Chapter 9 Green Chirp-Chirp Gui Banjing

　　Major General Sain’s statement sounded completely ordinary. Before Wei Yin could even savor it, Amanda suddenly gave a derisive laugh. “You really plan to just accept things like this?”
　　Major General Sain did not answer. He cut his steak cleanly and efficiently, his movements elegant, yet somehow giving the impression that the utensil in his hand was not a dinner knife but a combat dagger.
　　Amanda frowned, then sighed as if compromising. “Sain, you can’t keep giving up on yourself like this. Are you really going to do exactly what they want, have a child with an idiot, and spend your whole life that way?”
　　“Amanda.” Major General Sain raised his head and looked at her. “He is a descendant of the An family, and he is my wife.”
　　There was already a trace of warning in his words.
　　Amanda froze. Then she set down her knife and fork and grew solemn. “I know, Sain. I don’t mean to look down on Wei Yin. I know he is a victim too. But you should understand what I mean. You are a descendant of the Sain family, not a puppet for those old bastards! Even if circumstances force you to cooperate now, you cannot truly surrender to them in your heart.”
　　“Amanda. My condition isn’t very good right now.” Major General Sain raised his eyes. Even with Amanda speaking so harshly, his expression remained as calm as ever. “As they said, I really do need to rest. Likewise, I hope you can keep your composure.”
　　Amanda stared at Major General Sain. Several seconds later, she clenched her teeth hard, then stood without another word and left.
　　Damm turned his head to watch Amanda walk away quickly, then looked at Major General Sain, who was still eating quietly across the table. Puzzled, he said, “Strange. Up until yesterday, she was still relatively calm.”
　　“Today is March seventh,” Major General Sain said.
　　Damm paused. His expression immediately turned ugly as well. “All right. I completely understand how she feels now.”
　　Wei Yin was thoroughly confused. Seeing the dining room sink into dead silence, he could not suppress his curiosity and asked Shangyang, “Yangyang, what happened on March seventh?”
　　Shangyang: “Do you know about the Black Moon Incident?”
　　The Black Moon Incident had happened twenty years ago. A Sain family starship was unexpectedly surrounded by insectoids. The ship was destroyed and everyone aboard died. Major General Sain’s parents had been killed in that incident, and several leaders of the beastfolk were also said to have died with them. Major General Sain’s maternal aunt—Amanda’s mother—had been aboard that ship as well.
　　Wei Yin: “But wasn’t the Black Moon Incident on March sixteenth?”
　　Shangyang: “That was the date officially announced. The incident itself began twenty years ago today. As for exactly when they died, no remains were ever found, so no one can say for certain.”
　　Wei Yin was shocked. “Then why would they set the wedding date for tod— Someone deliberately scheduled the wedding for today?”
　　Shangyang sighed. “Looks like Major General Sain isn’t in a good position either.”
　　Wei Yin fell silent. Slowly, something seemed to block his chest, gathering into a dull, smoldering anger.
　　In truth, long ago, after the Sain family’s hereditary madness became public knowledge, the family had gradually lost political influence. Then the fact that members of the Sain family always “died young” also came to be accepted by the public as “normal.” Anyone with eyes could see that the Sain family had already been stripped of real power. And that marginalization had the support of the people—after all, no one wanted a madman as their leader.
　　Although Wei Yin deeply admired Major General Sain, inwardly he had always tacitly accepted that reality. Yet now, when the truth was laid naked before his eyes, Wei Yin discovered that he could not accept it at all.
　　This was Major General Sain. This was the Sain family! They represented the glory of the Empire. To this day they remained the Empire’s “House of the God of War.” Even if every one of them truly was mad, they had gone mad protecting the Empire. They deserved the respect of the Empire’s people, not to be treated like this…
　　Curled inside Wei Yin’s consciousness cloud, Shangyang stared in surprise as the surrounding mist surged and rolled like clouds and like an ocean, turbulent and magnificent. The enormous mental power within it seemed ready to burst forth, yet something always blocked it and prevented its release.
　　Shangyang: “…” All right. Perhaps the fact that it had been able to merge with Wei Yin’s consciousness cloud really was not entirely due to desperation.
　　Wei Yin sulked by himself for a while. In the end, he could only sigh. “Is this the tragedy of a hero at the end of his road?”
　　Shangyang watched the fog settle again and tested it. The mist had returned to its usual “useless” state. But clearly, what Shangyang had just witnessed had not been an illusion.
　　So Shangyang thought for a moment and said to Wei Yin, “Maybe you can try to cure Major General Sain.”
　　Wei Yin: “…Yangyang, you do know I used to be a low-level Sentinel, right?”
　　Shangyang: “But now you’re a descendant of the An family. Earl An, the partner of the founding ancestor Ares Sain, was the progenitor of Guides. Go further back, and the An family was also the founding lineage of Planters (①). To put it bluntly, today’s Guides and Sentinels are all inheritors of the An family’s teachings. You are now the only An bloodline. Your body already puts you ahead at the starting line.”
　　Wei Yin: “…Let me ask you again. You do know that the person inside this shell is a low. Level. Sentinel. Right?”
　　Shangyang: “I know, but you can learn. This estate is the ancestral home of two founding clans (②). It must contain plenty of journals, notes, and records left by generations of family heads. The An family devoted itself to researching mental abilities. There’s no way they left nothing behind. Wasn’t Earl An originally useless with supernatural abilities too? And what happened in the end? Even people born as high-level Sentinels or Guides still have to attend academies and learn the relevant knowledge, don’t they? Even those martial sects back in the Ancient Earth era—no matter how gifted someone was, didn’t they still need a martial arts manual?”
