WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 119

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Everyone's Meal

Tyr had regained her heart, but she still moved through bloodcraft. Since she did not need to eat, there was only one reason she would come to the dining hall.

"Hyu? So you really were here."

As always, Tyr came looking for me and naturally took her place at my side. I sorted the plates and asked,

"What were you doing?"

"Shei asked me for a favor. She wanted me to keep teaching her bloodcraft."

"You're still teaching bloodcraft?"

"Not much lately, but it seems she has made up her mind about something. Her eyes changed. I cannot tell whether to call it urgency or desperation."

Was it to prepare for fighting her once she came down here?

The regressor had always thrown herself into training, but now that the final battle was getting closer, she seemed even more pressed.

From what I had read, the regressor's original plan did not seem to include defeating her in a direct fight...

Maybe things had changed. Whatever.

For everyone who was not a regressor, that was good news.

"You said your bloodcraft had weakened."

"Who knows. Has it weakened, or simply changed... In any case, who could judge? No one is more versed in bloodcraft than I am."

"Did you explain that to Mr. Shei?"

"Why should I? A master must always have dignity. If the disciple feels anxious, how can learning happen?"

Since the one receiving instruction was the disciple anyway, it was fine for the master to puff herself up a little.

Tyr said it seriously. She meant every word.

Talking with someone who thought in a completely different way was fun in its own way. In the middle of our calm conversation, Tyr suddenly turned her head toward the tables.

Callis and the immortal were busy rubbing their affection in everyone's faces.

Tyr watched them with a hint of envy, the immortal feeding Callis and Callis accepting each bite, then suddenly shifted her gaze to my hand.

Wait. I was hearing a strange thought.

"...Hyu. Come to think of it, I feel a little hungry too."

"What? You can live without food."

Tyr put on a dignified expression and said,

"Who said anything about food? I am the Progenitor of vampires, Tyrkanzyaka. What I take is blood alone."

"So you want blood? Then why not ask Mr. Shei, whose blood tastes good?"

"Quiet. How could I drink the blood of a disciple busy with training?"

This was no good, that was no good.

In my experience, when someone got this picky, there was a high chance they wanted something specific.

'I have made it this obvious, so he should offer his blood himself.'

You said it tasted bad. Then why insist on drinking it?

And I hated making wounds on my own body. Even in the Abyss, getting a hole in me still felt unpleasant.

I just stared at her and did nothing. Tyr grew restless and watched my reaction.

'Did he not notice, or is he pretending not to notice even though he did? Tch...!'

After hesitating, Tyr finally could not hold it in and shouted,

"...It is a wish I earned in a bet!"

"Huh?"

It came out so suddenly that I asked back. Tyr glared at me resentfully and said,

"Did we not make that bet before? You said if I saw through your trick, you would grant me one wish."

"Oh. That time."

"I demand the wish I won then. Share a little of your blood with me!"

"I mean, using a whole wish on this..."

Still, if it was a wish earned through a bet, I could not exactly refuse. I dragged my feet to the sink and washed my hand clean.

When I turned back, Tyr was standing there with a faintly expectant look. I flicked the water off my hand and asked,

"Now that I think about it, wasn't that win kind of forced?"

"That is exactly why I am satisfied with only a few drops of blood. Is that too precious for you? Precious enough to break your promise?"

"Well, I can't argue with that."

Fine. A few drops of blood, then.

I held out my clean hand. Tyr swallowed and stared at my finger, then summoned darkness to block the view around us.

'...Until now, I never needed to sink my teeth into a body just to take blood. That was a crude act done by lowly thralls far below me. But...'

Now that her bloodcraft was incomplete, Tyr had lost the ability to draw in every drop of blood flowing through the world.

Instead, the blood inside her was fully her own. To absorb blood from outside, she had to eat it and make it hers.

Even so, Tyr overflowed with blood vitality, so she did not need to drink blood.

But.

'...How embarrassing. Such a crude and shameful thing... No, no. This is only a meal. Everyone does it, so I have no reason to be ashamed!'

Tyr simply wanted to do something crude.

Where had those twelve centuries gone? Her puberty came after twelve hundred springs.

"...Then I will drink."

"Tsk. As if cooking for beasts wasn't enough, now I become vampire ingredients. If you're doing this, at least enjoy it."

Then Tyr's teeth entered my body.

Contrary to common rumors, getting bitten by a vampire did not turn you into one. For vampires, bloodsucking was only an act of eating.

But meaning was whatever you made of it. Tyr bit very carefully, delicately, and gently.

"Mmm..."

'It does not hurt, does it...'

Hurt? Not at all. It was not even bleeding. Her teeth were only brushing the tip of my finger. Was this really bloodsucking? At this point, her tongue was touching me more than her fangs.

'...Come to think of it, there is no need to actually drink blood. I do not feel like making wounds, nor do I crave blood.'

Then this was just sucking my finger.

There was no trace of bloodsucking. This was something no wording could really dress up.

'Just a tiny nibble...'

This was caressing, however you looked at it.

Her front teeth kept touching and parting, lightly stimulating my fingertip. Busy with bloodsucking that was not really bloodsucking, Tyr did not even look at me.

The Abyss, Tantalus, was an isolated space.

