WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 323: My Body Doesn't Take It Well

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Large, long-lived creatures were bound to possess vital energy. Not just humans. Any beast that existed and brought change to the world gained vital energy. They even instinctively made use of the vital energy they accumulated.

Of course, humans were the only ones who used it through deliberate technique.

Humans used trees, rocks, iron, and even mana through technique. It was hardly surprising that they used the vital energy within their own bodies the same way.

Still, humans who lived only around sixty years suffered from chronic shortages of vital energy when they practiced the complex art of energy cultivation. Whenever that happened, people sought something outside their bodies to make up for what they lacked.

That something was the vital energy of other beasts. The essence of living creatures now called elixirs. Humans hunted beasts, filling their stomachs while replenishing their lacking vital energy...

But did humans now know? That a beast's vital energy and a human's vital energy were no different at all.

And that when humans had still been beasts, the easiest beast to find had been another human.

Class-1 Taboo, Gluttony. The taboo of humans devouring other humans to take their mana and vital energy...

Everyone considered it taboo, and even considered imagining it a sin. Yet that taboo was still being carried out.

Inside my stomach.

Haa. So it really wouldn't work. No matter what I did, there was no efficiency to be had. The elixir was clearly in my stomach, but there was no sign of any interaction taking place.

Honestly, I didn't know why. There was no reason a Beast King couldn't change, but my body felt fixed... No, defined. At this rate, it would make little difference no matter how many elixirs I ate or whether I devoured hundreds of people through Gluttony.

The vital energy I could gain from this precious elixir was a speck of dust. Even that seemed likely to fade someday. Still, if I wanted to make a mountain, I had to gather even these specks.

As I desperately scraped together even the tiniest bit of energy, I heard a voice beside my ear.

"...I heard elixirs are dangerous. Are there no side effects?"

"There's almost no chance of it becoming dangerous~. People usually think elixirs are dangerous because of side effects, but those happen when the vital energy inside the body is stimulated by outside energy and runs wild! Like an allergy!"

"That is what makes it dangerous!"

"But Father's vital energy is practically a mouse's tail! No matter how hard a mouse's tail lashes around, it only tickles! So even if Father gets side effects, it would only be an itch all over! Don't worry! 'I' already took that much into consideration!"

A mouse's tail? Even if it was true, that comparison was too cruel.

Just wait. If I somehow got stronger, the first thing I'd do would be to smack her on the head.

Despite Hilde's assurance, Tyr still looked worried.

"But Shei said you must remain still to absorb an elixir. If it is not because of side effects, why did he say that?"

"That is for after you eat it. It becomes an even bigger problem if the vital energy doesn't settle properly in your body after you absorb it. Vital energy that isn't fully digested and just floats around inside your body is much more likely to cause side effects later!"

"Ah. Then the reason we must not touch his body or disturb his concentration is..."

"It is said that moving your body while taking in vital energy interferes with Water Qi Art, while muddling your mind interferes with Li Qi Art! Well, 'I' only heard that from others and have never experienced it myself, so I can't be sure!"

So that was how it worked. Since I couldn't digest it anyway, it was useless advice to me. If I had no energy, there was no way I could have difficulty controlling it.

"Oh, and to avoid disrupting Heaven Qi Art, you should minimize anything touching your body!"

"Anything touching his body..."

Tyr, who had been absentmindedly examining me, suddenly looked up.

"Wait! Is Hyu not wearing clothes? Cloth pressed all over his body!"

...No, clothes were fine. I wore them every day, and without them, the wind and dust touching me would be more of a problem.

Well, Hilde would correct her on her own.

'Hm? Some people do take them off depending on the person, but clothes don't matter much~. Still, this looks fun. Should I encourage her?'

Don't encourage her.

"Oh my, what should we do! I forgot because he wears them every day! We have to take them off quickly!"

Don't take them off.

"Wait! Hold on! How can you say you'll undress an unrelated man...!"

"Oh? Is that the problem?"

"Of course it is! That is something only people who have promised to spend their lives together can do!"

"But he's 'my' father? I only want to fulfill my filial duty. Is that still not allowed?"

"Ugh, that... No! You aren't truly father and daughter! It cannot be done! If anything, that makes it even more unacceptable!"

"Then what do we do? If his clothes stick to his body while the vital energy settles in, he'll become unable to take them off for the rest of his life!"

That would never happen.

"H-how could something so terrible... We are trapped with no way forward or back. Then what should we do...?"

"There is no choice but to undress him!"

"But..."

"The answer has already been decided, and all that is needed is resolve! Tyrkanzyaka. When you are trapped with no way forward or back, you must steel yourself! Steel yourself to overcome hardship and move ahead!"

'R-resolve? Then that means... Spending our lives together...'

Tyr swallowed despite having no saliva and looked at me. She carefully stretched out a hand toward me as I sat still with my eyes closed. Her pale hand reached for my clothes.

Then Tyr realized something and spoke.

"...I cannot see any seams on these clothes. Where are the buttons or ties?"

"Ah. That's a clothing packet, so you have to pour mana into the bio-terminal."

"I cannot control mana!"

"Then you have to tear it. Do you want to tear it?"

"How indecent... No! Would that not defeat the point? If I tear it by force, the clothes will pull on his body and move it!"

