WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?
[Translator – Aren]
◈ Chapter 354 The Left Eye That Remained Shut (2)
The moment I sensed four presences clustered together, I felt my heart pounding. I was worried and anxious that the weakest member of our party might have gotten hurt.
"Damn bastard, scared the shit out of me.”
"He’s already unconscious…Please stop hitting him.”
"This bastard started it.”
But the moment I saw what was actually going on, I tossed every one of those feelings straight into the trash.
Daniel was one thing, but worrying about Meister, who looked like he'd survive just fine even if you threw him into hell, really was idiotic.
"...I came over just in case, but looks like you are perfectly fine.”
"Sir?”
"You’re here?”
"Neither of you is hurt, right?”
Still, I had to ask out of courtesy at least. Then I walked over to the people they’d subdued before even waiting for an answer. The one Daniel had taken down looked more or less fine, but the one Meister had handled barely looked like a person anymore.
"...Did you kill him?”
"You think I killed him?”
"No matter how I look at it, it really seems like you did.”
"Shit, I said I didn’t.”
Oh man, that guy’s face is going to be completely black and blue tomorrow. He was already skin and bones, and the bruises only made him look even more pitiful.
I looked at the unconscious man with pity, then hoisted him over my shoulder. Pity aside, if we left him here in this weather, he’d obviously freeze to death, so I didn’t have much of a choice.
"Let’s head back to the meeting point for now.”
"Yes."
Daniel also bound the person he’d subdued with aura and led him along.
Perhaps seeing Meister beat a man half to death had something to do with it, because even though he was still conscious, the man was extremely cooperative with us. We made it back to the meeting point with ease.
"Oh, those people are……?”
"Looks like nothing happened on your end.”
"We captured them when they suddenly ambushed us.”
Apparently exactly 20 minutes had passed somehow. When we reached the meeting point, the Inquisitor and Aerotelk were already standing there. Deathbringer was also trudging back with someone draped over Frederick.
"You actually got him to carry someone?”
"I begged him to just let it slide this once, so he agreed to carry the guy.”
Though he wouldn’t let him sit properly and only allowed it if he was slung over him like cargo.
Deathbringer pointed at the man hanging limp like a sack of rice. Frederick, now at the end of every one’s gaze, looked back as if to say, ‘So what?’
"Good job.”
Yeah. This was better than nothing. After stroking Frederick’s face, I pulled down the man who had been draped over him like wet laundry. His face was red, probably from all the blood rushing to his head.
"An ambush, huh. Did you learn anything on the way back?”
"A bit.”
"Then…Hmm, this isn’t exactly the best place to talk.”
"We found a decent place. How about we go there?”
"Ah, good! The houses where we were looking were pretty hopeless……”
Ah, did I pull him down for nothing? I glanced at Frederick, checking whether he’d let me put the man back on him.
Prrr.
"...Fine."
Apparently that was as far as he was willing to go. Stingy bastard. I hoisted the guy I’d pulled down onto my shoulder.
"This place really is decent.”
Anyway, the spot Meister and Daniel had found was pretty good. It was large, had plenty of rooms, and even had a storage shed right beside it that could serve as a stable.
"I think we can keep the horses over here. I’ll handle it.”
"I’ll help."
"You’re not going to watch the interrogation?”
"It’s not like I’m needed there, right?”
I wasn’t going to conduct the interrogation myself anyway. And unless I was forced to due to unavoidable circumstances, I wasn’t particularly interested in watching either.
So after tossing the man inside the house we’d decided to stay in, I helped Daniel build a makeshift stable. We didn't even need Meister’s intricate craftsmanship skills. All a temporary stable needed were walls to block off the sides and a large enough opening for the horses to get through.
“Wizard.”
“It’s set up. If you don’t need anything else, I’ll be going.”
“Fine.”
Well. If we wanted to add anything else, a wizard’s warming barrier and some kind of alarm spell to warn us of intruders would be nice.
Though the setup was finished so quickly that it was done by the time we’d finished knocking down part of the wall.
“Let’s remove all the furniture.”
“Agreed.”
“This…would probably be better left untouched, right?”
“Yes. There’s no need to pull this out as well. It’ll only kick up stone dust for no reason.”
Anyway, after tearing down one side of the wall using nothing but brute strength, we tossed several pieces of furniture outside. Then we went around the nearby horses and gathered up the animal hides that had been used as beddings or tapestries to cover the floor.
“They use fur for everything here……?”
“Proof that hides are more common than grass, I guess.”
