WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 521: Side Story, About White (Part 2)
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Rappeli, a nation destroyed a thousand years ago.
In truth, it was far from the only nation to perish around that time. Every nation had collapsed, leaving only local lords to rule here and there, and even that barely functioned in that shitty age.
There was a reason historians called the Britain Empire humanity's first nation. That was not merely a record distorted by imperial centrism. It was simply the truth. After all, would it not hurt humanity's pride a little to call land ruled by demons through puppet rulers a “nation”?
Anyway, it was a shitty age.
And among the nations that fell in that shitty age, there was one that fell in an even shittier fashion.
“That was this maiden's homeland, Rappeli, it was.”
“Have you grown fond of that manner of speaking?”
“Hm? What do you mean? This maiden is a princess. A princess must naturally use refined language...”
“Did people really speak in that affected princess-like style in your time?”
“...”
“...”
“Anyway! That is not what matters.”
Then what did matter?
Within her inner world, Yuel stared intently at her patron deity.
“To be honest, this maiden's homeland was not a good nation either. In truth, it was difficult to even call it a nation. The age this maiden lived in was one where everyone competed to boast about who was the bigger bastard, and my homeland was no different.”
“Was that so?”
“Yes. Fortunately, the court minister was capable, so the country barely kept running. But put another way, it was a pathetic nation that depended on a single person for everything.”
That was quite a harsh assessment.
“Still, if it managed to function as even half a nation in those times, was it not a fairly decent nation?”
“Considering the era, you are right, Yuel. If things had continued as they were, perhaps it could have become something worth calling a nation...”
The Thorned Martyr smiled brightly.
“But who the fuck could have imagined that the court minister we thought capable had actually made a contract with demons and sold out the nation? No, not just the nation. The entire human race!”
History books described it as a nation that had fallen into the hands of demons, but the reality was more horrific. The court minister made a tidy deal with demons using the price of the nation, and the officials who witnessed that deal...
“Would you like to guess what the other officials did, Yuel?”
“Did they condemn him? Or resist?”
“If they had, this maiden would not have killed thirty thousand people.”
They were not much different from the court minister.
In short, they were bastards too.
“They rushed to make deals one after another. My, how quick they were! This maiden wondered whether they were officials or merchants. Watching them put a price on the nation and sell it off in an instant, I thought they had talents better suited to business than politics.”
A pointless joke, followed by laughter.
“They made contracts with demons by offering up their servants, prisoners, even their own families. Black flames rose everywhere.”
The girl giggled.
“If the water upstream rots, the water downstream cannot stay clean. The people offered up their neighbors, parents, and children as sacrifices too! Grown children offered their elderly parents, and young parents offered their little children. Or their spouses! What a sight it was.”
Still giggling, the girl spoke.
“It was a shitty nation.”
A shitty age.
“It was a nation full of bastards.”
And shitty demons.
“Of course, the people may have had their grievances. Demons tempted them, they had no other way to survive, there were hundreds of circumstances and thousands of excuses. If one listened to their stories, perhaps one or two might even have seemed understandable, but...”
The girl who had been giggling closed her mouth.
She tilted her head to one side.
“That will not do.”
The girl spoke firmly.
“One must not listen to the voices of those who abandoned good (善) and crossed the line (線) of humanity.”
“...”
“That is why this maiden covered her ears.”
Grinning, the Martyr covered her own ears.
“I did not listen. I simply killed them! Thinking too hard only slows your actions, so I thought simply and acted simply. After that, well, Yuel knows what happened, does she not?”
She killed demons.
She killed the traitors to humanity who dealt with demons.
She killed the underlings who followed demon contractors as well.
She killed everyone who consorted with demons, demons themselves, those acting at demons' behest, and anyone connected to demons. She killed and killed and made them die.
“And so, this maiden reclaimed her homeland!”
Having killed and killed until she reached Transcendence, the Thorned Martyr still wore the form of a girl. Unlike Merlin, she had never separated herself, nor did she know what she would look like once grown.
She Ascended as a girl.
Put another way, she had been pinned to the Sky as a girl.
“...”
Yuel thought she roughly understood why.
People grew through experience.
And those experiences did not only mean physical experiences like battle and labor. People matured and grew through communicating and interacting with others, and through trying to understand them.
‘If, just if.’
If someone never interacted with anyone.
If they never thought.
If they walked straight ahead without worry or anguish.
‘...’
A person would not grow.
At the very least, they could not become an adult.
That was why the Thorned Martyr was a girl.
Her time had stopped a thousand years ago. Rather than agonize over the harsh circumstances surrounding her, she stopped thinking. She covered her ears. Without interacting with anyone, she immersed herself in a simple objective and burned through her life.
At the end of it, she reached Transcendence.
She Ascended, cast off her flesh, and became a Star in the Sky.
And though a full thousand years had passed since then,
the Thorned Martyr was still a girl. A sixteen-year-old princess who had lost her nation to demons.
“Yuel.”
“Yes, my patron deity.”
That princess stared intently at Yuel. Their eyes resembled one another. Eyes like blazing red flames, or thick blood.
The girl opened her mouth while meeting Yuel's gaze.
