WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 178: A Story of the Past, I Am the Teacher and You Are the Student.

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"...You tricked me?!"

"Hahaha. You got taken for a fool right in front of your own eyes."

"Die!"

"Aah! Careful! Knives are dangerous!"

"If you knew knives were dangerous...! You shouldn't have done that! Ngh! Let go...!"

"Ah. I meant you should be careful with your hand, Miss Sephier. If you swing it around like that, you'll cut your own fingers. Those are important hands that will lead Seamless Perfection someday."

"I don't need them...! Something like this...! It'd be better if I didn't have fingers at all...!"

"Was that all your determination to protect Seamless Perfection amounted to? Your grandmother is still alive. If she saw her granddaughter's fingers cut off, it would break her heart."

"..."

"...You. You are never going to die peacefully."

"I expected that. Still, isn't how you live more important than how you die? Even if the world ended tomorrow, I'd have a cup of black tea today.... Huh. This tastes strange. Did you poison this tea?"

"...Laxatives."

"Heh... Heh. I drank it even though I knew."

"Don't lie! Damn it, I should've used a deadly poison...!"

"We can continue this after I go to the bathroom. Ah, sorry, but please don't attack me while I have diarrhea. Even I couldn't fight back without getting myself covered in it... Ngh, it's coming."

"Stop saying disgusting things! Human trash like you should get sucked down a drain!"

"...Why do I have to learn how to shoot a gun?"

"You should learn when you get the chance. When else would someone like me get to practice shooting while using as many bullets as I want?"

"So you were the one who wanted to learn."

"Ah! You caught me!"

"You're trying to live in luxury off Grandmother's money...!"

"Now, now. Don't get worked up. The two things you need most when firing a gun are a cool head and a slow heartbeat. Calm down, aim over there, and pull the trigger. No, not this way!"

"Die, trash! ...Huh? Flowers?"

"Ta-da. They're fake bullets modified to pop out flowers. Haha, I scared... Ah! Ah! Even fake bullets hurt when they hit you! I told you not to hit me with flowers either!"

"Hey. What's this?"

"Today is alchemy class."

"Alchemy? Class? You? Teaching me?"

"Ah, were you thinking, 'You're going to teach alchemy to me, the heir of Seamless Perfection? Someone like you?'"

"Exactly. Then I thought, 'Go to hell, idiot.' Didn't know that one, did you?"

"Hehe. Then shall we test it? Whether I'm capable of teaching you alchemy or not."

"How?"

"Give me any problem you want. I'll get every answer right."

"Just wait."

"...Here."

"Wow. I asked you to make up a question, and you brought an exam paper. I haven't solved one of these since my final assessment at military secondary school."

"I made every question myself. Based on what I learned from Grandmother."

"This is difficult. Hmm. This is this, and that is that."

"Hmph. Grandmother reached the pinnacle of sewing and alchemy. She possessed the terrifying ability to create garments by exquisitely adjusting the order in which each strand of alchemical thread was formed. It was the techniques she developed with all her strength that made the brilliant idea of clothing packets possible! Whether you can understand even a fragment of those techniques..."

"I'm done."

"You're lying! How?!"

"Because there's nothing I don't know. If you know it, Miss, I know it too."

"Hmph. You must have just scribbled down random wrong answ... Huh, they're right.... How?"

"I told you I know."

"That... makes no... sense. Then I.... Why did I...."

"Oh, right. Miss Sephier."

"...What?"

"Thinking about it, I'm the teacher and you're the student, but the way we address each other is a little rude. Since the hierarchy has been settled, let's straighten out our forms of address."

"...How?"

"Call me Teacher. I'll call you Sepi. Got it, Sepi?"

"Uh.... Ngh, Tea, Teac..."

"Hey! Put more spirit into it. You should say, 'Yes, Teacher!'"

"I don't need to!"

"Sepi. We're having a guest today."

"...Your guest, Teacher?"

"Our guest."

"Who is it? An ally or an enemy?"

"I'll explain later, so could you take off your clothes for now?"

"How much?"

"...What do you mean, how much? Even I'm a little flustered by that. Obviously, I mean your coat."

"Ah, r-right.... But in this weather?"

"That's why I'm asking."

"All right... Achoo. It's cold."

