WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 212

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Prisoner on the Cliff

Having burned through the whole of noon, the sun began running out of fuel and slipping into incomplete combustion.

Maybe it was because the Meta-Conveyor Belt moved from west to east, but evening felt earlier than usual today. Or maybe the long chase since morning had chased away even our last bit of leisure.

With that leisure finally back, I watched the setting sun and muttered,

"Whew. We barely escaped."

Looking only at the result, it was a huge success. We shook off the Military State's pursuit before sunset.

The process, though, wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped. There were too many incidents and variables.

Still, I praised the regressor, our biggest contributor to the escape.

"Mr. Shei! That was incredible! Seriously, enough to shake heaven and earth and split the ground! How did you pull out that much power?"

"Ah, that? It was nothing."

The regressor waved a hand, then looked at Jizan hanging from her waist and scratched her chin.

'I saw the War Mage grab a vein of earth and whip it around, so I wondered if I could do it with Jizan... and it worked?'

After I took their daughter, the generals reacted harder than actual doting fathers. The enraged War Mage, especially, ignored the other generals' warnings, dropped down, and grabbed the Meta-Conveyor Belt to shake it.

The Meta-Conveyor Belt was flowing ground. You could stand on it, sure, but the flow itself was a combination of magic and earth arts.

The War Mage couldn't touch the earth itself, but she interfered with part of the flow, lifted it, and swung it like a whip.

Even I paused at the sight, like a monster had burst out of the ground.

But one of the regressor's swords, Jizan, was the very essence of earth arts. Facing the War Mage, she used Jizan's earth arts and calmed the ground.

'Jiseon's power?! No way!'

While the War Mage panicked at seeing an old friend's power, the regressor felt Jizan resonate with earth arts, tilted her head, and casually carved a huge slash into the ground.

And the Meta-Conveyor Belt was cut.

At the boundary of Jizan's sword mark, the ground behind it stopped as if a dam had been built.

With the Military State's artery blocked, the generals, the War Mage, the Peerless Spear, and even the Military State's main force that had almost reached us were literally pinned in place. The soldiers stared in shock at what the regressor had done, but all they could do was watch us pull farther away.

The effect didn't last long. A dam thrown up in haste could only do so much against a flowing river. The pressure of earth far exceeded water, and the dam quickly collapsed.

Even so, they were still slowed down, and now they knew we could cut the flow. They wouldn't approach recklessly...

She really did well, the regressor. With enough stamina and earth arts, you really could cut even flowing ground.

But still.

"What do you mean, nothing? If you had an ability that insane, you should've said so earlier!"

"It's Jizan's power, though."

She waved it off like it was no big deal, but inwardly she was thrilled enough for her shoulders to rise on their own.

'It's amazing! Jizan's power can control anything affected by earth arts. And more importantly, I freely used earth arts that normally require faith in Mother Earth and formal training! This is huge!'

Right. Of course she was happy. She'd just unlocked a massive new ability. And earth arts were useful everywhere.

But regressor.

Did it sound like I was praising you?

"Even if it's Jizan's power, you're still the one who swung it, Mr. Shei! The one who draws out a weapon's power is its owner. You're the one controlling that power!"

"Is that so? Hmm, well. I used power through Skywarbler too. So maybe it's not that surprising Jizan has a similar power."

'Yeah. Using Jizan as just a heavy club would be wasteful. It's just that nobody but an Immortal Sage-class earth artist like Jiseon could properly use Jizan's power. That's why the Sanctum entrusted recovered Jizan to me....'

"If you had that kind of power, you should've used it sooner!"

"I only realized it during the fight. The War Mage tried to raise the ground and attack, so I copied her."

'Even if it's dangerous, real combat really is best. The collisions you get in live battle, the sparks from them, they inspire me all the time. Heh. I'm still not very confident with earth arts yet. But if I can use both Skywarbler and Jizan's authorities...!'

She was excited, like a kid who'd found a new toy. Then, while she spent a brief moment painting that hopeful future,

"Wow. So you just slashed the ground without even knowing what would happen? Without thinking?"

"Yeah! ...Yeah?"

'Without thinking? Something feels off.'

You only realized that now, regressor?

"You don't even know your own power, and you just throw it around? Do you know what could've happened to everyone else?"

"Huh?"

Wow. It took about ten exchanges before she finally understood what I meant. The moment she sensed something was wrong, I pressed harder.

"Are you kidding me? Good thing I was in front of you, or I would've been swept up in that wave of earth. That wasn't water, it was ground! If your foot got buried, your body would've gotten wedged between rocks and you'd end up buried alive. And you did that on a whim?"

"It, it wasn't on a whim! The War Mage did something similar. I tried using my power to stop her, and then I got a good idea!"

"A good idea? Seriously? If you've got that kind of power, think about how to use it strategically! If you can use earth arts, you should've thought it through in advance and practiced beforehand!"

Regressor. I had no idea why her personality, ideas, and awakenings were all this impulsive.

Could you please let me read your mind a little better? The gap between idea and action is so short even a mind reader can't react. I almost got swept away in a dirt wave.

