Chapter 230: Do You Like Mom or Dad More?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 230: Do You Like Mom or Dad More?
It might be arrogant for a mere human to discuss the shape of a country they can't even see in its entirety, but on a map, the Military State was certainly long and horizontal.
Blood vessels follow the shape of the body. Likewise, the Meta Conveyor Belt, the main artery of the Military State, was also a wide oval. No, to be precise, it was closer to a long rectangle with angular semicircles attached to either side. Curves would cause too much wear and tear on the edges.
The Command Center was located at the very center of the circular Meta Conveyor Belt. The heart of the Inner Circle. To get there, we needed to travel horizontally for some distance.
And so, we were now re-boarding the Meta Conveyor Belt we had just left.
Once the plan to storm the Command Center was drafted, the Regressor led us to the Meta Conveyor Belt. There was no better mode of transport for moving without being detected, surrounded as we were by the watchful eyes of signallers and searchlights. We easily hopped aboard and found a container to hide in and pass the time.
The container was full of cargo… but the Regressor emptied it with a very simple method. She opened her extra-dimensional space, her Pocket, and started stuffing everything inside.
Historia’s jaw dropped as she watched the Pocket endlessly swallow the goods.
“…What in the world is that?”
“Oh, that’s a cheat item. For your information, it’s packed with all sorts of bizarre and fantastical tools.”
“First the two treasured swords, and now this incredible amount of Qi…! Is she the Emperor’s secret son or something?”
“Do the Emperor’s secret sons carry stuff like that these days? I’m a little jealous. Being the Emperor’s son sounds like a pretty sweet deal.”
Ah, what a relief. I wasn't the only one feeling an inferiority complex born of envy. Seeing that, Historia was feeling the same sense of absurdity I was.
This is the normal reaction. The weird thing is her having an item like that in the first place.
“Tch. It’s full.”
The Regressor only stopped after clearing out two-thirds of the container. She clicked her tongue in disappointment, the nerve. I wish someone would remind her that she could single-handedly revolutionize the Military State’s logistics industry.
A single person comparable to an entire container… Isn't that unfair to the container, which was made for the sole purpose of holding things?
The Regressor spoke as she pulled other daily necessities from her Pocket.
“Let’s just shove the rest into a corner. We should probably spend our time here until we reach the Central Terminal. And if possible, we should prioritize contacting the Resistance.”
“The Resistance? Do we need them? Isn’t that going too far?”
“They’re perfect for causing a commotion. If they’re not available, well, we’ll just have to raise hell ourselves.”
From the Military State's perspective, calling in the Resistance would be the better option. The kind of hell the Regressor raises would be something they've never experienced before.
“Are you finished? Then it is my turn. I simply need to place my mark here, correct?”
“Yes. Please do.”
“Huhu. I understand. To share the labor like this… it is somehow rewarding.”
The woman who usually doesn't lift a finger is feeling the joy of labor.
Tyr drew her Sanguine Mark on the container's inner wall with a bloodied finger. In the darkness, the blood-soaked symbol glowed ominously, and the wall fell under her control. Back when she could command blood at will, she could have done this just by extending a hand, but now that her heart was beating again, she had to draw it stitch by painstaking stitch. The container was large, and her characteristically unhurried demeanor made the process quite time-consuming.
But we couldn't rush her. This was a job only Tyr could do. A true specialist.
Alright, everyone's working. Time for me to start earning my keep.
If I don't work, I lose my stake, and with it, my right to enjoy the benefits. If you want to enjoy all the perks, you have to do your share of the work.
I raised a finger and pointed.
“Alright, let’s go! Azzy, Nabi, Ria! We're moving the cargo to one side!”
“Woof woof!”
“Nyaa?”
“…I'm part of this?”
The dog shot forward like Azzy. Or was it the other way around? In any case, she left teeth marks and claw marks all over the cargo, dragging it around before shoving it into the corner, again and again.
The part of me that loves neat, square angles whispered for me to stop her and stack everything perfectly, but I held back for now. It wasn't an objective worth increasing my own workload for, so it was low on my priority list. In other words, it was too much of a hassle.
