WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 298: The World Made of Gears - 5

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Historia exhaled a deep breath of smoke, then spoke with a dazed look on her face.

"This is nice... My arm doesn't hurt, and my head feels clear. It feels like my energy's coming back..."

"Meow. Nice, meow."

As if agreeing with her, Nabi let out a satisfied cry. Maximilien spotted Nabi rolling around in the cramped space behind us amid piles of magic herb and furrowed his brow.

The way to make a drug stop working was to use it beforehand. And it had worked.

Though I was a little concerned about how much Historia had smoked. How much had she smoked for her eyes to lose focus like that?

"That's an illusion. Your arm doesn't hurt because you can't feel pain, and your head feels clear because you're addicted to magic herb."

Even after I pointed that out, Historia grinned and waved the magic herb around.

"I'm telling you, it feels much better than when I first smoked it. Why's that?"

"Magic herb is just like the Little Match Girl. It lets you relive your happiest moment. If lighting it makes you happy, that means your current situation is just that miserable, so don't let your guard down."

"It's because of you. Me smoking magic herb, me ending up like this. It all happened because I got dragged into your mess."

"Huh?"

That was strange. Was I reading her thoughts right now? Things she had only ever said in her heart were coming out of her mouth.

My dumbfounded expression seemed to please Historia. She snickered and brought the magic herb to her lips. She drew the decadent smoke deep into her lungs, then exhaled it with a sweet sigh.

"Haa... Want one too?"

"Don't act generous with something I gave you. Give me back what you have left."

"Pfft. That's harsh. Since when does magic herb belong to you or me? We smoke it together."

The way she smiled made me deeply uncomfortable. How many locks had come off her mind? It was frightening how much drugs could change a person.

While I was at a loss for words, Maximilien studied the magic herb in Historia's hand and stared in shock.

"...Is that a World Tree leaf? How did you acquire that? No, who gave it to you?"

Historia answered with a vacant grin.

"I don't know... Why would someone smoking it care? You just smoke it."

"That can't be! Among the kings of grass and trees, there is nothing the Lords of All Creation do not possess! Then how could a World Tree leaf have escaped their hands? It's impossible!"

"Then I guess the Lords of All Creation gave it to me. Oh, Hui gave it to me, didn't he? Hehe. Hui, are you one of the Lords of All Creation?"

Her answer still sounded like she had a screw loose. Even Maximilien gave up on getting an answer and shook his head.

"So even that answer lies with the King of Humanity. That gives me another reason to secure him."

"You can't."

Historia, who had been happily smoking magic herb, suddenly lost her smile. She had only changed her expression, yet it felt as though the temperature had dropped several degrees.

The magic herb between her lips bobbed up and down whenever she mumbled.

"That damned bastard started everything on his own, then ran away without taking responsibility... But even so, that was the best time of my life."

The moment she finished speaking, Historia kicked off the ground. She did not need a running start. She landed lightly atop the Steel Beetle, which stood over six meters high, then rose while taking a deep breath.

Maximilien spoke.

"Those feelings will not be returned. He is the King of Humanity. He does not bind himself to a single individual."

"I don't care whether he's the King of Humanity or whatever. They're my memories. I won't let the Director ruin them however he wants!"

...This was why people should always show their good side. Look at that. I had lived faithfully, and now past connections were helping me.

I felt like I was receiving a little too much help compared to what I had done for her. I should return the favor, then. Out of basic human decency.

I stopped what I was doing, stood up, and climbed back onto the Steel Beetle. Walking over slowly, I stood behind Historia as though supporting her. Azzy, who had been chasing gears, saw me, considered it for a moment, then puffed out her chest and sat beside me.

The situation was clearly different from before. Facing this new arrangement, Maximilien awkwardly folded down his fingers.

"There are three on that side. One on this side... Even excluding the King of Dogs, it won't be easy."

Historia was still not in perfect condition, and I was only half a fighting force myself. The two of us together might barely equal one person.

Even so, our chances were higher than they had ever been. I raised my head proudly and spoke.

"You understand well. This is your last chance. If you run, I'll let you go."

Maximilien seriously considered it. He was a man who moved through logic and reason, like a gear. He carefully weighed whether to fight a dangerous battle here or retreat safely.

‘The King of Humanity can destroy my body with a touch. I must never let him approach, but the problem is the Gunslinger skilled at close quarters. Without the Steel Beetle, gaining the upper hand will be difficult. There are too many variables. Retreating now is rational, but...’

