Isekai, Meet Machine And Magic

Chapter 7: Honor and Nightmare

{Operative's POV}

The first sensation I had was warmth and cosiness… There was something soft and squishy very close to me, and suddenly I had a d.e.s.i.r.e to cuddle it, which I did. My brain was still stuck in the sleepy mode and unable to comprehend any external stimuli. Heh, I had been a sleepy-head for a while now, getting out of bed was actually the hardest part of the day. After all, I always studied hard the night before, and last night…

Oh… SHIT!

I bolted up the moment the implications of last night rushed back to my head. Heck, the simple part of "what I had done" even sent a batch of metallic air right up to my nose. It was frightening, knowing what I could do and had done. I had killed people before, but I did not personally present when they met their demise, nor I got up close and personal. No, years ago, I only ambushed the witches and their henchmen via traps and long-range weapons. This time, I personally executed those filthy nobles. Worse, I even did so right in front of Yukino!

She would regard me as some kind of demon! After all, only demons took p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in ending other lives with such a brutal manner. Besides, the Security Bureau had a terrible reputation of being heavy-handed and brutal, though it was not without reason. What I did last night was simply adding fuel to a raging fire, just like the KGB did during the Cold War to their own people.

Then, I suddenly felt something soft and warm draping over my c.h.e.s.t. The jump-started process of waking up had already flushed enough adrenalin into my brain, and I was very tempted to strike back at the source. After all, whoever did this had been able to surprise me, and in general, it was a bad idea to play a prank on anyone with military training. At least, I had military training. My brain was able to catch up with the environment, and I had finally recognized who was hugging me.

It was Yukino, my girlfriend.

First, I was relieved, after all, she was unharmed. I did not tell the full story of what the nobles had planned for her yet, mostly because it was pretty f.u.c.k.e.d up. The hidden part was actually the one that pushed me over the edge… and then it came, the fear and the dread of her considering me as a monster. I recoiled in her embrace, struggling to break free. However, my girlfriend saw it as a vindication to hug me tighter.

"Yukino, please, I'm…"

Then, she suddenly kissed me. The rush of hormones was able to freeze my brain for quite a few seconds. What? It was not fair! How could she take advantage of a stricken-with-emotion youngster and simply snog the heck out of him? Ok, to be fair, I did the same to her last night, but I was a boy! This should be a privilege reserved for boys to calm their girlfriends down. Of course, I had no problems with the part where her tongue was dancing in my mouth, massaging the inside of my cheeks.

I lost the count of time, but I was damned sure that by the time we broke off, we both had to gasp for air and my face was flushed red. And what did we do after we take a break? We simply jumped on each other for another lengthy kiss. This time, we were less physically intimate, but the kiss was no less passionate than the last time. If I had been a poet, I might have spouted out a dozen lines of flattering lines. But then, I was not, so all I could think of was that the second time was more akin to a timber compared to the raging fire of the first time.

"Hm… Heroes? Are you done yet?"

A hesitating voice on my right caught me off-guard… Hang on a f.u.c.k.i.n.g moment! We were not alone? I shifted my sight to the side and primed myself for a termination mission. Ok, it sounded a bit extreme, but one should note that I was a part of Security Bureau, we would plan for any eventuality that might happen. Thinking about that, I wondered if they had considered the scenario where both Yukino and me falling hard for each other… Meh, they probably did. They simply failed to consider the ridiculous notation of an isekai event. To be fair, the intense snogging session just then could see a termination on my own arse.

Anyway, back to reality. The moment I turned to the side, I had been able to recognize the one speaking up. It was no one other than the elder princess. From the look of her face, what we did was seemingly some scandalous shit. The younger princess was having her eyes shielded by a lady-in-waiting, and another was flapping her fan, covering the lower part of her face. Of course, being a scandalous topic, they were all torn between looking away and watching with rapt attention.

I coughed a bit to recover my composure, using the brief lull to check on my body. Considering that I just woke up from Yukino's l.a.p.s, perhaps it was a good idea to make sure I was presentable. At least my clothes were good. Sure, they were the one I wore last night, but they were still clean enough. Translation: I did not smell anything too strange or too terrible. It was a wonder how I could make Yukino fall for me…

"Yes, Your Highness, we have finished… for now."

I took a deep breath and calmed down. My own mind was still in turmoil, but at least I was able to shove it to a corner of my mind, or at least, tried to. I failed at that with my fingers still twitching and my glances were constantly thrown at my girlfriend, looking for a sign of approval or comfort. The two princesses and their ladies-in-waiting (including maids) must have recognized my own problem, but before they had any chance to speak up, Yukino had already held my right hand. It was the very same hand that had dealt out blood the night before.

"Heroes, aren't you afraid of the repercussion from my Empire?"

"Ah, your Highness, you have forgotten it already, haven't you? You have already yielded the control of the battle to him. What he did last night was quiet… immoral, as in he killed them in a brutal way, but it was perfectly legal."

My girlfriend instantly defended me before I had the chance to do it myself. Well, colour me impressed. She knew the lie I made, yet she still followed through with it. Yes, I lied the night before. While I was, in fact, an Agent, my rank was simply insufficient to request a local dignitary to yield the case to me. The sheer political shenanigan part was reserved for Agents with Level Five and above.

However, if I had not done that, the nobles would get away scot-free. The common-born soldiers had told me about it. Here, on Ashka, the nobles practically had the absolute power, each of them was a king in their own realm. More often than not, they had magic, which they used to keep the commoners and peasants down. The soldiers did not tell me much, but it seemed things were "pretty bad". From their tone, it was normal for a noble to demand a young beautiful but poor peasant girl from a family, all to see her disappearing soon afterwards. And to think it was the tamer side of the whole issue.

It fit right in with what the nobles told me last night. I had read some after-action reports during the war, I was quite privy to some classified information of the Security Bureau, I knew for sure that there was simply no innocence on either side. Yet, less than a month here and I had heard something even more f.u.c.k.e.d up. During the war, many magical felt that was a bit too much, but here, the magical considered it as "normal". To think they dared to think of doing that with Yukino, my Yukino…

I had to quickly reign down on my anger. They had been properly punished, and there was simply no use dwelling on the topic. Trying to keep a passive face, I listened to the conversation unfolding in the carriage… Yeah, Yukino pulled me onto her l.a.p so that I could keep sleeping on the ride – go figure.

"But they are nobles, they are entitled to have their own judgment dispensed by the Emperor. Surely it is the same on your home?"

They were somewhat correct. The Terran Federation had its own noble class, the elites. But then, even under the eye of the law, they were all equal to the commoner. They might have money and resources to have access to the best lawyers, but even then, it could not save them from the fate if they had practised slavery. In fact, no self-respecting lawyers would even accept the contract to protect those criminals, even the demons had their own standard.

Speaking of the matter, it took quite a while to convince the two princesses and their girls that the Terrans had no need for slaves. After all, a slave was simply too inefficient compared to a machine, not to mention the much higher production cost. They did not buy it until I showed them the images from home. Of course, I did not show them any metropolitan like Tokyo or New York, it would be too scary. A small town might be more appropriate…

Obviously, my definition of a small town was vastly different from theirs. For me, as long as the population was under a million, it was "a town". For the princesses, the same number could stand for a country. Seeing their faces watching a normal grocery store was quite enlightening, especially once Yukino told them that everyone could buy from the stores with their basic salary. Perhaps for the princesses, they had never ever seen such a diversity of food in their lives. Oh, and once they were told that it was "a small town", they practically fainted.

OK, it was one lady-in-waiting that fainted, but after me showing them some landmarks of skyscr.a.p.ers… Yeah, they were all speechless. Yukino seemed to have a sadistic trait forming in her when she told the others that such skyscr.a.p.ers were normal – and NONE of them was built with magic in the first place. Too bad for me, the mention of that magical phrase (pun intended) was the breaking point, one that led me to the very beginning of the problem. Specifically, they wanted to know why I was over-enthusiastic in executing those nobles.

It would be a pretty cold day in hell when I told them the real reason why I slit their throats. Of course, being an intelligence operative, I could use the half-truths. After all, those reasons were probably enough to drive me to such frenzy state… even if in reality, I still needed a personal one to nudge myself into that direction. It was not actually that surprising. In Vietnam War, a good portion of VPA (Vietnamese People's Army) joined to avenge the deaths of their relatives in combination to fulfilling their duty to Motherland – communism was at the far back of their mind. In World War Two, both sides of the war saw their men joining the fight to protect their loved ones, in addition to "being men". Then, in World War Three, there were simply no shortages of reasons to join the armed forces…

No, World War Three was a mess too big, not to mention that it was a war against the magical, and the two princesses (along with many other nobles) were magical. Telling them "we would love to kill you in a thousand ways" was simply… impolite. My mind ran different scenarios, trying to find the best compromise. Then I remember it, I had already told them about the opening of Battle of the Somme of World War One. Now would be a good time as ever to tell them the full story of the war. A war where too much was a loss but too little was gained.

Ten minutes into a brief showing – thanks to a doc.u.mentary – the local ladies had been highly agitated. First, they watched the parade with rapt attention, soldiers were marching in neat ranks and files. From their comment, even the "Imperial Guard" would have great troubles in simply matching that level of discipline. Then, they took turn admiring the commanders, from a newly minted Lieutenant to an old and regal Colonel. However, their attitude did a complete 180 once the fighting began.

