WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Damned Transmigration ◈

Chapter 91: Reward 1

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A soft bed, a faint fragrance, a high ceiling, and lights that were not flashy but still looked expensive...

Yuri opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but he was not confused about where he was.

‘The Mabeld Family.’

He clearly remembered what had happened before he lost consciousness. Since he had been staggering around as if he might collapse at any moment, Alnair Mabeld, the Head of the Mabeld Family, had invited him to the estate, and they had ridden here together in a carriage.

He remembered nothing after that. The carriage had been far roomier than it looked from outside, with soft seats. The moment he sat down and leaned back against one, he must have passed out.

Scrape, scrape, scrape...

A sound came from nearby. Yuri blinked vacantly, then slowly turned his head.

Beyond the absurdly large bed, Haryeong sat in an ornate chair, staring at him as she peeled an apple. Estor sat in another chair.

“...”

Yuri said nothing as he looked at them. Haryeong, who was staring back at him, said nothing either. Estor looked ready to speak, his face brightening, but the silence made him close his mouth again.

Haryeong wore her usual expressionless face, while the ripe red apple was stripped bare beneath her sharp paring knife. She was not even looking at it, yet the long, unbroken peel was so thin and translucent that he could see through it.

“...”

Once again, Yuri said nothing. Haryeong said nothing. Estor looked back and forth between them, then decided to keep quiet.

As the silence dragged on, Yuri looked Haryeong over. His eyes landed on the bandages tightly wrapped around her right leg. She must have been injured while standing guard over Lacey.

By then, Haryeong had finished peeling the apple. Without taking her eyes off Yuri, she turned it this way and that, slicing it into bite-sized pieces before arranging them on a plate.

“Would you have preferred rabbit shapes?”

The silence ended. Haryeong set down the knife, then raised both hands above her head to make rabbit ears.

“Usa, usa.”

“Please don’t.”

“What’s Usa, usa?”

Yuri answered in disgust, and Estor tilted his head.

He could not lie there forever, so Yuri tried sitting up. Was this how it felt after strength training for the first time? His whole body throbbed. There was not a single part of him that did not hurt.

“Ugh...”

“Does it hurt that badly?”

“It’s only natural that it would hurt.”

Haryeong clicked her tongue and pulled her chair closer.

“Still, it is fortunate that none of your injuries will leave lasting effects. Honestly, they were wounds that should have left permanent damage. While you slept, though, you received the finest potions and a Healing Miracle.”

“Healing Miracle?”

“Yes. Most people never even see such a miracle in their lives, yet you received it from three priests at once.”

Priests capable of granting Healing Miracles to others were considered valuable personnel even among the clergy. It was not simply a matter of deep faith or the amount of divine power they possessed. They also needed compassionate hearts capable of extending kindness to others.

“Then why does my body hurt so much after receiving Healing Miracles?”

“The wounds were healed unnaturally, so some pain was inevitable. Even so, considering the injuries you originally suffered, it should be far less severe than expected.”

At Estor’s explanation, Yuri examined his body for a moment and nodded.

“I guess that’s true.”

He could recall more injuries than he could count. His entire body had been shredded by the Blade Storm, and the exposed bones in his arms and legs had been scraped, split, and cracked. He had also been slammed into the ground, and his inner power had flowed backward, leaving him with internal injuries. Compared to all that, the pain that remained was only like severe muscle soreness.

“But you must not overexert yourself.”

“I don’t think there’s anything here at the estate that could make me overexert myself.”

Yuri muttered as he ran his hands over his body. The finest potions and Healing Miracles had done their work well. Not even a scar remained.

“How long did I sleep?”

“You slept for an entire day.”

“Did you stay by my side the whole time I was asleep?”

“Sadly, I was exhausted too, so I slept. Are you disappointed by my answer?”

“No, it’s not that. Did anything happen while I was asleep?”

This time, Estor answered instead of Haryeong.

