WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 59: Bloodsucking
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The next morning.
On my way to the Seventh Training Ground at Alicia’s summons, I came across an unexpected sight.
“If you’ve got a mouth, why don’t you try making an excuse, Saintess?”
A freckled girl with brown twin tails was cornering Mine, who was dressed in gym clothes.
For some reason, Mine was panicking before the girl, who looked like a commoner through and through, unable to utter a word.
‘A typical event.’
A third-rate villain bullying a student who looked weak.
Richard had filled that role in the original game.
‘I never thought someone would pick a fight with Mine.’
Mine was still a Saintess, after all.
She didn’t have any special authority, but her holy power was the strongest in the Church of the Main Gods, so most of the Empire held her in high regard.
At the same time, Mine was my Follower.
I could tolerate someone pointing a finger at the Saintess, but I couldn’t tolerate someone pointing a finger at my healer.
To pick a fight with someone like that, she had either lost her mind or was an idiot who had completely misjudged her opponent.
Just as I was about to step forward, someone suddenly grabbed my arm from behind a pillar.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was observing the situation.”
It was Alicia.
“Verifying the facts is always important.”
“Is that so?”
She was crouched behind the pillar with her presence concealed.
For some reason, her legs were trembling. She had clearly been in that position for quite a while.
“…Actually, I missed my chance to come out.”
“Ah, I see.”
‘Hmm. That happens.’
I nodded and started toward Mine again, but Alicia grabbed my arm once more.
“Are you planning to help?”
“Yes. The situation doesn’t look very good.”
“Which side?”
Obviously Mine’s side.
Yet Alicia added another piece of information.
“For your information, that student’s name is Pasha Inis.”
“I know her name. Is there some problem with her?”
“Her father was a soldier who entered a dungeon with Mine in the past and lost his life.”
I immediately put my foot back where it had been.
My hand rose to my chin on its own.
‘It’s certainly... possible.’
In the original game, the soldiers who died because of Mine were barely discussed. It was treated as a tragic accident, nothing more.
As I recalled, there was only a brief mention in the epilogue that Mine later apologized at their graves.
The reason their stories weren’t covered was simply to prevent the plot from dragging.
It hadn’t been Mine’s fault that the boss room opened in the first place. They probably thought formally covering that side of the story would only make it an infuriating part of the plot.
But this was reality.
If the soldier’s bereaved family was alive and breathing, it was hardly strange for them to hold a grudge against Mine.
Mine’s current position was also quite delicate.
The biggest reason she had been chosen as a Saintess was that she could open dungeon boss rooms.
But I had cleared the Abysses without her, greatly diminishing her value.
On top of that, she seemed to have overcome her dungeon phobia, so it was only natural that the bereaved family’s opinion of Mine had sunk to rock bottom.
To them, Mine was probably...
Someone who had led their loved ones to their deaths, then did nothing while keeping only the title of Saintess.
“Because of you, my dad died. Yet you’re living comfortably while everyone calls you Saintess. Am I wrong?”
“...Ah.”
“And on top of that, you’re the Funeral Sword’s Follower? Are you planning to lead that person to death this time too?”
Despite the torrent of abuse, Mine couldn’t say a word.
“If you have any conscience, go tell the instructors you’re giving up on the practicum right now. Better yet, never set foot in the Academy again.”
Mine probably thought the same thing herself.
“What will you do now, junior?”
I thought for a moment about whose side I should take.
Soon, I came to a conclusion and walked past Alicia.
‘This is better. Mine has to enter a dungeon anyway.’
Perhaps she sensed my resolve, because Alicia didn’t stop me this time.
Step. Step.
As my shoes struck the floor, Mine and Pasha turned toward me at the same time.
“H-Halibal... you’re here?”
“You’re... the Funeral Sword. You didn’t come all the way here to take that woman’s side, did you, Hero of the Empire?”
While Pasha watched me with open suspicion, Mine muttered with her shoulders drawn in.
“Pasha is right... I really can’t do this. I’ll personally ask to be excused from this practicum...”
I spoke calmly to her.
“…Why aren’t you telling her?”
“...What?”
“Didn’t you tell me last time? That you wanted to hold a Funeral Rite in the Undead Dungeon.”
The training grounds fell silent.
Then Mine and Pasha both spoke with blank expressions.
“...What?”
“...What did you say?”
“W-What are you talking about...?!”
I cut off Mine before she could protest, then turned on Pasha without giving her an opening.
“You’re Pasha Inis, right? Do you know what happened in Erandar recently?”
“…Only that there was trouble with the Church of the Main Gods.”
“Then do you know Mine came to me first and asked for my help? She said she wanted to use this opportunity to atone for the mistakes she had made.”
Of course, Mine had never said anything like that.
I had made it up on the spot.
“She said she wanted to enter the dungeon with me and comfort the souls who lost their lives back then in the name of the Saintess.”
But from now on, it would become something Mine had said because it had been spoken to the world through the Funeral Sword’s mouth.
“Halibal! What are you talking about?! I never said anything like that!”
