WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 10: The Crimson Alliance

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Now that we had finished eating, the dishes were my responsibility. This was seriously unfair. Half the food I made had been stolen by that so-called King of Dogs, so why did I have to do all the washing up? Was this a world? Was this a country?

Ah, right. The military state was a pseudo-country that barely qualified as one.

While Azzy lay sprawled on the floor, full and yawning, I grumbled as I cleaned up. Azzy did not react in the slightest, even after seeing all my hard work.

The one saving grace was that Azzy's bowl was clean and gleaming like new.

'So this man eats, at least. He does seem to be human.'

At that moment, I heard a thought from the hallway outside the cafeteria. The regressor was pressed flat against the outer wall, peering inside. I read the thought drifting in and frowned deeply.

Who was she calling inhuman?

Hey. Humans could produce sword aura if they trained hard enough. They could use magic, too. Their bodies could grow tougher.

Some people carefully observed another person's expression, gaze, and breathing, then guessed what they were thinking. Not as well as I could, of course.

But no matter how hard you tried, you could not turn back time. The least human thing around had the nerve to judge me.

'...More importantly, why does Azzy follow such a frivolous man? She even ate a meal he prepared, so she must have already opened up to him. Maybe I could...?'

"Ahem!"

After finishing her thought, the regressor cleared her throat for no reason and entered the cafeteria. She met Azzy's gaze and greeted her in a voice slightly higher than usual. It was painfully awkward.

"H-hello, Azzy. Did you enjoy your meal?"

"Woof..."

Still, they said a full dog had the easiest life in the world. Azzy only wagged her tail without much of a reaction. The regressor lowered her raised hand, looking a little disappointed.

'That response was weak. Is it because I'm disguised as a man...? No. She follows that man well enough. Tch, what did he even do...?'

Playing fetch. That damned game of fetch!

You saw it too!

Before worrying about whether she followed you or not, why didn't you throw a ball for her? People who claimed to love dogs always wanted the privileges without doing any work. If you wanted to get close to her, play with her properly and take responsibility until the end.

Sigh. She had made her presence known, so I should at least acknowledge her. I turned away from the sink and looked at the regressor.

"Good morning, Trainee Shei. Have you eaten breakfast?"

After exchanging the usual greeting, I noticed some bean stew remained in the pot. If the regressor had not eaten yet, I would have to offer her some out of courtesy. Otherwise, it would just be a way to rub it in and tease her. Oh, you haven't eaten? That's too bad. I have.

If cooked properly, one compressed can of beans could feed a family of four for an entire day. But that pig-like creature had eaten half of it, so there was not much left. And now I had to share this precious food.

Still, it was better than getting on her bad side and being wiped out. Feeling as though I were tearing off a piece of my own flesh, I made my offer.

"If you haven't eaten, would you like some military state special bean stew that I cooked myself?"

"Don't worry about it. I have my own food."

"What? The cafeteria is right here. How are you eating elsewhere? Did you smuggle out supplies?"

"I have my own emergency rations."

After that brief reply, the regressor gave the canned bean dish in the pot a weary look.

'Canned beans... I don't even want to eat that tiresome food unless it's early in a regression. Finding Manhan Quanxi, the treasure that lays out a full meal every day, was truly a stroke of genius. It's only for one person, but at least my meals are guaranteed.'

I had absentmindedly read her thoughts, only to have her good fortune rubbed in my face instead.

I was living day to day, competing with a dog for food, while someone else carried around a treasure that served her a full meal every day. Was this seriously a country?

I might have been a mind reader, but people's hearts were strange. Rationally speaking, the regressor, who took care of her own share, was far better than the dog that stole my food. Yet seeing her live well all by herself twisted my gut. I hoped she lost Manhan Quanxi and starved. Was this human selfishness?

The bowl I was washing seemed especially pitiful today. The food in this little bowl had been my entire meal. When it had been full, I felt as though I owned the world. Now both the bowl and my heart were empty. Was this relative deprivation?

"Are you not done with the dishes yet? Finish up and get ready."

The regressor urged me on while I stood there blankly.

"Get ready for what?"

"For what else? We're going to meet Tyrkanzyaka. You need to learn bloodcraft."

"Why do I need to learn that?"

The regressor shrugged at my irritated response.

"Because Tyrkanzyaka decided so?"

"Damn it. Being old really is a rank unto itself."

I roughly set down the dish I had been washing, shook the water off my hands, and got ready to leave. The regressor looked puzzled by my displeased attitude.

"It's a chance to gain that power without becoming a vampire. It can't be a bad thing for you."

"So what? It'll take ages to learn. And after all that, I only gain the ability to handle blood. What is that supposed to be? No matter how you look at it, it's just an inferior version of being a vampire."

It was a technique the vampire called the Progenitor had completed only long after becoming an immortal being. Worse still, it handled one's own blood. If things went wrong, I would lose my life. It was a technique only someone with time and lives to spare could learn.

Someone like the regressor, for example.

My goal from the start was survival, not becoming stronger. Besides, getting stronger did not mean living better.

And besides.

"I don't particularly want to become stronger."

A stray word of honesty slipped out. I realized my mistake after saying it, but the regressor's sharp senses had already caught it.

'...It doesn't sound like a lie. He really doesn't seem to find any meaning in becoming stronger. But a soldier from the military state, where strength is everything, says something like that?'

I wondered if I should not have said it, but words once spoken could not be taken back. I passed the regressor while doing my best not to show anything. She watched me calmly head for the door, lost in thought.

'I said I don't know his identity, but I know nothing about this man at all... He is detached and easygoing for someone with that much power, and he seems to reject authoritarianism in a strange way... He doesn't treat Azzy as human, yet he is kind to her. If even that difficult Azzy follows him...'

After reaching a quick judgment, the regressor came to her own conclusion.

'Could he be a soldier demoted for resisting orders from the military state's higher-ups? At least an officer. Otherwise, there is no explanation for his strength or the way he acts around Azzy and Tyrkanzyaka!'

Not that I had been here long enough to say it happened often, but I once again had the thought that had been lingering in my mind.

It was fortunate that woman could regress.

'After destroying the military state once during the eighth regression, I left it alone. But perhaps I can use him as a key to go deeper!'

No, I took that back. How was it fortunate when she could casually destroy an entire country?

More importantly, the military state had been destroyed? If I found out how, could I do something similar? I wanted to cause havoc in this country at least once.

Just as I focused on the regressor's thoughts.

'Uuugh...'

I flinched.

I quickly turned toward the inner area. The regressor looked at me as though she found my sudden movement strange, but I could not take my eyes away.

That mental voice I had just heard. It belonged neither to the regressor nor Azzy. It was a faint consciousness, impossible to identify, as though it might break off at any moment.

Was I imagining it? No, that could not be it. It definitely meant there was something, someone alive, deeper inside.

"What are you doing? Why did you stop?"

"No, it's just... I thought someone was there."

"Where?"

The faint thought cut off. Had they died? Fallen asleep? It bothered me, but if I could not hear their thoughts, there was no way I could find them with my ability.

For now, the vampire came first. I put it out of my mind and headed into the yard with the regressor.

Tantalus was dark. Even sunlight flying in from far away could only awkwardly scratch its head and fade before Mother Earth's majestic wrath. The Abyss, a bottomless hole, had no bottom, so it had no height either. Even sunlight that forcibly squeezed through a hole no bigger than a speck of dust could not cross the barrier of infinite space.

That was why Tantalus had to produce its own light. Remarkably, humanity had reached the point of creating light with mana. God's grace could be replaced with human labor.

Even if the quality was endlessly inferior.

There was a boundary in Tantalus's yard. The prison building formed an L shape, and the yard fit perfectly within its borders. The searchlights did not track people within that area. Broad daylight lamps lit the inside evenly, scattering the fruits of humanity's efforts to overcome the night.

Beyond that lay the outer ground where I had first fallen. If you stepped beyond the military state's neat rectangle and onto the cut-off area, the searchlights began fiercely following you.

Tantalus had neither soldiers to chase escapees nor anywhere for escapees to flee, but the military state monitored them with stubborn determination. As if to emphasize that they were prisoners forbidden from leaving this place.

"Where is Tyrkanzyaka... Ah."

Tyrkanzyaka lay on the ground where the searchlights should have reached.

Though I could not be sure she was lying down. All I could see was a crimson cross glowing ominously even within the darkness.

The vampire who hated light was in a place untouched by the lamps. Ordinarily, the searchlights should have followed her for leaving the designated area, but perhaps they were frightened by the ominous red aura burning around her. They simply looked away as though they had not seen her.

"...We have to go over there, right?"

"Of course."

"Ah. It's too bright over there. I don't like it..."

"Why? Want me to cut the light?"

I did not even want to ask how that was possible. I reluctantly walked toward the coffin waiting for us in the distance.

I walked and walked. The moment I stepped into the searchlight's range, I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the light to pursue my back and burn it.

But the light did not follow me. The searchlight ignored me as well and shone somewhere else. Huh? What was this?

[I have blinded those things.]

A dark voice spoke. There was no need to ask who it belonged to. The Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka, lying quietly inside the coffin, spoke calmly, using darkness as her medium.

[I despise brightness, but that light is especially irritating. It is sharper than sunlight. I believe you feel the same.]

I immediately nodded.

"Of course. Please do whatever is comfortable for you. We can see well enough with very little light. We should accommodate you in times like this."

[....]

'That somehow feels unpleasant... Why does it feel as though he is treating me like an old woman with failing eyesight?'

Hearing the vampire's thought made my heart sink.

What was with her? Did she have a persecution complex? It was true that I thought of her as old and believed her eyesight was failing, but I had not shown it yet!

The vampire glared at me fiercely, then slowly spoke.

[In any case, this lesson will be very harsh. To control blood, you must inevitably spill blood. Danger will come to you during the process.]

The vampire inside the coffin spoke in a chilling voice. Drops of red blood fell through the slightly opened gap, as if showing us what we would soon face.

[Will you still do it? Will you overcome the hardship?]

It was the kind of offer one might hear in a fairy tale told by a mischievous adult, or a legend from a dark forest. A trial offered by a vampire called the Progenitor to an ignorant human.

Though anyone would have been frightened, the regressor nodded without a hint of fear.

"I've already made up my mind. I'm ready."

To a human who had died and returned thirteen times, even the terror of the Progenitor was merely a wall to overcome. The regressor's expression did not change even as she looked at the surging aura and writhing blood. The vampire was pleased by her attitude.

'This boy has some spirit. Hm. He'll be worth teaching. Just enough.'

The vampire's gaze turned to me.

[And you?]

Um. As for me.

I could not see the expression of the vampire inside the coffin. The darkness she had drawn in was so deep that even the coffin, only five steps away, appeared blurry.

With neither her expression nor her face visible, no ordinary person could have dared guess what the vampire behind it was thinking.

But I could read her thoughts.

'It is the proper way for a disciple to obey a master's command. No matter what command it may be, they dare not refuse.'

The vampire was completely intent on tormenting me.

'That is the master-disciple relationship. I shall teach that insolent fool the meaning of respect. Since he treated me like an old woman, I shall discipline him in an old woman's way.'

How could her thinking be so old-fashioned? A master-disciple relationship? What century was this?

She had offered to teach me just so she could legally harass me. Should I call her petty, or mature because she did not throw her power around recklessly even now?

I had never intended to learn in the first place, but after reading the vampire's thoughts, I became even more certain. I quickly shook my head.

"I have no intention of learning."

[...What?]

The vampire was deeply shocked. She apparently had not expected me to refuse her offer, and even her voice trembled.

[You will not learn? When I myself am offering to teach you?]

"Ah. Yes."

[In all my life, I have taught very few. This is an opportunity to form a master-disciple relationship with me, and you would refuse it?]

She kept asking as though she truly could not believe it. No, seriously. I did not need it. I scratched my head and answered.

"Well, master-disciple relationships were abolished even back in the kingdom era, not the military state. The abuses were too severe."

[Why?]

"Why? Because there were too many scammers. People would call it a master-disciple relationship, accept lavish treatment, work their disciples like slaves for years, then arrogantly teach them worthless martial arts or magic. There were so many cases that about half the lawsuits were between masters and disciples or masters and apprentices, and even the state got sick of hearing them. That is why they banned it in the end. You keep bringing up something that only survives as a relic in nations over a thousand years old, like the Mien Empire."