They saw men were sent in droves just to die. They watched the earth rumbling for days and nights with an artillery barrage. The barb wires and the minefields went completely what they had been imagining about war. Then, the mud and the water came, revealing the dirty secrets of the war: decaying bodies. While the carriage was well ventilated, I was pretty sure that they were able to smell something.

The doc.u.mentary kept rolling on, showing the horrors of war. Dirt was splattered when a large calibre round from an artillery battery hit the ground. Traces of light were seen when machine gun posts were trying to hold off a night attack. The crows were flying over an eerily silent battlefield, on that was littered with incomplete dead bodies. The barbed wire entangled on the No Man's Land, warping its coiled form around a few unfortunate souls…

Then, there were mud and rains. The whole battlefield was soaked with water, every step was a risk for the soldiers to be caught up in the wetland. Then, men were simply pounding on each other. It did not matter if he was a young and promising Lieutenant or an old and wise Sergeant. They were all bleeding in the carnage where there was simply no "honour" – even with the early-Renaissance era's definition. They were dying in mass number, and more often than not, their bodies were not recovered. The poor souls were just left there, rotting in the mud and under the rain. Meanwhile, the generals and colonels had a few more shiny medals on their c.h.e.s.ts and their bellies became stiff with luxury food.

When the simple doc.u.mentary finished, the two princesses were sobbing. They were crying for young men they had never ever met, and they would never do. The sheer scale of the killing was staggering for them, going over what was told in the stories and legends. Thousands and thousands of men in a charge were considered as a normal occurrence. Blood was shed in an absolute brutal manner. Yet, for all that loss, too much was a loss for too little gain.

"Ho… How could you people become such bloodthirsty?"

"I don't know, your Highness, the philosophers back in my home are still trying to figure out the answer."

"Those soldiers, did they finally have their honour respected?"

"Your Highness, they would probably scoff at the idea of honour. For them, the so-called honour was little difference from nightmares."

The two princesses became silent after that, trying to understanding my answer, or rather the lack of it. Of course, philosophy might have little to do with this, biology might be the key. After all, Charles Darwin had said it already: "survival of the fittest". On Earth, the war was a constant, a norm, and the more we fought, the more we strived to limit it. Here, on Ashka, the people simply loved fighting, and they had to gut to soldier it on.

The carriage was getting back to its original silence. Both Yukino and I were not the talkative types, and the local nobles were simply too shaken up to form a coherent talk. It suited me fine, I had a few plans before I was rudely interrupted… Though Yukino was still holding my hand, so perhaps they were not really necessary anymore?

"I don't care honey."

The sweet melodic voice of my girlfriend caught me off-guard, and it seemed the ladies sharing the ride suffered the same as me. She was still sitting comfortably on the couch and looking straight at the princesses. Her eyes were hard to decrypt, though it was not very hard to notice that she was still holding my hand tightly.

"Even if the… girls here say you are a coward, a cur, a rowdy, a dishonourable bastard, to me, you are still my beloved. You simply want to protect others, and as long as you do that, you are a hero in my own heart."

"But…"

"Seriously, what is honour in the first place, Vuong?"

…

Her question caught me off-guard. To be fair, it was a good question. The princesses here claimed me as someone "dishonourable", the ladies-in-waiting probably had a few more unflattering words for me. But even then, in order to call me a cur, they would need to find a definition of the term "honour" first.

I glanced out of the window. There was little change in the scenery for the last few days. It was simply a path going through a forest… ok, it was more than "just a trail". The path here, even if it was simply dirt, was pretty even and well-maintained. Both sides of the road were clear of trees, and the nearest distance to the dense tree line was around 150 meters. The density of plants and vegetables was also pretty low, as long as I kept my standard of tropical rainforest as the based level. Maybe because it was the main path connecting two countries together that it was in such a good condition?

Perhaps…

"Do you remember a poem from our home Vuong? It was… old. I think. And I only know the first two lines. And do you also want to listen to that your Highness? It might also contain the answer to my question previously."

As it turned out, Yukino was referencing a poem about honour and shame.

Honour and Shame from no condition rise

Act well your part, there all Honor Lies.

It was apt, thinking about it. The honour was simply a social notion so the changes in society would lead to the change in its meaning…

"Just look at the road here, your Highness. Who paid their sweat to make this trail? Who toll on the forest to cut down the trees, allowing us safe passage? And who would patrol around to make the whole trip relatively risk-free? Do you think those are the acts of honour?"

Yukino had a point. Honour, in Terran Federation, was simply understood as taking the job and finishing it well. No, if, no but, and no crying – those were for the weak and incompetent. Just try as hard as possible, and one could be sure that one day, all of his hard work would be honoured and respected.

