WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ I Pulled Out Excalibur

Chapter 336

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Rules Written in Blood (2)

"What do you mean by using my position?"

Yuel tilted her head.

Her position? Sure, her social standing was high. Even more so now, after the Holy Radiance Order had collapsed and most of its believers had been absorbed by the Holy Blood Order.

But what did that have to do with subjugating Hermann?

As Yuel blinked, unable to grasp Merlin's meaning, Merlin began drawing on the ground.

"First, I need to explain how stealing a Constellation's Authority works. I already explained it to the kid. How much do you know?"

"That the Carnival King mainly committed Authority plunder, and that there were a few cases where demons devoured Constellations and stole their stars. That's about all the Order's records say."

"Right. Demons are one thing, since they literally swallow existence. Let's talk about the Carnival King."

Merlin drew seven stars on the ground.

It was the Star of Mirth constellation, familiar to Najin.

"No matter what you call it, where does Authority come from? Stars. And what are stars? The story of how you lived."

Tap. Merlin pressed down with a branch on the star corresponding to Jovial Laughter in the Star of Mirth.

"The Carnival King parasitizes stories. She frames it as if she was a major figure in that story too, then claims she has a stake in that star. Then she coaxes it and swallows it whole."

"I see."

"Of course, swallowing it doesn't mean you can use all of it, right? You need complete understanding of a star to use its Authority. But she could still borrow the starlight."

That was how the Carnival King succeeded in plundering hundreds of stars. Merlin then dragged the branch and drew a new constellation beside it.

A constellation made of nine stars.

Najin's constellation.

Poking it with the branch, Merlin continued.

"On the other hand, this isn't plunder. It's a very special case... but someone like him does exist. You could call it star transfer. Rare as it is, sometimes someone transfers their star to another person who achieved a similar feat."

Some of Najin's stars were examples of that.

Indomitability, Jovial Laughter, Adventure.

Those were stars transferred from Aldaran, Don Quixote, and Icarus.

"To be exact, it's closer to helping with a star's birth. Either way, you still have to accomplish something similar. Anyway... what's important?"

Merlin smiled.

"Stars can be stolen or transferred like this. And that kid got his stars through a very peaceful method, but it wasn't like that in my time."

She snapped her fingers. Eleven stars spun above her hand, and she lifted one.

"This is the Star of Sinking. It originally belonged to the Witch of Sinking, but when I sank that bitch along with her whole sanctuary, guess what? Her star came to me."

She had sunk the Witch of Sinking.

Merlin said it as if it were nothing.

"If you overwhelm a star's concept with that same concept, it works similarly to receiving a transferred star. Honestly, plunder and transfer overlap in places."

Merlin raised three fingers.

"First, you have to be closely tied to the story."

The condition for plunder.

"Second, you either overwhelm it with the same concept, or gain recognition and receive the star."

The way to obtain not just plunder, but the star's Authority itself. She folded two fingers, leaving only her index finger. With it, Merlin pointed at Yuel.

"That's what I mean by using your position."

Yuel's position.

Not her social status, but her position as a Constellation.

"You're the only successful result of Hermann's experiment, the one she carried out to perfect herself, to become more omniscient. Hermann was deeply involved in your birth process, and your patron deity should know that too..."

Merlin narrowed her eyes. Her gaze turned toward a certain Constellation linked to Yuel's mind. Her old comrade, the Thorned Martyr, answered.

"Ah, my patron says your guess is correct."

"Right. You're an apostle of the Thorned Martyr, and also an apostle of the Star of Omniscience."

Hermann's plan to make the Baleful Star her apostle had failed, but the channel she created back then still remained.

"We'll use that channel. The narrative that you're deeply tied to the story, your position as Hermann's apostle, the link between you and Hermann. We'll use all of it."

Crunch. Merlin drove the branch down.

Where it pierced was Hermann's constellation.

"We steal Hermann's stars."

That was the goal of this subjugation.

2.

Crackle, the campfire burned.

Merlin had released materialization for a while, so only Yuel and Najin sat before the fire. The low sound of embers was the only thing in the air.

"Hmm."

Yuel, who had been silent, moved her lips.

"Najin."

"What is it?"

"There are a few things I want to ask."

Najin looked at her. Unlike her usual blunt self, Yuel now hesitated, chewing her lip.

"One moment."

