The meta-conveyor belt was land that flowed like a river, the great artery of the Military State, carrying countless loads of cargo.

But while the belt was an extraordinarily convenient means of transporting freight, whether it was a good way for people to travel was another question.

Whenever the flowing land rounded a bend, it split slightly apart before rejoining, sending the jolts directly through your body. You were left defenseless against rain, wind, and other weather, unable to get off wherever you pleased, moving only along a predetermined route.

Add the Military State’s characteristically strict inspections at major facilities, and practically the only people who traveled by meta-conveyor belt were soldiers heading to new assignments and residents of cities near the belt.

That was why we found only a few people when we went around the windbreak. There were actually more containers in sight than travelers.

“Hello! Nice to meet you!”

Behind the windbreak, about five travelers sat huddled together: an elderly combat engineer with a deeply wrinkled face, a mother and son sitting hand in hand, a newly commissioned medical officer heading to an assignment, and...

“More travelers! Now we won’t be bored! Hey, Gand! Make some room!”

“... She is a captain. Should you really be so casual with her?”

General Patraxion, the Peerless Spear, one of the Military State’s Six Generals.

And his adjutant and disciple, Colonel Gand.

These people were insane. What was a general doing here? Even traveling at the head of an entire unit would hardly be enough for someone of his stature.

While I read a few memories, the general beckoned to the colonel.

Colonel Gand cast a sharp-eyed glance at the captain. Looking her rigid body up and down, he lowered his voice and whispered to General Patraxion.

“Master. Weren’t we supposed to be on leave, concealing our identities? You can’t treat a captain like that.”

“Oh, damn it. Don’t creep up close and whisper at me. It gives me the shivers.”

Rebuked to his face, Colonel Gand briefly furrowed his brow. He stepped back a couple of paces, then used some method to convey words to the general that we couldn’t hear.

[“... Sigh. My point is, whatever that man knows, the captain has recognized us and clearly doesn’t know what to do.”]

“Tsk. Being too famous has its drawbacks. I wanted to keep my identity secret and then make a grand reveal.”

[“As if anyone wouldn’t recognize the most famous of the Six Generals... Now that you understand, please settle on an approach. Reveal yourself, or get her to play along.”]

“Reveal myself? Get her to play? You old bachelor, aren’t you letting your personal desires show a little too much? Haha!”

[“... Are you a dirty old man? Enough of that. Just tell the captain to keep quiet.”]

The general grumbled at the indignant Colonel Gand.

“Can’t even make a joke around you. Your reactions are no fun.”

[“What’s no fun is your... Gah. Your jokes, Master, for all that you are my master!”]

“All right, all right.”

The general snapped his fingers and looked at the captain. His lips moved ever so slightly.

At the same moment, the captain gave a violent start.

The wind stopped. Simultaneously, the general’s voice reached her directly, leaping across space!

It was a feat possible only with Heaven energy arts honed to their pinnacle, commanding even the atmosphere and the fiercely blowing wind.

[“Listen, Captain. Why don’t you keep our identities a secret? We’re actually on leave!”]

It was coercion disguised as a request, an order disguised as a suggestion. An order the captain, a mere communications officer, could never defy.

Faced with a request from one of the Six Generals, she barely managed to move her stiff neck in a nod.

“Affirm...ative. Understood.”

[“That said, we’re far too senior to go around addressing you formally. Just act reasonably relaxed. Be a little more casual with everyone. Don’t throw your weight around as a captain and spoil the mood.”]

Wow. What an amazing technique. He was clearly saying something, but not a sound reached my ears. Only the captain could hear his voice and respond.

He certainly seemed like the martial type, but apparently being one of the Six Generals came with all sorts of extraordinary tricks. Ah, I was jealous. When would I get some ridiculously overpowered ability?

“Come on! Get over here! We’ll be spending a long journey together anyway, so make yourselves comfortable!”

Anyway.

He was one of the Military State’s Six Generals. A little headstrong, perhaps, but if he found out I had come from the bottomless pit, I would be in serious trouble. Questioning would be a given, and one wrong move could get me summarily executed.

He might be concealing his identity now, but considering why he had applied for ‘leave’ at a time like this... he would be very interested in information about the bottomless pit.

I had to draw his attention away from this clueless captain somehow. I took her hand, and a startled shudder ran through her entire body.

“Bee! What are you standing around for? We’ll be spending the next few days with these people. Say hello!”

Holding her hand tightly, I approached.

The combat engineer and medical officer stood and gave brief salutes at the sight of her uniform. The mother, who looked like a civilian, huddled fearfully around her son. I gave them a gentle smile.

“Oh, don’t be nervous! Our Bee may have some impressive rank insignia, but it’s only her manner that’s stiff. She’s a sweet girl who couldn’t hurt a little cheeping chick! Isn’t that right, Bee?”

Faced with my beaming smile, the captain couldn’t bring herself to deny it and managed an awkward smile.

“A-affirma...tive. That is... correct.”

“Oh, look how nervous you are! I told you, it’s fine! This is your chance to talk to people!”

“... Please pay no attention... to me.”

‘General Patraxion is here. It would be better to keep quiet... But I cannot tell him that!’

