WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor: Joy
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 44: Do you really want to know?
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Elena could not rise from where she had collapsed. Her legs still had no strength, her body felt hollow inside, and her head spun.
Was it because her soul power had been depleted? Or...
Elena bit down on her lip.
‘Yuri.’
Yuri was fighting. Yuri was fighting the old demonic martial artist that neither Elena’s magic at full power nor fifth-tier Haryeong had been able to bring down.
“Ah, no.”
The murmur escaped before she realized it. As the battle continued, blood kept spraying from Yuri’s body. Considering his opponent, it was only natural. The more blood that spurted out, the more Yuri’s body swayed.
Some distance away, Haryeong sat collapsed on the ground, drawing ragged breaths as she treated her injuries. Elena still could not use magic.
But she could not just keep watching.
Elena bit her lip and forced herself to her feet. The wand in her trembling hand felt so heavy that she could barely hold it properly.
‘Please, please...’
She barely managed to aim the wand and begged the mana.
At this rate, Yuri would die. If Yuri died, Elena and Haryeong would die too, but Elena did not care about that right now. What mattered was that Yuri did not die.
‘...’
Yuri?
Was that really Yuri?
She did not know. Before the Blood Fiend appeared, Yuri had simply been Yuri. The Yuri Elena knew, the Yuri she had met in Oldor and known for six months.
But the Yuri before her now...
She did not want to think about it. She would have to someday, but at least not now.
Please.
Elena begged the mana again. She begged for magic that could turn this situation around.
“Ah... ah...”
But the mana would not move. Her depleted soul power could not form a spell formula capable of drawing in the abundant mana around her.
At that moment, there was nothing Elena could do. A mage who could not use magic was utterly powerless.
‘If only I were stronger.’
‘If I were strong enough that Yuri would never have needed to step forward.’
A black thought squirmed deep in her heart. It was rotten and repulsive, something she could not bear to face directly.
Elena gasped and dragged her feet forward. The mana she resented would not answer her.
Then, at least with her body...
Crack.
She heard the sound just as she was barely closing the distance.
The battle was over.
It was unbelievable, but the Blood Fiend was dead.
“Yu... Yuri?”
Once again, Elena called his name without realizing it. Even as she suspected that this might not be someone she should call Yuri, she had no other name to call him.
“Yuri... Yuri? Yuri...!”
The Blood Fiend, its chest crushed, hung limply. Yuri had collapsed over its body.
What if? What if...?
The ominous thoughts filling her mind were terrible.
Strength left her legs, which could not even walk properly. She fell forward without even managing to sit down. Her nose throbbed from the impact, and blood flowed from it. Dirt stuck to the blood in her mouth, turning it into wet mud.
She did not care about any of it.
Elena drew frightened breaths as she scraped at the ground with her hands and moved forward.
“My lady.”
A voice reached her. It was Haryeong.
Haryeong stood with one hand clutching her stomach, her face as pale as a corpse.
“Crawling like that, you look rather like a grub.”
Was this woman making jokes even now?
Elena raised her mud-covered face and glared at Haryeong. Since her left side hurt too much, Haryeong only shrugged one shoulder.
“Please do not glare at me so. The situation is so miserable and dreadful that I merely tried to lighten the mood with a pointless joke.”
“...”
“Goodness. Miss Elena, I have rather a lot of confidence in my sense of humor, but seeing your expression makes me feel that confidence crumbling.”
“How’s Yuri?”
Elena cut her off. Haryeong looked at Elena for a moment with emotionless eyes.
“He is alive.”
Elena’s expression changed at the answer, but Haryeong did not miss the other emotions mixed with her relief.
“What will you do?”
“...”
“My lady has many flaws, but you also have clear strengths. I do not think you are wise, but I do think you are intelligent.”
“What... are you trying to say?”
“If you order me to kill him, I will obey.”
Elena’s cheek twitched.
“I do not actually wish to do so, but if my employer, my lady, orders it, I have no choice.”
“Haryeong, what are you talking about?”
“If killing him is not to your liking, shall we at least subdue him?”
Haryeong looked toward Yuri.
“Personally, I recommend that. As I said earlier, I do not want to kill Yuri-nim.”
“...”
“Still, even if it is something I do not wish to do, I believe there is a need to keep him subdued. My lady is very exhausted right now, and my internal injuries are quite severe. I do not know Yuri-nim’s condition, but if Yuri-nim wakes up and behaves violently, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to protect you.”
“Behaves violently? How would Yuri behave violently? Do you think Yuri would attack us?”
