WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 213: Room 104, Curse Room - ‘Hotel High, the Prestigious Academy’ Re (7)
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- Lee Eun-sol
Once we decided to find Aurelia first, the plan moved forward without a hitch.
“The Daughter of Heaven has lived as a Saintess serving her god deep within the Cult. She probably doesn't know much about the outside world. I don't think she'd go somewhere completely random.”
“I agree with Ga-in. She couldn't suddenly go somewhere she doesn't know at all. Besides, the Lord's hand pierced her throat, so her injuries must be serious. She probably isn't far away.”
“I have a few places in mind.”
As soon as Grandpa arrived at Hotel High, he used his status as a teacher to learn the geography and terrain around it. He began picking out places where a heretical group might have a hideout.
While he did that, Elena, who had been unconscious, woke up.
“Sis, I'm sorry about earlier-”
“I don't care at all, so come join the meeting. You're physically all right, aren't you?”
“My body's fine. But I don't think I'll be able to use Ominous Imagination for a while.”
“I figured.”
“Then, Sis, where's Sang-hyeon?”
“I don't know. Maybe he died when the ground gave way as the underground city collapsed. It's a shame Ga-in lost his Status Window at a time like this. Normally, we could've checked Companion Information and found out.”
“Even if he still had it, it wouldn't work right now. With Wisdom Sealed, most Status Window functions, including Sage’s Advice, are blocked. Honestly, it's a relief.”
“That's true. It's horrifying to think the Lord even used the Status Window's functions. Either way, Sang-hyeon is probably dead.”
“... I should apologize to Sang-hyeon too when we get out later.”
While I briefly explained our earlier discussion to Elena, Grandpa looked over a map and narrowed the possibilities down to four locations.
We immediately checked them one by one.
Around evening, when the sun was starting to set, we entered the third location, a small forest near Hotel High. The moment we stepped inside, I spotted an unusual light.
“That light! What is that? It isn't someone camping, is it?”
“A light?”
Elena and Grandpa looked at me as if they had no idea what I meant.
“I can't see anything. It must be something only you can see because it's too far away, Sis.”
“No. It isn't that far.”
“Then it must be a light only your Bird Eye can see. It sounds supernatural, so let's go.”
“Fine. But what's this Bird Eye?”
“It's the One-Eyed Giant Bird's eye, so Bird Eye.”
... Had he learned that naming sense from A-ri? I was too tired to argue about it.
As we moved deeper into the forest, the light grew stronger. Eventually, we found a small cabin deep within it and learned where the light was coming from.
A faint glow poured out from inside the cabin, spreading in every direction as though passing through the cabin's physical structure.
“Are you sure?”
Grandpa, practically our only real fighter now, gripped his pistol with a tense expression, ready to rush in at any moment.
--- Click!
The door opened, and a beautiful young woman appeared.
“Hello~!”
“...”
Aurelia had bandages wrapped around her throat, and the light was coming from that area.
From what we'd heard, the Lord was no longer sending power to Aurelia. Did that light come from her pouring every last bit of her remaining power into healing her injury?
“Is it hard for you to speak? I heard your throat was badly injured.”
“... I can speak.”
Despite her answer, her voice was completely different from the one I remembered. It was rough and hoarse, and pain twisted her expression the moment she spoke.
Forcing herself to speak through that pain was probably her way of holding on to her pride.
“Let's relax. Don't you think there's no longer any reason for us to fight?”
“My father told me to stop you and protect the Cult-”
“Did he? That Cult already seems completely ruined.”
“What you saw wasn't the whole Cult!”
“The Cult doesn't really matter. What matters is that the father you love so dearly doesn't seem to care for you all that much.”
Aurelia's expression stiffened at the direct hit.
“Father... must have had some great purpose. Don't speak carelessly.”
There was no confidence in her voice.
“He must have had a purpose. But was that purpose beneficial to you or the Cult?”
“I gave him everything I had. If he says he needs my life, then I only need to give it to him.”
Aurelia couldn't easily abandon her faith. Denying the Lord meant denying the life she had lived as the Cult's Saintess.
Still, there was already a contradiction in her actions.
“Ah, so to sum up, the Lord has some great plan that insignificant humans can't understand, and if that plan requires your life, you'd gladly offer it. Is that right?”
“... Yes.”
“Then why did you run away from the underground city beneath the Old School Building? Instead of running, you could've cleaned your neck and cut it yourself, then offered it to your father. That would've completed his plan. Even if you ran because you were shocked at the time, why are you here now? You should be running to where your father was buried and offering your neck right away.”
“...”
“Don't lie to yourself. The ‘Lord’ isn't the being you think he is.”
“My father isn't who I think he is?”
“That's right. So-”
“Don't make me laugh! What the hell do you know about the Lord to act so high and mighty? I'll admit one thing. I don't know what purpose Father had in mind. But I know him better than you do! Do you think I don't have the strength to fight right now? I only went along with your wordplay for a moment to buy time to heal my throat, and you dare-”
Aah! Aah! I think I'd just touched this woman's sore spot.
