WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 74: Yore Holds an Engagement Ceremony!? # 3
──────
Shooosh.
It was a rainy afternoon.
“Yaaawn.”
I couldn't help yawning.
Mr. Hammer crossed his arms as he looked at me.
“Yore, we're talking about something important right now!”
“Hehehe, what can I do? Classes make me sleepy.”
History lessons since this morning.
My body was restless, and the sleepiness was torture.
“Listen even if you're sleepy!”
“Ugh.”
“You might become a member of the Dantes family, so you should know how they came to hold the most seats on the Imperial Council!”
The lesson went on and on.
To wake myself up a little, I asked a question.
“Mr. Hammer, why would such a great family want to arrange an engagement between Miss Karma and a criminal like me?”
It felt as if I were dreaming.
“Honestly, it's such a good offer that it feels suspicious instead.”
Hermit, who had been snoring beside me, finally woke up and gave a long yawn.
“Nyaaaawn, if you're that worried, there's a way to find out whether it's a lie or not.”
“Really?”
“There's a mental-school spell called Truth Discernment.”
Truth Discernment?
What was that?
When I frowned, Mr. Hammer clicked his tongue.
“Hermit, magic that touches someone's thoughts and mind is taboo.”
“It's fine if it only tells you whether they're lying or telling the truth, right?”
“There is no such thing as an acceptable taboo!”
Mr. Hammer got angry, but a spell that could tell lies from truth was incredible.
Fuck, magic really could do anything.
No matter how skilled I was as a Thief, I was still just an ordinary person compared to mages who got everything handed to them.
Of course, Mr. Hammer clearly didn't like it.
“I'll pretend I didn't hear this, but don't use taboo mental magic again. Mages who use tricks like that aren't trusted by anyone.”
Tricks like that.
Mr. Hammer said it harshly, then turned and left.
It seemed mages who read minds were treated like Thieves.
‘Well, they're stealing other people's thoughts without permission.’
Thinking of it that way, it was a spell I really wanted.
Half a day later, Hermit handed me a scroll.
It was a scroll containing the Truth Discernment spell.
Apparently, tearing the scroll would let me use the spell written on it once.
“This cost ten million Ether to make!”
“Whaaat!?”
Ten million?
Fuck!
I didn't have that kind of money!
“...Hermit, can you lower the price a little?”
“Then how about stealing the Dragon Claw Talisman Miss Dantes has? That'll cover it. Deal?”
“The one you enhanced?”
“It's been bothering me. I feel like I've seen it somewhere before, but I can't remember where. Maybe if I touch it again, I'll remember....”
“Deal! I'll try!”
Not fully convinced of its effect, I tore the scroll.
After waiting a little, I soon saw something like bright dust in front of my eyes.
Those sparkling particles clung all around people.
“Hermit, I can see something strange!”
“It's Mana waves.”
“Mana waves?”
“Mana particles often cling to people's skin. They can ripple with emotions. They become unstable when someone lies.”
You could tell the truth from the ripples in Mana waves.
Okay, I got it.
“Don't forget that it only lasts for half a day!”
# # #
Atop the high Wall, Miss Dantes sat on the railing with her legs hanging over the bottomless drop.
“Daughters of the Dantes family are educated from childhood. We are taught that one day, we must marry the partner our family chooses for us.”
Sway, sway.
A shoe at the end of her long legs dangled precariously from her foot.
“Some of my older sisters married old men they had never even seen before. I still remember how they cried before leaving to get married.”
Miss Karma blushed as if she were embarrassed.
“...Still, I think I'm very fortunate that it's you, Mr. Yore.”
She was kind to me, humble, rich, and beautiful.
She was the perfect bride.
‘Can this really be real?’
Thump, thump.
Feeling my heart beat wildly, I opened my narrow eyes.
Karma Dantes. I was going to find out whether she was lying.
“Do you really want to get engaged to me?”
“...Yes. It is the will of someone above us! Or do you not like me, Mr. Yore?”
“No, it's not that I dislike you. I.... Ahem.”
Her moist eyes made my mind go hazy.
