WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 42: Night Has Fallen. Mafia… # 2
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“Instructor, this is Platoon Leader Yore. I came because I have something to discuss!”
I went to Instructor Roze’s private office.
I had something to say.
“One, two. One, two.”
The instructor was doing one-finger push-ups. Without stopping, she asked me,
“What is it?”
“Well…”
I looked around.
Once I made sure no one was nearby, I spoke quietly but clearly.
“I think one of our fellow trainees may be conspiring with the demons’ kin.”
“……”
The instructor stopped exercising.
Then she touched her side.
She was probably checking the 「Secret Document」 scroll tied to her belt.
Naturally, it was right where it had been from the start.
Swish.
Instructor Roze stood up.
Her expression as she looked at me was unusually serious.
“Someone is conspiring with demons. Why do you think that?”
“I heard something when I encountered those demon bastards at Akam Citadel.”
It was when I pulled my hood low and passed by the Erdari.
“Is Valara really here?”
“That bastard said so.”
“Ah, that disgusting Rendo bastard.”
The Erdari had definitely said that.
At the time, I had not been in any state to care what they were talking about.
But thinking about it now...
Some human had tipped the Erdari off about Valara’s location.
And perhaps the Erdari had entered Akam Citadel by following that tip.
“Pretty, if what you say is true, you know you’re the most suspicious one, right?”
“Me?”
“While everyone else escaped, you alone said you would stay behind at Akam Citadel.”
“Yes, because I wanted to earn Ether!”
“And you came back unharmed after meeting the Erdari.”
“That’s right.”
“That means there’s a good chance you became their plant.”
Gasp, fuck...!?
Now that she mentioned it, that was true!
‘By all appearances, I’m the conspirator.’
‘Is this for real?’
Even I could see why I looked suspicious!
“Instructor, my hatred for demons is sincere!”
I looked at Instructor Roze with eyes full of sincerity.
Her reply was immediate.
“Right. I believe you!”
“Really?”
“Because Lieutenant General Raiden, who spent his whole life exterminating demons, believed in you!”
Aaaah! Lieutenant General Raiden.
Even after going missing, his great prestige was still protecting me!
“Exterminate the Erdari!”
I clenched my fist and shouted.
Lieutenant Colonel Roze’s eyes grew moist, as if she were deeply moved.
“Pretty, find out who among your platoon members is conspiring with them.”
# # #
There was a traitor among my platoon members.
That was my conclusion.
Starting with the most suspicious ones.
The most suspicious person.
Thief Yore.
Me.
I had proven my innocence.
Pass.
Then the second-most suspicious person.
Naturally, it was the weasel.
I subtly asked the weasel, who was hand-washing pants at the laundry area.
“Weasel, what do you think about the Erdari?”
“I want to kill them.”
“Why?”
“Do you know why rice prices keep falling these days?”
“What is it?”
“I heard the Erdari are inviting nobles to join their clan.”
What!?
They were tempting people to become demons.
I remembered Sir Gottwald.
That trash traitor who betrayed humanity because he wanted to become an Erdari.
It seemed the Erdari had recruited many people besides Gottwald.
Dirty, disgusting bastards!
“I heard Erdari don’t need Ether to level up. If nobles become Erdari, who’s going to buy rice from Thieves like us?”
The weasel’s resentment toward the Erdari ran quite deep.
This one was not a traitor.
Just an ordinary Thief.
Then the next most suspicious person was Batuli.
Why?
Because Batuli was too kind.
“Yore, if doing laundry is difficult, should I do it for you?”
Even now, she was trying to take on tedious, unpleasant work for me.
Could a person really be like that?
‘She’s trying to build trust and goodwill with us.’
‘So no one discovers she’s a traitor.’
“Yore, do you want to go to church with me this weekend?”
She kept inviting me to church too.
What was she planning to make me do there?
She was becoming more suspicious by the moment.
“Mouse, you should come to church too.”
“Me? I’m good. Lord Jweperi doesn’t... doesn’t really like churches.”
Mouse was suspicious too.
Was Mouse really talking to the idol Jweperi?
‘Maybe Jweperi could be an Erdari.’
But...
There was someone else I truly found suspicious.
That person.
“Why?”
The Ranger tilted his head after noticing my stare.
That was right.
The Ranger.
‘Ranger is an even worse class than Thief.’
‘If I were a Ranger, I would probably hate the world.’
‘Maybe I would want to join hands with the Erdari and overturn everything.’
Perhaps he was trying to change classes into a Thief through this betrayal and conspiracy.
Once that thought crossed my mind, it felt like I had found the answer.
「Inspect Possessions」
「Success Rate: 10%」
「Cost: 10,000 Ether」
Ten thousand Ether.
It was money as precious as my blood.
But I should invest it.
「Possession Check Successful!」
「Horn Bow of Annihilation」
「Dried Meat x10」
「Sealing Document x2」
It was an unimpressive list of possessions.
Still, one entry caught my eye.
「Sealing Document x2」.
What were those?
The name alone sounded incredibly suspicious.
At that moment, the Ranger shuddered.
“I suddenly have a bad feeling.”
The Ranger left.
He had sharp instincts, so perhaps he had somehow sensed my Possession Check.
Maybe I had to use Possession Check carefully depending on the person.
Anyway.
My suspicions toward the Ranger only grew stronger.
‘Let’s just take a quick look at those documents and put them back.’
But whenever I approached, the Ranger kept his distance.
“Sorry, Platoon Leader. I don’t like Thieves coming up behind me.”
“Are you scared because you’ve committed so many sins?”
“Hehehe. Is that something a Thief should say?”
What an irritating bastard.
