WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor: Joy
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 29: Offers and entanglements
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“Until next time, then.”
Chuk-sin-doo’s parting words were not directed at Yuri. Wearing a broad grin, he waved at Orca, Harabel, and Namgung Ju-won before climbing into the Ascard Family’s carriage.
The Ascard Family, the de facto rulers of the great city of Rutlan, had an extraordinary carriage. The handsome horses let out short whinnies before naturally running through the sky, despite having no wings.
“Next time, my ass. Crazy bastard...”
Harabel openly cursed as she glared at the departing carriage. Yuri had not exchanged a single word with Harabel, but he could tell her temper was as fiery as her bright red hair.
“You, kid.”
Yuri had thought they would part ways now, but Harabel suddenly pointed at him. She seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning her gaze to Orca.
“He is not... affiliated with the Dersia Mage Tower... is he?”
Harabel, who had openly cursed and berated even Moonlit Reveller, Chuk-sin-doo, could not stop stammering as she added honorifics. Looking closely, she was not meeting Orca’s eyes. Her gaze was lowered slightly, fixed on Orca’s philtrum and lips instead of her eyes.
‘Just how did Orca subdue her?’
When Orca had said she subdued Harabel and dragged her to the Ascard Family in the past, she had not explained the details. Seeing Harabel, who looked so ill-tempered, cowering and unable to meet Orca’s eyes properly, Yuri could only infer that considerable violence had been involved.
“He is not affiliated with the Dersia Mage Tower.”
Orca answered with an indifferent expression. She acted as though Harabel being unable to meet her eyes was only natural.
“Why do you ask?”
“...”
Harabel bit down on her lip without immediately answering. This proud archmage was ashamed of herself for being unable to meet Orca’s eyes because of past trauma. She gathered her courage and slightly raised her gaze, but...
“Ahem.”
The moment she saw Orca’s golden eyes staring directly at her, Harabel quickly lowered her gaze again. She remembered the pain of her entire body being scorched by Orca’s lightning years ago.
“A-and he is not Fist Wolf’s disciple either? You said they were... something like master and disciple... did you not?”
“That is right.”
“Then... this kid is neither affiliated with the Dersia Mage Tower... nor Fist Wolf’s disciple, so he has no affiliation anywhere... is that what you mean?”
“That is also right.”
What was Harabel trying to say? Yuri still could not understand why she had suddenly latched onto him.
“Then I can take him with me... can I not?”
Yuri was startled by the sudden words. Elena was even more surprised, her blue eyes widening as she stared at Harabel.
“You want to take him? Why?”
“Moonlit Reveller is... a crazy bastard, but he is not blind when it comes to judging people... is he? He is not the sort to give praise he does not mean...”
Harabel stammered as she turned to Yuri. Heavenly Thunder Orca was the only one she could not properly face. When Harabel looked at Yuri, her eyes were as haughty as ever, and her trembling body stood straight again.
“It is talent acknowledged by the Martial Apex Venerable. Recognizing talent and teaching it are different matters, but he seems worth raising for amusement.”
“If he had talent for magic, I would have taken him myself.”
Orca answered with a faint laugh.
“It is certain that Yuri has aptitude for martial arts. However, his greatest obstacle is his mediocre mana affinity. We opened his dantian with an elixir, but his internal energy has grown only ordinarily.”
“If his natural affinity is poor, he can develop it later... can he not?”
“That is not easy.”
Orca stared at Harabel as she spoke, but Harabel did not look her way. She forced her eyes open wide and stared only at Yuri’s face.
“It is strange that you have taken an interest in him. You must like him quite a bit.”
“If he serves someone who is not even his real master that well, how well would he serve a real master...?”
Harabel clicked her tongue and spoke quietly. Yuri had coughed blood when Fist Wolf was clearly losing, and at the end, he had fearlessly supported Fist Wolf before Moonlit Reveller.
“He does not seem like the sort to stab someone in the back and betray them. If raising him does not work out, I can use him for odd jobs.”
“If you truly want to take him in, do not ask me. Offer it to Yuri directly.”
“I have been doing that this whole time... This brat has simply been too arrogant to answer.”
