Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

If Amitengrad was the capital of the citizens of the Military State, then the Inner Circle Command was the capital of the Military State's soldiers.

Amitengrad, built in the capital of the old kingdom, served the role of a residential city.

It housed the population along with all the essentials of a typical city: residences, workplaces, and farmlands.

In contrast, Command had many disqualifying factors to be called a city.

The population distribution was skewed, it continuously consumed resources without redistributing them elsewhere.

It was a city prepared solely for war.

Thanks to this, the Military State maintained a large army despite its size.

Command was packed with all sorts of military facilities necessary for war, including steel mills, munitions factories, and military academies.

Under the supervision of soldiers, laborers continued their work, and the weapons and materials produced gradually accumulated.

Someday, when the need arises, all this amassed power would be unleashed against other nations.

Located in the center of the Military State, the Inner Circle Command sentry post was always safe from invasions.

There, an officer was secretly trembling with fear.

Although the Military State did not provide a clear answer, the officer could hear various stories.

The Abyss had collapsed, releasing the worst possible beings to the unsuspecting world, and they were now approaching Command to hold those who imprisoned them accountable.

His duty was to stop those who were attacking Command.

The information he received was just that.

In other words, he knew nothing.

“Are you afraid, Second Lieutenant?”

A heavy voice came from behind him.

Although he had only heard it a few times, it was a voice he could not forget, or rather, should not forget.

The Second Lieutenant, who was standing with strict military discipline, turned quickly and saluted.

“Salute!”

There stood a general in military uniform with his hands behind his back.

In the Military State, where power equaled status, the age of generals varied.

However, since mastering Qi art was quite difficult, he was relatively young among the Generals, already in his mid-thirties.

He spoke kindly to the young newly commissioned officer.

“Your shoulders are tense. Relax. A gun that hasn’t been fired is the most threatening, and a sword that hasn’t been wielded is the sharpest. If you tense up now, you’ll lose strength when you actually need to use it.”

“I will correct myself!”

“Let me ask again, Second Lieutenant. Are you afraid?”

Only then did the Second Lieutenant remember that he hadn’t answered the first question.

It was a serious lapse.

The Second Lieutenant hurriedly responded.

“I am only a little afraid!”

“Hooo, does a soldier of the Military State feel fear?”

“I-I will correct myself!”

“No need. I too am afraid.”

The General, patting the Second Lieutenant’s shoulder, walked forward with his hands behind his back.

While the Second Lieutenant was flustered by the unexpected response, the General muttered as he gazed into the darkness.

“You cannot predict the outcome of a battle before it starts. But I can guess whether I will live or die. The enemy is strong, and the outer defense corps are insufficient. No matter how rigorous their training, they are at best a typical level 3 corp. Anyone can see that we… are sacrificial pawns.”

The Second Lieutenant was greatly shocked by the cold truth.

Even if it was true, hearing it as a joke among peers and having it confirmed by an authoritative figure carried different weights.

The Second Lieutenant repeated in a trembling voice.

“S-Sacrificial pawns…?”

“Yes. You defend this place without knowing that, but you should not expect support if a battle breaks out. Fight with the determination to perish.”

If you wanted to know the feelings of a discarded pawn, you should read the mind of the Second Lieutenant.

As he hung his head in despair, the General spoke up.

“However, I promise you this. As your commander and the person responsible for this post, I will meet the same end as you here. Whether we live or die.”

Nothing was easier to sway than a heart that has fallen into despair.

The Second Lieutenant looked at the General with a face filled with emotion.

The General, hoping for this response, looked away to hide his satisfied smile.

The General was a commander.

Compared to a gear in the machinery, he bore a crucial role like the axle of the gears.

Under his command, many gears throw themselves into battle, grinding their bodies.

The axle must endure that force and weight and survive to the end, so the Military State treats them specially.

However, in the end, it was the Second Lieutenant leading the troops on the front lines who first confronted the enemy.

Even if the axle is crucial, if the gears break, it will all be in vain.

Therefore, the General personally appeared at the front lines to boost their morale.

｢Whether a Second Lieutenant or a General, we are all just parts. The only difference is in numbers.｣

The General muttered to himself.

It was a sober evaluation of his situation, not a complaint.

A general knows many things.

Knowing that he was merely a pawn is part of that.

Perhaps knowing that itself was a blessing.

Most soldiers didn’t even know what part they played and just performed their given tasks.

Only those who have risen high realize how insignificant they are.

Only when connected to the center can a gear realize its place.

｢It’s still better than the Kingdom. That dreadful country where everyone is constantly scheming against each other, ready to duel at the first sign of weakness.｣

But, the General suddenly thought.

The young Second Lieutenant, fresh from the academy, has only lived in the Kingdom for a few years after birth.

He truly belonged to the “better generation” that didn’t remember the kingdom.

But for those who didn’t remember the Kingdom… How did the Military State appear in their eyes?

｢I can’t know unless I read their minds.｣

As the General mumbled, he threw his gaze outside.

The searchlights swinging left and right caught something.

Five beams of light stretched out, illuminating the darkness beyond.

The searchlights had definitely caught some movement.

The General raised his hand.

“They’re coming.”

The soldiers, who had been waiting nervously, pointed their weapons forward.

Cannons and machine guns also turned their muzzles toward the darkness.

As soldiers of the Military State, none of them fled in the face of fear.

The sound of someone swallowing could be heard.

It was the sound from his own body.

The General chuckled.

｢Even at the rank of general, I am still nervous before facing such high-level opponents. Heh. second lieutenants and generals are no different.｣

The General sneered as he attached the Weapon Packet to his Bio-Receptor.

Instantly, a thin layer of Alchemic Steel wrapped around his entire body.

The Iron Scale Armor was a Commander Arm specially made for him, who primarily used a dagger.

The shorter the weapon's reach, the more necessary it was to wear the armor that could save one’s life.

Feeling the slight discomfort of the armor that gave a sense of security, he raised his sharp, fang-like dagger.

The clattering sound grew closer.

Because it was shrouded in darkness, the figure was still not visible.

However, given the area swept by the searchlights, it was undoubtedly quite close.

｢Wait. Darkness? I was informed that the searchlights wouldn’t be able to detect them…｣

As he recalled what the Signaller had said, he lifted his head abruptly.

With the clattering sound, what appeared before them was… an automaton carriage that looked like it had rolled over five times from somewhere.

While the smashed exterior was one thing, the interior was even more damaged, as if someone had gripped and twisted it with one hand.

But most importantly, the inside of the automaton carriage was empty.

After finishing the inspection, the General raised his hand and shouted.

“It’s a decoy! The enemy has already infiltrated under the cover of night! Report this to the Signaller!”

“Yes, sir!”

As he watched the Second Lieutenant dash toward the golem used for communication, the General sighed inwardly.

He realized much later that it was a sigh of relief.

***There are times in your life when you get the urge to destroy your country.

They say those with nothing curse the king, but in the Military State, there is no king.

So my grumbling could only be directed at the country itself.

They say not to curse, but sometimes it’s hard to endure without blaming someone.

That’s part of growing up.

As a model citizen, whenever things didn’t go well for me, I would curse the Military State and hope it would collapse, easing my melancholy.

Of course, it was just a joke.

A regular individual couldn’t destroy a country, and the impossibility of the wish turned it into a joke.

To me, cursing the Military State’s downfall was always just that, a joke.

But now.

I was with someone who could actually destroy the Military State.

In an automaton carriage assembly plant near Command.

“The Military State's combat style is maneuver warfare. Signallers, automaton carriages, and the command system. These three elements make the execution speed catch up with the order delivery speed. The existence of automaton carriages is essential for this.”

With the burning assembly line as a backdrop, Historia stretched out her hand.

The blazing flames lit the mana herb in her hand.

With her face cast in shadows and mana herb in her mouth, she calmly explained.

“This assembly line cannot be easily restored. No matter how many parts there are, if they can’t be assembled, they are just lumps of metal. Destroying the assembly line paralyzes the factory. Unless there’s someone like Director Maximilien, it will take five engineer corps to restore it.”

Her eyes caught an automaton carriage nearing completion.

She kicked it sideways.

The door, marked by her boot, flew off, and the carriage slid sideways and crashed into the wall.

“Without this place, ‘Command' troop deployment will be disrupted.”

Having cleared the last automaton carriage, Historia clacked her boots and walked away.

Historia, once at the top of the Military State and more knowledgeable about it than anyone, directly wreaked havoc on the State with her strength and knowledge.

The ‘fragile’ steel machines couldn’t withstand her systematic violence.

Under Historia’s organized destruction, the soft Alchemic Steel was bent and crushed.

In the face of Alchemy (physics), nothing maintained its original form.

Leaving the factory, now a giant torch lighting up the night, Historia stepped out the door.

The Regressor, who had assisted in the destruction, responded sullenly.

“This is meaningless. It’s just a minor hindrance. Automaton carriages? The Signallers will scrape together replacements from elsewhere. Unless we deal with the Signallers…”

“We can’t deal with the Signallers. Even as a Star General, I don’t know where they work. Perhaps no one in the Military State knows except the Signallers themselves.”

Historia didn’t seem particularly regretful about not knowing.

The Regressor probed further.

“For someone who doesn’t know, you seem oddly concerned about the Signallers. Do you know something?”

“…I don’t. That’s why I’m concerned.”

Historia exhaled a plume of smoke and muttered.

“They definitely exist, but I’ve never seen them. That in itself is a horrific reality that most people don’t understand… Even a captain is no better.”

They exist but are unseen.

That means they are hidden or remain undisclosed.

Though she didn’t know about the communication solely through golems from the Windowless Room, she guessed something similar.

“Of course, if we attack the Communications Headquarters, it will cause disruption. Without it, the amount of information they can transmit will plummet.”

“Exactly! We need to attack there first!”

“To do that, we need to weaken them first. We can’t wage war without losing major facilities. Surely, the Military State will dispatch elite troops from Command… Then, we strike the then-empty Command.”

It sounded reasonable at first glance.

However, the Regressor, having gone through many battles, saw through Historia’s hidden intention.

“You’re trying to avoid direct combat, aren’t you?”

Starting with the change of direction to attack the automaton carriage assembly plant and persistently targeting only the facilities.

Historia was blatantly avoiding direct combat.

“Hmmm. You’re quite the pacifist.”

“Seems I’ve caught it from a boy who wants to stop the war.”

Out of retort, the Regressor sharply turned her gaze.

Historia didn’t avoid it.

They stared at each other for a moment before both looked away in dissatisfaction.

The Regressor asked.

“What about that guy?”

“If you mean Huey, he went to gather the laborers.”

“Why?”

Spitting out the burnt-out mana herb butt, Historia muttered.

“Probably to pull off another trick.”

***There’s a joke in the Military State.

In the factories, there are only gears.

Of course, factories needed workers.

No matter how precise the gears were, they lacked flexibility.

For various situations, it was reasonable to use humans.

So why were there only gears?

Because humans became part of the gears.

In the narrow spaces where gears creak and incomplete automaton carriages flow along the belt, they entered the gaps where stretching could mean losing their limbs.

Human heartbeats vary, but the factory’s heartbeat was constant for all.

Tick, Tock, Tick Tock.

In the darkness, everything synchronized in the same rhythm.

The laborers lie down or squat in their designated spots, fitting parts conveyed by the gears in time.

If they missed, they were penalized.

Since everyone worked in tandem, one person’s small mistake led to a delay for all.

The supervisor yelled, urging them on, while the next laborer, with cold eyes, watched as they corrected the mistake.

Because it was so harsh, the Military State only sent criminals to the Inner Circle labor camps.

Because of this harshness, the Inner Circle labor camps boast the highest productivity.

As I gathered the surviving people, I sensed thoughts from a corner and approached.

People were hiding in a corner of the facility.

I made loud footsteps as I approached and poked my head over them.

“Eek!”

“Now now! Come out quickly! Why are you all silent when I tell you to come out!”

As I urged them, the laborers came out crying.

After years of following the Military State’s orders, they had no seed of rebellion left in them.

I herded the crawling people into a corner.

Two hundred night shift workers operating the factory even at this hour.

I began a speech to the huddled, terrified people.

“…Seems you all don’t understand yet.”

Fwip.

I spread my hands wide, pointing to the hangar.

There, 200 unshipped automaton carriages waited for their owners.

“I’m giving each of you an automaton carriage! No strings attached! Waah, here’s your chance to own an automaton carriage, something you’d have to work till you die and then work another 30 years as a vampire to fully possess!”

Some laborers seemed interested, while others were suspicious of my intentions.

But most of them shut their ears in terror, waiting for me to leave.

“Leave us alone….”

Most Inner Circle laborers are criminals.

Don’t judge them too harshly.

In the strict Military State, a criminal refers to anyone that was not a model citizen.

People who stole, hit their neighbors, swindled money, accidentally killed someone, engaged in smuggling, or were caught joining the Resistance.

Once brave enough to ignore the law, they were now nothing but docile laborers.

They crouched passively, awaiting judgment.

“So, I’m offering you a chance to throw all that away! In front of you are automaton carriages, and all the soldiers who oppressed you have fled! You’ve broken your chains and gained the freedom to roam the world! Start a new life with an automaton carriage!”

“…What if we get caught while escaping?”

Someone muttered the worst-case scenario.

Once started, murmurs of the laborers burst out like a flood.

“We’ll be dragged deeper inside. W-We’ll all be dead.”

“We might be used as materials…. N-No, not the ‘inside’.”

“This is unfair. You attacked, and… it’s your fault we can’t meet our quotas.”

Now they directed their resentment towards us.

Fearing the future, they glorified the past.

We were fine before you came, if it weren’t for you, tomorrow would be just like yesterday.

They were dragged here for their crimes.

They trembled in fear as they knew even worse fate awaited those who rebelled.

Thus they swallowed their pride and obeyed the Military State.

The true success story of the Military State’s educational camp’s rehabilitation project.

Living gears, created by trampling on human dignity.

But I couldn’t leave them here.

Historia and the Regressor only destroyed the facilities, but these people were the core components of the factory.

With them, the factory’s restoration would be quicker.

To completely destroy it….

I cleared my throat and began to persuade them.

“Do you all know?”