WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Unleashed a Gossip Gallery in Another World ◈
Chapter 63: It’s Time to Torture the Princess
──────
“Urgh...”
The unidentified intruder whose neck I held in my grip began thrashing.
“Khk...”
But when I tightened my grip slightly, they promptly gave up resisting, shuddered, and fell silent.
‘It’s been a while since I dealt with an intruder.’
In fact, I had known someone had entered my room even before Sepi shook me awake.
How many times had I faced situations like this in my days as the previous Hero? It wasn’t as if I couldn’t notice a mere intruder.
I had first met the beastfolk thief girl from the previous Hero’s party this way, too.
‘Like her, most intruders were thieves, but... this one seems a little different.’
Back when I was active as the previous Hero, most intruders had not been assassins. They had simply been fools blinded by treasure.
But the person whose neck I was currently choking was unlikely to be a thief.
“Is that an invisible robe you’re wearing?”
“...”
“Where did you get it?”
An ancient artifact that reduced its wearer’s presence to nearly zero.
Someone wearing something like that to break in could not possibly be an ordinary thief trying to rob a student dormitory.
‘It won’t come off, either.’
On top of that, this ancient artifact clung tightly to their body, apparently with no intention of revealing the intruder’s identity.
“An intruder showed up not long after Princess Ruabel entered the room...”
“...!”
“Yeah, I thought so.”
Even so, I had a rough idea of who the person in my grasp was.
“You came after the Princess’s life.”
“...”
“Or are you a lackey of the Crown Prince or the Second Prince?”
I leaned toward the invisible figure and questioned them with killing intent in my eyes. Then I loosened my grip slightly to hear their answer.
“...”
But no answer came back.
‘They seemed to react a little when I mentioned Ruabel’s name.’
Still, the vital signs transmitted through my hand told me enough to know they were not innocent.
“Khk, khk!?”
From that moment on, I stopped holding back.
‘To think I’d use my last resort like this.’
In case something like this ever happened, I had practiced a technique that strengthened the body with life force.
Thanks to that, I could now restore parts of my body to how they had been in my prime.
“Ghk...”
Of course, turning just one hand back into the hand of a Hero in their prime was enough to deal with most threats easily.
Still, I had never imagined I would use it for torture.
Creak...
As I started squeezing without restraint, the intruder beneath me jerked at the waist as though convulsing.
“Stay still.”
But I did not loosen my grip.
Tremble...
I only let go again once the intruder’s convulsions had gradually begun to subside.
“Kah!”
“...”
“Khk, khk...”
Having been reconnected to their lifeline just before the critical window passed from their brain being deprived of oxygen, the intruder desperately gasped, inhaled, and drooled.
“If you want to die like this, keep your mouth shut.”
I lightly grasped their neck again and whispered in a low voice without hiding my killing intent.
‘Though I can’t actually kill them.’
That was only what I said. I had no intention of killing them.
No, to be more precise, killing itself was impossible at the Academy.
‘The Guardian Magic is still active.’
Thanks to the Guardian Magic the former Saintess had cast over the entire Academy during the days of the previous Hero, it was impossible to harm or kill anyone within the Academy.
“...”
And judging by how they were still silent, the intruder seemed to know that as well.
“Sep... No, Sei.”
“Yeees...?”
“I need your help for a moment.”
So I was about to make full use of Sepi’s analytical abilities instead of torturing them.
“Life-force module overload...”
“Hm?”
“Entering sleep mode...”
Sepi, who had suddenly opened sleepy eyes and muttered that, yawned and slipped into my pocket.
‘Did Sepi bear the burden of the life force I used as a last resort?’
It seemed that, rather than consuming my life force, Sepi had enhanced my body using their own life force.
“Hmm...”
That made the situation a little troublesome.
‘It would be best to finish this as quietly as possible.’
Asking the guards for help was not a bad option, but then the people at the top would likely activate their usual habit of cutting off loose ends, and I might never learn who was behind this.