The vampire snorted in disbelief. Her voice carried a faint anger as she threatened me.

[It is bloodcraft. The authority that made me an immortal being. You dare treat it as trivial knowledge?]

"No, no. When did I say bloodcraft was an outdated technique? I said master-disciple relationships were an outdated custom. And..."

I hated to say this, but I had no choice. I could not flatter her and end up tied to a collar for the rest of my life.

If it were a splendid golden collar, I might shut my eyes and wear it. But if it was an old rope made over a thousand years ago, putting it on would only be a loss.

I decided to be honest.

"Bloodcraft isn't quite a scam, but... it is an outdated technique, isn't it?"

Rumble.

It was not just my imagination that Tantalus shook. Blood was boiling up. The vampire's displeasure had taken shape. Within the surging darkness, the vampire was expressing her displeasure.

I wanted to fall to my knees right then. Please... accept me as your disciple! I wanted to beg, just to escape this pressure.

But then I could see the future ahead. Training that continued until I was on the verge of death. A life like a slave attending to a vampire, without time to do anything else.

Honestly, that would not be much different from how I lived now. The problem was being tested while receiving her teachings.

If I reached my limits after learning from the Progenitor and revealed how pathetic I truly was... the bubbles in my inflated reputation would burst. The image I had built through nothing but bluster would be used up.

The truth that I was an ordinary, unremarkable person would be exposed.

It was the truth, but a truth that could never be discovered. I had seen my death in the regressor's future. To prevent it, I had to retain at least some influence.

Even if it meant risking my life.

[Oh?]

The vampire was an old person, whether she liked it or not. Old people said they disliked being treated as old, yet if you treated them like a real friend, they would get angry and call you rude.

I trusted that nobody was stupid enough to actually treat an elder casually just because they said to.

At least she was as dignified as she was old. Even when she was a little angry, she did not start swinging a sword like someone else.

I hurriedly added.

"Bloodcraft is useful for someone like Trainee Tyrkanzyaka, who has built up authority for around a thousand years and achieved a higher state, but if we are talking about the technique itself, it is already a thousand years old."

[Oh... You, to the very end...]

"I'm not blaming it for anything. It's just that the power itself does not fit the current era."

[Are you saying bloodcraft is flawed?]

Crunch.

Something bit down on the space beside me. Wondering what it was, I slowly turned my head.

A crimson blood steed glared at me and chewed. I could not tell what it was chewing. But I knew exactly what it wanted to chew, because its eyes were fixed on me. Ptoo. When the blood steed spat, the concrete floor melted.

Ah, as I suspected. I could not read a familiar's thoughts...

[Leave it, Rallion.]

Heeheeheeheeheeing.

The ground trembled under its snort. Like a seal dipped in vermilion ink, the red horse's hoofprints were clearly stamped into the concrete floor.

Hm. This place was too dangerous. Had I made the wrong choice?

[Very well. Then you may simply watch. Even if you regret it later, you will not be able to take it back.]

Would I really die if I said I did not even want to watch? Fine. I should nod for now.

When I maintained my firm attitude, the irritated vampire turned her gaze away from me and toward the regressor. The large coffin slid across the ground and pressed close beside her.

[Boy. What is your name?]

"My name is Shei."

[Very well, Shei. Will you follow my teachings? The process may be painful and dangerous. Yet its end will surely be magnificent. I shall teach you with all my heart. Will you study without doubting my will?]

The regressor did not hesitate. Even if she died, she could regress, so she brushed off the risk and shrugged.

"Of course. I swear it. But."

The regressor added a few words.

"I've learned from many places, so I won't be able to fully carry on your legacy."

[That is of no concern. Promise me only one thing.]

"If it's something I can do. What is it?"

Blood gathered in the air. The blood, swollen like a crimson balloon, formed into a finger and pointed at me.

[Defeat that insolent fool!]

The regressor grinned.

"That was what I wanted too."

Huh? Me? Why all of a sudden?

Having suddenly become their common enemy, I could only blink and watch the alliance between the two women.

Footnotes:

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