WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 54: The Next Day
──────
The next day.
Naturally, the Empire was thrown into an uproar.
The footage from White Spirit Lake remained visible for quite some time.
As a result, far too many citizens had witnessed it.
News that priests from the Church of the Main Gods had sacrificed believers spread beyond anyone's control.
The decisive factor was the Holy Knights at the scene.
Having witnessed the Church's shame, they fell into deep confusion.
Some remained silent, but others could not overcome their guilty consciences and revealed the truth to their comrades.
Meanwhile, Alain’s Letter and journal, which Halibal and Cecilia had obtained, were submitted to the Imperial Family along with Adeline's report upon her arrival in Luft.
An order bearing the Pope's seal. It had been revealed that the Church of the Main Gods, one of the Empire's pillars, had rotted from the very top.
The Imperial Palace immediately held a hearing, and the imperial faction and noble faction found common ground for the first time in a long while.
Still, they knew this matter had taken place in the distant past.
So the agenda was limited to the recent efforts to hide that shame.
The Pope of Erandar appeared at the hearing in person and offered the Imperial Family an apology, claiming it had been the self-righteousness of a few cardinals, including Romus.
Romus and his faction, identified as the ringleaders, were immediately purged. A considerable number of the Holy Knights under their command were punished as well.
Of course, everyone knew the Pope had a hand in this matter.
There simply was no evidence to put him on trial.
Under the pretext of not worsening the believers' confusion, the incident was brought to a suitably vague conclusion.
Still, the White Spirit Hall's demand to collect the evidence was rejected.
The Imperial Family declared that it would keep all evidence in the Imperial vault.
It was an unspoken threat: whenever the Papal faction rose to power again, the Imperial Family would play this card.
Thus, the Papal faction, once the Empire's second most powerful force, lost its influence overnight, and the noble faction filled the void.
Yet there was one name strangely absent from the entire affair.
“Razen... There is no priest by that name in our Church of the Main Gods.”
Once the Doll Dungeon was cleared, new dungeons began to appear around Erandar.
The Imperial Family immediately dispatched troops to investigate them, while the names of those who had cleared the dungeon rose to prominence.
“The Funeral Sword cleared another one?!”
“The second time changes everything.”
“And the Ren House's second daughter who accompanied him... She'd be worthy of being called the next Sword Princess.”
The two gained fame at an exponential rate.
Among the nobles and the Imperial Family.
And within the academy as well.
⁎⁎⁎
Elsewhere, in the Orc Dungeon, one of the upper-tier dungeons.
It was the most difficult dungeon aside from the Doll Dungeon.
The massive body of the boss, the Orc General, had been cleanly bisected with a single stroke.
The woman who had done it caught her breath atop a broad log.
Leaning against her greatsword, Senia Ren radiated a chilly aura. She did not have a single wound.
In her hand was a newspaper reporting that Halibal and Cecilia had cleared the Doll Dungeon.
Her gaze rested on the words next to Cecilia's name.
‘Next Sword Princess.’
Ever since she had first heard about the Doll Dungeon, she had known deep down that this would happen.
Still, she did not want to lose to Halibal.
Nor did she want to lose to her younger sister, Cecilia.
That was why she had once swallowed her pride and suggested to her Follower that they should challenge the Doll Dungeon too.
But her Follower had dismissed the suggestion.
‘...What the hell is that bitch thinking?’
When Senia turned around, Luna Grace was there, personally burning each monster's corpse.
Luna's mastery when facing the Orc General had exceeded Senia's expectations.
Her skill was great enough that even Senia could not be certain she would win against her.
But that was all.
Luna had already been unpleasant to see every time they met, and after rejecting Senia's proposal, Senia's hatred for her had only grown.
This latest incident had made matters even worse.
After clearing the dungeon, Cecilia had returned to the dormitory and spent five days bedridden.
The side effects of overdosing on Purple Cloud Herb and the exhaustion from consecutive fierce battles had hit her all at once.
