WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 53: Everyone Has Their Faults # 2
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We were supposed to return as soon as we captured Debora.
But Lady Cheperi offered to take us with her, saying she would reward us with a family heirloom.
“Our territory is nearby, so it should only take half a day by carriage.”
“Then let’s go right away!”
Lady Cheperi was the humblest and kindest noble I had ever met.
Of course, there were reasons for that kindness.
First, we were the benefactors who had saved her.
Second, Hermit was the daughter of the prestigious Pilgrim Family.
“Hermit, you were a noble young lady?”
On the way to the Cheperis’ Stormhill estate, I carefully asked Hermit, who was sitting beside me in Lady Cheperi’s carriage.
“I’m from the Pilgrim Family, but I’m not a noble.”
“If you put it like that, I don’t get it!”
She was from a noble family but was not a noble?
Was she a servant?
Hermit frowned.
She sharply turned toward the window and answered curtly.
“I’m not their biological child.”
Aha! She meant she was adopted.
I had grown up in an orphanage too, so I knew a little about adoption.
‘Fuck, I wish I’d been adopted by nobles too!’
At the orphanage, clever kids who acted like weasels found good parents and got picked early.
That was why every orphan tried to make adults like them.
I did too.
But strangely, every time someone came to adopt a child, they lost their money pouch. And every time, all suspicion fell on me.
“Yore, hurry and give the money back!”
“Now!”
It was so unfair.
They always suspected me first without any evidence.
Even now, it remained a deep wound in my heart.
‘How did they know?’
‘I got rid of the evidence carefully.’
Lady Cheperi, seated in front of us, chuckled.
“Being adopted into the Pilgrim Family, famed as sages, only makes you more interesting.”
“Sages? Smart people?”
“Yes. The Pilgrim Family has long been known as a magical bloodline that can wield arcane magic, fire, and telekinesis all at once. Mages that versatile are rare.”
“Whoa!”
According to Mouse, my fellow trainee from boot camp, simply being a mage who could use offensive magic was impressive.
And this family had three kinds of offensive magic.
It would not be strange for them to be revered as sages because of their outstanding magical skill.
On top of that, Hermit could use all sorts of magic, including fire, ice, lightning, and arcane magic.
So she was impressive because she came from such a great noble family.
Or perhaps she had been adopted because she was so impressive?
‘I should stay close with Hermit from now on!’
Lady Cheperi wore a worried expression.
“I have an adopted daughter too. I heard the thieves sent her to Kerning Town... I don’t even know whether she’s alive.”
Tears rolled down Lady Cheperi’s cheeks.
She had remained so strong through her own misfortune, but she could not bear worrying about her daughter.
“My lady, I think your daughter is probably alive.”
“...Do you truly think so?”
“If she’s a young lady from a noble family, her price would be high. They wouldn’t kill her.”
“That would be a relief, but...”
That was how we arrived in Stormhill.
Rumble, crash!
The mansion stood atop a hill battered by wind and rain. It looked truly impressive.
“The Cheperi Family was once a magical bloodline as well. That storm-covered mansion is proof of it.”
Lady Cheperi smiled bitterly.
Meanwhile, Hermit, who had looked gloomy throughout the carriage ride, brightened as though she had finally cheered up.
“Is it true that the mansion has wind and rain all year round?”
“Yes. The former generation placed magic on the mansion. The previous head of the family was a mage who wielded powerful storms.”
Wow, a mage who commanded storms!
A mansion where it rained all year because of magic!
Just hearing about it made my heart swell.
It was a shame I could not put that mansion in my pocket.
“Of course, those magical engravings and our bloodline have weakened now.”
At that moment, someone came running barefoot from inside the mansion.
“My lady! You’ve returned! I’ve been waiting for you!”
She wore a whalebone corset pulled tight around her waist.
Even her dress looked terribly uncomfortable to move in.
She looked exactly like the image of a noblewoman in my head.
Her hair was nearly white-blond, while her makeup had run in the rain, making her look like a panda.
“When I heard that you and young Lady Ellie had been taken by those terrible thieves, I, Windia, could not eat for three days...!”
The woman burst into tears while hugging Lady Cheperi.
Lady Cheperi looked to be in her late thirties, while this woman appeared to be in her early twenties.
Her belly was round too.
Was she pregnant?
“Windia, these are the benefactors who saved my life. And this young lady is from the Pilgrim Family.”
“Pilgrim? As in the one who was a court mage...”
Fear and tension briefly flickered in Windia’s eyes.
Maybe it was just my imagination.
“This is Windia. She’s my distant cousin and our lord’s second wife.”
At that moment, it felt like my brain had been fried.
‘Second wife?’
‘Is that even possible?’
I could barely get even one girlfriend.
Yet this man had two wives. What an incredible man!
‘If I become a noble, can I do that too?’
My dream was to build a warm family with a pretty, kind woman.
And if I had two wives?
It would surely make for a family twice as warm!
“Then let us go see the head of the family.”
What kind of man had two wives?
I was very curious.
# # #
Lady Cheperi introduced us to the head of the family.
He was an extremely old man.
