WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 123: I Saw It
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I saw it.
There were three direct heirs in the Cyrus imperial family.
The eldest, and the one closest to inheriting the throne, was Joaquin Cyrus.
The man standing before me now.
Because of the imperial family's distinctive red hair, the epithets of the imperial children always included “Red.”
If Alicia was the Red Scales, then this man was, quite literally, the Red Lion.
I knelt on one knee before that lion and paid my respects.
“It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am Halibal Velder.”
Luna knelt beside me, while Adeline dipped her head in greeting.
Keeping my head lowered, I watched Joaquin from the corner of my eye.
He looked like someone with a vicious temper.
Judging by his face alone, he looked ready to turn the world into a sea of blood. But in truth, he was not.
If Alicia was the radical who advocated conquering dungeons, Joaquin was a moderate who thoroughly favored maintaining the status quo.
Of course, that did not mean he was a pacifist.
It meant he was the embodiment of imperialism, someone willing to use anything for the Empire's stability.
Since Alicia was a playable character, Joaquin, who stood against her, was inevitably a villain.
There were human villains in the original game too. Viktor Grace, Yusra, and others.
But Joaquin was uniquely awful among them.
He was the only human who openly sided with the Evil God.
Right before the final chapter, the Evil God began spreading demonic energy across the world, and the Empire's public order completely collapsed.
The way this stability fanatic responded was by siding with the cult.
For one reason only.
For the Empire.
In the middle of the final dungeon, he barged in, claiming the Evil God had promised the Empire would endure. Then he turned himself into a monster and blocked Aren's path.
Of course, the Evil God had not lied.
In the final chapter, every time you lost a boss battle, the game briefly showed the corresponding bad ending.
The cutscene after losing to Joaquin showed every citizen of the Empire becoming a monster, allowing the Empire itself to endure.
After being defeated, he cursed Aren, saying Aren could never defeat the Evil God. Whining that he had been right, he crumbled into dust and exited the story.
He did not even receive a proper redemption by the ending.
Unlike Viktor, who at least made a sacrifice, Joaquin was bound to be hated by players.
But that was all in the future.
At this point, Joaquin should not have had any connection to the Evil God yet.
Then why?
‘Why is he here?’
“I never expected the person my useless little sister kept praising until her mouth went dry to be cleaning up a filthy dump like this.”
“...It is closer to exterminating pests than cleaning.”
Judging by how he spoke, he had definitely come for me.
His gaze left me and turned toward the warehouse that had just begun to burn.
“That's not wrong. Every last one of them is a rat gnawing away at the Empire's order.”
It seemed he even knew what we had done and that the cult had nested here.
Then why had he left them alone?
The Joaquin from the original game was the kind of person who would burn down his entire garden to kill the bugs nesting in it.
Then rebuild the garden on top of the ashes.
By working the gardeners to death.
“Follow me.”
Joaquin gave the brief order, then turned away.
‘Fuck.’
I looked toward Adeline just in case, but she merely gave me a bitter smile and shrugged.
Luna's eyes were equally uneasy.
‘I'm cornered.’
With the prince personally involved, there was no one I could ask for help.
Unless the Emperor himself appeared, this was a declaration that Joaquin would take me with him no matter what.
There was nothing to gain from making an enemy of him now, so I had no choice but to follow.
Joaquin led us to the Cyrus Express stopped at the station.
Apparently, he had arrived on it, but I had not noticed.
The Cyrus Express used a route reserved for the imperial family, so it was difficult to spot.
Still, the rear of the train was facing Gravner rather than Luft.
‘Did he stop by Gravner first?’
It took about three days to travel from Gravner to Rainport on a regular train.
The Cyrus Express could make the trip in a day. Perhaps he had arrived in advance and been waiting.
Which naturally meant he knew we had conquered the entrance to Gravner's dungeon.
And that we were heading for Rainport.
What could his purpose possibly be, for a prince too reluctant to leave his seat to go through the trouble of seeking me out?
Before I could finish thinking it through, Joaquin motioned toward Adeline's bag.
“Bring it.”
At his command, soldiers snatched the bag away. They took out the ledger and presented it to Joaquin.
Joaquin looked it over for a long while before handing it to Killien. Killien examined it again, then passed it to an adjutant.
It stung to see the ledger passed around so easily, but I could not show it.
The ledger was not what mattered right now.
I steadied my breathing so no one would sense the Abyss Fragment tucked against my chest.
Whatever Joaquin wanted, I absolutely did not want him to discover the fragment.
“Board.”
Joaquin entered the train first.
When I followed, Adeline naturally tried to come with me.
Killien stopped her.
“Adeline Windsor. His Highness wishes to speak with Sir Halibal alone.”
“You are telling me to send my student alone into a death trap without an escort?”
“It is not a death trap. It is the Empire's embrace. The Empire will protect Sir Halibal, so spare us your presumptuous concern.”
Here, the Empire meant Joaquin himself.
Adeline looked at me and tilted her head.
It was a signal asking, ‘Should we turn this over?’
Turn over what? If we drew our swords here, we would immediately be branded traitors and sent straight to the execution block.
More importantly, even if Adeline could handle Killien, Luna and I could not handle the rest of the soldiers.
When I shook my head, Adeline snorted and lowered her hand.
“Will you be all right? We do not know what he wants.”
“I'll be fine. He is someone I would have had to meet eventually anyway.”
“If anything happens... act in whatever way benefits you. Forget the Empire, the Academy, and even me. All right?”