All the hostages at the exhibition hall had regained consciousness. Agwi’s lower body and the possessions he left behind had first been moved to the Sect of Earth’s temple.

“Agwi’s possessions will first be examined by the Sect of Earth’s priests. After that, priests from the nearby Sect of War and Sect of the Anvil will be sent to examine them again.”

The Sect of the Anvil, which served the God of Blacksmiths, was unusual. Its clergy were closer to craftsmen than religious figures. They forged all kinds of items with their own hammers, or blessed items they had made and other objects in exchange for donations.

It was a setting that had never been implemented in the game, but many endgame epic items, such as the Sword Emperor’s beloved sword Atria and the Dang Family’s Silent Blade, were Divine Relics made by master craftsmen of the Sect of the Anvil.

“I understand the Sect of War, but why is the Sect of the Anvil involved?”

“Because some of Agwi’s belongings may have been blessed by the Evil God.”

“What happens then?”

“I’m not sure, but if they can be purified, they will be. If not, they’ll probably be disposed of.”

Yuri’s face crumpled as though he had bitten into shit. Of everything Agwi had left behind, the jeweled gold bracelet was what Yuri coveted most. He was not certain, but considering that bastard had been a Melee Beast Mage...

The bracelet might be Gebra.

An endgame accessory for melee warrior builds. Since it was not considered a weapon, it was essential for Melee Beast Mages whose weapon slot was sealed by the Art of the Empty Fist. Its performance was powerful enough to determine the potential of a well-developed build, and plenty of people had raised entirely new characters solely because they failed to get Gebra.

It had been difficult enough to obtain in the game, so it would be even harder in reality. Still, if Agwi was a Saint of the Evil God, he might very well have possessed such a valuable item.

“If it has to go through examinations by both the Sect of War and the Sect of the Anvil, we’ll be staying in Alderan for too long.”

“They say they will leave immediately, so even at the latest, they should arrive in three or four days. Your health isn’t good anyway, so why not rest properly for a few days?”

Haryeong spoke with a faint frown. Her tone was not sharp, but it sounded like a reprimand.

‘Is there any way to find an excuse and secure Gebra first...?’

It might not be Gebra, but he could not know for sure. Yuri thought about it briefly, but no method came to mind. Alnair Mabeld was not someone he could ask for such a favor, and showing too much interest in the bracelet would only invite suspicion.

‘What if I ask Estor to help me?’

That would not work either. Since it was an item connected to the Evil God, those sects would surely be strict about it.

After thinking it over, Yuri clicked his tongue softly. It was something he could not help wanting, but he could not become too obsessed with it. As Haryeong said, all he could do was rest for a few days and wait for the possessions to be examined and returned.

“If I’d known this would happen, I would have gone to the exhibition too.”

Estor muttered as he reached for an apple.

Smack!

Haryeong’s palm struck the back of Estor’s hand.

“...?”

“That belongs to the patient.”

“Ah, yes...”

Estor bowed his head without complaint. Yuri was not particularly hungry, nor did he especially want an apple, but the atmosphere did not allow him to say he would not eat it. In the end, he obediently picked up a fork and speared a slice of apple.

“Nothing would have changed even if you had been there.”

“What do you mean, nothing would have changed? At least you wouldn’t have nearly died alone.”

Estor reached for the fruit basket nearby, cautiously watching Haryeong. This time, she did not stop him. Estor swallowed a sigh of relief and took a large bite of an apple.

“Besides, isn’t a Saint of a sect a rare powerhouse? I came with you because I wanted to face danger, no, a life-or-death battle.”

“What if you die?”

“Then I die because I was weak, so I can’t blame anyone else. Isn’t that the same for you? Haryeong told me you fought like a demon.”

“If I had died there, I would have died blaming everyone else.”

Yuri grumbled and put the apple slice in his mouth.

Knock, knock.

After he ate a few more pieces, someone knocked at the door.

“You may come in.”

Lacey entered, but she did not look well. Yuri blinked at the sight of Lacey riding in on a wheelchair propelled by magic, but Haryeong and Estor did not seem surprised, as though they had already seen her like that.

