WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 242: I Stepped on a Lego

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Naturally, Halberdier's gears did not cover this entire land. They only extended in a single line from the watchtower like a rope, connecting to mechanisms placed along the road.

Covering all the ground in gears would not merely be inefficient. It would be impossible. No matter how extraordinary a gear might be, force was ultimately applied to the ends of its teeth, and too much force would make those ends crumble first.

Assembling gears was a matter of distribution. The height of efficiency was pushing every component as hard as possible without quite breaking it.

It was not particularly surprising that Halberdier had played a part in organizing the military state's systems.

Branches of service. Schools. Organizational structures. Weapons. Devices.

Anything that required precise design.

Others had put those designs into practice, but the man who designed them was Halberdier Maximilien, a man who had pursued his ideals to his heart's content in this country.

From a distant watchtower, he controlled the gears with a single finger.

This road was under his control as well. The mechanisms he had prepared were waiting for an opening to strike the automatic carriage.

I barely avoided the rising traps as I worked the controls of the slowing carriage.

"This automatic carriage was reinforced with Tyr's power, and it broke down in one hit?"

The heavy carriage had been designed to withstand force pressing down from above, but it was vulnerable to impacts from below. It had been struck from underneath as though someone had uppercut it and knocked the senses out of it. Humans were not all that different.

Even the faint noise that drove the automatic carriage had vanished. The Thunder Wheel had fallen silent. The carriage was still moving forward on inertia, but it was clearly going to stop soon.

This was when I needed man's best friend. I whipped my head around and shouted.

"Azzyyyyy! Dog sled! Pull this automatic carriage!"

The regressor objected.

"Wouldn't that be impossible? Azzy is still catching up to us."

"Why is she so slow?"

"You threw her into the waterway."

Tch. Why did Azzy have a cooldown? It would've been nice if I could use her twice.

There was no helping it. I had no choice but to move on to the next batter. I called to Tyr in the cargo compartment.

"Tyr! If you turn over the floor in the cargo compartment, there should be a small golden wheel in the center. Could you take a look?"

[W-what did you say? A wheel? Where?]

Tyr fumbled about, flustered by the unfamiliar technology.

Tch. Was modern technology too much for someone who had lived for twelve centuries? Should we abandon the automatic carriage and go on foot? That would be a shame.

"Progenitor. This way."

Fortunately, Siati was riding in the cargo compartment with her. Siati respectfully lifted the panel inside the automatic carriage and showed Tyr. The Thunder Wheel was an important component that had to be replaceable whenever needed. Tyr found the shining Thunder Wheel beneath the panel.

[I found it. It is spinning uselessly. What must I do with it?]

"Please put it back together! Just fit it gently into the grooves...!"

[Understood.]

Tyr gave an affirmative reply. Good. Reassembling an automatic carriage was no simple task, but any problem could be solved with enough force. With Tyr's strength, pushing a misaligned Thunder Wheel back into place would be easy...

Crunch.

The automatic carriage lurched violently to the side. I desperately gripped the suddenly stiff controls and used mind-reading to assess the situation.

Through Tyr's eyes, I saw the Thunder Wheel shattered beneath her hand. She had tried to force it back into place, then used too much strength when it would not go in and broke it. Holding the crushed Thunder Wheel, Tyr spoke anxiously.

[Hyu, a minor problem has arisen.]

"Don't tell me you broke it. You didn't, right? Tell me you didn't!"

[It was weaker than I expected. Everything that sparkles is so fragile. They seem too focused on making themselves shine to build any substance...]

"Excuses won't help! What do we do now?"

[...Is it that serious a problem?]

"Not that serious. The automatic carriage is just going to stop completely!"

Tyr looked thoroughly dejected as she fitted the crushed Thunder Wheel back in, trying somehow to revive it. It was a futile attempt that only dirtied the machinery.

What was I supposed to do? Something that could turn the wheels besides Azzy... Ah. There was one thing, if we were talking about strength.