I desperately watched the particles around her.
They were as still as a lake.
Calm.
This engagement was completely genuine.
‘Am I really going to become part of such a great family!?’
It felt like winning the lottery.
Besides, wasn't marriage supposed to be like that?
A man and woman kissed each other and spent their wedding night together.
“Then, Mr. Yore, what are you doing tonight?”
“...Tonight?”
“I've never taken a walk at night before.”
‘A nighttime date!’
It felt as if fireworks were going off inside my head.
Before I knew it, night had fallen.
“Felix, are you asleep?”
Snore.
Felix must have been exhausted from today's training, because he was snoring.
I slipped out of the lodging while he slept.
Moving secretly wasn't difficult for me.
“Giddyup!”
I spurred Moltma and rode as fast as I could.
An hour south of the Wall lay the Dantes territory.
Under the moonlight, fields of ripe wheat and barley shone beautifully.
‘How many territories like this does Dantes have?’
If I married into the Dantes family, I might own land like this too.
Thinking that, I got off the horse.
“Moltma, wait here quietly.”
Neigh!
Moltma ignored me and ran off somewhere.
Was Moltma going to eat some grass nearby?
A horse being too smart was also a problem.
Swish.
I moved through the darkness.
Thanks to my experience moving secretly among terrifying Erdari, it was easy to avoid the loose watch of the guards protecting the estate.
I finally reached the mansion.
It wasn't as large as I expected.
It might have even been smaller than the Cheperi family's mansion.
‘They said the Dantes family has many members.’
Some of them probably lived in huge mansions, while others were nobles living in modest places like this.
I didn't think much of it as I walked around outside the mansion.
Then I spotted a lighted window on the second floor.
I climbed the vines hanging from the wall and saw a familiar face.
“Miss, I'm here!”
Knock, knock.
“Eek!”
When I tapped on the window, Miss Dantes, who had been lying on her bed, jumped in surprise.
Then she opened the window and climbed out herself.
“My heart is beating so fast! This is my first time doing something so bad!”
Miss Dantes laughed as if she were truly out of breath.
Damn, she was really cute.
I helped Miss Dantes onto Moltma, and we headed to a nearby city.
The city of Nightfall.
It was a city in the Empire where it was reasonably safe to walk around at night.
In fact, nighttime commerce was its main business.
Miss Dantes's eyes sparkled at the torches and lamps shining everywhere.
“I thought night was only black and dark.”
“Hehehe, it usually is.”
“But when I see it like this, it's colorful and beautiful. There are so many stars too.”
“Stars?”
I looked up at the sky.
There really were many stars.
“Come to think of it, your name, Yore, comes from night too, right? I think the word for night in the eastern regions sounded similar to your name....”
“Is that so?”
“I'm sure it is. They probably gave you that name because of your black eyes.”
Miss Dantes looked deeply into my eyes.
For some reason, I felt embarrassed.
After that, things became a little awkward.
What should I say in a situation like this?
Just as I wondered whether I should speak first, Miss Dantes giggled.
“Since I met you, Mr. Yore, only fun and happy things have happened lately. I get hurt less often too... Ah....”
At that moment, Miss Dantes stumbled.
One of her shoes broke.
But she smiled brightly.
“See? Hehehe, I didn't even scrape my knee or bleed. I'm completely lucky.”
Miss Dantes stuck out her tongue a little.
My heart shook deeply.
“But there are too many people here. If someone recognizes me, it might cause trouble for you too, Mr. Yore....”
“Trouble?”
“If people misunderstand and think you kidnapped a noble lady, that would be a problem.”
That was true.
“Wouldn't it be better if we went somewhere with fewer people? Maybe over there....”
Miss Dantes's face was very red, perhaps because of the lamplight.
Gulp.
I swallowed and headed into a dark corner.
Miss Dantes clung tightly to my arm, as if she were afraid of the dim alley.
“《Human Restraint》.”
“Uh, wha?”
Flash.
Creak, creak.
My body suddenly felt as if it had hardened into wax.
I could barely move my eyes, and Miss Dantes grinned.
“Idiot.”