He could not even tell whether the person before him was Lacey or Orca.

“Could you give us some privacy?”

At Lacey’s request, Haryeong and Estor stood and left the room. Yuri stared blankly at the closing door, then at Lacey, before cautiously opening his mouth.

“Uh... what happened to you?”

Since he did not know the circumstances, he could only ask. The wheelchair’s wheels glided smoothly through magic before coming to an abrupt stop by the bed.

“Orca went too wild with my body.”

It was Lacey. She frowned with a pale, bloodless face and complained.

“Every time I move, it hurts terribly. They said Healing Miracles are no use in a case like this. Apparently, I’ll recover naturally after resting for a few days.”

“That’s awful...”

“Are you really worried about me?”

“My body hurts terribly too, so I understand how you feel. But why did you lie?”

“Lie? What? When did I lie?”

“You said it would take five minutes, but it took longer than five minutes.”

Of all things, that...! Lacey’s parted lips moved soundlessly before she gave a quiet cough and looked away.

“I had never done it before, so there was a slight error. B-but it didn’t take more than ten minutes...?”

“If it had taken ten minutes, we all would have died there.”

“T-thanks to you, Yuri... we didn’t die.”

Lacey still had suspicions about Yuri’s identity. But she was not so unreasonable and rude that she would tie unproven suspicions to past humiliation and act arrogantly toward him.

So Lacey bowed deeply to Yuri.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you too.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t risk my life for you in the end.”

“But if it hadn’t been for you, Orca would not have been able to come. So, what exactly was that magic yesterday?”

He had seen it himself, but it was difficult to understand. Yesterday, for that brief time, Orca had been inside Lacey’s body. The magic that drove Agwi back had all been Orca’s unique magic, magic that Lacey could not even dream of using. Yet the body casting it had belonged to Lacey.

“Um...”

Lacey hesitated for a moment. She was considering whether she should tell him about this magic.

“Akashic Records.”

He had witnessed it himself, and Orca herself did not seem to intend to hide it. So Lacey gave him the name of the magic.

“What Orca has been pursuing these past few years... is a kind of network through magic.”

“A net... work...? What is that? Is it a magic term?”

Lacey’s eyebrow twitched at Yuri’s question. He was remarkably persistent. She had told Yuri time and again that she knew his circumstances, yet he was still acting like this...!

“To properly cast magic, understanding the magic itself is essential, and that cannot be contained in a formula. Even if memories are shared, it does not mean the magic can be cast perfectly. There is also the issue of Soul Power.”

That was especially true for high-tier unique magic. Even if the formula was the same, the magic would change in small or large ways depending on how the caster understood it and what kind of magic they had learned. Once the original formula passed through Soul Power, every mage arrived at a different answer.

“But if it is not memories that are shared, but souls, that problem disappears. Even mages with completely different understandings can share souls, experience another mage’s understanding, and manifest their magic. If that is repeated, they will come to fully understand even another person’s magic, magic they have never learned and could never use, as well as the answers each person has reached. As time passes, magic and understanding will accumulate into great knowledge, and someday... we may reach the end of magic, the truth. Then everyone might be able to share that great knowledge. Akashic Records is the magic that pursues that goal.”

Even Yuri found it impossibly distant. If what Lacey said became possible, would even a first-tier apprentice mage who had only just begun studying magic be able to become an archmage in an instant by receiving an archmage’s soul?

“Is such magic possible?”

“It is being developed so that it may someday become possible. It has many unstable aspects too. For now, Orca is the only one capable of transmitting a soul. Even I would not have been able to receive Orca’s soul if I had not reached the sixth tier.”

Lacey coughed quietly and continued.

“Orca used a great deal of her unique magic through my body. The formulas are in my head now, but sadly, I do not understand them. That means my soul could not accept them. In the end, this great magic is no different from a baby that has only just started walking. It still has a very long way to go.