Had I pressured her too hard?
As Aurelia truly grew angry, light gathered in her hand again. At the same time, the bandages around her throat turned red.
This crazy woman was planning to fight us with the power she'd been using to heal herself!
At that moment, inexplicable words rang out, calming the chaos.
“I ask thee, why is the world filled with suffering? Evil fills heaven and earth. What is the reason? I answer, it is because this world was fashioned by the hand of a false creator. Therefore, the Lord promised paradise.”
Surprise appeared on Aurelia's face.
“Cast it aside. Cast aside everything that weighs thee down as thou departest for paradise. The Lord has promised a perfect world, so what value could the possessions of this false world possibly hold? This wicked flesh is the greatest obstacle before the railway to paradise, so cast it aside first.”
“What in the...?”
“Why art thou surprised? Is it so shocking that doctrine you kept secret from outsiders comes from my mouth? Or art thou surprised because a mere animal speaks like a person?”
“...”
When had Ga-in figured out their doctrine? Had he found it out during the first attempt? Even if he had, how had he memorized it all this time?
Did you need that kind of memory to get into K University?
“Do not be surprised or alarmed. The Lord has plotted evil upon this land for countless ages... The time of judgment approaches.”
What was this atmosphere all of a sudden?
As if she had been waiting for it, Elena raised the hand with Pero Ga-in perched on her wrist toward the sky. At the same time, perhaps using Lie Detection, Elena's eyes turned gold. She took a few steps and stood with the sun at her back.
“You, Aurelia. Are you certain your faith in the Lord has not been betrayed? If your god had truly acted for you and the believers, why did he not extend a helping hand even at the moment of ruin?”
Aurelia's body began to tremble.
Her reaction was completely different from when I said it. Was she confused because doctrine she had kept hidden was coming from an enemy's mouth?
“Are you... an Apostle of the Newly Risen One?”
“Pitiful child. How long hast thou spent alone in this cold, crumbling cabin? How many times hast thou called upon thy god while sitting upon that rotten chair?”
“How could you possibly know that!”
How did he know? It was obvious.
After being attacked by the god she'd served all her life, she had run away and lain alone in a cabin. What else would she think about? She'd probably spent the whole time sobbing and thinking about her god!
Elena: What on earth is Ga-in doing?
Lee Eun-sol: Ga-in can't see the Chat Window.
Even in this situation, Elena had somehow matched the flow without knowing what Ga-in was doing! She really was someth-
Thinking she was impressive, I turned slightly.
Grandpa was already kneeling before the parrot, which seemed to have descended from the heavens, with the most reverent expression in the world.
Ah. I was the problem.
I quietly pressed my palms together. Sad thoughts, sad thoughts.
“Child. A steadfast heart guarded for a lifetime cannot be cast aside in a single moment. Therefore, I shall give thee an opportunity.”
“An opportunity...?”
“Follow me. At the moment of judgment, thou shalt be able to question thy father.”
...
Was it over?
I raised my head slightly and saw Pero Ga-in extend one wing behind him to tap Elena on the head. Only then did Elena turn around and begin walking gracefully, as though performing ballet.
Aurelia, looking almost entranced, blankly followed after Elena.
I was starting to understand now.
This woman was incredibly vulnerable to mystical performances! Was she a similar type to Elena?
While continuing to think sad thoughts to avoid ruining the mood, I replayed their conversation in my head.
What was the deepest desire remaining in the heart of a Saintess betrayed by the Cult she had protected all her life and the god to whom she had devoted everything?
Revenge?
No. She might feel that someday, but the one she would seek revenge against was a god.
Her greatest desire was simply, “Why?”
Why had the god abandoned the Cult? Why had the god abandoned the Saintess?
If the god had truly laid out some grand plan to accomplish a noble cause, she could offer even her life. She had to possess that much fanatical faith to become a Saintess in the first place.
But the Lord had sacrificed the Cult and the Saintess without any explanation beforehand. That was why the feeling remaining in her mind could only be, “Why?”
Yet she had no way to find that answer alone. If she went looking for it by herself, she would die by the god's hand.
Ga-in had offered to help Aurelia seek that answer.
Looking at it this way, she hadn't accepted Ga-in's offer simply because she'd been overwhelmed by the pressure of a mysterious performance. She had already confirmed that we possessed supernatural power, and he had accurately identified what she wanted most. That was why the negotiation had succeeded.
...
Had Ga-in done all that thinking in the brief time since meeting Aurelia? Or had an intuitive judgment happened to be right?
There was no way to know.
A parrot like that truly seemed worthy of calling himself a god's Apostle.
That night, contrary to our expectation that he had died during the collapse of the underground city, Kim Sang-hyeon returned completely unharmed.
Footnotes:
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