WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 269: A Distant Tale: Outside the Stage

──────

A master of qi used qi even while walking. Whenever their feet touched the ground, they pulled against it and propelled themselves forward. Only by gripping the earth with qi could they move faster and with greater force.

In that sense, Hughes did not seem like a master of qi.

His steps were impossibly light, and his manner flippant. He gave off no aura powerful enough to put anyone on guard, to the point that one might forget he was even there if distracted.

Yet the peculiar ease unique to him made even that seem like the indulgence of the strong.

The unfathomable man called Hughes spotted Tyrkanzyaka and hurried over in quick little steps.

"Tyr!"

Tyrkanzyaka called to him in puzzlement.

[Hyu? Why have you come all the way here instead of staying there?]

"I came to see you, Tyr."

[Hm?!]

After giving the slightly flustered Tyrkanzyaka a natural smile, he turned to Shei with his usual carefree manner.

"I asked Tyr to get the laborers out of here. If they get outside and scatter in every direction, it will make it easier for us to shake off pursuit when we secretly slip out later!"

He explained excitedly, like a child eager for praise. Shei nodded as she listened, but something felt off.

His face, actions, speech, and mannerisms were all clearly his.

Yet he was different.

Tap, tap. It felt as though tiny iron pellets were striking her chest. The strange sixth sense born from more than a dozen deaths tugged at her arm. Shei moved on that sudden instinct.

"Shei!"

Shei answered with a start, like someone waking from sleep.

"Uh, yeah."

"Why are you drawing your sword...?"

"Huh?"

Shei flinched when she saw Skywarbler half-drawn. She realized what she had been about to do.

If he had not pointed it out, she would have swung Skywarbler and cut off his right arm.

It reminded her of the past. Once, when she had tried to sever his right arm, he had held it over her head for days. Remembering that, Shei pretended nothing had happened and sheathed Skywarbler.

"Oh, this? Don't worry about it. It's just a habit."

"That is quite an unusual habit. Then again, some people cannot feel at ease unless they are holding a sword."

He accepted Shei's excuse with a gentle smile.

Something really was different. Though she had realized it instinctively, Shei forced down her unease. Hughes had been suspicious enough to be frightening from the moment they met, and he had remained suspicious even after she got to know him.

Hughes was the sort of person for whom no strange behavior would be strange. It was unlikely, but if one of the Six Generals suddenly appeared to surrender, Shei would first wonder what Hughes had done. Thinking about it meant losing...

[...How strange.]

Tyrkanzyaka, who had felt a similar sense of unease, placed a hand over her chest. A faint, slender pulse stirred beneath her thin skin. Usually, it leaped in delighted welcome whenever he drew near, but today it gave no such response.

Had her feelings changed already? Perhaps. The human heart was like a reed in the wind.

Hiding her disappointment, Tyrkanzyaka called to him.

[Hyu. You should have called for me. I would have come to you.]

"Would I dare order the Progenitor around?"

[You had no trouble doing so before.]

"Today, I felt like coming to welcome you."

Something was definitely wrong. His voice, gestures, and face were unmistakably his, yet something about his manner felt unfamiliar. Having fought countless things over many long years, Tyrkanzyaka trusted her instincts.

Tyrkanzyaka casually brought something up.

[Come to think of it, Hyu. Is it not about time I returned the card you gave me?]

"My card? Which card?"

[You do not remember even the card you gave me?]

"There are more cards than I can count. All kinds of them."

The one of hearts. A heart, blood, or life. Tyr had not forgotten, and neither should he have.

With that answer, Tyrkanzyaka's suspicions gradually took shape. She raised one finger with a smile as cold as ice.

[Enough. Take it back yourself.]

"Where did you put it?"

Inside her body, of course.

He asked with an innocent smile. That pure, gentle smile felt horribly disgusting. Tyrkanzyaka clenched her fist. Darkness, resonating with its master's emotions, surged wildly.

Even before that open hostility, he did not panic. As though he had expected this, he...

No, Hilde, disguised as Hughes, wiped the smile from her lips and murmured softly.

"Hmm. It did not go very well. I do not know enough about him to say I copied him perfectly."

Her face was clearly his, but her gestures gradually grew softer and more graceful. Every tiny movement contained a technique that an ordinary person would have struggled even to notice.

That familiar face making unfamiliar gestures stirred an instinctive rejection in Tyrkanzyaka. Black Knights appeared in ominous shapes, as if reflecting her displeasure. Hidden in the darkness, she growled like a beast.

[What have you done to Hyu?]

"Me? What have I done? You have the question backward. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask what he did to me?"

Even before the Progenitor's fury, Hilde remained utterly calm without a trace of fear. She was not pretending to be unafraid. She truly felt no fear.

Did she lack knowledge? No. If anything, the more one knew, the more one saw, and she understood her opponent's capabilities better than anyone.

Did she lack emotion? That was not it either. An actor needed richer emotions than anyone else. Someone who did not understand emotions could not act.

Yet she could remain calm because that was the privilege of someone who had lost herself. Only one abandoned by fate and stripped of self could become a warrior who knew no fear.

Tyrkanzyaka felt a strange sense of familiarity. That attitude, showing no fear even before the Progenitor, felt familiar.

[The Holy Sword Corps...?]

But only for a moment. Tyrkanzyaka rejected her own guess.

[No, you are different. Those vermin are unpleasantly stiff, but you are somewhat different.]

"Thank you. This maiden does not know what to do with herself after such praise."

[I mean you are slimy enough to turn my stomach.]

Tyrkanzyaka flung out an arm and stepped closer. Hilde was already surrounded by darkness. If Tyrkanzyaka willed it, Hilde would be swept away by the darkness and drown in it, regardless of her abilities.

[You have not answered me yet. Lowborn, if you do not speak at once, I shall kill you myself. I will drain every drop of your blood and leave only a handful, then make you suffer forever with that speck of blood.]

"Could you really do that?"

Hilde framed his face with her hands, smiling brightly as she nodded.

"Could you treat this face so cruelly?"

Of course she could. Tyrkanzyaka, with her cold heart, was not swayed by sentiment. Once she recognized that the same face belonged to a different being, she could respond rationally.

She had always done so and was certain she would this time as well, yet Tyrkanzyaka found herself momentarily speechless. Her hostility caught on a speed bump in her heart.

"You're hesitating. How cute. So you received something from him too, did you not?"

Hilde caught that fleeting emotion. Her eyes darkened as well.

"The reason Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka followed him all the way here was not political. If it had been, you would have revealed your intentions so both sides could understand. Personal revenge? That was not it either. The target was unclear. That left one possibility. You followed him purely, without any clear purpose. It was only a hypothesis, but it was correct. Then the conclusion is that the invasion of the military state was entirely his idea."

Enraged that she had handed information and weaknesses to an enemy, Tyrkanzyaka stretched out her hand. The Black Knights stepped forward, thrusting swords and spears made of shadow toward Hilde.

[You have crossed the line by far. Is your life not precious to you?]

Hilde still seemed at ease. She lightly tapped the shadow spear aimed at her throat and smiled wickedly.

"But you will not truly attack. Is it difficult to attack this face? What could you possibly have received that was so precious?"

[Kh...!]

"Hehe. It is obvious. Everyone here received something from him and followed him all the way to the military state..."

Sensing something, Hilde cut herself off and threw herself to the ground. It was a violent movement, less like falling and more like grabbing the floor and pulling herself down. An invisible sword slash swept through the spot where she had stood moments before.

"Tch."

The air rippled, revealing Shei through the mirage concealing her. Her carefully planned ambush had failed, and Shei clicked her tongue.

Hilde pushed herself off the floor and sprang back up.

"My, you do not hold back at all. Even when you see a companion's face?"

"Face? Tch, what does that matter?"

"...Hmm. Really? Are you experienced, or were you simply born without affection? Considering your age, it is probably the latter... right? How curious."

"Would you stop deciding what kind of person I am on your own?"

Shei grumbled.

Shei had gone through all kinds of things across several loops. Yesterday's friend had become tomorrow's enemy. She had been betrayed more times than she could count. There were also people who had once been irreplaceable companions, only to charge at her a single loop later with twisted faces, trying to kill her.

For Shei, who had killed the same person over and over, a stranger who merely wore the same face stirred no feelings at all.

Having roughly gauged her opponent's strength, Shei took up Skywarbler and Jizan, making her hostility clear.

"If you have last words, say them quickly. Tyrkanzyaka and I are both a little busy right now."

"I did not come to fight. An acquaintance introduced me to you. That person told me to meet you."

"Him? You mean Hughes?"

"Yes. He said that you, Shei, might be able to find what I have forgotten."

"If you lost something, go find a fence. Or consider it a donation and forget about it."

"I already did. That is why I am in this state now."

Hilde chuckled. As Shei frowned at her attitude, which held no hostility at all, Hilde cleared her throat and changed her face. Hughes's features and voice gradually faded, becoming more feminine.

"My name is Hilde. One who was named such."

Having completely shed Hughes's appearance, Hilde spoke to Shei.

"Shei. I have a request. If you grant it, I will give you one piece of information you wish to know as well."

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried