WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 112: Aftermath - 1

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Tantalus split in half.

The larger something grew, the more likely it was to crack under its own weight. That was why icicles could not grow beyond a certain size, and why even the mightiest empire in history had shattered into pieces.

Tantalus, which had remained intact even while embracing all manner of falling debris, split neatly in two because of problems within, just like everything else.

The cause was simple.

"A beast that attacked people should be beaten to death immediately! What do you mean, save it or not?"

"She's already been subdued! There’s no need to kill her!"

It was the difference of opinion between the regressor and me.

Furious at her baseless argument, I opened my eyes wide and shouted.

"You can cut off someone's arm without hesitation, but you can't slit a cat's throat? It's because of people like you that cats walk around with their heads held high, not knowing their place!"

The regressor shouted back at me.

"Killing her won't help anything! Nabi is the King of Cats, and Beast Kings are valuable assets! It's enough as long as we don't hand her over to them!"

Beside the shouting regressor lay Nabi, sprawled across the training room floor and wheezing faintly.

Nabi had been left half-dead by Tyr's fist. She had displayed her ferocity on instinct, but it was little more than a final struggle before death.

Azzy had rushed in at the last moment and bitten Nabi's ankle, and Nabi had been unable to shake her off. With Nabi's ankle clenched in her jaws, Azzy violently shook her head. Nabi's leg snapped with a crunch, and Nabi's body left bloody marks on the wall and floor in turn. The cat bitten by a dog had been thoroughly mangled.

Nabi had lost consciousness, but Azzy showed no sign of stopping. If the regressor had not intervened, she would have finished Nabi off.

Seeing Nabi lying there like a beast facing death, entrusting her life and safety wholly to someone else...

I felt nothing.

I couldn't read a beast's thoughts.

Not that I needed to.

"Beast Kings come back somewhere in the world even if they die! Just kill her! Then raise a clean cat that isn't drugged up and hasn't tasted so much blood!"

"We can't leave the Abyss right away, and how do you know where the next King of Cats will appear? Now that she's fallen into our hands, this is our chance. If we tame her properly..."

"You always talk a good game, but you never raise anything! I can already see you half-neglecting her until I end up raising her! I don't want to raise a drugged-out cat!"

"Th-this time will be different! Besides, if she's a King of Cats that can get along fine on her own, there won't be much for us to do!"

"The moment you say that, you've already proven you're unqualified!"

Our opinions remained parallel.

I wanted to kill Nabi to preserve the peace now.

The regressor wanted to keep Nabi alive to prevent a future disaster.

As our sharp confrontation continued, Tyr, who had been quietly watching, approached.

The scales were perfectly balanced. Tyr came to my side and added her vote, staring coldly at Nabi.

"I support Hyu's opinion. This Beast King is unstable in many ways, so it would be better to dispose of her. Even more so if she has a history of attacking us."

"Urgh..."

I'd chosen my side well. Tyr always took my side, so my words carried strength and authority. Look at that. The regressor, who had been snapping at everything I said, had shut her mouth tight.

Was this what it felt like to borrow a tiger's authority? Sweet.

While I was at it, I called over my underling. No, my underdog.

"Azzy!"

"Woof!"

"Should we save or kill a bad cat that tried to attack humans? What do you think?"

"Bark, bark. Grrrr."

"Death penalty. Immediate execution, she says."

Azzy was fairly kind even to other beasts, but she was merciless toward beasts that attacked humans.

Nabi had even broken Azzy's arm. There was no way Azzy would forgive her. Azzy bared her teeth at the cat.

That made two of Tantalus's greatest forces supporting me. What would you do now, regressor?

'Tch. If a Beast King falls into the hands of the Lords of All Creation, the chances of them going berserk will rise! Not just beasts, but beastkin too! But how am I supposed to explain this?'

The regressor was struggling because she couldn't explain it when someone spoke up.

"Wait... I have something to say."

Callis, pale and haggard, laboriously pushed herself up from across the room. When she lost her balance and staggered, the immortal nearby caught her.

"Thank you, Rashy..."

"Oh, this is hardly worth thanks!"

Callis gave a slight nod, then unsteadily walked toward us.

Callis, who had been pierced through the back by a claw, had survived thanks to Tyr's bloodcraft and Azzy's grooming. Still, that had only kept her alive.

She was the most ordinary person in Tantalus after me, and being pierced by the claw's three blades was a grave injury for an ordinary person. It wouldn't have been strange for her to collapse at once.

"...This officer, no, I oppose killing her."

She was enduring through sheer willpower, only to say she opposed me. I scrunched up my face and replied.

"Huh? What? Could you say that again, Lieutenant Colonel Callis of the Lords of All Creation?"

"...That is why I say this. I once belonged there, so please consider it only as my opinion."

Callis treated me with respect. I had been about to berate her, but the thought of a Level 0 citizen like me receiving such treatment from a Level 3 lieutenant colonel suddenly put me in a good mood.

Revolution was this sweet. Fine, let's hear her out.

"The Lords of All Creation intend to use Beast Kings as weapons... They have prepared ways to find Beast Kings and means to control them. Even if a new King of Cats appears, that King will quickly fall into their hands."

"Do we need to care about that? Whatever the Lords of All Creation do with cats, wouldn't it be safer to get rid of the insane cat right in front of us? You're an ordinary person like me. You could get attacked and killed by a drugged-out cat too."

'Ordinary person? Someone who calmly strangled a military state colonel to death is an ordinary person...?'

