WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 233: Kill the Military State, That Was My Only Thought from the Start

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They say that if you save someone from drowning, they will demand their bundle back.

It was a saying meant to criticize the ungrateful, but if the person had jumped into the water of their own accord, it was, in a way, a fair complaint.

That was Siati's case. Though Historia had saved her life, Siati poured all the resentment in her heart onto Historia.

She cursed, insulted, and complained.

What cut Historia deepest was not the carefully sharpened words meant to hurt her, but Siati's sincere murmur.

'Nicholas saw us as materials, and Lankart saw us as insects. But you... you saw us as losers. Humans with no talent and no effort, infinitely weaker and more inferior than you... defeated humans. Hehehe. You're the only one who saw us as human at all.'

They say those facing death speak only the truth before closing their eyes.

Siati had intended to die, and she certainly would have succeeded if nobody had stopped her. Her words carried a sincerity that struck Historia directly. Words she would never have dared say to Historia's face under normal circumstances, pointed and sharp, stabbed into her.

'You know? We really hated Nicholas and Lankart. But that was all. If we ran into them, we could just quietly avoid them. That was enough. But I didn't even want to go near you. Whenever you were there, I felt like I'd lost at life. It was miserable knowing that even a hundred of us together would lose to you alone.'

Historia, busy rescuing survivors, kept pulling up corpses instead. She possessed strength greater than all the students combined, but there were still countless things even she could not do.

She could not stop the flowing river.

She could not hold on to children who had given up their lives.

She could not find one boy amid the blurred human shapes drifting through the murky water.

The recovered bodies piled up. Even some of those helping her were sickened by the sight and could only watch. As the drenched Historia went back into the water, Siati coughed up a great mouthful of water and burst into laughter.

'Still, compared to the others, you're an angel. At least you get hurt! At least you suffer! Right now, more than at any other moment in my life, I'm happy to see you suffering! It means you're human, just like us! So more, more! I hope you hurt and regret it as much as we do!'

Then she threw herself into the Resistance. She wanted to strike at the military state.

Even after becoming an officer and building an extraordinary record, Historia could not catch Siati when she appeared before her. No, she did not catch her.

If she captured or killed Siati, one of the few survivors Historia had saved that day would disappear. There would be one less person who shared the shock and grief of that day...

...In truth, she simply could not make up her mind.

The problem she had put off again and again finally returned to stand before Historia.

"Hui. That's incredible! No matter how hard the Resistance tried, assassinating a general was the greatest achievement we could manage. But you captured one of the Six Generals! Alive, too!"

The children who died in Hamelin had achieved their goal of taking revenge on the military state.

Nicholas died, and the taboo was exposed. The Daughter of the Military State was consumed by remorse, while Lankart, who had been chosen as the War Mage's successor, betrayed the military state. Several surviving children, including Siati, became Resistance members burning with hatred.

And I...

"You're different after all! The Pied Piper who led us in Hamelin!"

Siati, who had been laughing cheerfully, smiled warmly at me and asked, "How have you been?"

"Just... doing well."

"Doing well? You're... doing well?"

Common sense said you should be glad to hear a friend was doing well, but Siati was abnormal in more ways than one. The laughter vanished from her face, replaced in an instant by a terrifying grimace.

"How can you be doing well? You're the one, aren't you? You were the one who suggested we go into the water. Because of you, everyone drowned themselves and died. You made people..."

At that point, Siati gripped Historia's shoulder so hard with her prosthetic hand that it looked ready to break. Historia had deliberately not wrapped herself in aura, and a small groan escaped her as Siati's fingers dug into her shoulder bone.

Siati paid no attention to that reaction and jerked her head.

"This isn't right. The military state is wrong somehow. You're the one who made us feel that something was off. After killing everyone and arranging all of this, at the very leeeast! You shouldn't get to live wellllll!"

"I never told anyone to die."

"If you didn't tell them to die, does that mean they didn't die? Is the world some toy that moves however you want? They died on their own even though you didn't tell them to, so you're not responsible? Then whose fault is this world that ended up like this?"

After pressing me relentlessly, Siati let Historia go and staggered toward me.

"No, Hui. I, who decided to die, lived, and the children who decided to live died. We'd clearly agreed on who would die and who would live, but we ended up like this. No, we were supposed to graduate, but everyone died! Something went wrong. The children who died cursed the military state, but this damned country is still standing just fine. Isn't something, something wrong? Then where did the children's feelings go?"

Where else would they go? They were here.

In you, me, and Historia.

"How can you, who survived because they died... be doing well?"

Because I had to live an ordinary life. I had buried myself in normality and lived peacefully.

People who spent today in peace wished for an unchanged tomorrow. Among ordinary people satisfied with their small happinesses, I lived each day faithfully, imagining the same routine.

But.

The tomorrow they imagined did not include those who died today.

This was why I wanted to live as a petty criminal.

"I can be doing well. The destruction of the military state isn't a goal I want badly enough to risk my life for, like you do."

"Huiiiiii!!"

As Siati was about to fly into a rage, I continued gently.

"But if I don't have to risk my life, I might want to break it a little."

Siati's face brightened into a broad smile, as though light had fallen across it. The change was dramatic.

Historia's expression darkened instead. In the end, she turned her head away again.

Siati happily patted my shoulder.