“That possibility cannot be ruled out.”
She was not joking.
“My lady is intelligent, so you know, do you not? Yuri-nim is a transmigrator. I have not heard it from him directly, but given the circumstances, there can be no doubt.”
Elena could not answer and bit her lip.
“There have been many cases of transmigrators whose identities were exposed harming those around them and disappearing.”
“Yuri is not that kind of person.”
“I think so too, but has not everything we have seen of Yuri-nim until now been a lie?”
“Stop.”
She knew, which was why she did not want to hear any more. Elena shook her head fiercely.
“I will not kill him... and I will not subdue him either.”
“Understood.”
Haryeong nodded readily.
She had only recommended it for Elena’s safety. She had genuinely meant it when she said she did not want to do it. The Yuri Haryeong had known until now did not seem like someone who would run wild in this situation.
If he did run wild...
It was simple. Everything until now had truly been a lie, so they could only have misjudged him.
If that was the case, Haryeong thought she might honestly be impressed. If Yuri had put that much effort into maintaining such a false personality, admiring him would only be polite.
“Hmm.”
Haryeong examined Yuri and the dead Blood Fiend.
She had seen them from closer than Elena had, but she still could not understand how Yuri had killed the Blood Fiend in the end. To Haryeong, it had simply been a fist.
That fist had burst through the Blood Fiend’s protective ganggi and chest at once. It already made no sense for a fourth-tier martial artist to use ganggi, but that fist had pierced protective ganggi as well?
Even for a transmigrator, this was far beyond what she could understand.
“He has many minor injuries, but his internal injuries are not very severe. It seems he exhausted himself after using all of his internal energy.”
Haryeong took Yuri’s left hand and examined it. The wrist the Blood Fiend had grabbed at the end was cleanly broken.
If more force had been applied, it could have been horribly crushed or even severed. Fortunately, the Blood Fiend had died before that happened.
“Hmm.”
Next, Haryeong searched the Blood Fiend’s robes, but there was nothing valuable. There might be something left in the hideout somewhere in the mountains, but it would not be an easy place to find.
Haryeong stomped on the Blood Fiend’s blood-covered face a few times, then felt at her own side.
She had taken medicine, but her organs still ached. Her internal injuries would require more time to fully heal. Still, some time had passed, and she could move much better than before.
“Then let us go down.”
Nothing else was likely to happen, but it was still better to push on down the mountain than remain on one crawling with monsters.
Having made that decision, Haryeong hoisted Yuri onto her back, took a bandage from her pack, and tied Yuri’s body tightly to her own.
“Are you alright, my lady?”
“Yes, I can walk now.”
Elena’s face and clothes were still covered in mud. Her mind was unstable enough that she had not even thought of washing it off.
Haryeong let out a short sigh and tucked Yuri under one arm against her side.
“My lady. Don’t push yourself. Come here.”
Normally, Elena would have immediately rebuked such insolence, but she only blinked blankly without saying anything.
Her condition really was not good.
‘It is understandable.’
Haryeong had been startled by Yuri’s identity as a transmigrator. How much greater must Elena’s shock be?
Haryeong approached the motionless Elena and, without asking permission, picked her up and held her against her front.
“I can walk on my own.”
“It will be faster for me to run while carrying both of you than for my lady to walk.”
“...”
“Honestly, I did not learn martial arts to run around carrying people, but the situation leaves me no choice.”
No reply came.
Haryeong did not hold back another sigh. She simply let it out.
“What a wretched life.”
Muttering with a sigh, Haryeong began to run.
* * *
Before losing consciousness, Yuri had thought about it.
What would happen if he fainted like this? Where would he wake up? He had seen that the Blood Fiend was dead, but he still had many worries.
“...”
What if he could not open his eyes? What if he woke up tied up, or imprisoned?
He had considered all sorts of possibilities, but when he actually opened his eyes, it was nothing special.
He saw a ceiling.
It was a room at an inn in Logos’s lower village. Yuri stared blankly at the ceiling and moved his fingers. He was not tied up, but a tingling pain shot through his left hand when he moved it.
‘Come to think of it, it was broken.’
The pressure told him it had been wrapped in bandages. Other parts of his body hurt as well.
“You are awake.”
A voice came from beside him.
“As you can see, this is an inn in the village.”
“...”
“I went through a great deal of trouble. Yuri-nim was unconscious, and Miss Elena could not walk properly. Have you ever carried two people while running down a mountain?”
“...”