His judgment was clear. Yet one last lingering attachment held him back. Maximilien opened his mouth.

"You said I was ordinary."

I nodded readily, then added a word to comfort him.

"Don't be discouraged. Not just you, every human is ordinary. Except for a very, very small few."

"I know. Humans themselves were originally one of the ordinary beasts, before they made themselves special..."

Maximilien looked down at his prosthetic hand and curled, then spread, his fingers. Though it could not be seen from outside, the gears inside the prosthetic interlocked intricately, imitating human movement.

How much trial and error had it taken to make it move so naturally? That achievement must have been the result of outstanding talent blossoming after countless efforts in the right environment. It was unquestionably an exceptional technique.

But it was not "special." It only reproduced something that already existed through gears.

At best, it was a substitute. No matter how precise the gears were, they did no more than drastically simplify the principles of the world. Maximilien understood that better than anyone.

"Perhaps I already knew it. Objectively and subjectively, I am an outstanding person. I have reached a level utterly beyond ordinary people... Yet something is lacking if I am to reach the Demon God. I sought the King of Humanity to fill that lack."

"You've come to the right place. I'm impressed you figured out that I was the King of Humanity. Now be satisfied with your audience and go home. It'll make fine drinking talk to have over a beer with your hometown friends."

"But if I give up here, wouldn't that be where I end?"

Muttering, Maximilien placed both hands on the Steel Beetle's back. The moment he poured in a massive amount of magical energy, his prosthetic hand resonated with the alchemical steel and glowed white. Its energy-filled fingertips melted like lava.

He moved his melting fingers to draw a symbol. A circle, a triangle, and a straight line. A symbol resembling a scale.

The beginning of alchemy: a transmutation circle.

Maximilien poured even more magical energy into it and muttered.

"Humans can do anything. No matter how insane it may be."

A moment later, both of his hands sank into the steel. Ripples spread outward. It looked as though he had plunged his hands into water and was playing with the surface.

Alchemy. A human technique that handled matter and transformed it within what was possible. It had countless limits and restrictions, and no matter how skilled the alchemist was, what was impossible could never be done. It was not considered mysterious. Compared to complex, mysterious innate arcane, it was rather plain.

But the essence of alchemy was not power. Alchemy was wealth. Like saving small amounts of money for years to purchase something normally beyond one's dreams, it could pour out accumulated power in one instant to achieve a feat that would otherwise have been impossible.

Even I was producing results beyond my own ability through alchemy.

What if Maximilien did it?

I immediately shouted at Azzy.

"Azzy, jump!"

"Woof? Jump? Jump!"

Azzy tilted her head, but obediently jumped in place. I appreciated that she listened so well, but that was not the way I wanted her to do it.

"No, not jumping in place!"

"Woof? A different jump?"

While Azzy expressed her confusion, Maximilien poured an enormous amount of magical energy through both hands.

The Steel Beetle was made by assembling alchemical steel he had personally refined, piece by painstaking piece. It was a weapon in itself, but it was also alchemical material.

Just like my cards!

"Combat Alchemy. Mercury Dialke."

Maximilien's hands "tore apart" the Steel Beetle.

It was not innate arcane. He had simply alchemized the entire Steel Beetle with his own magical energy, breaking down and splitting apart its components.

Alchemy. A universal technique that even I could use freely, and therefore a human ability that could not be stolen for my own use.

The ground shook. The Steel Beetle split open with a crack, as though shedding its skin. My body floated into the air. I almost slipped, but Historia quickly grabbed me by the collar and stopped me. My breath caught in my throat.

Historia's quick response kept me safe, but Maximilien had not been aiming for me in the first place.

"Woof! Woof woof woof woof woof woof!"

Azzy, who had jumped into the air, fell straight into the crack. Having dropped inside the Steel Beetle, she dug in her claws and struggled to climb back out.

"We are the lords of all creation..."

Maximilien murmured as he brought both hands together forcefully. When his palms met, they made a clang like metal striking metal.

The split steel surged together like waves at his gesture. Before Azzy could escape, the crack in the Steel Beetle sealed shut. Her barking grew distant, as though coming from beyond a wall.

After isolating Azzy in an instant, Maximilien raised his arm. Steel clung to his prosthetic hand in thick layers.

There was no longer any trace of functional beauty or precision. What remained was madness and aggression. Pointing the grotesquely shaped metal at us, Maximilien shouted,

"A beast that became special by killing a king with its own hands! There is nothing I cannot do!"

Footnotes:

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