WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Escaping the Mystery Hotel ◈
Episode 539: Room 207, Gate Room - Fourth Trial ‘The Fallen King’ (25)
──────
- Jonathan Swift
I picked up the paper I had been scribbling on for days.
「My name is Jonathan Swift, and I am a seventh-year reporter for the British Times.
Everything I write from this moment on is the absolute truth, without a single lie.
Four days ago, Prime Minister David was assassinated...」
It was a letter I was writing to reveal the truth, even if I died!
Yet I couldn't bring myself to write the next sentence.
The story was too bizarre. No one would believe it.
Even the Prime Minister, famous as a prodigy since childhood, had left behind nothing but incoherent writing!
If I hadn't experienced that strange event myself, I wouldn't have believed the Prime Minister's final message either.
“I got word that the boat is ready at Dover Harbor. Jonathan, should we get going?”
“Ah, okay.”
Shortly after we set off, Thomas spoke again from the front seat.
“I came running after you called yesterday, but... I still don't get it. You're suddenly going to France? Are you preparing to immigrate or something?”
“...”
“Can't you just tell me straight?”
Thomas had been a friend since childhood, ever since the back alleys of Manchester.
Thomas had even agreed to my absurd request to arrange a smuggling boat at Dover Harbor. Thomas was practically family.
That was why I couldn't tell Thomas.
If someone had to die, it had to be me alone. I couldn't let such a kind friend die too.
“I'm sorry.”
“Ha, seriously... I've gone pretty far out of my way to help you, and you still can't tell me?”
As I listened to my grumbling friend, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
I asked a friend for help, and Thomas demanded a secret in return, then complained when I refused.
It was natural, yet in another way, it wasn't natural at all.
If someone begged desperately, shouldn't you naturally help them without asking for anything in return?
The Holy Mother had spread that principle throughout the world!
“Damn it!”
--- Click!
The moment I pulled out my pistol and aimed it at Thomas, Thomas looked utterly bewildered.
“What? Jonathan, if this is a joke, it isn't funny-”
--- Bang!
There was no time to hesitate.
A being that had killed the Prime Minister was threatening me now!
A demon had the power to toy with human bodies.
The moment Thomas demanded something in return for helping me, it became certain that a demon was controlling Thomas!
* * *
It was late by the time I reached the harbor and ran toward the smuggling boat Thomas had mentioned.
Soon, three burly men appeared.
“Hey! You're the reporter?”
“Yes. Right away-”
“Where's Thomas?”
“... Thomas got out along the way.”
“What? That's not what we agreed on! We came because we trusted Thomas-”
“Gentlemen. I truly, absolutely must cross the Dover Strait and get to Europe. Please help me.”
I bowed my head desperately, and the burly men looked flustered.
“Didn't the Holy Mother say we should all trust and love one another?”
“Hmm...”
Even suspicious criminals living in the shadows couldn't fully escape the principles of the new world created by the Holy Mother.
“... How are we supposed to trust a reporter we've only met today?”
Again!
Something that should never happen was happening again!
This world should have been full of love and trust, so why was this person speaking to me of ‘distrust’?
Denying the Holy Mother's teachings.
It was proof of infection by a demon!
--- Click!
The moment I pulled out my pistol, the atmosphere around me turned hostile.
“If you kill us with that, are you planning to sail the boat yourself?”
“...”
This was bad.
I could drive after killing Thomas, but if I killed the sailors, what about the boat?
What about the procedures for sneaking in after we reached the mainland?
I couldn't do any of that!
As I froze in panic, a calm voice spoke up.
“Let's just send him. We've been paid.”
“... Fine.”
* * *
Only once I boarded the boat did I finally relax.
It was my beloved homeland, but if I could only escape Britain, now a mad land crawling with demons!
Germany... no, let's go to France.
I had to meet reporters there and tell them what was happening in Britain.
No, I didn't even need to meet them. I could use the internet.
Britain had become a hell where even the internet couldn't be trusted, but mainland Europe should still be all right.
Then surely the Holy See in Spain-
“... Gasp!”
The boat wasn't leaving.
It wasn't even making the slightest preparation to leave.
That meant it was nothing more than a prison built to confine me.
