WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 74: To the Princess, To the Knight. (1)

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A blue screen.

Reward notifications crammed across it.

To think I had completed all these quests in just one night.

‘This kind of feels like déjà vu from right after Lacquer Night...’

Not that I minded.

Opening gift boxes was always exciting.

Nobody in the world hated Christmas, and even fewer hated Santa Claus.

“Hmm.”

I calmly scanned the screen.

My hovering finger clicked the first window that had appeared.

I felt the smooth glass beneath my fingertip, then a clear mechanical chime rang out.

Ding!

[You have cleared a hidden quest!]

-Title: Endless Growth! Endless Balloons!

-Details: Perform 500 parries with the growth-type weapon, ‘Balloon Sword+.’

[Through remarkable persistence, you have fulfilled the conditions!]

-As a reward, this weapon's rank will increase.

The Balloon Sword quest.

The notification had appeared when I was busy restoring the villagers who had turned into Ghouls.

I slipped a hand inside my robe and pulled out the colorful weapon.

It gave off a soft glow, as if LEDs were lit inside it.

‘It's so squishy...’

It's so cute I could eat it.

I kneaded the immature Balloon Knife's soft flesh.

Ding!

[Balloon Knife+]

-Category: Growth-Type Weapon

-Rank: D+

-Growth Limit Rank: None

-Status: Colorful, Squishy, Sparkly

-Description: A special Balloon Knife. It emits a faint light of purification from its blade. You can use the passive skill, ‘Sparkle!’ This weapon can grow.

[Skill Name: Sparkle!]

-Heals targets stroked with this weapon.

-The range and effectiveness of this ability increase as the dedicated weapon's rank rises.

Quite a few lines had been added.

More importantly, the weapon's rank had gone up by three stages.

‘It even got a skill?’

Sparkle!

That was a pretty magical name.

It seemed to be healing-based, and it grew with the weapon's rank.

“Could this actually become a holy sword someday?”

I muttered something pointless.

It was funny seeing all sorts of options attached to something as trivial as a Balloon Knife.

If I raised it to the absolute limit, would it become an Absolute Holy Balloon Lightsaber?

‘...That's fucking cool.’

I should keep raising this thing diligently.

Now that it had a healing option, it would be much more versatile too.

It had been overshadowed by Wriggler so far, but that would change if it grew in a completely different direction.

‘I can use Wriggler for combat and this one for cleanup.’

A perfect balance.

I smiled at the unexpected gain.

Without hesitation, I clicked through the remaining rewards.

Ding!

[You have cleared the hidden quest, ‘The Saint's Path.’]

[You have obtained the item, ‘Faded Rosary (C+).’]

Ding!

[You have cleared the sub quest, ‘Lunar Eclipse.’]

[You have learned the skill, ‘Omen of the Apocalypse (A-).’]

One item, one skill.

My eyes went to the item first.

Without expecting much, I read its description.

Ding!

[Faded Rosary]

-Category: Accessory

-Rank: C+

-Status: Worn, Damaged

-Description: A rosary left behind by a believer long ago. Its color has faded with time, but it still holds a sacred aura. When equipped, it raises the Merit Points earned through the title [Saint] to 200%.

“What...?!”

The moment I read it, my eyes widened.

Merit Points earned through the title [Saint], raised to 200%.

I never expected it to have an effect like that.

‘Honestly, I wasn't expecting much since it was C-rank...’

It increased experience gains.

It doubled them, at that.

I had already been feeling the urgent need to grind my stats.

‘I need to build up my body across the board.’

My agility was sticking out on its own, leaving me with a glass-cannon stat spread.

After my one-on-one fight with Jersian, the backlash had hit me hard too.

My body couldn't keep up with B--rank speed and the effects of all my items.

I couldn't keep suffering from overload every time.

‘My other stats need to catch up.’

At the very least, I had to be able to perfectly handle the cards already in my hand.

That meant agility upgrades were banned for a while.

If I raised it any further, it was obvious I wouldn't be able to handle the speed and would end up breaking something.

‘Anyway, this will make stat grinding a lot easier.’

I turned the old rosary over in my fingers.

Its heavily worn surface had a rather strange texture.

“Still... I'll be able to get Merit Points whenever something major happens.”

This was a world where extras were swept away like autumn leaves.

Even when it wasn't a disaster, smaller events were much the same.

There were more than enough people I would need to save in the future.

If I soaked up points every time, grinding my stats shouldn't be such a difficult journey.

‘I made nearly 8,000 points this time too.’

Thanks to that, I had pushed my agility stat straight to B-.

If I could keep up this pace, I thought I could build a decent body before the final battle.

‘Good.’

The [Saint] title really was the most promising thing I had.

After putting the rosary around my neck, I read the remaining skill description.

Ding!

[Omen of the Apocalypse]

-Category: Activation Skill

-Rank: A-

-Attributes: Isolation, Domain

-Description: A skill known to be used by the Red Knight and the Black Knight among the Four Knights of the Apocalypse. When activated, it deploys a barrier reaching up to 1 km around the caster. Targets struck by the skill become trapped inside the barrier with the caster. The greater the caster's mana, the stronger the barrier's durability, duration, and range become.

Barrier magic.

It probably referred to those unpleasant domes I had encountered a few times.

The barrier that had covered an entire village last night.

‘This could be pretty useful too...’

It was a skill with a lot of potential.

In other words, I had a Domain Expansion now.

I could isolate opponents within my territory, or keep civilians separated and protected instead.

The only minor problem was that my Mana Sensitivity was only E+.

‘It's a skill whose power depends on the caster's mana.’

It was different from a growth-type ability.

Rather than strengthening the skill itself, it grew stronger when I did.

Either way, it wasn't a skill I could expect much from if I used it now.

It was the kind of skill that might start shining a few months from now.

‘That's another reason to grind my stats.’

I figured that worked out nicely.

I had to do it anyway, and knowing there would be a clear reward gave me motivation.

‘And last.’

Only one window remained now.

Ding!

[You have cleared the main quest!]

-Title: Water Knows the Answers!

-Details: Secure the New Kingdom vampire, ‘Jersian.’ Make him submit through various methods of persuasion.

[Through your remarkable efforts, you have defeated the target!]

-A reward will be granted. Please check your status window.

The reward that had been marked as ???.

Only now, after completing the quest, had its details been revealed.

I could only hold my breath and stare at the words on my status window.

[Reward: A clue about ■■■]

-Click to confirm.

“...”

It was happening again.

The same thing that had turned my entire status window black last time.

The hazy letters, like heat shimmer, hurt my eyes.

What was ■■■, for the status window to issue such a warning?

‘Since it's a main quest reward, it's definitely something that could affect the future...’

There were far too many unsettling details.

Even as I furrowed my brow, I carefully pressed the status window.

Ding!

Just as expected, the screen turned black again.

The frame tore apart wildly as if an error had occurred.

Only a strange cracking noise rang in my ears.

“...”

It was the same as before.

Meaningless words appeared, then the screen went dark as if shutting down.

I silently kept my eyes fixed on it.

The status window returned to blue as though nothing had happened.

Even the letters that had turned red returned to their original color.

‘This...’

There was definitely something there.

It didn't seem like something I could dismiss as nothing more than an uneasy feeling.

When the same phenomenon happened twice, it was hard to call it a coincidence.

I wasn't optimistic enough to write this off as a system error.

This was a warning.

The status window was warning me.

‘But about what...?’

That was the problem.

Nothing came to mind at all.

The sentence was so vague that it was difficult to grasp its meaning.

The most suspicious thing was, of course, the three blurred-out characters.

‘Is it the name of a place? Or the name of something...?’

■■■.

Whatever it was, it probably wasn't anything pleasant.

I fiddled with the status window and sank into thought.

‘I should investigate this too.’

Something that might be connected to the status window,

related to the Mask of the Evil God,

and perhaps become dangerous in the future,

something with a three-character name.

The scope of the clue was rather broad, but if I used it as a basis to find clearer hints, it wasn't impossible.

“Phew...”

With a sigh, I closed the status window.

My already aching head had one more thing to think about.

‘I’ll look into it slowly.’

I flopped down onto the sofa.

It was unsettling, but it wasn't something I could solve right away.

Besides, I honestly didn't have the strength left to move a finger.

“Let's sleep first. I'll think about it after I wake up...”

The moment I leaned against the backrest, my eyes slowly closed.

I let my consciousness drift away.

A deep breath escaped me.

It had been a damn long day.

* * *

Afterward.

Fortunately, the following days were the weekend, so I didn't have to face the disaster of attending lectures in this condition.

I spent two days stretched out on the sofa, getting plenty of rest.

‘Carmilla...’

My roommate, the vampire princess Carmilla, was also my one and only master.

The girl had stayed shut in the bedroom for two days straight.

There was notably little life in those red eyes.

Normally, she would have whined at me to play with her since it was the weekend.

‘She's so quiet.’

She seemed like a different person.

The innocent, eccentric air she had carried, like a younger sister, was gone.

In its place, she carried a deep, sorrowful air, like a far more mature woman.

“...”

Carmilla Blandir.

The last princess of the fallen vampire dynasty.

Her eyes suited that description.

The girl simply sat there, stiff and expressionless.

Whenever I tried to talk to her, she either smiled weakly or failed to answer, as if lost in thought.

‘Was the shock that great...?’

Her reunion with her former retainer.

It seemed to have shaken Carmilla deeply.

‘She needs time to think.’

I quietly watched Carmilla so she could sort through her feelings and stand back up on her own.

Trying to approach her wounds carelessly would probably only make things worse right now.

For the moment, I took a step back.

‘Will she be okay...?’

That worried feeling lingered.

The silence in the dorm seemed as though it would continue.

That was until Carmilla burst into my bedroom on the second night.

“...Princess?”

Bloodcraft.

My arms and legs were bound by ropes woven from blood.

Carmilla, half-naked, was straddling me as I lay on the bed.

“Princess.”

I called to her in confusion, but no answer came back.

It was as though all reason had already shattered behind those red eyes.

It looked as though a girl had pounced on a boy.

I wore thin pajamas, while Carmilla had nothing on except a single shirt.

Her distinctive sweet scent drifted through my thin pajamas.

“Princess? Please calm down and l-let me go...”

“Viktor.”

Rustle.

The soft curve of her body pressed against me.

The shirt barely covered the peaks of her pale breasts.

Her fingers came to rest on my cheek.

“Stay still.”

“...”

Her lips parted.

Unable to move at all, I was being pounced on by the naked princess.

Carmilla's pupils trembled as if they could shatter at any moment.

The coolness of her body passed through our touching skin.

It was cold enough to make me break into a cold sweat.

‘What is this?’

How had things ended up like this?

Footnotes:

Water Knows the Answers!: The quest title plays on waterboarding as a method of coercive interrogation.

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