Chapter 320: War, Never Again
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 320: War, Never Again
After the golem's warning, the Regressor reflexively rushed out and stood atop the Cataphract, activating their Seven Colored Eyes. Scanning the ridge with their sixth pupil, the far-seeing Indigo Eyes, the Regressor muttered.
"...I don't see anything."
Just as they said, there was no sign of the enemy anywhere along the Cataphract's path. The communication golem, D.G., responded.
[I believe they have not yet arrived!]
"I know. Because I can't see them. If even I can't see them with my eyes, how are we supposed to prepare for an ambush? No, more importantly, how did you know there was going to be an attack?"
[A warning was received from another signaller! An attack is expected shortly!]
I didn't doubt the report for a second. That was the nature of the Signaller network. Its transparency, a system where the very concept of doubt didn't exist, was both its defining feature and its greatest strength.
However, the golem grumbled quietly while holding the wheel.
[However, for a warning issued according to the rules of engagement, it was far too early. According to the alert, they should have shown themselves by now... Just like with the bridge earlier, she seems completely incapable of calculating an accurate ETA. Abbey must be terrible at driving.]
Grumbling about Abbey, even now. I wonder if expressing personal feelings over the comms is Abbey's influence...
No, it always had that capability. It just hadn't shown it until now. In any case, it's a positive development. I replied nonchalantly.
"Well, mistakes can happen."
[Why a mistake would occur with something so simple... It is difficult, but I will endeavor to understand... Wait, alert received! They're coming!]
This time, the Regressor saw it too. A cloud of brown dust rising from beyond the hill was growing thicker.
The wait was not long. First came the sound of hooves pounding the earth. Then, a shout followed.
"Yeehaw! Found 'em!"
Their appearance was highly unusual.
Every last one of them wore patched-up clothes. The concept of aesthetics was completely absent, and there was no discernible pattern to their attire. It was clear their gear was cobbled together, mended and added to as needed. From head to toe, there was no sense of uniformity.
There was, however, one thing they had in common: they were all riding something.
"What'd I tell ya! I said a follow-up supply unit would come! If we wait for it and snatch it, we can make a killing!"
shouted a man on a large two-wheeled vehicle. With only two wheels, one in front and one in back, it looked incredibly unstable, but he somehow managed to keep his balance with a long iron bar extending to the side as he charged forward.
A man on horseback spurred his mount and followed close behind.
"Look at all that money, gift-wrapped and just lying there! All we gotta do is pick it up!"
"We won't even have to attach wheels! It's already got huge ones!"
"Khahahaha! How much is all that worth? See, picking up chump change is pointless. You gotta go for the big score!"
"If only it were a little faster, I'd ride it myself!"
The Cataphract I was riding is a strategic weapon of the Military State, a steel fortress weighing tens of tons. Setting aside how they planned to capture it, its weight made it doubtful they could even take it back with them, but they didn't seem to care at all.
Because the Cataphract's weight was precisely what they wanted.
In the Fallen Dominion, the concept of 'money' is a little different.
The Golden Empire, a nation of technology and metallurgy, blessed with a king led by the descendants of the Five Sovereigns, was brought down by a single man.
The Golden Lord, Demo. A genius known as the Monster of Logic.
And the absolute ruler who destroyed the Golden Empire with gold, plunging the continent into chaos.
Under the Golden Lord's reign, gold lost its value in the Fallen Dominion. The old saying "treat gold as mere stones" became common sense there—not in a moral sense, but in an economic one.
Perhaps because of that, a unique economic system emerged in the Fallen Dominion instead.
"That's some high-grade alchemic steel. Looks like at least several dozen tons! With that much, we could live the rest of our lives without working!"
None other than weight.
In the Fallen Dominion, unless the material is exceptionally special, value is generally proportional to weight. Therefore, means of transport capable of moving great weights are essential. This system, combined with the other characteristics of the Fallen Dominion, has transformed the entire nation into a massive nomadic state.
Though it is a land of alchemy, even Alchemic Gold, which embodies alchemical value, loses its luster in the Fallen Dominion.
The Golden Lord is the world's strongest alchemist. He can even mint alchemic cost itself.
"Tsk. As expected, they charge in so greedily. Those dholes..."
Their mounts were all different, but every one of those dholes charged furiously toward us. Their eyes, gleaming with greed, held not a shred of hesitation.
The Cataphract wasn't slow, but it wasn't fast enough to outrun the hungry dholes. I spoke.
"What's the plan? Are you going to let them get this close?"
The Regressor answered nonchalantly.
"Well, let's let them come for now. We need to dig up some information."
"What information? They're just grunts sent deep into the Military State to cause a rear disturbance. There's no way they'd know anything useful. Shouldn't we just get rid of them?"
"Then what about the information?"
"Shei-ssi, have you forgotten what's driving this Cataphract? It's a communication golem. How long are you going to keep gathering intel in such a primitive way? Let's try a more sophisticated method."
