WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 116: In the Abyss: Self-Introduction

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"Haah."

I let out a deep sigh. That alone drew the attention of everyone in the training room.

It was different from Tyr's natural charisma.

I read and calculated every gaze, gesture, interest, and curiosity, even the thoughts running through their minds at that very moment.

It was a technique for capturing an audience's attention. A kind of misdirection.

"It can't be helped. For your sake, I'll reveal my true identity."

I put on as grave an expression as I could and covered my face with one hand. My shadowed eyes showed through the gaps between my fingers.

I would not reveal everything. Only what was necessary. They could fill in the rest themselves.

Now then, should I take a look at their thoughts?

'You finally feel like telling us? Fine, hurry up and confess! I want to graduate from the Abyss already!'

The regressor was expectant.

'His identity? Well, he must have been dragged here like me! We're all trapped anyway, so what does it matter who he is? That boy is far too timid for the power he possesses!'

The immortal was indifferent.

'...This is troubling. I still don't understand much of anything. Even if I learn more about Hyu, will I be able to understand what he says...?'

Tyr... What was this? What should I call it? A generation gap?

"Woof..."

When did you get here?

Anyway, everyone who needed to hear this had gathered, so it was time to speak.

"Well, I..."

Tap.

As I spoke, I pulled my hand from my pocket.

A deck of cards rested naturally in my outstretched hand. In an instant, I split it into five piles, stretched them out like springs for a moment, then gathered them back together at once.

Then I brought my hands together and spoke with heartfelt desperation.

"I'm a petty criminal who got arrested for card gambling.... Really."

"Hey, you! To the very end!"

"I swear it on the Celestial God, the Earth Mother, and myself. If that's not enough, I'll even swear on the mother whose face I've never seen. How about it? Is that proof enough?"

"Of course not! A card gambler?"

"Look. These hands aren't ordinary, are they?"

I held out the diamonds in order, one through five, before the regressor. Then I waved my hand, and before anyone noticed, they had turned into spades with the same numbers.

'What? He changed the suits?'

Even the regressor missed my movements for a moment. Her suspicion of me instantly shifted toward the cards.

'The second color of the Seven-Colored Eyes, the Orange Eye of Overlooking!'

The regressor's eyes briefly turned orange. I stopped the magic in disbelief.

No, using the Seven-Colored Eyes to see through a trick was cheating.

I had shown her magic to redirect her attention, but I should never perform magic in front of her again. She would expose my entire act.

'They didn't change. Two cards had been stuck together from the beginning, backs facing each other! To think he fooled even my eyes, if only for a moment!'

I was pleased she acknowledged it, but I still would not perform magic. A magician's tricks were their life.

I slid apart the paired cards and continued explaining.

"Though I'm not an ordinary petty criminal."

When I flipped the spread-out cards over again, the spades had turned into clubs. I had only swapped the cards hidden in my hand one by one as I turned them over, but the trick startled everyone enough to sit up straighter.

'Wait, what kind of deception was that? The fourth color of the Seven-Colored Eyes, the Green Eye of Penetration!'

Nope!

Before she could expose the trick, I overturned the lectern and scattered cards everywhere. The lectern rolled across the floor with a crash. While the startled Azzy looked around, I gathered up the cards I had pretended to throw in every direction and squared the deck with a few taps.

"A famous gambler whose legend is told in the back alleys of the military state. A gambler who may have lost, but never lost money. A one-way street for wagers. A magician at the card table. That is my true identity."

I dressed myself up rather grandly, but it all meant one thing.

"...A gambler?"

"It stings a little when you put it so simply, but that's part of who I am! A back-alley magician who reads people, catches them off guard, and confounds enemies with deft hands. Hughes!"

I stepped back, pretended to tip a hat that was not there with one hand, and smoothly spread the other in greeting. It would have been an ordinary bow.

If not for the white spread of cards stretching from my left hand to my right like a slide, frozen in place.

In my hands, the cards were both one and fifty-two, an object and a group, an orchestra in harmony, yet each card fluttered away like a dove.

There were only three spectators, but I showed off every bit of my dexterity and left them spellbound.

After finishing my small performance, I snapped my fingers and said,

"How about it? Do you believe me now?"

Even after watching me give that performance my all, the regressor still looked unconvinced.

"A gambler? Not an assassin or something?"

"That's what I've been saying."

"Liar! The way you took care of that colonel was clean enough to call you an assassin. And you've never killed anyone?"

"Uh...."

Well, I needed to correct that a little.

I scratched my chin awkwardly and answered.

"Look. There's something you're misunderstanding. I was brought here for cheating at cards, you know? So I was arrested for a minor crime."

"That's what I heard."

"And have you ever heard this saying? It isn't a crime if you don't get caught?"