Besides, I could hardly hand over someone who had seen Sepi’s abilities and my enhancement ability.
“...”
After rapidly turning the matter over in my head, I narrowed my eyes and thought to myself.
‘...The night is long.’
The ancient magic the former Saintess had placed over the Academy automatically blocked fatal injuries and attacks.
In other words, it would let me control the intensity of the torture on its own.
It even allowed a certain degree of violence in agreed duels or situations recognized as self-defense. It truly was a Blessing optimized for torture.
‘The former Saintess would be horrified if she heard that.’
Would this intruder keep their mouth shut even if they were repeatedly strangled until just before death, only to be allowed to breathe again?
“Here we go again.”
“Ghk...”
“This time, I’m really going to kill you.”
There was no way to know just by thinking about it, so I would have to test it myself.
Tremble...
As I violently strangled them without restraint again, clear liquid flowed from the intruder’s mouth and wet my hand after they jerked at the waist once more.
“Kah!”
A few seconds later, the Academy’s protective magic activated and forcibly released my grip.
“Khk, kuh...”
But before the intruder even had time to take a few breaths, I tightened my grip again.
“...”
How much time had passed?
“Ghk...”
After around five cycles, the limp intruder finally let out a dazed sound, and I spoke again.
“Do you want your brain to melt?”
“...”
“Then keep your mouth shut.”
And how much more time passed?
“Hey...”
The intruder finally spoke, their cold voice filtered through the ancient artifact.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“...Pathetic.”
Right after that, I raised my other hand high into the air.
Smack!
When I slapped the intruder across the cheek with all my strength, a deafening crack filled the room.
‘This level of violence is allowed, then.’
It could not have been mutually agreed violence, so it must have barely been recognized as self-defense.
Tremble...
Having reached that conclusion, I grabbed the intruder’s neck, turned their head straight, and whispered coldly. I could not see them, but they were surely trembling in pain by now.
“From now on, the torture will get worse and worse.”
“...”
“You’ll end up begging me to kill you instead...”
Yet the intruder, who was clearly trembling from pain and fear, remained quietly silent.
“...You still won’t talk?”
In response to my final warning, the intruder merely let out a low groan.
“...Hmph.”
It seemed they had received professional training.
* * *
“Ha...”
How much time had passed like that?
“You’re a stubborn one...”
When dawn finally broke and sunlight began streaming through the window, I lowered my head with an exhausted expression, feeling defeated for the first time in my life.
Tremble...
The intruder lying beside me with their hands and feet tied was convulsing hard enough that the bed shook.
After being tortured until morning, the bed was soaked with their cold sweat.
Yet this stubborn person had refused to speak until the end.
‘The Crown Prince or the Second Prince has a retainer this loyal?’
It seemed I needed to revise my assessment of those two.
To have a retainer this stubborn, no wonder Princess Ruabel’s faction had worked so hard to recruit me.
“Hey.”
“...”
“Why are you loyal to the Crown Prince or the Second Prince?”
After clicking my tongue at them, I asked the intruder, who was still convulsing on the bed.
“If you have convictions that strong, wouldn’t you be better off being loyal to Princess Ruabel?”
At that, the vibration coming from the bed suddenly stopped.
“Then why...”
A low voice reached me.
“...are you helping Princess Ruabel?”
That was the intruder’s second statement since entering this room.
‘So they really are involved in the succession war.’
I had truly lost any desire to go easy on them, but a new day was about to begin.
“I have no reason.”
Besides, I had practically been tortured in return while torturing this persistent person, so I answered carelessly.
“Do you need a reason to help someone else?”
Silence fell again.
Rustle...
Sensing the intruder trying to rise from the bed amid that silence, I widened my eyes and reached forward.
“Ghk.”
Still holding their neck, I slammed them onto the floor instead of the bed. I heard the choking sound I had grown sick of all night.
“Do you have any intention of joining the Princess’s faction?”
