WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 319: Why Use an Inferior Version

──────

"And so, the vanguard led by Absolute Spear defeated the wicked invaders and raised the military state's flag high."

After finishing her solo performance, Hilde bowed at the waist and quietly waited for our reaction. Tyr and I gave a small round of applause, while Azzy stared at me before thumping the floor with her front paws, as if copying me. The only one who remained still was the regressor.

In a village of two-eyed people, a one-eyed person was bound to look strange. For a moment, everyone's eyes turned to the regressor. Having drawn all their attention with her silence, the regressor clicked her tongue instead of clapping.

"They've already invaded."

"Invaded? What have you been listening to this whole time? They were the ones who started devouring Tantalus! The military state was only taking up a defensive position!"

"You were going to advance into their homeland anyway. Am I wrong?"

Hilde fell silent at the regressor's sharp observation. A moment later, she smiled as though she'd been caught.

"Hmm. You're really strange. Usually, you seem as dim as an elementary-school kid, but sometimes your insight is as shrewd as an old person who's lived a hundred years."

"Shut up. If you really meant to protect it, you'd have sent an engineering corps instead of a legion. Who do you take for a fool?"

'It was the same in the previous cycle. Back then, the Lesser States were much more cautious. Because of the Immortal's corpse golem, neither the military state nor the Lesser States could approach carelessly...'

The regressor was subtly similar to me. I read people's minds, then bragged about the answers as if I'd deduced them myself. The regressor spoke of experiences from before her regression as if they were predictions she'd made herself. We were both frauds who hid our methods.

Without regression, everyone would have seen how empty she was underneath. Tch, it couldn't be helped. Regression was an ability, just like mind-reading. If I didn't like it, I should've regressed too.

'Were the simple sides he occasionally showed actually bold decisions? I thought he was Father's pawn... I should reconsider that.'

Unaware of any of this, Hilde revised her opinion of the regressor.

"Hehe. So you understand now, right? What a difficult decision the military state made. We gave up quite a lot to accept the truce proposal you forced on us."

"Difficult? You're just standing there."

"Gathering enough force to advance all the way into the enemy's heartland, then doing nothing. That's the hardest thing of all... Well, you aren't saying that because you don't understand, are you?"

"..."

'They're just standing there. Is that difficult?'

She really didn't understand. She wasn't showing it outwardly, though.

I should give her a hint without embarrassing her too much.

"Because of the supply lines?"

"Yes. A gap in the military state's forces means a gap in administration. Soldiers don't just stand around, do they? They have to carry cargo and handle construction across the military state. Gathering them in a hurry and leaving them in the middle of nowhere is an enormous loss. We have stockpiled supplies for now, but later..."

Pretending to count something on her fingers, Hilde let out a long sigh and trailed off.

"Objectively speaking, one week. After that, we'll have to advance just to stop the legion from falling apart. So please, try a little harder? You need to reach the Golden Palace and present the truce oath before the week is up."

"One week?"

"Why? Is that not enough?"

"No, that's plenty."

'A truce? It should be easy if we only persuade the military state. The Lesser States are relatively weak.'

The regressor answered as though it were nothing. Hilde stared at her, then added one more thing.

"Let me tell you just this. One week is enough time for both us and the Lesser States to finish preparing. Under the original plan, we would've broken the enemy's momentum, cut off their information, and advanced while defeating the Juggernauts one at a time, but we won't be able to do that after a week."

"What, you want us to help because we made war difficult for you?"

"I'm saying that if you're going to stop the war, make sure you stop it. A war that breaks out in a month will be dozens of times more terrible than one that should have happened yesterday."

Hilde had a habit of saying serious things with an endlessly carefree expression. It was probably a skill she'd cultivated in her own way, but it gave me chills. I wished she'd restrain herself.

With nothing left to say, the regressor abruptly turned away.

"Tch. Anyone would think you loved peace. So, do you know where the Golden Palace is?"

Hilde smiled brightly.

"No! Who could possibly know where a moving palace is right now?"

"Fair enough. Let's look for it as we go. Even if we can't find it, we'll get information if we stop by Claudia. Wait. I had a map somewhere..."

The regressor turned around and rummaged through her pocket. While she did, Hilde, who'd been watching me cautiously, crept closer. She pressed herself right against me and even used qi arts to whisper so Tyr and the regressor wouldn't hear.

"Father, please don't misunderstand. It's not that we're trying to hide it. Neither 'I' nor she truly knows. That's because..."

"She can't see it, right?"

"...Yes. You even know that."

Hilde gave a faint smile and nodded.

Farsight could see all things in the world, but it could only see. In other words, it struggled greatly where light couldn't reach. Tyr, who was called the Sanctum's greatest enemy, didn't surround herself with darkness for no reason.

That was one reason Yuel had tried to drive us away. Tyr's darkness blocked Yuel's farsight. Even with farsight, Yuel had failed to grasp our diversionary operation and had been deceived.

'...Besides, even Yuel doesn't know the Golden Palace's structure. I wonder if even Father knows it.'

Still, there had to be at least one person in the world who knew. It would be fine if I read that person's thoughts. We just had to get close first.

"Alright. I've decided."

After examining something by herself in a pitiful manner, the regressor clapped her hands and called us over. She took out a small map and spread it before us.

It was an empty map with nothing written or drawn on it. It seemed absurd to call something like that a map, but this was the Lesser States. In that cursed land that had driven countless surveyors to despair, it was better not to draw anything at all. Cities and terrain changed every moment.

At the far right of the map, a mountain range stretched out like a folding screen. The surveyors who'd tried to record the Lesser States on maps must have been delighted when they discovered those mountains. In a country where today was unlike yesterday, they were the only recognizable landmark.

Besides... surveyors weren't the only people who loved things that didn't change.

The regressor pointed to one spot on the mountain range.

Claudia.

A lone city name on a map of the Lesser States. It was where the most people lived in the Lesser States.

"First, we'll head to Claudia, the Lesser States' only settled city. If we find the Golden Palace's location while taking down jackals or Juggernauts along the way, we'll head there immediately. If not, we'll stop by Claudia and find out where the Golden Palace is."

"Claudia? That's the city at the foot of the eastern Cloud Mountain Range, right?"

"Yeah. The Golden Palace moves wherever it wants, but Claudia, which serves as a hub, doesn't move, so we just have to get there. It's also an easy place to meet someone from the Golden Palace."

It was a diligent, straightforward approach, unlike the regressor in a good way. There was one problem, though.

"To get to Claudia, we have to keep following the mountain range upward. Can we make it within a week on the Cataphract?"

"Not with this. Its defense is good, but it's not very fast."

"Then what? Don't tell me you're going to fly?"

"No, I can't fly that far with Skywarbler. There isn't enough space stored inside Skywarbler. So we need an alternative."

She'd made a plan and even presented an alternative. Regressor, you really had thought this through. For the first time, you were starting to seem a little dependable.

The regressor raised Skywarbler and Jizan, then looked over the Cataphract with an expression as cold as ice.

"We modify it."

Why was she saying that while holding swords...? I had a bad feeling. Did she even know what modification meant? Surely she wasn't thinking in such a one-dimensional way...

Maybe it was just my imagination, but the Cataphract seemed to shudder.

As I'd expected, the modification the regressor spoke of was quite brutal and violent.

First, she separated the engine section containing the Thunderwheel so it wouldn't be damaged. Then she used Jizan and Skywarbler to slice off everything above it in one stroke. The Cataphract was a masterpiece covered in level-three alchemical steel, with level-four reinforcement added to its weak points, but it couldn't withstand the regressor's merciless hands.

[Ah, ahhh. The Cataphract...]

The golem covered its mouth as it watched the Cataphract being horribly dismantled.

Most of the Cataphract's weight came from its thick armor. Once all of that was cut away and removed, the Cataphract became incredibly light.

The regressor looked proudly at the Cataphract, now little more than a cart.

"There! It'll be much faster now, right?"

Of course. I should've stopped her.

Holding my head, I spoke.

"Mr. Shei. Making it lighter won't make it faster."

"Huh? Why not?"

'Carriages got faster when they carried less cargo, though?'

She'd seemed dependable for a moment, then immediately turned incompetent. Would a horse run faster if you shaved the flesh off its rump? Its speed would barely change. This was a matter of structure and design.

Shaking my head, I spoke to the golem sitting there in despair.

"...Sigh. DG, what do we do with this?"

[Sniff... Please just destroy this unit instead...]

"I won't forgive you for becoming comfortable by yourself. Open your eyes and make it through this hell. That is your duty, communications officer."

[...Captain DG, communications officer... Understood. I will rise above this grief.]

The regressor had made even the golem cry, yet she only blinked, unaware of what she'd done wrong.

"How should we fix it to make it usable?"

[To increase speed by the amount of weight reduced... the gear size must be adjusted, and the Thunderwheel must be reforged...]

