WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 223: Prisoner Prisoner Prisoner

──────

I hid most of the details about my mind reading and adapted the rest. I framed it as a story I had heard from someone, or something I had learned afterward.

The tale flowed on like water, ending only after it reached the currents of the Hamelin River.

The regressor, who had listened to my story from a more objective position than anyone else, summed it up.

"So the military state was preparing an experiment using a taboo. You were its test subject, but you resisted. You joined forces with the students to kill an officer, then caused the Hamelin incident to evade the pursuit that followed. Is that it?"

She nodded along, then clenched her fist and suddenly shouted.

"Everything you told us last time was a lie! You said the children rebelled, sacrificed you, and cursed you!"

"Wasn't it fairly similar? When you pick it apart, every part of it was true."

"No, it wasn't! You made it sound like you were a complete victim! Now that I hear it, you instigated the whole thing!"

"Who hears someone call them the culprit and immediately nods along? I think I did my duty just by telling you the truth."

I answered confidently. Strangely enough, the regressor seemed willing to accept my excuse.

"Still, putting that aside... it was an appropriate response."

"Oh? You understand that? What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean, what's gotten into me? I've been in an objective position from the beginning."

After lightly snapping at me, the regressor folded her arms and coolly assessed what I had done.

"It was the best choice. The military state is vulnerable to the supernatural, so when something bizarre and sudden happens, they impose information controls first. Making the incident bigger while they're cautious about investigating the truth creates the greatest opening. It was a good method."

It was exactly the sort of thing someone who had destroyed the military state once would say. Perhaps because we shared a hatred for the same thing, the regressor looked favorably upon me, someone who had helped damage it.

"...Still, it was a better story than I expected. At first, I thought you were an agent in the military state's special operations department, specially trained like a communications officer or public security agent. Turns out you're not such a bad guy."

"Hahaha. It feels strange hearing that from a major criminal who cut off Jiseon's arm."

"You really can't stop needling me."

Hahaha. We exchanged smiles as we chatted pleasantly. This was what real conversation was like.

Until now, all I'd had were sharp, purposeful conversations. Teaching someone, informing someone, getting angry, fighting.

Language didn't need to be used solely to exchange information. Building friendships like this was one of speech's proper functions.

‘In the previous iteration, when I cooperated with the Resistance, I gathered quite a lot of internal supporters thanks to the Hamelin incident. Of course, that alone wasn't enough. It was mainly possible because I waged guerrilla warfare and drove the Lords of All Creation into a frenzy, but public sentiment inside couldn't be ignored either... What? We were comrades, weren't we?’

Had the regressor ever looked at me so warmly before? We smiled at each other so amicably that harmonious was the only word for it.

"I think I've misunderstood you badly until now."

"It's enough that you know now. Humans are creatures that learn, after all."

"You have a way with words. Anyway, I owe you one."

‘Only in the previous iteration, of course. I've decided not to cooperate with the Resistance this time, so it won't be much use.... No, wait. Hamelin. The truth. Suicide.... Influence.’

What was that? Her thoughts were racing, but they skipped from one thing to another too quickly for me to understand.

That was when Historia, who had only listened with her arms tightly bound, bit down harder on her cigarette. It made a crunching sound.

"...My sweetie. You're crueler than I expected. They may have been pathetic, but they were Hui's classmates, and mine. You're fine with all of them dying?"

"Huh?"

When I turned my head, Historia was glaring fiercely at the regressor as though she might leap at her at any moment. Faced with that sudden hostility, the regressor looked baffled.

"Why? Didn't you get the Hamelin students out while the authorities pretended it was supernatural, imposed information controls, and floundered around?"

The regressor asked with pure innocence.

Realizing what the regressor had misunderstood, Historia snorted and leaned back against the container wall. Blowing out thick cigarette smoke, Historia smiled as though she were looking at an innocent child.

"...Ah. Is that what you thought? I take back what I said earlier. Your way of thinking is still cute."

"Why are you picking a fight again? Couldn't you just fool them enough to get the students out?"

"How could middle military school students fool that many people, not to mention the instructors aboard the rescue ship that followed them? Honestly, you're so innocent and young. How did someone like you end up traveling with Hui?"

