WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 29: O Vulgar Slaughter, O Craven Survival. (7)
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“Wait...”
“Hmm?”
“I’m Kantas, the Third Knight of the Border Knight Order.”
He had a formidable look about him.
Come to think of it, they had said members of the knight order had been abducted too.
I politely answered the man’s introduction.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Garulik.”
“Sir Garulik, thank you first of all. If you hadn’t stepped in, I don’t know what would’ve happened to all these people...”
“It was our mission. You don’t need to worry about it. More importantly, you’re with the Border Knight Order?”
“Yes... There had been a string of disappearances around here lately, so I came to investigate, but...”
“You got caught up in it yourself.”
“To my shame...”
“Did you come to investigate alone?”
“No. I was with three other members, but...”
“So their fates are unknown.”
“That’s right.”
After exchanging a few words, Kantas, who had hesitated the whole time, finally forced out a question.
“More importantly... are the Slayers truly our allies?”
“Truly our allies? I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You said you were vampire hunters. But...”
His eyes darted to the side.
He seemed to be looking at Carmilla, who stood beside me.
The girl was wearing the red mask I’d handed her before we entered the ranch.
“Ah, you’re wondering why I’m traveling with a vampire.”
“Y-Yes...”
“This is Manre. She works as my assistant. She may be a vampire, but she helps our organization. She’s one of the Slayers’ finest talents.”
“L-Lady Manre? But why would a vampire hunt vampires...?”
“She has her own reasons.”
Had this guy never watched Blade?
A vampire who hunted vampires because of personal circumstances was a classic trope.
Then would a vampire hunting a vampire vampire hunter be a vampire vampire vampire hunter hunter?
“I’m afraid it would be difficult to explain the details. It’s a sensitive matter. Still, I can assure you that she’s an excellent vampire hunter.”
“I see. I’m sorry. I was suddenly suspicious...”
“It’s a natural reaction. You’ve suffered so much at the hands of vampires.”
I nodded.
Kantas’s gaze turned serious.
“The Slayers... vampire hunters operating in secret...”
“We operate across the entire continent. Countless members are risking their lives out there.”
“You operate in secret? Well... revealing your identities would make you easy targets.”
So that was why they wore those strange masks.
Kantas nodded as though he had reached that conclusion on his own.
I hadn’t exactly said that, but hey, if he wanted to misunderstand, that worked for me.
“Then... Sir Garulik. What will you do now?”
“We’ve subdued every vampire stationed in the facility. We’ve also rescued the survivors, so now it’s time to demolish the place. We’ll blow it up so it can never be used again.”
“Demolish it...”
“Of course, there are places we need to check first.”
“Places you need to check?”
“The Ghouls.”
Humans who had become monsters after receiving vampires’ blood.
They were victims of this incident too.
Kantas’s expression darkened.
“There’s a pit dug behind this building. It seems they kept the Ghouls there.”
“Ghouls...”
“Let’s go. We need to see for ourselves.”
We started walking.
Not only Kantas, but the survivors also hesitantly followed behind me.
Maybe they saw me as their protector. They acted as though they didn’t want to be separated from me.
The pit wasn’t far away.
“Here it is.”
-Krrrk...!
-Kyaaaah!
I didn’t know how deep they had dug it, but cries echoed from below.
The figures swarming inside were faintly visible.
There had to be at least a hundred of them.
“Ah...”
Kantas, standing beside me, suddenly let out a gasp.
Had he spotted a familiar face?
He couldn’t take his eyes off the pit.
His gaze trembled beneath his stiff expression.
Soon, he bit down hard on his lip and pointed into the crowd of Ghouls.
“...My members. They were all here.”
Honestly, there were so many Ghouls packed together that I couldn’t tell who he was pointing at.
“Damn it... You bastards, why did this happen...”
“You must have cared deeply for your members.”
“They were like children to me.”
“You have my condolences.”
Was it guilt over being the only one who survived?
Kantas couldn’t speak for a long time.
Tears welled in his eyes.
That tragedy wasn’t his alone.
“N-No! My son, my son is down there...!”
“Let go of me! I have to save my younger sibling!”
“How could this happen...”
“Mommy...”
Some of the survivors who had looked into the pit began to sob.
Maybe they had been dragged here alongside the people they loved.
“No... Dad, Dad became a monster...”
“I have to go! My son waved at me!”
“Get a hold of yourself! That isn’t your son anymore!”
“Aaaah...!”
It was too painful to watch.
The other survivors wiped away their tears too.
Those who had been rescued, and those who had been destroyed before they could be.
“Princess.”
I turned to Carmilla.
She had also been staring blankly into the pit.
“...Ah, did you call me?”
“There’s no way to turn Ghouls back into humans, is there?”
“Yes... It’s impossible. Vampires don’t possess that kind of power.”
“So vampires can turn humans into Ghouls, but they can’t turn Ghouls back into humans.”
“Isn’t that the way of all things? It’s easy to make a mess, but hard to clean one up.”
