WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cyberpunk Chivalry ◈
Chapter 4: The Cloud Dragon Sets Forth
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Deep darkness lay over the waste disposal site.
The humanoid's sudden appearance had brought everything to a brief halt.
The REST-MANs stared at the humanoid on the hill with confusion, suspicion, and an unease they couldn't explain.
Facing them, the humanoid, Ash, held their gazes, turquoise optical sensors flashing.
A brief standoff. Silence.
Ash's gaze swept over the group, then settled on Akina's small figure. He also spotted the left arm she had fought so desperately to protect. It would probably be his final replacement part.
Memories suddenly passed through his main core.
The girl leaving the workshop every day, then returning much later, covered in dust and carrying all kinds of junk.
At the time, he had simply assumed that was her everyday life.
But now, seeing her surrounded by thugs and trembling like a leaf, he thought differently.
'You risked your life every time you went out.'
Ash knew a little about this world. He had not experienced it himself, but the data card had made that knowledge possible.
This world, Sanctum, was like hell.
It called to mind the Buddhist realm of asuras (修羅道), a place where the strong preyed on the weak and death was part of daily life.
And that frail girl had roamed such a place alone. Worse, she had ventured into this waste disposal site, which even Sanctum's citizens avoided more than anywhere else.
Every day.
With her life on the line.
To repair me, Ash.
Behind the bright smile she always wore lay shadows just as deep. Realizing this, Ash let out a short sigh.
'O Primordial Celestial Venerable...'
For the first time since coming to this world, Ash understood what he needed to do.
His gaze turned to the thugs.
All of them bore an unusual emblem on their shoulders. It showed yellow gears interlocking.
Though he had never seen it before, Ash knew what it meant.
[DATA RECALL: R.E.S.T.]
[DATA RESEARCH. . . NOW<<<]
Information about them unfolded from his database in a rush.
//*
R.E.S.T.
Recycle Equipment Support Team.
A private organization operating under a permit from the Sanctum Administration.
Its duties include retrieving the bodies of dead Pathfinders and recovering their equipment, cyberware, and, when necessary, biological organs for reprocessing.
(That's what it says, but they're a much shittier bunch! In reality, these lunatics deliberately kill people with minor injuries or illnesses and steal their equipment, so watch out if you run into them! They're absolute fucking scum!)
*//
With Akina's personal comments included, he could immediately see that these thugs deserved the wrath of heaven and earth.
His optical sensors shone coldly.
With a smooth motion, the humanoid looking down at the humans below leaped off the hill of waste.
Despite the huge steel body cutting through the air, his landing was eerily silent.
"Wh-what the fuck?"
The chilling atmosphere heightened the tension.
"What the hell are you, you tin-can bastard?"
A REST-MAN shouted.
But Ash did not answer. He briefly looked around, then pulled something from the waste, apparently having found what he wanted.
It was a heavily rusted metal pipe.
After swinging it a couple of times, he addressed the REST-MAN who had shouted.
"I am called Ash these days."
It was ridiculous.
A humanoid had appeared out of nowhere, picked up a pipe, and announced the [ASH] printed on its head as its name.
The REST-MANs, who had been tense over this unexpected encounter, burst into laughter.
"What's this fucking idiot saying?"
"Hahaha! You picked up a pipe and think you've got a weapon?"
Sneers. Mockery.
That was all it amounted to.
But their laughter did not last.
Very slowly, Ash assumed a swordsman's stance, holding the pipe in his right hand.
At that moment, a strange atmosphere, difficult to put into words, gripped the waste disposal site.
Suffocating pressure.
A chill that made their knees go weak.
A sharp sense that their lives could be taken at any moment.
Killing intent.
A terrible desire to kill that only someone who had fought through decades of blood-soaked battlefields could release.
"What the fuck, you want a fight?"
The largest man among them stepped forward. At first glance, he seemed ordinary enough, but he had a distinguishing feature.
