WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 219

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A Story of the Past, Pied Piper of Hameln - 5

After one thing led to another, to put it simply,

I ended up tightly bound with a rope made of wooden vines.

Shock and fury rose on the kids’ faces and stabbed at me like spears. They surrounded me with weapons raised.

Just moments ago, they had been comforting one another, cheering one another on, and fighting side by side. Where had all that friendship and trust gone? Hard to earn, easy to burn.

Well, of course.

"Oh no, I got caught."

Hidden in the middle of this base was a giant pheromone bait that would draw in every kind of beast. It was set to go off soon. Once that happened, the beasts that had been wary of a strange group of humans would sweep through the camp.

And now all of it was exposed.

"This... what the hell happened."

Siati muttered in a trembling voice. Bound as I was, I shrugged toward her confused face.

"What’s wrong? You all know, right? Unless you’re an idiot, how could you not?"

A conclusion people reach on their own is more convincing than anything else, so there was no need for me to try hard to persuade them.

The clues they found, the logic they pieced together, and the doubts that had slowly piled up all converged on a single truth.

Chento, who had wondered where Kerafald and I went yesterday, retraced our path and found the rope securing the drift debris. The kids noticed it and, assuming this was another test, were relieved. If it was part of an exam and not a real emergency, then nothing would spiral out of control. They reassured themselves and moved even more actively.

In the middle of that, Kerafald formed a team to search the camp. After drawing a map, he realized the camp resembled some kind of magic circle and tilted his head. While the kids who thought this was a puzzle or test question wrestled with it, Siati took some of them out to gather food and drinking water.

Under the camp was a large flat rock, with a strange magic circle carved along shallow grooves. Just as everyone was struggling to make sense of a magic-circle pattern none of them had ever seen before,

a jet-black box appeared in the middle of one of the tents. The kids guessed it was a clue and opened the lid.

Without realizing it was bait that called beasts.

Pheromones caked all over the bait spread into the air. A kid with hunter parents recognized it and shouted for them to close it, but it was already too late.

From far away, they heard beasts going wild.

Around a hundred and fifty military-trained students responded as well as they could, but that was the limit. A proper response, and nothing more.

That proved why the beasts hadn’t attacked human groups until now: the surviving beasts were cautious by nature.

A horned deer, worked into a frenzy and spraying spit, tore straight through the camp. Its charge was like cavalry. The house-sized beast looked like a giant swinging two trees from its head, and it took ten people to pull a single snare tight.

Then wolves that had been prowling carefully struck. They only realized stealth hunters were there after casualties had already appeared.

Crows and eagles that sensed battle circled in the distance.

Seventeen died.

If traps hadn’t been prepared in advance, far more would have died.

Still, humans showed their strength. Through unity, proper command, and a desperate fight, they drove the beasts out.

Precious friends had died, but there was no time to grieve. Exhausted, the kids sat on the ground and watched in shock as blood from the dead ran across the earth.

The blood streamed along the carved grooves, lit up the massive magic circle, and then sank in.

If the stone had stayed buried, no one would have seen it. But because they had exposed it while investigating, the secret came to light.

While everyone felt a nameless dread, someone carefully suggested they remove their clothes due to the risk of injuries and infection.

The kids agreed and deactivated their clothing packets.

Then they found the ominous bright-red mark glowing on my back. Its meaning was so clear they couldn’t even look away.

"N-no way... how... that bastard... Nicholas used us as sacrifices...."

Everyone understood what had happened. The nation had abandoned them. The leader they trusted was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Friends they had laughed with yesterday were now dead, limbs twisted grotesquely. Soon they would end up the same way.

And someone would take their deaths and gain power.

"Kill him!"

Someone shouted. It was a kid with a broken arm wrapped in bandages from blocking the deer. Eyes bloodshot, he spat curses at me.

"There are no instructors here to stop us anyway! Kill him and bury him somewhere!"

"Th-then what do we say happened?"

"We just say he slipped and fell into the river!"

"Yeah! This is self-defense!"

They shouted savagely. I smiled as calmly as I could and said,

"That’s the obvious call. Keeping me alive when I look like a collaborator in this mess would be stupid. Right?"

