WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 122

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Mother Earth Is by Everyone's Side

The Mother Earth Faith, which serves Mother Earth, does not really have anything you could call a temple. They stand with their feet on her body, so kneeling and prostrating is communion, and pressing your lips to the ground is baptism.

There are, at most, things like the grand sanctuary halfway up the tallest mountain, or a rock they claim is Mother Earth's form.

But those are only symbols in the end.

For Mother Earth, there are only believers.

That is why the Mother Earth Faith flourished, and also why it declined.

Anyone can become a believer, so the faith spreads in all directions like weeds, but the unqualified gnaw away at its reputation like poisonous plants.

Still.

Even with the folly of the unqualified, the line endures because those who are truly qualified work several times harder.

Some followers of the Mother Earth Faith dislike being put on pedestals, yet they quietly do their part while enduring public scorn, and they save countless people within reach.

Moved by that, people called the most renowned followers of the Mother Earth Faith Immortal Sages.

And in this generation, if you named the most famous Immortal Sage...

"Jiseon! Jiseon, you mean Jiseon!"

The instant I recognized who it was, I rushed out to greet Jiseon.

"Seriously, am I really seeing the real one? Jiseon! It's really Jiseon, right?!"

Jiseon answered with a confident smile, as if she were used to this kind of cheering.

"Though unworthy, this humble one has indeed been called that by a few honored souls."

"Wow! I never thought I'd see Jiseon in my lifetime! Um, it's an honor, could I maybe at least shake your hand..."

"That is no trouble."

Jiseon readily held out her hand, and I took it reverently.

It was like a weathered old tree, every finger packed with strength. I gripped that deeply lined hand, as if growth rings from the history of civil engineering itself had been carved into it, and shook it up and down.

Seeing how warmly I acted, Azzy tilted her head beside me.

"Woof? Someone you know?"

"Know? Of course, you mutt. I only know her one-sidedly, but still!"

How could I not know the Immortal Sage of the Mother Earth Faith, spoken of like a legend?

Twenty-five years ago, when the military state toppled the kingdom and seized power, many died, and those who should have died were ten times that number.

Key figures of the old regime, merchants steeped in vice, knights and squires who colluded with them, and corrupt officials who covered for them and fed on scraps.

After staggering through war, the military state had to use all of them efficiently.

It also had to create jobs for the lower class, who had groaned under their exploitation.

The military state pulled it off.

A massive civil engineering project unlike anything in history. That huge undertaking, which built the military state from the ground up, solved a mountain of problems.

The ones who stood out there were the earth mages.

Those apostles of Mother Earth, veterans at handling soil and sand, made it succeed through enormous effort and sacrifice.

Before that, belief in Mother Earth had been treated as folk religion, or a cult, but from that day on it came into the light, and citizens revered the apostles of Mother Earth.

And the most famous among them was...

"The Goddess of the Engineering Battalion, the Guardian of Diggers, the Reverse Undertaker, Gongonrae, The Unfallen! The owner of all those titles. That's Jiseon!"

'Wait. The Unfallen too? Even that epithet spread to the public?'

Jiseon's eyes twitched for a moment, but I ignored it and shouted.

Then Azzy got excited too and started hopping around.

"Woof! Someone you know!"

"You brat, you don't even know what Jiseon is. Why are you excited? Do you even know the history of military state civil engineering?"

"Woof! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!"

Tsk. My fault for asking a dog.

Jiseon walked forward with firm, certain steps until she reached the light. While she approached, Tyr, who had sensed something unusual, waited seated atop her coffin.

Tyr did not hide her caution as she spoke.

"...Hyu, someone you know?"

Before I could introduce them, Jiseon brought both hands together toward Tyr first.

"An honor, Progenitor. I have long heard stories of the Progenitor who remains ever close to the earth. As one who follows Mother Earth, allow me to offer greetings to the one buried longest."

"An apostle of Mother Earth?"

That alone softened Tyr's wariness.

Unlike the Sanctum, which treated eye contact as a prelude to war instead of a handshake, the inclusive Mother Earth Faith did not reject vampires.

That did not make them allies of vampires either, but for those surrounded on all sides by darkness, even gray looked bright.

"In my past, I had ties with several adepts. Upright people with proper courtesy, none unworthy of the name adept."

Lowering her voice, Tyr declared,

"I fought some of them, but that happened because they struck first. If you do not treat me as an enemy, I will not attack you either."

"Then there shall be no conflict between us."

Jiseon bowed as she answered, and Tyr smiled with satisfaction.

"You are someone who can be reasoned with. This visitor seems unlikely to cause trouble."

Haha. Well. Who knows about that.

Around the time I swallowed that thought,

"What is this? Such an esteemed guest has arrived!"

Rashy and Callis, who had run down just then, saw Jiseon and started making a fuss too. Callis reacted even more strongly, and she had changed into the officer uniform she had not worn even once since taking it off.

Callis, cap pulled low, snapped into a rushed salute.

"Loyalty! Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz...! What brings you here, Brigadier General, ma'am!"

"Brigadier General?"

The military state's structure was straightforward. If it rose in the order of Major General, Lieutenant General, and General, then Brigadier General meant a position lower than all the other generals.

Remembering that, the immortal asked with plain curiosity.

"Brigadier General? Then does that mean Jiseon is lower in rank than a lieutenant general?"

"Stay still, Rashy! Brigadier General is an honorary post. It is a gray star, outside the normal chain, awarded only to someone whose power and merit are recognized!"

Callis, forgetting she was supposed to be acting injured, hurriedly scolded the immortal. Rashy, corrected, scratched his head awkwardly.

"I already knew she was impressive without you saying it. I was just curious. I wondered if the military state was such an incredible nation that it had even recruited Jiseon!"

Jiseon answered that herself.

"How would those who follow Mother Earth's will step forward to make corpses? This humble one bears such a title only for efficient work."

"Haha! So you are a general who does not fight! That's even more impressive! Good to meet you, honored guest!"

Rashy laughed heartily and, instead of offering his hand, curled it into a fist. Then, with eager eyes, he proposed,

"Jiseon! This too is fate. Shall we clash fists?"

Clashing fists was not some light tap at the knuckles.

It was a barbaric greeting where both parties threw punches at the same time and collided, testing each other's trust and strength. It strained the body, so even Mother Earth followers hesitated when asked to do it, an old rite like that.

Jiseon seemed no different, and showed she was unwilling.

"Native, one who seeks to resemble Mother Earth. Though this meeting was arranged by Mother Earth, this land's veins are severed. I do not wish to wear down your vitality in such a way."

But Jiseon had a different reason for hesitating.

Even if the other party was an immortal, she did not want to injure that body.

With overwhelming confidence in her own power and arrogance ingrained in her bones, Jiseon said it that way.

"Haha! A pity! It would've been a fine chance to witness your strength!"

Even Rashy, who had effectively been treated like a novice, showed no sign of offense. Jiseon smiled at him, then looked at Callis.

"And you said you were a lieutenant colonel."

"Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz. Yes, ma'am."

"This humble one received that title from the military state, but I have not come today as a Brigadier General. I came as an apostle following Mother Earth's will. There is no need to observe military formalities."

"Yes, understood...!"

Even so, perhaps the military conditioning in her body still had not left her, because Callis gave another crisp salute. Jiseon smirked, then turned her head to find the one she had not greeted yet.

And then.

"..."

Her eyes met the regressor's, and her gentle expression hardened at once. The regressor also faced Jiseon with complicated hostility.

The two stood apart like people who could never mix.

Calling them water and oil would be too mild. Water and oil at least float peacefully side by side.

This was like two fierce beasts meeting in the same territory.

If they collided even once, both knew it would end in a life-or-death finish, so neither dared approach.

Jiseon, older and more seasoned, spoke first. She was polite, but never took her eyes off the regressor.

"...I have heard of you. That there is one very outstanding swordsman in the Abyss."

"I've heard too. That there is one Agent of Mother Earth stronger than anyone."

Formal words came and went, and the mood gradually sank.

Just as you can sense a coming storm even under a clear sky, everyone there read the unusual air and sharpened their senses.

"We've kept our guest standing too long! Jiseon-nim! Please come inside first! You must be tired from the long trip, so let's eat and talk!"

I tore through the curtain of silence and stepped into Jiseon's line of sight. Smiling brightly and looking at her with respect, I angled my shoulder and guided the way.

Jiseon soon withdrew her gaze and nodded.

"I ask your leave. The Abyss is not pleasant land even for this humble one, so I seem twice as weary."

"What? That's serious. I had so much I wanted to ask about your achievements, Jiseon-nim, but if you're tired, what can we do... should I let you rest?"

At my joking words, Jiseon chuckled.

"You gild me too much. Talking is no issue. These days, does even boasting of myself count as work?"

"Wow! If that's the case, then let's go get to work right away! Fair warning, it will take quite a while to finish!"

"Woof? Going to eat? Fooood!"

"You little punk. Learn when to jump in and when not to. Your intrusion is like a drill bit."

Following my lead, Jiseon headed toward the building. Azzy quickly overtook me, Tyr rode her coffin and moved up beside me, and Rashy and Callis followed while looking up at Jiseon in admiration.

"Huh? By the way, Callis. Are you fully recovered? You look fine!"

Flinch.

"...I pushed myself a little. Since the Brigadier General came."

"Haha! For a guest of this level, it's worth overdoing it!"

The bustling Abyss felt less like a prison and more like an inn. That was how it was as I led everyone into the prison building.

Then I glanced back.

The regressor had no intention of following. She only watched Jiseon's back in silence.

"Nyaaa-."

Nabi crept up to the regressor standing there alone. Licking her front paw, Nabi stood nearby, puffed her tail, and glared at where everyone had disappeared.

After a short while, both of them vanished from my sight.

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