WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Knight Commander of the Doomed Heroes ◈
Chapter 2: The Proper Use of Buffs (1)
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Looking at Baek Soyeon, I thought of Harin noona.
Eighteen years old. The same age Harin noona had been back then.
Both from Earth.
Even the same country.
But they were completely different.
The Harin noona in my memories was strong and perfect, but Sir Soyeon of our order was frightened and inexperienced.
Watching her sometimes made me wonder.
Had Harin noona actually been the same?
Perhaps she had only acted strong and perfect in front of the child I had been. Perhaps, the rest of the time, she had been just as frightened and inexperienced as Sir Soyeon was now.
I wanted to ask her myself.
To casually ask over a meal one day, “Noona, what were you thinking back then?”
But I couldn't. I would never be able to ask her again.
That was what it meant for someone to die.
“So the Order of Eternity's main duties are intercepting twisted angels and supporting fronts on the verge of collapse. That's about it, right?”
“Correct.”
“And if an apostle shows up, I jump in and blow myself up.”
“...”
“If it's time for me to die and there's no suitable apostle around, I just throw myself at a front where we're losing, right? I heard rumors a few times before coming here. I wondered how you'd managed to push the front lines back so far... Turns out it was all thanks to my predecessors' noble sacrifices.”
“Sir Soyeon.”
“What?”
“My first priority is to keep you from dying.”
“...What?”
“The same goes for every other hero who joins the order from now on. I will save you all. I'll stake everything I have on it.”
“Sure, sure. I'll just beat up that Demon King or Outer God or whatever and go back to Earth before then.”
Sir Soyeon didn't take my words seriously at all.
If not for the ice cream I had served her earlier, she might even have snapped at me.
“On that subject, I've done some research. For now, the things we can do immediately are training and managing your diet. If you keep up both, we can reduce the strain your magic power puts on your body, even if only a little...”
“Huh? You want me to do personal training and go on a diet? No way. No way. I'd rather die.”
“Sir Soyeon, it may be slow, but this will certainly have long-term benefits...”
“Long-term? I've got less than a year left anyway.”
“...”
There was a hidden edge to her voice, and I had to fall silent.
In the ten years since I first joined the Order of Eternity as a squire, I had never once made plans on the assumption that the knights would die.
I always believed they would live forever and planned accordingly. But it would sound different to the people whose lives were at stake.
“Forget it. I know my own body. It shocks me every day. How did my magic power grow this much in just one night? It's a new surprise every day. It's like watching a dam that's about to burst. Well, if I do what you say, Commander, maybe I'll get another week? A month? Maybe I could live that much longer. But I don't want to suffer and deny myself the food I want just to live a little longer.”
“...”
“If there were a real way to save us, someone would've researched it ages ago. It's not like a solution's going to suddenly pop into existence. I mean, there's a nuclear bomb growing inside me. How are you supposed to stop that...? Not even a Great Luo Immortal could save me. Oh. Can a Great Luo Immortal ever save anyone, anyway?”
Muttering to herself, Sir Soyeon took another spoonful of my secret weapon, walnut ice cream.
“It's so good! It's freaking identical to the stuff back home. Hehe.”
“...I'll prepare strawberry yogurt flavor tomorrow.”
“What?! You have strawberries here?”
“No. But I tried to recreate the flavor. Those who were here before you said I got about 80% of the way there.”
It was hard to keep the pride out of my voice.
Sir Soyeon watched me with interest, then folded her arms.
“Oh, just so you know, I'm very strict about strawberry flavor.”
Before I knew it, the sparkle had returned to her eyes.
I was deeply pleased.
* * *
But the next day, Sir Soyeon didn't get to eat her strawberry yogurt ice cream.
Seven in the morning.
A fresh, clear morning filled with birdsong.
Suddenly, sunset descended.
A dark, clinging red light obscured even the morning sun.
It came from the west.
A phenomenon that broke the laws of nature.
It could mean only one thing.
An apostle had appeared.
“Damn it.”
I immediately rushed out of my office.
The Order of Eternity's grounds had a small square at the center, surrounded by the commander's official residence and the members' mansions.
The gate always opened in the middle of that square.
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw the shimmering gate, the only thing glowing blue in a world stained red.
Back when this land was still called the Ionian Empire, the emperors who ruled the center of the world had spent hundreds of years perfecting gate magic, driven by their ambition to conquer the world.
Shortly afterward, most of the empire's royals and nobles had changed careers to become lumps of meat when the twisted angels and apostles descended. But the gates remained, and we still made good use of them.
They were a miraculous means of transport that could send a Knight of Eternity straight to the front.
Sir Soyeon was already standing before the gate.
Her face was pale. I had never seen that expression on her before.
“I didn't know... I didn't know it'd be today.”
Her voice trembled.
“I thought I'd still have another six months... No, three months... No... Maybe I could even make it through a whole year...!”
One Knight of Eternity for one apostle.
If we were unlucky... two Knights of Eternity for one apostle.
That was the exchange rate of our age.
