Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

“This lady’s name is Yuel. She is also  the Envoy Eimeder, the leader of the three Star Generals brought together by the Warlord Valiorant, and last but not least, the great figure who continued to build this country after the Warlord’s death. In other words, she’s the hidden ‘king’ of the Military State!”

“…Don’t call me a king.”

“You called me a barbarian! I’ll call you whatever I want! Anyway, if you have any questions, ask her! She can explain everything about the birth and ideology of the Military State! Finally, your desires can be fulfilled!”

Yuel glared at me with hollow eyes.

A moment ago, she didn’t even want to look at me, but now she had no one else to turn to.

If she turned her head, there was the Princess on one side and Shiati on the other.

Both were children abandoned by the Military State.

They were someone the Saintess had set aside to carry on the Warlord’s legacy.

“…Did you bring them here with this intention from the start?”

“Of course not! How could I know the future? I’m not a Prophet. Besides, I didn’t even know who you were until I got here.”

Tch, these real prophets ruin people.

Whenever favorable circumstances arise, they accuse me of predicting everything.

What nonsense.

“It doesn’t matter whether I know the future or not. They have a great desire within them that will drive them here all the same. Sooner or later, they would have eventually come face to face with you. Of course, without me, they might have had an accident along the way.”

“You no longer have the ability to make people follow you.”

“It’s not an ability. It’s not about power or authority either. How many times do I have to say it? They brought themselves here.”

Even if I didn’t intervene or deceive, they were walking toward this place.

They walked through hell and back with each step heavier than the last, but they’ve never once looked back.

“After all, you’re the one who created them. It was inevitable that they would seek this place. Whether they succeeded or failed does not matter.”

Unfortunately, while I can ask questions and hear answers, I can’t make their conclusions for them.

In that sense, bringing them along was a good choice.

Shiati approached first with long strides.

I stepped aside to take on the role of observer.

Now, show me. What will you do with this Saintess?

With a slightly excited heart, I watched, but to my surprise, Shiati asked me instead of Yuel.

“Is that corpse the Warlord?”

“The one who was once the Warlord. Now it’s just a corpse.”

“Why does that woman have it?”

“Rather than having it, it’s more accurate to say they were buried together. This seems to be a shrine underground… But wait. Why are you asking me? Ask her.”

I brought them to ask questions, yet they’re pestering me instead.

I can read Yuel’s thoughts, but I can’t answer for her.

My Mind Reading would be exposed then.

Seeing my reluctant attitude, Shiati shrugged her shoulders.

“How can I trust the words of that suspicious woman?”

That’s true.

After all, it’s surprising for Shiati, who fled underground amidst the chaos, to suddenly hear that this person is the mastermind behind her suffering.

Shiati, like everyone else, is ordinary.

She only sees what’s right in front of her.

Whether it’s true or not, the whole truth is too big for her to grasp in one look.

“You trust me then?”

“Comparatively.”

“Thanks.”

Shiati laughed lightly and murmured with a serene face.

“And now it doesn’t matter. Who the real mastermind of this country was or what they planned. It’s too complicated.”

“Huh?”

What?

What happened to the anger that seemed ready to burn down the entire Military State?

I know she was devastated after seeing the younger Signallers, but did she give up on revenge just because of that?

“Are you okay with that? What about your revenge on the Military State?”

“As you said, I didn’t know the Military State. Even as I learned about it, it only made things more complicated without any clear conclusions. Who’s bad, who should I take revenge on? I kept wandering aimlessly.”

Shiati, who had experienced all sorts of things, grew as a person.

But personal growth often means giving up on something.

I guided them here by following their desire.

This was a bit disappointing.

“She’s not younger than me, is she?”

“Hey. You look older because of all you’ve been through, but she’s older than you.”

“Ha. Still doesn’t make me feel much. I don’t even know who she is, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen her. Even if I killed her, who would acknowledge it?”

Shiati’s reaction was entirely different from before.

Her open, candid demeanor felt out of place.

“Shiati….”

｢Yes. What’s right in front of you is most important! You finally understand…!｣

The Princess looked at her with tearful eyes, but I didn’t find Shiati’s detached demeanor reassuring.

“What happened to you?”

Shiati answered with a bitter smile.

“I snuck into a room earlier and met a Signaller. I think her name was I.N. She was my age. If the children who died in Hamelin had grown up, they’d be that age. One fell into the water and drowned, and the other became a hidden power, part of Command. But…”

“But?”