"Well, with such a powerful ally and Historia as a prisoner, you've already done everything there is to do! What you've done is far greater than anything we did! I'll trust you, Hui!"

Then Siati suddenly grabbed and pulled my ear and whispered close enough for her breath to touch my earlobe.

"Historia is indecisive, and she has too many lingering attachments. Last time, even after seeing me plant bombs, she tried to ignore me and only took the bombs away. She'd do that even for me, so imagine what she'd do for you. If you hold her in your arms and whisper something sweet to her, she'll probably tear out her liver and gallbladder to give them to you. Hehehe. Try it soon! The more weapons we have to break the military state, the better, right?"

Still giggling, Siati noticed Tyr watching us with an uneasy, steady gaze. Her expression changed at once.

The violent emotions at the corners of her mouth vanished in an instant. Reason returned to her eyes, which had gleamed with madness. Siati looked far more heartened as she deeply bowed to Tyr in a respectful greeting.

"It is an honor to meet you, Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka. Forgive this insignificant human, but may I speak a word to the great Progenitor?"

Tyr received the greeting with ease.

"I permit it."

'This human knows proper etiquette. Hmm. Her attitude is quite different from how she acted toward Hyu just now.'

Once she was granted permission, Siati spoke clearly, one word at a time and without emotion, as if reading a contract.

"My blood, flesh, honor, or life. I will offer all of it. Could you destroy the military state? If necessary, I will seek out other compensation as well."

Yet her words were filled only with precisely measured anger.

"Siati!"

The princess, who had only watched from behind her guardian knight until now, cried out in alarm. She even waved her hands wildly as though demanding that Siati take it back immediately.

Tyr glanced at the princess before answering.

"I understand your wish. I too have once intensely hated a country and destroyed it. But since neither of us came alone, should you not first speak with your companions?"

Unlike with me, Siati did not show blind rage toward Tyr. She accepted the reasonable opinion, bowed her head, and replied with the utmost respect.

"Excuse my rudeness. I will organize our position and return soon."

"There is no need. For now, I am following whatever Hyu wishes to do. Once the negotiations between your side and ours have concluded, we will know which course to take. Let us wait for that."

For an instant, Siati's gaze turned toward me. It lasted only a moment. She smiled as though that was enough, then politely bowed and stepped back.

The princess scolded Siati with a deliberately angry expression.

"Siati! How can you say something like that so carelessly?"

"I'm sorry, Princess. But it's the easiest way."

"You would offer your blood, flesh, life, and honor? What use is it to bring down the military state if those who should enjoy the glory die? We fight for our comrades!"

"Enjoy glory? That's too far in the future. This stupid person doesn't understand."

"Siati!"

The last princess and the first Resistance member.

The two seemed accustomed to exchanges like this, closer to scolding than conversation. Siati patiently accepted each of the princess's complaints and skillfully calmed her.

"Princess. Calm down. At least I won't let you die before me."

"Whew. Siati. What I mean is... No, we're guests here, so let's talk about it later."

'Why does everyone keep saying they'll give up their lives or offer their lives whenever anything happens...! You can do more while you're alive. It's so irresponsible! Idiot! Fool!'

Still unable to let go of her anger, the princess hurled 'harsh insults' in her heart and resumed the greeting Siati had interrupted.

She took a small breath.

She smoothed her long, luxuriant pale-pink hair, then looked around at everyone with clear blue eyes like a lake. The royal family's symbol was noble pale-purple hair, but they said an heir with pink-tinged hair appeared whenever an ill omen was coming.

It might have been misfortune for the royal family, but it had been fortunate for the princess. Because the royal family had thoroughly hidden that fact, she had survived several dangerous moments.

Though the kingdom had fallen, royal blood still ran in her veins. She had a doll-like appearance that looked perfect in a dress. Yet she wore a plain clothing-packet shirt and skirt, creating the strange impression that her head and body did not belong together. The shawl draped over her shoulders at least preserved a little dignity.

Displaying as much elegance as she could within that incongruity, the princess smiled softly.

"Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Yerien. Yerien Grandiomor. I am the last bloodline of the Grandiomor royal family and the representative of the Resistance."

A delicate, gentle voice. Graceful movements only someone born with such grace could possess. A shy smile.

It was an introduction that made one forget, if only briefly, that the kingdom had disappeared.

Yet nobody was surprised. Far from being shocked, few even seemed interested.

I nodded because I had read their thoughts.

'She was a princess. I know because I've seen her often. She looks much gentler now than she did then. Is it because her guardian knight and friend are both alive?'

'The kingdom fell, and the restoration army has the last royal descendant. How ordinary.'

'...As expected. If I hand over this information... it would mean I personally killed the remaining children. Should I do it?'

Nobody was surprised or overwhelmed by her status as a princess. Nobody was even happy to see her.

"Woof! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you! Huh? You, king?"

...Not a single person was happy to see her.

The princess bowed in return to Azzy, then waited for the reaction that should have followed. When she read the indifferent looks in their eyes, she realized something.

'Oh? Could it be that I... am actually fairly ordinary here?'

The response to meeting the last princess was lukewarm, and though she did not show it, the princess was disappointed.

'Oh, this won't do! I have to be humble, humble! I'm only a Resistance member! Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I should expect privileges!'

Then, disappointed in herself for feeling disappointed, she shook her head from side to side and gathered her resolve.

Footnotes:

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