Apostles were like gods. Only a Knight of Eternity's self-sacrifice could destroy one.
The nuclear bomb she had spoken of.
The time had come to use it.
“Sir Soyeon.”
I stepped in front of her.
But she didn't look at me.
She hunched her small shoulders and lowered her gaze.
“N-no. I, I... I can't do it after all. Not like this. I...”
I gripped both her shoulders firmly as she panicked.
“Baek Soyeon!”
She looked up at me. Her wide eyes trembled.
She seemed startled. Probably because I had never raised my voice at her before.
“You won't die. Absolutely not. You must never doubt that. And trust me. You have to trust me completely. Can you do that?”
As I spoke, I wove buff spells around her, one after another.
My specialty was support magic. Within that field, I had devoted my life to buff spells.
“Wh-what is this?”
A different kind of surprise entered her eyes.
“Buffs I developed. I created them solely for the Knights of Eternity.”
Clear Mirror (明鏡), which calmed the mind.
Rebirth (重生), which increased the body's durability and resistance, and even granted extraordinary regeneration.
Grandmaster (宗師), which vastly improved control over magic power.
Azure Sea (碧海), which increased the power of all magic.
For those mere four spells, I had to use up all the precious magical reagents I had gathered throughout my life. I couldn't yet cast such powerful spells with my own strength alone.
Even so, the effects were outstanding.
Baek Soyeon's panicked expression grew visibly calmer. I could even see a hint of confidence.
“M-my body feels so light. With this... maybe I could use my power without dying...”
As she murmured, I firmly shook my head.
“No. This isn't nearly enough. That was conclusively proven in Solution 102.”
“What?”
“So let me be clear. I will keep you from dying, but I can't guarantee it 100%. So... if you don't want to do this, leave. Humanity still holds vast lands, and there are plenty of cities where you can hide and live.”
Baek Soyeon looked at me suspiciously.
“Then what about the apostle? If I don't step in, no one can stop it. There are other heroes, but their magic power hasn't matured enough for them to blow themselves up yet.”
“You're from another world. This was never your problem to worry about.”
“...The Great Wall will fall. The cities and villages beyond it will burn. Hundreds of thousands... No, millions of people will die.”
“It's our problem, so we must bear it. Even if our world is destroyed, it's our world's destruction. Forcing someone from another world to carry that burden would be shameless.”
She looked stunned.
She must have been impressed by my fairness.
“Then what happens next? In a month or two, another hero will be assigned here. Will that person blow herself up? In my place?”
“I'll make her the same offer.”
“No!”
She raised her voice, then took a deep breath to calm herself.
...Why?
“Look. I'm really grateful. I really am. But can you do that? You're the commander of the Order of Eternity! Humanity's last shield! Well, not the shield itself, but the person responsible for holding it!”
“I can. Because I will find a way for you all to survive. When that day comes, every surviving hero will become part of humanity's strength. In the long term, that path is better for humanity's survival too.”
She stared deep into my eyes.
As though she meant to read my true intentions.
Of course, all she would find there was my completely unwavering sincerity.
“You're insane. You've completely lost it...”
She staggered back, looking appalled.
That hurt a little.
Insane? Surely not.
Hiding my hurt, I answered in an even voice.
“I'm not insane. I'm saying this because there is a way. I can prove it. You may see for yourself. But you must trust me completely. That's how you can survive.”
Instead of saying, “You have a chance of surviving,” I simply said, “You can survive.”
Because I, too, had to trust myself completely.
I quietly watched Sir Soyeon.
She looked back at me.
What was she thinking right now?
I didn't know, but her eyes were still trembling. She was afraid.
If anything, I thought that might be a good thing.
But even as she shook, she pretended otherwise and said,
“Let's try it. I'm going to die anyway.”
“You won't die.”
I said it firmly and turned away.
“Still, just... don't follow me. Why not go somewhere with a nice view and live there? Send me a letter under a false name sometime. When I find the perfect solution, I'll need to come and cure you.”
I entered the gate first.
It was a promise I had made when I became commander. I would always cross the gate first, so the heroes left behind would have another chance to think.
So they could truly make their own choice, with no one watching.
Whoosh.
Blue light wrapped around me.
The dizziness of crossing the gate rose from deep inside my body.
I forced down my nausea, steadied my vision through the scattered light, and raised my head.
On the other side, hell was already waiting.
That was what an apostle was.
A disaster beyond human strength.
No matter how many times I saw one.
Even though all I ever did was watch from the rear.
I was always afraid to face an apostle.
So.
That was why.
After all...
I hoped she wouldn't follow me.
Couldn't she hide somewhere and live in peace for even a few months, until I found a way?
That was what I prayed for.
But.
What if she followed me through...?
She won't die.
...She won't die.
Footnotes:
A Great Luo Immortal is a high-ranking Taoist immortal familiar from martial arts fiction. “Not even a Great Luo Immortal could save them” is a stock expression for someone being beyond saving, prompting Soyeon to wonder whether these immortals ever actually save anyone.
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