WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?
[Translator – Aren]
◈ Chapter 306 Proof (11)
"So what do we do now?”
Anyway, after we finished figuring out a way to ensure my safety from the Temple, Meister abruptly brought that up. Whoosh. The dust wind blowing across the desolate land seemed to add an extra sense of emptiness to his words.
"Wait here until they come back?”
"...I don’t think that would be a good choice.”
The reason I had simply watched the Inquisitor leave was because I thought she might change her mind if she saw me recovering with the Demon’s power. Feeling sorry toward her was one thing, but my life was still my life.
Even if I had known she wouldn’t change her decision, I probably would’ve done the same. She had been agonizing until just moments ago over whether to let me live or not. If she then saw me borrowing the Demon’s power, wouldn’t that only trouble her even more?
It wasn't because I didn’t trust the Inquisitor. If only because I didn’t want to pile even more things for her to worry about onto her shoulders, I had no choice but to let her go. Well, even if I’d wanted to show her the whole resurrection scene, the Demon probably would’ve ruined that plan anyway by whining that she didn’t want to gamble with her life, but whatever.
"We’ll go to them first. There’s no need to make them waste manpower for nothing.”
Anyway, if I were still hanging by a thread like before, that would be one thing, but it made little sense to sit around waiting for medical personnel when I was completely healed. Especially considering the state Munmund had been in the last time I saw it. The people they would bring to treat me were precious manpower over there too. I couldn’t make them come all this way for nothing.
[You’re seriously goi—]
「Shut up!」
I ignored the commotion inside my head, which I was gradually getting used to.
"Fine by me. It’s not like I have a choice.”
Why didn’t Meister have a choice…? Ah, combat ability.
I gave Meister an oddly contemplative look. Was it because his personality was so fierce? Or because I’d seen him verbally tear people apart and beat the shit out of them with those vicious fists a few times? Somehow, he just didn’t feel like someone weak. That was the impression I got.
"...I’ll do my best to escort you safely.”
"Isn't that obvious? The moment I die, you’re getting a wanted notice slapped on you.”
"Right."
I casually brushed off Meister’s rebuke. With my current strength, the only way I could possibly fail to protect Meister would probably be if something on the level of a Great Demon showed up.
Of course, saying something like this is exactly how you plant a flag for one to show up again…but surely that won’t happen, right?”
"...Is the wall in really bad shape?”
"It is. A lot of people died.”
"...I see."
While regretting that I’d gone and thought something that sounded so much like a flag, Meister’s words sobered me up again. I wondered if Richa and the young lord were alright. Maybe it bothered me more because there were people there whom I, or Fasha, knew.
"By any chance…Never mind.”
"Don’t start talking and then stop. That pisses people off.”
"...I just thought it would be better to go and see for myself.”
More importantly, maybe the young lord was one thing, but I doubted Meister would know whether Mr. Richa was safe. I firmly shut my mouth.
'Hey, don’t you have some kind of movement skill?'
Instead, I prodded the Demon inside my head. Since I was cooperating with the Demon now, though on her end it was compulsory, I wondered if I could get something out of it that would finally free me from having to walk everywhere.
[...You think I have one?]
'If you don’t, then never mind.’
Apparently she really didn’t have anything like that. I ignored whether the Demon was pissed off or not, took only the answer I wanted, and thought for a moment. Did I seriously have to walk all the way back to the city?
"Right. Hey, what’s this thing made of?”
But then Meister's curious question reached my ears. My gaze followed his arm, hand, and finger until it finally landed on the white mass sitting quietly on the ground.
"It spat those swords out earlier too.”
"This is......”
While telling him what the Demon had said that thing was made from, an idea suddenly popped into my head.
'Hey.'
[You ignore every single thing I say and then expect me to answer whenever you ask a question—]
'You said this thing can freely change its shape, right? Then can I make it into a vehicle?’
[...I told you to exercise some creativity, and you truly came up with something bizarre.]
Can it or can it not? Just tell me that.’
[...It’ll consume a lot of Demonic Energy, and you’ll have to keep supplying it in real time.]
'Ah, then that’s fine.'
Even if it used a lot of Demonic Energy, that was still better than spending several hours stuck walking everywhere. After deciding on the minimum amount of Demonic Energy I absolutely needed to keep in reserve, I changed Ratel’s shape.
"What is this?”
"A motorcycle."
"......?"
Ah, come on. If you’ve got a fantasy world, you simply have to throw some modern technology into it.
* * *
"Representative, he, that being—”
"...Even after saving the city, it still isn’t enough?”
The Inquisitor suddenly found herself crying again. These tears felt somewhat different from the ones she had shed until now.
"Because he harbors a Demon, because he’s a Demon’s vessel. No matter what achievements he earns, can he never be acknowledged? Can he never be saved?”
O cruel goodness. O merciless justice. O unforgiving righteousness.
"He saved this city.”
If You are only going to be so cruel, if You are only going to treat him so coldly.
Then why did the scriptures speak of love? Why did they command compassion, fellowship, and mercy?
"He saved this city."
Why did You urge us not to commit sins such as murder, adultery, and theft? Surely the command not to sin exists because there is benevolence, mercy, and love for mankind behind it.
"He is saving people by burning himself away, consuming himself for their sake. And yet even someone like him truly has no right to salvation?”
Surely that must be so, and yet why are You so merciless only toward him? If Your commandments truly came from love, then that love should apply equally to him.
He, too, is only a mortal. The universal love granted to so many others should surely be granted to him as well……
"If not for him, we wouldn’t even be standing on this land looking upon this scenery right now. And yet, merely because he harbors a Demon. Because a Demon is parasitizing him. Because he became a Demon’s vessel against this will.”
