Chapter 273: The Country of Steel and the Faceless Men - 14
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 273: The Country of Steel and the Faceless Men - 14
Shiati hates the Military State. But she doesn't hate everything about it.
The citizens, the students, the facilities, the steel of the State. The ordinary and the innocent were not the targets of Shiati's rage.
Of course, there are people in the world who possess such indiscriminate hatred. People like Tyr, who despises the Sanctum, or the inquisitors who loathe vampires—those who live in a black-and-white world.
But Shiati, whose rage was awakened by the deaths of her friends, was not like that.
“…Don’t be ridiculous! Even if you weren’t there at the time!”
“Even if?”
“Still….”
She couldn't scream that they were responsible, that they were guilty. Because she couldn't bring herself to think that way.
Even if Shiati was a monster born from the violence of her era, that excuse faded before those who were born even later.
“What the hell…!”
Turning away from IA, Shiati strode toward Captain Abbey. She grabbed the captain’s shoulders with a ferocious air, but the force behind her grip was weak, belying her intensity. From a certain angle, it looked as if Shiati was clinging to the captain.
“You!”
Shiati tried. She dredged up every dark memory to hate the captain before her. Her dying friends. The youthful faces, full of brilliant potential, choosing death for themselves. The past where she alone survived, nursing her rage.
But the girl before her was just as young as the friends in her memories. Her anger gradually lost its momentum.
“You… how old are you?”
『I am twenty years old.』
Hamelin was six years ago. A simple calculation revealed that she would have been only fourteen back then.
The math was too easy. Even Shiati could figure it out in an instant.
Shiati’s expression crumbled. Seeing Captain Abbey’s youthful face and slender shoulders, she flinched and roughly pulled her hands away. Her prosthetic arm moved as she willed, but her left hand, with its broken fingers, did not. It took all her effort to let go.
“Ah, ahhh. Why, why.”
Staggering back, Shiati covered her face with her prosthetic arm and sobbed.
“Why won’t you even let me hate you freely…!”
Having lost the target of her revenge, she no longer had a reason to seek it.
Shiati’s wish ended here.
“You were the ones in the wrong…! You’re the ones who made me this way. It’s all your fault! If the Military State hadn’t done this to me, I, I…!”
Watching her friend scream, having lost her reason for living, the Princess murmured pitifully.
“Shiati…”
“If you made me this way, then at least pay the price! At least accept my rage! If you took everything from me, you should at least do that…! You’re supposed to be the ones who deserve to die! But…!”
Her broken fingers dangled. Only her thumb remained. She had sought out the Military State for so long, yet she couldn't bring herself to break this thumb she had saved.
“I… I can’t…”
“It’s okay!”
The past years she had lived solely for revenge had been negated, but that time had not been entirely meaningless.
Hearing her friend’s cries, the Princess wrapped her arms around Shiati’s shoulders to comfort her.
“You don’t have to keep destroying yourself with revenge! Give it up, Shiati.”
They were not the words of a Resistance leader. But regardless, the Princess continued to soothe Shiati with all her heart.
“A nation without a king. That kind of country surely won’t be so bad. A wicked king can never rise. The people here may not be kind, but they won’t be cruel. They may be harsh and cold, but they won’t become tyrants.”
“What... does that matter? The children who died in Hamelin…”
“I also wish the Military State were a little kinder. I truly do. But it’s better than having a king. If this had been the order of some king, we would have had to execute him, and the history of the kingdom would have repeated itself yet again.”
It’s almost a relief. I couldn’t turn away from their hatred, but if Shiati can abandon hers, she might be able to live a normal life. I feel a little more at ease knowing the Military State has no king-like figure. They may be ruthless, but they can never become tyrants.
Should one be happy or sad for a friend who has lost the object of her hatred? The Princess was clearly in the former camp.
The Princess, once the leader of the Resistance, finally confessed the feelings she had never dared to voice.
“This is better than being stuck on the repeating wheel of history. Mr. Huey must have known it was meaningless and brought Shiati here for that reason…”
“What? Not at all.”
It wouldn't be right to say I've granted her wish by letting it end like this.
A wish is a desire. And desire is a sin. It’s the act of taking something from the world, or from others.
The Military State is trying to strip that away from humanity.
“That’s the entire point of the Military State. A nation where no one can sin. A nation where no one can fulfill their wishes. Or rather, a nation where you can’t have any wishes other than the ones they dictate. Sorry, but that doesn’t sound very appealing to me.”