For the first time, Mine shouted at the top of her lungs.
But I had no intention of changing my story.
“You don’t need to play dumb anymore. I’m sure she understands well enough that you feel guilty toward her.”
As I watched Mine stare at me in shock, I remembered Cecilia in the Doll Dungeon.
Even without Aren, she had overcome her trauma herself and awakened Caligo, which she shouldn’t have awakened until much later.
My relationship with her had played a decisive part in that.
That meant I no longer had any reason to stand by with my hands behind my back.
By actively intervening, I could accelerate the growth of others and strengthen our forces.
Mine would stand idly by until students died, then awaken?
That was how it had been decided in the original game?
‘Why the hell should it be that way?’
Pasha’s eyes quivered wildly.
“…I can’t believe it. I know better than anyone that she isn’t the kind of person who would do that!”
“Then why is Mine, who has a dungeon phobia and no intention of entering a dungeon, at the training grounds early in the morning?”
“…No way.”
“If you understand, go tell everyone. Before the break, Mine will clear the Evil God’s Abyss with me.”
Pasha glanced at Mine with unsteady eyes.
“…Fine. I’ll see for myself whether that’s a lie or not, Mine Rose.”
Leaving only those words behind, she hurried out of the training grounds.
Mine turned to me with a resentful expression.
“…How could you tell such a lie?”
“What?”
“Everything you said was a lie! I can’t enter a dungeon!”
“You entered one recently.”
“That wasn’t an Evil God’s Abyss!”
She collapsed where she stood and wrapped her arms around her trembling shoulders.
“Even now, whenever I close my eyes, I can clearly hear the soldiers’ voices. I can see everything, even the way they collapsed covered in blood! How am I supposed to clear a dungeon like that?!”
Then she took out a Purple Cloud Herb and put it in her mouth.
I immediately took it away from her.
“You entered the Beast Dungeon to heal me. Was it the same then?”
“…That...”
I held out my hand, and Mine stared blankly at it.
“Everything I said was a lie? Then we can make it true.”
“That’s ridiculous... How can you say that so easily...?!”
“It won’t be easy. But things are different from back then.”
“What’s different...?”
People said my sword soothed the dead.
“Because I’m here now.”
Then it would be fine.
If the ghosts of the past held her back, I only had to cut them all down with my sword.
“So get up already, Mine.”
My hand was still extended toward her.
“It’s time to move toward atonement.”
Mine’s wavering eyes moved between my hand and face.
Then Alicia, who had been waiting behind the pillar for the right moment to come out, stepped forward.
“Y-Your Highness...?”
“Do not worry. You are also my precious junior. As an imperial princess, I will gladly help turn this lie into the truth.”
Mine’s eyes darkened as she looked at Alicia, who stood with her arms folded and a proud expression.
“Could it be that bringing Pasha here and making Halibal say those things to me were all part of a scheme Your Highness arranged...?”
“...?”
Mine had clearly been fond of me since our time in the military.
The problem was that it did not feel like romantic affection so much as the gaze one would direct at a savior or saint.
Her faith that someone like me wouldn’t harm her, combined with Alicia’s notorious reputation, had produced an absurd misunderstanding.
“I never...”
‘Still, this is better than her holding a grudge against me.’
Before Alicia could deny it, I struck first.
“So you had noticed.”
“Yes...? Then... it really was...?”
I immediately bowed to Alicia.
“I apologize, senior. My poor acting has disrupted the plan.”
“...?”
Alicia’s eyes widened.
Soon, though, she understood the situation and cleared her throat before folding her arms again.
“…W-Well, it can’t be helped. Your insight simply exceeded my expectations.”
After Alicia’s answer, Mine sighed and took my hand.
When I pulled her up, Mine’s body followed limply.
“Still, it looks like we’ve settled things for now.”
Alicia turned toward us.
“Do you know why I summoned you to the training grounds so early in the morning?”
“To assess the strength of the three of us for the upcoming practicum, isn’t it?”
“Correct. Just as expected of the man I chose.”
She proudly produced her Abyss Core from within her clothes and placed it on the floor.
When neither of us moved, she added,
“What are you doing? Why haven’t you taken out your Cores?”
“Yes.”
“…Yes.”
Mine’s Core, Alicia’s Core, and mine were soon lined up on the floor.
This was possible because Alicia was just like that, and because Mine, who normally would have been embarrassed, seemed to have given up on everything after what had just happened.
There had been some twists and turns, but I had succeeded in getting Mine to take out her Core.
‘Now I just have to do what I did with Cecilia.’
I would slowly run dungeons with her, raise her stats, and help her regain her confidence.
Wouldn’t she overcome her trauma along the way too?
“Let’s check Mine’s Core first.”
Click.
When the slot opened and I saw Mine’s Shard slots, one thought came to mind before anything else.
╔═════════╗
◈Abyss Core - Raphael◈
╠═════════╣
▸ Equipped Shards: 0/16
○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○
╠═════════╣
Mine’s really going to bleed me dry from now on.
Footnotes:
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