WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 284: The Blessed Nation, the Cursed Human - 7

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The ceiling looked ready to collapse at any moment. Worse, we were dozens of meters underground. If the ground gave way, even my earth arts would not be enough to protect me.

Captain AB tried to restrain Yuel with her innate arcane. It was an effective method against communications officers who possessed the innate arcane of resonance, and Captain AB had suffered through it herself before. Morning glory vines spread across the floor and bound Yuel.

Vines coiled around Yuel's clasped hands. Fine roots struggled to burrow into the Holy Maiden's skin.

"Such a powerful will to live, blooming from love... How romantic."

Yet Yuel did not budge. Neither force nor innate arcane worked on her.

The source of the Sanctum, the First Holy Maiden. Those who believed in her could recreate a portion of the miracles she had performed. What Yuel was doing now was the Fifteen-Day Prayer, a prayer permitted only to Holy Maidens.

- While a Holy Maiden prays, no one can interfere with her.

It was the miracle born when the First Holy Maiden climbed atop a tower of corpses and prayed for fifteen days. Hunger, disease, curses, even stones thrown by unbelievers could not stop her prayer. The miracle born that day had continued ever since, manifesting whenever a Holy Maiden prayed.

A miracle that allowed a mere human to withstand a siege. If true invincibility existed in this world, perhaps that was it.

I could stab at her with a skewer and fail to leave even a hole. Even innate arcane that overlaid the rules of the world would not work. An attack that reached the underlying principles might have a chance, but that would not be easy either.

It probably would not be, but Yuel spoke as though she would not bleed a single drop even if stabbed.

"That's mental corruption, AB. A communications officer must value classified information and orders above her own life. If she values herself above everything else, resonance becomes meaningless."

"Yuel...!"

"If you are truly a communications officer, be happy to be buried."

'Attack ineffective! Revising strategy!'

Once Captain AB confirmed that the force of resonance would not work, she considered another approach and found one.

"Stop! Eliminating this officer at this point will not change the situation! Major Historia is waiting outside, and the Progenitor and Beast King are still alive! If he dies here, even minimal negotiations with them will become impossible! Take him hostage instead! That would be far more strategic!"

She was telling Yuel to take me hostage and guarantee my safety. It was the best judgment a mere communications officer could make. Captain AB did not have enough information.

The problem was that there was far too much Captain AB did not know.

For a moment, regret crossed Yuel's eyes. Her lips moved, and she answered in a drained voice.

"...I regret that I cannot explain it to you. Even if you are fated to die soon."

'Something she cannot explain? Is it something this officer does not know? Then this attack is unrelated to this officer...?'

Yuel did not reveal the secret, but Captain AB was still a communications officer.

Having only ever dealt with humans through golems, she was not especially good at reading people. Yet she could piece together the information given to her and draw out what mattered.

"The target was not this officer...?"

That was right.

If Captain AB had come alone, she would have been subdued instead. Her opponent was Eimeder, the first communications officer, and Yuel the Holy Maiden. She would not choose mutual destruction just because an ordinary communications officer had discovered her identity. Unless she intended to kill every witness.

Naturally, the target was...

Hmm. I wanted her to explain the full story herself, but the ground looked ready to collapse if I waited around. I had no interest in being buried alive. I should stop this first.

"Doesn't the Church of the Celestial God forbid suicide? Even if your body stays intact when the ceiling comes down, you'll eventually starve to death. Is that really okay? Or are you planning to dig through the rocks with an angel?"

Yuel did not even turn to look at me. Being so openly ignored even now stung a little.

"Stop trying to deceive me and disappear, barbarian."

How cold. Yuel definitely had a favorable opinion of Captain AB. She was much gentler with her than with me.

"Barbarian? That's a harsh thing to say to a civilized man like me."

"A civilized person is one who follows norms. One who accepts the restraints necessary to live alongside others. Yet you deny every norm. Where is civilization in you?"

"Right here."

I tapped my stack of cards. Several had been worn away from use, but more than half remained. Medicine, weapons, magic, and knowledge. Every last one was a product of civilization.

Recognizing what my stack of cards truly was, Yuel replied with a sneer.

"You exist through force alone. That is why you should not exist."

The shaking worsened the moment she finished speaking. It truly looked ready to collapse. Killing the Holy Maiden shaking the temple pillars might have stopped the tremors, but there was no way to harm a Holy Maiden while she prayed.

In short, it was a desperate situation.

"Humans are not beasts, barbarian! Be buried with me!"

"I'm sorry. I could do that, but it looks like there's already a man beside you. I don't touch other people's men."

Since I was making jokes in a situation like this, Yuel found it deeply suspicious.

'Strange. A beast's instinct to survive is its highest law. It should be struggling by every possible means to stay alive... Why is he standing still?'

Of course I could joke. I was not in danger.

A beast like Azzy or Nabi might have sensed danger and gone wild. Dogs and cats reacted sensitively to immediate danger. Even if they were tied with a rope strong and flexible enough to hold them, they would struggle if someone tried to throw them from a great height.

But I was a human with intelligence and reason. If I confirmed that the rope tying me was strong enough, I could jump without hesitation even from dozens of meters up. Of course, if there was a problem with the lifeline, I would die in the fall without question.

Fortunately, my lifeline had just arrived.

'I don't know what you're planning, but it doesn't matter. First Holy Maiden who blessed me. Holy Maiden of Heaven who excommunicated me. I am sinful, but at the end, I will ensure I have no shame before you. Forgive me.'

Just as the Holy Maiden was about to finish her prayer, signs of people came from outside. Someone else who had run into the underground passage had only now arrived. Their hushed voices drifted in.

"S-Siati...! It's shaking. Did we come the right way?"

"It has to connect somewhere else! Hurry!"

The princess had a warm, noble air about her. Siati, in contrast, was sharp as a finely honed blade.

The two had fled the chaos above and kicked open the door. Looking for somewhere to escape, they froze at the sight of the temple spread out before them.

"Hie...! Is this a temple? Why is there a temple in the military state?"

"Keep moving! Hui went this way too, so it must lead somewhere...! Hui?"

Then the princess entered the Holy Maiden's awareness.

Grandiomor, one of the Five Lords who had supported the First Holy Maiden. The weakest king, who had followed the First Holy Maiden, driven out the King of Humanity, and devoured the heart. Grandiomor's descendant.

A human whom no other human could oppose, invincible in a different sense.

The moment Yuel saw her opponent, she groaned for the first time.

"Ah...!"

"You know who she is, don't you? The only princess left in the Grandiomor royal family. The last king."

A princess was not invincible. Just as the King of Grandiomor had been swept up by a crowd and died, the princess could also die in an unintended accident. If this ground had already begun sinking, she would have been caught up in it too.

But the Holy Maiden still had the power to stop this situation.

And an attack against the princess, even one caused by inaction, was impossible.

"Now then, Holy Maiden Yuel. If you collapse this place, that princess will die. Wow, that pure princess who knows nothing will be crushed beneath heavy rocks and turned into a bloody pulp!"

In case she tried to look away, I kindly explained it to the Holy Maiden so that she could not possibly misunderstand, even a little.

"Gh...!"

"Uh? You're not stopping? She'll die. She'll really die. Not me, the princess. She's going to die. You're still going to bring this place down?"

'You brought the princess here...!'

She was the strongest shield. Shouldn't I put her to good use?

The tremors subsided. The thick pillars that had looked ready to fall stood firm again and resumed their role. The ceiling was still unstable after all that shaking, but it did not seem likely to collapse anytime soon.

The princess let out a sigh of relief.

"Whew! The shaking stopped!"

"It could collapse again at any time. We should think about escaping first. More importantly, Hui, why are you standing here instead of running? What is this place?"

The two walked toward me in long strides. Then they saw Yuel despairing as she embraced a corpse and flinched in surprise. From their perspective, she must have looked like a ghost.

I happily welcomed them.

"Welcome. I've been waiting a long time."

Now everyone was gathered. The people who would question the military state.

Some people said humans were not beasts. That humans, the Lords of All Creation, were superior to every other existence and special.

Yet there was a flaw in that claim, considering that the majority of humans were ruled by others.

What, then, ruled such special humans?

More special humans? Sadly, most humans who claimed to be such beings were dead. Even the Five Lords, who had stolen truly special power from the King of Humanity, had vanished. Though one remained over there. Little more than scraps.

Something greater and unseen? Yet what guided humans in extreme situations was desire. The countless evils in the world proved not only that such a thing was unseen, but that it did not exist.

Some people who disliked complexity ultimately claimed it was all the logic of power. Whether a powerful individual or a group united by the same purpose, they ruled others through strength.

That was not entirely wrong. But if that was true, humans were beasts.

If so...

Footnotes:

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