Chapter 342: Good Night
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 342: Good Night
Perhaps because we were inside the Juggernaut, time flowed by steadily, unnoticed. After a quick dinner and some tidying up, the day had already grown dark. Aboard the noisy Cataphract, I'd wondered why time was crawling by, but in the Juggernaut, it was night in the blink of an eye. It seems time rides a vehicle of its own.
For all that time, the Juggernaut ran without rest. Whenever it seemed to slow, Peru would fetch a piece of pitch-black steel from the storeroom and toss it into the furnace. Each time, the Juggernaut would surge forward as if struck by a whip.
A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I asked.
“I heard the Juggernaut moves using a Primarch's power. Does it run at night, too?”
“…If you feed it enough fuel.”
It was strange how that worked, but even Peru didn't know the principle behind it. That was because the Golden Lord was the one who made it. We just had to accept it.
After filling our stomachs and washing up for the first time in a while, I was looking for a place to sleep when Peru spoke to me.
“…Room. There.”
Peru pointed to a room that had been used for storage. Inside the roughly tidied room were two simple beds. It looked so cramped it would be difficult to live in, let alone have any privacy.
I scowled and grumbled.
“Hey. I don't want to be too picky as a guest, but why do I have to sleep in that cramped room? Unlike Azzy or Tyr, I'm a human who needs his creature comforts, you know.”
“…There's no other way.”
…There isn't enough space for two beds anywhere else. The only option is to put the two men in the storeroom.
If I could have the room to myself, I'd be satisfied enough, but that wasn't even the case. Of all the people to be my roommate….
“Huh? Why am I in the same room as him?!”
A Regressor disguised as a man. This is seriously dangerous.
If I were to approach her in my sleep… I might be countered with her Heavenly Counter Domain and die before I even woke up.
“Why are you being so difficult, Shei? If anything, my safety is at greater risk sleeping with you!”
“What's there for you to be afraid of?!”
Sharing a room is far more dangerous for me! I can't even rest easy for fear of my identity being exposed! Tsk. How long do I have to live being treated like a man…!
What's so dangerous? She's not a child. Feeling threatened just by sleeping in the same room as someone of the opposite sex? I could understand if it were the same bed, but the same room is a bit much. If she was going to be like this, she shouldn't have disguised herself as a man in the first place.
“I have no way to resist if you get any funny ideas! Who knows what would happen to me if we were left alone in a locked room!”
“What funny ideas are you talking about! I've never had any funny ideas about you! In the first place, I'm—!”
“You're what?”
I should just reveal that I'm a woman…! Phew. Calm down. It's still too soon. It's more advantageous to remain a man until the business with the Duchy is over. It's unlikely, but if I were to be mistaken for the Saintess… the Duchy and Tyrkanzyaka might turn against me.
The Regressor suppressed the rising impulse.
The power to know the future belongs to the Saintess. It seemed the Regressor had often been mistaken for her. In many cases, being mistaken for the Saintess was beneficial… but not now, not while she was with Tyr.
So the Regressor has her own strategy. I'm not so sure it's a 'misunderstanding' that she's the Saintess, though.
“The other day, when I tried to wake you up, you nearly took my head off, didn't you? And then you had the nerve to tell me not to touch you while you're sleeping. Wow, talk about blaming the victim.”
“I-I couldn't help it! A traveler has to have a way to protect themselves while they sleep!”
“I wouldn't say anything if it ended at 'protecting yourself'! The problem is that you aimed right for the neck of someone who was just trying to wake you up nicely!”
“But I didn't cut it off!”
“If you had, you'd be a murderer! Don't act so proud that you didn't. You should be grateful I let you not cut it off!”
As we were bickering noisily, a boy with a short bob cut walked in from outside the door. The boy, who had features so delicate he could be mistaken for a girl, giggled and spoke.
“My, my. Shei doesn't know what she's missing~. What a precious opportunity it is to sleep with Father.”
The Regressor tilted her head as she looked at Hilde.
Hilde certainly resembled the Regressor at that moment. The sharp eyes revealed beneath the short bob that exposed her neck were a perfect match for the Regressor's.
But she was different. Until now, Hilde's transformations had been so perfect they surprised even herself, but this time, it seemed anyone could easily tell them apart. Her skill was excellent, but she was clearly distinct from the Regressor.
“What? A transformation? For that, it's…”
Hilde, who had only half-become 'Shei', let out a deep sigh and said.
