WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 313: Good Morning Quiz

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Same face, same build, same voice. Even the clothes made with a garment packet were exactly the same, to the point that I wondered if there was a mirror between them.

They looked so identical that even after Shei's eyes cycled through all seven colors as she looked from one to the other, she couldn't tell which Historia was real.

‘They aren't completely identical. The problem is, I don't know which one is real. No matter how I look at it, unlike an ability or mysticism, this is purely a technique born from her own energy art. Maybe she has even reached the principles of the world... Tch, no wonder I couldn't uncover her identity in the previous cycle!’

In her previous cycle, the regressor had approached the heart of the military state, but she hadn't uncovered its secrets. Maybe that was because the military state's secrets were too unexpected. Or perhaps, from the regressor's perspective, the military state was only something she had to pass through.

Either way, excited by this new discovery, the regressor looked at me expectantly.

‘Still, I can't be the only one who doesn't know. Come on, you try to guess too!’

Her sparkling eyes made me uncomfortable.

"...Shei. Why are you suddenly staring at me?"

"Ah, nothing. What about you? Could you tell them apart?"

"What do you take me for? I'm the one who could distinguish tiny scratches on the backs of cards. Of course I can tell. What about you, Shei?"

"Me? If I put my mind to it, I can tell them apart too."

"Then do it."

At my demand, the regressor awkwardly scratched her chin.

"...But to tell them apart, I'd have to open my Fate Eye. I don't usually spare my lifespan, but using it for something like this is a little..."

"I wasn't going to say this, but if you need a broken skill that lets you see someone's fate just to know, doesn't that mean you simply don't know?"

"S-shut up! If you're so confident, then guess!"

Tsk, tsk. I could just use mind-reading and know. Shaking my head, I read Historia's thoughts.

‘I don't want to admit it, but that's completely identical to me. Her appearance, voice, even the distinctive gait of those who learned my energy art, Explosive Shot... Even Hui couldn't...’

No, why ask when you think I won't get it? You could at least send me a secret signal. Aren't you pretty wicked too?

I sat up and asked,

"Anyway, why are you giving me a quiz in the middle of the day?"

"...Nothing. The Public Safety Bureau Chief transformed on her own and followed me."

“Historia” spoke exactly like Historia, but that was useless against someone like me, who recognized people by their hearts in the first place. What did it matter if their voices and appearances were identical? Their thoughts were different.

I looked at the “Historia” who had just spoken and said flatly,

"Then since Hilde came up with this on her own, Hilde will give me the prize."

"Who knows? I wonder if I prepared one."

"How can you not know? Don't tell me you didn't prepare a prize and are trying to deny it now."

When I pointed that out, “Historia” froze. She stared at me with a stiff expression, then broke into a wide smile and spread both arms.

"Correct! Amazing, Father! How did you know? I put my whole heart into ‘my’ acting! Even the garment packet was perfectly identical!"

"It's a secret. A magician must never reveal their tricks until just before death."

"Ehh! That's unfair! Did the two of you set up a signal while ‘I’ wasn't looking?"

"I'm a third-rate magician who even rigs things with the audience, but Ria wouldn't do that out of pride."

"Really, what does that make ‘my’ pride?!"

“Historia” stomped her feet like a child, an attitude that suited her not at all.

Needless to say, that one was Hilde. Since she no longer intended to deceive me, I asked flatly,

"Fine, so what's the prize?"

"The prize? It's ‘me’!"

"That's not a prize. That's just an object. Give me an actual reward."

"That's so cruel! If you have ‘me,’ I can give you a massage!"

A massage. Come to think of it, Hilde said she could use divine power and blood-point striking, didn't she?

It wasn't strange. Anyone whose faith was sincere and who understood holy rites could use divine power. Of course, the condition of having “sincere faith” was strict enough that having any other belief made it impossible... There was a reason people said mages couldn't use divine power.

Still, perhaps things were different for a shapeshifter standing before me who could even deceive herself.