Harabel’s formerly cowed attitude changed again. She straightened her back, crossed her arms, and stared at Yuri with haughty eyes.
“Well? Your answer?”
“Pardon?”
“Why are you asking again? You heard everything. If you come with me, I will not treat you poorly. If you perform well and seem promising, I will feed you good things too.”
Was she serious? It was such a sudden offer that Yuri only blinked instead of answering at once.
Crimson Wing Harabel Ushia. Yuri did not know much about her. Still, Harabel had no reason to tell him to follow her while saying things she did not mean.
‘What should I do...?’
Earth was probably not much different, but this world seemed exceptionally kind to people with talent. Talent was essential for learning magic or martial arts, and there were clear stages of hierarchy.
It was not difficult to understand why people wanted to stake a claim on young talent whose achievements would be assured if properly nurtured.
Moreover, this was not a particularly peaceful world.
Someone who lived only in a great city like Rutlan might mistake it for one, but Yuri’s memories held many places outside the cities that could only be called hell.
The God of Chaos, known as the Evil God, was accelerating chaos in this world even now. Even setting aside the transmigrators summoned by the God of Chaos, incidents that threw the world into disorder, such as monsters suddenly going berserk or appearing in great numbers, were all the Evil God’s work.
Those who learned martial arts, whether from the Righteous Heavenly Alliance or the Black Dragon Society, put their fists before the law. Most of the Demonic Cult’s demon heads treated killing people as a game, and mages discarded moral principles whenever necessary.
The greatest problem was that the gods who truly existed did not actively intervene in such a world.
Harabel Ushia was a free mage unaffiliated with a mage tower. She had few people she could call allies and spent most of her time wandering outside cities. To Harabel, Yuri was a seed she wanted to cultivate once.
“Thank you for the offer... but I cannot go with you, Lady Harabel.”
That was Harabel’s situation. Yuri had his own. If he were not a transmigrator, it would have been a fine offer to accept without hesitation, but he did not want to travel with a seventh-tier mage.
For all he knew, Harabel might be hostile to transmigrators. He did not want her to discover what he was later and make things difficult for him.
“Is that so?”
Harabel’s brows knitted sharply at the rejection. They furrowed further when she heard Orca chuckling beside her.
“Do not regret it later.”
Harabel did not urge him any further. She spread wings of flame and flew into the sky without even leaving a farewell.
“Phew...”
Elena, who had been biting her lip beside Yuri, let out a relieved sigh.
“If he has rejected Crimson Wing’s offer, the Namgung Family will not even catch his eye.”
Namgung Ju-won, who had been quietly watching Yuri, smiled and muttered.
“My interest was drawn when I heard that his talent lay in martial arts rather than magic.”
“You must have wanted to bring him into the Namgung Family.”
“Today’s events have made me interested in this young man as well. If Moonlit Reveller has guaranteed his talent, it is certainly genuine. And I hear he is not Fist Wolf’s disciple either.”
Namgung Ju-won stroked his chin as he looked Yuri over.
“I thought we might bring him in as a warrior of the family and observe him... Then, perhaps, make him an official member of the Namgung Family. What does the young man think?”
“Pardon?”
“You need not answer immediately. I doubt I would hear anything but a refusal right now.”
Namgung Ju-won took something from his robes. It was a small pill wrapped in paper.
“It seems you have suffered internal injuries from agitation. Take this. It is good for internal injuries.”
“Th-thank you.”
Yuri did not refuse what was offered. He respectfully accepted the medicine with both hands.
“If you ever change your mind, come find the Namgung Family.”
Having said that, Namgung Ju-won spun around. Unlike Chuk-sin-doo or Harabel, he did not fly into the sky. He boarded the Namgung Family’s carriage.
Among the Namgung Family members boarding the carriage, one familiar face stared fixedly at Yuri. It was Namgung Jin, whom Yuri had seen a month ago. Namgung Jin had repeatedly glanced this way while warily watching Orca, but now his face was a mixture of shock and bewilderment. He had clearly never imagined that his father, Namgung Ju-won, would take such an interest in Yuri.
‘Damn it.’
Yuri was not grateful for all this attention. Moonlit Reveller had openly acknowledged Yuri’s talent, drawing attention from every direction...
