WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 266: The Human Who Had No Face

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"Let's make you a woman this time. I know you want to become someone new, but wouldn't it be better to match your original body?"

"You, uh, uh..."

The fight between him and Historia was too fast and violent for an ordinary person to follow, but it was gradually dying down. The heated air and sprays of blood gave way to a more conventional exchange.

The two traded attacks and defenses as though they were rehearsing a routine.

"Let's make your build as small as possible. Making a body bigger is easy, but making it smaller is difficult. The more we reduce it, the better we can preserve your uniqueness. Zikhrund had a slender build too, so that should work better, right?"

"Stop..."

"Your face should look like it did when you were young. Ah, you said you couldn't remember it. That's a problem."

I couldn't draw his face, and even if I did, I had no way of knowing whether it was accurate. His face had disappeared long ago.

People's bodies changed as they grew, and faces were no exception. The life someone lived left traces on their body like growth rings, creating an impression of its own.

But someone who changed his face every day could never develop such an impression. His childhood face remained only as a faded memory. No matter how promising a sprout was, no one could tell what it would become from its first leaves alone.

His wish had never been to regain his original face. He wanted a standard to keep from losing himself. I could have chosen an appearance based loosely on his preferences and made that his standard, but...

Wouldn't that be a little careless?

"At times like this, we borrow the power of mystery. Instead of an anchor for your identity, I'll give you a lighthouse that can truly become your standard."

"You... the Pied Piper... What the hell are you?"

"Is that important right now? What's important is that I can grant your wish."

Any face I drew here wouldn't resemble him anyway. Besides, I still had things to do, so I couldn't explain every detail. I would leave the rest to someone else.

"Find Mr. Shei somewhere in this refinery. He has eyes that can see fate. Do you understand what I mean?"

The regressor's Eyes of Fate might be able to observe the fate he could have reached. With the Mask of Agartha she possessed, she should be able to recreate that face. I didn't know whether she would go that far for him, though.

More importantly, how many treasures had she hoarded? She should've shared some.

"That man..."

"Of course, he won't use his power willingly. So sell us out instead. Tell him you'll reveal where we went in exchange, and he'll do it."

The regressor would be pleased simply to learn about Zikhrund's abilities and identity.

Was there another genie as kind as me? I had clearly identified the problem with his wish and even offered a certain, tidy solution. Wow. If I'd granted every wish in the world, there'd be no stories about contracts with devils or monkey's paws.

Zikhrund, no, even the body he had prepared for transforming into others, slowly began to lose its shape. The energy that had filled his muscles and bones drained away, and his body gradually shrank.

Making a body bigger was easy, but making one smaller was difficult. You only had to add to it or inflate it, but reducing it meant loss or suppression.

"Ugh... ah..."

As his body changed, the clothes he had adjusted to his bio-terminal began to hang loose. His sleeves now extended half a handspan past his arms, and his narrow jaw was exposed, as though the solid material packed into his mouth had fallen out. He looked less thin than like a deflated balloon.

It was the backlash from repeatedly altering his body's structure by directly infusing energy into his bones and muscles. Reduced to that pathetic state, he muttered through guilt and pain.

"No... I can't betray her..."

"I don't know who she is, but betrayal? How is fulfilling your own wish a betrayal of her? Your ability has already been exposed. You're only taking the opportunity to live with a new face and name!"

Zikhrund desperately pulled himself together. The anchor of his identity was nearly torn free, but a more fundamental doubt turned toward me.

Could he really trust me?

'This is absurd. He knows the wish a person desires most and says he'll grant it? It's not that he grants wishes. He digs into a single human being, into the lowest, filthiest depths! He's dangerous...!'

He began to doubt not my proposal, but me as a person. He couldn't find any flaw in my personally tailored offer, so he changed direction.

'Prophecy more or less forces people in the present to sacrifice themselves for the future. His power is the exact opposite. It lets us commit sins as freely as we please. A power standing at the Sanctum's opposite extreme...! He possesses such an enormous ability, yet he was born and raised in a military state with no trace of mystery?'

Sharp instincts, innate powers of observation, and a paranoid personality that didn't let even the smallest detail pass.

The suspicion honed over a long life on the run tried to reject my offer.

'It's hard to believe, but even if I do believe in his ability... accepting that offer is even more dangerous. It might be a contract with the devil.'

Tsk. I had even given him a little hint not to doubt me because I knew this would happen. I couldn't exactly say it outright. It was supposed to be a secret.

All right, one more time. I whispered softly to him.

"A gift from the Magi of the East."

'The Magi from the East...?'

It was an idiom from the Bible. The Magi of the East had found the first prophet, the First Holy Maiden. They were gone now, but when people seeking prophecies or revelations encountered a fateful opportunity, they often called it guidance from the Magi of the East.

Though he had spent a long time in hiding, acting was the foundation of who he was. That unfamiliar phrase drew old memories from him.

'A role that often appeared in biblical plays. A theatrical device that grants the protagonist a special encounter. Right. Everything...'

Yes. You understood.

As someone who had encountered more stories than anyone through his profession, studied those roles, and acted them himself, he would figure it out on his own.

'A passing scholar. A wandering mercenary. A hermit sage. A mendicant monk. A traveler. All of them... unnamed extras. They refer to unspecified people whom there is no need, and no way, to identify. Then the one who calls them all...'

His thoughts rolled on before catching on something and coming to a stop. He looked up at me with trembling eyes.

'No way...'

Was it because of the repeated shocks to his mind? He gasped for breath. His bloodshot eyes shook wildly.

Wow. He must've been overwhelmed by finally achieving his lifelong wish. Feeling a fresh sense of fulfillment myself, I considered the next matter.

"Ah. We need to decide on a name too. A name you'll live with for the rest of your life is important. What should it be..."

Zikhrund was a name taken from an ancient hero's epic. A name chosen that way might remain in one's memory for a long time, but it still couldn't compare to a true name.

Out of countless names that would have done just as well, I deliberately pulled out an old one and gave it to him.

"What do you think, Hilde? Are you ready to accept my offer?"

"That... name... How?"

Just as an actor had a stage name, a courtesan had a professional name used only in the pleasure house. She had discarded even that name when she left, but I had stubbornly picked up what she had thrown away and given it back to her.

Something that had vanished once because it shone. I had gathered those fragments and built a lighthouse from them.

This identity would be far too precious to discard.

"...I am Hilde."

Zikhrund, a member of 'her' personal guard and head of the Military State Public Safety Bureau, disappeared. In her place, the identity she had cast aside long ago took over that body.

Hilde staggered back. Now that she had abandoned the identity of Zikhrund, she no longer needed to protect the refinery, even if it meant fighting us. At the same time, she could no longer attack me, the observer of her existence.

Hilde lowered her head and mumbled something. I couldn't make it out, but it probably meant thanks.

"For what? Don't mention it. You're the one who'll have to ask Mr. Shei, so you'll be doing that part anyway. First things first, I hope you regain your face and live a new life."

I waved my hand, telling her to leave quickly. Hilde stared at me like an animal facing an unfamiliar intruder, then abruptly turned and disappeared.

I kept staring at the spot until Hilde was completely gone. Once she had disappeared, I let out a long breath.

"Whew. I almost died. I barely drove her off."

Thank goodness there had been a way in.

Honestly, it had been truly dangerous. If Hilde had tried to sow discord where Tyr or the regressor were, I could never have escaped without revealing my mind-reading ability. The regressor and Tyr wouldn't take a matter involving prophecy lightly.

But if I had tried to deal with her myself, one of the Six Generals was far too strong. I would've been tied up, dragged to an interrogation room, and thoroughly grilled before I could even run my mouth.

How fortunate that Historia, a real soldier who fought without pointless arguments whenever there was an enemy, had been there. I felt our friendship welling up anew.

"Good work, Ria. Really, you saved me."

I had driven her off, but I could only do that because Historia had been such a dependable wall. If we had to compare us, Historia was the gun barrel and I was the bullet. There was no need to ask which of us had done more.

Not because it looked like I had done less. Absolutely not.

As I breathed a sigh of relief, Siati staggered to her feet. The princess was supporting her, but Siati brushed her off and walked toward me.

What? Why are you looking at me like that? That's scary...

Ah, right. The earlier attempt to turn us against each other. That wasn't completely resolved yet.

"Hui. Whose side are you on?"

Footnotes:

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