Metal arms gleamed menacingly under the lights, even in the dark alley. He was a cyborg who had replaced both arms with cyberware.
"Who do you think you're showing off for, you goddamn tin can?"
Bam!
He slammed his hands together, producing a powerful crack through the air. Ash merely watched him, his stance unchanged.
Apparently displeased by that, the huge REST-MAN charged, swearing viciously.
As the distance between them closed, a low burst sounded.
Pshhk!
The huge man, who had seemed ready to bring his fist down at any moment, stopped moving completely. Disbelief and confusion filled his eyes.
A moment later, his upper body slid to the ground along a diagonal cut.
He had been sliced cleanly in two.
By the very rusty pipe they had mocked moments earlier.
With a rusty pipe...
He had cut through a person?
"A-aaagh!"
"What the fuck...!"
Having witnessed their companion's quiet death, the REST-MANs hurriedly drew their weapons.
Pistols, to be precise.
"Open fire!"
Bang-bang-bang-bang!
A hail of lead erupted with flashes of flame.
But Ash was already gone.
His figure seemed to blur like smoke as he dodged the bullets with strange, unpredictable movements.
Just when he seemed to be moving sideways, he was in front of them. When he appeared to retreat, he suddenly slipped into their flank.
Strangest of all, no matter which direction he moved, his body always faced his enemies.
Smooth and flowing, yet mysterious and impossible to predict, the footwork resembled a dragon (龍) roaming through clouds.
It was the Dragon Form Steps (龍形步).
"What is this? What the hell is this?"
"Hit him, you bastards!"
"Fuck, fuck!"
The REST-MANs pulled their triggers like mad, but not a single bullet touched Ash's body.
At some point, the gunshots tearing through the air gave way to hollow clicks.
They were out of ammunition.
Time to reload.
And that meant it was time for attack and defense to switch places.
Ash's optical sensors flashed.
Unlike his smooth, unpredictable movements until now, he burst forward in a straight line.
Flying Dragon Chases Lightning (飛龍逐電).
The charge was too fast for the eye to follow, as though he had leaped across space itself.
"Gurk!"
Before he even knew what was happening, another REST-MAN fell with a dying cry. Blood sprayed from his body like a fountain, staining Ash red.
That was only the beginning.
The REST-MANs clustered together fell one after another. It was hard to believe even while watching it happen.
Before long, only one remained.
The yellow-toothed man who had first kicked and threatened Akina.
All that slaughter had taken place in the time it took to reload once.
"Uhh... Uaaah..."
The overwhelming scene before him had left him completely out of his mind.
"A m-monster... It's a monster...!"
Yellow Teeth instinctively searched for a way to survive.
Looking around in panic, he spotted Akina staring blankly at Ash.
Come to think of it, they seemed to know each other.
Then couldn't he use her as a hostage?
He reached for Akina.
"Hey! Get over here! You bitch..."
But before his hand could touch her, a flash cut through the air.
Pshhak!
His right hand flew into the air, accompanied by a fountain of blood.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Ash had already closed in and swung his bloody pipe, cutting cleanly through the man's wrist.
"Aaagh, aaaaaagh!"
He screamed, clutching his wrist as fresh blood poured out. But even that scream did not last. Ash struck his head off.
A sickening crack rang out.
Silence settled over the waste disposal site.
Traces of slaughter lay everywhere. They were so gruesome that merely looking at them sent chills down the spine.
It was far too cruel and full of killing intent to be the swordsmanship of a Kunlun Sect Taoist, one said to keep company with the pure spiritual energy of Mount Kunlun.
That was true.
Ash was no Taoist.
He was only a blood-soaked swordsman who had abandoned everything for revenge.
"..."
Ash looked at the blood dripping from the pipe, then turned his head. His coldly shining turquoise optical sensors faced Akina.
"Miss A, are you all right?"
