WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 2: I’m Not Suspicious
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Ranne Kihano.
The eldest daughter of House Kihano, a venerable family of knights.
A girl who had earned a knightly name despite her young age.
She was currently breaking out in a cold sweat.
‘How did this happen...?’
Today was the day of the entrance examination.
She had left the family estate and was on her way to the academy.
“Help!”
As she rode along, she heard someone crying for help nearby.
As someone who revered chivalry and considered altruism a virtue, she could not ignore it.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ranne turned her horse around.
At the end of her charge, a colossal embodiment of death awaited her.
A monster clutching hundreds of grimoires as it muttered an incantation.
“Grrr... grr...”
It was surely an Apostle of the Evil God.
Ranne gripped her spear and faced it.
But she was no match for it.
The gap between them was almost unfathomable.
Her spear could not leave even a scratch on the apostle.
In the end, badly battered, Ranne prepared herself for death.
“I’m a traveler passing by.”
“...”
That was when the man appeared before her.
‘Just now... he defeated an Apostle of the Evil God with nothing but a branch...’
He had appeared out of nowhere and dealt with the apostle in the blink of an eye.
Ranne could not make sense of it.
She was one of the strongest people her age.
Yet he had defeated an enemy she could not even scratch.
‘This is strange.’
There had been an attack that seemed capable of crushing the entire world.
But something even stranger than that was...
‘I couldn’t sense anything at all...’
That blow had been overwhelming to an uncanny degree.
And she had felt no energy from it whatsoever.
There should have been mana, aura, Divine Power... even demonic energy would have been something.
‘Nothing...’
It was utterly serene.
She could sense nothing from the man’s attack.
As though nothing had happened at all.
The situation made her question her own senses.
Then words she had heard long ago passed through Ranne’s mind.
“When the difference in skill is so overwhelming that even those words cannot explain it...”
“They say the other person’s very presence may seem faint.”
“Remember this, Ranne.”
When she was little, her father, the finest knight in the north, had given her this advice.
“If what happened feels like a dream, and everything seems unreal...”
“Never make an enemy of the person before you.”
Her mouth went dry.
This was exactly as her father had described it.
“...”
She could not even begin to measure it.
How vast was the gap between him and herself?
The boy wore a knowing smile.
He looked utterly at ease, as though this did not even qualify as amusement.
For the first time in her life, Ranne felt uneasy at someone’s smile.
‘Please.’
She prayed inwardly that the person before her was not an enemy.
* * *
The Bookworm had vanished without a trace.
I greeted Ranne afterward, but she did not answer.
“...”
“Hm.”
The kid was frozen stiff.
Had she been that scared?
‘Well... the Bookworm did look pretty terrifying.’
It was the kind of sight that made your knees go weak.
Even if she was an unbreakable protagonist, she was still a girl who had not yet reached adulthood.
Seeing something like that would naturally leave her shaken.
“Are you all right?”
“...Ah.”
When I asked again, she came to her senses.
She bowed stiffly.
Her violet eyes trembled.
“Th-thank you for saving me...”
“Think nothing of it. I only helped because I happened to come across you.”
I answered sweetly, then held out my hand with the most harmless smile in the world.
“My name is Viktor.”
“Ah... I’m Ranne Kihano.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kihano.”
We exchanged a light handshake.
Her reaction was odd.
Even though I spoke gently, Ranne could not meet my eyes.
I suddenly considered how suspicious I must look.
A man who had defeated an Apostle of the Evil God while holding only a branch.
‘Wait.’
Had she been scared not of the Bookworm, but of me?
Only then did I notice Ranne’s shoulders trembling with tension.
Alarms went off in my head.
‘She doesn’t think I’m suspicious, does she?’
I could understand it.
If someone suddenly appeared and beat an elephant to death with a pair of wooden chopsticks, I’d probably be scared too.
‘...Or would that be kind of cool?’
That wasn’t the point.
First, I had to show her I wasn’t hostile.
I had saved her from danger, but I was still an unidentified stranger.
Especially now, when she was physically exhausted and cornered, Ranne would be more on edge than usual.
‘I’m going to die...!’
No matter how tired she was, the protagonist was still the protagonist.
I, on the other hand, was a weakling with every stat fixed at E-rank.
She could kill me with a light tap from the flat of her blade.
I could use bugs, but I was frail in every other way.
“Um... Sir Viktor.”
“Yes, Miss Kihano.”
Showing how harmless I was came first.
Otherwise, I might die!
I loaded up a line to farm some affection.
After hesitating for a while, the girl opened her mouth.