For now, I would keep waiting for an opportunity.
“Then we’ll begin physical training again today!”
“Exercise Eight, thirty repetitions! Start! Do not call out the final count!”
....
...
..
.
“““Twenty-nine!”””
“Thirty.”
“Argh! Why do you keep doing that!?”
“You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you!?”
“First three to reach the pillar in front of the cafeteria, go!”
“Aaaah!”
“Damn it!”
That night, after physical training at least twice as intense as usual.
The barracks darkened.
Once the lights went out, quiet chatter spread from all around.
“Why do you keep saying the final count?”
“Ugh, my whole body aches.”
“I’m going crazy knowing we have to stay in training camp for several more days.”
“Fuck, I miss women’s breasts.”
“Gillingham, what do you think about Instructor Roze?”
“With hips like that, she’d probably give birth easily.”
Everyone snickered.
Then Batuli shouted.
“Everyone, be quiet. Let’s sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Let’s sleep.”
“Oh dear, how scary.”
One or two people began snoring, and eventually all conversation disappeared from the barracks.
It took less than thirty minutes for everyone to fall asleep.
This was the moment I had been waiting for.
“《Shadow Companion》.”
Rustle.
I controlled my shadow and approached the Ranger’s bed.
Maybe he was exhausted from the unusually harsh physical training today.
Snore. Snore.
The Ranger was fast asleep.
‘Hehehe, repeatedly calling out the final count was worth it.’
‘He’s exhausted enough to pass out.’
The Ranger had sharp instincts.
But he would not be able to sense my shadow, which did not even make footsteps.
Slip.
I reached out with my shadow and searched through his locker.
Inside the tightly locked locker, I found his bundle of belongings.
Thump, thump.
My heart pounded as I searched through it.
“Wake up!”
“Wake up!”
Ding ding ding ding ding!
At that moment, someone ran down the hallway while ringing a bell.
“The Erdari have invaded!”
“The demons killed the guards and infiltrated headquarters!”
“Wake uuuup!”
Fuck, those demons?
We all jumped up, got dressed, and grabbed our equipment.
‘Fuck, what is going on all of a sudden?’
‘Still, I got the items.’
「Sealing Document x2」
I retrieved my shadow and the items.
I had only intended to take one item from the Ranger’s belongings.
But because the bell suddenly rang, I ended up taking both.
“What? Why is my locker...?”
The Ranger looked at his wide-open locker.
The bell had rung so suddenly that I had not had time to close its door.
“……”
The Ranger checked his bundle and looked flustered.
Would he shout, “Thief!”
No, he did not.
As if nothing had happened, he grabbed his weapon and shouted,
“What the hell is going on?”
What was that?
No matter how I thought about it, it was unnatural.
There was only one conclusion I could draw.
「Sealing Document x2」.
‘Could these be items he cannot tell others were stolen?’
‘They’re not something he can be open about.’
Maybe they were evidence.
I immediately ran to Instructor Roze’s bedroom.
There, I found Instructor Roze half-naked as she changed clothes.
“Oh!”
My face heated up.
But there was something more important right now.
“Instructor, I have obtained something like this...!”
“A pitch-black scroll?”
The instructor opened it.
A pentagram was drawn on the scroll.
“...Where did you get this?”
The instructor became very serious.
I answered honestly.
“I picked the Ranger’s pocket.”
“We will judge whether that was right or wrong later.”
The instructor clicked her tongue as she stared at the scroll.
“This is a magic scroll written in special letters. A very old Erdari technique. And an extremely evil, ominous one!”
“Then this must be evidence of conspiracy!”
My prediction was right!
I believed no job was beneath another.
But I had suspected the Ranger because the class itself was suspicious, and my instincts had been right.
“Argh! Erdari!”
“Guards! Guards!”
“Aaaaaagh!”
Then screams rang out.
Instructor Roze ran like an arrow.
“Is it the barracks!?”
“Instructor! I’m coming too!”
The barracks where our platoon stayed reeked of blood.
When we opened the door, everything was red.
“What the hell happened here!?”
An Erdari woman holding a bone sword stood among the platoon members.
She had a familiar face.
The Erdari woman with a scar over one eye.
She was the bitch who had given me the name Narwen!
The Ranger lay before her, gasping through blood.
“Why... why...?”
“Why? That’s what I want to ask. We agreed you would use the Sealing Documents we gave you at midnight today.”
“Ugh...”
“Because you did not keep your promise, the entire plan was ruined. You even lost the documents we gave you? You useless Rendo bastard!”
The Erdari held her sword in reverse and stabbed it into the Ranger’s body.
Stab.
“Guh!”
It looked like there had been some kind of deal between the Ranger and the Erdari.
They had planned to use the documents at midnight?
But the Ranger had fallen asleep from exhaustion and failed to do it!
“In the end, I can only use one.”
After dealing with the Ranger, the Erdari took a scroll from her waist.
It looked exactly like the documents I had stolen.
Riiip.
When the Erdari tore the scroll, a small explosion went off.
“Well, one will be enough.”
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, she was holding something like a Black Bundle.
What could be inside that Black Bundle?
I did not know, but the chill crawling down my neck told me it was no ordinary matter.
“Everyone, run away!”
Instructor Roze shouted and charged the Erdari.
“Crushing Strike!”
A hammer blow swung down from above her head!
Clang!
The Erdari raised her sword to block, but the impact made her drop the Black Bundle in her hand.
The bundle flew through the air and landed squarely in my palm.
“Huh?”
“You dog Rendo bastard! Give that back!”
The scar-faced Erdari woman shouted fiercely.
Instructor Roze shouted too.
“Pretty, do not let her take that!”
Author’s Note
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