“Why do you think this maiden told you this story?”
The thousand-year-old princess grinned.
“We are alike, are we not?”
“Do you have no conscience? I am prettier.”
“I am not speaking of appearances, you cheeky Great Champion. The blessing this maiden gave you was not meant to be used in bed, you... Mmph, mmph!”
“Let us not discuss that. Please?”
“Phew! Anyway, Yuel Razian and this maiden are alike. Even in the ways I wish we were not.”
Not Yuel, nor Razian.
Yuel Razian.
That was how her patron deity addressed her.
“So alike.”
Just as Yuel knew the Thorned Martyr well, the Martyr also knew her Great Champion well. Najin had Merlin, while Yuel had the Martyr.
“One resembles this maiden after she went mad, while the other resembles this maiden before she went mad. Looking at you makes me feel rather strange, you see.”
“Does it?”
“It does. So.”
The Martyr rose onto her tiptoes. Yuel lowered her head slightly out of consideration for her height, and only then did the girl smile in satisfaction and pat Yuel's head.
“This maiden wants her Great Champion to be happy.”
“I am living quite happily.”
“I want you to become even happier.”
“I will try.”
The Thorned Martyr smiled brightly.
“Good. Then this maiden must make an effort too! I shall make this honeymoon the best trip possible. Yuel need only bring herself!”
“Pardon?”
“You may look forward to it!”
The conversation ended on a warm note.
Still, watching her patron deity bustle about made Yuel worry. Remembering all the things her patron deity had done so far also caused unease to creep up on her.
“Um, my patron deity?”
“Yes? Yuel?”
She wanted to stop her.
But when she looked at the girl standing with her hands planted on her hips and smiling brightly, a girl who appeared to be in her mid-teens at most, Yuel could not bring herself to say, “I will simply handle it myself.” She could clearly imagine that girl's disappointed expression.
Never mind that she was actually an old woman over a thousand years old. Her visible appearance was simply unfair.
“...It is nothing.”
Yuel was weak against children.
‘Damn it, Razian. What should I do at times like this?’
Yuel asked her other half for help.
- Children are exempt from criminal liability.
‘Pardon?’
- They are beyond the reach of criminal punishment. If one wishes to punish them, one must punish their parents instead. And as I recall, our patron deity lost her parents a thousand years ago. We cannot find anyone to punish. There is nothing I can do. It is checkmate, Yuel.
‘What kind of nonsense is that...’
- It is Imperial law.
Razian was no help in this case either. She too was weak against children, though from a somewhat different perspective than Yuel.
And so,
the Thorned Martyr's plan for a “wonderful honeymoon” proceeded smoothly, without interference from anyone.
That was how things came to this.
“...”
“...”
The carriage had stopped. They had reached their destination.
What greeted Najin and Yuel was Rappeli's old capital.
It was the capital that the great Thorned Martyr had reclaimed after beating every last demon to death. It was also the Sacred Blood Church's holy land and sanctuary. The main church was not located there, of course. It was used more as a tourist site.
‘At least, it was supposed to be.’
Yuel's pupils trembled. Najin's pupils trembled a little as well.
“Um, Yuel?”
“...Yes, Najin.”
“If I am not seeing things wrong, that is...”
Something hung from the main gate into the old capital. Its presence was far too striking to ignore.
“Is that a demon corpse?”
Najin pointed at what had once been a demon, its limbs twisted and nailed in place. Yuel squeezed her eyes shut.
“It is a decoration.”
“Pardon?”
“It is a decoration.”
“...”
“...”
“Shall we go with that?”
“...Yes. Let us.”
The beginning was already troubling.
2.
The demon hanging at the capital's entrance, or rather, the “decoration,” was a painstakingly crafted ornament. It was an ornament modeled after a demon, and its details were remarkably realistic. It even looked truly alive.
Screeeech!
It apparently had a screaming function as well.
“...”
“...”
Yuel had called it a decoration, so it was a decoration. As they tried hard to ignore it and enter through the main gate, the demon... no, the ornament, thrashed violently every time Najin took a step.
Aaaaaargh!
The ornament screamed as though it were burning in light. That was not merely a figure of speech. It really did seem to be burning, and both Najin and Yuel knew why.
How many Stars did Najin possess?
Though Najin had returned one Star to the world, he still possessed thirteen Stars. No matter how much he suppressed his starlight and Authority, the Dawning Star was the largest constellation, and it was a Star with the same nature as Excalibur. Which meant that...
Aaaa... aah... aaah... gh...
Najin merely approaching was enough to burn demons and other wicked things into ash. Only beings on the level of ancient demons could endure Najin's gaze. Anything below that was headed straight for utter annihilation.
The ornament burning before them was no different.
Crackle.
The demon's body, which had been screaming and thrashing, crumbled into ash and scattered away. Najin glanced at Yuel, clearly asking whether that had not been a decoration. Yuel deliberately avoided his gaze.
- Hiyaa!
In the midst of that awkward atmosphere, Yuel's patron deity clapped, her eyes shining.
- Hurry and go inside, Yuel! There are still plenty of things this maiden prepared!
Yuel grew even more uneasy.
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