Overwhelmed by bottomless despair, I stepped out of the cabin where I had been hiding. The people on deck stared at me with calm eyes.
I raised my gun in a panic.
Just as I was about to pull the trigger-
The mouths of all five sailors opened at once.
“Come here.”
Their eyes were all the same.
--- Creak!
The five people tilted their heads to the right at the exact same time.
They had different bodies, yet their movements were perfectly identical.
“Didn't I tell you to come here?”
“Ah, ah...”
Fear and terror devoured my mind.
Reason screamed that I had to run, but my body began crawling forward like a marionette, as if possessed.
“Jonathan, come here and look into my eyes.”
“W-which eyes am I supposed to look at when there are so many?”
“Heh! You're right.”
The five people burst into laughter as though they found the exchange amusing.
A hand slowly reached toward me.
“I, I saw what the Prime Minister wrote! It said there is a demon, a wicked being controlling human bodies-”
“Did it say what the demon truly was?”
“...”
The demon's true identity.
It was truly unbelievable.
“Prince Harrison...!”
“Prince?”
Strangely, the being seemed a little disappointed by that answer.
“That isn't my true identity. He is only a Vessel with exceptional talent.”
“Exceptional talent?”
“Reporter, do you know why you and the Prime Minister can remain sane?”
“...”
“Some people are born with resistance to wicked power. Humans like that cannot be easily brought to their knees by the power of a Vessel lacking talent. That is why one needs a sharp sword.”
--- Tap!
Someone was approaching.
“Gasp!”
I understood.
I didn't know how strong the ‘resistance’ I had been lucky enough to possess was, but it wouldn't be enough to withstand that ‘sharp sword’ approaching from afar!
When ‘Prince Harrison’ appeared behind me at last, I gave up on everything.
“W-what are you? What is your purpose?”
The young man with splendid blond hair smiled faintly.
“If the Holy Mother gave peace to the world, I came to give it a sword. I will make sons and fathers, daughters and mothers, see each other as enemies.”
Then the young man, the ‘sharp sword,’ touched me.
Only then did I realize that I had finally been freed from all fear and pain.
...
“What? The reporter's memories are strange. I never touched Thomas, did I?”
When the prince asked, a sailor replied.
“Exactly. I searched through every Vessel's memories, but there was no sign that any Vessel had ever touched Thomas.”
Of course, that exchange was nothing more than self-questioning and self-answering.
“It looks like the reporter got confused. I never touched Thomas. In other words...”
The Prince of Britain soon smiled brightly.
“It means the subjects of the British Empire are finally awakening from the Holy Mother's Curse of Intellectual Degradation! Therefore, I am the one who will save Britain, and the world beyond it!”
* * *
- Jin Mok-gyeong
“...”
I looked at the paper on the table and thought.
This very moment was the greatest crisis of my life, Jin Mok-gyeong, General Secretary of the People's Republic of China!
The following song was written on the paper.
「The five-starred red flag flutters in the wind,
China's great dragon shines upon the world,
The Yellow River and the Yangtze flow on and on through ten thousand li of mountains and rivers.
Let us all follow our leader in pursuing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation held in our hearts.」
“...”
Fine. Up to this point, I could think of it as ordinary lyrics meant to inspire patriotism.
But the next part was a little...
「If you want to marry, find a man like Jin Mok-gyeong.
He is a man brimming with decisiveness who gives his all to everything.
Whether it's flies, tigers, or any monster, he takes them all down.[1]」
“Come on, this is really too much, isn't it?”
「If you want to marry, find a man like Jin Mok-gyeong.
He is a broad-minded man of firm resolve.
Heroic and unyielding-」
“Seriously! Are those bastards at the Party Propaganda Department out of their minds?”
I had no confidence that I could keep a straight face while listening to a song like this playing everywhere.
That was why I asked the only other person in the room, my personal guard.
“What do you think?”
Her response was utterly calm.
“It's funny.”
“Y-you think this is funny?”
“It says to find a man like you if you want to marry. Go, Jin Mok-gyeong, the continent's most eligible bachelor!”
“... A-ri. I want a serious answer.”
“That was a serious answer. What's the reason you're sitting in that position? Isn't it to gather the faith of 1.4 billion people?”