I took a deep breath and gripped the controls tightly.

"If you don't have teeth, use your gums! Tyr! Since the Thunder Wheel is broken, turn it by hand instead!"

[Hold it in my hand and turn it?]

"Yes!"

[Understood. If it will make up for my mistake, then I should at least do that.]

The moment I heard her answer.

Rumble.

The automatic carriage groaned harshly, as though someone had seized its heart. It was a scream from its entire body.

Everyone riding in the carriage experienced a bizarre burst of acceleration. The automatic carriage, which should have moved at a steady speed, surged forward and then briefly slackened over and over, like a tug-of-war.

If it had not been reinforced by the Blood Mark, the carriage itself would have collapsed from that violent motion alone. It was also perfect for making me dizzy as I rode atop it.

The princess and Historia, who had been riding the horse, caught up behind us with Azzy. Soaked from head to toe and apparently less cheerful than before, Azzy immediately climbed onto the automatic carriage and shook herself with all her might. The droplets somehow struck the back of my neck painfully.

"Hui? Are you using the Progenitor as an engine right now?"

"That's right! It's not an automatic carriage anymore. It's a carriage powered by a vampire!"

"Using the Progenitor in place of a wheel is a fearless thing to do. If you get on her bad side..."

Historia sounded worried, but Tyr answered her on my behalf.

[Hyu! This is fascinating! I am not even pushing it from behind, yet the more I turn it, the farther forward it goes!]

That was how the device worked. Still, it must have been an astonishing discovery from Tyr's perspective.

Vampires grew weaker under the sun, their presence gradually being worn away. Tyr had recovered her heart, so she was better off than other vampires, but she still could not fully display her strength.

Yet by sitting in the cargo compartment of an automatic carriage and simply moving her hand in the dark, she could move forward. How amazing must that have felt?

"Thank you! As expected, Tyr is the only one I can count on! I'll handle the direction, so please turn it harder! The harder you turn, the faster we go!"

[It is a joint effort between you and me... Hehe, understood.]

"Yes! A joint effort! We're matching our rhythm together!"

[There is no need to emphasize it so embarrassingly... I understood well enough.]

More strength entered the turning wheel. The automatic carriage moved forward, repeating brief accelerations and decelerations.

With the Progenitor of vampires replacing its Thunder Wheel as the power source, the automatic carriage began racing again. It was faster than before, but neither the regressor nor I relaxed.

If Halberdier could destroy a bridge from this far away, he could do something else as well. I kept driving with the regressor beside me, tense as she looked around in every direction.

Then the regressor spotted something and shouted urgently.

"Watch out! Something's coming!"

"What kind of something?"

"I don't know! But gears are turning over there!"

"How am I supposed to watch out when you don't know what it is?"

I did not even have time to complain. That unknown something soon revealed itself.

In a rather unusual way.

The world tilted.

Usually, when either the world or I was wrong, I was the one in the wrong more often than not, regardless of what my stubborn ego said. The vast world would not go wrong just to trouble one person.

This was clearly strange, though. The ground was not actually flat, yet the world tilted and the automatic carriage and I began sliding sideways, as if it were mocking my foolishness by proving this patch of ground had been perfectly level all along.

I was briefly confused, but soon reached a simple conclusion that neatly explained the situation. The ground was fine. I was fine. Only the section beneath my feet was wrong.

"The road is tilting!"

Creak, creak. I could hear the gears twisting from here. A massive solid block supported the underside of this road. As the gears moved, the block was trying to turn itself over.

The carriage and I gradually slid sideways. The slope changed into an angle steep enough to call a cliff. Azzy, who had been on top of the automatic carriage, drove her claws into the roof and somehow held on.

"Woof! There's never a peaceful day!"

"You installed something like this into the entire road?! Your taste is appalling...!"

The regressor grumbled and drew Jizan. Reading her thoughts, I turned the steering wheel and guided the carriage up the slanted slope.

