Chapter 213: Great Power Requires a Strong Rope
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 213: Great Power Requires a Strong Rope
No matter how exhausted Historia was, she was still one of the Six Generals. It's common sense that the stronger someone is, the harder they are to capture alive. Seeing Historia bound by mere iron chains, the Regressor voiced her doubts.
“By the way, are you sure you're the one who caught her? Did you use some kind of trick? Was there anything suspicious?”
“Didn't you see? Me, in my sturdy full-plate armor, reliably luring my opponent into a trap and cornering Ria?”
I saw it. Your final attack was quite smooth. It flowed like water, as if you'd choreographed it beforehand.
Oh, Regressor. Correct for the first time in a while.
It was a pre-arranged move to recover my abysmal practical exam score. The original script had me losing by a narrow margin, but today, Historia let herself be defeated.
I had even prepared an excuse for this. I said, puffing out my chest.
“You might not know this, but Ria and I were in the same class. We used to spar together. My Qi Art is much weaker, but I know all the weak points in her martial arts. Right, Ria?”
Historia, who was supposed to chime in at the right moment, just watched lazily. I rattled the chains in my hand, urging her to answer. Historia opened her eyes as if waking from a nap and nodded.
“Ah, mm.”
“See? She agrees.”
Heh heh. I even fooled the training instructor with this. How could you possibly know, having only seen it from a distance?
Just then, Historia, who had been chewing on her cigarette out of boredom, suddenly spoke.
“Huey. A light.”
“Ah, here.”
I quickly lit it for her with Standard Magic. Now with something to relieve her boredom, Historia took a satisfying drag. As I flicked my finger to extinguish the magical flame, the Regressor's suspicion deepened.
“Gunmaster, isn't she strangely composed? It feels like she let herself get caught on purpose.”
“What? A Six General let herself get caught? By me?”
“Yes. The Gunmaster surrendered too easily. She must be up to something.”
Half right. To be precise, I'm the one who's up to something. It was a sharp observation, but seeing the Regressor suddenly act so perceptive was a little annoying.
Pretending my pride was wounded, I cried out as if I'd been struck.
“What? Are you saying that me subduing Historia was a fake achievement, that she was just playing along? Is that what you mean?”
This was an approach the Regressor hadn't anticipated at all. It was so unexpected that the Regressor, who had been watching me suspiciously, was visibly startled.
What? That's how you're taking this?
“That's not what I meant. It's a reasonable suspicion.”
“Reasonable suspicion? You're just doubting me because you feel like it, aren't you? Do you want to put me down that badly?”
This guy, he's completely offended and taking everything the wrong way!
I wasn't actually offended. It's just that you were acting so sharp, I couldn't help myself. Did I tease her too much? Maybe I should stop...
Was that all it was about? How petty.
Never mind. I'm seeing this through to the end.
The flustered Regressor lowered her voice to placate me.
“There are suspicious points.”
“What's suspicious? Is it that because I'm a failure and a criminal, you can't believe I achieved something?”
“No, if she wanted to escape, she could have just jumped off the Meta Conveyor Belt. It's strange that she'd go out of her way to get caught...”
“Wait! Why would you say that! Shei-ssi, you're telling a prisoner how to escape!”
“Ah!”
At my accusation, the Regressor hastily covered her mouth. She glanced cautiously at Historia, then lowered her voice and trailed off.
“No way. The Military State wouldn't send a Six General without a plan, right? She must know that much.”
She must... right? I didn't really just tell her how to escape, did I?
Oho. Is that so. I was about to give Historia a subtle look... but stopped. Historia still had a lazy expression, but her eyes held a glint of mischief I hadn't seen in a while.
Historia moved her lips around her cigarette.
“Ah, so there was a way. Thanks for telling me, cutie. Just as you said, I'll consider that as a method of escape when the surveillance lets up.”
“Eek?!”
Now that's what I call covering fire. With Historia naturally playing along, I took it a step further.
“Wow! Now you're leaking secrets to the enemy just to undermine my achievements? You're a spy! This won't do. I have to report you to Public Safety!”
“No! I'm not a spy... Wait! I'm being chased by the Military State in the first place, so what do spies or Public Safety have to do with anything!”
The Regressor, having shouted, turned to look at Historia. Historia just stood there, still looking shameless.
Tch, is she pretending not to know just to mess with me, or is she just messing with me...?! One thing's for sure, both the Gunmaster and that guy are equally infuriating! No wonder they were classmates!
If even Historia is making fun of you, maybe the problem is you. She was said to be good at defense, and it seems her conversational skills have also developed more towards countering than attacking.
In any case, Historia looked so relaxed and calm it was hard to believe she was a prisoner. She even knew a way to escape.
After a moment of thought, the Regressor opened a portal and rummaged through her Pocket.
“Anyway! You're a prisoner. I don't know what you're thinking, but a Six General can probably break out of iron chains somehow. So I'm going to tie you up again with this.”
The object the Regressor pulled from her Pocket while shouting was a long, thin skein of thread that seemed to be painted in alternating shades of green and gold. Recognizing the thread by its faint luster, I asked.
“Is that Sky Silk?”
“That's right. It's tough and strong, and it has the property of absorbing Qi, so no matter how much Qi you pour into it, it only gets stronger, never breaking. You need something like this to bind the Gunmaster.”
