WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 90: New Face
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“Which way...?”
Wave, wave.
The Butcher I was seeing again after so long spoke while waving his arms in front of him, as though imitating a blind person.
I had no idea why he was doing that.
“...?”
‘This is a mental space. Why is he pretending to be blind?’
As I stared blankly, unable to understand his intentions, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Ah, sorry. I’ve been living as a blind person lately... Anyway, it’s been a very long time since I’ve been here. How’ve you been, Plague? Did many new faces show up while I was gone?”
From the way he spoke, it seemed he hadn’t visited since that day either.
Hmm... How had I talked here before?
I could barely remember.
I simply answered curtly.
“I haven’t visited since the first day either.”
The Butcher stared at me for a moment, then tilted his head.
“Hmm...? Has your aura changed? You didn’t even seem human before, but you’ve gotten much better at imitating one.”
I had no idea what he meant by imitating, but I didn’t respond. The more we talked, the more information about me I would reveal.
As I ignored him and headed toward the building, the Butcher hurried after me.
“Wow... So I wasn’t the only comrade returning after a long time! This is great. I almost would’ve been the only one feeling awkward....”
Indeed, I had only visited once before the Merfolk Island incident. Nearly three months had passed since that first and last visit.
How much had this place changed?
‘At the very least, there are probably more Apostles than during the first session.’
Whatever happened, there was no better place to obtain quality information.
Listening to the Butcher make a fuss, I entered the building.
There was the host, Emperor’s Mask, the blood mage Valentina, the Black-and-White Twins, the gauntlet-wearing fanatic, and four more Apostles.
Including the Butcher and me, there were nine in total. The number had nearly doubled since the first session.
Standing beside me, the Butcher stroked his chin with interest.
“Hmm... Lots of new faces, huh?”
“...”
Among those already seated, the gauntlet-wearing fanatic widened their eyes in surprise at our arrival. Valentina and the Black-and-White Twins said nothing, but they seemed interested in us.
Then the four Apostles I was meeting for the first time each made a comment.
The first was a large man wearing a red mask that seemed to embody wrath itself.
“More new faces!! Today’s going to be lively!! Hahahaha!!!!”
Judging by his mask, I wondered if he had anger issues, but for now he just seemed like a boisterous middle-aged man.
“Oh? I wasn’t expecting much, but there sure are a lot of changes today.”
The second was a man who looked like a magician and held a staff. His mask had no notable features, so I would simply call him Magician Mask.
“Hmm....”
The third was a woman in an Iron Mask. She seemed to be examining the Butcher and me with inorganic eyes.
And the last one...
“Wow...? Newbies? Cute.”
A woman in a flamboyant Butterfly Mask suddenly appeared near the Butcher and me as though she had teleported.
She released a threatening aura toward us, as if provoking us.
Mask of Wrath shook his head, and Magician Mask chimed in.
“That nasty bitch is hazing newcomers again. Tsk, tsk....”
“Well, thanks to her, we get information and a show without wasting any effort, don’t we?”
Magician Mask snapped his fingers, creating popcorn and cola. He watched us in a relaxed posture, as though he were at the movies.
...As you could see, none of those seated at the round table showed any intention of stopping her. Instead, they watched us with interest.
A tingling killing intent radiated from Butterfly Mask.
The colorful pattern of butterfly wings seemed to appear behind her, slowly spreading out and consuming the space.
An undeniably powerful mental image warped the mental space, tightly constricting the Butcher’s and my minds.
It was an oppression like being caught in a spiderweb.
‘With this much influence, she’s at least Tier 2.’
The Butcher broke out in a cold sweat, seemingly struggling to endure it.
“This feels familiar... Urgh... Hey, whoever you are, let’s just say two things for our safety.”
“Ha... What is it? Go ahead.”
Butterfly Mask did not withdraw her aura, but the Butcher desperately continued.
“First. We aren’t newbies!! We’re founding members!! If anyone’s a newbie, it’s you!!!”
“So? I’ve been here since the second session, and neither of you were there. The only real founding members are those three over there.”
Her killing intent grew stronger.
Tingle, tingle.
The butterfly image intensified, and the air grew heavier.
“Ggh...!!”
...Why was the Butcher having such a hard time?
He didn’t seem much different from the last time I saw him.
“Cough...!! Ah... Fuck, I can’t keep up with the inflation because I’ve been locked up....”
...The Butcher coughed up blood.
For some reason, his abilities didn’t seem much different from when I had last seen him.
“Ha. I thought there’d be something to you if you were a founding member, but you’re just some pathetic piece of trash....”
Butterfly Mask looked at him with contempt.
The Butcher’s knees slowly buckled as he forced out his words.
“Cough... Fine...! I admit I’m weak right now because of certain circumstances...!! But... ngh... you mustn’t provoke this person!! That’s the second thing I wanted to say...!!!”
Thud.
The Butcher finally dropped to his knees.
Meanwhile, I only looked calmly at Butterfly Mask.