Keeping quiet was the last thing we should do. Like it or not, we would have to spend about a day together. Better to make a racket and scatter his attention.

Secrets were meant to be buried in commotion, not silence. Right now, acting hesitant would only make us look more suspicious.

All right. Since things had come to this...

“Bee. You’ve gotten so stiff since you were commissioned. You used to follow me everywhere, calling, ‘Big brother, big brother’...”

“?!”

As I spoke with wistful eyes, the captain turned her head as stiffly as a creaking golem.

‘This damned man is playing games even in a situation like this...! Are you never satisfied unless you’re playing some rotten prank, no matter the circumstances?!’

“Well, you’re doing so much better than your big brother now. I suppose you don’t even want to acknowledge a useless, embarrassing brother like me anymore... Sob, sob.”

‘Never! I never want to acknowledge you again! If possible, I would like to forget I ever knew you! Every last bit!’

“It’s all right, everyone. She’s had a hard time growing up with a useless older brother like me. She’s only stiff because she’s nervous, so please be gentle with her. She really is a kindhearted girl.”

‘Don’t be ridiculous! How long do you think I will let you drag me into your pranks?!’

How long? Probably until we parted ways. There was no reason not to use our false identities.

Besides...

“Hey! That’s no good! However hopeless your brother is, you can’t treat him like that! Take this chance to make up and call him your big brother!”

The meddlesome general gleefully played along. His adjutant pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed, but didn’t look inclined to intervene on the captain’s behalf.

“...! I beg... your pardon?”

“I said, why don’t you take this chance to make up with your brother? You two looked so close earlier!”

“Uh, ugh...”

The trembling corners of her mouth were pitiful. But she couldn’t refuse a request from one of the Six Generals. She pressed her lips together, clenched her shaking hands, and spoke.

“P-please stop... big brother...”

“Wow! I never thought I’d live to hear you call me big brother again!”

As I began clapping with tears in my eyes, applause broke out around us. Even the adjutant, who had been sitting there pretending to be aloof, wore a warm smile.

The general thumped my shoulder and exclaimed enthusiastically.

“You make sure you become a brother your sister can be proud of! That’s your duty, and that’s what family is!”

“Thank you, brother. It’s all thanks to you!”

The general wasn’t offended by a form of address that swept away all distance between us.

“Brother? Hahaha! You’re a friendly fellow! Sit here! With a pleasant little brother like you along, this trip won’t be boring!”

“It’s an honor!”

I trotted after the general. Watching my retreating back with an incredulous expression, the captain kept thinking.

‘This is no time for that. He may be on leave, but General Patraxion is this nation’s first star. A legendary, self-made figure who brought down the kingdom with his own hands.’

Her worries might have seemed excessive, but considering who the general before us really was, even that wasn’t enough. The Military State’s Six Generals stood immeasurably above even the other generals, who were themselves called monsters. They weren’t war machines; they were war itself, walking on two legs.

World-class powers whose mere approach to a border put neighboring countries on high alert.

‘He might deduce our identities from even the most casual conversation...! If that happens, I cannot protect you!’

But that worry proved unfounded.

“I have a serious question for you, little brother. Answer honestly. Depending on your answer... we may become ‘enemies.’”

The general clasped his hands beneath his chin and glanced at me with eyes that carried all the anguish in the world. His gaze was impossibly grave.

After seating me, the first subject General Patraxion brought up was this.

“Which is the better weapon: a gun or a spear?”

Weapon theory.

At his words, everyone nearby touched a hand to some part of their face and began pondering deeply. The general, who had raised the question, spoke first.

“Let me state my position first: I favor the spear. Of course, I’m not forcing anyone to agree, so feel free to share your own opinions.”

As if anyone could. When everyone remained silent, the general scratched his head and shouted at the subordinate he could most easily push around.

“Hey! Gand! What do you think?”

“... I am currently tending to a spear, as you can see.”

“That’s why I’m asking! How’s the spear? Think it’s better than a gun?”

Colonel Gand glanced at the general and answered indifferently while tending to the spear in his hands.

“I can hardly insult myself. I favor the spear too.”

The general clicked his tongue and grumbled.

“Tsk. You’re no fun.”

His grip tightened sharply around the shaft. Colonel Gand gritted his teeth and replied.

“... I take that back. Whatever else may be true, every last spear user has a rotten personality.”

“That includes you, doesn’t it?”

“If it lets me spit in your face, Master, I’m willing to get my own face wet too.”

After Colonel Gand’s remark, no one dared speak up. While everyone cautiously watched the others, the boy in his mother’s arms raised a hand and shouted.

“I like guns!”

As mothers of bold children invariably do, she panicked and hurried to cover his mouth. But the general waved her off before she could and asked a question.

“My little friend! Why is that?”

“They’re cool! They go bang, and then someone drops!”

“Quite right! Guns certainly are good weapons for threatening an enemy or keeping them in check!”

The general laughed heartily, apparently pleased with the spirited answer. The boy’s innocent opinion got the conversation flowing again. The old combat engineer raised a hand and offered his view.