At his voice, Akina flinched despite herself. That was how frightening the blood-drenched humanoid looked.
Watching her, Ash's optical sensors flickered faintly. Suddenly, memories of the past overlapped her terrified face like static.
It had been at some mountain stronghold, after he had cut down the bandits there. Back then, too, there had been a frightened girl like her.
The Kunlun Blood Immortal had held out his hand to the kidnapped girl. He had asked her to come down the mountain with him. She had screamed and backed away.
"Don't come near me! You monster!"
He had been her savior, yet also an object of terror.
'Why do I recall those days now?'
An inexplicable bitterness crept through Ash's processor. Even after coming to the underworld, he had not changed at all.
Then it happened.
"Mister."
Akina spoke.
"You're... Mr. Ash, right?"
Ash slowly nodded.
"That I am."
In a sudden rush, Akina's face came closer through the glitching static that overlaid his memories on reality.
She had thrown her arms around Ash's steel body, covered in blood and greasy grime.
"...!"
At her unexpected action, he felt as though every system had stopped.
"Did you come to save me?"
"...Something like that."
"Really?"
"Indeed."
"...Thank you. I was really scared."
The girl's words were true.
Even now, she was trembling faintly.
Ash hesitated for a moment, then let go of the blood-soaked pipe and patted her back.
He felt warmth.
Now that he thought about it, it had been so very long since he had felt warmth like this. Not only in this life, but in his previous one as well.
At that faint warmth, the glitching static that showed him his past shattered and fell away.
After a while, Akina spoke.
"Mister, what are you, exactly?"
"I do not understand the question."
"I haven't installed any combat software yet. How can you fight like that?"
How should he explain this?
After a moment's thought, Ash answered.
"My body simply remembers."
"Huh? But I'm the one who put your body together."
"...That is not what I meant. More importantly..."
Ash turned his head toward the mechanical arm lying on the ground.
"Is that my arm?"
"Oh! Right!"
Akina released him and quickly brought over the mechanical arm.
"This thing's super expensive. It even has a built-in blade! Want to see?"
The girl awkwardly worked a control somewhere on the arm. The back of the arm split open, and a long blade shot out.
"Isn't that fucking awesome?"
"...It does seem quite wondrous. But where did you obtain such cyberware?"
"I stole it."
For a moment, Ash was at a loss for words.
"Hehe. Let's hurry up and get your left arm attached!"
"...Miss A. Might we move elsewhere first? As I understand it, those thugs belong to a fairly large organization."
"Oh, right!"
Akina hurried to Ash's side.
"I think we'll have to abandon the workshop, too. It's a little earlier than planned, but we don't have much choice."
Ash nodded.
"I agree."
"I know someone. He's an old man who used to be a pretty big-name Pathfinder, but now he's retired and just hangs around running a bar. He's in the Gateway District. Shall we head there first?"
Ash nodded at Akina's nonstop chatter.
"As you wish. But this Gateway District you speak of...?"
"Hm? Oh, right. It's in Sanctum."
"Sanctum..."
The waste disposal site where they stood belonged to Sanctum's "outskirts."
Without thinking, Ash raised his head.
"You mean over there?"
"Yes."
Not very far away, structures resembling enormous walls or cliffs made of light rose endlessly toward the sky.
No grand castle or mountain range could compare to their overwhelming scale and strange beauty.
As he gazed at the citadel of light as though bewitched, he felt a faint warmth at his fingertips.
Akina had taken his hand. When Ash turned to look at her, the girl spoke, looking a little embarrassed.
"Um, I still can't stop shaking..."
Without a word, Ash closed his hand around the girl's small one. Apparently pleased, Akina gave him a bright smile.
"Hehe. Shall we go, then?"
"Let us."
A girl and a humanoid.
Leaving the darkness of the waste disposal site behind, the two walked toward the city blazing with dazzling, multicolored light.
Where those steps would lead was still unknown.
But one thing was certain: they were not alone.
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