WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 216: A Story of the Past, Pied Piper of Hameln - 2

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Historia thought I was a kind-hearted pushover who could not bring himself to abandon even a single straggler.

Lankart thought I was cold-blooded enough to calculate even that.

Did they know? What they saw in me was the world they wanted to see. In a way, I was a mirror reflecting their wishes.

So what was I? A pushover? Or cold-blooded?

Well. If I had to put it that way, I thought I was both.

I had always found it hard to refuse other people's requests. The biggest reason was probably that I was a mind reader.

If someone had a desire they wished to fulfill even at the cost of their life, I wanted to cheer them on without even realizing it.

If it was a child hiding candy in their secret spot and pretending not to know about it, I wanted to smile and play along.

If someone was placing their hopes in me by projecting their past self onto me, I wanted to live up to those hopes.

...Even if that person was older than I was.

"Historia took part in the log run, you say."

Called before Head Instructor Nicholas, I answered politely with my hands clasped behind my back.

"Yes, Head Instructor Nicholas."

"Well done, Hui."

Nicholas, Hamelin's head instructor, nodded with a gentle smile.

"Historia... That child is truly blessed with talent. She is Hamelin's fortune, and the military state's as well. To learn Water Qi Art at that age and develop her own martial style, even the Empire would have only a handful of talents like her."

Nicholas's thoughts naturally shifted to Lankart. The smile on his lips grew even wider.

"Lankart is the same. Innate arcane differs from person to person, but its scale depends on the will it contains. Lankart's innate arcane is at least strategic-grade, powerful enough to change the course of a battle alone. Given the right opportunity... reaching the rank of magus would not be out of the question."

Even as Nicholas thought of two students who would become far greater than him, there was nothing but joy in his heart.

Colonel Nicholas. A soldier strict yet kind to students, loyal to the military state, and devoted enough to give everything for it. Not a legendary soldier, perhaps, but an officer with the makings of an excellent educator. Nicholas was also proof that the military state's selection of personnel was not entirely terrible.

A soldier more loyal than anyone and deeply devoted to his country, Nicholas rejoiced as he envisioned the military state's brilliant future.

"I trust you, Hui. You are the only one who can speak to Historia and Lankart as their equal, and give them instructions."

"...I can't give Historia instructions. I only ask her."

"What difference does it make? If she acts as you say, that makes it an instruction, a request, or an order."

Still, Nicholas was a soldier first and foremost. He did not dwell on a lottery ticket already revealed to be a dud.

"You can stop serving as class leader. You don't have anything left to learn from them anyway."

"Thank you, but I'm already in my third year. Since I've taken it on, I'll see it through to the end."

"You said something similar last year, and the year before that. My lifelong regret is not stopping you then."

"Ha ha."

Nicholas looked at me as I vaguely laughed it off, his expression full of regret.

"I think you're trying to take on too much. Aura cultivation, magic, ballistics, tactics, mystery dismantling, alchemy, medicine, smithing... You tried your hand at everything to find your talent and achieved some results in each field, but you never reached mastery in any of them."

It was not that I had achieved results. I had simply read people's minds, grasped the important points, and copied them roughly. Of course I had not reached mastery.

Nicholas did not know that, so he thought I had wasted my time and talent.

"You were too capable. I thought you would handle things well on your own and stopped paying attention for a while. That is my grief and my regret. I should have realized that you were still young and did not know your own talent."

His heartache and regret were clear.

It was the shattered feeling someone might have when they got five out of six lottery numbers right, only for the last one to be wrong because of their own mistake.

I had always known that I was not someone who could attain mastery in anything, but I could not sneer after reading such sincere feelings.

"Everyone is like that. It isn't something that happened to me alone. The other children must be similar."

"...Ah. Yes, the other children."

Nicholas agreed only because he was, at least somewhat, an educator. Another soldier would have berated me for changing the subject.

No, before the first year had even ended, they would have forcibly separated me from the others.

'Hui gives too much attention and time to other people. That is why he became close to Historia and Lankart, but it also has side effects. He pays attention even to those destined to become ordinary soldiers. I left him alone in case another Historia or Lankart might emerge, but I should never have kept Hui with them in the first place. If I had separated them from the beginning...'

Nicholas saw even discarded lottery tickets as military state resources worth preserving, which made him closer to an educator than most. Still, he could not escape the limits of the military state.

Without hiding his troubled feelings, Nicholas spoke.

"...But it is not over yet. You still have the Higher Officer Academy ahead of you. There, you will meet instructors better than I am."

"I may meet instructors with higher ranks than yours, Head Instructor, but I doubt I will find a better teacher."

"You don't need to flatter me. I have already failed."

Nicholas spoke self-deprecatingly, but my flattery had clearly improved his mood somewhat. I saluted, then turned to leave.

Once I stepped outside and closed the door, Nicholas, left alone inside, let out a deep sigh and pulled a classified document from his stack of papers. He read it with an even more troubled expression, squeezed his eyes shut, and muttered.

"...Perhaps I can undo my mistake. If Hui cares for his peers that much..."

Unaware that I was reading his mind outside the door, Nicholas continued reading the classified document.

Hamelin had been built on the academy that existed when this place had once been a kingdom. Records from those days remained intact, so mystery dismantlers and military state researchers visited often.

One of the documents someone had handed over contained this. It was something that should have been discarded, but Nicholas had stopped them and accepted it.

- Class-1 Taboo: Gluttony.

Nicholas's gaze grew increasingly somber.

"Ah, that feels refreshing!"

"Uuugh..."