“Nyaa~. Good job, nya~.”
“Nabi. You have to work, too.”
“Nya? Nya, I have to do the work of eating and smoking, nya. Bring me tribute at once, nya.”
“Seriously, a cat's life is the best life… If you push that cargo over to the corner, I'll give you a box that's the perfect size for you.”
“A box? Give it to me, nya! Now!”
“Does this beast not even understand the relationship between work and reward?”
As the human, I was in charge of tidying up. A privilege of the more intelligent species. I neatly stacked the cargo Azzy had herded against the wall, making space for us to live.
Oh, right. The floor needs to be wiped, too. Should I use someone else for this?
“Ria. I'll give you a rag, so you can wipe the floor. You can still do that even with your hands tied, right?”
Historia, snatching the rag with her toes, shot back at me.
“…Huey. You're joking, right?”
“Joking? Does this look like a joke to you? If you're a member of this group, you have to work, don't you? Do prisoners get a free pass? If so, I want to be a prisoner, too!”
“Not that. The part about storming the Command Center.”
Historia glared up at me fiercely, grinding her teeth.
“You said you wanted to live a normal life. Since when did assaulting the Command Center become a normal activity?”
“Not at all. Didn't you hear Shei's explanation? What we're doing is pursuing peace. Love and peace. Isn't that the most important thing a normal person can do?”
I replied, making a V-sign with both hands.
It must be instinct to want to go right up to the edge of a leashed beast's range and tease it, because I kept provoking Historia even though I knew it would set her off.
If her hands weren't tied, she would have clutched her head. Historia spoke, feeling mentally dizzy.
“You're going to attack the Command Center to stop a war? That is a war! Are you an idiot?”
“Just between us, I honestly think she is.”
“…I'm talking about you, Huey!”
“Huh? Why me? Shei was the one who drafted this entire plan from start to finish. If anyone's the idiot, it's obviously her!”
She should have told me beforehand if a war broke out in the previous timeline. I almost ended up escaping right into the Fallen Dominion, which is about to become a battlefield.
Assaulting the Command Center isn't exactly relaxing, but it's better than getting swept up in a war. The unstable killing intent of war, aimed at indiscriminate targets, is too deadly for me. You can't dodge a stray bullet.
And according to the Regressor, this war is the tipping point that will escalate tensions between nations... Well, there's no harm in stopping it, right? It's not like I'm the one doing the stopping.
“So there you have it, Ria. By the way, didn't I tell you to clean? Since when did 'cleaning' involve glaring up at me like you want to shoot me dead?”
“Huey!”
“If you don't like it, get off now. Who's stopping you? Your feet aren't tied, so you can run off to your Daddy Sunderspear and Mommy Mage Marshal and tattle on us, right? 'They're going to attack the Command Center! You have to stop them!' Go on! Try to fill my path with hardship!”
“You...!”
Instead of the fists tied behind her back, her shoulders and chest trembled with rage. I took the opportunity to sneer at her.
“Go on! I said I won't stop you! Are we going to kill you? Torture you or take you hostage? No! We'll let you go! You're the one who said you wanted to watch and asked to come with us!”
“Hey!”
Historia moved her legs while still bound. The rag rested on the top of her foot for a moment before shooting toward me like a cannonball. Despite her awkward posture, the rag flew straight for my head.
Haha. Not a chance. As pathetic as I am, you think I can't dodge a rag, a rag kicked by a foot, no less? I leaned back...
“Gah!”
It hit me in the face. Since I was in the middle of leaning back, my body just kept going and I fell over. The bone that lost its tail over generations collided with the hard floor. In this moment, I've never missed my long-lost tail more.
That's right. Legs are three times stronger than arms...! The only weakness is that the movement is large and easy to spot, but for me, a mind reader, that shouldn't have even mattered!
Having fallen, I rubbed my smarting tailbone and peeled the rag, now molded to the shape of my face, off.
“Ptooey, ptooey. How dare you hit my face with a dusty rag!”
“You deserved it for what you did.”
“Not a hint of remorse! I'll punish you immediately!”
'Punish me? Even if I'm tied up, how are you going to do that? You'll have to think of something creative, Huey. I'm looking forward to it.'
I'll live up to those expectations! Not me! Someone stronger than me will!
With that, I scurried over to Tyr and the Regressor to tattle.
“Mom! Dad! She hit me! Punish her!”
The reaction was immediate. The Regressor, who I’d called Dad, cried out as if she’d been shot.
“Why am I the dad?! In the first place, I'm a wo—no! And besides, you're older than me!”
Oh, so you did know I was older? I thought you'd completely forgotten, what with how you're always bossing me around and ignoring me. Or maybe you were counting your age from before you regressed.
...Then again, maybe knowingly spouting off rude remarks to your elder is even worse. But really, it's fair.
“Shei. Is it not just a lighthearted jest for a laugh? Can you not play along a little?”
“No way! What do you mean, 'dad'?! It gives me the creeps even as a joke! I've never had a son like that!”
She's like this even with Tyr, who's at least a thousand years her senior, even if you count all her past lives. She's so impartially rude that it's almost charming. Yep.
Meanwhile, Tyr didn't point it out or seem offended at all. Having met all sorts of people over her long life, she'd stopped caring about every little reaction. I suppose if your heart broke every time someone you met called you a filthy vampire and threatened to drive iron nails through your limbs, you wouldn't have a heart left.
Tyr lightly chided the Regressor before approaching me with a benevolent smile.
“There, there. Come here. What would you have me do?”
I scurried right over and reported Historia's atrocities. How she threw a rag at my face and turned this handsome mug into a mess, how the taste of scorched dust scraped from the container floor was simply exquisite.
After my chattering report, I pointed at Historia, who was standing there with a dumbfounded look on her face, and shouted.
“Teach her a good lesson! So she can never do something like that again!”
“I understand.”
With a solemn nod, Tyr glided over and stood before Historia. Then, in a loud voice as if for my benefit, she began to admonish her.
“I understand that you and Huey had a close relationship, and that you long for that old affection. I can also accept your feelings of deep regret and resentment over past events, and your desire not to repeat such a tragedy. However.”
Thump. Tyr placed a hand on her chest in a slightly dramatic gesture and continued.
“Remember. You were the one pursuing Huey, while we were the ones trying to protect him from you. The lines between black and white are so clearly drawn, yet you attempt to act with such familiarity. You even went so far as to pose a small threat to him... You are, at the end of the day, a prisoner. Do not forget that we are accepting your request to accompany us out of goodwill.”
It was a sound argument, and one that struck at her most painful spot. At the same time, it lent me its full support.
Her opponent was the Progenitor, Tyrkanzyaka. A being Historia couldn't defeat even at full strength. With her arms bound and her desire to continue traveling with us, Historia had no choice but to accept her words.
“…I understand, Progenitor.”
“That lacks conviction. Tell me what you have understood, in your own words.”
At the continued lecture, Historia gritted her teeth and answered with humiliation.
“I will not... bring harm to Huey.”
“Since you have said it yourself, I shall trust you to uphold it with your will and your honor.”
Having made her declaration, Tyr glanced back at me and smiled. Is this sufficient? she seemed to ask. When I nodded, Tyr gently spread her arms, offering an empty embrace.
'I played along and taught her a lesson. How was that?'
This pretty... older sister who plays along so well? In any case, I'm pretty good at playing along myself. Reading minds means I often end up going along with the other person's planned script.
I spread my own arms and ran into Tyr's embrace.
“Thank you, Tyr!”
“It was nothing.”
Since I was larger than the relatively small Tyr, it looked more like I was enveloping her, but she seemed satisfied, hugging me back with a smile in her eyes.
'Huhu. How amusing. This may be cruel to the general before me, but flaunting our current relationship in front of a remnant of the past gives such a base, visceral pleasure. It seems humans possess such childish emotions.'
I could hear the thoughts, tinged with a slight sense of superiority, from within her embrace. Historia was seething, glaring at me as if to stab me with her eyes. It was a good thing we took her gun. If we hadn't, my back might have become a target.
It was then that I felt the world lurch forward. The belt was slowing down.
The container had arrived at an intermediate terminal.