“…She didn’t seem much better off than me.”

Shiati dropped something crumpled.

An empty can of compressed canned beans.

It was not tasty but was rich in nutrients and highly compact, making it the most efficient meal for ‘survival’ purposes.

That also made it the least popular meal.

“The so-called hidden power behind the Military State eats canned beans. Lives in a dark, windowless room! What’s so powerful about that?”

The details about Signallers were classified, but a few secrets were unlocked for those who have entered the Module.

For instance, information about Signallers’ working conditions.

That information could be obtained through observation alone.

As a result, even Shiati learned…

“I felt so sorry for them that I couldn’t even curse them.”

She learned how pitiful they were.

They suffer more than anyone, making them free from others’ blame or responsibility.

I pointed to Yuel.

“This person here. She created the Signallers.”

“…Seems so. It’s a bit annoying, but she doesn’t look much different.”

Here, in the innermost depth of the Military State, there were no common cooking utensils or food ingredients.

Even the bed was nothing but a stone coffin covered with cloth, and the only warm-looking thing was the corpse.

Shiati didn’t know what the Saintess ate, but she understood that she too suffered.

Shiati looked down at Yuel.

The meeting between the monster who created the Military State and the monster created by it was surprisingly peaceful.

“It’s just that… I don’t even feel angry anymore.”

It was an unexpected reaction.

It surprised not only us but also Yuel. Expecting Shiati to attack at any moment, Yuel was caught off guard by an entirely different reaction.

“…Are you pitying me?”

“Maybe.”

Signallers know everything.

They gather information through dozens of golems and receive reports from hundreds of other Signallers.

Yet at the same time, they know nothing.

Because they were confined in the Windowless Room.

Signallers have no lives, so they bear no responsibility.

Thus, they have no sin.

Who could blame them?

Others could only pity them.

This was all part of Yuel’s design.

Signallers were created for this very purpose.

But when Yuel herself became the object of pity, she felt strangely displeased.

“Thank you, member of the Resistance. If you understand enough, why not give up and go back? If you stay by the Princess’s side, you’ll keep your life. Just as you have until now.”

“I’ve never cared about my life. Not even now.”

Shiati extended her prosthetic arm.

A steel prosthetic couldn’t interrupt the Saintess’s prayer.

The Saintess believed it and watched, but Shiati’s hand didn’t reach Yuel.

Instead, the corpse in Yuel’s arms slid out.

Shiati grabbed it by the collar and pulled it out in one swift motion.

A corpse wasn’t a praying Saintess.

Shiati’s strength was enough to pull it away.

Yuel, still in her praying position, had her precious relic taken right before her eyes.

“A-Ah?”

“But there’s still one good thing from this. Huey, is this the Warlord? The founding father of this country?”

“So she said.”

Oh, right.

The corpse.

To a Mind Reader like me, a corpse is just something that was once human.

Since a corpse didn’t have thoughts, it didn’t register in my consciousness.

Shiati found a gruesome yet practical use for the corpse.

She examined it and asked me.

“The corpse looks pretty good. Is this really a corpse? Not even a single wound is visible…”

“He was probably poisoned so no wounds. It’s in good condition because she took care of it dearly.”

“Anyway. People who made a name for themselves in the Military State would recognize this face, right?”

“Maybe not elsewhere, but here in the Inner Circle, there are plenty of old officers who couldn’t fight in the front lines. Those old officers would recognize him.”

“Good. If I use this, at least a few people will pay attention.”

｢There’s one last thing to do.｣

Shiati tried to drag the corpse away like luggage.

At that moment, Yuel stopped her prayer which looked like it would last forever.

She quickly reached out and grabbed the hem of the corpse’s clothes.

“What are you going to do with him?”

“Not your concern.”

“He’s already at rest! What do you plan to do with the corpse?”

Shiati answered bluntly.

“Even if it’s a corpse, cutting off the Warlord’s head might shock a few people.”

That’s Shiati for you.

Doing what I can’t even imagine without hesitation.

Well, taking out the already dead Warlord’s corpse won’t cause an enormous reaction.

But to Yuel, it’s an unimaginable desecration.

The Celestial Order encouraged cremation but didn’t always burn everything.

If they were a Saintess or a renowned priest, their body would be enshrined in a shrine, regularly blessed and maintained by a Saintess.