"Huh? Wait. If that's what you're saying..."

‘Certainly, if they were ordinary people who couldn't even properly use formal magic... escaping unnoticed through flowing water would be difficult. Then, they really did it themselves....’

A shiver ran through me as though I'd been drenched in cold water. It wasn't my emotion. It belonged to the regressor.

After trembling for a moment, the regressor looked at me uneasily.

‘...Did you really kill them all? Your own classmates...?’

"Ah, well. It's a little difficult to explain. It sounds as though I killed them, so let me defend myself. The children who died reached an agreement among themselves."

"They reached an agreement? What kind of agreement? An agreement to die together?"

As though they would make such a meaningless agreement.

"Similar, but different. They agreed that not everyone could get out alive."

"What?"

"Those who would die would die, and those who would live would live. At least for the sake of those who survived... even if they died, they would die quietly after accepting it."

If the bodies weren't found, people would suspect they had survived. Then it would be remembered as nothing more than an escape stunt. Their efforts to row while singing until their throats tore would have been for nothing.

"I told everyone the method. They would set wind magic in their bio-terminals and walk along the riverbed to escape. If they didn't lose their concentration, formal magic would let them breathe underwater for about three minutes. Whether they were swept away by the current, ran out of breath, or became fish food, they would accept all of it and walk along the riverbed.... Since not everyone could survive, those who wanted to live needed a chance to live."

"Wait. That can't be possible. Using wind magic underwater requires extraordinary concentration. Even if they managed it, once they ran out of breath, they'd instinctively struggle."

"They endured it. Among the children who took part in Hamelin's graduation practicum, not one thrashed around begging to be saved. They either walked in silence until they died, or barely survived and reached the riverbank. They made it certain enough to be burned into people's minds."

That was why Hamelin became the military state's shame, and why it was a nightmare for those who happened to witness it.

A curse was nothing special. If someone carrying powerful hatred and resentment reflected and agonized long enough, then expressed it in a shocking and ingenious way that burned itself into people's hearts... that itself became a curse.

There was no need to look far for someone struck by that curse.

"One witness who saw it firsthand happens to be here too."

Historia was that witness. She had been among those closest to us, and one of the last people to witness the ending we met.

That was why she had become like this.

"Look at Ria. The Gunslinger, one of the Six Generals. The military state's daughter, the strongest martial talent born under the Conqueror's star. That arrogant genius willingly let herself be bound and brought here just to hear what a mere classmate had to say. What a sight."

"Ugh.... That is true, but."

‘Was that why the Gunslinger became an important figure in the New Kingdom too...? How far does this bastard's influence reach?’

Don't treat me like some shadowy figure. I was an individual among individuals. I'd never built an organization or worked from the shadows. I'd only done my best to survive.

Leaving the regressor alone, I approached Historia.

A scar etched into the heart was a curse in itself. It lingered and tormented you for a long time, while the thick darkness seeping from the wound spread to those around you.

Well, it might become something like a blessing for some idiot who was impressed rather than scarred. But that wasn't the case for Historia.

"How is it, Ria? Did you learn everything you wanted to know?"

"...I roughly understand what happened."

"You look like you still have something bothering you. Is there something you want to say?"

Her curiosity had been satisfied, but her expression remained knotted. Historia raised her head through the mana herb smoke and questioned me with cold, sunken eyes.

"Why... could you think of a way to kill all those children... but not a way to save them? If it were you, surely you could have found another way...."

Historia knew it was a meaningless lament. I had acted then, while Historia had stood by. As an observer, she had no right to condemn me for failing to think of a more ingenious solution.

Historia stopped speaking and sharply turned her head away. All I heard was a smoke-filled sigh. I ended the story with a faint smile.

"Well, anyway, it was a rather gloomy story. I hope none of you were bored."

[Bored? It was a gripping tale. So that was why the military state has been hunting you down as though it wants to kill you....]

Tyrkanzyaka, who loved any story, had only found it interesting. Then again, the suicide of over a hundred people wouldn't have shocked Tyrkanzyaka much.

[Still... Hyu, Gluttony is not an authority so forbidden that it deserves to be called a taboo. Hunting prey and quenching one's thirst at its throat is the law of all things in this world. The military state's methods may have been repulsive, but you need not shun Gluttony itself....]