“...”
“Answer me.”
After asking my final question, I continued with a chilling threat.
“If you refuse, you won’t leave this place.”
“Ghk...”
“Instead, you’ll stay tied up from head to toe, unable to eat, and endure this horrible torture every day.”
As I stomped on the intruder’s stomach with all my strength.
“You’ll feel pain hundreds, thousands of times worse than what you feel now. Are you really confident you can endure it?”
The intruder groaned again.
“Hmph...”
Hearing that mocking sound from before, I shut my eyes tightly and sensed their answer.
“Try it...”
How much time had passed?
“If that’s what you want.”
I had no choice but to use my final measure.
“Ugh!?”
This time, I used both hands and began choking the intruder with all my strength.
“Khk!? Hrk?”
“...”
“Hrk... Hah...”
This time, I repeated the cycle every time the Academy’s protective magic activated, without giving them any chance to breathe.
“Hah...”
The intruder convulsed as their brain was thoroughly deprived of oxygen, feeling suffocated every few seconds.
“...”
At last, the intruder stopped groaning.
‘They passed out.’
And that was when my real plan began.
‘It nearly killed me getting them this far.’
In the battle of endurance that had begun thanks to the former Saintess’s Blessing, I had ultimately won.
‘Shall I start?’
Honestly, tying them up and continuing the torture for a month was one option.
But that would increase the risk of being discovered.
Besides, I might collapse from overwork before this person did.
‘If I leave a note telling them not to do anything bad again and go, they’ll escape on their own.’
So I would now send this exhausted, unconscious person back to whoever stood behind them.
Sizzle...
After secretly engraving the Slave’s Mark on them, the same mark I had once engraved on the Crown Princess.
“...!?”
When I placed my finger on the unconscious intruder’s abdomen and made black smoke rise, their entire body began convulsing again.
‘Were they so resistant to pain that they wouldn’t wake up? I planned to knock them out again if they did.’
Fortunately, they seemed not to have woken up again.
“...”
How much time passed after that?
‘I can’t see it, but it must have been engraved properly.’
Having engraved the mark on the intruder’s abdomen, I stood up with a sigh.
‘First, I’ll take a shower... Then sleep a little in the study room.’
After quickly scribbling a note saying I would forgive them, I threw it onto the bed and left the room.
‘With this... I’ve got another one.’
I left the still-unconscious intruder in the room after turning them into a Trojan horse that would find the person behind them.
* * *
“Yaaawn...”
Time passed, and afternoon eventually arrived.
“Huh?”
As I woke with a yawn, I suddenly came to my senses and rose in the study room.
‘What time is it, fuck?’
When I hurriedly checked the clock, fortunately, Vacation Special Class had not started yet.
‘Thought I was going to be late...’
I rubbed my still-sleepy eyes, pushed in my chair, and was about to leave.
“...”
That was when I finally noticed the mountain of lunchboxes piled in front of me.
----------
[✪Title: Real-Time Elrod Update.JPG]
Author: Anonymous (Lady Roanna, Imperial Palace Maid)
(Photo attached.)
Hubby’s sleeping ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Come make a pilgrimage, go go go go go go go go go go
----------
After quietly opening the Gossip Gallery, I blankly scrolled down and checked the comments.
Anonymous1: Is that drool? Kya, lmao.
Anonymous2: That isn’t Holy Church tap water, that’s holy water, fuck.
Anonymous3: I want to go see too ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Anonymous4: Are all those things piled up in front lunchboxes? lol
Anonymous5: What did the study room supervisor ever do to deserve this???
ㄴAnonymous6: The supervisor was patting Elrod’s head before leaving, though?
‘Doesn’t the Academy have counseling services or something?’
As I thought that and clicked back, even more ridiculous posts caught my eye.
(Author: Lady Yurian)
[Noble Lady Gallery Eraser: What the fuck do you mean I can only submit my reenrollment application next semester? lol]
(Author: Saintess of the Holy Church)
[Church Gallery Eraser: Why can’t someone write their own recommendation letter? That’s strange!]