　　Wei Yin blinked. “That… actually sounds right?”
　　Shangyang: “Exactly! Look, you don’t want to pretend to be an idiot for the rest of your life, do you? If you want to turn things around, you need something you can actually rely on. So become stronger, young man! Knowledge is power. Sail into the ocean of knowledge and never look back!”
　　Wei Yin: “…Yangyang, why do you seem kind of weird today?”
　　Shangyang: “Do I? You’re imagining it.”
　　Wei Yin: “…”
　　Although Wei Yin thought Shangyang was behaving strangely, he could not deny that he was tempted. His current situation really was dangerous. At first he thought leaving the An family would give him room to breathe, but he had not expected the Sain side to be in a bad situation as well. His only way out now was to “rely on himself.”
　　The problem was—right now he was an idiot. Worse, he was an idiot like a wooden puppet. An idiot like that would never ask to study.
　　Shangyang understood his concern. “You can ‘recover’ a little in front of Major General Sain. After all, the two of you are on the same side now.”
　　Wei Yin had thought of that too. “I’m just afraid I won’t control the degree properly.”
　　Shangyang was a little worried as well. They still had not figured out Major General Sain’s personality. If he particularly hated being deceived, then once Wei Yin was exposed, the Major General might tear him apart—literally tear him apart.
　　But Shangyang soon had an idea. “You can do it gradually.”
　　Wei Yin: “How?”
　　Shangyang: “Start by revealing a few flaws so Major General Sain notices you aren’t actually a wooden puppet and that you do react to the outside world. Let him become suspicious. Once he starts questioning it, you can begin to ‘recover.’ At first, it would be best to act like a small child, then slowly improve.”
　　Wei Yin: “That sounds plausible, but if I start out like a ‘small child,’ there’s no logical reason I’d later recover all the way into a normal adult, is there?”
　　Shangyang laughed. With its deep, rough northeastern voice, it sounded almost like a powerful boss. “Isn’t Kalida still around?”
　　Wei Yin thought about it and immediately understood. “You mean make Kalida take the blame.”
　　Shangyang: “Exactly. Don’t forget that your body supposedly has drug dependency. But you can also make it turn out not to be dependency at all. As for what it really is instead, that depends on your acting.”
　　Wei Yin grew fired up by Shangyang’s encouragement and chuckled. “Whatever else I may lack, I’m confident in my acting. You think all those years I spent watching melodramatic television were for nothing?”
　　Shangyang: “…Your army let you watch television dramas?”
　　Wei Yin: “The old squad leader loved them. The people below imitate the people above.”
　　Shangyang: “…”
　　In the dining room, Major General Sain and Damm also finished lunch.
　　Major General Sain set down his napkin and looked at Damm. “Have Charlie arrange your room for tonight. I’m taking Wei Yin out for a walk first.”
　　Damm was still eating dessert. Hearing that, he shrugged. “Fine. I’ll stand my final watch properly and work hard at being your human shield.”
　　Major General Sain glanced at him, amusement appearing in his eyes. “Remember to return Taowu the day after tomorrow.”
　　Damm immediately looked reluctant. “I wasted twenty-one whole days of my life helping you fetch your bride. Can’t you lend it to me a few days longer?”
　　Major General Sain raised a brow and said nothing.
　　Damm surrendered. “Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll return it the day after tomorrow. Then I’m not staying here tonight. I don’t want to waste any of my remaining time with Taowu~”
　　Major General Sain smiled faintly. “Suit yourself.”
　　With that, Major General Sain withdrew his gaze, helped Wei Yin to his feet, and headed outside. But instead of going to the front courtyard, he left through another side, got into a small estate vehicle, and drove down the mountain.
　　Only the two of them were in the vehicle. Even Charlie had not come along. The vehicle moved very slowly, slow enough to take in all the scenery around them.
　　Wei Yin was still absorbed in the breathtaking spring landscape when Shangyang started shouting inside his head.
　　Shangyang: “Get ready. A rare chance for the two of you to be alone. Please begin your performance.”
　　Wei Yin: “…” You can’t just say “begin” and expect it to happen. If it was too stiff and deliberate, he would expose himself immediately.
　　Wei Yin was still worrying about how to “slip up” in a natural and logical way when the vehicle reached the mountainside. The road curved, and suddenly the view opened into a huge cultivated garden. Many varieties of plants grew inside, and quite a few people were busy working among them. The whole place was brimming with life.
　　Wei Yin’s eyes lit up—hey, he had it.
　　Author’s Note:
　　————————
　　①: Planters. (From The Planter of the Future.)
　　Definition: A type of ability user specializing in mental power and capable of condensing mental tendrils to influence spirit plants. (Spirit plants: raw ingredients for medicines that work on ability users.)
　　Evolution: Planters were originally divided into “cultivation, medicine-making, and healing.” As the eras changed, these developed into three modern professions: Planters, Guides, and Mechanics. (Setting for this novel: mecha have spirit-form cockpits, so Mechanics also require mental power.)
　　Additionally, “Planter” in this novel specifically refers to ability users who can cultivate spirit plants and manufacture spirit medicines.
　　————————
　　②: The two founding clans. (From The Planter of the Future.)
　　A very, very long time ago, humanity fled Earth for space. Just as their energy was about to run out, two ability users used their powers to warp space, allowing them to reach Holy Star and enabling humanity to survive here.
　　Those two ability users were Ares Sain of the Sain family and An Yunfan of the An family.