WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 320: What Doesn't Kill You

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Regardless of my anxiety that there might no longer be a place for me, the Cataphract, stripped of its side panels and roof, was remarkably fast. Combined with the driving skills of a golem starved for speed, it raced down the road faster than most beasts could follow.

Other than the fierce wind, I thought it would be a smooth, comfortable trip...

"Shadow Casket. Keep it balanced over there."

"You're making me work for free! Just this once. Next time, ask more politely!"

Clang, clang. The steady sound of steel being struck rang out. Using Jizan as a hammer, the regressor was making something.

There was a broad footboard and a T-shaped handle tightly bound with tough rope. At a glance, it looked like a sled meant to be ridden standing up.

The question was, why did we need that? The Cataphract was already moving plenty fast.

'I can't just sit around doing nothing on the way there. I need to make good use of this time too! I'll train that brat Hughes!'

...I knew because I had read her mind. The moment I did, I cursed my mind-reading for revealing such a forbidden truth, but whether I knew or not, this was going to happen to me anyway. The only difference was whether I suffered knowingly or unknowingly.

I cautiously asked her.

"Shei."

"Hm?"

"What exactly is that?"

The regressor lightly lifted the sled.

"Good question. This is equipment to help you train!"

"Train?"

"Yeah! I said I'd help with your training, didn't I?"

That wasn't the point. Why was a sled training equipment? I desperately changed the subject.

"Am I supposed to grab it and lift it? It looks heavy, but it might be good exercise."

"Idiot. If that were all it was for, why would I make it into a sled?"

"You just called it a sled yourself! That makes it even stranger! How is a sled supposed to be training equipment?"

"It's simple. Before training you, I need to figure out how much qi you have."

The regressor set the sled down in front of me.

"You know the basics of qi arts, Heaven, Earth, Water, and Li, right? You even gave a show-off lecture about them in Tantalus."

"Of course I do."

Qi arts were techniques that strengthened the body with qi.

Heaven Qi Art infused qi into all things in the world. Earth Qi Art extended qi beneath one's feet, making one with the earth. Water Qi Art strengthened the body itself, while Li bent principles.

I knew all of that. I could even use all of them except Li. My body simply couldn't keep up.

"Normally, being able to use just Heaven and Earth Qi Art is considered decent. If you master Water Qi Art as well, people treat you as an outstanding qi artist. Learning Water Qi Art was even a basic requirement for becoming a military state general. Once you can do that much, it becomes a matter of scale. Li is excluded because it varies too much from person to person."

"Why is Li excluded? Is it because you couldn't learn it, Shei?"

"No! It's because everyone reaches a different level, so you can't compare them!"

'I couldn't learn it either... Tch. No matter how much I trained or broadened my horizons, I just can't understand Li!'

Well, asking someone who traveled back through time to imagine the mental image they most wanted to achieve was ridiculous. Couldn't she just do it in the next iteration? If she could overcome death, did she really need to bend principles?

"Anyway. When I saw you, you had clearly mastered Water Qi Art, right? Some people master Water Qi Art first depending on their talent or training policy, but the military state's curriculum goes Heaven, Earth, Water, and Li. For a while, I thought you were general-class."

"Hahaha. I don't know where to put myself."

"Well, I still think you could absolutely become general-class, depending on how you train. That's why I need to accurately assess your current condition."

Shaking her head, the regressor shoved the handle into my hands.

"Grip the handle tightly with Heaven Qi Art, and anchor your feet to the footboard with Earth Qi Art. Get on the sled and keep your balance. Endure as long as you can. Think of it as training."

Ah, I see.

She planned to tie the sled to the back of this rattling Cataphract, put me on it, and drag me along. What a game Azzy would love. Hahaha.

...Are you kidding me?!

The Cataphract was speeding along. To avoid falling, I had to use my grip strength to hold onto that rope. My hands, arms, waist, legs. The instant any part of me gave out even a little, I would lose my balance and slam into the ground.

I wouldn't even be able to tell where I died. My body would be ground to pieces against the earth, scattering debris over hundreds of meters before I died!

"How is that training?! That's punishment, no, an execution!"

"If it isn't hard and painful, it isn't training."

"I'm not doing it! What era do you think this is? Who builds strength with such barbaric methods these days?"

'What's the big deal? I've been dragged around wearing only straw sandals before. If I didn't protect them with qi arts, the soles of my feet got scraped raw. This is better than that, isn't it?'

That was a vicious practice! Just because you went through it, you want to make me do it too? People like you, repeating bad practices without question, are why society never improves!

"I thought you might give me an elixir or treasure. Why would I voluntarily suffer? Put Azzy on the sled instead!"

"Woof?"

"Yes, Azzy. Perfect timing. This will be more fun than sticking your head outside and staring blankly."

When I waved the handle, Azzy, who had been yawning as she leaned her upper body outside, showed interest and came over.

This stupid handle could become Azzy's toy. I let her bite it, then pulled on the rope and played tug with her. Calling it tug was generous. Every time Azzy twisted her head, all I could do was struggle not to let go.

"Wow, you're strong."

"Woof woof! Harder!"

"Easy, easy. You're several times stronger than I am. What difference would it make if I put more strength into it?"

The regressor clicked her tongue as she watched me ignore training and play with Azzy.

'...Of everyone I've met across all my regressions, he's the most opposed to training. Isn't wanting to become stronger an instinct? A master offers to train him, and he's actually digging in his heels and refusing.'

Since I had refused so firmly, the regressor changed her approach somewhat.

"I think you have plenty of potential."

"The military state's education officer told me that too. Said something like, 'This bastard seems talented, but he obviously doesn't put in any effort.' I resented it at the time, but now I'm grateful they believed in my potential."

"I'm not being sarcastic! From what I've seen, you're broadly proficient in qi arts, mana, and alchemy. You don't lack talent. It's just... how should I put it? It feels like everything is blocked somehow."

You know me well. This is my limit! And someone who knows that well wants to force me through barbaric training?

"I'm sorry, but I'm too old to imagine new possibilities for my future. Sadly, this is my limit."

"No, it's different. Thinking about it, I think your body's balance has collapsed."

"Balance?"

"Yeah. I've experienced it before too, but when you learn techniques with different natures, like magic and qi arts... how should I say this? Your body starts leaning to one side. The balance breaks down. It's important to restore that balance..."

What nonsense. I had never experienced the difficulty she was describing.

I was the King of Humanity. I could handle all knowledge and techniques given to humanity as though they were my own. I simply couldn't reproduce them because I lacked sufficient mana and qi.

You might think I only needed to increase my mana and qi reserves, but no matter what I did, I couldn't gather power beyond a certain point.

I didn't know why. It was probably connected to that incident in which the King of Humanity had lost its power.

What incident was that...?

I didn't know. Truly.

If anything, I was the one who wanted to know.

I wasn't lying. Azzy had inherited a promise made in the distant past, but if I asked what it was, she would only ask back, "Woof?"

Even the greatest detective couldn't reconstruct the circumstances of an agreement just by reading the contract. By the same principle, the promise could be passed down without the memories attached to it. I guessed it was some kind of curse, seal, or something similar. Probably something related to the First Holy Maiden...

In any case, since it wasn't entirely a matter of balance, I responded indifferently.

"Will that really make me stronger? How about giving me an elixir or treasure instead? I can put it to good use."

"You won't use power gained without effort well! I've had a similar experience too! If this goes well, you can break through that wall!"

'The way you handle qi and the way you handle mana are completely different. Qi is power that moves my body to bring change to the world, while mana recreates changes in the world through my body. From within to without, and from without to within. They have opposing natures, so whenever you try to use both together, they keep interfering with each other... Hmm. How should I explain this?'

Hmph. Nothing to lose? The moment I put effort into it, I had already lost something. Just watch me not do it!

'Ah, whatever. I'll make him do it first.'

The regressor shoved me. It happened at the same time as her thought, so I couldn't react in time and stupidly muttered.

"Huh?"

She had even put qi into the push, so I was helplessly pushed backward. I staggered onto the sled, then slid down the Cataphract's rear slope. By the time I realized what was happening, I was scraping along the ground.

Wait, hold on. She just pushed me?

"Here."

The regressor pulled the handle from Azzy's mouth and threw it at me. A drowning person would grasp even at a straw. I snatched the handle as it came right up to my face.

"Hold on tight if you don't want to fall."

The rope stretched taut before me. Reflexively, I gripped the handle with all my strength. At once, my hands, arms, legs, and waist felt as though they were being yanked tight.

When I came to my senses, I was riding the sled exactly as the regressor had planned. Struggling to steady my shaking body, I shouted desperately.

"Aaaaaah! Wh-What are you doing?!"

She's crazy! She just shoved me off? Without even giving it any thought?

I had seen countless people, but I had never met anyone as impulsive as this regressor! She had moved at the same instant she thought of it, so I couldn't even prepare!

Even as I screamed, the regressor calmly pulled the rope.

"Hmm. You're doing well. Hold on as long as you can. Try not to fall, because it'll hurt."

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?! Of course it'll hurt!"

'Well, I'll catch him if he looks like he's about to fall. But if I tell him that, he won't feel as tense, so for now, he should hold on for dear life.'

I can read every thought you have!

That didn't mean I could let go. Even if someone promised they would catch me, even if they meant it, it was hard to trust them enough to fall backward.

What if this unreliable regressor somehow failed to catch me? I would die!

Tch, I had no choice! It was humiliating, but...

"Tyr! Please pull me back up!"

I shouted with all my might, but Tyr didn't pay it much attention. If anything, she seemed somewhat pleased to see me like this.

"It is good to see you striving."

"You think this looks good? I'm on the verge of death every time!"

"That which does not kill you will make you stronger. If you become stronger, will you not be able to overcome greater threats?"

"If it kills me now, that's the end of it!"

What was I, a wager? Did the payout increase if I gambled on greater risks? What if I failed and lost everything?

"It's all right. I will watch over you so that it does not become dangerous. And..."

'He won't die even if he falls here. If he is injured badly enough to require my strength, I will give him my blood without hesitation. Perhaps... the King of Humanity may become the King of Vampires.'

Like hell I would fall. I would endure through sheer grit.

The regressor wasn't entirely wrong. I was a mind reader. Rather than making my own hand stronger, I read my opponent's hand and used it against them.

If I couldn't win, I avoided a direct confrontation or recruited them. If they forced a strategy on me, I used it against them instead. My way of winning was walking the line by a hair, never crushing my opponent outright. That was why I had built my strength by increasing the cards I could use.

Still... before overwhelming power, the number of cards in one's hand meant nothing. Paper might beat rock, but a palm-sized sheet of paper couldn't wrap up a landslide pouring down on it.

Training won't make me stronger, but if it gave me even one better card to play, I would endure it!

"Do whatever you like! I'll see for myself just how much stronger this pathetic training can make me!"

"You're the one training, so why are you gritting your teeth...?"

Footnotes:

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