Once we reached what could only be called the road's summit, an expression whose words did not suit each other at all, the regressor leaned out and smoothly lowered Jizan.

Earth Staff Style, Thousand-Pound Drop.

A thousand-pound weight settled at the tip of Jizan. It was called a thousand pounds, but the actual weight was many thousands of times greater.

If it had simply been heavy, one side of the road would have broken and that would have been the end of it. Yet Jizan, as though rooted in the enormous structure, evenly distributed its immense weight across the entire road.

The road being overturned by the gears contended with Jizan's weight. A brief stillness followed.

It did not last long.

Jizan overwhelmed the gears. The teeth transferring force shattered one after another.

Jizan was the Church of the Earth Mother's sacred artifact, a recoil-free sword that symbolized the earth itself and that only the qualified could wield. Mere gears could not withstand it.

Once Jizan above it properly displayed its strength, the overturning ground recalled its respect for Mother Earth and settled back down.

At the same time, the regressor returned to the passenger seat.

"Whew. Good job. If we get out of here like this..."

She had been about to praise me when a thought occurred to her, and she closed her mouth.

'Come to think of it, I didn't even tell him to do that, but he went up on his own. As if he knew I could use Thousand-Pound Drop?'

I could read your thoughts, and you had been using Jizan constantly lately because it was convenient. Wasn't your mind a little too easy to read?

I could not tell her that, so should I just make up an excuse?

"That's the technique Jiseon used when she overturned Tantalus, right? The one that distributes weight evenly."

"You have a good eye. That's right."

'Now that I think about it, this guy has used Jizan before, hasn't he? He has good instincts and a sharp eye. I have to go retrieve Jizan again in the next cycle anyway. If he can keep pace with me this well... couldn't I make him a companion in the next cycle too?'

No, that was a bit much. Shouldn't I have at least one cycle off? This boss was generous with her spending, but even if I died, she'd still work me to the bone in the next cycle.

"Anyway, if we get out of here like this, there won't be a proble..."

The regressor cut herself off again. She spun around and stared into the distance with an unbelieving expression.

I could not turn around because I had to watch ahead, but through the regressor's eyes, I saw the sight that had shocked her.

"...Halberdier is chasing us himself?"

Halberdier Maximilien was running across a continuous line of gears.

What could I compare that sight to? It was probably closest to crossing stepping stones. A row of gears extended like roots from the tall watchtower. Maximilien lightly stepped atop the rapidly spinning gears as he approached.

He fearlessly launched himself across rotations that would turn anyone caught between them into a chunk of meat. It looked as though the gears had joined forces to throw his body forward.

I recalled several rumors about Halberdier. One was that he had designed the Meta Conveyor Belt.

Jiseon had prepared the ground, and the War Mage had set it in motion, but the one who had first come up with the idea was the designer, the god of gears, Halberdier Maximilien.

"What's he planning?"

"I don't know what he's planning, but I don't think we can shake him off. Look. He's closing in fast, and every escape route is blocked."

"We can deal with him once he gets close. Halberdier's strength comes from preparation. In other words, he isn't that difficult where he hasn't prepared anything. Let him come."

"Oh, confidence. That sounded kind of cool."

"I-I told you not to say pointless things."

"By the way, you talk like you've fought all the Six Generals. Were you some kind of terrible criminal?"

'I was a criminal. In the previous cycle. Honestly, people like Absolute Spear and the Gunman, who fight purely with skill and martial strength, are the most troublesome. There is no clear way to deal with them.'

Her honest thought was cute, but did that not just mean she was weak in a straight fight?

Was it really okay for us to charge in? The enemy was the military state, but we had entered because you, Tyr, and Historia were with us. If you're that unconfident, it makes me uneasy.

'Halberdier, who uses gears, and Heavenly Link, whose very existence is a mystery, are relatively manageable. Shadow Casket... I still don't understand that one. I can overwhelm him one-on-one, so why is he one of the Six Generals?'

Were you the cutoff point for becoming one of the Six Generals or something? Why was that thought so sad?

Then again, the regressor was more of a strategist than a warrior. She was exceptionally good at exploiting anyone with a known solution.

The three Six Generals still at headquarters seemed manageable enough for someone like her. Then there was no need to worry too much.

"He's here."

The regressor leaned out and glared toward the back of the road. Maximilien, who had run over the gears, landed thirty meters behind the automatic carriage.

He looked like a mixture of man and machine. If someone had made a human imitation out of gears, would it have looked exactly like that? Gears were sparsely embedded across his skin.

There were only thirty meters between him and the automatic carriage. The distance was slowly widening. Considering how fast the carriage was moving, it would have been a hopeless distance for someone to catch on foot.

But our opponent was Halberdier Maximilien, one of the Six Generals. Even unarmed, he was a being comparable to an army corps.

He twisted his ankle. A gear attached to the heel of his shoe clicked down and began spinning. Small cracking sounds rang out one after another where it touched the road, and at the same time, Maximilien's gears forcefully propelled him forward.

What was that? I glanced back and asked.

"...Are those wheels?"

The regressor confirmed it.

"Yes. Gears. Every gear attached to his body moves according to his will. The wheels on his feet are the same. That's why he can pull off tricks like that."

"That's incredible. His body must be dozens of times lighter than this automatic carriage, so doesn't that mean he can move dozens of times faster than us?"

"Only on roads. He isn't that fast on bare ground. Gears make all Earth Qi Art techniques, including lightness skills, difficult to use, so his own feet are faster over short distances. But... he isn't someone we can ignore."

As the regressor sank deeper into thought, Maximilien slid along the road and passed us in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he was running while facing us. Only then did I get a proper look at his face.

The moment Maximilien saw us, he tipped his officer's cap and greeted us.

"Now then! You escapees from Tantalus! A pleasure to meet you! I am one of the Lords of All Creation, a proud human being! My name is Maximilien!"

Perhaps he had reached his realm at a fairly young age, because he had the innocent face of a child. It did not look as though he had aged much.

A gear-shaped monocle hung over his left eye. The moment he saw us, the gear attached to the monocle clicked to the left. He pulled the two overlapping lenses outward. It appeared he adjusted the number of lenses according to distance.

Maximilien glided smoothly across the ground and spread both arms. A brilliant golden Thunder Wheel slowly turned in the center of his chest, right around his solar plexus.

"Now! I apologize for obstructing your path. I do not particularly like noise from outside interference. I hate becoming that noise even more! It is not beautiful, you see! Still, no matter what, I had to see all of you!"

The regressor gripped her sword as though she were about to leap out at any moment and shouted.

"How shameless! You blocked our way!"

"It could not be helped. You keep trying to get farther and farther away from me! Even after I destroyed the bridge and tilted the road, you continued onward, so I had no choice but to come find you myself!"

"What do you want?"

"It seems you are finally curious! Good! I shall take that as a sign that you are willing to converse, and I shall speak!"

Even as he moved while facing backward, his movements were natural. He did not even glance behind him to check his path. He stood comfortably, as though he were on ground that moved by itself, and attempted to converse.

The regressor frowned deeply.

'Tch, it must be that. That bastard is one of the Lords of All Creation, their leader. What he is looking for is... surely.'

Maximilien continued gliding forward, spread his arms wider, and lifted his head. His gaze was fixed on Azzy.

"King of Dogs! Humanity's oldest friend!"

Azzy, drenched and lying atop the automatic carriage, perked up her ears at the sound of her name.

"Woof? Did you call me?"

"Yes! My friend, friend of all! The cleverest beast in the world, who swore to obey humanity! Now, tell me!"

Despite the number of people present, he did not spare anyone else a glance. He only looked at Azzy, his eyes burning beyond the machinery.

The gears decorating his entire body were inorganic. Yet his eyes were full of a joy that did not suit cold steel gears at all.

"Who here is the King of Humanity?"

Footnotes:

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