"If you’re a prisoner, shut up like one, Hui."

Siati and Kerafald, now the students’ representatives, calmed the panicked kids. Siati, especially furious at me, pressed her lips tight and glared.

"Hui. I never liked you, but at least I thought you were more human than those other two. But... looks like I judged wrong."

"Of all people, you compare me to those two? Fine, Siati. What are you going to do with this horrible, inhuman me?"

"If it were up to me, I’d kill you right now."

Now she had to persuade the others, not me, so Siati turned and shouted.

"Killing him here changes nothing. We tie him up, load him onto a boat, go back to Hameln, and demand answers. If it’s him, the one Nicholas protects so carefully, he’ll make excellent leverage."

"Leverage?"

"Yeah! The Sanctum cracks down hard on taboos. We can demand something in exchange for keeping this secret..."

"Puhahaha!"

Still bound, I burst out laughing. As it went on, everyone’s eyes, including Siati’s, turned to me. Once I had their attention, I cut it off and said,

"Siati. Stop saying things you don’t believe. Nicholas tried to kill all of you to trigger a taboo, and you think if you expose that and go back, he’ll say, ‘Ah, sorry, here’s Level 3 as a reward’?"

No chance. If that were possible, none of this would have started.

"No, he’ll kill you all. To bury the taboo and you with it, he’ll use harsher methods."

"Then what do you want us to do?! Die for you right here?!"

"What you do is your choice, but if you’re choosing, at least follow what you actually believe. Your choice isn’t just unrealistic, it’s a fantasy that denies the reality in front of you."

"Listen to you acting all superior...!"

Siati strode over and grabbed my collar. Bound like this, having my neck yanked made me choke, but she didn’t care.

"I’m going to kill you! So what if you’re clever?! No matter how good you are, you don’t get to decide our fate...! I, we! We didn’t work this hard just to become your food!"

As she kept talking, her fierce shouting grew wet with sobs. Gripping my collar so hard it nearly stretched, Siati shed clear tears and blamed me.

"Why? You can already go to officer academy! Was that not enough? You already reached Level 3, the thing we want so badly...! You wanted more? You wanted to rise even higher? Even if all of us had to die for it?"

After she poured out all her resentment, what remained was a charred-black emotion. Her dead, dark eyes looked up at me.

"Then you... die too. That’s fair."

I felt it instinctively.

Ah, this was dangerous. If this kept going, I’d really get swept up in it.

A taboo isn’t called a taboo for nothing. It denies the very trust in humanity they had built until now.

Siati, the one cast to the denied side, was now fully consumed by hatred and despair. She clenched her fist.

...So, Historia.

This is your last chance to save me. If you don’t,

I will.

The news that trainees on graduation practicum had gone missing spread instantly. Nicholas, feeling deep responsibility for the crisis, rushed out of Hameln Middle Military School with only his close aides. The main force would load supplies onto rescue ships and follow him.

'You asked me for help. I didn’t think something would really happen. Did you really foresee even this?'

Historia didn’t forget her promise. The moment she heard there was trouble with the graduation practicum, she slung a rifle over her back, ran to the Hameln River, and borrowed a ferry boat.

When she rowed, strange waves split to both sides. She wasn’t pushing water away; she was pressing the surface down with force to form a slope, then sliding across it.

The ferry literally skimmed over the river and shot forward. In no time, Historia reached the drift-filled riverside, hid herself, and surveyed the situation.

What she saw was... strange.

'Hui? Why is he tied up? And what happened to the others?'

She couldn’t make sense of any of it. In the middle of that chaos, the boy was bound under everyone’s gaze, like a prisoner at the gallows, or like the first Holy Maiden nailed to a cross.

The kids around him seemed to be denouncing something in despair and rage.

She didn’t know how to react to this unexpected situation, but she drew her gun first.

Target: me. And Siati beside me.

'Siati. I don’t know why you grabbed Hui. But if you try to kill him, I’ll stop you no matter what.'

Until she understood their intent, it was better not to reveal herself. If this was nothing serious, she could let it pass. If it was dangerous, her appearance might make things worse.

Quiet, covert techniques like stealth and infiltration didn’t suit Historia’s loud energy art. Instead, she aimed from a blind spot outside their line of sight.

