Chapter 243: There Are Gears in My Head
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 243: There Are Gears in My Head
“Woof?”
Azzy tilted her head but didn’t offer any other reply. Maximilien smiled joyfully, patiently waiting for the dog’s answer. It wasn’t a smile meant to elicit a friendly response from Azzy, but a genuine laugh that came from the bottom of his heart.
But regardless of his feelings, Azzy just stared blankly, showing no intention of answering. It was only natural. His current actions were no different from the Regressor asking Azzy about the weather. To Azzy, all this talk about kings was like preaching to a choir of one—a dog.
Of course, Azzy didn’t understand, and it was the Regressor who answered in her stead.
“Idiot. There is no King of Humans. Did you sleep through history class?”
“Hmm?”
What ill-mannered bastard dares to interrupt me?
For a moment, he was overcome with intense rage. His head turned with the creak of a gear, and upon seeing the Regressor’s face, he began to cross-reference it with his memories.
Short hair, a boy, and a sword in each hand.
Click. His thoughts fell neatly into place. The moment he identified his opponent, Maximilien quickly regained his composure.
Ah. The boy who wields the power of the Divine. Yes, he has the right.
What was that? Such a drastic shift, as if he’d skipped a step in his thought process… His train of thought was fragmented.
It was strange. The Regressor’s memory might be from a previous timeline, but this man, despite his appearance, was clearly a proper person, wasn’t he?
While I was puzzling over this, he finished his silent, simple assessment and spoke in an exaggerated tone.
“Boy, surely a being such as yourself does not believe in the false history written to the tastes of the victors?”
“It’s at least far more credible than the ramblings of a megalomaniac.”
“Haha! True, my thoughts are too grand for an ordinary person to fathom!”
Maximilien didn’t seem the least bit offended by the blunt assessment of him as a megalomaniac and laughed heartily. If anything, it was the Regressor who had insulted him who seemed more annoyed.
That bastard, how can he be so full of confidence every timeline when he’s always barking up the wrong tree? In the fourth timeline, I think it was, he was going on about me being the king! Someone needs to give the Warforger memories of the past timelines!
Aha. So that’s what it was. He was just firing indiscriminately. I suppose the King of Humans wouldn’t be someone so obvious.
But wait, Regressor. Aren’t you actually a greater being than the king? Even the King of Humans can’t regress through time.
Maximilien, still chuckling, resumed his explanation.
“Nevertheless, the King of Humans exists. Do we call the night a time when the sun has merely turned to the other side? Does the solemn axiom that pierces this vast world extend a smiling hand to one side while rejecting the other? No, of course not. All things in this world fit together as precisely as gears, yet their principle is exceedingly simple. Everything has a king, therefore humans, too, have a king. This is the truth!”
“That king was driven out by humans themselves!”
“Driven out, yes, but not eliminated. Nor can he be.”
He continued his explanation, facing us as if he were a history teacher. The fact that we were moving at high speed down a straight road seemed to be no obstacle for him at all.
“Even if everyone points to this land and insists it is flat, acting as if it were so, the world would simply remain round and scoff. Debasing the vast earth to deny our own smallness only makes our hearts more petty.”
He wore a brief expression of contempt before turning back to the Regressor with the same innocent, childlike smile.
“Likewise, humans drove him out to fabricate their own nobility, and they believe he will never return, but that is merely a futile belief that denies the very shape of heaven and earth!”
“You’re the one with the futile belief! Why would a being that hasn’t appeared for over two thousand years suddenly appear before your eyes at this very moment?”
“Because the time has come!”
Maximilien shouted as if it were the absolute truth.
“The last kingdom has fallen. Now, there are no kings in the world. The owner of El Dorado, who understood all things, was devoured by a monster. The Queen of Agartha, beloved by all, had her face torn apart by ugly jealousy. The Overlord who tore the world asunder was defeated by the heaven-blessed Monk King. The last remaining royal family, the loyal House Grandiomor, confused ability with qualification and was executed!”
Hearing the remark about the royal family, the Princess flinched violently. I noticed, as did Historia, who was riding with us, but Maximilien himself didn’t spare them a single glance. His attention seemed to exist solely within the confines of his lens.
“The Five Sovereigns who drove out the King of Humans have proven their failure. The only one left is the Empire, which barely survives by borrowing the might of a god. But the will of a god is beyond that of humans! Now that those who irresponsibly divided the king’s power are gone, it is time for the king to return! Therefore, I say this: the King of Humans is real, and at this moment, he most certainly exists!”
Having finished his grand speech, Maximilien added with a satisfied look on his face:
“—And the Dog King is one of the few ways to find him.”
“Woof? You call me?”
Azzy seemed to feel the same way I did. The dog hadn’t paid any attention to the long speech, but the moment her name was mentioned, her ears and tail perked up.
In truth, the lack of attention was mutual. Maximilien needed the Dog King, but he wasn’t expecting any particularly grand reaction from her.
“Ebon, that friend of mine, did a very valuable thing! I thought he failed because he was lacking. But I was wrong! The Dog King was meant to be there, which is why she never left! Thanks to that, I was spared the trouble of searching for what was already found! It’s all thanks to you, boy who wields the power of the Divine! Thanks to you killing Ebon!”
It could have sounded sarcastic, but as he calmly mentioned the death of a subordinate he had invested considerable effort into, there was no trace of hatred or hostility. He received the news as if it were merely a report of a single broken gear.
The Regressor, noticing his attitude, gritted her teeth.
“You lunatic, your own subordinate…”
“He would be pleased! Now, I consider this payment for having blocked your path! May I now attend to my own business?”
He shouted loudly and met Azzy’s gaze once more. Azzy was still showing curiosity toward the strange human who had called her. Maximilien spoke again.
