WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 120: Don Quixote’s Reverie (4)
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“...It means he isn't alive.”
Alice murmured.
The blade-sharp tension inside the tent suddenly crashed down.
It felt as though their hearts had suddenly dropped, leaving the children stunned.
“...”
A chilling silence settled over them.
He wasn't alive.
For a moment, the words rolled around in their mouths.
It was a simple sentence, yet the children looked dazed, as if trying to understand its meaning.
“...That...”
He wasn't alive.
He wasn't alive.
He was dead.
“What does that mean...?”
Carmilla finally spoke.
Her distant blood-red gaze trembled, as though making even her question fade away.
“Sniff, hic...”
Alice could only cry, unable to answer.
Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, one after another.
The dampness weighed down time itself, only adding to the sobs beneath her blue eyes.
Crying.
Stifled crying.
The children felt sick to their stomachs.
“Miss Alice... What... what do you mean...?”
Ranne Kihano.
For once, the girl had forgotten her usual cheerfulness.
An expression she couldn't hide spread across her face, as if eating away at it.
“What... what happened to Sir Viktor...?”
None of her usual spirit remained.
Her blonde hair was disheveled from wandering through the blizzard, and her violet eyes, opened so wide they seemed empty, held a pitiful yet desperate plea.
That she had misheard.
That those words meant something else.
That the girl before her would answer her question.
“Sniff... hic...”
But Alice only kept crying.
That silence stabbed deep into Ranne's chest.
Though Alice didn't say a word, Ranne knew it was an answer.
The young knight staggered, nearly collapsing where she stood.
“A lie...”
“...”
Silence returned.
Slowly, tears began to gather in the silver-haired and blonde girls' eyes.
They looked unable to accept it, yet soon blankly let tears fall like bellflowers.
“Viktor...”
“Sir Viktor...”
The atmosphere plummeted in an instant.
It was as if they had all been struck by vertigo, unable to think straight.
Then Caitlin pulled the children back to their senses.
“Hey.”
Slap, slap!
Her bronze-colored hand slapped both of her cheeks hard.
She was shocked too, but she seemed determined to force herself to calm down.
“Fuck, are you all out of your minds?”
Her yellow eyes regained their usual fierceness.
Red handprints remained on her cheeks.
“Are you kidding me? What are you all, lovesick girls?”
That sharp way of speaking.
“Do you really think he died? That bastard? Just because he got caught in a trap set by some black mages?”
Her pointed words jabbed at the group.
Caitlin had always been prickly, but perhaps that was why she could remain the calmest among them.
“That guy tore a deep-sea monster hundreds of meters long in half with one gesture.”
“...”
“He's not dead.”
“...”
As if to support her claim, Caitlin frowned and fired questions at Alice.
“Are you sure? That thing about him not being alive.”
“Sniff... But if I can't see anything...”
“That's exactly why it's strange. You said it wasn't like he was simply out of sight. You said his view was blurry, like it was covered in fog.”
“Yes...?”
“You said before that when you couldn't see someone, their view had simply gone completely black. But this time, it wasn't black. You said you couldn't see because the scene was blurred out. Doesn't that mean the connection wasn't cut off? Maybe something was blocking your view.”
She was right.
Viktor was currently in a special field.
A pocket dimension said to have been left behind by one of the ancient sages.
It was such an isolated place that it was also called the [Space That Does Not Exist].
The Black Queen's authority might have been absolute, but Alice had only recently begun taming it, making it difficult for her to see through.
“Something is blocking it... Then where could he be...?”
“How should I know? It's your ability. You're the one who should know.”
It was a rough deduction, but Caitlin had come remarkably close.
Alice was still unfamiliar with her own power.
The [Black Queen] was an Authority about which little was known in the first place.
Besides, until only a few months ago, Alice had lived while suppressing her own power as much as possible.
“You said it hasn't been long since you started taming that power.”
Alice had only decided to actively use her ability fairly recently.
It had been right after meeting Viktor, so not even half a year had passed.
Of course she didn't understand its functions perfectly.
Caitlin bluntly spoke to Alice, who stared up at her blankly.
“That bastard being weird isn't exactly new.”
“Lady Lettus...”
“Stop thinking useless things and get back to searching. Honestly, if he was kidnapped, we should be worried about the kidnappers. Why are you worried about him?”
“Sniff...”
Caitlin irritably brushed back her yellow hair.
She looked over the children and spoke.
“Find him. And stop fucking crying.”
Crude, blunt words.
Still, thanks to them, the children managed to calm down a little.
They wiped away the tears in their eyes and rose from where they had been sprawled inside the tent.
“Hoo... Right. I nearly made a fool of myself. If I am to become a great ruler, I must know how to trust my loyal retainers as well. Thank you for making me realize that.”
“...Enough. Just do what you need to do.”
“I'll remain in the tent. I'll keep... sniff, looking through my dreams to see if anything appears. I'll keep an eye on Sir Viktor's vision.”
“Let us divide our roles again. We must split up and search the Count's territory. Judging by the scale of the magic circle, it could not have been powerful enough for long-distance teleportation. Viktor must be somewhere within the territory.”