“This is Lord Gale Cheperi. Since the beginning of this year, he has been unable to rise from bed due to an unknown illness. Please excuse him...”
Wasn’t he dead?
Honestly, that was what he looked like.
His eyes would not even open. He was practically a living corpse.
“...An illness?”
Hermit leaned closer to Gale Cheperi as though she was interested.
At that moment, Lady Cheperi and Lady Windia both looked toward Hermit.
Their eyes shone with mixed emotions.
Hermit quietly stepped back.
“I can’t tell what it is just by looking.”
“Yes, most healers have said the same. They don’t know the cause. He was healthy, then suddenly collapsed. I am terribly worried.”
I see.
Everyone had complicated circumstances.
Rumble. Rain poured down outside.
The mansion was starting to bore me.
“Um, my lady, what about that family heirloom?”
“Oh, please come this way.”
Lady Cheperi led us to what looked like a drawing room.
Creak.
She opened an intricately gilded chest and took something out.
“It is a cloak imbued with 《Blessing of Wind》. The previous head of the family cherished it.”
Oh! A magical item!
I accepted the dark blue cloak and draped it over my shoulders.
It was short, only reaching my waist, but it felt good to wear.
Whoosh.
It felt like I had a cool portable fan attached at my waist.
「Storm Cloak: A garment imbued with the power of wind.」
「《Blessing of Wind》: Has a set chance to nullify ranged attacks such as arrows.」
The effect was good too.
It could block arrows with a certain chance.
‘A lot of Erdari use bows.’
‘It’ll work well against them.’
Lady Cheperi took one more item from the chest.
It was a pitch-black branch.
What was that?
Hermit became incredibly excited.
“This is a branch of lightning-struck wood! It’s so black!”
「Lightning Branch: A branch struck by lightning many times.」
「《Overcharge》: Increases the power of lightning magic.」
Both Hermit and I received good rewards.
But Lady Windia complained as though she was dissatisfied.
“My lady, couldn’t you just give them a little money? How can you hand out our family heirlooms so freely?”
“It is better for them to be put to good use than to sleep in that chest for hundreds of years. We have no use for things like staffs anyway.”
“You don’t know what my son might be like! He could grow into a great mage!”
Windia clicked her tongue.
Come to think of it, she had said the Cheperi Family’s magical bloodline was growing weaker.
But Lady Windia seemed to believe the child in her belly would become an amazing mage.
‘They aren’t going to ask for the items back, right? This is suddenly getting uncomfortable.’
We should leave first thing tomorrow morning.
With that thought, we headed to the guest rooms we had been assigned.
Rumble, boom!
The thunder was deafening as I lay in my private room.
For some reason, I could not sleep.
‘The bed is too soft. It’s actually uncomfortable.’
There was something bothering me.
That chest I had seen earlier.
‘Could there be better things in it?’
I would just go take a look at what was inside.
With that thought, I quietly left my room.
“The rain sure comes down hard.”
“This really is a depressing mansion.”
“...”
I avoided the guards on night watch and headed for the drawing room.
Naturally, its door was closed.
‘Hehe, should I pick it?’
Just as I took out my Thief tools, I noticed a sound coming from beyond the drawing-room door.
Quietly, I pressed my ear to the door.
The sound grew clearer.
There were strained groans, like someone was suffering.
I could also hear thumping, like something was being hit.
Was someone getting beaten in there?
I seriously considered whether I should help, but only for a moment.
The rough breathing soon stopped.
Then I heard quiet conversation inside.
“Enut, explain why that bitch isn’t dead.”
“You said the thieves would take care of it if we turned a blind eye to the abandoned mine work!”
...I heard something troubling.
I focused harder.
“Windia, the Blessed came to rescue her. There was nothing I could do.”
“For now, keep calm. We’ve been far too reckless.”
“Still, we sold Ellie to Kerning Town, so she’ll never be able to come back.”
“Keep calm? That woman is scattering around the inheritance my son should receive!”
“We need to get rid of her quickly. What about poisoning her again?”
Poisoning her again?
Gale Cheperi suddenly came to mind.
She called it an illness, but perhaps he had actually been poisoned.
Just as I wondered if I was thinking too much, they continued.
“Even so, it would look suspicious if two people fell ill.”
“Then let’s use the Blessed instead.”
“There’s a Thief, isn’t there? How about saying the Thief, blinded by the family heirlooms, killed the first wife and the head of the family?”
A chill ran down my spine.
‘No wonder I kept wanting to look inside that chest.’
‘If I’d honestly stayed asleep, I would have been framed.’
I had uncovered their plot ahead of time.
What luck.
I headed to the head of the family’s room.
Gale Cheperi still had his eyes closed, so I whispered into his ear.
“My lord, I heard your second wife conspired with some man to poison you. And she sold your first wife to thieves so they could kill her.”
His eyes snapped open.
Shocking truths could even make a man in a vegetative state open his eyes.
“My lord, I’ll handle it somehow, so if you agree, please blink once...”
“...Poison. So that was it after all.”
The head of the family sighed and sat up.
No lie, I was so startled that I hit the ceiling.
“...Ow, fuck! You could move?”
That seriously scared me!
Footnotes:
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