently to the Captain, who was looking at me with questioning eyes.
“You should be thanking me. I took care of a problem the Military State couldn’t solve.”
The Captain was speechless. She still didn’t seem to understand, so I kindly explained.
“Thanks to you running around trying to stop the Shadow, I was able to get a rough idea of the enemy’s identity and objective. But what do you know? The people I had connections with were in danger. So I had no choice but to act first. I infiltrated their ranks, made them think the day of the attack was today, and while their unprepared assault was underway, I warned my acquaintances.”
A surprise attack that is no longer a surprise is far less effective. Without a force like the Shadow intentionally intervening, their attack would end as nothing more than a simple disturbance. Just like any other ordinary incident.
My prediction was spot on. More than half of the groups that had been incited to gather were sunk before they achieved even half their objective.
“And this is the result! Thanks to me, peace in the back alleys has been preserved! What happened today will be recorded as a simple incident! It’s all thanks to my efforts!”
The Captain had gotten a rough grasp of the situation through surveillance golems on her way here in the automaton carriage. The back alleys of the Military State were noisy, chaotic, and messy today, but the commotion hadn’t been as big as expected.
It was a disturbance, loud but not large enough that it could be buried and forgotten if things continued this way.
“…However. The situation is not over.”
But the color did not return to the Captain’s face.