Through her sights, she watched Siati and me. I was still safe, and despite being tied up, I wore a bright smile.

That usual playful face almost made all her tension melt away, but she steadied her breathing and aimed again.

'Can’t hear clearly. Rough guess, someone died and they’re blaming Hui...'

Even if he was a leader, would they really tie him up over just that?

Reaching the same question, Historia tilted her head, kept Siati in her sights, and tensed every muscle in her body.

Still, she didn’t rush in or fire.

Siati was her classmate too. If it had been an enemy or a beast, she would’ve blown a hole through them immediately, but this was someone she knew, so her hand wasn’t that ruthless.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

'Hui. See now? When things go wrong, all you can trust is your own strength. You need to take energy art more seriously.'

If I felt my life was in danger, I’d realize the importance of energy art and focus on it more. Thinking that, she left me alone for a while.

That made her late. By then, I had already been steeped deep enough in hatred and despair toward the military state.

Siati and I talked. Time dragged on. The heavy atmosphere from before had vanished, the conversation flowed, and my expressions shifted one after another.

From Historia’s perspective, I looked like I was enjoying the situation itself. Not wrong.

'What. Did you really need my help?'

I did need help. Not anymore.

'See? If you’d learned energy art from the start, if you hadn’t wasted time on kids who don’t even know gratitude and would betray you, you wouldn’t be tied up now. Tch, making me worry.'

My body wasn’t tied up. Ropes like this couldn’t bind me.

I opened the hands tied behind my back. A sloppy knot made with stiff vines. The vines slid loose, and both arms came up over my shoulders as if they had never been bound. The startled kids jumped, but I held out a hand and calmed them.

'You weren’t even tied? I’m starting to feel like the idiot here.'

To Historia, they were all classmates she knew. However little she thought of them, they were still classmates. She felt no need to attack.

Just as relaxed Historia resumed the breath she had paused, she heard a voice from very close by.

"Boar woman."

Click. Her muzzle snapped around instantly. Rancart stood there expressionless.

With an unreadable face, he looked back and forth between Historia and my side.

Historia lowered the muzzle and asked,

"Ah, shit. You scared me. What are you doing here?"

"That’s my line. I’m here because I’m in the vanguard that left with Nicholas. You? What are you supposed to be?"

"I’m with the rear group."

"How is the rear group already here?"

"You’re just slow. If you got here after me when I rowed, what can I say?"

Rancart noticed the ferry and large oar by the riverside and muttered,

"Crazy boar bitch...."

Still, Historia’s arrival was within expectations. It was one reason Rancart followed Nicholas.

'This boar is moody like a beast, and around Hui she gets even more blatantly interested, like she’s in heat. We need to separate them before Gluttony triggers.'

"Chief Instructor Nicholas’s order. The instructors will handle the Hui issue, so step back for now."

"Handle? Handle what?"

'To confirm whether Gluttony succeeded, and if anything remains, to deal with it directly. But... what is this situation...?'

As Rancart sank into thought, Historia sneered.

"There you go again, forcing that useless brain of yours. Stop the cheap tricks with that talentless head and speak plainly."

"This is called thinking, a concept you don’t have, bitch."

After exchanging abuse like old friends, Rancart answered irritably.

"We need to clean up this situation. I won’t say more. Even if I do, you won’t understand."

"Why so secretive all of a sudden? Hiding something?"

"Yes."

Rancart agreed readily, and Historia gave a disbelieving laugh.

"...Hah. Confident, aren’t you. Makes me even less willing to step back."

'Tch. Stubborn as hell, impossible to persuade, irritating. I’d like to remove her by force, but even if we fight here, it won’t settle anything. Then.'

"It’s for Hui."

"What? For Hui?"

"Maybe you know, maybe you don’t. No, you don’t. This evaluation was actually a test prepared for Hui. If you’re watching, the meaning of that test fades."

"A test?"

"Yeah. This, exactly this, will push Hui one step further."

Wow. Not wrong. This place was for me, after all.

Mentioning me cooled Historia’s anger. She looked between me and Rancart, thought for a moment, then saw I was already free and clicked her tongue.