"I have, but... Wait. Don't tell me...."

The regressor understood at last and pointed at me with a horrified expression.

"You've killed people, but since you weren't caught, you're saying you're not a murderer...?"

"Correct! Ahaha. You got it so easily that I'm embarrassed."

The regressor jumped to her feet and shouted at my half-hearted smile.

"No, that isn't something to be embarrassed about! You killed people! How does that make you a petty criminal?"

"I wasn't arrested for a serious crime, so I'm a petty criminal. Oh, and don't misunderstand. Even when I kill someone, I usually don't do it with my own hands."

"That makes you even worse!"

The regressor clutched her head with a groan, then muttered with some of her doubts cleared away.

"So, in short, the military state was trying to catch a cheating gambler and happened to capture a big shot like you?"

"I'm not a big shot. I'm only a gambler. It's just that when the stakes get high, plenty of people prefer settling things with blades over cards.... So I learned a little self-defense."

"Self-defense? More like assassination techniques."

"You're describing me like a villain, but I'm a decent person! Usually, I stroll through back alleys and bring smiles to sad children's faces!"

"It'll be a relief if they don't cry...."

Watching the regressor mutter blankly, I kept smiling while inwardly letting out a sigh of relief.

Good. I had gotten over a major hurdle.

"Then why did you pretend to be an instructor at first?"

"Who reveals their identity from the start? Though I didn't expect a blade to come flying at me."

"How did you deflect Skywarbler?"

"I'm used to those kinds of surprise attacks. Still, striking the flat of its blade was half luck. My skill at flicking cards finally came in handy."

"How did you see through my stealth technique?"

"Honestly, I didn't see through your stealth technique. I understood your personality, Mr. Shei. Mr. Shei, you're an open book."

"Ghk!"

As the regressor faltered after being struck right where it hurt, I sighed and muttered with melancholy in my eyes.

"Hoo. I had kept it hidden because putting people in the ground isn't something to be proud of.... Yet here I am, revealing it. It can't be helped. I can only try to forget the past, not erase it."

Outwardly, I played the role of a criminal who wanted to deny his past. At the same time, it made my reason for hiding my identity until now seem plausible.

As I lamented like that, Tyr carefully comforted me.

"Do not blame yourself, Hyu. All who survive stand atop corpses. I do not care how many you have killed."

I appreciated it, but hearing that from someone whose kill count exceeded five figures felt strange. It was like being recognized by an even greater criminal.

"Why fuss over something so small? It is no boast, but I have torn two people to death myself! Stop grumbling and let us live comfortably!"

The immortal was simply frightening. How could someone tear a person apart like paper? Would I get torn apart too if I crossed him?

Having more or less accepted my explanation, the regressor suddenly asked as though she had just remembered something.

"Then how did you learn about the Abyss?"

"I just pieced together things I'd heard here and there with information I found here. Petty criminals like us imagine things like that when we're bored. What kind of structure Tantalus has, and how we might escape it."

"...That means you knew you were important enough to be dragged into Tantalus."

"Hey! I said that's not it! Keep calling me a big shot and you'll jinx it!"

The atmosphere was much more relaxed than before. The regressor was satisfied enough with my answer.

'A big shot who got caught because of bad luck. That explains enough.'

Wariness was an inefficient emotion. It took a great deal of energy to maintain such sharp tension.

That was why the regressor, who had kept her senses sharpened until now, wanted to let down her guard after this attack. She had demanded an explanation from me, then forced herself to accept an imperfect one.

'Still, what I don't understand is Tyrkanzyaka....'

Before the conversation could turn stranger, I changed the subject.

"By the way, I'm more curious about you, Mr. Shei."

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes. I was genuinely captured, but you infiltrated this place on purpose, didn't you? You have all sorts of treasures, and someone is coming to rescue you later."

I sat on the fallen lectern and casually added,

"Isn't Mr. Shei the real big shot? I've never heard of a swordsman as young and strong as you."

"A big shot? Heh."

The regressor smiled faintly and answered as though it were nothing.

"A big shot. Yes, I suppose you could call me that."

"And you said a priestess of Mother Earth is coming to rescue you."

"She's not exactly a companion. Just an acquaintance. But how did you know she was a priestess of the Earth Mother?"

There was no particular suspicion in her question now.

At least I could spend the remaining time at ease.

Good, good.

Feeling much more at ease myself, I answered.

"You said she could erase the Abyss, didn't you? Considering the origins of the Abyss, it would be stranger not to know."

"The origins of the Abyss...? It's land Mother Earth cursed, isn't it?"

"Everyone knows that. I mean why Mother Earth cursed it."

The regressor still looked confused.

Don't tell me you came here without even knowing that? I pressed a hand to my forehead as I looked at the regressor.

Footnotes:

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