“My apologies, O Dog King! The question was slightly off! I shall ask again. Here and now, who is the one who will bear the faith of your kind and fight the wolf?”
“Woof?”
“Speak, O Dog King!”
As Maximilien urged her on, his eyes filled with ecstasy, Azzy answered with a casual yawn.
“No one! Woof!”
Maximilien’s expression froze. Fortunately for his high expectations, Azzy’s words weren’t finished.
“Woof! Humans, all normal! All humans are human! So I, nice to everyone! Instead, representative! Elect! King! Woof woof!”
No matter who she was talking to, she still spoke in her puppy-like way, but Maximilien understood her perfectly.
“Aha. So that’s what you mean! I understand. The one who bears the will of the people is the king! Yes, who is it that currently bears enough of the people’s will to satisfy you?”
“Woof woof woof! Happy to be thinking about it!”
Azzy barked joyfully, as if she were boasting.
Even for a dog, did this loose-lipped puppy have no concept of keeping a secret? Well, she was a dog, so I guess it couldn’t be helped.
I lowered my voice and asked the Regressor.
“Um, Shei-ssi. Is it okay to let Azzy blabber on like this?”
“Let her. It seems he has something he wants to confirm using Azzy. He might just be satisfied with this and leave the Military State.”
“What? But Warforger Maximilien is one of the Six Generals, an incredibly important figure, isn’t he? You think he’d just leave the State?”
The Regressor answered, her guard still up against Maximilien.
“The Warforger moves purely based on his interests. The reason he came to the Military State is because it’s a place born from the ashes of a fallen kingdom, a unique circumstance, and a place where he can freely indulge in his hobbies. He might have an attachment to the State, but it’s probably the kind of attachment one has for a long-used weapon or a favorite toy.”
“What if he finds the King of Humans here?”
“I’ve told you time and again, that won’t happen. Because there is no King of Humans.”
“How can you be so sure? It’s possible, isn’t it?”
Because I witnessed the King of Sins in a previous timeline.
What in the world is the King of Sins? And what does seeing the King of Sins have to do with the King of Humans?
The Regressor didn’t form the thought clearly. Forcibly shaking off the notion, she stared coldly down the road.
“…And there are no gears from the next block on. If he continues to follow us to the next block… then the Warforger will pay the price for his arrogance.”
Maximilien, his attention fully on the Dog King, was oblivious to the Regressor’s chilling words. He was still more interested in Azzy’s every gesture, every word. Azzy puffed out her chest and pointed a paw.
And he, looking where Azzy pointed…
“Ah, dear.”
…looked toward the white horse and the Princess with an air of profound disappointment.
The lens creaked. The Princess, caught within that lens, shivered with a sense of foreboding. She then shot a confused look at Azzy, who had singled her out.
“Huh? Miss… Azzy? M-me?”
Huh? What, it’s not me? Azzy, have you finally developed the concept of a white lie?
“Woof! That one, closest! All-natural!”
What? Does that make me farm-raised? This mutt is running out of things to say, now she’s calling people natural or farmed?
Well, I know the Princess has truly noble blood and is a pretty decent leader. Still, to praise a rolling stone more highly…
Wait, why should I feel disappointed? I should be relieved! I’m the one abandoning you, Azzy! You’re up for adoption! Go to the rich and noble princess!
“Ahh. The princess of a fallen kingdom. Yes, she certainly has the qualifications, the qualifications…”
Maximilien lamented with a look of great disappointment, as if the fact that she was qualified was a source of regret. The Princess, riding her horse against his pace, offered an awkward greeting.
“Ah, hello…?”
“Greetings. A pleasure. Grandiomor, that damn bloodline. Never achieving greatness, but always succeeding in surviving. The last remnant of a rat-like dynasty…”
The Princess shrank back in fear at the tirade, which could have been an insult or something else entirely. Maximilien hung his head gloomily before her, as if he were the victim.
Just then, Historia, sensing the conversation was over, called out to him.
“Director Maximilien.”
Only then did Maximilien seem to notice Historia.
No, ‘notice’ isn’t quite the right word. Maximilien certainly knew Historia was there. He had seen her with his eyes, stored her in his memory. But he hadn’t made any judgment about her.
It was a rather peculiar perspective. It meant that until she spoke, or until he captured her in his lens, he hadn’t even been conscious of Historia.
Which head should I tear off… Ah. A Six General.
“Major General Historia.”
It was a peculiar perspective. An oddly existential way of thinking, where he didn’t even attempt to think about something until he was conscious of it. It was a strange, alien feeling, as if his cognitive process and his thoughts were separate.
Above all, there was the sound of gears I’d been hearing this whole time. That regular, grinding noise in his head…
Ah.
He’s insane. It was buried so deep in his thoughts that even I, a mind reader, was slow to notice. Just as a person doesn’t constantly reaffirm their own existence, he didn’t reaffirm the… gears turning in his own head.
Wow. Really.
To think he’d embed gears in his own head, gears that turn according to his own will?
Historia, leaning out, spoke with Maximilien. The Princess, caught between the two Six Generals, kept her mouth tightly shut and focused on guiding her white horse.
“Director. I have a request.”
“Excellent. I just happened to think of a request for you as well. And since I am your superior, I shall speak first.”
“Sir?”
Maximilien muttered with an expression completely opposite to the one he’d worn when he first arrived. He looked utterly disappointed, like someone who realized a long-awaited gift was something they already owned.
The Grandiomor royal family… Ha. An existing dynasty. To think the bone unearthed by the Dog King is actually a leftover scrap, already chewed so much that not a drop of flavor remains.
His disappointment was beyond words. Lost in bitter thought, he issued an order to Historia.
“The princess of the old kingdom is here. Kill her and return. Right now.”