WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 96: Plot Hook (2)
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The Undying King.
The being who had turned every citizen of the Balkan Kingdom into undead, an immortal legion, and plunged the world into terror.
Since undead basically required no supplies, they boasted tremendous military strength.
They could also raise their enemies' corpses as undead, making those enemies keenly feel what it meant to be hopelessly outnumbered.
Did that mean Necromancy, the foundation of the undead, had always been evil magic? No.
It had only been strictly banned by the Holy Kingdom because of the Undying King's case. It was magic anyone could use.
[Post title] It's a shame about Necromancy
[Post] Necromancy was genuinely useful if you used it well.
[Post] You didn't even have to use human corpses. You could use monster or animal corpses. They could replace manual labor.
[Post] I think it isn't Necromancy that's bad, but the people who abuse it.
└ You want to allow Necromancy so we can make another Undying King? Absolutely not.
└ Then what about other magic? Honestly, isn't abuse the real problem? Other killing magic is bad when abused too.
└ True, but the Central Plains never looked favorably on Necromancy to begin with. It would be one thing if only the Holy Kingdom had banned it, but the Central Plains joining in was huge.
└ Still, banning it altogether is a bit much;;
└ Exactly. There were people who died without even getting to leave last words.
└ It's basically like an entire promising profession disappeared. A lot of things became more troublesome because of this.
[Post title] If it weren't for the Undying King
[Post] My father probably wouldn't have been executed either.
└ That's unfortunate. A lot of people resent the Holy Kingdom because of that.
└ My father was the greatest merchant.
└ ?? Why did a merchant fall from grace?
└ Fuck, was this bastard a grave robber??
└ Sounds more like human trafficking than grave robbing;;
└ Look at this fucking lunatic;;
└ His head should've rolled a long time ago lmao
└ Lmao
└ Is that why people's view of Necromancy got even worse?
└ Nope, that's an extreme case. Usually, they use the corpses of unidentified people.
└ It's like throwing a fit because a pharmacist made narcotics.
└ And human trafficking isn't necessarily related only to Necromancy. They're just forcing a connection.
Necromancy is unsettling magic, not evil magic. On the contrary, it has brought large and small benefits to the world.
A prime example was replacing manual labor.
It contributed greatly to farming in particular, the beginning and center of human civilization.
A cow died? Raise it with Necromancy.
Not enough workers? Ask a necromancer for laborers and you're done.
Human corpses could be used too, though only through rather strict procedures.
Everyone particularly hated using Necromancy in war, so it was banned by unspoken agreement.
If a country used Necromancy in war, it couldn't complain even if the entire world shunned it.
[Post title] Necromancy really is unsettling magic
[Post] Honestly, raising dead corpses itself feels ominous.
[Post] It gives off an evil vibe, and corpses are creepy.
└ (Photo of a Death Knight riding a horse) That skeleton horse is fucking sick.
└ Wow. I've decided to resurrect a horse with Necromancy after seeing that.
└ The Holy Kingdom will arrest you for that;;
└ Then I'll ride the horse and run away.
└ Lmao
[Post title] Let me lay out the facts.
[Post] Was the Undying King a bad person? Yes.
[Post] Did the Holy Kingdom overreact? Yes.
[Post] Is Necromancy unsettling magic? Yes.
[Post] I'd understand if they only banned using it on humans, but it's infuriating that they blocked Necromancy itself entirely.
[Post] They say it calls upon the souls of the dead, but even that isn't certain.
[Post] Have you ever seen a skeleton doing simple labor possess a sense of self? I haven't.
[Post] I think it isn't that they have a sense of self, but that a spirit-like being inhabits them, like with a Guardian.
[Post] The corpses simply follow the orders they receive.
└ Then what about people who say they summoned their ancestors with Necromancy?
└ That only happens when there is a reliable medium or personal effects.
└ Then what about liches or Death Knights?