The same concept also extended to the military, where honour was usually associated with bravery. It took guts for a military unit to jump out of a plane, paratrooper-style, with just a few days of training. Their job? To deliver help, support, and reinforcement to an isolated area wrecked by a landslide. It was honour and prestige for young city-dwellers volunteering to become teachers so that the kids in remote and poor areas could combat illiteracy.

And then, during combat eras, the phrase honour was bounded even more tightly with bravery. A Russian officer called an air strike on his own position, knowing that he was the last man alive and he could not break out of the surrounding. A team of US Marine held off a magical zombie charge for three hours of non-stop fighting so that civilians could be safely evacuated. There were simply more and more such tales on Earth and telling them all could last until the end of time.

The honour was not blindly rushing forward, but accepting the duty and following it through. I knew it already, but it took a special occasion to know how deep it was.

I was acting as an Agent (Level 2) of Terran Federation's Security Bureau. My job was to protect the citizens of the Federation and maintain the peace, whatever it took. My execution last night could be seen as brutal, but in the end, it was only to protect my friends and especially my love. I was simply doing my job, and Yukino had already considered me as being honourable. After all, all I did was doing my job.

Fireteam Bravo and the remaining of my classmates also accepted that. Though perhaps, it was more correct to say they were torn. They knew that they stood for risk of being enslaved and I was the one stopping that. On the one hand, they despised slavery, so they had no qualm of seeing those nobles being killed. On the other hand, they only grudgingly accepted my way of execution, mostly because they were still green. In the end, though, they agreed with my way, they knew that I would do whatever it took to protect them.

The two princesses here took a lot more persuasion power. They were too shaken by our vastly differently defined "honour". At least, they were able to finally chalk it up to us coming from another world. They were shaken enough with our blunt showing of warfare and the synonym to "nightmare", so they refrained from asking us more about the topic. Apparently, they were about to join a "War College" or something like that, and the idea about honour made them a bit too high.

I had no idea if what I did was right or wrong, showing them the images of World War One… But considering what the Pope had said, it was perhaps better for them to know about this beforehand. A war was coming, and the war was hell. For a war against demons and darkness itself? Heh, I might have reservations on those two words, but I had read too much hentai to even care about their eventual fate.

Yeah, at least I would have the chance to control my impulse and my l.u.s.t here. With no hentai and p.o.r.n, more chance was available to me to keep check of my own d.e.s.i.r.es. Besides, if all failed, I still had Yukino left – and I was pretty sure that she was thinking the same…

Speaking about honour, there was another aspect of it – being good guys. And like any other nice guys, I switched from the cold dark reality of war into something friendlier, the cultural and scientific advancements. Of course, even if I was cynical, I would not tell them that sooner or later, those two would find its connection to warfare.

At least the girls were impressed enough with the sights of science already. Who knew that they were actually impressed with Chemistry? I made a grimaced – I could understand the basic principle, and I could deal with the math on a practical assignment, but Chemistry was never my hobby. I preferred Physics, which might be the result of my parents. They both studied Mechatronics engineering when they were young, and they simply loved to put me through a quiz…

To be fair, seeing an old hyped man making a giant fireball out of nowhere was interesting and entertaining enough. It was further intriguing when Yukino and I confirmed that there was no magic involved, and anyone with sufficient study and preparation could do that.

"Do you know, your Highness, that this is another form of Honor?"

"What? Where is honour in being some measly entertainer?"

"First, he is not some measly entertainer, he is a full-fledged teacher. It took him at least 40 years of constant study and research to earn his title. And two…"

"Hang on? Forty years? That would make him a Sage!"

"Yes, so your Highness must have realized how intelligent and how knowledgeable he is now. And two, well, he is only using an entertaining trick to teach better. This could earn immediate respect from the students… Then, for him, that could be considered as his Honor."

The noble ladies began to look comprehensive after that. It looked like they had reached something intangible. Maybe, they had been able to get a glimpse of what we Terran called "honour". Heh, it would be a long way for them to truly grasp it, after all, even on Earth, we were still having troubles agreeing on a single definition of "Honor".

The carriage got back to its silence again with the princesses decided to take a nap. Some of the noble ladies were also dozing off, though I was pretty sure that two of them were just faking it. The corners of my mouth quirked up a bit, they understood the concept well. The honour was simply doing what one must do, those two girls were bodyguards, and it would be a damned cold day in hell before they neglected their duty.

Well, it looked like my job of fighting with them would not be impossible after all. With some of the local being on the same line of thought, the workload will be much easier. The only job left was to teach them how to overcome their own nightmares… I did not know about others, but I had found my own way.

Yukino was beside me, and for me, that was enough to ward away the nightmares.