"Ehehe. You're right!"

"This is terrible...! What should we do!"

'Oh dear. I only said it as a joke. She is taking it more seriously than I expected~. What should I do? If I say it was a joke now, she might hate me.'

Just let her hate you. If you lied, have the courage to be hated for it.

That was when the regressor pushed aside the tent flap and entered with a remarkably refreshed expression. Maybe she was proud of having gotten information. I hadn't even asked her to, but she immediately told us everything she had found out.

"I got all the information. There is a large camp about a day's journey from here. Our next destination is..."

"Shei! You arrived at just the right time. Come here and take Hyu's clothes off!"

"Why?!"

At this point, even eating something ordinary would probably give me indigestion. I stood up with a frown.

"That's enough nonsense. Everyone, stop."

"Hyu! You must not get up!"

The regressor, who had nearly been made to undress a strange man out of nowhere, still didn't understand the situation.

"Huh? Why? Why can't he get up?"

"He swallowed an elixir! It's dangerous if he moves!"

"What? You already ate the elixir? Without saying anything... Wait a second!"

The regressor opened her Seven-Colored Eyes and looked at me. The seventh color, the purple eye that saw power. As she examined my body with violet eyes that vaguely sensed the total amount of strength I possessed, she looked puzzled.

"...Your vital energy hasn't increased at all. What is this? Did you pretend to eat it and hide it somewhere?"

"It's bad enough that my vital energy didn't increase. Now I'm being treated like a thief too?"

"No, you said you ate an elixir! Then who stole your vital energy?"

"Please tell me if you find them. I'll cut off their wrist."

The regressor examined me with each of her seven-colored eyes in turn. Her greater purpose had been to see whether I had hidden the elixir, but after checking me through every kind of vision, she realized I was telling the truth.

"Wait. This... There is no other explanation."

The regressor remembered something, fell silent, and sank into thought. Tyr normally waited patiently for people to speak, but perhaps she was anxious now, because she pressed for an answer.

"What is it?"

"...It means you have no talent."

"No talent? Do you truly mean that...?"

'Setting aside strength and treasures, Hyu does not seem less talented than Shei...'

Fortunately, the regressor cleared up Tyr's doubts.

"Not talent for learning. I mean the physical talent to make vital energy settle in your body. Like how a blind person cannot know colors and a deaf person cannot speak, it looks like you were born with a problem in your ability to build up vital energy. It seems you cannot draw in any energy other than what you originally possessed."

"I thought so too. It's not as if I grew up starving, even if I never enjoyed wealth and glory. Vital energy just never settled in me."

That was why it was taboo. A method like Gluttony probably wouldn't work on me either. It was becoming clearer and clearer.

"Tch. What a shame... You definitely looked talented."

"Now you understand, right? Don't drag me behind a sled in the name of training from now on. It only wastes my strength for nothing."

"Is that what matters right now? This means you can't become any stronger!"

"What else should I do, cry my eyes out over my unfortunate fate? Even if I did, all that would happen is Mr. Shei patting me on the shoulder and comforting me. There's no point."

"I wouldn't pat you on the shoulder even if you cried!"

'I thought this could be solved with an elixir. Tch, at this rate he's dead weight, so I can't bring him along every time. Maybe in this cycle, but in the next cycle...'

Huh? That might not be so bad. If the regressor only saved me and then left me behind in the next cycle, I could try different methods each time.

Of course, that was of no use to the current me, who was being dragged around as dead weight.

"It's like we threw an elixir onto the ground. What a waste. It's done, so shall we sleep now? Starting tomorrow, it'll be a march through hell."

"Wait. There is one thing I want to try."

'Let me use the Eye of Fate to see that guy's fate. It's a waste of my lifespan, but... Well, it's not like I'll live out my natural years anyway. Watching his fate should be worth that much.'

The regressor pretended to brush back her hair, then opened all of her Seven-Colored Eyes through the gaps between her fingers. The seven-colored eyes glimmered in sequence and formed a small circle. Within her eye, another brightly shining eye appeared.

'Heavenly Eye of the Wheel of Fate. Let me see that guy's fate... Though I'm not sure this is right.'

The Eye of Fate had opened for the most useless reason in the world.

My figure was reflected in the regressor's eyes. She saw the realm I would reach among my fate, stretching ahead through the past, present, and future.

They said the eye that saw fate consumed lifespan. The reason was less dramatic than it sounded. The information a human could process over a lifetime had limits, and if you crammed an absurdly vast amount of information, such as one person's fate, into the brain in a short time, your health would naturally worsen. That was what people described as a shortened lifespan.

I wondered whether it was worth it, but the regressor observed my fate despite the risk.

Maybe those eyes would know. I read the regressor's thoughts with a faint flutter in my chest.

And the result of peeking into my fate was...

'...It doesn't change? Not even in the future? This is the absolute limit that a human named Hughes can reach...?'

She had already decided. Right? I figured it would be like that. I wasn't even disappointed anymore.

Then the regressor came over to me. With a rarely seen look of compassion, she patted my shoulder.

"Poor thing. Hang in there..."

You said you wouldn't. You said you wouldn't pat my shoulder!

This felt worse than I had imagined.

Footnotes:

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