“Elena. Are you returning with us?”
“Huh...? Ah, no. I will return with Yuri.”
“As expected.”
Orca did not press the matter. She curled a finger at Lacey.
“We are returning to the mage tower.”
“Yes.”
Orca placed an arm over Lacey’s shoulder and looked at Yuri for a moment. Lacey did the same.
“You should close your eyes.”
Lacey gave him the advice with a faint smile. Yuri was grateful for it. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away.
Crackle!
With the sound of electricity sparking, light flashed through his closed eyelids. When he opened his eyes a moment later, Orca and Lacey were gone. In their place, violet lightning crossed the distant sky.
“The 3.5 Billion Man, indeed...”
After everyone who was leaving had gone, Haryeong nodded.
“With so many places calling for you, Yuri-nim, you will not starve to death anywhere.”
“Please do not tease me.”
“Tease you? What do you mean? I am entirely sincere. Yuri-nim, even when you become greatly successful later, please do not forget me. It was I, Haryeong of Salhomun, who first taught you hand-to-hand combat.”
As she spoke, Haryeong held out her hand to Yuri. He looked at it, wondering what she wanted, and found her open palm spread before him.
“What... Do you want money?”
“Do you think I am a money-mad miser?”
“Every time I ask you for something, you go on about request fees and contracts.”
“It is not as though I want to. What can I do when that is Salhomun’s rule? Stop saying strange things and show me that pill.”
“Why? Are you going to take it if it is an elixir?”
Haryeong kept a blank expression and closed her lips for a moment.
“I really want to punch you.”
A muttering voice was audible even though her lips were closed. Yuri stared at her with wide eyes, and Haryeong’s closed lips opened.
“Yuri-nim, what is the matter?”
“What did you just say?”
“I do not know what you mean. I did not say anything. Yuri-nim saw for yourself that my lips were closed.”
“Do assassins need to be good at ventriloquism too?”
“I do not know ventriloquism, but a skilled assassin must possess many different talents.”
Haryeong spoke with the same expression as ever, curling a finger at him.
“Please, Yuri-nim. Stop provoking me and show me the medicine. I am doing this for your sake.”
“Yes.”
“I will give you valuable advice. You should not blindly accept what others give you. What if you eat it believing it is medicine, only for it to be poison?”
“Why would the Namgung Family patriarch give me poison?”
“A certain young master who was humiliated because of Yuri-nim and suffered a loss of three billion might have switched it with poison for revenge.”
“Come to think of it, that bastard was glaring at me fucking hard before he left.”
“Of course, this is only an example. That particular young master is not passionate and brave enough to do such a thing. This means Yuri-nim is simply self-important. Self-important people usually look obnoxious, stupid, and idiotic, so Yuri-nim should be careful as well.”
Though she had put it indirectly, Haryeong was ultimately saying Yuri was obnoxious, stupid, and idiotic. Yuri silently glared at her, but she inspected the pill from every angle with her usual blank expression.
“It is not poison. Unfortunately, it is not an elixir either.”
“What a shame.”
“Well, even the Namgung Family patriarch would not give an elixir to someone he met for the first time today. Still, it is indeed medicine that is good for internal injuries, so chew it thoroughly.”
Yuri chewed the medicine thoroughly as instructed. It must have been good medicine. Cool freshness spread through his burning, stinging insides as though they had been scorched by fire.
“Crimson Wing’s offer.”
Elena, who had been standing silently, suddenly spoke.
“It was a wonderful offer. Why did you refuse it?”
“Crimson Wing is a mage.”
“Not just a mage. She is a seventh-tier mage.”
“She is an amazing person. Still, I do not want to learn magic yet. I should become good at one thing first.”
“What about the Namgung Family?”
Elena added another question. Her dim eyes fixed on Yuri.
“The Namgung Family is a prestigious martial family. Is that why you did not reject them immediately?”
“They left before I could reject them.”
“You could have answered before that. Was it an offer that required consideration?”
“Namgung Yuri,” Haryeong muttered.
“Yuri Namgung.”
“...”
“If I had to choose between the two, I think Namgung Yuri is better.”