“What? Mr. Huey, does that mean…”
“I’ll take on Shiati’s wish. I’m going to break the Military State.”
Leaving the wide-eyed princess behind, I strode toward Captain Abbey. The princess cried out in alarm.
“Wait! Mr. Huey! What are you planning to do?!”
“Break it. So badly it can never recover.”
“What?!”
I'm serious.
The Military State, this goddamn country, is too damn rigid. It’s so full of things you can’t do that people can’t even have proper wishes. It’s so bad that even when I go around looking for wishes, I can’t find any.
I want to become a level 3 citizen.
I want to turn back time and get a better evaluation.
I hope something different happens tomorrow.
Or, I wish tomorrow would never come for this world.
Unfortunately, those are things I can’t grant.
The only people who ever told me their wishes were those who lived back in the days of the kingdom.
“If being able to do anything is savagery, then deciding what cannot be done is civilization. The Military State dreamed of a solid civilization, but I’m afraid I can’t grant the Military State’s wish.”
Because the Military State isn’t human. If anything, it’s a being that devours humans.
“Now. It’s time for some savagery. I’m going to bring down the Military State.”
'Bring down the Military State? How? There’s no one here but the signallers...'
The princess hastily looked behind her. IA and Captain Abbey. And the other unopened steel doors. Seeing the signallers who must be inside, she guessed my intentions.
'The signallers, they’re the nerve center of the Military State...! If he’s going to bring it down, Mr. Huey, surely he wouldn’t!'
Her face pale, the princess shouted urgently.
“Even so! To harm a defenseless girl...! That’s not what a man does! Sir Shei would be disappointed if he saw this!”
“Ahahaha. Princess, you’re gravely mistaken. Shei-ssi isn’t that nice. If anything, she’s closer to being a villain. Why do you think Shei-ssi specifically said this facility had to be destroyed?”
Of course, even the Regressor didn’t know the complete structure of the Military State. But she knew the Communications Headquarters was its nerve center. And she intended to destroy it.
Because it was necessary. That was the reason.
And she had the power to do it.
As I stepped forward without hesitation, the princess spread her arms to block my path, as if to defy me. It looked like she was trying to protect the signallers.
It seemed ironic for a member of the Resistance to be protecting the signallers, the most critical component of the Military State... but considering the princess’s own wish, it was the right course of action for her.
The real irony was something else.
“I’ve heard your noble opinion, Princess. But it’s ironic, isn’t it? You dream of a nation without a king, a nation that doesn’t need one…”
I looked down at the princess with a faint smile. She still stared back at me, her defiance burning.
“So why are you trying to take responsibility for the people of the Military State? Why are you trying to become their king? I guess you can't escape your bloodline, can you?”
Struck to the core, the princess’s body went rigid. I let out something like a dry laugh.
Feeling responsible for all the people of this nation, choosing a better path for them. Enduring it even if some people suffer as a result...
What is that, if not the violence of a sovereign?
“It’s fine. Everyone dreams of becoming a king at least once! I approve of your wish, Princess. No! In fact, I love it! This is how it should be!”
“I, I...!”
See, this is why I like listening to wishes from kingdom folk—they’re always so grand. The kingdom may not have been a good country, but at least it was overflowing with dreams and hopes.
I brushed past the faltering princess, whose true intentions had been exposed. She collapsed to the ground, not even thinking to grab me. Only her dazed eyes, as if she’d seen a ghost, followed my back.
Alright, to get started, I need to get the signallers out of those little rooms, right? But it takes a while to pick the locks on these steel doors.
“Azzy. Could you go break down those doors one by one and free the people inside?”
“Woof?”
“Never mind. What am I saying.”
Shaking my head, I handed the paper ball to Historia and said.
“Ria. I’ll give you this. Can you free all the signallers over there?”
“…”
Her suspicious gaze fell on me. What, is she worried I might kill all the signallers?
As if. That method is far too easy.
“Please. I’m not trying to kill them. Just help me this once.”
“…I’ll trust you.”
Historia faithfully followed my request. She silently approached the steel doors, and with each exertion of her strength, the steel plates buckled and tore open with a groan. Even Grade-3 Alchemic Steel was nothing before Historia’s Qi Art, but steel was still steel, so it looked like it would take some time.
I gave her the paper ball so she could use Azzy to break them. But she’s just doing it herself. Well, if you have the strength, you can do it any way you want.
I shrugged and walked over to Captain Abbey. Though she was bound by morning glory vines, I pretended not to see them and raised my hand in a casual greeting.
“Captain Abbey. It’s been a while!”