WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 258: The Land of Steel and the Faceless Humans - 7

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‘It’s gone wrong, gone wrong. Ah, it was quite a decent performance, too.’

“Carapald” returned to being Zikhrund. He would have liked to play around on this stage a little longer, but unlike Carapald, Zikhrund had a mission.

‘If the refinery is destroyed... that’ll be a disaster. The operation will fail. Nobody will sit still after that.’

This had not been his original plan.

A trap had been set in the center of the control room. It had been hastily assembled, but it was certain to work. Its trigger was an eye-catching lever with a red handle, impossible to miss.

Originally, the regressor and Historia were supposed to argue, activate the trap, and fall into the military state's snare.

Instead, after reading Zikhrund’s thoughts, I had ignored the trap and activated the real annihilation device.

‘Should I have removed the annihilation device beforehand...? No, there wasn’t enough time. The trap could be assembled in a hurry, but the annihilation device had been designed when this refinery was first built.’

After thinking that far, Zikhrund looked at me suspiciously.

‘More importantly, how did the Pied Piper know that was the annihilation device? I even gave the lever an eye-catching red handle, yet he only toyed with it as though he were taunting me.’

While Zikhrund lamented after stepping out of his role, the regressor realized what I had done and shouted urgently.

“You lunatic! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Can’t you see? I turned the wheel of fate!”

“Turn it back right now!”

“I can’t. This is like knocking something that was barely hanging off a cliff’s edge over the side. Once it starts moving, it won’t come back just because you turn it back!”

“Then what are you going to do?!”

“Why should I be the one worrying about that?”

The regressor looked speechless at my answer. Still, I was serious.

“The military state made the laws, and the military state sentenced people who broke them to forced labor. The military state built the refinery and created an annihilation device inside it! All I did was press a button sitting right in front of me. Is this entirely my fault?”

“That’s sophistry! If this continues, they’ll die. And even if their deaths delay the military state’s plans for a moment, that won’t lead to a better outcome!”

“You want to save them? Then go save them. Before this refinery leads them to their deaths, save them yourself, Mr. Shei!”

“What?”

[Enough.]

Tyr interrupted the regressor. After sighing and looking at Shei for a moment, Tyr turned a warm gaze on me and walked over.

[Did Hyu not take on the villain’s role for your sake? Rather than thank him, you scold him instead. You should be ashamed.]

“How am I supposed to thank him for this?!”

[It was not a matter that could be resolved easily anyway. Before you wasted your energy for no reason, Hyu chose to shoulder all the blame and act. Shei, what you must do now is not blame Hyu. Think of what comes next, then do it.]

After sternly scolding the regressor, Tyr approached me and took my hand in her cold hand, comforting me.

[It is all right. None of us are disappointed in you. Do not blame yourself. Whatever Shei says to you, it is only an expression of regret. It does not mean that you are a bad person.]

“Huh? I’m not blaming myself, though.”

[Yes. Let us say that is the case.]

Tyr smiled and kept up her comforting act. It was not a matter of letting her say that. I did not feel guilty in the first place. The military state made the device, so why should I feel responsible?

Still, being comforted by an older woman who was kind only to me did not feel so bad. She was considerably older, though.

“You didn’t need to shoulder it yourself.”

The strategic objective she had proposed had been achieved, but Historia still seemed dissatisfied as she grumbled at me.

“I should have done it. I never meant to leave it to someone else...”

“You don’t need to thank me. I only turned a cog.”

“I'm one of the Six Generals. I have the authority to operate military state facilities according to my own judgment.”

“Does being assigned something mean you have the right to do it? Authority or not, my own will is what moves my body in the end.”

“Even so.”

Ah, it would have made for a much better picture if someone with authority granted by the military state had activated a device made by the military state. Still, Historia did not know which one was the annihilation device either, so it could not be helped.

“But Hui, how did you find the annihilation devi...”

Historia could not finish her sentence. Someone passed her and walked forward.

“Carapald?”

It was not Carapald. Zikhrund had already stepped out of that role.

Zikhrund strode forward until he stood before the lever with the red handle. His expression was strange. Wearing a layered smile that seemed regretful yet detached, he tightly gripped the handle.

As everyone stared in confusion at him, now center stage, he let out a long sigh.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.”

“Wait, Carapald! What are you...!”

The moment she finished speaking, Zikhrund yanked down the red handle.

