WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 309: Who Is the Hostage?

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Her clothes hung loose on her shrunken body. Purple hair flowed over her bare shoulders. Gripping her dangling sleeves, Hilde slowly crawled across the round table.

The regressor muttered unhappily at Hilde's transformation.

"We should've shown this to those old fogeys..."

"I sent them out because I didn't want to show them this! How else was I supposed to play Zikhrund?"

The art of disguise dealt directly with the body. Her Water Qi Art had progressed beyond mastery and nearly brushed against the very principles behind it, but that did not make the mental strain any less exhausting. Hilde let out a weary sigh and flopped onto the table.

Lying there as if she were at home, Hilde swung her legs and said,

"Anyway, you understand, right? We're going to exchange hostages."

"Hostages?"

"Yes, hostages. A splendid form of security with a long and illustrious history!"

Hilde said it cheerfully, but the regressor did not agree. Her already stiff expression turned even colder.

"You'd better explain this well. I don't like hostages much."

"Why not?"

"What do you mean, why?"

‘Whenever I tried to get something done, they'd drag in people who had nothing to do with me and call them hostages, trying to make me feel like crap. Damn it. Just thinking about it makes me angry again... Everyone from a child I spoke to briefly at an inn to a merchant I traded with once... Tch.’

The regressor's brief recollection came to an end. It seemed she had suffered through hostage situations in a previous life. Shaking off the unpleasant feelings rising in her mind, she said,

"It feels awful."

"Hmm. It sounds like someone important to you was taken hostage?"

"The opposite. I hate it when they take even people who aren't important to me hostage and try to manipulate me."

"That denies the value of hostages. You take a hostage to make someone yield, yet you refuse to yield."

"Hmph. I don't need that kind of thing. There isn't even anyone around me who'd make a suitable hostage."

"Really?"

Hilde exaggeratedly looked around before pointing at me.

"Not even Father?"

"...I don't know why she's calling him Father, but I'd honestly feel better if someone took him away."

Ha ha, regressor. Don't say things you don't mean...

‘Seriously. He's pretty helpful in some situations, but he's far too unreliable to depend on. Couldn't someone take him, make good use of him, and return him when I need him?’

Huh? You meant that?

Hey. You ungrateful regressor! Do I have to spell out all my contributions before you understand?

"Shei, that's harsh. I've worked so hard and contributed so much this time, yet you're just trying to sell me off... No pimp could be worse than you!"

"I'm not a pimp! Putting aside why you're calling me one, what did you even contribute? You suddenly disappeared with the princess and the Gunslinger, that's all!"

"Do you really not know why I did that? The negotiations with the military state happened thanks to me!"

"What?"

"Father is right!"

Hilde jumped into my arms. Sitting demurely on my lap, she shifted into a more comfortable position and continued.

"Um, I'm sorry to say this, but Father is a little lacking compared to the rest of you, isn't he? He's weak, and there's nothing particularly remarkable about him. Yet Historia, one of the military state's proud generals, suddenly sided with him, and things started getting strange. He looks like he might die if you poked him once!"

"It's true, but did you have to put it that way?"

"Did he seduce everyone with that slippery face...? There was a man among them too, so we discarded that theory! Looking at Shei's preferences, though, we shouldn't have discarded it!"

"I can't deny that. It's plainly true."

"Deny it! It obviously isn't true!"

‘Those two bastards are unnaturally in sync! I know why I felt so uncomfortable when I saw the Shadow Casket! It's because she resembled that bastard!’

Exactly. You haven't known each other long, yet you're already so eager to tease her.

Hilde giggled, tapping my chest with her head.

"When something can't be explained logically, that's usually the key. Naturally, I and the military state thought Father was the one leading all of you. There was the Hamelin Pied Piper incident, and more than anything, Father's actions resembled Colonel Lankart's previous prison break!"

That was true. That was why Hilde had targeted me at the alchemical steel refinery. Her guess had been completely off, but still.

Even if I played a fairly large role, the one leading this group was the regressor.

"Naturally? Hmph. Why would we follow him?"

"Huh? You don't?"

"Of course we don't..."

The regressor stopped mid-sentence.

‘Wait. Azzy, Tyrkanzyaka, even the Gunslinger, they all came because of Hughes, didn't they? Other than them, the only ones who followed me were Nabi, who isn't very dependable, and the princess? Huh? Could that bastard be the fortuitous encounter of this life...?’

You only realized that now, regressor? Do you finally understand how much I've helped you?

Filled with confidence, I immediately pressed her.

"Shei, do you understand how valuable I am now? From now on, thank me once a month. With a modest monetary reward, of course."

"...Gah! What I mean is, regardless of the truth, there was no reason for them to judge that we'd follow him! Like you said, there is nothing special about him except how slippery he is!"

Oh? Is that how you plan to get out of this? Do you hate the idea of thanking me that much?

As the regressor pressed her, Hilde wiggled her fingers from side to side.

"No, there is a reason~. If Father is a prophet, or someone chosen by prophecy, then it's entirely possible! A person who receives an oracle travels the world, joins forces with the companions they meet, and defeats evil enemies. It's a common scene in epics!"

That was the unvarnished truth. After I exposed Hilde's identity, she had called me a prophet and the like. Back then, Hilde genuinely mistook me for a prophet or something similar.

To correct that misunderstanding, I had to hint at the King of Humanity. It was a rather regrettable card to play, but I did not regret it. A trump card only has meaning if you use it someday. Thanks to it, I learned the military state's secrets... and protected 'humanity.'

"A prophet? From the Sanctum?"

"Yes! The military state has made itself rather unpopular with the Sanctum! It wouldn't be strange for them to invade at any time!"

"True. I did get that sense."

‘That's right. The Sanctum always kept an eye on the military state. Even in previous lives, whenever the military state started a major war, the Sanctum intervened actively.’

That was probably because of Yuel, but I would let that part pass for now.

"But! Father stayed behind alone and proved that there was room for dialogue! He went to speak with them alone, leaving you and the Progenitor behind. Thanks to that, the military state felt somewhat reassured and agreed to talk. Then, after all the bustling about and back-and-forth confusion, we ended up with these negotiations!"

"What do you mean, bustling about and back-and-forth confusion? You skipped over that way too casually!"

"Sorry. Explaining it all is troublesome."

"Don't call the most important part troublesome..."

Had she taken in too much information in too short a time? Or was the combination of Hilde and me simply exhausting? Clutching her throbbing head, the regressor looked at me with a question in mind...

‘No. Rather than ask that bastard...’

I did not understand her thought process, but she sharply turned her head and asked Historia, who seemed somewhat more dependable.

"Gunslinger. Is that true?"

"Ah..."

‘Not at all. Hui did go there to talk, but... it wasn't because of a peace agreement. He was probably summoned because he is the King of Humanity...’

Still, regressor, I'm sorry to say this, but Historia is on my side too. She does not follow me completely, but she keeps quiet about information I have not revealed.

Historia spoke words completely different from what she was thinking.

"That's right. Maximilien tried to interfere then, and Hui and I stopped him. We thought we'd barely managed to bring him down when..."

"Ah, I understand. So that's why Nevida came?"

She had omitted the fact that I was the King of Humanity and Yuel's existence, but other than that, it was close enough to the truth. The explanation made sense, and we successfully convinced the regressor.

"I understand. So what? Since Hughes has been a great help to me, you're going to make him a hostage?"

"Ah ha ha. That could never happen. How could we dare demand someone like Father as a hostage? We couldn't, and even if we did, you wouldn't accept it."

‘Tch. That's a little disappointing...’

Were you planning to give me up if you could?

Damn it. It would've been better if I hadn't known, but mind-reading let me know her true feelings, and it soured my mood for no reason. I'll get revenge someday. Even if you're taken hostage, I'll make you worry yourself sick before I rescue you!

While I swallowed my anger, Hilde giggled and revealed the hostages.

"Don't worry! The hostages we want from Shei are the princess and her maid!"

"The princess?"

The regressor asked in surprise. The people named as hostages were completely unexpected.

‘The princess and I barely have any connection in this life. Besides, if they take the princess, the leader of the Resistance, hostage, they would have to leave the Resistance alone instead. They couldn't harm a hostage directly or indirectly until the agreement ended.’

She should have been grateful instead. From a practical standpoint, it could not have been better. The regressor was about to nod immediately.

‘In the first place, I haven't had much to do with the princess in this life. It would have been different in the previous life, but whatever happens to her...’

Yet the regressor did not nod, even at an offer she should naturally accept. A past that did not exist in this life passed through her mind. Rather than recalling everything, she only drew out memories tied to a particular person, but they were still useful clues, so I read as much of her thoughts as I could.

In her second life, the regressor had tried to escape the military state's conscription order. While fleeing to the Lesser States through the Resistance, she met the princess. The princess, already an experienced leader, offered to let her join the Resistance, but the regressor, afraid of fighting, refused and headed for the Lesser States. She was attacked and died along the way.

In her third life, the regressor understood the need for strength and joined the Resistance. The princess, less experienced than she had been in the second life, grew suspicious and tested the regressor, but before long, they came to trust each other deeply. With the princess's full support, she learned the Forgotten Kingdom's internal arts and slowly built up her strength. Thanks to the military-standard internal arts she had learned in her first and second lives, as well as the combat experience she gained while repeatedly facing death, she grew stronger quickly.

As she became entangled in ever-larger incidents, she had less reason to visit the Resistance...

Still, the princess had been the regressor's friend for quite a long time.

Even if not in this life.

The regressor spoke as her heart commanded.

"No."

Footnotes:

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