That rude thought did not make it out of her mouth.

She seemed to have some tact. Callis kept the bad thought to herself and answered evenly.

"...That may be true. Still, the King of Dogs seemed to be some kind of... special existence to them. If they replenish their forces..."

"They might come looking again? And that could make things more dangerous?"

"Y-yes. Urgh."

After painfully finishing her words, Callis collapsed into the immortal's arms. He quickly supported her.

"Well done! I'm sure everyone heard what the lieutenant colonel had to say!"

Then the immortal immediately added his own opinion.

"Ah, for the record, I also vote to save the cat lady!"

"Why?"

"Wouldn't that make it a fair three to three?"

The immortal gave a proud thumbs-up despite committing the serious error of counting Azzy as a person. Instead of pointing out that mistake, I said,

"Don't pretend you're some guardian of balance with that nonsense. It's because of people like you that chaos in the world gets worse!"

"Ha ha! Even so, isn't being alive better than dying?"

For an immortal, he sure cared a lot about life.

The immortal laughed heartily and shrugged.

"But that is only the view of someone who cannot die, and I have done nothing for the cat lady myself, so I cannot force it on anyone! Take my opinion as only an opinion! I will leave the decision to all of you! Now then, I shall escort the lieutenant colonel for a moment!"

The immortal immediately slid his hand under Callis's legs and lifted her into his arms. Callis leaned against his chest, breathing heavily.

"S-sorry... I'm not... fully recovered yet."

"Ahem! You must take care of yourself. My body can be torn apart without any trouble, but people who die easily, like the lieutenant colonel, must rest even after a small injury!"

"Thank you... every time..."

"Ha ha. Save your thanks for now and focus on recovering."

"I will certainly... repay this kindness..."

"Ahem. I told you, it is fine! I will take all my repayment at once when you are well, so don't worry. Collecting it little by little would be bothersome!"

The immortal had no trouble carrying her, but Callis couldn't find her balance at all. As she adjusted her posture in his arms, she eventually ended up pressed closely against him.

Right afterward, the immortal tilted his head up and made something like a false cough.

"Ahem. Ahemhem."

"Rashy...? Is something... wrong?"

"Ah! It is nothing at all!"

'Hmm. We're touching a little. I worry that pointing it out would only embarrass us both! What should I do?'

Holding Callis in his arms, the immortal tilted his head as he pondered for a moment.

...Without noticing that Callis, pressed against his chest, had narrowed her eyes sharply.

'Well, bodies touching while supporting someone can't be helped! The lieutenant colonel doesn't seem to mind, so as long as I don't make it obvious, it'll be fine! I shall consider this a lucky windfall and gratefully enjoy it!'

Idiot. You were the one about to be eaten.

From what I read, Callis would chatter her teeth from the cold if they went to the room. Her body temperature really was low from blood loss, so the immortal would seriously try to warm her up by holding her close. He would think of it as another lucky windfall.

I didn't know what would happen after that. What fate awaited the barbarian swept up in the carefully planned, lightning-fast charge of a military state lieutenant colonel?

It wasn't polite to spy, so I should leave the fourth floor for a while later.

After the immortal and Callis left, I scratched my chin and said,

"Anyway, it's three to three. That makes the opinions tied."

I had quietly counted Azzy as a person to make it a tie, then stated it as though it were already settled and let it slide. Fortunately, the regressor did not notice that serious error and spoke to me.

"Then we postpone the decision for now?"

"No. Not a chance."

A temporary postponement meant we would keep her alive for now. I couldn't allow that.

It was better to remove the certain danger in front of us than worry about a danger that might or might not come in the future. Unless you were a prophet, you couldn't see the future. That had been my firm belief for a long time.

Still, I had to overcome the regressor's objection... There was only one way.

I rotated my right arm and muttered,

"Great minds of the past prepared many methods to resolve conflicts like this."

"A duel... you mean?"

'Three to three...? Tch. With Tyrkanzyaka and Azzy on their side, I have no chance. Should I suggest a leaders' match? I have wanted to spar at least once...'

"What kind of duel? Are you crazy?"

And a leaders' match? She had no conscience. If she lacked common sense, she should at least have a conscience.

"Then what will we do?"

"Rock-paper-scissors. The fairest contest proven by history."

"We're deciding whether Nabi lives or dies with rock-paper-scissors?"

"Then what, do you have another method? Want a real duel? Just so you know, I'm a country with Tyrkanzyaka in my arsenal. Step up if you're confident."

I confidently pointed at Tyr.

Tyr flinched in surprise and fidgeted with her clasped hands.

'I-I am his... I never gave him permission to make such an arrogant declaration. How presumptuous... Then why doesn't it feel as unpleasant as I expected...?'

That wasn't what I meant. I meant I possessed an asymmetrical fighting force.

Either way, the regressor accepted my proposal as I intended. She grudgingly agreed.

"Tch, fine. Let's do it."

"Let's not drag this out pathetically. One round. Nabi's life is in your fist."

"I said I got it."

Good. She had taken the bait.

Rock-paper-scissors. A simple contest where scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, and rock beat scissors.

People rarely think while playing rock-paper-scissors. Most people don't think at all before throwing their hand, then decide reflexively at that instant.

Yet under certain conditions, rock-paper-scissors became a fierce mind game filled with calculations.

And once it became a mind game, a mind reader like me couldn't lose.

"I'll throw rock. A man's weapon is his fist, after all."

Concealing my thoughts, I raised my fist.

Footnotes:

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