The trap had been hastily assembled, which made it all the more dramatic. There was no time to react. Not because we lacked the ability, but because reacting was impossible.

Shrrrack.

Strange objects hung from the walls of the control room. Those ornaments had remained unseen until now because there had been no lighting, but the instant Zikhrund pulled the lever, they all moved at once.

It was truly the speed of light. There was not even time to resist. The instant we recognized it, the trap filling the refinery came down upon us.

I had already read his thoughts, so I reacted one step faster.

“Tyr! This way!”

[Hyu? Why all of a sudden?]

As I pulled Tyr toward me, I took out a card.

Queen of Diamonds. Queen of Cloth. I unfolded a primordial clothing package made from compressed alchemical thread. Combined with other cards, it would become the spirit garment used by mage officers, but there was no time for that now.

A broad cloth that seemed both like armor and silk unfolded. Its size was disappointing, but it was enough to cover Tyr’s body. I shook out the cloth and spread it wide, wrapping Tyr in it.

It would have been understandable for her to be surprised, but Tyr simply watched what I was doing. Thank goodness Tyr was so easygoing. If I had done the same thing to the regressor, she would have cut me down immediately.

The instant the cloth wrapped around Tyr’s entire body.

Light flashed.

Thousands of suns flashed. The ornaments decorating the walls were searchlights, each blazing with brilliant light. Thousands, tens of thousands of high-powered searchlights fired their beams at once.

The light struck us directly, bounced off the ground, and overlapped with itself until it burned white.

The overwhelming brightness filled my vision. I instinctively shut my eyes, but the explosive light mocked my thin eyelids and invaded even the backs of my retinas.

“Urgh! Light?!”

The trap laid by the military state was an enormous number of searchlights placed throughout the control room. They had been prepared specifically to imprison Tyr.

The sun was bright enough to illuminate the entire world, but to those of us standing on the ground, it was only a small hole in the sky. Unless we stared directly at it, it was harmless.

The military state’s searchlights, on the other hand, surrounded us from every direction, pouring light over us. Wherever we turned our eyes, we were blinded and could not even open them.

[The sun is asleep now, so how can there be this much light...!]

“They’re searchlights! Heated metal gives off light! A refinery that processes metal is also a factory for making searchlights!”

It was a desperate measure devised to deal with Tyr in the middle of the night, when the sun did not rise. If I had not been here, it would have been fairly effective. Darkness would have been consumed at a frantic rate to resist the artificial light.

Unlike the sun, though, the artificial light of a searchlight was a practical thing that only emitted light visible to human eyes. Its less mysterious, less scorching light could not pierce through my thick cloth.

“Tyr, are you okay?”

[I-I am fine. Being the one protected does not feel so bad, either....]

Tyr tightened her hand around my clothes and rested her head against me. What did she mean, it did not feel so bad? It felt plenty bad! Do not be protected, protect me!

Zikhrund was moving right now!

‘First, eliminate the variable.’

Zikhrund did not miss the moment when everyone had temporarily lost their sight. He drew a hidden dagger and thrust it at me in an instant. Tyr was close by, but she could not notice the attack with the outside flooded in light.

What should I do? Use Tyr as a shield? No, that was a last resort. If the cloth wrapping Tyr tore, the darkness expenditure would be no joke.

He had not regained his vision either. Zikhrund was only attacking based on where he remembered I had been.

In that case.

“Tyr! Excuse me!”

[...Do as you please.]

“I’m not doing anything like that!”

I threw myself to the floor while holding Tyr. Our bodies slammed hard against the ground. A dizzying pain shot through my back, but I desperately rolled around so Zikhrund could not pinpoint my position.

My back was battered against the hard floor, but it was still better than being stabbed. Zikhrund lost track of me and could not follow my movements through the waterfall of light.

Phew, I survived. Thank goodness I could read thoughts even with my eyes closed. Now, was Tyr all right...?

[T-This is the custom called bride kidnapping.... I was so dumbfounded when I heard of it that I could not speak, but experiencing it myself feels rather novel....]

Since she was talking nonsense, the cloth did not seem to have torn anywhere. Tyr was more than fine. A vampire would not get hurt just by rolling around on the ground.

'...Did he see through the nature of the trap? He even avoided my attack. It is beyond what intuition or knowledge can explain.'

Tch. I should be worried about myself first. The situation was urgent, so I moved first, but that had made Zikhrund suspicious of me.