The Inquisitor opened the scripture within her heart in a hoarse voice that was wet with tears yet parched dry. She laid before them the doctrines of the scripture she had read and reflected upon thousands of times.
"Is it truly right that, for nothing more than that, he should become a sinner who cannot even receive salvation?”
Ah! For all these were words spoken by the One in the heavens above.
You shall revere Me, yet you shall not call upon My name.
I am the parent of all creation, but I cannot remain beside you at every moment. Therefore, in My stead, you must honor the parents who gave birth to you and cherish your brothers and sisters.
And because I cannot protect you at all times, you must become wise people who strengthen the walls around yourselves by giving those beside you opportunities and showing them mercy.
And it was further said: Murder, adultery, and theft shall not be permitted. You must be honest with everyone, including yourselves, and never let falsehood pass your lips. Through the humility of not coveting what belongs to others, you shall embrace only what is your own.
Yet in the course of embracing what is yours, do not become certain of the beliefs and justice you yourselves have established. You are not omniscient beings as I am, and so you must always be people who put yourselves to the test……
"Is that truly what is right……?”
No matter how many times she read and reread them, His words were not wrong. The commandments that spoke of loving those around you, guarding yourself against sin, and constantly reflecting upon yourself couldn’t possibly be wrong.
The most fundamental forms of goodness were fundamental precisely because they couldn’t be wrong.
"Those who become consumed by justice and cast aside reason shall become the greatest sinners. Those were the words spoken by the First Hero, the nameless Saint and first Pope, when they spoke of the commandments while embracing a sinner everyone else pointed at and condemned.”
But even if the commandments themselves couldn’t be wrong, something wrong could still arise from them.
"Then why did that person cry out those words at that moment? Was it not because they believed that throwing stones merely because everyone else said to do so, without judging for oneself, wasn't justice but nothing more than violence? Were they not saying that precisely because justice is so difficult to stop once unleashed, it must be restrained and watched over all the more carefully?”
That was what all of them did. Interpreting scripture through their own thoughts, then wielding their own ‘justice’ based upon those interpretations.
"To those who follow evil, the rebuke they deserve. To those who repent, mercy tempered with patience. To those wronged unjustly, a chance to explain themselves. To those who live ordinary lives, vigilance against sin. And to those who cry out for justice, endless self-reflection.”
And for that very reason, because they weren’t omnipotent like God, everything they proclaimed could be wrong. That much was certain.
But could anyone determine which of their distortions was more correct and which was more mistaken? Was there anyone who could judge which interpretation was right and which was wrong?
"If we don’t, then the sinners shall be none other than us.”
"...Those were the words left behind by Dismas, the sinner embraced by the First Hero, the repentant thief who became the Second Saint.”
"If the nameless Saint hadn’t personally demonstrated the true meaning of the 9th Commandment at that time, if Dismas hadn’t repented because of it, and if he hadn’t devoted his entire life to building the Temple atop the mountain in order to prove his atonement, would we today ever have been able to behold that magnificent sanctuary known as the Great Temple?”
There was no one. And because there was no one, everyone judged and acted however they pleased.
“Of course, the Bishop of Vemurched said this: That Dismas, who was merely a pickpocket, and the one who fled despite harboring a Demon bore sins of entirely different depths. But is that truly so? Dismas, whom everyone stopped condemning the moment the Hero embraced him, and the Demon Knight, who continued to endure endless suspicion and contempt even after receiving permission, are they truly so different?”
If that was the case, then there was no reason she couldn’t do the same. This incident had shown her that she was someone incapable of being the Hero, so she might as well act like a mortal, distorting things however she pleased and pursuing her own idea of what was ‘right.’ No one would have any grounds to condemn her for it.
"If that is so. If that is truly how it is. Then I will return the title of Hero. I can’t continue bearing the name of Hero when I’m incapable of saving even one person who never chose to harbor a Demon and who continues to be condemned despite endlessly doing good.”
After all, if even her decision itself was founded on benevolence, mercy, and wisdom, then in the end it would still be one more act of following God’s teachings.
"The title was always more than I deserved.”
And so, the Inquisitor instead cut away a part of herself with a sense of relief. Only when the Demon Knight had been on the verge of death had she realized that she was someone incapable of giving up on him, so she discarded the other side instead.
Ah, what value would she have if she were no longer the Hero? A brief stab of pain pierced her, but even that soon became bearable.
Even if she stopped being the Hero, she could still follow God. And above all, she felt that the Demon Knight, at least, wouldn’t criticize her for it.
"Representative…!"
“Iron wall, you……”
After all, he had only joined their party in order to defeat Satan. Not once had he ever treated her any differently because she was the Hero. He had focused more on the fact that she could kill Demons. He had rarely attached any particular significance to the fact that she bore the title of Hero.
And so, amid the misery of feeling herself become useless and the relief of being freed from her heaviest burden, the Inquisitor smiled faintly.
"Even though this is what I am now, I still wish to make one presumptuous request. Young Lord, though I am no longer the Hero, would you please save my benefactor?”
Ah, Demon Knight. This may be selfish of me, but even if I’m no longer the Hero, you will still call me ‘idiot’ as casually as ever, won’t you? I pray that you will. You may not have intended it, but I was always happy that you consistently treated me like nothing more than an inexperienced young priestess.
"...Yes. I’ll send them.”
The young woman, who had cut away the greatest word that had defined her life, laughed through her tears at the young lord’s quiet answer. She prayed that this persuasion hadn’t come too late.
"Huuh!”
"......?"
Praying that it hadn't, she turned her head along with the startled people around her. The flow of Demonic Energy she had missed while crying was the first thing to strike her.
"Demon Knight……?”
The person she had thought was on the verge of breathing his last was somehow drawing closer and closer.
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