The vampire who fed on humans desperately defended her own actions. She had the attitude of a predator who wanted to prove she was harmless.

Well, Tyr wasn't an indiscriminate killer. I understood her position well enough, so I answered casually.

"I've never shunned it. I just didn't see the need. Just as you don't stab every passerby until blood flows and drink from them, I don't commit unnecessary acts."

[Thank you.]

"What for? Just don't eat me."

Nothing was more reassuring than the existence of a predator who would never eat me. As long as she didn't attack me, we could become very close friends despite our different origins. Yes, yes.

"Woof."

"...? Why are you barking all of a sudden?"

"Woof. Timing!"

"What timing?"

Anyway, having said everything I needed to say, I clapped my hands and wrapped up the story.

"The sun has set. We should get moving soon. We can only move safely at night. Before that...."

Historia seemed unwilling to even meet my eyes. She turned her head sharply and showed me only her profile while contentedly blowing out cigarette smoke. It didn't seem as though she would cooperate wholeheartedly.

Letting her go worried me, but drawing every kind of hostility from the military state while taking its daughter along didn't sound ideal either.

There was no choice I could make alone. Even bound like that, Historia could overpower me, so I'd need my companion's help. I asked for her opinion.

"Uh, Shei. What should we do with Historia?"

"Hmm. Give me a moment to think."

‘She is one of the military state's Six Generals, and she hasn't even reached her prime yet. If I let her go, she'll be a problem for a long time. Especially if she awakens Gun-Sword Total Intent instead of only the Principle of Certain Hit, where one shot out of three is guaranteed to hit... She becomes Skywarbler's counter then, so she'd be really, really troublesome. Hmm.’

Huh? She was going to get even stronger? What was that skill name, Gun-Sword Total Intent, which sounded terrifyingly powerful even on first hearing it?

Good grief. I felt deprived just hearing about it. While I lamented after reading her thoughts without permission, the regressor also looked troubled and asked for our opinions.

"...I don't particularly want to kill her. Let's settle on keeping her alive for now."

Huh? What was she suddenly talking about?

"Shei, are you some demon crazed for slaughter? How can you speak as though not wanting to kill her is some great favor?"

"Huh? Why? I said I don't particularly want to kill her."

Did she still not understand what she had said? As I gaped, Tyrkanzyaka seemed just as dumbfounded, so she solemnly lectured her.

[Shei. Even if you bear a grudge against the military state, is she not Hyu's friend? How can you speak of killing a comrade's friend? Even a thirsty vampire does not touch the relations of an acquaintance.]

"Uh...? Wait. Am I the bad person?"

"See? I told you there was no need to blame vampires. What is the point of not committing Gluttony? You diced someone's right arm, and even putting aside that she is a friend, she is a prisoner who surrendered fairly meekly. Why would killing her even come up?"

The regressor, criticized from all sides, stiffened and denied it.

"I wasn't planning to kill her! I was just giving my opinion!"

"You're ruining the mood. No one is thinking about killing her, but you alone are saying, 'Then let's not kill her.' Anyone would think we go around killing people."

[If one slaughtered even a comrade's friend in this harsh world, who would stand on one's side? Do not mention it, even by mistake.]

"I, I wasn't thinking of killing her either...."

Under Tyr's and my joint assault, the regressor shrank back. Yes, this was the feeling. After happily beating down the regressor, I suddenly felt something strange and turned my gaze.

Tyr, it sounded as though you weren't sparing a prisoner because she was a prisoner, but because she was my acquaintance...?

"Tyr, what if the captured person wasn't Ria, but that spear-wielding man? Would you kill him?"

[...? If he is not your acquaintance, why would we need to make a special effort to spare him? It is not as though any of you need the living to take blood from.]

‘I simply do not wish to slaughter your friend for no reason and create resentment.’

Her whole way of thinking put ties and blood relations first.... It must have been because she came from such an old era.

Anyway, we returned to the question of Historia's treatment. In the end, we could either let her go or take her with us. If we released her, we needed to decide how. If we took her along, we needed to decide what measures to take.

With no particularly clever solution coming to mind, I suddenly had an idea and snapped my fingers.

"Then, how about this?"

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried