WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 10: Everyone
──────
“I can beat the shit out of you, after all.”
Thuuuum.
Pressure bore down on the wide lecture hall.
The students could not make a sound.
-Is that him? The guy whose stats are all E-rank, but he still took first in our class?
-His name’s Viktor, so I guess it is. He looks frail as hell.
-Fuck, this is ridiculous... I got pushed below someone like that?
-If I threw a punch at him, he’d probably piss himself in fear.
Even the ones who had mocked them like that shut their mouths.
Their faces had frozen, their eyes trembling.
It was as if someone had pressed pause.
None of them dared to move.
““...””
Why was that?
A bead of cold sweat ran down someone’s jaw.
‘I’m going to die.’
It was a sensation that shot through their minds before rational thought could take hold.
An alarm.
Instinct.
The terror of a living creature desperate to survive.
Their once-steady breathing began to tremble.
“Urgh, haah...”
“Gasp, gasp...”
Their breaths came in ragged gasps, as if possessed.
Something was there.
Something tangible was strangling their throats.
Tentacles coiled around their throats.
It felt as though their necks would snap if those things squeezed just a little harder...
“Everyone?”
Creak. Creak.
I did not know what it had truly been like.
But at least to the students, it felt that way.
Before them stood the boy they had mocked.
“Everyone.”
A smiling mask.
A grotesquely torn grin stretched across its white surface.
Eyes smiling as though this entire situation delighted it.
The students could barely breathe, yet they could not look away from the mask.
“Everyone.”
It was a kind of instinct.
They felt that if they looked away from that thing, even for a moment, something terrible would happen.
“Ev”
“ery”
“one”
Their vision warped in every direction.
My voice scattered like shards of glass.
The world the students stared at remained horribly distorted.
At the center of that confusion, the clown kept repeating the same word.
“EveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneRunEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneawayEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneIEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryonedon’tEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryonewantEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryonetoEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryonedieEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryoneEveryone...”
The mask smiled.
Its grin stretched wider and wider, until it split beyond measure.
To the point where it no longer looked like a smile at all.
““...””
They blinked.
When their eyes opened again, the mask stood right in front of their noses.
The clowns had multiplied to match the number of students.
One stood before each of them.
Only a few centimeters away, staring directly at them.
“Everyone.”
The mask’s mouth opened wide.
Beyond that deep abyss, tentacles writhed like a swarm of cockroaches.
Those flicking tentacles reached across the distorted world, just about to touch the students...
“Stop. That’s far enough.”
A voice cut through it.
At the same time, the killing intent abruptly vanished.
The students’ vision brightened.
“Haah, haah...!”
“Cough! Cough, hngh...”
They dragged in ragged breaths.
The pressure around their necks had disappeared, leaving only throbbing pain.
No.
Even that pain had been an illusion.
Everything they had seen was false.
When they raised their heads, all they saw was the peaceful lecture hall.
The students could not help but be confused.
“...?”
The only thing that had changed was the sight of two people at the podium.
The clown stood there calmly, a sword blade resting against his neck.
Javert had her sword pointed at Viktor’s throat.
“Oh dear.”
“That was an excellent speech. Let’s end it there.”
The clown smiled as though troubled, while the professor issued her warning without emotion.
Her expressionless eyes stared at the mask.
The cold sword touched Viktor’s throat.
“Student Viktor.”
“Yes, Professor Javert.”
The air between them sharpened.
Despite the cold that could have cut through flesh, the boy remained perfectly calm.
He had not even looked at Javert.
The red-haired woman held her sword, but inwardly clicked her tongue.
‘He didn’t dodge.’
From the moment Javert drew her sword until she pointed it at the clown’s throat, Viktor had not reacted at all.
He had neither dodged nor defended himself.
Instead, he had raised his chin stiffly, as if daring her to do it.
Even then, he had remained confident without the slightest tremor.
‘He has nerves of steel.’
Was he truly not someone to be taken lightly?
He was far too composed for a freshman.
The woman’s suspicions toward the boy deepened.
Of course, there was an entirely different reason behind it all...
‘Fuck, that scared me. She was so fast I couldn’t even see it.’
I simply had not reacted because I could not see it.
My dynamic vision had failed to keep up with Javert’s sword.
Cold sweat trickled down my face.
Thankfully, the mask hid my expression.
‘Stay calm. Stay calm.’
I took a moment to steady my breathing.
When I remained silent, she rebuked me.
“What I asked of you was an introduction. I did not tell you to threaten your fellow students.”
“I’ve been rude. I lost my temper without realizing it.”
“Please dismiss your killing intent first.”
“I’ve already withdrawn it. Then perhaps you could lower your sword as well, Professor?”
“...”
Swish.
Javert obediently withdrew her sword and slid it back into the sheath at her waist.
“I understand why you were angry, but enduring that is also part of the burden that comes with being top-ranked.”
“I was shortsighted. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
“Please do. It will become a problem for you as well.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I apologize as well. Even if it was to restrain you, I put a sword to a student’s neck...”
Javert bowed neatly.
Even in this situation, she carefully identified her own mistake and apologized for it.
She could have simply let it slide while warning me.
Just as expected of someone so rigid, she was strict about the rules she had set for herself.
“I’m fine, Professor.”
“I’ll be more careful next time as well.”
After a formal bow, she wrapped things up.
Javert addressed the students, who were still sitting there in a daze.
“Today’s schedule has concluded. Your academy life will begin in earnest tomorrow. I hope you will all follow along with firm resolve.”
The students finally came to their senses.
They could not understand a thing.
They had no idea what had happened to them, or what the illusions they had just seen were...
““...?””
Still.
Even amid that confusion, the schedule simply came to an end.
* * *
After finishing the first day’s schedule, I was on my way back to the dormitory.
[Viktor! My loyal knight!]
“Ah... yes, Your Highness.”
Wriggle, wriggle.
Carmilla, who had been hiding in my uniform pocket the whole time, poked her head out.
She had a silvery sheen and a body cuter than an ordinary bat’s.
After shaking her head from side to side, she asked,
[Was that really necessary? I mean, back in the lecture hall.]
“Which part? Provoking the students, or confronting Professor Javert?”
[Both! Did you not draw too much attention to yourself?]
“Everything is going according to plan.”
[If you say so...]
The princess shifted restlessly in my pocket.
[Well... at least that professor had good manners. There are not many superiors who bow and apologize to someone beneath them. Despite her cold appearance, she seems to be a person of character. That puts my mind at ease.]
“You’re right.”
As long as I did not cross the line she had set, Javert was an excellent educator.
She was capable, reliable, powerful, and clear about separating public and private matters...
Of course, once she became involved with the Cult, she turned into a killing machine without brakes.
‘If I use her well, she’ll be useful.’
I had realized it earlier.
Javert was not a threat to me. She was a new card in my hand.
With only a little risk, she could prove more useful than the Evil God Set items.
I would need to plan that carefully.
[More importantly, I am worried about those students!]
“You mean the Class E students?”
[Yes. The way they looked at you was troubling. Even after you frightened them once, some of them only became more hostile.]
“From their perspective, it must be hard to accept. They probably think their rankings should be higher than mine.”
[What a laughable thing to say. You endured the Godslaying Crossbow and the Stake with your bare body, then faced five elite assassins. Yet those frogs in a well cannot recognize the value of a jewel.]
“I appreciate the kind words.”
[From what I can see, it seems you will clash with them before long...]
“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that.”
[Hm?]
“They’re waiting for us right over there.”
On the path to the tram stop, around seven people stood in the way.
Every one of them was among the top-ranked students in Class E.
“Hey, top-ranked.”
From their tone to their hostile expressions, they did not seem friendly toward me.
I stopped where I was and answered, deliberately smiling even more leisurely.
“Oh...? It’s my classmates. What can I do for you?”
“Hah, look at this bastard pretending he doesn’t know.”
They let out hollow laughs.
The thugs surrounded me.
“You sure talked big earlier. Said you could beat the shit out of us?”
“Then... why were you heading back in such a hurry? Chickened out?”
“We still have business to settle.”
“Earlier, you pulled some pathetic trick with hallucinations or whatever...”
“But you can’t do that now. Fuck, an E-rank nobody acting all high and mighty...”
Things were getting a little rough.
Well, I had expected this from the start.
I had guessed as much from the way they kept glaring at me in the lecture hall.
‘They’re certainly quick to act.’
I smiled and said,
“So?”
“What?”
“I asked what you want from me. Why did you come looking for me?”
They had come to pick a fight anyway.
There was no reason to hold back.
“Should I beat the shit out of you right here?”
“Y-you bastard...!”
I should give them what they wanted.
Since I had decided to establish my dominance, should I not teach them to bow their heads properly?
People learned faster when they got stepped on a little.
“Since we’re doing this, how about a bet? It would be a shame if it just ended there.”
“What kind of lunatic are you...?”
The school bullies looked at me in bewilderment.
I spread my hand wide and crooked a finger at them, inviting them to come at me whenever they pleased.
The princess wriggled in my front pocket.
[I shall close my eyes for a moment.]
[Do not be too harsh with them.]
[Humans are living creatures too. Is that not pitiful?]
No, Your Highness.
Humans were a species that grew tougher the more you beat them.
I just needed to beat them until right before they cracked.
“The losing side has to do whatever the winning side wants for the next year.”
You’re all dead.
I would turn every last one of you into my personal errand runners.
Footnotes:
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