"Ugh. Then I'd appreciate it... but that's not why you came, right?"

"Yes! Our Gunslinger says she urgently needs to speak with you, Father!"

"Urgently?"

That worked out nicely. If I was in the same space as Tyr, I couldn't receive treatment through divine power. I didn't want to watch a healer turn into a patient in real time, so I braced myself against the wall and forced myself outside.

"I'll wash up and get some treatment. While I'm at it, I'll hear what you urgently need to say. You don't need to follow me."

"Mm. All right. Go on, then."

‘To think the one on the left was real... Next time, I'll definitely get it right.’

See? I wasn't the only one who thought it was a quiz.

Still bent over from the muscle pain, I stepped outside. Historia and “Historia” followed side by side, one on each side of me. No matter how well I recognized people by their thoughts, having two Historias standing right beside me made it hard to remember which was on which side. Without mind-reading, I really would have been confused.

More importantly, why did I feel like I'd been put through a test for no reward or reason? Feeling cheated by the whole thing, I said to Historia,

"By the way, Ria, why did you join Hilde's good morning quiz?"

Historia didn't even look at me.

"...I didn't join."

"That one obviously approached with your face and asked who she was. Of course it was a quiz meant to make me guess the real you."

"The Public Safety Bureau Chief did it on her own. I just didn't stop her."

"That would make sense if Hilde had come alone. But you were standing right beside her. Doesn't that count as cooperating?"

Historia still kept her head turned and didn't answer. Instead, Hilde, wearing the same face as her, excitedly answered for her.

"That's because! Women are creatures who want others to find the tiny but special traits only they possess! The Major General is a woman too!"

"...Public Safety Bureau Chief."

"See? Even her tone got gentler! Father, have you ever seen Historia like this?"

Why was this person so excited again? I would normally play along, but I hurt too much to match that energy.

As I groaned, “Historia” rudely looked over my body and asked,

"Then, Father, what will you do first? A massage? A shower? Or both at once?"

What did she mean, both at once? Even a real daughter wouldn't do something like that. Historia finally reacted.

"What do you mean, both at once?!"

"Don't worry, Historia! I'll do it in this body!"

"That makes it even worse! Don't do that in my body!"

"Mm. Is there no helping it? All right. As Historia wishes, I'll disguise myself as a man and do it wholesomely."

"I never said that was what I wanted! That's not the important part in the first place!"

Right. Historia pointed out the important part.

"Ria is right. The most important thing is what I want."

"Doesn't matter what you want, no!"

What? No?

Listen, Historia. I am the King of Humanity, the dominant species of the land. There is nothing I can't do to a beast. You're arbitrarily defining humans...

‘Just try saying you might do it...! I'll beat you up if I have to!’

Still, there were things I couldn't do because I lacked the ability. It seemed one more had just been added.

"Ugh. All right. I'll hear Ria out first."

"Then what about the massage?"

"Honestly, the massage isn't the important matter, right? If you two came together after talking it over, you must have come because of Ria's business. About becoming the military state's hostage... no, about taking the military state hostage. Right?"

"Really, it's impossible to hide anything from you, Father. That's right."

Of course it was. I was reading her mind. Hilde began releasing her transformation and shrugged.

"Can't be helped. I'll leave the honor of touching Father's body to Historia!"

"I'm not doing anything like that."

"If someone stays nearby while you need to touch him all over, it'll be awkward, right? So ‘I'll’ leave you alone!"

Hilde retreated, waving a hand over her head. Her steps were quite light.

She was on my side, but Hilde clearly had a deep attachment to the military state. She casually stuck close to us, but subtly avoided anything that would harm it.

Her attitude was the exact opposite of Yuel's. Yuel actively tried to drive Tyr and me away, while Hilde tried to compromise flexibly. If Yuel was a hawk, Hilde was a dove... no, a cuckoo? She slipped into the middle of people who had been enemies until moments ago and made a place for herself.

