WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 293

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The Truth Is, I

The more of a trump card it was, the more you had to keep it hidden in your hand. If it was rare but not very practical, that was even more true. Spilled water could not be gathered back up, and once information was exposed, it could not be hidden again. The best move was to keep it buried deep and wait for the most critical moment.

Still, unless I planned to clutch it and carry it to the afterlife, I had to use it someday.

So, who was I fooling?

The truth is, I am the Human King.

Of course, that did not mean I was some amazing being. In my entire life, that fact had never helped me even once.

If someone was a Beast King, they were supposed to rule over their kind with power worthy of representing that beast. That was the order of the world, the natural way of things.

But I had no power at all.

I did not even have a way to prove I was a king.

No crown, no royal robes, no throne. None of it had been given to me.

A naked emperor stranded in a foreign land, that was me. Not literally naked, but still.

"...The Human King?"

Historia sounded doubtful. Honestly, even calling it half-belief was generous. If Maximilien had not said it so seriously, she would have dismissed it as nonsense.

I stepped in to clear up her doubts.

"That's right. I'm the Human King. So from now on, call me Your Majesty every time, keep me happy, and pay 50% of your income in taxes."

"You're being loud, so be quiet."

"Yes, ma'am."

See? Human King or not, it was useless if no one acknowledged it.

While I kept my mouth shut, that insolent subject kept asking questions.

"...I heard the Human King doesn't exist. Humans are Lords of All Creation. Dignified beings who can choose their own king and rule the surface."

"Do you really believe that? That humans are dignified beings?"

A mechanical sneer settled on Maximilien's face.

"Even someone as remarkable as you is fooled by such words, so what about the ignorant masses? No matter how much one wants to look away, the truth is clear. Humans are beasts by nature, and compared to other animals, their only advantage is being slightly stronger. Foolish humans believe they are special, but hope is always far removed from truth."

"But..."

"But! To make themselves special, humans used an absurd method! With human hands, they killed their own king! They became a 'special' species that did what even beasts would not do! Though I still have no idea how they killed him!"

For the record, I did not know either. It happened before I was born.

Even a king cannot know what happened before his own lifetime.

"How can you prove that Hui is the Human King?"

Exactly. If possible, bring clear evidence and announce it to the world. Why keep lurking in the shadows? If he had this kind of power, he should have properly enthroned me as king.

At Historia's question, Maximilien answered with rising intensity.

"I can't!"

"Aren't you certain, Director?"

"Certain? Not at all! No one can be certain! Because they killed their king with their own hands, humans now have countless kings! In a world where even a beggar becomes king if you put a crown on him, how can anyone identify the Human King!"

Unlike before, when he had been carefully weighing me, he was now proudly showing off to Historia. Seemed he was the type who got excited when he acted like he knew everything.

Not exactly the right temperament for running a secret organization.

While I kept taking silent jabs, Maximilien started spilling things no one had asked.

"If he is the Human King, he will understand. Certain parts of humans can be replaced with gears without issue! Arms and legs, joints and muscles, they are nothing but machines made of organic matter, and gears can replace them well enough! Humans can become better with gears...!"

Historia remembered her fight with Maximilien.

Just moments ago, Maximilien had appeared riding the Steel Beetle. His entrance was so flashy that Historia spotted him long before he arrived.

After fighting the angel, Historia was in no condition to fight properly. She was not even sure she could use energy bullets, let alone Gunblade Grand Intent. She was at a disadvantage in every way, so she tried to wage long-range guerrilla warfare.

But Maximilien did not play along. Staying inside the beetle, he steadily approached the Communications Bureau. Historia's shots were powerful, but not enough to pierce a Steel Beetle made of interlocking level-five alchemic steel. She could not let him get close, so she had no choice but to commit to close combat.

She had faced the Steel Beetle alone, torn gears apart with her bare hands, and barely made an opening. Even as saw blades tore at her body, she attacked Maximilien when he was exposed.

At that moment, Maximilien's limbs had moved in a very strange way. As if interlocked gear teeth were turning...

"Like the Director's arms and legs."

There had been no hidden intent in that. She had only stated what she observed in battle.

Still, the most uncomfortable thing in the world was the truth.

The smile vanished from Maximilien's face. Tick. She could almost hear a gear shifting in his head.

"...I spoke too long. Major Historia, as one with the qualifications, I trust you understand. I have no intention of harming the Human King."