Najin had been sitting comfortably, but he adjusted his posture. He rapidly circulated mana through his body and cleared his mind. Once he was ready to listen, he nodded.

"I know that my forgotten past is entangled with the Star of Omniscience. I also know that I contacted the Star of Forgetting because I wanted to forget that incident."

Yuel spoke slowly.

"Originally, I had no attachment to my past. I discarded it because it was worth discarding. It was not valuable memory. The present is enjoyable, so that is enough. That is how I thought. Because that was the 'rational' judgment."

She said rational.

"Rather than a past that might contain who knows what, I live for a today that is guaranteed to be enjoyable. I calculate for what seems enjoyable now, and for future enjoyment as well. It is an extremely rational judgment. I lived that way for about 150 years."

Yuel stared straight at Najin.

"That was true until that day."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"On that day, I changed. I still do not regret my past or cling to it. But the reason is entirely different. Not because I was certain those memories were worthless, but because someone else..."

In other words,

"Because you will remember for me. So I end up thinking, then it is fine."

"And?"

"Maybe that is why. I feel something strange. I want to talk with you. I want to close the distance. When I am with you, who know and understand me better than I know myself, I feel myself more clearly."

The existence she had only been able to feel through killing, the contours of her own soul, she could feel them fully when she was with Najin. Yuel pressed a hand to her chest.

"...If we subjugate the Star of Omniscience and reach the Star of Forgetting, and if I am involved in that process, I will definitely recall my past."

"That will happen."

"And when that happens, the direction of the feelings I have will also change."

Yuel lowered her gaze.

"I feel this emotion, which I have for the first time, is beautiful. It is the first thing I have ever held in my hands, yes. So I think I probably treasure it."

She said,

"I am a little afraid. Afraid I might lose this. Afraid it might change if I remember my past."

"It will change."

"Will it?"

"Most likely, because your past self..."

Yuel shot him a sharp look.

"Yuel was a little different from how you are now."

"...What was my past self like?"

Najin thought for a moment at that question.

"A foul-mouthed person?"

"Excuse me?"

"Someone who'd shout 'fuck' at the drop of a hat, grab me by the collar, and even if I complimented you, you'd snap, 'Are you trying to embarrass me right now? Fuck, want me to show you what real embarrassment is?'"

"..."

"You acted tough like that, but your heart was soft, so you'd tear up all the time. If you drank, you'd cry your eyes out, asking where I was going, telling me to stay here, not disappear from your sight, tugging on my sleeve."

Yuel's eyes wavered. She still had no emotion like shame or embarrassment. Even so, for some reason, her fingers itched. She suddenly felt like covering his mouth.

"You were fickle. You'd get angry, then if I stepped away even for a bit, you'd mumble, 'Th-that was, my words were too harsh. I apologize,' and watch my reaction. Hard to predict, yet easy in a way. That kind of person."

"You seem to know me in quite... great detail."

"I couldn't help it."

Najin shrugged.

"It was my first time staying with one person for that long."

Time had fast-forwarded in the middle, but even by Najin's sense, he had lived with Yuel for at least several years. Time creates a kind of closeness.

Even now, if he closed his eyes, it was easy to picture.

Yuel would wake up, smooth her messy hair, and the first thing she did was turn to look for Najin. Only after greeting him good morning would she start her day.

「Najin? Are you there?」

「Ah, there you are.」

「I just called out.」

He remembered her looking at him with drowsy, half-open eyes, breathing out a quiet sigh, and a small laugh escaped him.

Yuel listened in silence, then wore an odd expression.

"It does not feel like the same person as me. I may lack empathy for others, but even I recognize that minimal consideration is essential for society to function."

Then Yuel frowned.

"And consideration comes from respecting other people's space and lives. Even when I asked the Sword Saint or you for duels in the past, those requests were mostly made when the other party had room to spare. Disregarding another person's duties is not desirable under social norms."

She concluded:

"With respect, my past self seems to have lacked consideration. Given that I repeatedly engaged in behavior outside social norms, I apparently was not a desirable member of society."

"I'm not so sure."

"Yes?"

"You were considerate to other people. You kept your distance well, didn't interfere much, and were an exemplary person in power."

Yuel's expression turned even stranger, and Najin continued.

"Not being considerate to me, speaking harshly to me all the time... I think that was your way of signaling something. 'You're the only one I treat rudely. I won't hide anything from you. I'll treat you exactly as I am.' That kind of signal."