‘Suspicious. I need to confirm this. Even if it means revealing my face-changing art.’

The regressor and Historia, who had learned Water Qi Art, adapted to the light in an instant. A qi master who had reached a high realm could infuse qi even into their eyes. After adapting to the light that seemed capable of burning their retinas, the two quickly grasped the situation.

“With this light, it’s a trap meant to consume darkness. A trap to restrain Tyrkanzyaka! Huh? Then...?”

Having realized something, the regressor immediately pointed at Zikhrund, who still looked like Carapald. He stood in the middle of the light with a dagger in one hand, in the strange pose of someone trying to stab another person.

Historia rapidly understood the situation. Carapald had pulled the lever, and countless searchlights had turned on as a result.

The conclusion was obvious.

“Carapald activated the trap.”

There was no room for doubt.

Historia held a strange attachment to the classmates who had survived Hamelin, but there were limits. Carapald, who had once been a mage officer candidate, was emotionally the furthest from Historia.

That made suspicion easy.

“Betrayal? Or a disguise...?”

“Either way, he’s an enemy, right? Then!”

Without the slightest hesitation, the regressor raised Skywarbler and charged. Compared to Historia’s brief hesitation, her attack was so natural that one might suspect they had been crossing blades and fighting only moments earlier.

The transparent sword split the haze of light in two and slashed Zikhrund deeply.

“Gaaaah!”

Zikhrund staggered backward, pouring out blood. His weakened hand dropped the dagger. After cornering him in an instant, the regressor pointed Skywarbler at him and shouted.

“Stop the trap right...! Huh? He’s dead?”

The regressor was flustered. She had not even used a killing move, yet no matter how weak he was, he had started trembling and died.

“What? A doll? No, the feeling from earlier...”

No, that was an act. It was the same performance of playing dead that Zikhrund had done over and over until now.

The regressor was briefly confused by the realistic performance that perfectly imitated even stopped breathing and disrupted qi flow.

I wanted to tell her that he was playing dead, but that would only draw more of Zikhrund’s attention to me. I should keep quiet for now.

Siati was the only one who had not kept up with the situation. She was frowning deeply, but her vision had not recovered yet.

“Urgh.... Carapald? Where are you?”

Historia clicked her tongue and grabbed Siati, shouting.

“Siati, listen carefully! Carapald betrayed us. We fell into a trap because of him!”

“Historia? Why are you suddenly trying to drive us apart...”

“Listen to me! I don’t have time to explain every little thing just to make you understand!”

After shouting sharply, Historia immediately led Siati toward a relatively shaded spot. Then she suddenly called out.

“Cutie!”

The regressor responded at once.

“Why? No! Don’t call me cutie!”

“This cannot be the only trap. We need to get out quickly! Cut the wall! If I break it, the entire building could collapse!”

“Tch...! If we leave like this, this place will turn into a real hell...!”

“Are you going to kill everyone who followed you? Think more about your companions than the criminals trapped here!”

The regressor accepted that. She only agonized over such things when there was room to spare. Even she was not the kind of person who put a minor cause before her companions’ safety.

It could not be helped. The regressor was not a god. Since her abilities had limits, she had to deal with the urgent matters in front of her first.

Like every other ordinary person, the regressor showed flexibility.

“Heavenly Sword Technique...!”

Right before the regressor swung Skywarbler to cut through the wall.

She spotted something and paused, then changed Skywarbler’s direction and struck something flying toward her.

Clang!

Her sword had clearly thrust into empty air, yet it struck steel. That was not the end. The regressor immediately moved her feet and unleashed dozens of sword strikes into the seemingly empty air. Every time she swung her sword, a loud metallic sound rang out.

Everything around us was blinding. Just as it was difficult to find a blue flower floating in a blue sea, it was extremely difficult to catch a being made of light itself within the dazzling light.

Even the regressor would not have found it if she did not possess mystic eyes. Seven colors flashed in sequence, and she barely caught sight of the being that had attacked her.

The regressor grimaced.

“A...Meder...! Of all places, here!”

『Control observation complete. Manifestation rate 57%. Artificial light environment. Advantageous.』

The military state’s guardian angel, its entire body covered in light, appeared amid the pouring radiance.

At the same time, a loud commotion rose from outside. The troops the military state had hidden in the refinery had come in person to clear out the rats caught in their trap.

Footnotes:

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