"Just bear with it a little. I'm sorry."

Teacher opened the door and left. Sephier shivered alone in the chilly room, where the fire had not yet been lit. Only one of them had left, yet it felt as though winter had come to the room, already cold with the winter wind, all over again.

Sephier trembled in the room, a little too large for one person.

"...More importantly, why am I listening to Teacher...?"

Teacher unexpectedly knew a great deal. Sephier felt as though she was learning whenever she was with him, and that hurt her pride.

Even when Sephier stubbornly studied far more difficult material and brought it to him, he answered without hesitation. The only things Teacher did not know were problems so abstruse that Sepi could not even find related material.

After quite some time had passed, Sephier accepted Hughes as her teacher and began studying in earnest. Honestly, she was half excited and half worried about what he had prepared this time.

How long had she shivered in the cold? Soon, a voice came from beyond the door.

"You bastard! No matter how you try to sweet-talk me, I will never cooperate with Bakiya, who makes nothing but rags!"

"Ah, Mr. Smen. I'm only asking you to have a look."

Bang. The door flew open, and an elderly man with an unkempt beard stepped inside in his boots. He looked around the room with an unpleasant expression and grumbled.

"Hmph. So this is supposed to be a workshop? It's nothing special! This is a factory. Where are the clothes? All I see are things without even a scrap of artistic value..."

The elderly man wore old clothes, but his appearance was neat. Frowning deeply, he spotted Sephier curled up in a corner and trembling. He snorted.

"Ha! You people claim to make clothes, yet you begrudge even cloth for a little girl! Are you a servant here? Does your master not give you clothes?"

"She is Miss Sephier Bakiya."

"...What? Seamless Perfection's granddaughter?"

Smen's expression changed.

"Why is Seamless Perfection's granddaughter not even wearing a coat in weather like this...? There are clothes everywhere, aren't there?"

"She's being punished. President Alexei, the young lady's godfather, is a strict man. Whenever there is trouble with Aki Avatar production, he gives her a harsh punishment."

"They said Seamless Perfection had fallen ill.... Even so."

"Ah, he doesn't beat her barbarically, of course. He just takes away and returns the necessities of life one by one. Food, clothing, shelter... It seems today was clothing."

'Teacher told me to take it off....'

Smen could not hear the truth Sephier muttered inwardly. His beard trembled with rage as he shouted.

"How can... Even so, isn't she the sole heir of Seamless Perfection? How could they treat her like this...!"

"What's so surprising? Mr. Smen used to make clothes that thin and flimsy too, didn't you? In weather even colder than this."

Smen, struck at the heart of the matter, shouted as though making excuses.

"Those were for balls!"

"If you call them clothes for a ball, does similar abuse become acceptable?"

Teacher gave another ominous smile toward Smen, whose wrinkled eyes trembled.

It was a smile Sephier was getting used to, which made it all the more chilling. While Sephier tightly shut her mouth and turned away, Teacher whispered in the old man's ear.

"You said it yourself, Mr. Smen. That Seamless Perfection's clothing packets, which cut out and stitched together only the functional aspects of clothing, were apostles ignorant of aesthetics."

"That was..."

"But after pursuing aesthetics, who made girls that age wear thin clothes and dance? Girls shivering in the clothes you made, dancing until their feet blistered to raise their own value. What is the difference between them and the young lady being abused by her uncle now?"

"It wasn't abuse... I only acted on request."

"The clothes you made at their request were dresses that did not even cover half their bodies? Dresses that could not protect them at all from the cold winter air or the gaze of a world colder still? Haa. Now I understand clothing packets. All the functions you cut away from clothes went into clothing packets."

"That is because of the kingdom's culture."

Bang. Teacher struck the desk hard. Smen, who was at least three times Teacher's age, clamped his mouth shut and could not move.

"What nonsense! You people who have forgotten the meaning of clothes and study only appearance cannot claim to make clothes. What you made was vanity and luxury! Clothes made by taking away the people's blood and sweat, their precious warmth that carried them through each day! Clothes that kill people!"

'Ah. Another one has fallen for it.'

The former kingdom tailor, sunk in regret and remorse, ended up agreeing with Teacher's words.

Whether it was sweet talk or bitter medicine, Smen completely yielded in the end and bowed his head.

"...What can I do to help?"

"First, teach Miss Sephier all of Mr. Smen's secret techniques. You'll gain something from it too."

Sephier's workload increased in the end, but she no longer rebelled pointlessly. Believing all of it would help, she studied steadily.

The days of endless learning continued. She built one thing, climbed atop it, then built another. One by one, she strengthened the ground beneath her feet and gradually climbed onto the shoulders of giants.

Sephier dressed neatly and waited for Teacher. She had poured the black tea in advance and sat with her hands folded demurely when Teacher arrived. Dusting off his coat, he entered the room.

Sephier spoke quietly to him.

"Teacher. I heard Alexei is expanding the business."

Teacher turned his coat back into a packet and answered.

"Ah, you heard? Yes, that's right."

"I heard Smen is helping Alexei."

"Yes. He's handled leather accessories before. President Alexei is very pleased to have a craftsman with both skill and experience."

Sephier clenched her teeth as Teacher spoke so calmly.

How could he betray her with such a peaceful expression?

Filled with rage, disappointment, and sorrow, Sephier said,

"...Leather cannot be alchemized. Animal hide has a filthy, complex structure. The only way to make better products is to use the hides of beasts that are inherently powerful."

"Yes. That's what I heard. Unless it's exceptionally fine leather, it is mostly used for accessories."

"Which means... If Alexei gets involved with leather, there's nothing I can do. It's outside my field."

"I suppose so."

Bang. Sephier slammed the desk hard. Alchemical threads, fabric, scissors, and diagrams of Aki Avatars rose into the air before fluttering down.

Sephier's voice was lower than it had ever been. Her violet eyes held a color like dew.

"Teacher... weren't you on my side?"

"If we must put it that way, I could say I'm closest to Sepi's side."

"Then why did you help Alexei?"

"Because I'm not Alexei's enemy either?"

"If Alexei builds up his own fortune.... There will be nothing I can do. I'll become nothing but a machine that makes Aki Avatars."

"Well, that might happen."

This was so important. Sephier's strength drained away at his careless answer.

In truth, she had hoped. She had hoped he only pretended to side with Alexei, that he intended to make him lower his guard before betraying him at the decisive moment.

But that was not it. He helped Alexei in every way. Sincerely.

The moment Alexei built up his own fortune, Sephier's influence would rapidly shrink. Unless she was prepared to destroy Seamless Perfection itself, she could no longer stop him....

No, she already could not stop him. Seamless Perfection was Sephier's everything, her dream. It was something she had to protect at all costs.

"Please leave, Teacher."

Sephier spoke as though tearing her own body apart. Teacher silently sipped his black tea for a moment, then picked up the coat he had taken off and bowed his head.

"If that is your wish."

There was no poison in the black tea. Her tears had mixed into it, though.

That day, Sephier cried for the first time.

A few weeks later, someone from the military state came to see Sephier. A man in uniform, his collar pulled up to his mouth, silently handed her a letter.

The Ministry of Public Safety.

A secret department said to make even a crying child fall silent. A special operations division that oversaw classified operations inside and outside the military state, with everything from its existence to its investigations kept top secret.

The merciless gardeners of the concrete nation, who cruelly pruned and cut away companies, individuals, and even officers loyal to the military state whenever necessary.

The letter from its head, Five-Star General Yeonggwi, who had shaped the nation since the military state's earliest days, was filled with unbelievable contents.

"...Huh?"

[To the esteemed third-generation Seamless Perfection.

Our nation expresses its deepest regret regarding the unfortunate circumstances faced by the two living Seamless Perfections. We hope you understand that every citizen of the military state feels immense gratitude for Seamless Perfection's labor and dedication.

However, while Seamless Perfection bears the name of a company, its origin was a tailor who had reached the pinnacle. The great will passed down from the first-generation Seamless Perfection has continued through the generations to this day, yet recently, several incompetent people have attempted to tarnish that person's noble will and name....]

The letter was written with a politeness rarely seen in the military state, yet it was chilling, as though a monster had draped itself in human skin.

Sephier finished reading it with trembling hands.

More inappropriate flowery language followed, but the main point was in the final line.

[...Therefore, our nation intends to conduct a cleansing operation against such people.]

Seamless Perfection faced the threat of ruin.

"One year was enough to teach you, Sepi. Now you must choose."

Teacher, who had likely engineered all of this, urged Sepi to make her choice.

"Sepi. You wanted to gain Seamless Perfection intact. You wanted to neatly cut away only Alexei and his associates, who dared to rebel against the second- and third-generation Seamless Perfections without knowing their place."

Before Sepi lay Seamless Perfection's assets and personnel list. She took up a pen with trembling hands.

This was a register of those who would die. Sepi would become Seamless Perfection's King of the Underworld and decide their lives and deaths.

"But would that really be all right? Is not Alexei, who has devoted himself to the company all this time, also Seamless Perfection? Do the relatives who somehow kept the company afloat even when its funding was nearly cut off while supporting the coup not deserve a place in the beautiful Seamless Perfection you envision?"

Could Alexei have become acting president, even temporarily, if he had possessed no ability or skill?

For a long time, he had handled all manner of miscellaneous work beneath the second-generation Seamless Perfection. He had likely spent most of his youth dedicating himself to Seamless Perfection.

"Alexei was simply desperate to protect his place, one where he could be replaced at any time if he could not make Aki Avatars. You could call it the struggle of someone not chosen by Seamless Perfection."

When the second-generation Seamless Perfection collapsed and Alexei took over as acting president in place of the young heir, no one questioned the decision.

Alexei, who had experienced all the hardships of life, seemed far more reliable than a mere seventeen-year-old child.

"Though while struggling, he ended up kicking even orphanage children. He brought them in under the name of vocational education and made them work. The military state may not care much about laborers, but it does not neglect children who should be attending school. To the military state, children are lottery tickets that have not yet been scratched. If an old man who can be scratched off and discarded goes around doing that.... Haa."

Alexei had crossed the line, and the military state did not tolerate illicit accumulation of wealth. Whether "illicit" or "wealth" was the greater problem did not matter. There was no reason to leave Alexei alive.

"Alexei's ambition ends here. It cannot be helped. I did my best to help him, but he proved his own lack of ability."

Sepi's body trembled for some reason at that regretful lament, as if he were watching a wayward pupil.

"The military state can easily cut down Seamless Perfection, but it cannot lose Aki Avatars. The reason it approaches the arrogant, insolent Alexei and Seamless Perfection with excessive caution is to tame the young lady, currently the only maker of Aki Avatars."

Aki Avatars were templates of human beings.

Arms, legs, chest, hands, stomach, knees, feet, neck.

A conceptual embodiment of the human body, gathering each component to make something appear human. They were needed to create clothing packets that automatically adjusted their size by linking with biological terminals.

Without Aki Avatars, clothing packets would be no different from neatly folded clothes.

The military state, too, was moving to cut away every branch and leave only Sephier behind.

"Anyway, it is a little late, but now it is time to grant your wish."

Teacher now looked only at Sepi. Yet she felt uneasy, as though she stood before a wild beast.

"Sepi. Sepi's wish is to create the Seamless Perfection you desire. But you cannot fix it without breaking it. You cannot build again without bringing it down. The Seamless Perfection Sepi treasures is not simple."

That was surely true. The more Sepi learned and the broader her view became, the more she understood. She came to know what she sought, what she had to face, and to some degree, even Alexei's position and feelings.

But she had never imagined it would end like this. In truth, no one could have expected it.

Except Teacher, standing before her.

Teacher smiled brightly.

"But since Sepi seemed hesitant, I broke Seamless Perfection for you."

Alexei, who wanted to create a company of his own, had recklessly expanded into the leather business. In the process, he gathered tailors from the kingdom and made orphanage children work for labor.

Public sentiment worsened, and the military state drew its blade. The small reprieve that remained now existed only because of the third-generation Seamless Perfection.

If Sephier nodded, the military state would tear apart every member of Seamless Perfection except her.

"Now choose what you want, Sepi. Put into your basket the things that will survive with Sepi and make the next Seamless Perfection."

With a pure, clear, captivating smile, even after driving the military state's greatest holding company into ruin in a single stroke.

Teacher began his final practical lesson.

"It is time to create the Seamless Perfection you want."

Footnotes:

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