(Author: Commander-in-Chief Elosia Durgel)
[Anonymous: I asked, and they said they aren’t accepting applications for Vacation Class associate professors lol. Should we invade the Academy?]
‘Wouldn’t it be better if the Empire just collapsed?’
The more I looked at those posts, the more my affection for the Empire dwindled.
(Author: Eirin, Mage Tower’s Top Disciple)
[Anonymous: I’m storing Elrod’s drool in a flask. How am I doing?]
ㄴAnonymous1: Isn’t this bitch insane? lol
ㄴAnonymous2: This is seriously supposed to be an Academy?
ㄴAnonymous3: (Lady Roanna, Imperial Palace Maid): Name your price.
ㄴAnonymous4: (Rosaline, Merchant Guild Heir): I can outbid that.
ㄴ(Author): I also have a collection of nails and hair, hehe.
‘Yeah, the Empire needs to collapse.’
After suffering all night for an Empire like this, I felt unfairly wronged to death.
“Hm?”
That was when I was making a cold expression as I thought that.
[✪Repost: Heard Princess Ruabel rolled down the stairs?]
I spotted a new topic being discussed in the Gossip Gallery a little late.
[Academy Minor Gallery]
[✪Lady Evergale: Everyone, Princess Ruabel rolled down the stairs and got hurt!]
[✪Student Council President Celine: Academy facility managers, report to the Student Council immediately.]
[✪Lady Roanna, Imperial Palace Maid: I will inform everyone of Princess Ruabel’s current condition.]
When I hurried to the Academy Minor Gallery, unlike the Gossip Gallery that was busy secretly taking pictures of me, that place was full of posts about the Princess.
Anonymous1: What the fuck are the maids even doing?
Anonymous2: Wait, doesn’t the former Saintess’s Blessing exist?
ㄴ(Saintess of the Holy Church): It’s being investigated right now, but apparently it suddenly became much weaker at dawn today ㅠ
Anonymous3: She should’ve been more careful ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Anonymous4: I saw the Princess earlier, and her injuries looked pretty serious.
Anonymous5: Without the Blessing, that could have been a disaster. Terrifying.
‘Princess Ruabel has a good reputation...’
Since the person regarded as the Empire’s only hope had been injured, most of the reactions were worried about the Princess, even in the Gossip Gallery where the repost had appeared.
(Crown Prince Lukabel): What a shame lol
ㄴAnonymous7: Are you an idiot?
ㄴAnonymous8: (Orc emote pummeling the screen)
ㄴAnonymous9: You think this is funny? lol
ㄴ(Crown Prince Lukabel): I did it Gossip Gallery-style, so why are you losing your shit?
ㄴAnonymous10: This bastard really is an idiot lmao.
A very small number of people showed such ugly reactions, but public opinion was so cold that they soon disappeared without a word.
‘That baldness gene really made the kid vicious.’
So I did not bother deleting the comments and was walking away with a cold smile when this appeared.
[✪Princess Ruabel: Everyone, I’m all right. You don’t need to worry about me, hehe.]
[✪Princess Ruabel: Also, this happened due to my own carelessness, so I don’t wish for anyone to be punished.]
Princess Ruabel’s posts were uploaded to the Academy Minor Gallery a little late.
‘It would be nice if she acted like that in the Gossip Gallery, too.’
Thinking that to myself, I opened the Gossip Gallery so I would not forget Princess Ruabel’s true nature.
“...?”
But something was strange.
‘Ruabel... didn’t post in the Gossip Gallery?’
Princess Ruabel, whose daily routine was spilling bizarre sexual desires into the Gossip Gallery, had not written anything.
‘...You really do live to see everything.’
Remembering how the Princess had visited my room yesterday and eagerly written twisted novels, I scratched my head and hurried on.
Creak...
