While sitting at the window side of this restaurant, one could see the headquarters of the Military Police right across the street.
Normally, the military police were in charge of policing the military so the fact that it was located in a civilian location like this was strange. Was it because of this country’s customs or was it a show of power?
Under the dim lighting of night, that secure, squarish building gave off a deep state-esque feel.
Just looking at it for a few more seconds made me feel a strange sense of revulsion.
In order to maintain my neutral standpoint, I had to constantly remind myself that I wasn’t taking an objective enough view of Ferdila.
One’day High: Reporting, the cart is ready.
Breman: Alright, proceed as planned.
One’day High: Roger.
Breman’s plan was roughly as follows:
First, get Halfmoon Leak’age to attract their attention by loitering around the back entrance of the Military Police Headquarters as if he was waiting for someone.
Once someone takes the bait and approaches Halfmoon Leak’age, Lee Sole’shot who was hidden nearby, would fire off a tranquilizer arrow at the man’s limbs.
Next, Halfmoon Leak’age would immediately gag the soldier and carry him to the waiting One’day High who would then cart off the unconscious soldier.
Even if Leak’age ended up luring more than one person, it wouldn’t matter. As long as it was less than four people, Sole’shot should be able to knock them all out.
Breman: This is the first time the Expeditionary Forces under my command has undertaken a mission with a human as its target.
Breman: Do you think it will work out, Di Qi Ju?
Di Qi Ju: ……
Breman: What’s the matter, are you still torn about this matter?
Di Qi Ju: …no. I think everyone should be fine.
Di Qi Ju: Compared to what we have gone through in the past, a human is simply too easy.
Di Qi Ju: It’s just…attacking one of our kind, I’m still kind of…
Breman: Kind of what?
Breman: Harming another human like us, isn’t part of human nature, is that what you’re trying to say?
Di Qi Ju: When you put it like that…
Breman: Di Qi Ju, remember what you told me in the past.
Breman: That time when you were held captive for killing a person in self-defense.
Di Qi Ju: …
“Di Qi Ju: I’m afraid that taking the other routes would make me lose something that I absolutely must not lose.
Di Qi Ju: My humanity.
Di Qi Ju: I have to maintain a humanity befitting the me standing right before you now.”
Di Qi Ju: What about those words?
Breman: It seems to me that you have a very simplistic view of humanity, Di Qi Ju.
Breman: How can you know of love when you haven’t experienced true hate; how can you know of true warmth when you haven’t experienced absolute pain?
Breman: For example, if a person has within him, some sort of primal desire but has never truly experienced it, understood it, I don’t think that person will ever be able to distance himself from it.
Breman: Violence, lust, ambition and whatnot.
Breman: Humans definitely aren’t creatures who solve problems by abstinence; antagonistic relationships are an inevitability of social interaction.
Breman: —this is one of my beliefs that I picked up while growing up in both Skills and Faith.
Breman: What are your beliefs, Di Qi Ju?
Di Qi Ju: I…
Di Qi Ju: …
Living in harmony *insert joke here, I don’t care.*
Breman: Even if you don’t say anything, I can roughly guess what your views are. You are a really easy person to read.
Breman: Either way, tonight, you mustn’t just be a spectator, Di Qi Ju.
Breman: When they bring the captive back, you should try venting on him as well.
Di Qi Ju: …!
Breman: Don’t worry, I guarantee that he won’t die.
Breman: Ensuring that our captured prey doesn’t die is one of the specialities of the Expeditionary Forces.
Breman: Just give it a try and you will know…
……
……
At the Military Police Headquarters of Skills…
A man had just walked out of the building. He wasn’t a man of that organization, rather, he wasn’t related to the military at all. It was just that a couple of days ago, he was faced with an extremely vexing problem that forced him to come here today.
During the banquet at Reitdarke’s Palace, he had a short interaction with the king and the little princess during which he saw a certain ring in the Princess’s hand.
It was a beautiful ring, a ring so beautiful it almost seemed strange.
His merchant instincts made him instinctively want to look at that ring in closer detail. However, it was precisely this instinct that landed him in this vexing situation.
On that very same night, he realized that he had lost a portion of his wish points.
Normally, a person would only realize this when they tried to make a wish, otherwise such a change would go unnoticed. However, he was different; he had his own way of knowing.
However, what that was wasn’t important. What was important was that the wish points he had spent a fortune on had disappeared without a trace. A fortune which he had to bend over backwards for while working for Three’floral Dawn for years.
It was this anger that even made him knife a completely unrelated teenager on his way home.
After cooling down over the night, he woke up realizing that he had to do something about what he did last night in order to avoid any potential backlash.
Naturally, he couldn’t just confess to killing a person in the city, so he decided to merely report that his wish points had inexplicably disappeared.
However, this report wasn’t going to be made to the Divine Hall; instead it was made to Skills, because this case in all likelihood had to do with that ring the Princess had.
The advantage of this was that in the case of a conflict in interest, he could paint her as the perpetrator while he could easily take the position of a victim.
In case his murder was exposed, he could easily garner sympathy and forgiveness.
Reporting to the Divine Hall on the other hand wouldn’t give such benefits.
But, what he didn’t expect was that Skills wasn’t too willing to be his backer. Only after making several rounds around the country was he finally introduced to the military police where he could finally realize the initial phase of this plan.
…so much time was wasted.
The Three Battles was about to begin, and instead of focusing on the preparations, he was bogged down with such a troublesome matter. Truly a miscalculation on his part.
