WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 204

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Land Flowing Like a River - 6

Projectile weapons were trash, barely worthy of being called weapons. That had long been a well-known fact, basic common sense.

Air infused with mana naturally repelled everything it struck. Even arrows trying to slip through gaps made a ridiculous amount of noise for how slow they were. Anyone with good energy sense could detect them easily, and if they reacted in time, they could knock them away without trouble.

Bullets were the same. For all their noise, those weapons had always been criticized for pathetic killing power. Unless fired at point-blank range, they could not even kill ordinary people, just an annoying swarm of buzzing flies.

But the military state came up with a different idea.

If even ordinary soldiers could buzz around near absolute powerhouses, would that not be a huge advantage?

While the military state was enjoying the benefits, one figure appeared like a comet: Gunslinger Historia.

Bang, bang.

Since we were hiding inside a container, bullets came only now and then, like reminders arriving just when we'd forgotten about them.

Of course, bullets could not even pierce the container's outer wall. But we still could not relax. The instant our guard dropped, the container caved in with a massive blast. That was Historia's bullet.

"An annoying swarm of flies. And one hornet hidden among them, was that it? Hmm. The title does fit."

When Tyr clenched her hand, darkness flowing along the floor brought a flattened bullet into the container. In a relaxed tone, Tyr appraised the incoming rounds.

"Even with the sun shining, they can dent steel wrapped in my seal. From that distance, no less."

"Yeah. It's the finished form of military state tactics. She's not called the Daughter of the Military State for nothing."

The regressor grumbled, then shot me a sharp glare.

"At this point, I really want to know what happened in Hameln. Just a few days ago they stepped aside and told us to leave. Now one of the Six Generals is risking her life to hold you here. What kind of grudge is this?"

"I told you, it's personal. The only one who really wants to catch me is probably Historia."

"What did you even do?"

"Ah, that. Long story. I was around sixteen. At a military state secondary military school, where they shaved youth down and forged it into weapons, we..."

I settled in and dug up old memories. Tyr had already turned toward me and prepared to listen.

My brilliant school-day memories. Hameln on a low hill, the river gently flowing below. The memories and dreams that stayed there...

"Just the conclusion."

"Tch. Way to ruin the fun."

"Is fun the issue right now? The enemy is right in front of us!"

"Alright, alright."

I shrugged and explained.

"In Hameln, they tried to use students like ammunition. So the students got furious and turned all the tactics and combat skills they learned from the military state back on the military state. They launched organized attacks, bases burned, they held out, and after occupying the training camp, they tried to execute the top student in school as an example."

The regressor had been listening quietly, then flinched when she realized I was talking about myself.

'Wait. The top student, that's him, right? He almost got executed by his own classmates?'

Yeah. Told you this wasn't something you could explain briefly.

More cautious now, the regressor asked,

"...And then?"

"Then they realized killing a fellow student looked bad. Fighting the military state was a struggle, but attacking the top student was just inferiority-fueled rage, right? The message wouldn't land. Message, message. So at the last moment, instead of fighting me, those classmates chose suicide."

"..."

"And in the middle of that, they told me to join them. A life-or-death crisis. But at the last moment, I used my wits, played dead, and got out."

'He'd already been insane since school. Figures. With everyone else like that, no way this guy was the normal one.'

That's hurtful. Is that fair? The second- and third-ranked students in Hameln were too strong to touch, so I was the easy target, the weak number one.

At this point, wasn't I the victim? Is being weak a crime?

"I barely survived and tried to go back, then the military state, not wanting to take responsibility, pinned me as the culprit. Couldn't be more unfair. I just had a whistle in my mouth instead of a gag, and suddenly it became as if I had led everyone with that whistle."

"I get the rough picture. So anyway, the military state is the bad guy."

"Good to remember. If something is weirdly evil, the military state usually made it."

Luckily, the regressor did not seem very interested in this incident. She had already destroyed the military state in a previous cycle, so something this minor probably did not matter much to her.

'Pretty tragic past... then again, everyone has a story. Compared to the Gunslinger or Rancart, he's better. At least he doesn't hurt people much.'

Part of that was her trying to be considerate of me.

"Anyway, their intention is obvious."

"Right. They're not pressing us and they're not closing in. They're clearly trying to stall until they rejoin their main force."

"Break through, or wait. Those are the two choices."

While the two modern people thought it over, the vampire whose war doctrine had stopped centuries ago made a proud proposal.

"Let us break through. In war, first comes strength, second comes momentum. If you only retreat, you are bound to be pushed onto the defensive."

Not a bad method. If you had the power, crushing through was always right.

"Well, not a bad idea. Want to try it?"

"Wait just a little. I shall return before the tea cools."

Now that was confidence. As I looked up at her in admiration, Tyr gave a relaxed shrug.

'Bullets or anything else, that alone cannot stop me. Go on, shoot as much as you please.'

Without a hint of hesitation, Tyr stepped out. On the flat land flowing like a river, she stood exposed alone. The moment she did, she covered her face with her palm and frowned.

Bullets poured over her. Even though Tyr was not very tall, the concentrated volley hammered her vampire body.

Of course, bullets could not hurt her.

But what stopped Tyr was not the bullets.

"...Cursed sun."

Not even a few minutes had passed. Tyr, who had tried to advance with a parasol, failed to endure it and came back.

I handed still-warm tea to the dejected Tyr.

"You're right, the tea's still warm. Want a sip?"

A few flattened bullets were stuck in her body, or rather, in the darkness wrapped around her body.

While I pulled them off one by one from Tyr, who could barely keep her eyes open, she muttered with a grim look.

"Of all things, they are to the east, so the sunlight is strong. Cursed sun."