Historia stretched with a refreshed expression. In contrast, I lay sprawled on the ground, groaning after being beaten repeatedly. My arms and legs hurt from being struck countless times.

Even as her friend groaned in pain, Historia still looked happy despite my miserable state.

"Doesn't it feel great to move around again after so long, Hui?"

"If you were the one getting beaten... you wouldn't feel so great either..."

"If you become strong enough to beat me, I'll take as many hits as you want."

"You really found a roundabout way to say you won't take any..."

Ugh. I groaned softly and rolled over. Historia wiped away her sweat and laughed happily.

It had been a spar without Historia using aura. Naturally, one might think I had the advantage because I was bigger... It was better to abandon that thought.

Those who cultivated aura could display tremendous strength. At first, their bodies were tossed around by that power, but over time they gradually adapted to it. Eventually, their bodies became far stronger than an ordinary person's.

In other words, Historia was already strong enough that I could not beat her even if I used aura!

"Why do you keep sparring with me... Springfield is second in class, and there are combat division instructors too..."

"They aren't fun."

Historia answered while stretching her long arms and legs, apparently still full of energy.

"If I use aura, I win."

"Must be nice. What happens if you don't use it?"

"If we spar without it, they try to crush me with brute force. They don't even think about reading moves or exploiting openings. It isn't helpful at all."

"What a luxurious complaint... If I had strength like yours, I'd crush people right away."

"Go build up some strength, then. You can crush me all you like."

"If it were that easy, I would've done it already."

With a sigh, I took a cigarette case from inside my clothes. When I flipped open the lid, only one rolled mana cigarette remained.

One? Even mana cigarettes were driving me into a corner now.

Mana cigarettes were a level-three luxury item. A mere military-school student like me, not even an officer cadet, had no way to obtain them. Still, what did it matter? Mana cigarettes did not discriminate between people or circumstances. All they needed was a flame at the tip, and their sweet smoke would whisper comfort to me at any time.

While I was having a private tryst with the smoke wrapped in paper, Historia came over.

"Mana cigarettes? You smoke those?"

Before Historia could nag me, I frowned and spoke first.

"Ria. What if I had just a little more aura or mana?"

"That would be perfect."

At the mention of aura cultivation, Historia came closer without caring about the smoke.

"Your aura circulation is incredibly natural. You use every bit of strength you have perfectly. Your understanding of aura is obvious from your written exam scores."

"That's because I only have a speck of aura. Handling a cup is easier than moving a bathtub."

"Liar. When I couldn't control my overflowing aura and kept breaking swords and spears, you were the one who told me to try balancing it with a gun. And you say your understanding is lacking?"

No, I had only read Head Instructor Nicholas's thoughts. He had considered suggesting it, but abandoned the idea because of his poor impression of guns, and I had borrowed the idea and voiced it myself.

I could not tell her the truth, so I trailed off.

"...That is why you always come to me asking to spar. It was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Hehe. It was the greatest fortune of my life."

I could feel nothing but happiness from her bright smile. She had already accomplished something, gained the strength to move forward, and had a brilliant future waiting for her. All Historia had left to do was look ahead.

The only thing Historia lacked was a friend who could walk beside her when she went too far ahead, but now she had Lankart and me. Even that need had been met.

She only had to move forward.

For Historia, at least.

"But why are you suddenly acting so pathetic? Wait. You don't mean..."

'They called Hui to see Nicholas earlier, right? Why? Don't tell me...'

Her instincts were sharp too. Realizing something, Historia urgently leaned closer and examined my face.

"If Nicholas, or the military state's command headquarters, says they'll increase your aura reserves, accept it without hesitation, Hui!"

"How are they supposed to increase my aura?"

"You could take tonics or spirit pills!"

"Easy for you to say. Where would they get something like that? Even if they could, would they give it to an ordinary student like me? And even if they did, there is no guarantee it would increase my aura."

"No. I think there is a chance! If the military state has any eyes at all, there is no way it would just leave you alone!"

It was absurd. If the military state were going to treat me that specially, it would not call itself a military state.

Still, Historia's hopeful face shone so brightly that I could not bring myself to crush it.

Sorry, Historia. What the military state prepared for me was not a spirit pill or tonic.

It was something far worse.

Not that it was meant for me alone.

"Ugh. Pffft."

With nothing to say, I blew smoke right into Historia's face. Historia inhaled it, recoiled at the stinging smell, and backed away.

"Cough. Isn't that practically poison? Why do you even smoke this stuff?"

"Phew. You wouldn't understand. Live long enough, and there are days when you want to put even poison in your mouth. Don't smoke this stuff."

"We're the same age. Stop acting like you're so experienced."

Tsk tsk. Only someone who had never gone through it would think this was showing off. I took the mana cigarette from my mouth and waved it around. As though it were an invisible barrier, Historia only turned her head this way and that to avoid it.

"Think I'm showing off? Then try smoking it."

"You think I can't?"

Smack. Historia swiftly snatched the cigarette from my hand. She hesitated briefly as she looked at the half-burned cigarette, then looked between me and my lips before clamping down hard.

The moment the cigarette entered her mouth, Historia's face turned bright red.

Anyone watching would think she was being smoked herself. I muttered in disbelief.

"You really did take it when I told you to."

"Cough. You told me to, cough!"

"Hey, it's burning. Give it back if you can't smoke it. I had to beg and plead just to get that one."

"Gasp, cough. I'll give you... cough!"

Even with her face burning red, Historia kept dodging my hand.

Until the entire cigarette had burned away.

That was my last one.

Footnotes:

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