WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 184

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The Regressor Who Crushed the Spark of Ruin Early Wants to Live Quietly

At the Magician's warning, Family pulled together all its strength and prepared for a final battle.

This was also a chance Family had been waiting for. JJJ, enemies of beastkin, had shown up in strange masks talking about hunting beastkin. If they wanted to come fight on their own two feet, there was no reason to refuse.

For them, it might have been nothing more than one night's entertainment, but for Family, it was a matter of survival. To resist this, Family scraped together every last member who could fight.

All through the Black Cat tabloid office, beastkin stood ready with claws bared and weapons in hand.

A beastkin's senses were sharper than an ordinary human's. With this much force, even if Shadow appeared, they should have been able to fight on equal terms...

"I shouldn't have done that..."

At the Black Cat tabloid office, Neru, the beastkin reporter who served as both editor-in-chief and public face, hid inside a cabinet and trembled.

It was the first time in Family's history that this much strength had gathered in one place. Maybe that was why. Drunk on misplaced confidence, they had challenged someone they never should have fought.

And the result was...

Kwaaaang!

"Tell me everything you know."

"I-I don't know!"

"Is that so?"

"Wait! I don't mean I can't tell you, I mean I really don't know...! I was just called in today!"

"Then someone does know. Even if not you, you at least know who among you knows the most."

"Neru! A black cat beastkin named Neru!"

"Go find her."

Thud. The sound of a foot landing on the floor.

That sound marked the start. A beastkin once devoted to Family became an informer, eyes burning with panic as he ran off at once to find Neru.

"Neruuuuuu! Get out here noooow! Are you trying to get us all killed?!"

"Spit out everything you know about the Magician!"

"At this rate we're all dead! Family comes first!"

'Idiots! How can they let themselves be dragged around exactly as the other side wants?!'

Hearing her comrades' desperate cries as they searched for her, Neru screamed inwardly from inside the cabinet.

'Can't they tell at a glance? The Magician sent that! Just asking questions could be the test!'

She had only prodded once, saying she was keeping the Magician in check and protecting Family from danger. No one should have blamed her. After all, thanks to her aggressive negotiation, they had learned that Shadow was inciting beastkin-haters to attack.

'But...! I never thought he'd plant poison in us too...!'

She had gotten carried away. Instead of just storing in her head the article about the person the Magician kept protecting, she had made the mistake of putting a short version in print.

It was only half a joke.

She never imagined a stranger would recognize Magician-related information and react like this.

'This is why I should never have gotten involved with the Magician...! That information was bait seasoned by the Magician!'

Hidden in the cramped dark cabinet, Neru recalled what had happened just before.

Today, the office was closed while they prepared for the decisive battle. But in case of urgent contact, they had left only the secret back window open.

A contact channel for Secret Members. If someone needed to send an urgent, discreet message, especially the Magician, they would use that route.

But today, guests they had never seen before arrived. Without preamble, they asked if this office could find someone in vast Amitenggrad.

It was easy, but labor-intensive. Normally, Neru would have acted troubled and drawn things out into negotiation, but today was different.

This was the time to stake Family's honor and fate on a single fight. She couldn't accept a people-finding request now. Neru politely but firmly refused.

The other side seemed reasonable, understood her position, and even offered to help Family. But they were outsiders, not beastkin, so she couldn't trust them. She accepted only the sentiment.

It looked like things would end amicably, right when,

"...Marriage?"

The instant the silver-haired girl, who had sat silently with her mouth shut, murmured that word, Family's fate changed.

She had a dignity that defied description, like an aristocrat of the old kingdom. The girl strode into the window area. No one could stop her, not because they didn't try, but because there was no defense stronger than the thick concrete and steel-barred partition she had already broken through.

After smashing concrete and tearing open steel grating, the girl entered and calmly browsed the information as if this were her own territory.

"Top of his middle school class, sharp-minded Hui... Is his name truly Hui?"

When the girl said that, Neru was so startled her tail nearly fell off.

The display never said he was the Magician, yet she had pinpointed that exact point.

An acquaintance, or a pursuer.

Either way, Neru couldn't easily reveal the Magician's identity. It was confidential, and she owed professional loyalty to the Magician who had provided Family with crucial information.

Neru kept her mouth shut. The information on display was only a sample to stir customers' thirst. If she didn't speak, they couldn't get the contents.

The problem was that this customer wasn't the type to endure thirst.