“Why did you help us, Sir Viktor...?”
“That’s a strange question.”
“R-right...”
“Does a person need a reason to help another person?”
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that I was a veteran player.
I knew Ranne better than anyone.
We had spent fourteen thousand hours together.
I had seen this world reach its ending with her a thousand times.
We had cried, laughed, begun, and ended together beyond the monitor.
“Chivalry.”
Ranne Kihano.
Her knightly name was Don Quixote de La Mancha.
“Fight for those who cannot fight, and do not retreat even when you know fear.”
Of the Seven Virtues she revered, I mentioned mercy and courage.
“That’s what I was taught. I couldn’t simply pass by people in trouble.”
“...”
An aspiring knight.
Ranne had grown up listening to tales of the northern knights’ valor, and she had naturally come to admire them.
To her, chivalry was the purpose of life, and those who followed it were companions walking the same path.
In the original story, conversations like this always sent her affection soaring.
In other words, with these few lines alone, I had...
“Benefactor...!”
...made a solid impression as a good person.
Grab.
Ranne’s hand clasped mine.
Her violet eyes shone brightly, with no trace of tension left.
Her gaze was so full of goodwill that it was almost overwhelming.
“I am deeply moved by your self-sacrificing spirit! Please forgive me for being wary of you, even if only for a moment!”
“Haha, it’s all right. It must have been sudden for you as well, Miss Kihano.”
“You are truly a good person, Sir Viktor!”
“You’re embarrassing me.”
“Please call me Ranne! I, too, admire knights! If we share the same admiration, are we not disciples under the same teacher?”
“Then I will, Miss Ranne.”
I smiled amiably.
This was our protagonist.
‘A northern knight... honestly, she feels more like an innocent country girl than a knight.’
Exactly the type to get scammed the moment she arrived in the capital.
Put nicely, she was pure. Put badly, she knew nothing of the world.
That was good news for me.
It meant she would be easy to manipulate.
“I’m amazed! To think there was someone as skilled as you among people my age, Sir Viktor!”
“I still have much to learn.”
“My father’s words were right. The world truly is vast!”
Perhaps she had finally relaxed.
Her once-hunched shoulders were now straight.
‘Yes, please don’t become hostile toward me.’
I was only strong because I could use bugs. My raw stats made me a weakling.
A casual flick to the forehead could knock me out.
I’d lose a fistfight to a passing farmer.
I smiled at Ranne while inwardly begging for mercy.
“Ah... I should go check on the people in the carriage.”
Even while we talked, Ranne looked back as though she was worried.
She was certainly diligent in that regard. No wonder she was the protagonist.
I wasn’t particularly concerned.
Thanks to Ranne and me stepping in, there should not have been any casualties.
Once things grew quiet, I examined the items that had entered my possession.
“Hm.”
Several items brushed against my fingertips.
They were the rewards I had gained for defeating the Bookworm.
Ding!
[You have acquired rewards.]
-Mask of the Evil God×1
-Robe of the Evil God×1
-Grimoire That Should Not Exist×1
A mask, a robe, and a grimoire.
All items that could only be obtained through the route where you hunted the Bookworm.
Normally, they would not be available until the Bookworm reappeared late in the original story.
‘Though I got them through a cheap trick.’
Saving Ranne was not my only goal.
I had also wanted these items.
Having them alone would make everything ahead far easier.
[Mask of the Evil God]
-Category:???
-Rank:???
-Description:Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Th-
“This is unpleasant.”
That description was deeply unsettling.
The descriptions of the other two items were similar.
Still, their effects were excellent.
[Mask of the Evil God]
-Effect:Nullifies three attacks directed at the wearer. Activates only while worn.
-Remaining Uses:3
[Robe of the Evil God]
-Effect:Items can be stored inside the robe. Functions only while worn.
-Stored Items:0/100
Attack nullification and an inventory.
Both were absurdly useful.
‘Especially the mask.’
It did not matter whether the attack aimed at me was a great mage’s meteor or a sword saint’s slash.
This item would unconditionally nullify any attack three times.
For someone like me, whose every stat was fixed at E-rank and who could die somewhere random at any moment, there was nothing more necessary.
Put bluntly, I could die from being stabbed once while walking down the street.
‘It’s like I gained three extra lives.’
And then there was the robe.
In the game, everyone had a personal inventory, so items like backpacks were worn to expand storage. But this was reality.
‘There’s no way I have a separate inventory here.’
That meant I had to use items that served as bags in the original story.
Among those kinds of items, the Robe of the Evil God was easily top tier.
It was the lightest, and it had the largest storage capacity.
So I needed to wear the mask and robe at all times.
[Grimoire That Should Not Exist]
-Effect:???
As for the grimoire... there would be a use for it later.
Until then, I’d keep it safe.
First, I took out the items I needed to wear right away.
‘Let’s see.’
The mask looked strangely like a clown.
Two wide-open eyes and a smiling mouth.
‘It’s kind of cute.’
Without hesitation, I put it on.
It was comfortable enough.
It did not block my vision or feel cumbersome.
It felt hardly any different from not wearing it at all.
As expected of a broken item, even its comfort was on another level.
[You equip the item 'Mask of the Evil God'.]
[You equip the item 'Robe of the Evil God'.]
The robe was simply a black cloak, so I draped it over myself without another thought.
Maybe because they were a set, I looked rather impressive.
Ding!
[Equipping a set item produces additional synergy.]
-Your intimidation greatly increases.
-When others look at you, they are overcome with an unexplained sense of dread.
-The seal on ■■■ is lifted only during the Eclipse, 'Night for the Clown.'
The one flaw.
The intimidation and dread.
Because of those, wearing these two items made it harder to raise other characters’ affection.
‘Well, I can live with that.’
I finished getting set up.
It looked like Ranne had finished sorting things out as well.
It was about time to leave.
‘I need to take the examination.’
The Grandia Academy entrance examination.
* * *
After the situation had been resolved.
“Still, I was surprised. I did not expect you to be on your way to take the entrance examination as well, Sir Viktor.”
“It is a curious coincidence.”
“I cannot say how relieved I am. This is my first time leaving the north, so I had been nervous about many things. Having someone travel with me is truly reassuring.”
“I’m glad to have Miss Ranne’s company as well. The journey would have been dull otherwise.”
We did not end up late for the entrance examination.
The people we had saved gave us a ride in their carriage.
They said they were heading nearby anyway, so they would take us along.
Was this why people said good deeds paid off?
They bowed their heads over and over as they thanked us.
“By the way, Sir Viktor, what is that mask you are wearing...?”
“It’s a fashion item. I enjoy wearing it.”
“Is it the latest trend? The world beyond the north is always so new!”
After traveling for several hours, we reached our destination.
‘Grandia Academy.’
The finest educational institution on the continent.
It deserved that description.
It was said to be nearly the size of a small city.
To put it simply, the academy grounds covered an area about half the size of Seoul.
“It’s enormous...!”
“It would have to be, to be called the finest on the continent. I’ve heard students usually live in the student-only district at the very center. Beyond that district are shopping streets, residential areas, workshop streets, and all kinds of other places.”
“It truly deserves to be called an academy city.”
We joined the line of people waiting for the entrance examination.
The chatter of nearby students reached my ears.
Murmur, murmur.
I quietly lost myself in thought.
My reason for coming to the academy was simple.
To prevent the world’s destruction, I needed to follow the flow of the original story.
‘Besides... there are far more bugs I can use at the academy.’
Ngme.
(Ranne & Grandia Academy: The Märchen.)
As the title suggested, the academy was the game’s main setting.
Since it was the stage that appeared most often, it also had the most discovered bugs.
Naturally, it was much easier to operate inside the academy than outside.
“Will the next applicant please enter.”
I had been distracted for only a moment, but my turn had already arrived.
“Then I’ll be going in first.”
“Yes! I’m sure you’ll pass without any trouble, Sir Viktor. I shall see you inside the academy.”
“I wish you the best of luck too, Miss Ranne.”
Ranne and I were assigned to different examination halls, so we parted for the moment.
It did not matter. We would meet again in Class A anyway.
I entered the hall.
A teaching assistant assigned to supervise the examination stood inside.
The man frowned fiercely when he saw me.
“What a creepy guy. Wearing a clownish mask too.”
“Haha, I look forward to working with you.”
It was rude.
He was probably trying to pressure the applicants.
Like the veteran player I was, I let it pass with a mild response.
“Enough with the smooth talk. Come forward. Follow my instructions and complete each assigned test...”
The examination itself was ordinary.
Simple ability measurements.
The sort of thing you would find at any academy in a fantasy setting.
It was conducted using various devices to measure strength, stamina, mana sensitivity, and more.
It took only about ten minutes to receive my results.
“Applicant No. 3720. Real name: Viktor.”
I had completed the examination with confidence.
And naturally, my results were...
“Theory, A+. E-rank in every other category. You have failed for not meeting the minimum standard.”
“Huh?”
I was denied admission.
Footnotes:
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