“I’ll cast a vote for guns. The kingdom was a land of spearmen, and gunmen destroyed it. Doesn’t that mean guns are better?”

The medical officer, who had been sitting silently, also ventured into the conversation.

“I believe spears are better.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Spear wounds are far more ragged and difficult to treat than gunshot wounds. A bullet that penetrates the body merely tears the flesh and lodges in muscle or catches on bone. A spear destroys flesh and muscle, and even breaks bones.”

The medical officer fingered the first-aid bag sitting nearby. It was an opinion only someone who had seen horrific wounds firsthand could offer, lending it unusual weight.

“Hmm. A medical officer’s opinion certainly has practical grounding! Well, then, what about you, little brother?”

Finally, my turn. As I cleared my throat and prepared a lengthy speech, the captain stared at me expectantly.

‘General Patraxion is a master spearman known as the Peerless Spear. It would be better to say spears in front of him... You probably do not know that, but you are not entirely oblivious to social cues. You will agree with the general. I trust you.’

All right. Message received, loud and clear. My eyes shone as I declared firmly.

“Guns, without a doubt.”

‘Why...! Why do you always choose the worst possible option?!’

I liked the look the captain was giving me. At the same time, a challenging gleam entered the general’s eyes as he asked me to elaborate.

“Oh? Why is that?”

The Peerless Spear, an epithet earned by reaching the very pinnacle of his art. Before the legendary spearman who had cut short the kingdom’s fate, I proudly stood by my views on weapons.

“First, range. No matter what you do, a spear’s reach is limited to its length. A gun, by contrast, has dozens or hundreds of times that range. That alone is an overwhelming difference. You might say the spear’s only advantage, its reach, becomes utterly insignificant before a gun.”

“Oh?”

Faced with this frontal rejection of the spear, the Peerless Spear muttered with some displeasure.

“But guns aren’t lethal outside close range, are they? Put just a little distance between you, and they can’t penetrate the muscles of someone with even a little training. With bullet-repelling energy, you can deflect shots fired right under your nose.”

“You can’t use energy arts practitioners as the standard. By that logic, an energy arts practitioner can catch a spear barehanded too, can’t they?”

“But unlike a bullet, a spear can be infused with energy. It can tear through the hand trying to catch it and pierce the body.”

Again, these were the words of someone who had done just that.

General Patraxion, the Peerless Spear, would lead his soldiers from the front, turning his enemies into chunks of meat stripped off a skewer. Countless people had tried to block, parry, or catch his spear, but none had ever boasted of the achievement.

The only ones who had even managed a semblance of catching it were corpses-to-be who had taken the spear through their bodies.

But here was the thing. I tilted my head and offered an innocent rebuttal.

“Doesn’t that just mean the energy arts are powerful, not the spear?”

“Pfft.”

The general turned his head with a terrifying expression. Colonel Gand, the Peerless Spear’s adjutant and a fellow spearman, wiped a hand over his mouth and feigned a blank expression.

“That traitorous bastard... Maybe I should disown him as my disciple...”

For the disgruntled general’s sake, I listed a few of the gun’s shortcomings too.

“Well, I admit it’s not all-purpose. Guns aren’t particularly effective against people in armor. Using high-level alchemical steel for expendable bullets isn’t economical, whereas people wrap themselves in gleaming, top-quality armor to protect their bodies. That makes a huge difference.”

“And even taking all that into account, guns are better?”

“Of course. Range is everything in a weapon. Even if a thousand warriors charge you, only eight can fight you at once. But if there are a thousand archers, you have to stop a thousand arrows, don’t you? Numerical superiority translates directly into fighting strength!”

“Well, look at the great military commentator. Anyone listening would think you’d fought a war yourself.”

General Patraxion grumbled sullenly. I scratched my head and gave a noncommittal laugh.

“Hahaha. I like imagining these things. Doesn’t it get your heart racing, imagining yourself as a general giving orders? It’s exciting.”

“Hmph. You wouldn’t think that if you actually tried it.”

“I’d like to try it myself to find out whether I would. Though in reality I’d only be some inept foot soldier. Even considering that, I prefer guns. You can use them far away from the enemy, can’t you?”

It wasn’t a lie. When spinning a story, mixing in a little truth made it more convincing.

I thought guns were good weapons.

Because I was more afraid of guns than spears.

As a mind reader, I was unlikely to get hit by a stray spear, but there was always a chance I would catch a stray bullet. Seeing someone fire away without even knowing where their bullets were going really made me want to quit being a mind reader.

Reading their thoughts and still being unable to dodge—didn’t that seem unfair? Once, I read someone’s intent to kill me by aiming for my heart on the left, twisted to the right, and had the bullet graze my right ear. Was that a fight? Did having your life threatened by an idiot who didn’t even know where their own gun was pointed count as fighting?

Well, anyway.

“Very good. I’ve heard your views on weapons loud and clear, little brother.”

The general glared at me, looking decidedly ungenerous and intent on getting even. I shrugged and shifted the blame.

“They’re not all my opinions. I heard most of the details from my little sister.”

“Oh? So the brother and sister are both...”

‘?! Negative! Negative! Negative!’

Suddenly singled out, the captain sounded alarms only inside her head.