“To become the ‘library’ Orca wants, it will probably need to create a Cyberspace that records souls themselves, souls containing immense knowledge and experience. Then, to create a network based on that, it will need trigger magic that connects to that Cyberspace.”

Perhaps because she was talking about a field she enjoyed, Lacey continued without even pausing to breathe. Yuri felt a sense of awe as he listened. Talk of the end of magic and the truth carried that much weight.

“The reason I came here is...”

Lacey composed herself.

“Because Orca wants to speak with you. Receiving a transmission puts a great burden on me, so I don’t really want to do it...! But Orca says she has something she needs to discuss with you.”

“What does she need to discuss?”

“Payment for saving my life.”

A bitter smile spread across Lacey’s face.

“You may think you survived because of Orca, but if you had not bought time, Orca would not have been able to come. So you are the one who saved my life.”

“I would gratefully accept it if you’re offering, but do I have to receive it now?”

The answer did not come immediately. Light returned to Lacey’s eyes, which had been unfocused for a moment.

“I don’t like leaving debts unpaid.”

Orca answered. Looking down at Lacey’s body in the wheelchair, she chuckled.

“Lacey Yuzha is someone I cherish. She is not my disciple, but I cherish her much like one. I also have high expectations for her.”

Disciple.

Yuri’s cheek stiffened slightly at that word.

“Because of what happened two years ago, I did not want to let her die so pointlessly. That is why I planted a Terminal in her.”

Naturally, Yuri knew what Orca meant by the incident two years ago.

Logos, where he had encountered the Blood Fiend.

“So I intend to reward you for saving Lacey. Unless it is truly impossible, I will grant your wish. I have no intention of bargaining. I have reasons why I should not, and if I bargain, my feelings for Lacey and the expectations I have for her will become cheap.”

“Is Elena doing well?”

After a moment of silence, Yuri finally spoke. For him, it took a great deal of courage to ask that question.

Until now, he had never asked about Elena. Not Haryeong, not Lacey, no one.

To be precise, Yuri had been avoiding Elena, who was likely still in Rutlan. He was afraid of learning about her. He could not avoid the rumors that occasionally reached him, but he had never looked into her himself. Even when Haryeong sometimes mentioned Elena, he had consciously ignored it.

Their parting two years ago had left Yuri with a painful wound, and he had not wanted to tear it open.

But there was something he had learned through the dream Agwi showed him.

There was also something he had burned and discarded.

“Elena?”

Orca’s eyebrows rose slightly, as if she had never expected Yuri to ask such a question.

“She is doing well.”

That was an answer from Orca’s perspective. From her perspective, Elena could not have been doing any better.

“That’s a relief.”

Yuri let out a short breath and nodded.

“I heard Elena became your disciple. Then my wish is... please take good care of Elena...”

“That is presumptuous.”

Orca answered with a smile.

“And it is also obvious. I am Elena’s teacher. It is only natural that a teacher should care for and teach her disciple well. That is not something an outsider like you should ask of me.”

“...”

“If I wanted to, I could take it as rude, but I will not. I know well what kind of relationship you and Elena share.”

Orca interlaced her fingers and gazed steadily at Yuri. Her expression held undisguised amusement and interest.

“So, Yuri, state another wish.”

“...”

“Not one concerning Elena. Tell me what you want.”

Yuri was silent for a moment at that question.

A wish.

Since he had passed out immediately yesterday, he had not thought of anything he might ask Orca for.

“Please give me a moment.”

He had thought it would be fine to leave it at asking her to take care of Elena. Orca was being too firm, though, so he needed time to think.

“...”

He did not need long.

Whether it was possible or not, if he could receive something from Orca right now, nothing else came to mind.

He could not ask for the bracelet that might be Gebra. Even Orca would not be able to seize a bracelet now entangled with both the Sect of War and the Sect of the Anvil.

What Yuri could ask for was something Orca definitely possessed.

The unique magic of Heavenly Thunder Orca Dersia.

Footnotes:

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