“It was my first time trying it, and it was not a pleasant experience. I am not someone who sweats easily, yet after carrying two people while running, I was drenched in sweat.”
Yuri did not look to the side. He was afraid to look.
More than the Blood Fiend’s gaze or its blood-red palm, he feared seeing the expressions on Haryeong’s and Elena’s faces.
“Fortunately, we met other adventurers on the way down and received their help. Of course, it was not free, but I thought it better to pay extra, hand Yuri-nim over to the adventurers, and continue carrying only Miss Elena.”
Haryeong was not alone beside him. He could sense Elena’s presence too. But Elena had not said a single word while Haryeong rambled on.
“Ah. Yuri-nim would not know. That old monster who attacked us earlier was a demonic martial artist called the Blood Fiend. Honestly, meeting it in the first place was unfortunate, but in another sense, one might say we were lucky. Until ten years ago, the Blood Fiend was one of the Seven Evils of the Demonic Cult.”
Yuri’s shoulders flinched.
The Seven Evils of the Demonic Cult stood on the same level as a Martial Apex Venerable. That meant seventh tier.
“You reacted. It is a relief to see that your ears are working well.”
“...”
“Well, even if the Blood Fiend was once one of the Seven Evils, that was long ago. That old monster suffered a dantian injury and qi deviation, causing its tier to decline. Thinking about it calmly now, its martial prowess was likely that of a flawed sixth-tier martial artist.”
If it had been an ordinary sixth-tier opponent, they would all have been killed. But the Blood Fiend had been unstable in many ways. Its internal energy was not deep, its acupoints could not have been intact, and it could not have fought for long.
‘We were lucky...’
Yuri agreed with that.
It had been luck that he managed to drive Sacred Flame Release into the Blood Fiend’s chest at the end. If the Blood Fiend had not allowed a close-range brawl, he could not have done it. If its martial art had used a long weapon rather than palm arts, he could not have driven Sacred Flame Release into it.
And if it had intended to kill Yuri from the beginning, if it had not stopped at grabbing his left hand and had not exposed its chest...
“Lucky or not, it is true that we nearly died. If Yuri-nim had not stepped forward, Miss Elena and I would have been chewed into pieces in the Blood Fiend’s stinking mouth before we reunited in its stomach.”
He could not keep staring at the ceiling just because he was afraid. He had stepped forward because he did not want to regret anything, and he had already made his resolve then.
Yuri clenched his fist beneath the blanket once and sat up.
He looked at Haryeong. Her face was somewhat pale, and her arms and legs were wrapped in bandages, but she seemed to be doing alright.
Elena sat beside her. Her clothes were clean, and she did not appear to be injured.
At the sight, Yuri let out a relieved sigh without realizing it.
“Yuri.”
When their eyes met, Elena opened her mouth. Yuri did not answer and looked into Elena’s eyes.
“I have something I want to ask... no, something I need to hear. You have to answer. You absolutely have to...”
That was only natural. Yuri slowly nodded.
“You cannot lie either.”
Elena’s eyes wavered. Her voice trembled too. Though she was asking, Elena did not want to hear the answer.
But she could not avoid it. Even if she turned away now, it would fester and rot into poison someday.
Elena had already seen it and learned the truth.
“Are you... a transmigrator?”
She had no choice but to ask.
Yuri’s lips parted. But his voice did not come out right away. He thought he had resolved himself and prepared for this, but when he faced it, he could not speak.
He did not want to speak.
He thought of lies.
‘A transmigrator? What are you talking about? Don’t say such nonsense. Hiding my internal energy? I don’t understand what you mean. When did I ever hide my internal energy? My tier? Watching you and Haryeong-nim fight, something suddenly rushed through my head. Isn’t that what insight is? Moonlit Reveller-nim said my martial talent was extraordinary. Ganggi... that too. Another insight came to me. I might die, and I didn’t want to die.’
‘I didn’t want you to die.’
“Yeah.”
He could not tell a lie. He did not want to.
He had wondered whether this day might come someday. He would try not to be discovered, but one never knew what might happen in this world.
That was why he had wanted to leave Elena’s mansion. He thought that if he kept his distance, he might avoid a situation where he would be discovered.
“Since... when?”
What expression would Elena make upon learning he was a transmigrator? She would probably be angry. She would probably hate him. Would she call him a liar, an evil spirit, a monster, and try to kill him?
It was different from what he had imagined.
Elena looked as though she might cry at any moment.
‘Ah.’
He had not wanted Elena to discover the truth.
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