"Can we do it?"

[Unless you are skilled enough to process the Thunderwheel with alchemy... it is realistically impossible...]

Tch. That was close.

I could process the Thunderwheel. The problem was that I couldn't read a golem's thoughts. My ability depended less on myself and more on what I gained by reading other people's thoughts.

Could I reforge it to the proper specifications just by listening to the golem's explanation? With my lacking mana? Even if I somehow processed the Thunderwheel, what about the lightning to put inside it? I'd be severely short on mana.

"Huh? It can't be done?"

As the regressor calmly asked that, Hilde stepped forward, shaking her head.

"Phew. It can't be helped. Well, what would someone who swings around the Demon God know about machinery?"

"W-What! There's nothing wrong with making it lighter!"

"Enough. Move aside."

Hilde grabbed the Thunderwheel and yanked it free with a single pull. The Thunderwheel, which had been firmly embedded in the Cataphract's heart, came out without resistance.

That was strength befitting a qi artist who had reached the principle. Hilde bent steel with brute force, poured qi into her fingernails, and scratched the Thunderwheel's surface. Deep grooves appeared in the hard Thunderwheel.

'I am an alchemist. One who understands steel, who changes matter with mana.'

The lines that had seemed disorderly soon formed a single shape. An alchemical formation. Mana flowed into the grooves carved out by qi. Light flashed, and part of the Thunderwheel's grooves melted away... changing it to a larger specification.

In an instant, the Thunderwheel grew to more than twice its original size. It hadn't been crudely stretched with force or carelessly built onto. It had been processed purely through alchemy.

The regressor was inwardly impressed.

"You can use alchemy too?"

"If I couldn't use alchemy, I couldn't disguise myself as an alchemist, could I? I learned as much as I needed."

How serious was she about acting? The regressor muttered in disbelief.

"Learning techniques because you need a disguise... By that logic, you could use magic too..."

"Huh? How did you know? 'I' learned most standardized magic too!"

"What?"

Instead of explaining further, Hilde covered the Thunderwheel with her palm. Then she closed her eyes and murmured inwardly.

'I am a mage. A sage who recreates the principles of the world within my grasp.'

Her bearing changed. Hilde, who had been an alchemist just moments ago, now became something like a mage.

Like everything else in the world, each person had their own aptitude. Even if someone understood the principles, they usually couldn't achieve much if the field didn't suit them.

By that measure, I had terrible aptitude for every skill. Thanks to mind-reading, I understood and accepted any technique, but I could never progress beyond a certain level of mastery. My qi arts and mana were both average.

Hilde was a little different. She had ample mana and qi, and she made perfect use of her abilities. Even an extraordinary genius couldn't excel in every talent, but Hilde used self-suggestion to bring herself into the first-rate realm.

"Set, Re. Bolt."

The mana scattered through her body took the form of lightning and seeped into the Thunderwheel. Hilde possessed considerable mana, and her method of manifesting it as magic was first-rate.

Lightning settled inside the Thunderwheel. Hilde proudly showed off the Thunderwheel crackling with electricity, then approached the engine.

"DG, give your instructions."

[Yes! Please connect Part A to the drive shaft! It is optional, but I recommend removing Part B entirely to prevent interference! If you align only the core in that state, it will engage with Parts C and D under the current specifications!]

Hilde followed the instructions exactly.

She didn't know everything. She'd only learned the minimum foundational knowledge needed to follow instructions. Yet that minimum understanding, combined with the communications officer's directions, produced a perfect result.

It was precise work combining strength and technique. She boldly tore away the unnecessary parts and fitted the enlarged Thunderwheel into the connection. Minor discrepancies were adjusted through simple alchemy.

Was this the true ability of Shadow Casket, one of the military state's Six Generals?

Soon after, the Thunderwheel began to turn, and the Cataphract slowly started moving. The golem shouted excitedly.

[Engine sound... Good! Output good! We succeeded!]

Her magic, alchemy, and even mechanical engineering had all reached the first-rate. Even her qi arts had reached the principle. A versatile person who could wield every weapon at master level and disguise herself perfectly as another human.

She could make a place for herself anywhere. Ah, this meant I had much less to do now, so things would be easi...

Huh?

'Her familiarity with all sorts of miscellaneous skills makes her just like Hughes. If Hughes regains just a little more strength, he will become similar to that child... Honestly. I cannot tell who is the child and who is the father.'

Huh? Wait a second.

Wasn't she my superior version?

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried