WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 112: Question

──────

Javert’s lightning-fast rescue.

Thanks to her, everyone in our group made it back safely.

Though we all looked like drowned rats, soaked to the bone.

‘Still, thank goodness.’

Honestly, I’d been a little scared.

Even if I called the faculty, there was no guarantee they’d arrive in time.

In the worst-case scenario, I’d been prepared to drift through the deep sea and hold out until help arrived.

Ding-!

[Sea-Flavored Candy]

-Category: Food

-Rank: B-

-Status: Sweet, Salty

-Description: A blue candy that looks as though it was modeled after the sea. When consumed, it grants the consumer the [Underwater Breathing] effect for 30 minutes. Apparently, its flavor combines sweetness, saltiness, and the taste of the sea.

I’d made each of the kids put one of those candies in their mouths, too.

The problem was that everyone’s stamina had bottomed out.

They were all exhausted, hardly in any condition to survive in the ominous deep sea.

I’d been wondering if I, being the only one still relatively fine, would have to push myself, but...

‘She was fast.’

Less than five minutes after I activated the crystal ball, Javert had tracked us all the way down to the seafloor.

The woman appeared out of nowhere and snatched us up in an instant.

Then, her red hair streaming through the water, she shot us toward land.

Javert looked down at our soaking-wet selves and handed us towels she’d prepared.

“Are any of you injured?”

Her voice was so ordinary, it was almost dry.

And just like that, our return came to a successful conclusion.

We had escaped the deep-sea field.

‘It’s over... It’s really over.’

Only then could I finally breathe easy.

The kids were taken into the cruise ship and treated by the school nurses.

Alice still hadn’t regained consciousness, while Caitlin had collapsed from exhaustion after draining her mana to the limit.

Carmilla rested in my arms in bat form, and Ranne had several minor wounds from the fierce battle.

Everyone was advised to get complete rest after pushing themselves so hard.

“Hmm.”

I was exhausted too, but compared to the other group members, I still had some strength left.

That left the faculty with no choice but to question me about what had happened.

I gladly cooperated.

If I had to explain it anyway, it was better to make up the story myself.

I’d given the group a rough heads-up as well, so they’d know to match their stories to mine.

“...That’s how we managed to escape, and Professor Javert happened to find us. That is all.”

I explained what had happened in the deep sea step by step.

Naturally, I hid some parts and made up others.

It would be a problem if I revealed the parts that could make people suspicious of me.

Imagine saying that a monster hundreds of meters tall suddenly appeared, and I tore it apart by summoning an Apostle of the Evil God.

‘I’d be marked for subjugation on the spot.’

Even I’d run away screaming.

So I had no choice but to tell an edited version of events.

Once I finished my story and smiled, the woman seated across from me on the sofa spoke.

“...Student Viktor.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Red hair flowed down like flower petals.

Between those petals, an unwavering green gaze was fixed on me.

‘Javert.’

The chief investigator, and the woman I served as a direct teaching assistant.

She was also the one questioning me now.

I was alone with her in one of the cruise ship’s cabins.

Other than the two of us, there wasn’t the slightest sign of another person in the room.

“During the tag activity, you were looking for a place to hide and jumped into the sea with your group members.”

After a pause, she continued.

“You were then swept away by an unknown current. When you came to, you were in another dimension, which turned out to be the Cult’s deep-sea branch... Is that correct?”

“Just as I said.”

“You found it by chance.”

“Yes, by chance.”

Javert was making sure she understood correctly.

I shamelessly affirmed it.

Her distinctive green eyes darkened further.

“There was even a battle inside...”

“That’s right. As it happens, I have something I can show you.”

Swish-.

I took something from my pocket and placed it on the table.

A crystal ball I carried with me.

Its transparent surface showed a partial recording of what had happened then.

Of course, I’d tampered with that too, so the camera conveniently veered away whenever it showed something I wanted to hide.

[Thud-!]

[Fuck! These bastards just keep coming...!]

[Something big is coming from behind!]

The footage contained only the fierce battle.

It was more than enough evidence that we had clashed with the Cult.

As always, Javert studied the glowing crystal ball screen for a long time with lifeless eyes.

“I heard you fought for several hours. Afterward, that space collapsed.”

“It vanished. It’s become a space that no longer exists.”

“So there’d be no point in the faculty looking for it.”

“Unfortunately.”

“...”

Javert fell silent for a moment.

Her gaze was sunken and cold.

“Student Viktor, you are always like this.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“I mean you seem to get caught up in strange incidents often. It was the same during the practical training, wasn’t it? You became involved in something similar. Afterward, you even found the hidden collaborator among the faculty. It didn’t end there. Something similar happened once again, this time during a school trip.”

“Quite the coincidence.”

“This incident was resolved as well. Not only did no one die, no one was even seriously injured.”

“Isn’t that simply fortunate? Everyone made it out safely despite facing such a great ordeal.”

“It was fortunate. Clearly so. Unless all of it was an inevitability arranged by someone’s hand.”

“Oho. Who might you be referring to?”

“You, Student Viktor.”

Her manner of speaking was businesslike and blunt.

Cold thorns seemed to rise from her.

I quietly listened.

“You know it yourself, don’t you? There’s more than one suspicious circumstance.”

“I only told you things as they were.”

“Have you forgotten? The unauthorized arrest incident on Purgatory’s 70th floor. I suspect you, Student Viktor, are the culprit in that case.”

“Of course I know.”

“Have you not considered that a situation like this would worsen those suspicions?”

“How could I not? I’m terribly afraid. I heard the culprit will be shot dead the moment they’re found.”

“You know well. It was an order from the headmaster. The culprit will not be arrested. They will be executed immediately.”

Executed.

There was a faint pressure behind that word.

Still, I answered without even flinching.

The clown mask smiled, putting on an innocence that was impossible to read.

“So?”

“...?”

Culprit.

Shot dead.

Immediately.

Rules.

“What would you do if I really were the culprit?”

“...”

“Would you shoot me? Immediately. According to the rules.”

“That is...”

“What would you consider more important, Professor? A student? Or the rules?”

“...Please refrain from any more unnecessary jokes or idle chatter.”

“What if it isn’t a joke?”

“...”

A cold silence settled between us.

She looked at me. I looked at her as well. Her eyes were like deeply withered blades of grass, and I couldn’t read what lay beyond them. She likely felt the same way. We stared at one another for a long time.

“...”

Could it be death?

If I confessed the truth, would you clench your fist without hesitation?

Would the hand that had saved me only moments ago pierce my chest and pull out my heart?

‘What would you do?’

Would you dust off your hands as though nothing had happened?

Would you feel relieved that you had followed the rules?

Would you wear that same expressionless face you always did?

If so, when would you cry, and when would you live with regret?

The questions tangled together. Sharp tension scratched down my spine.

“...”

“...Pfft.”

Just as the silence reached its peak, I deliberately let out a small laugh and broke the tension.

The deathly silence dissolved.

“It was a joke.”

“...”

“Haven’t I told you several times already? It has nothing to do with me.”

“...”

Javert remained silent.

Taking her silence as my cue, I rose from the sofa.

“I’ll be going now. I believe I’ve told you everything necessary.”

“...Yes.”

Javert didn’t stop me.

Her expression was as impassive as usual.

Yet her eyes were dark, as though they were filled with tangled thoughts.

“Hehe.”

I was satisfied.

It was the reaction I’d always wanted to draw out of her.

Just as I was about to leave the room, something suddenly came to mind, and I stopped where I stood.

“Ah... Come to think of it.”

I almost forgot.

Turning back toward Javert, I asked the most important question.

“About this tag activity. What was the result?”

“...?”

“Our group won, obviously? First place.”

“...”

What?

Gotta do what you gotta do.

* * *

After returning to our accommodations, I was crushed by fatigue and collapsed onto the bed.

The soft blanket wrapped around me, as though soothing away the hardships of the day.

“Ughhh...”

My consciousness swayed with my body.

If I just closed my eyes now, I felt like I could sleep straight for about twelve hours.

Still, I forced my eyelids open and held on.

There was still something left to do after that long day.

“Status window.”

With that brief call, a blue window filled my vision.

The notifications I’d been too busy to check appeared.

Several screens layered over one another in succession.

Ding-!

[Main Quest]

-Title: Disaster from the Deep Sea

-Details: Infiltrate the Cult branch hidden in the deep sea.

[You wiped out the branch with a remarkable performance!]

-Rewards will be issued. Please check your status window.

Ding-!

[Linked Quest-01]

-Title: What Lies Buried Beneath

-Details: Eliminate the Cult branch hidden in the deep sea. Defeat the deep-sea monster ‘Leviathan (Project Leviathan).’

[You killed the monster through an ingenious method!]

-Rewards will be issued. Please check your status window.

Ding-!

[Linked Quest-02]

-Title: For All Alices

-Details: Defeat ‘Oz (OZ),’ leader of the Cult’s Chimera Project.

[You defeated the target (clone) with outstanding martial prowess!]

-Rewards will be issued. Please check your status window.

Ding-!

[Sub Quest]

-Title: Catch Me If You Can!

-Details: Be the last group remaining in the tag game.

[You led your group to victory with a clever strategy!]

-Rewards will be issued. Please check your status window.

Ding-!

[You have completed a Hidden Quest.]

-Title: One Who Rules Evil

-Details: Offer a sacrifice to summon an Apostle of the Evil God once. Win one battle through proper command.

[You have accomplished an impossible feat!]

-A special reward will be issued. Please check your status window.

Now then.

Shall we open some rewards?

===

Chapter illustration

Chapter illustration

It’s Rin and Lua.

That concludes the swimsuit illustrations.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried