WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 267: The One Who Arranges Reconciliation Is a Traitor

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Six General Zikhrund was our enemy. In fact, that was why we fought like hell.

But at the very end, I erased his ego and gave him a new one named Hilde. In place of the "she" who had led Hilde into the military state, I claimed to be an observer of Hilde's existence. Thanks to that, we successfully drove back Six General Zikhrund...

To an ordinary person like Siati, though, it must have looked a little different.

"Why did you let him live?"

"Let him live? That's a strange way to put it. He spared us. He was evenly matched with Historia, who had a gun. How were we supposed to kill him?"

"That's a lie! You controlled him however you wanted. You could have killed him!"

"I did change Hilde quite a bit, but that ego won't die just because I tell it to. In a way, I'm practically its parent. A child doesn't kill itself just because its parent orders it to, right?"

"Could you kill him or not? Say it clearly!"

Ouch. If she put it that way, I had nothing to say.

No one could defy the instinct to live. Hilde would not commit suicide just because I told her to die.

Still, I could have led Hilde to death. I had Tyr and the regressor. I could use them to kill Hilde by proxy, or weaken Hilde and somehow trap and kill her.

But I didn't.

"Why did you just let him go? He killed Carrapald, and he's tortured and interrogated countless people. He's at the heart of the military state... the person most closely tied to it!"

"Well, maybe."

"But you treated him so calmly. You even said goodbye! What do friends mean to you? Have you already forgotten what happened in Hamelin?"

"No. I remember it clearly."

That incident hit me pretty hard too.

"Then why?!"

Siati shouted, her face twisting.

"You said you'd grant wishes! Aren't you supposed to take revenge on our enemies, including yours?! Then why are you letting the person who killed Carrapald go? Did you ever intend to take revenge on the military state at all?"

"Of course I did. And right now, no one's taking revenge on the military state more thoroughly than I am."

"You? You're going to take revenge on the military state when you let even an enemy you finally caught walk free? You know what my wish is!"

I did. Siati, your wish was to destroy the military state.

I didn't blindly trust the information I might get through prophecy, but according to the regressor's recollections, the country built by the Resistance became nothing more than a cesspit. Well, that could happen. You wanted to ruin the military state, not necessarily build a new nation.

Even the princess beside me hoped the military state would continue to exist...

Reading other people's minds really was a terrible thing to do.

I spoke.

"Siati. Do you know what you need first if you want revenge on the military state?"

Siati answered immediately.

"Resolve."

"Wrong."

"Then what? Are you going to say strength? That's obvious! But if you have strength without resolve...!"

"Wrong. It isn't strength either. The first thing you need to take revenge on the military state is the military state itself."

It was a perfectly ordinary, obvious statement. To take revenge on the military state, there had to be a military state. Revenge could not exist without something to take revenge on.

Siati was briefly at a loss for words. I continued.

"But you don't have the military state yet. You don't know what the military state is. How are you going to find it and take revenge when you don't even know what it is?"

Siati's anger returned. She replied in a low voice.

"Why wouldn't I know the military state? We're standing at its center right now!"

"And? Is this smelter the military state? Are you going to take revenge on this smelter? Will you only be satisfied after tearing it apart piece by piece and returning it to the earth?"

As I spoke, I picked up a broken length of rebar. Level 2, furniture-grade alchemical steel. It was heavy, cheap, and sturdy, so it was widely used. I lightly tossed it into the air and caught it.

"The products made in this smelter spread throughout the military state. Whether it's furniture citizens use or weapons soldiers use to kill people, it all comes from processing the output of this labor camp. Does that make every person who uses military state alchemical steel a criminal?"

"...Cut it out. If you're going to say revenge is meaningless!"

"Not at all. I'm trying to help you take revenge."

The military state's structure was simple and easy to understand. Yet one particular part was hidden away so thoroughly that not only outsiders, but even the Six Generals, did not know the full truth.

Still, while reading Hilde's thoughts, I found one clue.

"She."

The being who created this military state... or perhaps established it...

The question was whether I could find her. That was all.

You never knew until you tried. I wasn't a prophet.

That was why I had to do it.

"I'm going to see the military state now. Come with me if you want. I'll show you this country. After that, you'll be able to take revenge in the truest sense. Just as you wish."

For a moment, we exchanged only silent glances. Siati glared at me. Her eyes still held only the gaze of a victim looking for somewhere to direct her hatred.

Siati, who had once poured futile resentment onto Historia, had now found an even more vicious bystander than Historia. Seeing that I showed not even a shred of guilt, she suddenly asked me something.

"Tell me one thing. Don't hide it."

"I'm always honest. What is it?"

"Did you know Nicholas was trying to kill us?"

Ah. That.

It was true.

Hmm. Still, if I nodded here, things would get a little strange, right? So...

"Yeah. I knew."

"I see."

Siati muttered calmly. She stared at me in silence for a moment...

Then she moved her hand in an instant.

Historia had sensed the atmosphere turning hostile, but she hadn't expected Siati to actually act. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Siati, stop...!"

But I was reading her thoughts. I already knew Siati was about to use black magic, and that my arm was the target.

I moved with Siati. I saw her grip the index finger of her left hand with her prosthetic arm and bend it upward without the slightest hesitation. The steel prosthetic, fitted with something like a nutcracker mechanism, snapped the finger of flesh and bone as easily as if it were jealous.

Crack.

Dark mana wound around my finger.

But my arm did not break.

Because...

"Ah, damn. That hurts like hell."

"Hui! Your finger!"

Before my arm could break, I broke my finger first.

Black magic was the power to force identical things to become identical. But Siati only had one arm. The finger of someone with one arm and the finger of someone with two arms could never be completely the same.

Siati exploited that trait and gave greater meaning to her fingers. Thanks to that, she could break larger, longer things with them, such as gun barrels or arms.

But the essence of black magic was still making the same become the same. Before Siati's black magic could activate, I broke my own finger and deceived it into believing the same thing had already happened.

It hurt so badly my eyes filled with tears. Damn it, I knew I had to keep my arm from breaking, but did I really have to break my own finger?

I set the finger back into place, its joints bright red, and muttered.

"People who use black magic are all out of their minds. How can you break your own finger without a moment's hesitation? I almost didn't make it in time."

"...You monster. Do you use black magic too?"

"A monster? My black magic is really weak. It's weaker than a punch. What's monstrous about that?"

If I had mastered the Water Qi Art, I could have endured it with my body and wouldn't have needed to do this. When a person wasn't sturdy enough, they had to cling to every cheap trick they could find. What a miserable thought.

Ah, wait. Siati. You weren't planning to keep going, were you?

"Save your last shot, Siati. An unfired bullet is frightening. Once it's fired, all that's left is pathetic wreckage. If you lose even your last one, you won't have any right left after this."

"Don't make me laugh! You watched all of that happen! You have no right to say anything to me!"

Siati snorted and raised another finger. This time, though, many eyes were watching.

Historia rushed in and seized Siati's hand. Interrupted at the last moment, Siati spoke with all her resentment laid bare.

"...Historia. Don't stop me. I'm sure of it. He's the one responsible for making us this way."

"Calm down. You're too worked up."

"Too worked up? I'll put it the other way around! Does that look normal to you?!"

Siati pointed at me with her broken finger. The finger, mottled with bruises, trembled weakly. It had to hurt, yet she still furiously condemned me.

"He isn't afraid. He isn't sad! Not when we were stranded in Hamelin, not when he found out Carrapald was dead! He doesn't get angry, and he calmly lets a Six General go! Is that normal?!"

Historia still did not let go of her finger. Afraid Siati might break it again, she tightened her grip. Siati shouted like a child throwing a tantrum.

"No matter how much you protect Hui, it won't mean anything. He doesn't feel anything for you. He won't give you anything back!"

A message changed depending on the messenger. Siati's words were clearly true, sharp enough to carve into Historia's heart.

But unfortunately, Siati was the one holding and swinging that weapon.

"Not being repaid..."

While Historia was one of the Six Generals, Siati was the person she cared for most, more than me, who had never shown myself. Yet Historia suffered as she watched Siati continue to go astray.

So if anything, Siati gave even less in return.

"You're the same, Siati."

Maybe Siati still had some conscience left despite having no right arm, because she closed her mouth. Historia pressed her with a detached expression. In the end, Siati turned her head away.

Still, she was only holding back because of Historia. Siati's fierce hostility toward me remained.

Hmm. She had the right temperament. If things didn't go her way, she was ready to break an arm, whether it belonged to a Six General or me.

This was exactly what I needed.

"It isn't much of a substitute, but here's a gift. Follow me, and I'll give you the military state."

I looked around at everyone present. The princess, Siati, Historia, and even the two beasts. It was the perfect group. Their strength was a little worrying, but it might become troublesome if Tyr or the regressor learned what would be revealed here.

Tyr and the regressor unexpectedly got along in some ways, but there was one subject on which they held completely opposite opinions.

I couldn't give away the military state only for it to disappear.

Good. Decision made. This was how we would proceed.

"Everyone. I'm heading to headquarters now. I can't guarantee your safety, and I won't force anyone to come. But if we succeed, I'll give you the military state. Perhaps it will be the target of revenge you've been desperately seeking."

Siati's wish. To achieve revenge, she needed to know what the military state was. At the end of this journey, the military state would reveal its true form.

"Or perhaps it will be an ideal nation with a warm heart beneath its iron-blooded regime."

This time, the princess flinched. For the princess, caught between the kingdom and the military state, the military state might become an answer.

"Or it could become a place to stay, for someone's sake."

Historia did not react. Well, Historia had already become one of the Six Generals once and made a place. Siati and I simply had not wanted to enter it.

"I won't force anyone. But if you want to come with me, stand by my side."

Everyone here had a reason to go. Each of them made up their mind.

And the first to approach was...

Azzy, who always crept over without anyone noticing.

"Bark!"

"I said people, Azzy."

Footnotes:

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