Well, I knew it and would let her fool me anyway. I wanted things to end peacefully too.

"Come in."

Historia's room was especially large and luxurious even among the annex rooms. Though its luxury was military state style, so all it had was a slightly softer sofa, a slightly wider bed, and a slightly warmer blanket. This was a guest room for dignitaries?

By my standards, a sofa harder than a wool cushion wasn't a sofa. I didn't want to entrust my aching body to that thing, so I dragged my feet over and flopped onto the bed.

Historia asked worriedly,

"...Does it hurt a lot?"

"Probably not as much as you hurt, but I'm worse at enduring pain than you are."

"Lie facedown. I'll use blood-point striking on you."

Blood-point striking was a technique that healed the body by striking it with energy, right? You knew that if it went wrong, energy could enter the body and wreck it from the inside, didn't you? I felt uneasy.

"You learned blood-point striking too?"

"I saw the Public Safety Bureau Chief do it."

No, if you could learn it just by seeing it once, why study or learn techniques at all? No matter how much of a genius you were, blood-point striking had its own history and tradition...

"Uuuugh. That feels good."

It worked.

Historia's hands moved delicately over my muscles. She spread faint energy through my body, felt the resonance, then instinctively focused on the knotted areas. It felt like she was directly stroking the inside of my body.

It was a shame she didn't have divine power, but if she did, I probably wouldn't have felt this good. Pleasure came when something lacking was fulfilled. Divine power that “restored” things lacked pleasure.

"Hui. Number 6."

"Uh, okay."

Number 6 was the knee-strike stance... My body moved before I could think. As I raised one knee while lying facedown, parts that hadn't been reached until now were stimulated. I let out a long groan.

Other than occasionally directing my movements, she continued the massage in silence. Once my body felt somewhat loosened, Historia pressed firmly on my back and spoke.

"...I."

Here came the main point. I stopped my escaping moans and focused on Historia's words.

"I wanted to make a place for you in the military state, so it would be all right for you to return whenever you wanted."

Those who mastered Water Qi Art were said to be able to control their bodies completely as they wished... but was that really true? Will itself swayed according to emotion. Could anyone really call it “complete”?

Historia's hands and voice both trembled uncontrollably.

"It wasn't only you. A few of the children who survived in Hamelin, including Siati. The military academy students who hadn't participated in the graduation examination but still received concerned looks because of the Hamelin incident. They all suffered in large and small ways because of that incident. I... wanted to give them a place to belong. So... I carried out orders faithfully and became one of the Six Generals."

Because Historia became one of the Six Generals, the Hamelin military academy students couldn't be discriminated against.

Because Historia actively took part in all kinds of missions, the Resistance, including Siati, survived.

Because Historia left her adjutant position vacant, one lucky person who caught Historia's eye could enjoy a position others would envy after only the minimum examinations...

But that position remained vacant.

"...You said you were the King of Humanity. You said you grant wishes. But..."

She struck my back with resentment. It was a blow that landed more on my heart than my body.

Historia fought alone and made a place for them. It had all become useless after she betrayed the military state once, but that wasn't a reason to deny her efforts.

But still.

Your wish wasn't to fill the position. It was to make a place in the first place.

"Ria. You wanted an equal friend, didn't you? Someone you could share your heart with."

Someone who could exchange things with her as an equal, beyond strength and authority.

That was Historia's wish.

"To share your heart, you first have to cut away and give part of your own heart. You could have done it. You had the strength and ability. It's only that the voices of others never reached you, just as the children's voices never reached the military state."

I only laid another person's heart over mine. I didn't truly share it. That was why I could grant wishes, but could not become the object of those wishes.

Historia's affection for me was a shortcut born from mind-reading. For Historia to truly share her heart, she had to open it herself first.

"The military state didn't change much, even after Hamelin. But the cry those children risked their lives to make changed you, and because of that, the military state has changed now. Their wish came true... because you accepted and shared their hearts."

"It was hard."

"Still, you did it. You're different from how you were in Hamelin, when you were a lone wolf. You can be depended on, respected, and live up to that."

That was why Historia had to make a place. Only an empty space could be filled.

Historia realized that after losing so much.

Her hand tightened around my shoulder, then relaxed after a moment. Looking down at me, Historia said,

"...The Public Safety Bureau Chief said there needs to be at least one of the Six Generals in the military state who knows the secret."

"Otherwise, there would be no one left to protect it."

"Hui, what should I do?"

"Do what you want."

"But what about you? No matter how many places I make, they mean nothing if nobody comes to them. Even if I stay here and protect the military state, you won't return here..."

"Ah, about that."

I looked around, confirmed through mind-reading that no one was eavesdropping on us, then lowered my voice.

"I'm the King of Humanity, you know?"

"...I still can't believe it, and even if I did, I don't know what difference it makes. So?"

"Then why did the King of Humanity appear in the military state?"

"Why are you asking me that, self-proclaimed King of Humanity?"

"Obviously, because I don't know either. Like you, I'm human, so I can't choose where I'm born. By the time I was old enough to know anything, I was rolling around in the back alleys of the military state."

Beast Kings generally followed universality. It wasn't absolute, but it was generally right. The fact that I was in the military state meant the military state could be considered representative of humanity's universality to some extent.

...The problem was that I didn't know why.

"A Beast King isn't special. Especially not a King of Humanity who had his power taken away. Since I was born here, I have to live in the military state. That's why I attended elementary citizen school and middle military school. If nothing had happened, I might have gone all the way through the higher military academy and gradually learned the military state's secrets the ordinary way."

But I hadn't made it to the higher military academy in the end. Going there could be considered an extraordinary event. It was hindsight, but human wishes followed that kind of universality.

So I was trying to approach things a little differently.

"Then I met Shei and learned something."

"The King of... Sin?"

"Yeah. I need to confirm that. I don't know how it'll end either. Maybe it'll be enough if I'm fine, or maybe even that won't be enough."

I truly didn't know. From here on, it was completely unknown territory, so I couldn't act rashly. Still, I wasn't the type to list every possibility like a prophet and tread carefully.

"But one thing is certain. When everything is over, I'll return to the military state."

That was the truth. If I was allowed an ordinary life, I would stay in the military state and slowly search for its secrets. Like before I entered the Abyss.

Historia turned my words over in her mind several times. Then she said,

"It sounds like a lie."

Seriously? I told her the truth out of long-standing affection, and it sounded like a lie?

"I can't trust you. Not the military state, nor me. You abandoned us so easily. Nothing can become your hostage..."

Of course not. I was the King of Humanity. Unless someone took every human hostage, things could only remain that way.

Still, I kept my promises.

"Here, Ria. Thanks for the massage. Oh, right. When we went down to the communications headquarters basement last time, I said I'd repay you when we came back up, didn't I? I can't exactly call it thanks to you, but still."

I held out my hand. Historia took it to pull me up. It was a very ordinary motion friends might have done before.

I mixed one thing into it.

"Number 8."

The movement that swapped our positions. Historia reacted reflexively. In an instant, our positions switched. No matter how much I struggled or used strength, Historia would never fall, but one whispered word from me sent her sprawling onto the bed.

I looked down at Historia and rolled up my sleeves.

"Your muscle pain is bad too, right? It must be at least as bad as mine, if not worse."

"Uh..."

"It's repayment. I'll give you a massage."

"Hui, you... blood-point striking..."

"I learned it. Just now."

I couldn't do it. But Historia could. In that case, I could too, because I read Historia's thoughts.

Blood-point striking was a very sensory technique, but that didn't matter. I could read Historia's senses.

"Number 0."

What was carved before it hardened remained the longest. Following the instruction we had agreed on in advance when she was still clumsy, Historia breathed out deeply and relaxed.

Footnotes:

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