'...I don’t like this bastard Rancart, but he handles things properly. He half worships Hui, so he won’t hurt him. And if the Chief Instructor is here, then whatever. It’s basically over.'

Convinced, Historia slung the rifle over her shoulder and stood.

"...I’m warning you, don’t order me around. I’ll do what I want."

"If you have enough strength to talk back, go eat the beasts circling that riverside. It suits you perfectly."

For now, he had achieved his goal of separating Historia. Muttering that, Rancart kept watching me with a still-confused face.

'You didn’t reject Gluttony. But you didn’t accept it either. What are you trying to do, Hui...?'

"Don’t say ridiculous things!"

While those two finished their side conversation, I had already untied myself and finished persuading the kids.

Siati shouted loudly, as if trying to deny my words, but

"...No. Siati... no."

Kerafald, the other representative who had been listening, closed his eyes tightly and shook his head.

"If we think rationally... Hui gave us hints. He knew about the net and still told everyone. He told us to uncover the camp’s secret. Hui was also the first to jump in, close the box with the pheromone bait, carry it himself, and throw it into the river. And if Hui hadn’t told us to set traps in advance, more people would’ve died. If he really meant to kill us...."

More.

Or all of us, Kerafald finished.

Then the silent majority sided with him.

We had spent a full day in the same place. They knew I had no time to scheme while constantly giving orders and working day and night. They had seen how I acted, so persuasion worked.

Siati wasn’t stupid enough not to believe that. She was just angrier than that. Having lost the target of her rage, she clenched both fists and shouted.

"Then! Then what is it! What the hell is all this...?!"

"Curious, right? I’m curious too. Honestly, until I came here, I didn’t know what was waiting either."

That was the plain truth. I expected Gluttony, yes, but I didn’t expect drift debris, a bait camp, and a pheromone setup meant to trigger Gluttony.

Calling it a success felt wrong with casualties involved. Still, we overcame it. This was only the first hurdle.

The real malice that wanted everyone dead was approaching now.

"Only one person can answer that."

"Who...?"

"Chief Instructor Nicholas. The head of Hameln Middle Military School, the man who planned all this."

In the kids’ minds rose the image of a warm yet strict man in uniform. He was passionate about education, poured time and effort into the kids, and though he whipped and punished them, he never starved them or let them be harmed. By comparison, he could be called decent.

But now...

he looked like a monster wearing human skin.

"So, let’s get ready, kids."

I know Nicholas. He is a good educator, but only in the sense of a military-state officer. His educational philosophy serves the nation. Education is a field cultivated by the nation to produce talent for the nation.

He seems to think that one me, infused with some of their power, would be better than a rough hundred.

I can say this with certainty: he is completely wrong.

I’m better when I’m among a hundred people. Even if you merge all their strength into one, that’s no different from tearing up books for firewood.

The guardian of knowledge is a library full of good books, not the librarian standing in front of it. Tearing books apart to feed the librarian’s fire is putting the cart before the horse.

Of course, if someone committed that atrocity, the librarian would be the angriest of all.

"That box with the pheromone bait was set to open by itself a few hours later. I don’t know for sure, but that was probably the execution time. But would Chief Instructor Nicholas do something like this and just leave it alone? My guess is he’ll be here soon."

"Ch-Chief Instructor...? In person?"

"Yeah. This practicum, the net holding down drift debris, the camp hiding the taboo, and the pheromone box set to go off eventually... if the man who prepared this grave doesn’t come himself, the word taboo loses all meaning."

I wasn’t certain. If I hadn’t just read Historia and Rancart’s thoughts, I wouldn’t have spoken so firmly.

Still, now that I had the information, it was time to prepare.

"When Chief Instructor Nicholas arrives, what we’ll ask. How we’ll welcome him, receive him, question him, and answer him. We need to prepare in advance."

Looking around at the unfocused eyes of children abandoned by the military state, I lowered my voice and told everyone,

"So that when we hear the story, we can accept it."

I know, but you don’t.

Leaving behind doubt, despair, and numb exhaustion, the kids stood up. With the same hands that had just buried their friends, they looked up at me.

I spoke to all of them with force.

"First, shall we make traps?"

As a means of conversation.

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