But Maximilien's mechanical way of speaking was not suited to conveying emotion. Historia failed to notice his displeasure and added one more line.

"What are you planning to do with Hui? Isn't there another motive... Aah...!"

Water always overflows because of the one last drop right before the edge.

Offended, Maximilien flicked a finger. The gears moved heavily and yanked Historia's limbs.

Some bows use a winch to draw the bow limbs. Historia's body bent exactly like that. Each time the gears twisted her arms and legs, her waist bent further. A tearing scream leaked from her mouth.

Maximilien showed no expression even while twisting human limbs.

"Know your place, Major Historia. Your life and death are in my hands. Here and now, are you interrogating the one holding your lifeline? How can you be so foolish?"

"Aaagh! Ngh...!"

"You are qualified to stand as my ally, but if you keep disappointing me, I will reconsider my judgment. An ally who does not know their station is more dangerous than an enemy."

This was torture, plain and simple. I could not watch anymore, so I stepped in and yanked hard on the gears, but of course it did nothing. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if this was really what a king amounted to.

Maximilien saw me straining and still did not ease up.

"Explaining the situation to a subdued opponent was my pure goodwill. Yet the Major betrayed that goodwill. You understand, do you not?"

"Ah, yes. Of course. I understand perfectly. Our Historia got way too full of herself, right?"

I had enough time. I had enough clues.

The Steel Beetle was an intricate machine made of hundreds of thousands of gears connected in organic harmony.

Power source? None. It moved only through Maximilien's authority that turned the gears, and it displayed maximum force only under his control. To everyone else, it was just a pile of scrap. To Maximilien, it was a weapon no one could ever take from him.

And right here in particular. A prison of gears that crushed arms and legs through both his authority and amplified mechanical force.

Unlike the Heavenly Silkworm Thread used by the regressor, these gears had continuous force applied to them. You could not escape by reshaping your body with energy. The instant you changed shape, it would tighten by exactly that much more.

"...Still, escape magic is most dramatic when it looks impossible."

As I said that, I grabbed the gear around Historia's leg with both hands. Maximilien's eyes sank.

'Trying to loosen the gears? Foolish. If you knew the Steel Beetle's structure, you would know this is pointless. Did you fail to understand?'

I understood. From what I had read, for human strength to undo these gears, you would have to dismantle the Steel Beetle piece by piece from the tail. In other words, impossible.

Knowing that better than anyone, Maximilien spoke with faint, hidden disappointment.

"Do not let even yourself disappoint me. The Steel Beetle cannot be moved by force."

"I told you, I understand."

If it moved by force alone, this was absolutely impossible. The only one who could move the Steel Beetle was Maximilien.

"Are you staging a protest, asking me to stop? If so, I am even more disappointed. If you think throwing a tantrum will change my mind..."

Creak.

At that sound, the one sound that should never have been heard, Maximilien shut his mouth. Not understanding what was happening, he looked again.

The gears were turning. In reverse.

I did not do it with brute strength. I did not have that kind of power. Even if Tyr came, she could not overcome the Steel Beetle's force with pure strength. This machine had been built over years by a mad genius, and it amplified even a finger twitch by thousands, tens of thousands of times.

There was only one way to move it. Maximilien's authority, the Ri of Geon-Gon-Kan-Ri...

An Innate Arcane that merely imitated it.

Use that, and turn the gears.

"...!"

Maximilien was horrified. Even his mechanical thought process could not keep up with that shock.

The gears that were fully under his control, meant to move only by his will. The Steel Beetle, a weapon that had belonged to him alone, slipped out of his control.

'No way...! The Human King can even... Innate Arcane...!'

It took him only a few seconds to pull himself together. That was enough.

Historia's body sprang free. As soon as the gears' force vanished, her right arm and right leg slipped out easily. After that, the rest was simple. Before I could even touch the gears on the other side, Historia ripped herself free by force.

Regaining freedom in an instant, Historia staggered and landed on the ground. I waited for her to land, then spread both arms and shrugged.

"Ta-da. Enjoy that? Escape magic! Everybody clap!"

When I shouted proudly, Maximilien raised both hands, eyes wide. Historia moved, reading it as the start of an attack, but it was not an attack.

Maximilien turned one hand sideways and started clapping with only his right hand. It was such passionate applause that Historia, still in a defensive stance, looked deflated.

It had been a while since I had an audience that responsive.

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