“I dislike the word faith. There are no gods in this world, only fierce and savage devils. As General Secretary and protector of the continent-”
“Okay, okay. So you're doing it solely to protect the world?”
“...”
She walked over to the window, her cold gaze gleaming as she spoke.
“Jin Mok-gyeong. This is advice from me as an ‘investor,’ so listen carefully.”
“I'm listening.”
“Accept the truth.”
“...”
“You spread radical atheism as General Secretary of the Communist Party, then used it as justification to kill around 400,000 clergy members.”
“Religion is the opium of the people.”
“Anyway! In the process, you succeeded in gathering as many as 7,824 Fragments. A considerable number of Fragments had been posing as clergy.”
“...”
“Among the Fragments I know, you're one of the strongest. You've gathered that many pieces. Yet you still haven't crossed the ‘final step.’”
“The final step?”
“Accept it. You are the remains of a god that takes atheism as its scripture.”
It was an uncomfortable topic.
Perhaps sensing how I felt, A-ri said no more.
“A-ri. You know many Fragments besides me.”
“Yeah.”
“... Who is the most likely candidate right now?”
“You can probably guess from the news and the internet, but I'll tell you. The wandering Witch of America, the cunning pastor of Korea, the wicked prince of Britain, and the charming General Secretary of China. Those four are in the lead.”
“Are there only four?”
“There may be more.”
The wandering Witch of America.
The cunning pastor of Korea.
The wicked prince of Britain.
The charming General Secretary of China-
“What do you mean, charming?”
“If you want to marry, find a man like Jin Mok-gyeong~!”
As always, the girl was endlessly mischievous.
The day we first met, she had whispered to me.
‘I will invest in you. I think it would make for the best setup if you were the final winner.’
“...”
Even now, I didn't fully understand her words.
What did she mean by saying the best setup would emerge if I were the final winner?
* * *
- Kim Mook-seong
It had been nearly three years of uncomfortable cohabitation with a bastard who had the cunning of five huge snakes, no, five imugis.
At some point, I started calling that bastard this.
“First.”
“Yes.”
‘First.’
He refused every other name.
‘I don't need a name. If I get one, it will interfere with the great work.’
A name would interfere with the great work?
What was that supposed to mean?
I often felt this, but this guy was definitely different from Ga-in.
Ga-in was much better at playing the part of an ordinary person.
Ga-in seemed like a cheerful, diligent young man whose strangeness couldn't be noticed through normal conversation alone.
This bastard First made you sick of him within one minute of talking.
“I've been watching the news lately, so I can roughly see what's going on too.”
“It is about time. The moment of the final battle is approaching.”
“Six people? No, seven? Around that many stood out.”
“Is that so?”
“The Korean con man, the British demon, the Chinese lunatic, the Indian idiot, the American beauty, Spain's second beauty. And...”
I swallowed the last word, ‘you.’
“Con man, demon, lunatic, idiot. Everything except beauty is an insult. Your language is harsh, Elder. They're my siblings.”
“Who do you think will win?”
“Well.”
“You always say you don't know.”
“What can I do if I don't know?”
“Can't you see it roughly? Hey, whether it's the Grimoire side or the Sacred Sun side, the country with greater national power has the advantage.”
“Is that so?”
“You can't ignore the advantages of population and national power. In the end, I think it'll be either China or America. And at the end...”
It would be you.
The young man smiled faintly.
“Elder, you've overlooked one thing.”
“What?”
“My siblings' fight looks like a battle between factions at first glance, but the final fight is generally a one-on-one duel.”
“That does seem to be the case.”
“There are always many variables in a fight. The side with superior specs doesn't always win.”
“...”
“One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“The fight between my siblings isn't the goal itself. It's only a means. You know the goal is something else, don't you?”
The fundamental goal.
What had Ga-in been thinking when creating this entire mess?
My head hurt.
Times like this made me resent not being smarter.
“By the way, there is one candidate I'm rooting for.”
“Who?”
“Miss Serena from America.”
“Why?”
“She's cute.”
“You crazy bastard! You should be in prison!”
Footnotes:
[1] The “flies and tigers” line parodies a Chinese anti-corruption slogan associated with Xi Jinping, referring to pursuing both low- and high-ranking corrupt officials.
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