Tyr, now with a beating heart again, held deep gratitude toward me. She could not run, and she could not avoid me. If we stayed together like this a little longer, those feelings would probably become clearer.

And she would want something from me.

I was a mind reader.

I read what others wanted.

Whenever I heard someone's wish, whenever I read that desperate longing circling in their heart, I collided head-on with the wish carried across that heart.

It was fate. I was affected by it. If that wish mattered more than life itself, that desire was transmitted to me.

Heat flowed from hot places to cold places. That great law applied to hearts too, and for me, who touched them directly through mind reading, it came much faster.

Then, with a heated heart, somehow and in some way, I ended up bringing that wish to its end.

That was why I was a Magician.

Even if it moved in a way I did not want. Even if it flowed in a direction I never expected.

So the person could face the wish they truly wanted.

There was only one wish I could not grant.

Changing me.

From killing me to even saving me.

So.

"Why are you only biting? It's not even bleeding."

"Uh, mm?"

"Now that I think about it, you really like fingers. You put my finger in your mouth every day. You put it in your chest too. Feels like you like fingers more than me."

"W, wai. Mmph."

I curled my finger slightly like a hook. It scraped against her fangs, and blood came out. Before a drop could even form, it touched Tyr's tongue and dissolved.

"Just this once. I'm making a wound on my precious body and bleeding for you."

Once blood actually flowed, Tyr did not know what to do. Separate from that, the blood already spilled had gone down her throat.

At that moment.

Tyr violently spat my finger out.

She coughed once and, unusually, made a tearful face.

"Ugh... It tastes bad."

"So it really was bad!"

I looked at my finger. A tiny tear in the skin was letting out a very small amount of blood.

So even this little was bad enough for her to spit it out? Wasn't that almost poison?

"W, wait. This is my first time taking blood this way..."

"Hey."

"Ugh."

I held out my bleeding finger and Tyr flinched. I pressed my finger to stop the bleeding and said,

"I had no idea my blood had this effect. Not vampire food, but a vampire-repellent talisman."

"Hyu, I am still not satisfied..."

"Receive it. Holy blood."

"Uuugh."

"What do you mean satisfied after this? Enough. We know you can't drink it, so we're done, right?"

Tyr closed her mouth. I pushed through the darkness and strode out.

As I came out, Tyr following me with clear reluctance, I saw Azzy and Nabi tangled up and fighting.

"Nyaaa! Hand over my offering, nya-!"

"Woof woof! It's my tinned food! Woof!"

Nabi was causing chaos trying to snatch the tin. Azzy could neither bite Nabi nor pin her down, and looked completely lost.

"What is going on?"

When I spoke, Azzy hugged her tinned food to her chest like treasure and shouted,

"Woof! This one is trying to take mine!"

Was she insane? How long had it even been since that last disaster, when she got half-killed?

"Looks like you stopped taking your medicine and lost all sense."

"Can I bite?"

"If you can bite without hurting."

Azzy gave up and focused on guarding her tin. How hard had she been planning to bite?

The immortal and Callis were already gone. Only Nabi stayed loud and frantic, persistently digging at Azzy and eyeing the still-unopened tin.

She still had not drawn her claws, but if she went berserk again, blood would spill again. I urgently looked for the regressor.

"Where is the one in charge of medicine? Get over here, now!"

To get her used to situations without meds, you had to give it when things got a little risky. But if you made a habit of giving it only when she caused a disturbance, that tendency might stick later.

Beasts were simpler than people thought.

Humans too, for that matter.

"Bring the mana herb--!"

"Woof! My tinned food--!"

"Nyahaaak! Offering! Hand over the offering, nya--!"

A noisy but still cozy moment like that.

Then I heard a lonely thought from beyond the wall.

'...It's peaceful. Relaxed. Nice to see.'

What part of this was peaceful, and what part was relaxed? This was not nice at all. Bring the mana herb right now.

'Everyone will leave when the next sunlight reaches the Abyss, right?'

Of course. There was no reason to stay.

'I have to remain here, because I don't know when or how she will come. I have to stop her from obtaining the earth sword, Jizan.'

A bitter smile hovered on the regressor's lips. She toyed with a long mana-herb cigarette and pushed off the wall.

'I wish this cycle were the end. But it probably won't be. I... will probably fail this time too. All the more after wasting nine whole months in the Abyss.'

Hardening her resolve, the regressor stepped into the warm, lively dining hall.

'So I won't settle for this cycle. I'll find a better possibility... if only to keep this moment from becoming meaningless.'

Bang. The door swung open. Tossing and catching the mana-herb cigarette in the air, the regressor called to Nabi.

"Nabi. Today's offering."

"Nyaahaa! Offering! It's an offering, nya! Hurry, to me!"

Nabi dashed like lightning to snatch it, but the regressor was one beat faster, grabbed it back under control, and hid it in her hand.

Just like I taught her, she released the smell little by little while preserving as much as possible.

"Stay still. You have to inhale slowly."

"Nyaa... Nyaaaah..."

While Nabi got drunk on the drug, Azzy, who had successfully defended her tinned food, looked down at it with pride.

That canned Nabi feed I made, and this too.

There were a lot of things I needed to teach them.

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