└ They're both closer to monsters, so that doesn't mean anything. Think of goblin shamans, orc shamans, or gnoll magicians.
└ What's your job? Are you a professor or something?
└ A shut-in gallery rat.
└ Get lost lmao
└ That all sounded plausible, but my trust in it just dropped hard after reading that lmao
└ What kind of analysis is a gallery rat going to do lmao
After the Undying King incident, which had nearly covered the world in corpses, Necromancy became known as evil magic.
Several distinguished mages and scholars spoke up, saying it wasn't good to leave Necromancy as it was, but it was futile.
A great many people had been harmed or lost loved ones because of what the Undying King had done.
At least in the current generation, no one expected to see Necromancy again. Everyone thought so.
[Post title] I translated what Grylls uploaded
[Post] The language of the Balkan Kingdom was nearly lost, and it was used by the upper class, so it was difficult to translate.
[Post] But everything here is shocking enough to make my head spin;; If this is real, the Holy Kingdom is going to be thrown into turmoil.
└ What does it say? You were saying earlier that the Holy Kingdom massacred people.
└ Originally, the Undying King appeared first and the Holy Kingdom stepped in, right? But the order of events is reversed. The Holy Kingdom massacred the Balkan Kingdom's people first, and then the Undying King was born;;
└ Does that even make sense? That should be impossible;;
└ The Balkan Kingdom had a small population, and the Holy Kingdom was incredibly powerful, so maybe that's why.
└ No. I'm asking why the Holy Kingdom massacred the Balkan Kingdom's people. There has to be a reason.
└ It says they asked them to lend their strength to defeat the Demon King. Then, when they refused, they destroyed them all as an example to others;;
└ That's insane;;
└ If that's true, this would go far beyond mere turmoil in the Holy Kingdom.
[Post title] There were actually a lot of strange things
[Post] People who had been close to the Balkan Kingdom said the Undying King had been closer to a benevolent ruler.
[Post] It was true that the Undying King had deep knowledge of Necromancy, but Necromancy involving the dead was strictly prohibited.
[Post] Instead, if there was a special reason, it was allowed through proper procedures.
[Post] The Balkan Kingdom's territory may have been small, but its people had no trouble making a living.
[Post] Its national power was weaker than other countries, but considering its territory, it was relatively well off.
[Post] Why would someone content with what they had become the Undying King and try to swallow the world? Going as far as turning every citizen into undead?
[Post] They say it was to conquer the world, but nobody would do that unless they were completely insane. What was the point when they had to be alive for it to matter?
└ So you're saying the Holy Kingdom might have something shady going on too?
└ Yeah, but only in the gallery lol
└ True, if they get rattled over a rumor from the gallery, that means they really have something to hide lmao
└ I also don't get why a record like that would be in the Forest of Four Seasons.
└ People are just making a big deal out of it lmao
When the shocking revelation first spread through the gallery, the users didn't believe it.
The contents were difficult to accept, and more than anything, they had been discovered in the Forest of Four Seasons.
The truth coming out of a book found while exploring the Forest of Four Seasons, the most remote wilderness of all?
[Post title] I believe it more because it's the Forest of Four Seasons
[Post] If the Holy Kingdom was trying to kill all the Balkan Kingdom's people, it makes sense that they fled to the Forest of Four Seasons.
[Post] The Undying King must have sent the scribe to the Forest of Four Seasons as a final safeguard. They were going to die either way.
└ Sounds plausible?
└ Even if they left records, nobody would ever see them anyway.
└ But the person who found them was Wild Grylls lmao. Wild Grylls is the only bastard who can browse the gallery in the Forest of Four Seasons.
└ What kind of coincidence is this lmao
[Post title] It still feels random no matter how I think about it
[Post] (Photo of an elf tilting their head)
[Post] Grylls found records related to the Undying King while exploring? Don't you think that's too soon?
└ So you're saying Grylls deliberately found them? In the Forest of Four Seasons?