This time, I looked at Luna.
“I-I am on your side, Halibal.”
“I know.”
“Be... careful.”
I nodded and boarded the train.
Hiss!
As the door closed with a burst of steam, the sound of rain vanished as if it had been a lie.
This was my second time riding the Cyrus Express.
When I had boarded with Alicia, there had been a strange floral scent. This time, there was nothing but the stale smell of iron.
Joaquin dropped into the seat of honor, crossed his legs, and stared at me.
Once the soldiers set the ledger before him and withdrew, silence settled over the carriage.
I walked over and stood across from him.
“Why are you standing?”
“You did not order me to sit.”
“You have more sense than I expected.”
Joaquin gestured at the chair with his chin.
When I sat down, he tapped the ledger on the table.
“Do you regret losing this?”
“I would be lying if I said I did not.”
“I like your honesty.”
With a faint laugh, Joaquin casually pushed the ledger aside.
“Do not misunderstand. I did not come all this way to seize something so trivial.”
“Then...?”
“I came to warn you, Halibal Velder.”
A warning? Not an attempt to recruit me?
Question marks filled my head.
For one, his purpose was not recruitment. For another, a prince had personally moved just to give me a warning.
“The Empire's board has been shaken recently. Beginning with the conquest of the Second Abyss, and now this incident in Gravner.”
“...”
“You are at the center of it. A rat hiding behind Alicia and cleverly shaking the board.”
Ah. So when he had called someone a rat earlier, he had not meant the cult. He had meant me.
I could not deny it.
I really was shaking things up.
“I hate variables. Especially variables I cannot control.”
On that one point, we agreed.
I did too.
“What precisely do you mean by a warning?”
“Why did you empower Alicia?”
Answering a question with another question.
I hated that way of speaking most of all.
But what I hated more was someone talking in circles even when we were alone.
Adeline and Luna were probably worried outside, but I was certain he would not kill me right now.
Surprisingly, this man believed in merit.
He utterly despised casually killing someone who might become an ally. Of course, he did not care in the slightest about anyone on the other side.
If I could demonstrate my usefulness, I might even gain his help instead.
If things went well, perhaps I could prevent his future betrayal too.
I glanced around.
This was a sealed room. If there was no one else to hear us, there was no reason for me to hold back either.
It had already rained around Rainport for two days.
The rain should stop soon, and once it did, we needed to leave for Baran immediately.
If we missed the timing, we would have to sit around for another three days. I did not want that.
Since we both knew what cards the other held, I decided to stop speaking indirectly first.
“To conquer the Dungeons of the Evil God. My objective aligns with Princess Alicia's.”
“I am asking why you wish to conquer them.”
“Forgive my impertinence, but may I ask in return? Why do you not conquer them, Your Highness?”
Joaquin's eyes darkened.
He looked angry, but he probably was not.
Like Alicia, he could control even his expression as much as he wanted.
“Soldiers and students are still dying on the front lines. The treasury is being poured out to contain the demonic energy, while Gravner's workshops operate without rest.”
“Continue.”
“The Dungeons of the Evil God and demonic energy are bombs that could go off at any time. No one knows whether that will be tomorrow or ten years from now.”
Of course, I knew. It would happen within three years.
“Why cling to them and fret? If there is a bomb, common sense says to dismantle it.”
I continued without stopping.
“If we conquer the dungeons and purify the demonic energy, fewer troops will be spent at the border. Gravner's production capacity can be used to build the Empire's infrastructure instead of military supplies.”
“Continue.”
“Would that not be the true stability and prosperity Your Highness desires?”
Even as I spoke, anticipation rose inside me.
The people in this world could change depending on the variables. Alicia had changed, so there was no reason Joaquin could not.
If I could persuade him here.
Alicia and Joaquin were like water and oil. But if I could bind them together under the single goal of conquering the dungeons...
‘The difficulty of conquering dungeons from now on will drop sharply.’
I continued emphasizing the need to conquer the dungeons, mixing in just enough about my own position.
It was an appeal that said, Change your objective, and I can be on your side.
I had no actual intention of doing so, of course.
Joaquin listened to me until the end.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes.”
“Let us assume every dungeon is conquered, and in the end, even the Evil God is defeated, as you say.”
When I nodded, he asked again.
“What comes next?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am asking what remains in the Empire after the Evil God is gone.”
I answered without hesitation.
“Peace will come, naturally.”
It was the obvious course.
Once the Evil God disappeared, demonic energy would disappear. Once demonic energy disappeared, monsters and dungeons would disappear too.
Then people would no longer have to live in fear.
I knew that ending already.
The epilogue that played as the ending credits rolled after the Evil God fell.
Flowers bloomed on plains that had once been battlefields, and soldiers returned home to reunite with their families.
The protagonists returned to their daily lives and raised a toast with smiles.
A happy ending.
That was the destination I had to reach after struggling through this world.
Joaquin let out a quiet laugh at my confident answer.
“Peace.”
He leaned forward, his red hair swaying like a lion's mane.
“Have you seen it yourself?”
“...Pardon?”
“I asked whether you have personally confirmed that so-called peace with your own eyes.”
Had I seen it? Yes.
I had seen it countless times through a monitor.
But I could hardly tell someone from this world that I had seen the game's ending.
As I searched for an acceptable answer, Joaquin said something unexpected.
“For your information, I have seen it.”
My head creaked as I turned toward him.
What had he just said?
Footnotes:
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