What Yuel did was part of that.

It was full of personal feelings, but Yuel had been doing it for over 20 years.

“I’ve been venting my anger on things that I can’t even see. But, what? A hidden mastermind of the world? Ridiculous. Hmph, I might as well curse the god who made this world.”

“So… you’re going to take out your anger on his corpse?”

“A corpse has no feelings. But if I take this… at least, those who know the Warlord’s face will listen to me.”

Shiati dragged the corpse roughly as if it were luggage.

The corpse was pulled away from Yuel.

Yuel jumped up and clung to it.

Shiati paused at the weight dragging on the corpse.

“Let go! He doesn’t deserve to be treated like this by someone like you!”

“I was treated like an ingredient while alive, and yet I can’t do this to a mere corpse?”

Kyaa. Even in death, this man is being pulled by two women.

If he saw this in heaven, would he feel proud?

No, he died from being pulled by two women.

It would be painful.

I must avoid ending up like that.

Yuel’s struggle to retrieve the corpse looked pitiful.

Shiati pulled the corpse’s pant leg while Yuel could only embrace the body, unable to grasp the neck out of fear of damaging it.

How did a Saintess end up like this?

Shiati muttered.

“Now I have one more reason to use this corpse.”

“Ahh!”

The tense confrontation ended anticlimactically.

With a bit of force, Yuel fell pathetically.

The Saintess, being confined for over 20 years, couldn’t win against the Resistance Enforcer’s strength.

Shiati sneered down at the fallen Yuel.

“If you hate it, I have even more reason not to stop. Watch closely how I use this corpse.”

“You!”

Realizing she couldn’t win with strength, the Saintess resorted to cowardly prayer.

A Saintess possesses great powers but lacks the simple physical strength to knock down an opponent.

Yuel, like a third-rate villain, called upon the angel.

“How dare you…! You think you can get away with this because you got lucky?”

She offered herself as the sacrifice.

Using her own body to protect a mere corpse seemed like a steep price.

But to Yuel, the corpse was her whole world.

Death was no consideration for her.

She was prepared to sacrifice herself without hesitation.

“Shiati! Wait a moment!”

Fortunately, the Princess intervened before the angel descended.

Shiati stopped, and Yuel suppressed her anger before the Princess.

The Princess, who had halted the fight, pleaded with Shiati.

“Shiati. I still have questions. His corpse may be the answer to them. So, can you please wait a moment?”

“Alright… just a moment.”

Shiati let go of the corpse.

The leg she held dropped lifelessly to the ground, and Yuel shuddered as if it was her own leg.

The Princess blocked Yuel’s path.

Yuel spoke to the intruder.

“…You said you had questions, Princess of Grandiomor.”

“Yes. Yuel, right? I’ve always wanted to ask the Military State, or you, something.”

Yuel nodded, urging her to ask.

The Princess took a deep breath and asked the question she’d held for so long.

“I’ve watched the Military State for a long time so I know how strong and wealthy it is. Despite the Resistance stealing and looting substantial resources over time, the Military State remained unscathed.”

“So, you proudly admit to stealing and looting.”

“Ah… I-I apologize for that. We were in hiding and struggling… A-Anyway! The Military State is an amazing country! Its system, its scale! It’s incomparable to the Kingdom!”

The Princess began with a noble speech, but Yuel remained cold.

“I didn’t expect compliments from the Resistance. Thank you for your opinion. So, why not surrender?”

“T-That’s not what I mean! I’m just curious, what is it all for?”

The Military State was rational and efficient.

They exploited humans to maximize value under given conditions.

It was what they had to do, but the Princess asked, ‘why?’

“A country should care for and give to its people. The Kingdom failed, but the Military State, born from its fall, could do that, right? If they reduced work a little, cared for people a bit, and were less harsh. The Military State could be a paradise on earth.”

“…”

“But it seems the Military State avoids it intentionally. Why? Aren’t they all citizens of the State? Why hesitate to give to them?”

Yuel didn’t answer.

Thinking the question was too vague, the Princess refined it further.

“It’s not for luxury! If it were, you’d enjoy greater splendor! You wouldn’t be in a cramped room with a corpse but in a grand palace! But you’re not. What is it that makes you push humans into a hellish existence?”

“… Is that it?”

“Huh?”

Yuel finally spoke with difficulty.

“Because this blessed country that he and I created must continue forever.”