└ That doesn't make sense either. We have to assume it was just dumb luck.
└ Lmao
└ Look how quickly you accepted that lmao
Paradoxically, that was why it seemed credible.
Grylls had even uploaded the related book to the gallery in its entirety.
Had only part of it been posted, people might have criticized Grylls for trying to stir things up.
But since Grylls had taken the trouble to post everything, nobody could say that.
And as had been mentioned time and time again, the gallery was something anyone could enter as long as they met the conditions, regardless of age or gender.
It was enough for scholars scattered across the world to gather around Grylls's post and discuss it.
“……”
Asella, the gallery's Head Mod and DontAbandonTheHero, could see the gallery's current state as well.
She stared at it with confusion in her eyes.
As a devout believer and the current Hero, it was difficult for her to believe that such a truth had been posted in the gallery.
‘W-What is this……?’
The truth concerning the Undying King, history's worst necromancer and tyrant.
History recorded that the Undying King, consumed by greed, had turned every citizen in the kingdom into undead.
To stop the Undying King, the previous Hero and Kadir, the mage who served as the Hero's partner, had personally stepped in and thwarted that ambition.
The Hero had sacrificed themself gloriously in the process, and Kadir had defeated the Undying King.
That was the “history” known to the public.
‘T-This can't be true! The Holy Kingdom would never do something like that……!’
Grylls's post contained material so ugly it felt like a conspiracy theory.
Grylls had only uploaded it to decipher a senior predecessor's records, but its impact was far more terrifying than anyone could have imagined.
A truth that could never be revealed to the world. The dark underside of the Holy Kingdom, which worshipped the gods.
Only the beginning had been deciphered so far, but the summary was this.
The group meant to defeat the Demon King had instead created another Demon King.
It contained not a shred of justice, and the truth dealt Asella a devastating blow.
‘R-Right. It must be a lie. If it had really happened, the Goddess would never have forgiven them.’
The Holy Kingdom was a nation that worshipped the gods. Such a nation couldn't have created a Demon King.
Asella rationalized it to calm her pounding heart.
For now, her priority was calming the gallery, which was in an uproar and on the verge of overflowing.
‘Should I…… delete Grylls's post?’
[System] The gallery's third rule.
[System] Posts that created tension between nations were forbidden.
The posts Grylls had uploaded completely violated that rule.
The ban on fraternizing only applied to real-life relationships, so that wasn't a problem.
‘And Grylls posted them without thinking anything of it……’
She couldn't help worrying. More than anything, there was a larger problem.
If she deleted Grylls's posts, people would become even more convinced.
It might be better to leave them alone.
Asella had foolish moments, but she was never stupid.
‘For now, I shouldn't delete these posts.’
They had likely already spread as far as they could.
She had been busy moving around until now and hadn't had the chance to check the gallery.
‘If the Holy Kingdom really did that……’
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Asella vigorously shook her head to drive away the thoughts creeping in.
The outside world was still quiet.
Even if this became controversial, the Holy Kingdom could simply deny it and that would be the end.
‘This chaos might stay within the gallery.’
Problems that erupted in the gallery rarely spread into reality.
It was a storm in a teacup. Of course, that would change if there was solid evidence.
For instance, if the book Grylls had found fell into someone else's hands.
‘Though even that would be difficult without considerable renown.’
There was time. Asella decided to wait for the Holy Kingdom's response.
She hoped this wasn't the truth, but……
‘The Goddess hasn't said anything, so it must be false information.’
Given the situation she was in, dark feelings crept into her heart.
‘It has to be.’
* * *
Meanwhile, the gallery was in complete uproar.
“Ah. That was a good sleep.”
Grylls woke up from a deliciously satisfying nap.
The first thing Grylls did after waking up was browse the gallery to see whether anything had been translated.
Grylls had only one thought after seeing the gallery in chaos.
“Looks like the part I want still hasn't been translated.”
It was disappointing.
Footnotes:
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