"Isn't it a bit much to curse someone who clocks in from the east every day?"

"You dare defend the sun before me?"

'If not for that sun, I would have already taken you where you wanted to go. I could have brushed off this level of interference with ease!'

True. Put that way, the sun did feel a bit obnoxious. Hey, old man. You can skip work for a day, right? Go back to sleep for a bit.

Wait, calm down. Without the sun, people die. Not just people, this whole land depends on that sunlight.

Whew. I almost got overwritten by vampire logic. Calm down.

"If not for sunlight seeping through the gaps in the darkness, scraps of metal like that would not even have made me itch."

"Huh? So it itches right now?"

Tyr had been fuming in irritation, then finally realized what that sensation across her body was. It was too faint to be pain, but present enough to keep bothering her.

Yes, that was called itching. Unfamiliar with the feeling, Tyr murmured,

"...Now that you mention it, it does itch in a strange way. How odd. Such a sensation should not exist for me."

"If Tyr says it itches, that means it's affecting your authority. Maybe those aren't normal rounds. Hold on."

I closely examined the bullets I had removed from Tyr. White crystals on the flattened heads glimmered faintly in the light like little stars, and I knew what that familiar white powder was without tasting it.

Still, better to test it. I touched my tongue to one and put it in my mouth. A concentrated salty taste hit at once.

Tyr recoiled and asked,

"Huh?! What shameless thing are you doing?"

"Pteh, pteh. Yep, definitely salt rounds... huh? More importantly, what's shameless about checking the bullet?"

"No, nothing."

'Putting something that touched another's body in your mouth without hesitation... humans these days are bold.'

Even with mind reading, vampire mentality was hard to understand. Maybe because people like this lived only for bloodsucking pleasure, they cared more about what touched the mouth than about exposing someone's chest, or bones.

Anyway. White salt had long been used to drive away the impure. Of course there was folk wisdom like, throw salt at a vampire and the vampire hates it.

To be fair, humans hated getting hit with salt too.

"They made and distributed special ammunition like salt rounds in this short a time. Truly the military state."

"...It is fine. Once the sun rises a little higher, dealing with them will not be difficult."

"They were counting on that. They even looped around in front of us and stood with the wind and sun at their backs. Feels like they could reach us just by throwing bullets by hand, but they're firing them anyway."

Without darkness wrapped around her, Tyr's marching speed was only about infantry level at best. From the military state's gunslinger unit's perspective, she was just a good target.

An unbreakable but psychologically overwhelming training dummy.

For the next two or three hours, we could not use our cheat tactic of a single-point breakthrough with Tyr.

"Then is it my turn?"

A cold voice came, sharp as blades pressed against skin. The regressor had her whole body rigid with tension as she stared ahead.

"We need to make them wary. If I can take down the Gunslinger, I will. If not, I'll at least inflict damage. Then during the pursuit later, they won't pull cheap tricks like detached units or scouts."

I understood why the regressor was upset. Detached units and scouts were only used when you were confident you would not be defeated in detail even after splitting your forces.

I understood her, but I still shook my head right away.

"Do we need to?"

"What do you mean, do we need to?"

"There's no reason to force a breakthrough in a bad position, right? No tactical upside, and they clearly prepared salt rounds to buy time."

"So what, we just sit here and let them hit us until their main force joins up?"

"No."

As if. I grinned.

"We should let them hit us well."

They're across the road, planning to wear down our nerves with volley fire. For now, we'll use that against them.

They'll shoot if someone peeks out? Fine, shoot.

If you can find that rewarding.

"Come out, Chubby!"

"Bark!"

Right on cue, our team's secret weapon appeared: Azzy, looking plump from layered cloth armor. I swung my arm wide, and Azzy spun once with it.

It looked more like a rolling dog than an elegant turn, but those stacked layers of cloth armor gave her incredible presence. Like a short-haired breed puffed up into a long-haired one. At this rate, if we rolled her, she might roll all the way to the end of the earth.

"This is an age where even dogs wear clothes. So having dog armor isn't strange at all!"

"Bark! It's stuffy!"

"Endure it. With this on, you can turn that side into a mess and get hurt less!"

"Bark, I'll endure! For my shares!"

"Shares? What shares?"

Azzy tilted her head with bright, clear eyes, and I could not read that thought through mind reading or body movement.

"Anyway, you got the idea, right? Time to let the whole world know how noisy you are!"

"Awooooooo!"

Azzy shot forward like an arrow. Right after, bullets started pouring in that direction. A rain-like sound rang out, and something sliced past behind us.

But Azzy could dodge or tank bullets even bare-bodied. They could not even hit her footprints. Even when one did land, it just bounced off the armor. She raced in every direction as she closed in on them.

Screams and shouting erupted. At least we had succeeded in stirring up chaos.

"How noisy. Certainly unmatched for harassment... but even so, the King of Dogs cannot harm humans, can she."

"Right. They'll stop firing soon."

Before I even finished, the gunfire thinned out. A strange silence settled in. Azzy stood there blankly with nothing to do, and they were forcing themselves to ignore her. Two groups with no will to attack faced each other in an awkward standoff.

"...Then isn't she completely useless?"

"Right. Azzy can't attack... Azzy, that is."

Was it because she sensed something ominous in my wording? The regressor jolted and looked around. Then she caught that bad feeling and grabbed my collar.

"...Wait, hey. Didn't you ask me yesterday for something bomb-like?"

"Yep."

"Where is it?"

"On Azzy's back."

That side seemed to realize something too and poured bullets out to drive her off. Too late. Azzy was already close.

Booooom.

A huge blast rang out from the ground ahead.

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