“Let's get moving. No more wasting time.”
The children headed back into the blizzard.
Ranne mounted her horse as well and rode through the white winter forest.
Caitlin's words had cleared her head, but inside, something was still festering.
-I believe in Miss Ranne's choice.
Viktor's voice lingered in her ears.
The words that had encouraged her.
Back when she had been deciding whether to give chase first or wait for support.
If she had made the right choice then, perhaps this disaster would never have happened.
‘Because of me...’
Her impatience had ruined everything.
She hated herself for failing to make the wiser choice.
Her stomach churned, but the girl gripped the reins tightly.
‘I have to fix this.’
The protagonist felt a sense of responsibility.
No... perhaps it was closer to pressure.
Because she possessed special power, she believed she always had to bear responsibility for the world.
‘I have to do it.’
It was the girl's sickness.
And a hidden lack within her.
Whoooooosh!
The search struggled against the blizzard.
Even so, Ranne desperately pushed through the falling snow.
Her horse's hooves carried her over the snowy mountains and onward into deeper white.
-Miss Ranne.
Viktor.
Only to bring back the masked boy.
* * *
Every breath came out white.
I shook my hands, stiff with cold.
“Hoo...”
Broken Ice Lords and knights lay scattered around me.
As I looked over the wreckage, a blue screen appeared before my eyes.
A clear mechanical sound rang out.
Ding!
[You have cleared the 3rd floor of the hidden space, ‘Temple of Lumiera.’]
[The door to the temple's 4th floor has been opened.]
[You must proceed to the 5th floor for your trial.]
[The dungeon's owner has recognized your existence.]
[The Apostle ‘Chief Justice of Old Winter’ awaits your trial.]
Twenty-four hours had already passed since I entered the dungeon.
Well, as you could see, my plan to return in a day had gone completely down the drain.
‘This is tougher than I expected.’
This was a fairly high-rank dungeon, after all.
It looked like I'd return on the second day, about a day later than planned.
I took a deep breath to steady myself.
“Still... the third floor is cleared.”
There were restrictions everywhere.
I had to save the crown for the fifth floor, and Devour and Release weren't charged.
‘My firepower might be a little lacking.’
Right after the school trip ended, I came here on vacation, so I hadn't had time to get Devour charged by Javert.
By the time the skill's cooldown ended, we had already left the academy and arrived in the Count's territory.
I fiddled with my scythe, feeling needlessly regretful.
Ding!
[Entering the 4th floor of the hidden space, ‘Temple of Lumiera.’]
[Your trial will take place on the 5th floor.]
Still.
I couldn't waste time here.
After resting for a few minutes, I climbed the stairs without hesitation.
Clank, clank.
The moment I reached the new floor, I felt dozens of gazes fixed on me.
Things clad in Old Winter glared at me.
Long streams of hazy breath obscured my vision.
Ding!
[The Apostles ‘Knights of Old Winter’ are watching you.]
Swords carved from ice pointed toward me.
I raised my scythe as well, taking a stance so I could charge at any moment.
‘I’d like to start conserving my stamina soon.’
There were simply too many enemies for that to be easy.
It would've been nice to have party members to clear this place with...
‘The dungeon layout is fucked.’
Entering this temple was difficult from the start.
There was an entrance I had used, but it was a one-use route for one person only.
Bringing party members along would have been difficult in many ways.
‘It’s not like there’s absolutely no other way to enter...’
Well, it was more accurate to treat it as though there wasn't.
The method required both absurd luck and determination.
‘It can’t be helped.’
It wasn't a good habit to keep dwelling on things just because I regretted them.
You had to know when to give up cleanly too.
I decided to focus on what was in front of me.
In the freezing air, I faced off against the knights.
“Hoo.”
Clank, clank.
The suits of ice armor approached in a circular formation.
Just as both sides moved, about to collide at any moment...
“Sir Viktor...!”
A familiar voice rang out from somewhere.
Question marks immediately popped up in my head.
“Eh?”
I didn't even have time to turn around in surprise.
A dazzling flash shot past me.
It was a spear woven from light.
-Kihano Style Spearmanship, Eighth Form-
‘Falling Star’
Kwoooooong!
Brilliant white light swept over the rows of armor.
The raging storm tore through the ice and shattered the knights into pieces.
A dull ringing filled my ears.
Only then did I turn around.
“...Miss Ranne?”
“Hah, hah...”
Familiar blonde hair and violet eyes.
Ranne stood near the stairs, panting heavily.
Dozens more question marks could only have appeared over my head.
“No, how did you even get here...?”
But I couldn't finish my question.
Ranne ran up and threw her arms around me.
“Sir Viktor! You're safe...!”
Her eyes were wet with tears, and she even seemed to be sobbing.
Ranne's soft body pressed against mine.
She buried her face in my chest.
Caught off guard, I held her and patted her slender back.
“Thank goodness, thank goodness...”
“...”
Ranne only kept murmuring those words.
Held tightly in her embrace, I mulled over the question I couldn't ask.
‘No, I’m happy to see you too, but...’
Um.
How on earth did you find me?
Footnotes:
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