Wow, that stuff is precious. Even Seamless Cloths couldn't get much of it. When I asked Sephi to make a wrapping cloth out of Sky Silk, she complained endlessly.
The Regressor unwound a length of Sky Silk and held it in both hands. As she pulled it taut, the Sky Silk cut through the air with a threatening sound.
“This will be better for you too, Gunmaster. Sky Silk may be tough, but it's not hard like chains, so it'll hurt less... That is, as long as you have no intention of escaping.”
“Hmm. I'm a prisoner, so do as you please.”
“Alright. Hughes, undo the chains.”
“No need.”
Clenching her cigarette between her teeth, Historia flexed and snapped the iron chains. With a sickening crunching sound, the broken and snapped links of the chain fell clattering behind Historia.
Despite breaking the chains with her bare arms, there were only a few red marks on Historia's skin.
“Hoo. That hurt.”
Historia feigned pain, though it didn't hurt at all.
The reason humans can't break free from iron chains is that the chains are harder than their bodies. No matter how strong you are, if your flesh is weaker than the chain, your own blood and muscle will be crushed first.
The same goes for a Qi Practitioner who has achieved Heaven and Earth. Infusing their body with Qi doesn't make it harder. Their increased strength would also harm their own body, so if they're bound in chains, they can't escape without serious resolve. This is why the Military State's straitjackets were created.
However, the calculation changes for someone who has grasped Gam. If you can wrap Qi inside your body to strengthen the flesh itself, conventional logic no longer applies.
They can fall from great heights unharmed, and if they tear a straitjacket or shatter chains with their own strength, their skin will only be slightly bruised. They reach a state of being superhuman, transcending humanity in a fundamental sense.
And beyond that, if one reaches the Axiom... they transcend even the superhuman.
The Regressor clicked her tongue softly.
At her age, she's achieved Heaven and Earth, grasped Gam, and even touched upon Li. Even if it was just a brush... Tch, what is God doing? If you were going to grant me regression...
The Regressor finished her brief thought and muttered.
“...Hmph. Just as I thought. You could have broken them at any time.”
“Don't worry. I was definitely out of strength earlier.”
Historia replied, rubbing her wrists, and studied the Regressor through the drifting cigarette smoke. The smoke rose to the sky, but Historia's gaze grew heavier.
Huey is one thing, but what in the world is that one's true identity? According to the report, they entered Tantalus voluntarily. Not a secret weapon of the Military State, nor something Huey created. The power of their treasures is amazing, but their Qi is even more so. Especially when they suddenly grew stronger at the end...
Historia recalled the final moments of her fight with the Regressor.
Since Hamelin, Historia had never been defeated by anyone. She was a genius among geniuses, with no equal among her peers and few rivals even in the Military State, to the point that Sunderspear himself had to step in. She was the pride of the Military State, having reached the edge of the Axiom at such a young age.
And yet, she had lost by decision to the much younger-looking Regressor. Moreover, that final moment was difficult to attribute solely to the power of a treasure.
I, knowing the truth, could just nod and think, Ah, well, she's a Regressor, but for the Military State and Historia, it must have been a shock like being struck by lightning.
Especially that last moment. For an instant, it looked like their hair grew longer and their body matured. What was that? A seal? Or could they have reached the Axiom at that age?
“What are you doing? Hold them out.”
The subtle battle of wits ended with the Regressor snapping the Sky Silk once. Historia slowly extended her arms toward the Regressor.
“Here, tie me up.”
“Put your arms behind your back and turn around.”
Historia obediently followed the Regressor's command. The Regressor, still not letting her guard down, bound Historia with the Sky Silk.
The precious Sky Silk was wrapped around every part of Historia's body. Even as her whole body was being constricted, Historia managed to mutter with the cigarette still in her mouth.
“...Ngh. Cutie, you're rougher than you look.”
“Are you going to keep calling me cutie? There's not much of an age difference between us.”
The Regressor retorted without much thought, focused on tying the knots. Historia spoke, partly to probe, partly to express her discomfort.
“You look like you're about old enough for secondary school. At that age, the difference between us is like heaven and earth.”
“Heaven and earth, my ass! I'm nineteen!”
“Nineteen? Really? Aha. So you had stunted growth.”
“Stunted growth? You're the one who's freakishly tall!”
I actually did have stunted growth, but...! I've had plenty of nutrition now and I've grown. I'm not so small I should be treated like a kid!
That was true. Historia was just tall, only slightly shorter than me.
The Regressor might be short on words and schooling, but she wasn't short in stature. Not that she was tall, either.
“You should fix that mouth of yours, cutie. You shouldn't call someone taller than you a 'lanky giant,' you should call them 'sis.'”
“Sis? Did you hit your head? What nonsense are you spouting.”
Ah. Right. She still has Agartha's Mask on, so she looks like a man. Is that why she told me to call her 'sis'?
Why did she disguise herself as a man in the first place? It's a mystery that remains unsolved. What on earth possessed the Regressor before she fell into Tantalus?
Uh, wait a minute. Now that I think about it, the way she's tied up... and the way Historia is acting uncomfortable...
I pointed out subtly.
“Shei-ssi, the way you're tying her up reveals some... impure intentions.”