WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 41: It Grew Again

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“Both of them said they’d be here soon.”

“That’s a relief.”

We had successfully taken down Maliaas, but we hadn’t escaped unscathed.

I’d been prepared for Hundred Knives, but I never expected him to use Thousand Knives.

I looked at the unconscious man and thought,

‘So even if I use Rewind Action against a human, I won’t necessarily get the same result? I’ll have to keep that in mind.’

After supporting him, I immediately contacted Mine and explained the situation. She said she would come with Adeline, who happened to be nearby.

I was definitely going to get scolded for this.

Fortunately, the Yellow Shards I had equipped kept my wounds from being too deep.

Once Mine treated me, I should be able to move around again in a day or two.

“So... what are we going to do with that?”

“Hmm...”

Cecilia pointed toward a treasure chest.

Since Maliaas was considered a boss as well, it appeared he had dropped a treasure chest in reality, just as he did in the original.

No, why did a treasure chest appear after killing a human?

Normally, we would open it, but this time was different.

Cecilia and I had just been attacked inside the Empire by a Bishop-class follower of the Evil God who had infiltrated the Empire.

Though it felt like I was the one who had attacked him.

In a situation like this, even if we were the ones who defeated the follower, the Imperial Family would claim the spoils as a matter of principle.

‘What a waste.’

Just like the bosses of the Dungeons of the Evil God, Bishop-class enemies always dropped one rare Shard.

The equipment they dropped was also likely Tier 3 or higher, and there would probably be plenty of Tier 2 Shards too...

Was I really going to give all that up?

Still, I couldn’t just pocket it in front of Cecilia.

The Ren House was connected to the Imperial Family. Even if she was my Follower, I had no choice but to be mindful of that.

“It can’t be helped. We should hand it over...”

“We should take it.”

“...?”

Cecilia calmly suggested we open the chest.

That was exactly what I wanted, but was she really okay with that?

“We defeated him, didn’t we? You were even injured. Of course we should take it.”

“Will that be okay?”

“If we keep quiet, who’s going to know it was there?”

Perfectly logical.

When I nodded, Cecilia nodded along with me.

Good. Let’s open it right away.

The moment we opened the chest, purple light burst forth. Unlike last time, more than ten Tier 2 Shards poured out like fireworks.

Cecilia swiftly snatched up a gleaming white light among them.

“It’s a Special Shard!”

She was absurdly fast.

Cecilia handed me the Shard she had caught.

[White Tome]

‘...White Tome? This is Cecilia’s endgame Shard.’

White Tome was a hybrid Shard that increased both Attack Power and Mana by 3.

Like Adamant, its stats were a little awkward, so most characters eventually removed White Tome.

Cecilia was the exception.

As a physical and magic DPS hybrid, White Tome could be considered her endgame Shard.

Cecilia’s face brightened after hearing the explanation.

“Really? Then I can use it?”

‘That’s true, but... I should check its Special Ability first.’

If it had a useful ability, it would be hard to give it to Cecilia. Then we would need to negotiate.

When I equipped White Tome in Renee, a message appeared.

[Special Shard: White Tome]

[Special Ability: Unidentified]

[It will unlock when the user reaches a specific scenario.]

‘...Huh?’

Wait, this was a thing too?

White Tome had an ability attached to it, but it was currently locked.

Maybe this had happened because I was getting too far ahead of the scenario.

Maliaas wasn’t supposed to die at this point.

Or perhaps the ability was so overpowered that it had been temporarily locked away.

‘It can’t be helped.’

For the time being, I would have to let Cecilia use it.

When I gave White Tome back, Cecilia smiled in satisfaction.

That settled Cecilia’s share.

Then I looked at the longsword that had fallen alongside White Tome.

[Clown’s Sword (III)]

[Attack Power 13 / Fluidity 5]

[Has a chance to reduce the opponent’s Fluidity.]

‘This is insane. It’s practically made for me.’

Luckily, I had gotten a Tier 3 weapon far better than the Shattering Sword I had originally planned to obtain.

In the original, the Clown series was a set of weapons unlocked as dungeon drops only after defeating Maliaas.

The Shattering series greatly increased Attack Power but lowered Fluidity.

The Clown series, on the other hand, had average Attack Power but raised the user’s Fluidity while lowering the opponent’s. It perfectly reflected Maliaas’s concept.

The best part was that I no longer needed to urgently farm for the Shattering Sword.

Of course, I still needed to keep farming.

Partly for Cecilia’s weapon, but more importantly because of the Shattering Sword’s unique option.

[Has a chance to reduce the opponent’s Defense.]

The reason the Shattering series could be used well into the midgame was the Defense reduction effect attached to every weapon in the series.

Low Attack Power could be made up for with Shards, but the Defense reduction option was hard to replace.

If I could give one to Cecilia, she might handle the Defense reduction role for a while.

“Can I take this?”

“Yeah. I already got one.”

Cecilia lightly waved White Tome.

She really seemed to like it.

I liked mine too.

As I reached down to pick up Clown’s Sword, I spotted another shining object beside its hilt.

It was a snowflake-shaped jewel, slightly smaller than a Shard. It seemed to be something Maliaas had been carrying.

[Winter’s Snow]

It was an item that hadn’t existed in the original.

“Ah!”

Cecilia cried out and ran over when she saw the jewel.

“This! This is it! It’s the jewel my sister stared at for so long in that jewelry shop!”

“...Really?”

“I’m telling you! We only bought Luna Grace’s gift. Try giving this to my sister. I’m sure she’ll love it.”

I happened to pick it up on the way here. Really.

She was going to like this?

For now, I put the jewel away as Cecilia suggested.

After dividing up the dropped items, we disposed of the treasure chest somewhere nearby.

Right after that, Mine and Adeline arrived with Academy instructors and soldiers.

The man whose vitality had been drained and I received treatment from Mine before being moved straight to the Academy infirmary.

Thanks to that, I had somewhere to stay for a while.

⁎⁎⁎

The day after Maliaas was defeated, the Empire and the Academy were thrown into a state of emergency.

The fact that Cecilia and I had been attacked by a follower of the Evil God in the middle of Nevil was not something the Empire could possibly overlook.

The Empire immediately deployed soldiers and searched every corner of Nevil.

They asked us if anything came to mind, but I couldn’t tell them the truth.

Maliaas had not revealed his identity in the second playthrough, so if I told them he was a Bishop, I would only look more suspicious.

I felt bad for making the soldiers work so hard unintentionally, but there was no helping it.

As a result, the public only learned that Halibal Velder and Cecilia Ren had joined forces to defeat a follower who had infiltrated Nevil.

The board of directors and Alicia were also in an uproar.

“Those vile bastards dared...!! They attacked my... no, the Empire’s hero in the middle of Nevil?!”

Furious at the news that I had been attacked, she demanded countermeasures at the meeting.

As a result, the number of soldiers stationed inside the Academy increased.

They especially increased the number of mages monitoring the Academy grounds and decided to expand the range of Nevil’s communication network.

Measures that would normally only have been taken after the Academy attack incident were implemented from the start of the semester.

“Students Halibal and Cecilia have already been targeted once, so we can’t rule out the possibility that they’ll be targeted again.”

“Right. We should consider assigning special protection to the two of them.”

Then Calux voiced an opinion.

“Student Halibal’s residence is uncertain, so it would be best to move him into a dormitory.”

“I see.”

“Student Cecilia also lives alone, so she can share a room with her older sister, Senia Ren. And there is someone perfectly suited for Student Halibal as well.”

“Oh? Then proceed at once!”

“Understood.”

That was how my place to stay for the time being was decided.

“I’ll be in your care for a while.”

“...”

It was the dorm room of Aren Bright, the protagonist.

This was great.

⁎⁎⁎

Verda Hall was a boys’ dormitory reserved for nobles and other special students.

“You dress like that even in your room?”

“Ah... it’s a little cold.”

“...Isn’t it hot?”

Aren couldn’t bring himself to look directly at Halibal.

“The dorm bathroom is pretty big.”

“...”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we washed together? That’s what everyone did in the military.”

“...No, it’s fine. You go first. I’m more comfortable washing alone.”

“Really? Then that works for me.”

Halibal had already taken off his shirt and was preparing to bathe with only a towel around his waist.

Earlier that afternoon, a sudden order from the board of directors had instructed Aren to live with Halibal as roommates for the time being.

There was a reason for it.

A few days ago, Halibal and Cecilia had been attacked by a follower of the Evil God. Since another attack could happen at any time, at least two people needed to stay together even at night.

As a result, the two had left their original residences and been assigned as roommates in separate single-occupancy dorm rooms.

Cecilia had been moved into Senia’s room.

And Halibal had been moved into Aren’s.

Calux, the Raid Corps instructor, had probably influenced the decision to place Halibal specifically in Aren’s room.

Calux had taken an interest in Aren and seemed to believe that living with Halibal would help both of them grow.

Despite his blunt, exacting appearance, Calux was a fairly good educator at heart.

Click.

Only after Halibal entered the bathroom did Aren finally turn toward the wardrobe.

“...Sigh. How long am I supposed to live like this?”

There was a lot Aren wanted to ask Halibal.

What had happened during the entrance exam, how he had become so strong, the new swordsmanship called Halibal Style, and above all, about Halibal himself.

That didn’t mean Aren wanted to share a room with him.

Lost in thought, Aren found himself standing in front of a mirror.

He began unbuttoning his shirt, one button at a time from the top.

With every button he undid, curves that should not have been there began to emerge.

When Aren lowered his head slightly and looked at his chest, he saw the tightly wrapped white bandages.

Halibal had been right.

Cold, my ass.

It was warm spring weather.

But Aren couldn’t take his clothes off.

He had a secret.

Master Jin, Aren’s teacher, was the founder of Ultimate Divine Sword and was known as someone who had glimpsed the principles of the world through the sword.

One day, the Main Gods delivered an oracle to Master Jin.

‘A boy who bears the Celestial Extremity God will become the final disciple of Ultimate Divine Sword and illuminate the world.’

Following the oracle, Master Jin found an abandoned newborn in the forest.

It was Aren, a child who clearly held the Celestial Extremity God within his body.

Yet the moment Master Jin saw the child’s appearance, he could only tilt his head in confusion.

The oracle he had received and the reality before him could never possibly align.

‘...This makes no sense.’

So he had tried to force the oracle and reality to fit.

He had Aren adopted into the Bright House and raised him as the final disciple of Ultimate Divine Sword.

As a boy who bore the Celestial Extremity God.

Master Jin, a commoner-born swordsmanship prodigy respected throughout the Empire, held enough influence to intervene in Academy affairs despite living in Baran.

This allowed Master Jin to place Aren in Verda Hall while thoroughly hiding his secret from everyone at the Academy.

Calux’s choice had been excellent.

If not for the secret Aren was hiding.

“Haah...”

As Aren unwound the bandages, an unmistakably ample chest was revealed.

It was far bigger than that of his, no, her Follower, Ran.

“It grew again...”

Aren Bright.

The only female student in Verda Hall muttered with a gloomy expression.

Footnotes:

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