Nine Heaven: ……
Having just taken a step out of the back entrance, he immediately noticed that something was wrong.
That man loitering around in a hobo’s getup…suspicious, so suspicious that any one of the military policeman would immediately question him upon sight.
A sudden premonition that “something was going to happen” struck. However, that was none of his business. If their target was the military police, that had nothing to do with him.
Ignoring the suspicious hobo, he went on his way.
Halfmoon Leak’age: …Hey there, did you just walk out of the military police headquarters?
Nine Heaven: ……
Nine Heaven: Are you blind?
Such an inane question. Of course he just walked out of the military headquarters, only a blind man couldn’t see that.
Halfmoon Leak’age: No, my eyes are just fine.
Nine Heaven: Huh…
To think he actually wasted time on such a person, he really shouldn’t have even stopped.
Halfmoon Leak’age: I just wanted to make sure that you stopped for a while. This should be about enough.
Nine Heaven: ……?
—whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
From his back came several rushes of air that brought with them a chilling sense of danger.
Out of pure instinct Nine Heaven leaped into the air on the spot, and without looking back, raised his arms, narrowly avoiding the incoming projectiles.
Nine Heaven: —!
Having caught a glimpse of the arrows, he forcefully threw his arms down and with an equally forceful grip, tried to catch the speeding arrow—
—stab stab stab stab.
Four arrows could be seen stabbing into the ground near him, it was then that Nine Heaven touched down on the ground.
Halfmoon Leak’age: ……
Halfmoon Leak’age: You…actually tried to catch that kind of arrow?
Nine Heaven: ……
Nine Heaven: To think I actually couldn’t catch it…how skillful must that archer be.
Halfmoon Leak’age: —Lee Sole’shot, looks like you’ve failed. It’s time for me to make my move then.
Nine Heaven: You? Exactly what are you planning?
Halfmoon Leak’age: Our mission is to kidnap a person from the military police, no matter who they are.
Halfmoon Leak’age: Encountering us is just your bad luck.
Nine Heaven: Hah…Is that so?
Halfmoon Leak’age: ……
Halfmoon Leak’age: —it’s exactly so.
Nine Heaven: —!?
Danger!
That man was definitely still standing there, yet why did he suddenly get such a premonition?
—he’s coming!!
Nine Heaven immediately ducked, a whoosh of air passed over where his neck used to be just a split second later.
This knife skill, he’s at least several times stronger than an ordinary assassin!
Nine Heaven: You bast—
Without even thinking, he instinctively threw up his arms and precisely deflected Halfmoon Leak’age’s follow up slash.
Having been attacked twice already, Nine Heaven’s body had completely entered a battle stance.
With an oblique twist of his body, he ducked under Halfmoon’s third attack and with his fingers brought together in a sword point, violently stabbed at his opponent’s solar plexus.
Halfmoon Leak’age: —cough Ah!!
A direct hit!
Halfmoon Leak’age staggered backwards several steps before finally stabilizing himself with much effort.
Halfmoon Leak’age: You…
Halfmoon Leak’age: If I was an ordinary person…that would’ve stopped my heart already.
Halfmoon Leak’age: You’re trying to…kill me?
Nine Heaven: Weren’t you trying to kill me first? This is justified self-defense.
Halfmoon Leak’age: Hah…alright then.
Halfmoon Leak’age: I thought this was going to be a simple mission, but who would’ve thought that it would be so difficult…
Halfmoon Leak’age: …I say, are you able to see the look on your face right now?
Nine Heaven: Huh? What’s with all the strange questions you’ve been asking. How could I possibly do that?
Halfmoon Leak’age: No problem, let me tell you then…
Halfmoon Leak’age: I would often see that very same expression on my face reflected in pools of blood.
Halfmoon Leak’age: Arrogance, insolence and the… “I can’t be defeated” look.
Nine Heaven: …
Nine Heaven’s smile unknowingly became wider.
Nine Heaven: What about it?
Halfmoon Leak’age: Maybe, perhaps “I” might not be able to defeat you…
He lowered his arms and slowly raised his head to look at the slowly dimming sky.
Halfmoon Leak’age: However, “This Master” will definitely bring you back and complete this mission!
??: —that’s enough!
Nine Heaven: ……
Halfmoon Leak’age: ……
Suddenly, a third person barged in the midst of the two men, forcing both of them to divert their gaze.
Halfmoon Leak’age: What are you doing here? Has the plan changed?
??: No…I came over at my own discretion.
Halfmoon Leak’age: ……
Nine Heaven: Now what, what other plot twist you have for me, huh?
??: You don’t recognize me, Nine Heaven?
Nine Heaven: ……?
The moment the newcomer mentioned his name, Nine Heaven immediately raised his guard.
This man was dressed casually and had a center parted hairstyle that was rather long. He didn’t look like the typical participant of the Three Battles but instead had a more bookish look to him.
However, in fact he did not remember him, that hairstyle was reminiscent of his own some time ago.
An opponent from his merchant days?
No…there shouldn’t be an opponent with such a sinister face. No matter how he looked like during normal times, the look he had on right now could only be described as sinister by Nine Heaven.
Nine Heaven: Who are you exactly?
??: ……
??: I’m…
??: —the man whose business you destroyed with your own two hands, and you even made Savile leave me forever—One’day High!!
Footnotes:
Credits:
Special thanks to Kaung Thant Win Naing!!