“Maybe so……”
Even if that wasn’t the reason, grass and leaves would probably be used mainly as fuel, so they wouldn’t have any other choice but to use hides instead.
Maybe it was because I’d only ever lived in places where fuel wasn’t something I had to ever worry about, but I’ve never heard of using animal hides as firewood.
"I’m not sure the horses will be satisfied with this.”
"It’s better than nothing. I’m more concerned about whether they’ll be fine with the temperature.”
"We can deal with that when we prepare water for them. It’s still daytime, and firewood is precious.”
"I’ll follow your judgment.”
After layering all kinds of animal skins neatly on the floor, we brought the horses inside, their tails swishing from side to side. The moment they were out of the biting cold, their expressions seemed to improve a little.
"Mister, are you finished?”
"Almost. Did something happen?”
"No, the interrogation is over.”
"I see."
Daniel and I finished by hanging a curtain over the entrance, then went inside our temporary shelter. The interior that greeted us was far more livable than when I’d tossed the man in there earlier.
"So, what about those guys?”
"They were just drifters, Mister.”
"Drifters?”
"They’ve got no village to go back to, and they’re too scared to head south, so they’ve just been hanging around ruins. They said they haven’t gone as far as committing robbery, and they didn’t seem like they’d actually done anything like that, so we untied them.”
Aha.
Well, they hadn't committed any particular crime, and if they were weak enough to get beaten by Meister of all people, there probably wasn’t much harm in letting them go. It seemed like we’d confiscated all their weapons as well.
"Then why did they ambush us……?”
"They thought we were human hunters. You know…the kind who capture people and sell them to slave traders or wizards. They said they were only trying to subdue us and question us, not actually kill anyone.”
"...I see. But I had the Temple’s emblem on my back. They still thought I was a human hunter?”
"Uh…Don’t get mad, okay? According to them, lately there’ve been people pretending to be relief forces from the Temple, but they actually abduct peop—”
"What kind of trash would……?!”
"Ah, I told you not to get mad.”
Watching Daniel breathing fire like that, I sat down in a chair by the table. Flinch. The three men who happened to be nearby all trembled all at once. It looked less like they had a guilty conscience and more like they were simply afraid of us and watching our every move.
"Ah, I’m damn exhausted.”
But…to be fair, who could blame them? The guy who’d beaten one of them into bloody pulp was sitting right over there. If they weren’t scared, would they even be human? They’d be some rabbit who’d left his guts back outside and decided to act tough.
"So we’re just letting them go?”
"Yes…There isn’t really anything we can do about the problem ourselves. Instead, we decided to give them a letter asking that their circumstances be taken into consideration. If they really want to head south, it should at least help them a bit when they try to settle down.”
"Good. Well done.”
A letter really was the best we could do right now. I approved of the Inquisitor’s decision. The young woman wrinkled her nose as she smiled. Hehe. That was the kind of sound I would attribute to that smile.
"More importantly, do we still not know why the village ended up like this?”
"Ah, no, we do.”
The Inquisitor shook her head and explained it as lightly as possible.
The land dried out, the food disappeared, everyone began starving because there was nothing to eat, and the village collapsed. Anyway, it really was a brief explanation.
"Food will become scarcer the farther north we go.”
"The troublemaker said the same thing.”
But this seemed like a seriously big problem. We had to go all the way to the end of the world. What are we supposed to do if we run short on food halfway there??
"I think we should just head back south for now, Mister.”
"After 5 days of traveling?”
"No, it’s only 5 days. Better that than traveling for a whole month and then having to turn back because we ran out of food.”
Apparently worried about the same thing I was, Deathbringer suggested a temporary retreat. His opinion was that we should go back now and properly stock up on food.
"Hmm......."
"There is a saying in my homeland. The more urgent the matter, the more you should take the long way around. I believe he is right this time.”
"You think so as well, Adventurer?”
“I can manage, but the rest of you can’t survive without food.”
The final decision belonged to the Inquisitor, so I wasn't going to push this point any further. Still, continuing like this seemed pretty dangerous.
”...I also think we should pull back. Many of our brothers and sisters died after being sent in without proper preparation simply because the situation was urgent.”
“You also feel that way, huh, Inquisitor Daniel……”
The Inquisitor finally nodded. “Let’s head back down.” Meister, who had been quietly listening, looked completely drained.
“Hah, so we have to go through this whole route again?””
“Hmm. In that case, why not change plans and wait for us in the last city? I think that would be better for both you and us.”
“Maybe......."
If limited food was going to be an issue, cutting the less essential personnel first was one option. Meister looked seriously tempted by that suggestion.