“...”
Something that couldn’t be undone.
Healing magic probably wouldn’t work, and Divine Power would only burn the Ghouls.
‘Is there really no way?’
A hundred victims.
Reduced to such horrifying forms, monsters with no sense of self.
“The New Kingdom’s vampires... Why do you think they gathered so many Ghouls here?”
“To prepare for war, most likely. They must have wanted to increase their forces.”
“True. Ghouls would make perfect arrow fodder.”
“How disgusting can they possibly become...”
A thin breath slipped through the red mask.
For a while, we fell silent.
Then Kantas, who had been pacing beside the pit, approached us.
“Sir Garulik. Lady Manre.”
“Yes, did you call for us?”
“I don’t think we should leave the Ghouls... no, the victims like this. That state would only dishonor the dead. I would like to cremate them, so they can let go of their lingering regrets and depart in peace.”
“Cremate them...”
“They can’t be brought back, can they? The people swarming down there, my members too... They wouldn’t want to remain like that.”
Those who couldn’t be brought back.
I couldn’t agree with that.
“Well.”
Who said they couldn’t?
I’d show them.
This fucked-up world, this fucked-up sight, this fucked-up tragedy.
I’d smash it apart with every scrap of knowledge I had.
‘What kind of seasoned player would accept an ending to an episode this unsatisfying...?’
I stepped toward the pit.
After rummaging through my inventory, I pulled out a colorful Balloon Knife.
“Princess.”
“Hmm?”
“Could you pick up one Ghoul with Bloodcraft?”
“It wouldn’t be difficult, but... why all of a sudden?”
“There’s something I want to test.”
“Very well.”
Clap, clap.
When she lightly clapped her hands twice, streams of blood rippled around her.
The blood compressed into the shape of a huge hand and descended.
Then it snatched up one Ghoul from the pit.
-Krrrk, keeek!
The Ghoul dangled in the air.
Amid its struggles, a woman’s voice rang out.
She was probably the young Ghoul’s mother.
“My son! My son...!”
“That isn’t your son! Your son is dead!”
“Someone hold her! She looks like she’s about to jump into the pit...!”
The woman rushed forward through her sobs.
The survivors fell into a commotion.
Ignoring the noise, I kept my eyes fixed only on Carmilla.
“Will that do? I deliberately picked a small Ghoul, but...”
“That’s enough.”
Hoo.
After taking a short, deep breath, I raised my weapon and took my stance.
“Princess. Could you throw that Ghoul toward me now?”
“Hmm...?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Please throw the Ghoul.”
“Th-Throw it? It was a human, no matter what...”
“Princess, do I seem like the kind of person who’d make a request like this for no reason?”
“W-Well, no, but...”
The princess seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding.
With Bloodcraft, she held the Ghoul gently.
Not too tightly, not too loosely.
“Fine. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but...!”
-Krrk?
Carmilla threw the Ghoul toward me.
It flew through the air like a baseball being thrown.
Whoosh!
‘This is a gamble.’
The bug definitely activated in-game, but I’d never tested it in reality.
That was because I hadn’t had many chances to encounter Ghouls.
‘Still, it’s worth trying.’
Click.
I pressed the pocket watch in my hand, and the world slowed for a moment.
I swung my Balloon Knife at the Ghoul flying right in front of me.
Then, turning it as though I were peeling an apple, I activated Parry.
Thump!
Parry activated, sending the Ghoul soaring skyward on a changed trajectory.
I caught the falling body in my arms.
The people watching had no choice but to stare in shock.
It looked as though the Ghoul had pounced on me.
“V-Viktor...!”
Perhaps thinking I was in danger, the princess rushed over.
But from the moment I caught the Ghoul, I had been certain.
Ding!
[The Misunderstanding Collector reacts!]
A feeble sound came from my arms.
Unlike a Ghoul’s voice, it sounded like that of a young boy.
“Ah, ugh...”
His body was warm.
I carefully looked down at the small figure in my arms.
“Mm... M-Mom?”
Still half-asleep, the child didn’t seem able to react properly.
Clear eyes looked up at me.
I smiled and greeted him.
“Did you sleep well, kid?”
“Huh... Who are you, big bro...?”
A human.
The child had returned to being human.
His skin had lightened back to a human color, and his blood-red pupils had gone back to normal.
Ding!
[A new Misunderstanding has been discovered.]
-Misunderstanding Name: Status Effect-Parrying
-Description: Status effects inflicted on a specific target are treated as “attacks.” If the system user activates “Parry,” they can remove the status effect from the target.
Several messages appeared before my eyes.
Without even checking them, I showed the child to the people.
“Ta-da!”
They stared at me blankly.
Carmilla’s eyes were wide open.
Kantas had nothing but question marks floating over his head.
The child’s mother came running toward us.
I gave them all a light wink.
“It’s a simple magic trick.”
Not that they could see it through my mask.
Footnotes:
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