This level of pressure was similar to the killing intent Valentina had directed at me while testing me before.
Since I had already experienced it, it wasn’t something I couldn’t endure.
“Fine, you’re somewhat useful. Letting worthless riffraff like this into the gathering lowers its standing.”
Butterfly Mask stepped on the kneeling Butcher’s head.
Squeeeze!
“R-reward....”
Hearing that nonsense made me wonder whether he was actually fine.
In any case, it seemed I had passed her test, so I walked past her.
“But you know... Telling me not to makes me even more curious. Let’s see....”
A dagger suddenly flew at me.
“Let’s provoke them!!!”
It happened in an instant.
Butterfly Mask swung her dagger with the speed of a ray of light, carving my body apart at random. My form quickly became chunks of flesh, separating into pieces and falling to the floor.
Plop, plop.
Butterfly Mask tilted her head at the fragmented corpse before her.
She flicked the bloodied dagger onto her shoulder and spoke.
“Ha, what? For all that trash talked, there was really nothing to you. I know it’s a mental body, but your defenses are way too lacking. You’re practically an ordinary person.”
Mask of Wrath shouted, veins bulging from the sudden situation.
“Hey, Butterfly!! It causes problems when you beat up every newcomer like that!! This is a place to exchange information, not for battle maniacs like you to─??”
Mask of Wrath stopped mid-sentence. Butterfly Mask turned her head in confusion.
The Plague Doctor’s fragmented corpse was twitching in the air. Its head reassembled first and opened its mouth.
A low, gloomy voice spoke as though suppressing something.
“...I’ll give you one chance... It’s been too long since I’ve been here, so I can’t control it.”
The Butcher and the fanatic gradually paled at the sight.
“I told you... not to provoke that person....”
“Tsk... You just had to stir up a hornet’s nest. Idiot.”
Rumble.
A different, unpleasant sensation from Butterfly Mask’s killing intent began weighing down the space.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly ominous, the Butcher quickly moved farther away. Butterfly Mask smiled as though she found it amusing.
“Ha... So you won’t die from that much? I’ve dealt with plenty of people who called themselves immortals.”
She readjusted her grip on the dagger.
“Let’s see how many more times I need to kill you before you start crying.”
“...That dagger is a secondary weapon.”
“...What?”
“Your main weapon is a segmented whip sword.”
“Ha, I don’t know what you’re basing that on, but that’s an interesting guess. So what?”
Butterfly Mask broke out in a cold sweat.
The Apostles at the round table listening to their exchange were watching with interest.
“A segmented whip sword...? A distinctive weapon type.”
“Hmm....”
The Plague Doctor continued speaking, with only its head and flesh floating in the air.
“...Your Tier 2 is based on Divine Power... In that case, you must belong to a new religious faction. The Gate Church is the most likely....”
“...”
Butterfly Mask stared coldly at the Plague Doctor, and Magician Mask burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!! Looks like you hit the mark!! Someone from a religious faction who uses a segmented whip sword? It won’t be difficult to identify you now! Hahahaha!!”
“Tsk, tsk... You underestimated Plague’s intelligence network. Ha, this is why newbies....”
“That bitch was acting up, and it looks like she finally met someone she can’t handle.”
“Haah... Butterfly Mask. Calmly come sit down. That was your final warning.”
Butterfly Mask’s expression twisted at the voices coming from the round table.
A monochrome wave spread from her, shaking the space.
Soon, the butterfly image around her seemed to expand greatly, and the scenery changed.
A space where kaleidoscopes stretched endlessly. A chaotic space where the things reflected in the kaleidoscopes changed without end.
Butterfly Mask had opened her domain and stared coldly at the Plague Doctor.
“You should just die.”
She casually swung her dagger.
The dagger reflected in the kaleidoscopes, and its variations multiplied geometrically until their number could not be counted.
The infinitely branching blades swung toward the Plague Doctor.
Slash!
Shhk!
The Plague Doctor’s body was carved apart until it became dust and scattered away.
It could no longer regenerate.
“Ha, you should’ve watched your mouth. Picking a fight just because you trust in your immortality.”
As she coldly looked down at the Plague Doctor, now a puddle of blood...
“Th-that!!!”
“This is insane...!!!”
“M-my God....”
Butterfly Mask was confused by the sudden reactions.
“What?”
There was nothing around her but the kaleidoscope scenery.
She couldn’t understand why they were making such a fuss. Then someone shouted urgently.
“Up!!! Look up, idiot!!!”
Up...?
Butterfly Mask slowly raised her head, and her body froze.
The kaleidoscope space she had created.
No... Far above even that...
Within the gap where space had split apart and quivered like jelly, an unbelievably enormous eye was looking down at her.
The moment she recognized it, a voice rang out.
[ I said I couldn’t con■trol i■... I tol■ you. ]
“Ah.”
The moment she realized something had gone wrong...
Her consciousness sank into darkness.
Thwack!
Thud.
Butterfly Mask writhed on the floor, pouring out a massive amount of blood.
Only silence filled the room.
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