The moment I arrived at the Special Class classroom and opened the door.
“Ah, Sir Elrod!”
“Hello!”
“Have another wonderful day!”
The young ladies seated inside all rose at once, their eyes sparkling.
“Haha...”
I nodded vaguely in response, then hurried to my seat before they could catch me.
Rumble...
The lunchboxes filling my desk drawer spilled out all at once and covered the floor around my feet.
‘Isn’t this group bullying by now?’
I was seriously considering whether I should go to the Student Council and complain about being bullied.
“Huh.”
Then I saw a white sheet of paper buried among the lunchboxes.
“What’s this...?”
Tilting my head, I picked it up. Then I read the document’s title a little later and stared with my mouth hanging open.
[Academy Graduate Program Registration Form]
Professor Moria had already signed the human-rights-forfeiture order, and the space where I was supposed to write my name had been circled again and again with pink hearts.
‘Why is the world doing this to me?’
Still wearing a blank expression, I quietly tore the paper in half.
“Ah, Sir Elrod.”
Then a graceful voice suddenly came from beside me.
“Good morning.”
Realizing the owner of that voice was Ruabel, my seatmate, I forced a smile and turned my head to maintain the rules of noble society.
“Yes, good morning to you too, Princess...”
But I could not finish the sentence.
“...”
How much time passed?
“You’re... wearing a uniform today.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Why... is that?”
I asked Princess Ruabel in a low voice. Instead of the dress she usually wore, the Princess was wearing a third-year Academy uniform.
“I wanted to wear it at least once before graduating.”
“Ah...”
“Hehe, what do you think? Does it suit me?”
The weather was not even cold yet, but the uniform Princess Ruabel was wearing was a winter uniform that covered her whole body.
“Princess.”
After watching her closely for some time, I quietly met Princess Ruabel’s eyes and spoke again.
“No, right?”
“Pardon?”
“It isn’t, right, Princess?”
Princess Ruabel tilted her head with an expression that said she had no idea what I meant.
“Um, excuse me...”
Then the Princess asked me in return with a slightly troubled look.
“I don’t understand what you mean?”
“...”
Silence once again fell between us.
‘No, that can’t be.’
In that silence, I firmly denied the thought that had entered my head.
‘No matter how much of a masochist Princess Ruabel is, she only acts like that in the Gossip Gallery.’
I stared insistently at Princess Ruabel as she tilted her head and looked away.
‘The Empire’s hope, who has risen as a candidate for the next Emperor on equal footing with the Crown Prince and receives overwhelming support from all Imperial citizens...’
The more I tried to deny it, the more cold sweat ran down my forehead, but I could not stop.
‘Could she have put on an ancient artifact, invaded my room to indulge her hidden twisted desires, and...’
I had to calm my mind before my chronic paranoia flared up and ran rampant.
‘There’s no way someone would endure torture that even an adult man could not withstand all night, say nothing at all, and keep their mouth firmly shut until dawn... right?’
How much time passed?
“Haha...”
I let out an involuntary hollow laugh, shook my head, and looked away.
‘That can’t be.’
Princess Ruabel had rolled down the stairs.
Judging by the bandage wrapped around her slightly exposed neck, the Princess seemed to have suffered fractures all over her body.
The kind Princess Ruabel had probably worn a winter uniform to hide that appearance so no one would worry.
‘...Good. There’s no problem at all.’
It was a logically perfect conclusion.
And there seemed to be no need to prove it.
“...”
Yet even as I sat quietly afterward, I suddenly muttered in a voice no one could hear.
“...Let the mark heat up.”
There was no way that could be true, but I had no choice if I wanted to completely eradicate the suspicion squirming in my mind.
“...”
Fortunately, even after the mark activated, the seat beside me remained very quiet.
“Phew...”
With a relieved sigh, I was about to prepare for today’s class.
“Mmh.”
A low moan suddenly came from beside me.
“Mmh...”
I seemed to be fucked.
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