Crackle. The campfire popped.

"You said you're afraid your feelings might change?"

Yuel gave a small nod, and Najin exhaled before speaking lightly.

"I don't know if what I say will be the answer, but I can promise one thing."

"If it is a promise, what is it?"

"No matter how you change, I won't change. I'll keep looking at you with the same eyes as always. Because no matter how you change, you'll still be Yuel."

Because

"I promised you that."

That day, Najin had made that promise with Yuel. She asked him to see her as only herself. Even if she changed, even if she forgot herself, to be the anchor that fixed her in place.

"If you're scared, you can ask me. If something feels wrong, just like your past self did, you can grab me by the collar and whine for hours."

"That..."

"You can do that."

Yuel stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth.

After losing her emotions, Yuel had spent a full 150 to 200 years alone. In all that time, she neither understood others nor was understood by them, and lived by asking herself questions over and over.

"No matter how you act, I can understand it. And we've known each other for much more than a day or two. Honestly, I can roughly tell what you'll think anyway."

And to Yuel, the man in front of her said:

Whatever you do, I can understand.

It's not difficult for me.

"..."

Yuel quietly pressed her chest again. A small pulse touched her palm. It was the same heartbeat she always heard, yet now it beat in a slightly different rhythm.

Yuel still did not understand this emotion.

But at the same time, she thought:

"I see."

She wanted to understand.

"That is... not bad."

It was not a bad feeling.

Yuel smiled.

It was a smile unfamiliar to her, and perhaps unfamiliar to Najin too.

3.

"This is the place."

A few days later, they arrived at a location presumed to hide Hermann's Domain. Sheer white canyons lined the area, and one path there ran unusually deep into the earth.

According to intelligence gathered by the Special Task Force, Hermann's starlight had last been detected near this place. They added that the probability was high, since the investigation had used a masterpiece artifact.

「More importantly, a Constellation is residing near this place. It has not left the canyon for at least two hundred years and is said to be guarding the path...」

「Gears were found in the canyon.」

「These match the traces of 'mechanical devices' you ordered us to look for earlier. The Constellation guarding the canyon is presumed to be Hermann's apostle or collaborator.」

Turning over the Special Task Force's report in his mind, Najin moved forward. This canyon lay at the edge of the Outland, and deep even among those depths. When he focused mana into his eyes, he could see a massive barrier spread across the canyon's center.

A Constellation's sanctuary.

Constellations marked the boundaries of their territories in many ways, but those who drew their boundaries like this tended to react very sensitively to their own domain.

A violently rippling barrier that did not even try to hide itself.

In short, it was a warning: step in here, and it won't be pleasant. Najin recognized it at a glance. He recognized it, and kept walking anyway.

Step.

Najin crossed into the barrier. At that moment, the entire sanctuary shook hard. A creaking sound came from somewhere, then gears meshed with a grinding shriek.

Then Najin saw it.

An arrow flying at him. Shot from what seemed to be a giant bow, a two-meter arrow better described as a harpoon. The moment it hit him, a thunderous blast erupted.

KWA-AAAAAANG!

A single arrow collapsed a cliff. Boom, rumble, falling rock kicked up dust. From dozens of kilometers away, the owner of that territory spoke.

"You're one fearless bastard."

His voice rang through the entire sanctuary.

"I kindly drew a boundary line for idiots like you, and you still couldn't figure it out? Don't tell me you're going to make excuses that you didn't know what would happen if you came in."

Without hiding his irritation, he continued.

"Even when warned, you still don't get it. No different from beasts. No, what am I saying? Even beasts don't step into dangerous ground unless they're mad. What's the point of talking to someone lower than a beast."

He fired another arrow.

SHEEEEEEEK!

It sliced through the air, crossed dozens of kilometers in an instant, and exploded at its destination. He thought that would finish the target for sure, but...

"..."

Contrary to his expectation, when the dust cleared, Najin stood there unhurt. In his hand was the arrow the territory's owner had fired.

He had caught barehanded an arrow launched with that speed and force.

Najin gave no reply to the Constellation's words. He simply gripped the fired harpoon like a spear and drew his arm back.

Lower than a beast, was it? Then it was time to show what someone lower than a beast could do.

Javelin Throw.

The harpoon left Najin's hand and wrapped itself in a storm. Tearing through the air with sheer physical force alone, it raced back to where it had come from.

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