“Uhh....”
I wanted to say something, but no sound came from my throat.
Miss Dantes soon opened a closed door nearby and dragged me inside.
# # #
The room reeked of all kinds of medicine.
There was another strange smell too, like rotting corpses.
“Ugh. I nearly died trying to hold back my disgust.”
Miss Dantes sprayed her gloves and clothes with something from a spray bottle.
“Idiot. I tell you to come out at night, and you actually do?”
What was this situation?
I felt like I understood, but didn't want to.
Miss Dantes giggled.
“What? Surprised?”
“Uhh....”
“Pathetic orphans lose their minds when someone smiles at them a little. They think everyone likes them. You thought so too, right?”
I rolled my eyes.
Now that I looked, there were many headless skeletons in this dark room.
Some were not skeletons at all, but rotting corpses.
Those were probably the source of the foul smell filling the room.
“There's no way I could sincerely like a lowborn man like you.”
“...Th-the engagement....”
The engagement was a lie too?
That was what I wanted to ask, but my mouth was stiff and the words wouldn't come out properly.
Miss Dantes gently stroked my forehead.
“The engagement is real. The exalted one I serve, Ralkar the Plunderer, likes to eat the brains of people deeply connected to a contractor. The exalted one wants you and me to get engaged.”
Fuck!!!
It wasn't the elders of her family who wanted the engagement, but the idol she worshipped!?
“I'll open your head and offer your brain to the exalted one. Then your blessing and luck will all become mine!”
Slide.
Karma Dantes took out a ring from somewhere and put it on my finger.
“It's an honor, right? You can die engaged to a highborn woman like me. Isn't that the greatest luxury an orphan like you could ever enjoy?”
It was a desperate situation, but I couldn't move.
“Urrgh.”
“Give up. No one knows we came here.”
Hehehe.
Karma Dantes laughed sweetly and kissed me.
Smack.
Even in this situation, the feeling of our lips touching was nice.
“Congratulations on becoming my thirteenth fiancé! Ralkar, can the ceremony proceed like this?”
Karma Dantes asked the empty air.
“What? Before, you recognized an engagement with just a kiss.”
Soon, her expression twisted.
“What? Taking this bastard's blessing requires a deeper connection? Haa... If you insist, I have no choice.”
Rustle, rustle.
Karma took off her clothes.
Soon naked, she climbed onto my thigh.
“You really must have been born with incredible luck. You get to hold a woman like me at the moment of your death....”
“Uhh....”
“Hurry up and get it up.”
Something suddenly came to mind.
They said praying mantises ate the male after marriage.
Karma Dantes was a fucking praying mantis!
But this was my chance.
《Shadow Companion》!
I could move my shadow.
Even if my body was restrained, my shadow could still move!
Whoosh. Slice.
The dagger extended by my shadow grazed Karma's side.
“Ah, you fucking bastard!”
Karma ground her teeth in fury.
How could the lips that had smiled shyly at me until just moments ago look like that!?
Fortunately, the strange spell seemed to have been released.
My lips and body were free again.
“You lying bitch!!!”
My blood rushed to my head too.
Just as I wondered what I should do now, it happened.
Boom.
Flames burst out, and the door flew off.
A witch in a pointed hat entered the strange slaughterhouse.
Then she shouted.
“I knew it was a trap! There's no way a lady would suddenly propose an engagement to a criminal!”
It was Hermit!
“And your Dragon Claw Talisman was Ralkar's symbol! It took me some time to find it in a book, but....”
Swish.
A strange wave of light rippled from the tip of Hermit's staff.
“《Arcane Arrow》!”
Pew!
A magical arrow shot out in an instant.
It pierced Karma's abdomen.
“Argh! I-I am a daughter of the Dantes family. You dare do this to me....”
“No one knows we're here anyway.”
Pew. Flash.
Hermit's Arcane Arrow pierced Karma's head.
Author's Note
October 10th...!!! A reader sent support...!!!
Aah! Thank you to Jotunn_875 for sending a King Coin...!!!
Please check the announcements for the full list of thanks...!!!
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