“Doesn't look like her at all, right? Yesss~. It's a failure. Your character is too difficult to analyze, so I ended up like this~. I can't get into character, so my acting is subpar too.”
The Regressor seemed subtly pleased by the fact that Hilde couldn't transform into her. Was it pride in her own uniqueness? Even though she seemed the type to attack on sight if her own face appeared before her, her attitude was lenient.
“Hmph. Of course. Not everything in the world goes your way.”
“'I' learned that today. I give up completely. I feel like I'm misinterpreting something, but I just don't know what it is~.”
It's no wonder she doesn't know. How could she understand that psyche without knowing the premise of regression? Even I, with my mind-reading ability, can't fully comprehend it.
Raising both hands, Hilde made a mischievous face and suddenly leaped at me.
“Anyway! If you hate the idea of sleeping with Father that much, let 'me' switch with you! 'I' have no problem at all sleeping with Father! In fact, I'd prefer it!”
“Huh?”
“Is it okay for a man and a woman to sleep in the same room? It's fine. 'I'm' disguised as a man right now! Not only the same room, but I'm telling you, it's safe even in the same bed!”
No. I'm the one rejecting that offer. Sharing a cramped bed is annoying enough, but why does it have to be with a man? I'm the one who won't be safe. If she's going to do it, I'd rather she do it in a woman's body.
The Regressor seriously considered Hilde's proposal. But only for a moment. The sight of Hilde, wearing her face, getting close to me filled her with revulsion.
“Forget it. I'd rather not than see you clinging to him with my face.”
“Oh? Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? What jealousy! It's just disgusting! Wouldn't you feel bad if I went around doing stupid things with your face?!”
“Not really? 'I' can do plenty of stupid things with 'my' own face~? I wonder what kind of stupid things I should do~?”
As she said that, Hilde stealthily headed for the storeroom. Just then, darkness surged from behind Hilde, suddenly engulfing her and wrapping around her limbs.
“Oh my? Tyrkanzyaka?”
[Hey, what is a grown woman doing, brazenly walking into a man's room? Come back.]
“That kind of old-fashioned thinking is what slows down progresssss~.”
With those words, Hilde was dragged away into the darkness. Witnessing someone being devoured by darkness right next to her, Peru was once again terrified and fled.
In the end, only the Regressor and I were left in front of the storeroom. The Regressor swept her hair back, clicked her tongue, and waved her hand in dismissal.
“Fine. I'll hang a cloth in the middle, so don't cross over.”
“I don't know why you're the one being so defensive. If anyone should be screaming, it's me, you know? Unlike you, I'm a harmless human being with not an ounce of aggression in me!”
“It's not that I'm wary because it's you. It'd be the same no matter who it was. I just can't sleep well when there's another person in the same space.”
If no one is beside me, no one is in danger. Not me, not them. No one….
The Regressor took out a wide cloth and partitioned the middle of the room. The already cramped room became even more suffocating… but from beyond the cloth, I could sense she was much more at ease. In her own space, the Regressor relaxed and let her guard down.
Well, I don't care if she puts it up or not. In fact, it's more comfortable for me this way. I don't have to worry about getting my head lopped off if I accidentally touch her.
Moving carefully so as not to touch the cloth, I lay down on the simple bed and said.
“This certainly guarantees our privacy. Good night, Shei.”
“…You too.”
The reply came a beat later.
\-------
Elric, the King of the Golden Empire, commanded her disciples.
“Fill this room with a single gold coin. The one who fills the room most wisely will earn the right to receive my teachings.”
It was a cliché question, milked so dry that only the marrow was left, and the disciples each presented their own ideas. Sound, light, fragrance. The disciples who filled the room with all sorts of invisible things wore proud smiles as they awaited Elric's judgment.
However, there was one more hidden meaning to Elric's test.
“Water that flows to the sea becomes a cloud and falls again as rain. A broken tool is melted down and forged anew into steel. One who seeks wisdom must consider not just how to spend, but how to replenish. For that is far more difficult.”
The first question was famous, but the disciples had never heard the part that came after. Elric commanded the disciples, who were staring blankly at one another.
“Now, turn what you filled the room with back into gold.”
The disciples hurriedly gathered what they had left and tried to turn it back into gold.
But an item, once used, is bound to lose its value. It is said that not a single disciple was able to restore the full value of one gold coin.
…Until the Golden Lord appeared.