Elena’s dim eyes turned to Haryeong, but Haryeong continued without caring about the look.
“They said they would bring you in as a family warrior, observe you, and then make you an official member of the family... Hmm, adoption would be absurd. They must mean taking you in as a son-in-law.”
“A son-in-law?”
“Why are you so surprised? It is common for families that pride themselves on their prestige, whether in the West or East. The Namgung Family’s direct main line has the young lady Namgung Yeon-bi, known as the Azure Sky Sword Flower.”
Yuri knew of her as well. Namgung Yeon-bi, the cherished youngest daughter of the Namgung Family’s main house and the Azure Sky Sword Flower. She had left the Namgung Family in Rutlan and was currently a lay disciple of the Righteous Heaven Sword Sect, which was famed for its swordsmanship.
“Even so, the Namgung Family’s cherished daughter is far beyond Yuri-nim’s reach. They would likely pair you with a suitable young lady from a branch family.”
“What is wrong with Yuri?”
Elena, who had been listening with dim eyes, suddenly blurted that out.
“My lady, why are you reacting to that?”
“I... What did I do?”
“Good grief.”
Wearing an expression that did not look frustrated in the slightest, Haryeong tapped her chest several times.
“Anyway, I am on Namgung Yuri’s side rather than Yuri Namgung. Yuri-nim’s name suits an Eastern surname quite well.”
Haryeong secretly checked Elena’s expression. Elena could not bring herself to speak, only biting her lip. She was not smiling, but this mischievous assassin found her employer’s reaction rather entertaining.
“I have no intention of becoming either Namgung Yuri or Yuri Namgung, so stop saying strange things.”
Grumbling, Yuri supported Bakerd, who was lying on the ground. Bakerd was still unconscious and had not regained his senses.
“I am still a patient too. Could you help me?”
“Surely you are not planning to support that giant all the way back?”
“I cannot drag him along either.”
“Yuri-nim, when the mind is foolish, the body suffers. Clever me will borrow a carriage, so wait here.”
Yuri was left alone with Elena. The air was unusually cold, awkward, and heavy. He felt as though he should say something, but what was he supposed to say? Yuri glanced at Elena’s face, which looked colder than when he had met her in Oldor.
“What are you looking at like that?”
“Then should I not look?”
“Do not say it so unpleasantly. Do you have something to say?”
“Do not worry for nothing.”
“What worry? I have never been worried.”
“If not, never mind.”
When Yuri answered that way, Elena looked at him with a slightly softened expression. A few seconds, too short to be called silence, passed before Elena let out a deep sigh.
“How do you feel?”
“Much better after taking the medicine.”
“If you want to become a warrior of the Namgung Family, it is fine for you to go.”
“I told you I have no intention of going.”
“Then where will you go?”
“I have not decided yet.”
“So you are going somewhere.”
Did that really follow? Yuri shrugged instead of answering.
“Do not leave without saying anything.”
Elena muttered in a quiet voice.
“Yuri, if you are going somewhere, I will not stop you. But you cannot leave without saying anything. At least decide where you are going and tell me.”
“Okay.”
“And... and, before leaving alone. Go somewhere with me.”
“Where?”
“I do not know. I have not decided yet. But we have to go together.”
“I do not really understand what you are saying.”
“I will take a request from the Adventurer’s Guild.”
Elena spoke with her lips pushed out.
“A third-grade request should not be especially dangerous, and I can handle it alone. So come with me.”
“Why?”
“It is better to do it with someone experienced the first time, is it not?”
Elena did not yet know what Yuri would do after leaving the estate, but Yuri’s childhood dream had been to become an adventurer.
‘If possible, I hope he becomes an adventurer.’
Elena thought so privately, though she did not say it aloud.
It was not only because of the dream Yuri had spoken of as a child.
Adventurers had difficult lives.
Still, Elena would rather Yuri become an adventurer than become a member of a martial family like the Namgung Family or travel alone with an incredible mage like Crimson Wing.
Without settling in one place, Yuri could wander alone.
‘And I hope he returns later.’
Elena buried the words she could not bring herself to say in her heart.
Haryeong returned, seated in the driver’s box of a carriage.
Footnotes:
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