“Damn it. I wanted to see what the North was like too. I was curious about the metals they supposedly only used up there.”
“You’ll have another chance later.”
He could always travel to see the world another time, but the mission we were carrying out right now couldn’t wait. Meister seemed to understand that as well, because while he grumbled, he didn’t insist he’d come with us. That settled it. When we headed north again, Meister would stay behind.
“Um, excuse me……”
"......?"
"If you’re going south, c-could we maybe go with you……?”
"Ah."
They said they were too scared to head south on their own. Right.
"You can follow us, but we have to move as quickly as possible. In other words, if you fall behind, we won’t be responsible for you. Do you still want to come with us?”
"Y-Yes! We’ll take care of ourselves……!”
At the Inquisitor’s stern warning, the three men brightened and nodded. Whether they could actually keep up with us was another question.
Their naturally large frames made it less obvious, but these three were practically skin and bone.
Did they really plan to follow us in that condition? I really couldn’t see that happening.
"Ironwall, they’re definitely going to be dead weight.”
"But we can’t just turn our backs on them. It isn't as though they’re asking for this out of greed.”
"That’s…true, but……”
"If it really doesn’t work out, we'll give them some food and send them on their way. We’re heading back down to replenish our supplies anyway.”
"If that’s all, then I guess that’s fine.”
Well, they’d figure something out.
I glanced at Aerotelk, who remained completely silent, then slowly reached into my inventory. I knew Deathbringer would be asking me to take out some food sooner or later anyway.
"Right. Aren’t you going to ask them about that…Berserk person you were looking for?”
"...I don’t think they’ll know anything about her.”
But there was no harm in asking, I guess. Good point.
"You three."
"Yes!"
"Do you know someone named Berserk?”
It was good that they were so disciplined, but surely they wouldn’t know. I asked without expecting much.
"D-Do you mean the Great Warrior possessed by an evil spirit?”
"...Evil spirit?”
"The one who acts like two people are sharing one body…right?"
What the hell was he talking about? While I blinked in confusion, the Inquisitor and Deathbinger both exclaimed, seemingly knowing what the guy was saying.
"Yes, that’s her."
What? Was I the only one who didn’t get what was going on?
* * *
"So this…is the Glacier Trail.”
"Is it painful?”
"I…I’m fine. Miss Great Warrior, you’re protecting me from everything after all.”
Berserk stared out at a world that was lacking a border between ground and sky. It was as though the entire night sky had been spread out around them. The sheer vastness of it all was enough to make one's stomach churn.
"You don’t need to put on a brave face. May Great Warriors lose their minds because they can’t endure this emptiness.”
And when faced with such an unfathomable sight, thoughts like these would sometimes bubble up.
Why are we so insignificant? Compared to this world, our existence is too small to even be called a speck of dust, so does this life truly have any meaning?
"If you want to leave, you can just say it. I know a way to escape without completing the Trial.”
"...That’s possible? I hear you can never abandon the Trial once it begins.”
"Of course you did. It’s just that no one in this world has gone through the Trial enough times to discover this method.”
Is a life like this really worth continuing?
"If you want to leave this place, strike the ground anywhere you want. Keep striking until the invisible wall shatters. Until then, nothing will be able to touch you.”
"...Hearing you say that is really reassuring. But I'm really fine. It’s definitely frightening not knowing when or where something might appear…but you’re right here beside me, Great Warrior, and you’ll defeat every one of them, right?”
"...I see."
The true enemy the Glacier Trial presented was nothing else. Crushing emptiness and helplessness, and fear of the mysterious and unknown. That was the essence of this Trial.
"You’re very strong.”
In that sense, the girl had already overcome half the Trial. If she felt neither loneliness nor despair in this cold darkness, then she wouldn’t be consumed by her own emotions at the very least.
"S-strong? I’m…I’m just a half-baked failure with no talent.”
"Hah, do you really think talent determines who is strong or weak, young piper?”
Yes. The girl was strong, because even if she survived the Trial, she would never fail to overcome her fear of the unknown, turn to drugs, fall apart, and die that way. That too was strength.
"Even if you have a body that never weakens with age and never yields to the passing years, it means nothing if your mind is weak. You know how many Great Warriors take their own lives, right?”
"That’s……”
"But you won’t. So you’re strong. Hold your head high, young piper. You are strong.”
"......."
It was a strength she herself could never possess.
Crack.
"...Step back.”
"Yes."
But this was no time for Berserk to endlessly star at a radiance she could never possess. Watching the shadows crossing over from beyond the night sky, she adjusted her grip on her axe.
It was time to fight.
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