"Hand it over. Now that I know you know about him, there is no reason to delay. I will pay the price. Sell me the information."

Neru knew how powerful this person was. She had just seen it. Even so, she couldn't decide whether this information should be sold.

The Magician had handed it over openly. If she sold it for a high price, she had no idea what kind of poison might come back later. As Neru hesitated, other Family members heard the commotion and rushed in.

"What is this?! An attack?!"

"How many enemies?!"

"They dared charge us here...?!"

"You walked into your own grave!"

'Wait! No! That opponent is...!'

All puffed up, they surrounded the pale girl and moved to threaten her... and in that moment, swarms of pitch-black Black Knights made of darkness crawled out from every direction.

That was the end of it.

"Neruuuuuu!"

"Get out!"

"I knew this would happen from the day you started getting cocky running the tabloid!"

The voices from beyond the cabinet sounded like distant echoes. Neru closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

The cabinet was comfortable. The narrow, dark space calmed her.

Darkness blocked off every side. As long as she stayed in this space, she was safe. No one could find her, hurt her, or torment her.

It didn't matter that one eye couldn't see. In this darkness, everyone was equal.

She felt like she finally understood why cats sought tight spaces. It was this cozy, this comforting...

But the egg is the world, and it exists to be broken.

"Here!"

Krrrraack.

The cabinet was torn open and light poured in. Neru groaned under ear-splitting noise and light that stabbed her eyes.

What came next were Family members burning with rage.

And behind them, the girl seated like a queen.

"You little shit, Neru! Are you going to talk or not?!"

"We're preparing for a decisive battle right now!"

"Do you even know how much damage you've caused?!"

Dragged out by the collar, Neru was surrounded by Family in an instant. She faced their hostility.

The Family members she loved, and who loved her, twisted their faces viciously and blamed her.

"Hurry up and spill everything you know!"

"We trusted you with this and you went off doing whatever you wanted!"

"If you weren't up to it in the first place, you should never have started it!"

It took less than an hour for her to go from bold reporter to public enemy. Neru had only done her best.

Tears welled in her eyes as resentment surged up.

Sobbing, Neru said,

"Hic, hnnngh...! You idiots, that's the Magician...!"

"What?"

"The Magician...! You worm bastards! This whole situation...! Hic! It's the Magician's doing!"

At the single word Magician, every Family member looked around and then at one another.

The silver-haired girl, presumed to be a vampire, was strong, but she wasn't excessively brutal. She tore through rebar with ease, yet no one had been left in a similar condition; that alone proved it.

But she was still a ruthless vampire. She wasn't sparing Family out of affection, only because killing them wasn't worth it. So Family's beastkin became her hands and feet, desperately searching for Neru.

A disaster that made it feel like the world had turned upside down, though their lives weren't in immediate danger.

"Yeah... this really does feel like something the Magician would pull."

"Acting like you knew all along won't help now...!"

"Sorry. But why did you poke the Magician?"

Neru wiped her tears and sniffled.

"Hic...! I'm sorry...!"

"Well, that's a first. Neru apologizing. Is this magic?"

For a paparazzi reporter, apologizing was both unheard of and forbidden, but in this situation Neru had nothing to say.

Still, the situation eased a little. The other Family members read the mood and quietly withdrew. The blame toward Neru faded, but now she was left alone with her.

With the girl who sat like a queen, red eyes gleaming, dressed in an old-fashioned style.

"The Magician. So it is him. He called himself the Magician as well. He even played wicked pranks with cards."

The girl murmured as if recalling old memories. In that faint longing, there wasn't much negativity.

Well, that was probably why she hadn't been too harsh...

"Never did I expect to hear good news so soon after returning..."

It didn't seem like she had come to celebrate a marriage. Neru trembled.

'What kind of life has he been living... This goes way beyond just an acquaintance.'

Even a passing storm would be gentler than her. A strength that could make even a military-state general seem insignificant.

If the Magician had backing like this, not just the back alleys but all of Amitenggrad would have fallen into his hands.

Whatever the case, this catastrophe was one Neru had called in. Because of it, more than half the weapons and traps they had prepared were now unusable.

Neru had to take responsibility herself.

"...I can tell you. But if we want a quiet conversation, we need to stop the ones charging in from outside first."

"Outside."

Even if she had to use this opponent, she had to protect Family. Neru spoke, taut with tension.

"Yes. We're beastkin, so as you can see, we have many enemies. We can't cause a commotion while speaking with someone as distinguished as you, miss. So..."