Convinced, the Regressor drew Chun-aeng and aimed it at the enemies charging from an angle. Atop the Cataphract, moving at full speed. The wind rushing past was sucked toward Chun-aeng in an instant. A low hum grew steadily louder.
"Skyblade Art, Daybreak."
And the Regressor thrust Chun-aeng forward.
Vwoom. A blurry something shot out, following the exact trajectory of the Regressor's thrust. It looked less like an arrow or a bullet and more like a distortion in space. Just as the distortion, which seemed capable of reaching the ends of the earth, touched the foremost dhole, he was flung into the air as if snagged by a hook before slamming back down to the ground.
The two-wheeled vehicle, which had been teetering precariously, lost its balance as its rider vanished. Man and machine became one as they tumbled across the ground.
The leader became an obstacle, crashing into the men following behind him. A rider who swerved sharply cried out in alarm.
"Did anyone see that?"
"Didn't see a thing!"
Those who don't know their place refuse to believe or acknowledge what they cannot see. If they had been ordinary fools, they might have mistaken it for a slip-up and continued their charge.
But the dholes of the Fallen Dominion are a little different. For them, ambushes are routine and fleeing is a way of life; they instinctively recognized the caliber of their opponent.
"From this distance, and no one saw the attack? Then it's a monster!"
"They're not small fry!"
"Run!"
The dholes immediately turned their mounts. Wheels scraped violently against the ground, and horses reared on their hind legs before spinning around. The moment they were certain their opponent was strong, the dholes of the Fallen Dominion fled for their lives.
"Whoops! Gotta pick this up, too!"
Amid the chaos, the one bringing up the rear took the time to collect his fallen comrade before leaving. I'm not sure if tying him up with a chain and dragging him along counts as 'collecting', but in any case. Leaving the ponderous Cataphract behind, they vanished as swift as an arrow.
Tyr watched them go, gazing intently, and muttered.
"They don't abandon their comrades. Despite their appearance, they seem to have some camaraderie."
"Camaraderie? Not at all. That man is probably wishing he were dead."
"Why is that?"
"Because you can't sell him if he's not dead. He'd just run away on his own two feet."
The reason they collect the remains of their comrades is simple. For the same reason they targeted the Cataphract, heavy steel is worth quite a bit of money. And if that steel happens to be a vehicle, it's even more valuable.
Even their own comrades are no exception. The scales don't tip any less just because it's the remains of an ally.
"So they all ride mounts like bandits. Now I understand why the flowing earth can serve as a moat to stop them."
I nodded at Tyr's words.
"Exactly. They're plunderers who invade, load up on goods, and run. The Meta Conveyor Belt is a particularly tricky obstacle for them. Just getting on it requires dangerous acrobatics, and the Military State uses it to move troops quickly."
"Mounted bandits hell-bent on thievery. What troublesome neighbors you have."
"Yes. On a national scale, a raiding party of that size is merely a nuisance, but for a rear disturbance, a nuisance is more than enough."
In any case, the Fallen Dominion's first attack ended anticlimactically. Our forces were far too powerful to be bothered by a few dholes.
Moreover, the Regressor's Chun-aeng was a versatile weapon that could cover both mid and long ranges. It could wipe out even the dholes, who feared neither bullets nor arrows, in a single sweep.
Hilde, however, let out a deep sigh at the sight of them.
"How troublesome~. How long has it been since the war started for them to come all the way down here and loiter about? If we're running into them before even crossing the Meta Conveyor Belt, some cities must have already been sacked."
It was more a comment to herself, but one word in particular caught the Regressor's attention. The Regressor asked.
"The war has already started?"
Hilde replied as casually as if she were talking about a snack she'd had the previous evening.
"Yeees~ Well, it's more of a battle than a full-blown war, but it's already started, hasn't it?"
"When? No, how? Just a short while ago, the Military State's forces were still on the Meta Conveyor Belt, weren't they?"
"Aren't you underestimating the Military State? No matter how large the force, with the State's system, it takes less than two days to prepare and dispatch them to the Abyssal Wastelands."
"Right! Just two days. So how could the war have already started?"
When I met Yuel, I heard that sporadic battles were already breaking out. A full day has passed since then, so it wouldn't be strange for a war to have started.
But for the Regressor, this was the first they were hearing of it.
'War isn't child's play; it's a momentous event where a nation's fate is on the line! How long has it even been since the Abyss disappeared for them to start a war already?'
Logically, that would be the case.
But, Regressor, you know it too. Both the Military State and the Fallen Dominion are strange nations that defy common sense.
"The Military State wasn't the only one that sent troops to the Abyssal Wastelands~."
"What?"
"You could ask the signaller, but I'd rather not distract them while they're driving, so I will explain it to you. Ahem. Listen closely."
Before beginning her long story, Hilde cleared her throat. After composing her breath like an actor before a monologue, she began the world's heaviest tale in the world's lightest tone.
"When the advance troops arrived in the Abyssal Wastelands, the Fallen Dominion was already attempting to occupy Tantalus!"