"It, it was urgent!"

"Exactly, and it wouldn't have become urgent if you'd known ahead of time! Mr. Shei, is your power a crumpled tissue shoved in the corner of a room? If you can cut the ground itself, learn that in advance! If it were me, I'd wring every last drop out of that power and use it properly!"

"What did you say?! You didn't even show your face in the fight, and now all you do is talk!"

"Excuse me? How is that denying your achievements? Can't you see the result right in front of you?"

I raised the chain in my hand so it rattled. The far end, tied somewhere, swayed briefly.

At the end of it was the Military State's youngest of the Six Generals. Historia the Gunslinger, the Military State's daughter, bound tightly. She looked drowsy with tired eyes, a cigarette hanging from her lips.

"Look, who is this? Historia the Gunslinger. Who caught her? Me. Who tied her up this tight and made her a prisoner? Also me. Who used Historia to threaten the Military State's generals so they couldn't pursue us recklessly? Me again!"

Fact, fact, fact, and more fact. Whatever the process, if you looked at the result alone, I was the top contributor.

Even with obvious proof right in front of her, the regressor kept stubbornly arguing like she'd been wronged.

"I already half-beat her and drained most of her strength!"

"Ah yes, sure. Half-beat her, half-matched the War Mage, half-drew a line in the ground for fun. Are you planning to live your whole life halfway, with nothing done properly? What, can you live dozens of lives?"

'Ah, how did he know...?'

Just brush it off as something I said casually! What do you mean, how did he know? Can't even joke now.

'No, he must've just said it. But why am I getting scolded like this? I worked so hard!'

"And the last person you fought was Nabi anyway! You just fought an exhausted Gunslinger and tied her up!"

"Easy to say. If it was that easy, why didn't you do it all yourself, Mr. Shei? If you'd subdued Ria and tied her up in one second, you wouldn't be hearing this."

'If I could've done that, I would've already...!'

She trembled, unable to refute it. The sight was funny. I grinned and rattled the chain again.

"Dried beans are beans, soaked beans are beans, and an exhausted Six Generals is still Six Generals! Even if a Six Generals is tired, hurt, and almost dead, I still stayed alert, made perfect preparations, attacked with everything I had, beat a Six Generals, and captured her!"

I yanked the chain again. Historia followed my tug with an expression like someone who bit down thinking it was a cigarette, then realized too late it was bitter greens.

"Look. She strutted around as one of the Six Generals, and now she's wrapped in solid chains and completely neutralized. Pathetic."

I kept pulling and rattling the chain. Historia's mood soured, and she glared at me with a cold, sunken gaze.

"Stop pulling."

"Huh?"

For someone who'd been captured, she talked a lot. I cocked my head, walked up to Historia with her arms tied behind her back, and tapped her cheek.

"Hey. You don't even understand your situation? You're a prisoner, a prisoner. Huh?"

Tap, tap. Just enough to annoy her.

No matter what intent you act with, you can't expect that intent to be conveyed exactly. Misunderstanding and distortion exist for a reason. But harassment that makes the other person feel bad is an exception. It's the most honest communication method in the world.

The more I kept tapping, the worse Historia's mood got.

"I said stop."

"And if I don't? What are you going to do? Huh? Your rank may be Six Generals, but here you're no different from a prisoner. A prisoner holding her head up high, huh?"

Heh. This overwhelming sense of superiority, lording it over the weak from the dominant side. It felt great.

Right as I was sneering, Historia, who had been counting the beat, snapped her head hard in sync with my next hand motion. Her cheek slammed into my hand.

Smack! My hand flew back like it'd been hit with a whip.

...That hurt.

The hand that hit her cheek hurt!

"...Mr. Shei! Look at this prisoner! A prisoner hit my hand with her face! Hurry up and punish her!"

Historia, the one who'd smacked my hand, had already gone back to her lazy expression and was glancing around.

The regressor muttered in disbelief.

"If you want to do it, do it yourself. She's your prisoner."

"Are you really going to be that cold? I may have captured her, but we're teammates. We share responsibility, right? A tied-up Six Generals is still Six Generals. What if she regains her strength, breaks free, and attacks us?"

"...Ugh."

'That's true. Unless we kill her outright, we do need to keep watch. Hmm. For now, keeping her as a prisoner isn't a bad choice.'

The moment we captured Historia, the Military State's movements visibly slowed. Even aside from how familiar she was as one of the Six Generals and the Military State's daughter, she was one of their top combat assets. Her neutralization was a major loss for them.

The regressor with the swords of earth and sky, and Tyrkanzyaka, the vampire Progenitor. Even with three of us, it barely felt enough, and with just the War Mage and the Peerless Spear, it was hard for them to stand against us.

'I can cut the ground, so they can't deploy the army. But they also don't have enough Six Generals for a small elite strike. Maybe we can even negotiate with the Military State by putting a prisoner up front... Huh. This is going suspiciously well.'

Lost in thought, the regressor suddenly looked at Historia with suspicion.

'But why did the Gunslinger let herself get captured so easily? She should know exactly what it means to be subdued...?'

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