For Neru, this was the negotiation of a lifetime, but the other side answered as if she had expected it from the start.

"You need not worry about that. A reliable child is blocking the road leading here."

Shei wandered around the Black Cat tabloid office, then glanced that way once when the loud noise from inside suddenly stopped.

It looked like Tyrkanzyaka had already finished clearing things up inside.

"Tyrkanzyaka won't smash everything, right? Hm, I feel kind of bad. I didn't mean for it to go this way."

She had planned to negotiate normally, but Tyrkanzyaka had acted faster. Still, as long as the result was good, it was fine, so Shei left Tyrkanzyaka alone and came outside.

So this unruly group couldn't interfere while information was being gathered.

Even in front of masked assailants, Shei spoke calmly.

"We're using this place for a bit. If you have business, come back later..."

"Shut up...! A beastkin just attacked our comrade! Look at this arm!"

"That sounds like your problem... wait."

Shei realized Nabi was nowhere in sight and glanced at the wound. As expected, the torn injury looked just like something Nabi would make.

Feeling a little responsible, Shei muttered,

"If you're hurt like that, why come here instead of going to a hospital?"

"Because we need revenge! Move, now. Stay there and we'll treat you as beastkin too!"

Their momentum was so vicious that Shei couldn't stop them without showing force.

So Shei decided to show force.

"Hm. One moment."

Replying indifferently, Shei drew Jizan and slammed it into the ground.

A localized earthquake hit Amitenggrad. The concrete ground that supported people, auto-carriages, and even buildings split like thin sheets of ice.

That wasn't all. Shei flicked a piece of concrete into the air with Jizan's tip, then struck its side.

Shattered concrete poured down like a meteor shower. The pieces were small, but each carried force no weaker than a flying arrow.

Struck by fragments and dust, they all toppled backward at once.

"Ghk..."

"Uhh..."

The rule of this world, forgotten for a moment because they moved in a pack.

A small number of the strong exist in this world, people who can overturn land and shatter rock alone. No matter how many small fry gather, they cannot win.

"...This isn't... why we came here..."

Pain like a full-body beating cooled their heads quickly. When the heat faded, only self-loathing and regret remained.

"I want to go home..."

"Mom..."

Fear leaked out even from beneath their masks. This was enough. Shei rested Jizan on her shoulder.

"There. We're using this place. If you have business, come back later."

"Yes."

Today, the beastkin-hating group learned the value of life.

Ordinary people retreated. Shei watched them without much feeling, then suddenly her eyes glowed red. Her gaze shifted toward a corner.

"There. And you peeking over there. If you have business, come out."

The Fifth, hidden around the corner and watching the situation, finished calculating at once.

If they fought? They would lose. In an injured state, they couldn't even stall for time.

Already wounded by Nabi, the Fifth clutched the injury and immediately fled into the darkness. Watching the assailant disappear into the distance, Shei sighed, Jizan still on her shoulder.

"Looks like no business then. Still, was the military state's back alley always like this? It's especially noisy today..."

Of course, Shei wasn't really in a position to say that. It had only been a day since she herself had rampaged through District 1, the very core of the military state.

"Still, this probably didn't happen because of us... Ah, is this that one? The military state's fifty-first round of loyalty inspections?"

Shei tried to remember more, then gave up. The series of events where the military state, preparing for war, repeatedly carried out loyalty inspections and press suppression against its own citizens, gradually exposing its weaknesses.

"Eh. What's the point of counting? It was all pointless anyway."

Like cloth slowly soaking in water, it had been continuous, with no clear point you could single out and say, "This incident was the trigger!"

If things continued this way and passed through the war with other nations over the Abyss Plains, the military state would last longer. If those weaknesses were prodded and chaos broke out from every direction, it could collapse.

"I need to decide what to do soon... Right. Decided. This time, I'll gather only the strength I need and watch quietly."

If she watched how the world changed when the Abyss disappeared without incident, planning for what came next would be easier.

Shei was calculating what she needed to live quietly when it happened.

A shadow with a faint presence passed by her. It was a being Shei knew well.

"...? A Black Knight?"

Tyrkanzyaka's familiar. No will of its own, but perfectly obedient to orders, an echo of ancient knights.

It wasn't just one. Black Knights as numerous as the darkness that had descended on the world were advancing across all of Amitenggrad.

Their goal was probably...

"So much for living quietly."

As if she could hear the sound of all her plans falling apart beside her ear, Shei let out a sigh.

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