‘If I had gone in, Ceci would never have ended up like that.’
As she watched her most precious little sister groan in pain, Senia's resentment was directed not at Halibal, but at Luna, who had stopped her.
Luna, on the other hand, was perfectly calm.
She too held a newspaper in her hand.
Looking at it, Luna murmured softly, a gentle smile resting on her lips.
“This should... be enough.”
Senia was ready to explode at the sight.
Luna was always like that.
As though she were looking down on the world from somewhere far away, she only muttered things no one could understand.
And it was not limited to Senia.
The Luna Senia had reluctantly spent a month with and come to understand was, in a sense, like herself.
Luna treated everyone the same way.
The difference was that Senia hated Luna, while Luna held no feelings toward Senia at all.
That made it even more unpleasant.
‘...You can't even have a conversation with her.’
The Follower class would end this week anyway.
She would no longer need to exchange words with that unpleasant woman.
Senia leaned against her greatsword again.
She looked at the jewel Halibal had given her some time ago: Winter’s Snow.
⁎⁎⁎
“Here.”
“Ah! Thanks for looking out for me.”
Aren lightly caught the water bottle Ran tossed her.
At their feet lay a giant centipede monster with its outer shell crushed and sword wounds covering its entire body.
The Abyss Centipede. It was the boss of the Centipede Dungeon, and Aren and Ran had defeated it after a fierce battle.
Only two teams had cleared dungeons more difficult than theirs. One of those teams had even received a penalty, so Aren and Ran had effectively placed second.
Even so, unease was growing within Aren.
She too had heard the news that Halibal and Cecilia had cleared the Doll Dungeon.
Of course, it was not for the same reason as Senia.
Her reason was more fundamental.
‘The one who will bring the Empire's sun... Is that really supposed to be me?’
Aren knew Master Jin's prophecy.
‘A boy who holds the Celestial Extremity God will become the final disciple of the Ultimate Divine Sword and light up the world.’
From the moment she heard the prophecy, she had known she was not someone who fit it.
Her teacher and parents might have raised her as a boy, but she was undoubtedly a woman.
She had curves where they should be, and some of them were rather prominent.
Yet Aren had worked harder than anyone to fulfill the prophecy because it was her life itself.
But Halibal Velder, that boy, had cleared the first Abyss and now the second as well.
By the conditions alone, Aren still held the advantage.
She possessed the Celestial Extremity God and had learned the Ultimate Divine Sword.
But with the results turning out like this, there was nothing Aren could do about it.
When Halibal had first entered her dormitory, embarrassment had come first.
Since hearing the news of this dungeon clear, though, her heart had sunk heavily for some reason whenever she thought of him.
It was an emotion she had never felt in her life.
Even she had no idea how to define it.
“Ran, could you help me train until the Follower class ends?”
“As much as you need.”
“Thank you. I'll definitely repay you later.”
So she made a decision.
During the next Follower class, no matter what happened, she would become Halibal's Follower.
She would watch him from as close as possible and find out what made him different from her.
If she could not do that, she had decided, ‘...Even if I have to do it alone, I’ll clear the third Evil God Abyss.’
⁎⁎⁎
“Is that true? You've become acquainted with the Funeral Sword?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Kuahaha! Well done! So you do have some use after all!”
Richard Dane was reporting to his father, Count Colin Dane.
Thanks to the Doll Dungeon clear, the noble faction's position in its struggle against the Imperial Family had grown firmer than ever.
So now, the noble faction's attention was focused on Halibal, the one who had brought down the Papal faction.
Colin had summoned Richard to order him to make Halibal his close friend by any means necessary.
Fortunately, Richard had established a business relationship with Halibal and maintained a decent rapport with him, so he told his father as much.
Then came the praise from his father that he had craved all his life, along with the recognition Richard could not obtain no matter how hard he tried.
“You may offer him as much money as you wish. Just bring him over to our side. That is all you need to think about.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
“Good. That is how the heir of the Dane House should be. At last, raising you has become worthwhile.”
Colin's praise continued, but Richard did not feel at ease.
It was strange.
His father, who had never acknowledged him despite a lifetime of devotion to the family, had changed his attitude completely just because Richard said he was acquainted with Halibal.
‘Is this... the recognition I wanted?’
At that moment, Halibal's words from inside the tram lingered in his mind.
‘I think quite highly of your abilities, Richard.’
But the family's orders were absolute.
“...I will continue striving.”
With a bitter expression, he had no choice but to bow his head to his father.
At the estate of Count Reygal, leader of the noble faction, an entirely different scene was unfolding.
“No.”
“...Why?”
“Because Halibal Velder is not someone I need to befriend. He is someone I need to defeat.”
Leaving only those words behind, Eugene Reygal left the room without the slightest hesitation.
He headed for the training ground inside the estate.
Eugene immediately changed into training clothes and began with basic conditioning.
‘This time, I lost.’
At one side of the training ground, countless shattered shields and bent rapiers were piled up like a mountain.
Among them was a worn newspaper bearing Halibal and Cecilia's names.
‘But during the next sparring exam, I will defeat you.’
For some time, only rough breathing echoed through the estate.
⁎⁎⁎
Work Workshop.
‘Th-this person... Wh-why is she here?’
Elia swallowed hard as he looked at the woman who had appeared before him.
She had come without warning just as it was almost time to close the workshop.
“So you're the famous Elia Work.”
“Ah... Y-yes! But why has Your Highness come here...?”
The woman dressed entirely in red was one of the Empire's most famous people.
The Imperial Princess, Alicia Cyrus.
For some reason, she had come to Work Workshop.
“Call me President, not Imperial Princess. Aren't you a student of Ruidel as well?”
“Y-yes!”
Elia could feel his heart pounding.
Something came to mind.
‘Is this because of the Alicia Machine...?!’
The Shard Converter that bastard Halibal had asked him to make by invoking the princess's name had ended up with the bizarre name Alicia Machine. Developing it was illegal.
And giving the Shard Converter Alicia's name had been entirely Elia's own decision.
‘Could she have come to reprimand me for that?’
But Alicia's gaze was not on Elia, but on the middle-aged man silently hammering away behind him.
“Enedor Work.”
He was Elia's father, Enedor Work, and the master of Work Workshop, the Empire's finest workshop.
As though he had been waiting for her, Enedor stopped hammering and walked out.
“Welcome, Your Highness.”
“Yes. Is what I entrusted to you ready?”
‘Ready...?’
Enedor disappeared deeper into the workshop and returned carrying a small box.
“Yes. It has been prepared perfectly.”
“Is that so? As expected, you're quick.”
When Alicia opened the box, an Abyss Core coated in red light was revealed inside.
It was Alicia's own Abyss Core, which she had entrusted to him for maintenance some time ago.
Unable to trust the artisans at the Imperial Palace, she had entrusted the maintenance of her Core, as vital as her heart, to the finest craftsman she knew.
After receiving the Core, Alicia paid him and immediately turned to leave.
Enedor stopped her.
“But, Your Highness, why have you decided to retrieve it earlier than planned?”
“There is no particular reason.”
As he said, Alicia had originally planned to retrieve this Core at the start of the second semester.
Ruidel Academy was currently a paradise for first-years.
Once the second semester began, upperclassmen dispatched to the front lines would return to the academy.
The reason Alicia had no choice but to retrieve her Core ahead of schedule was the academy board's new decision following the clear of the second Abyss.
A gray-haired boy who was an unpredictable freshman and had begun to rise as an Imperial hero.
Halibal Velder.
They had decided to apply special rules to that boy starting with the second Follower class.
“It is simply that the time for me to step onto the stage has come a little sooner.”
‘For Halibal Velder alone, beginning with the second Follower class, he will form a three-person team with an upperclassman.’
Footnotes:
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