WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 343: The King Who Kills Others, the God Who Kills Himself - 3

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No one gets to choose how they are born. The King of Humanity was no exception. Is there some special bloodline reserved for kings and nobles? I opened my eyes and found that I was the King of Humanity.

You might think the King of Humanity was something extraordinary, but a king without a country was nothing more than a lunatic who believed himself to be king. And the King of Humanity after losing all his power? Just an ordinary lunatic who happened to be a little better at human affairs than most.

So I wanted to live an ordinary life, doing odd jobs and getting by normally.

The problem was that the world would not leave me alone. I got caught up among extraordinary people, and being an adaptable animal, I adapted in my own way. That did not change my nature, though.

Then a Holy Maiden suddenly came to warn me. She said that if it came to it, she would deliver divine punishment with her fists. It was unfair. It made no sense! Why should I be beaten to death?

Emotion welled up inside me. I shouted with all the injustice I could muster.

"What do you think I'm trying to do? I was just trying to live an ordinary life when I got swept up in something strange!"

"You touched the Demon God's Garden in the Abyss, and now you deny it?"

"Demon God's Garden? What's that? Is it edible? Who on earth said I touched it? Did you crawl inside me and see for yourself? If anything, I should be demanding answers from the Celestial God! I was suddenly captured and thrown into the Abyss. What choice did I have in any of that?"

"Don't play dumb! You conspired with the sorcerer Lankart...!"

Peruel, who had been about to shout in anger, suddenly covered her mouth and mumbled.

"...No. It is foolish to speak with a savage! I won't be deceived!"

"Deceived? You call the plea of an innocent little lamb deception? Since when was God so heartless?"

"Do not sully God's name! Your actions have already made everything clear!"

"I'm telling you, I didn't do it. I think we're misunderstanding each other, so let's take a moment to talk it out."

"There is no need!"

"Why not? Doesn't scripture say that the ability to communicate with one another is humanity's most noble authority? If it's so noble, shouldn't we use it more?"

"It is also what demons exploit best! There is no need to speak with you!"

Peruel kicked off the ground and leaped away. She seemed to have stepped lightly, but her body shot high into the air. In an instant, Peruel had returned to the entrance of the street. Pointing at me, Peruel said,

"This servant will withdraw today. But do not forget! There are always eyes watching you!"

"Why do you keep saying someone's watching me so creepily? Are you a pervert? If you're going to keep watching, why don't we lay everything bare and speak honestly? There are plenty of empty houses here, so let's go into one first..."

Peruel clamped her hands over her ears and ran away without looking back. I called after her desperately, but the holy cloth covering her ears did not let my voice through at all.

Tch. What a shame. I could have read her thoughts a little longer.

My mind reading only worked on humans. Holy Maidens were human, so I could read their minds. But I could not directly steal a glimpse of the future they had seen. Just because truth existed in the world did not mean every human could see it.

Besides, the Steel Maiden's foresight was particularly unusual, which made it even harder.

I had needed to slowly draw information out through conversation... Her training was thorough.

The more I thought about it, the more unfair the world seemed. Powerless as I was, I had to rack my brain and use every trick available just to survive. Meanwhile, people like that appeared bearing fate itself. Then they came after me, when I had done nothing but get caught up in all this.

An irresistible force. To me, it was literally a natural disaster.

Still, the fact that Peruel came all this way to warn me meant... I could be certain now, right?

The Lord of Gold was also a Demon God.

After turning that thought over for a while, I calmly began walking down the street again. Peruel seemed to have warned that anyone spreading chaos would be killed, but what did that have to do with me? I did not even know what chaos was, so how was I supposed to know where the landmines were?

That was when it happened.

Darkness rippled. A figure raced through the buildings' shadows, its red eyes glowing as it scanned the area. Tyr approached me soon afterward, scattering a grim aura around her. With her lips pressed tightly together, she glared at whatever had been here. She looked terrifying enough to make every hair on my body stand on end.

"Oh. Tyr. What brings you all the way here? Didn't you say you hated sunlight and wanted to stay in your room?"

"I felt something unpleasant..."

Tyr muttered in a chilling voice.

"A sensation so terribly irritating that it led me here. It felt as though we could not stand upon the same earth. As though something was screaming for me to trample it, kill it, and take its blood... Hyu, did you not see anything here?"

I had. A Holy Maiden had warned me just a moment ago. If Peruel had left even a little later, I would have learned the answer to the childish question of who would win in a fight between a Holy Maiden and the Progenitor.

Hmm. I was curious, but I could not watch the two of them fight for weeks just to find out. I looked around and feigned ignorance.

"There's only me here right now. It wasn't me, was it?"

"Th-there is no way it could have been! It was a clearly unpleasant sensation, utterly different from you or anyone else. Was there truly nothing?"

"I didn't feel anything. Did someone bless me before they left? What should we do? Tyr, could you wash me with your darkness?"

"W-wash?"

Tyr hesitated for a moment. What was wrong with wrapping me in darkness?

'Darkness is a part of me. To say he would wash his body with it... He does not know what he is saying, but it is a little embarrassing.'

"Wait. Now that I think about it, blessings are a good thing, right? Forget it. Let's leave it as it is."

"Stay still for a moment."

Darkness swept around me as though it were covering my body. Tyr's darkness passed over me like wind, without any particular sensation, but after reading her thoughts, it somehow felt strangely suggestive. It was only a feeling, so I could ignore it.

The darkness might hide me from fate's eyes for a while... but it would not last long.

There was no reason to delay. Let us go now.

"Tyr. Shall we take a walk? I know you hate sunlight, but I'll hold a parasol for you."

"What?"

Perhaps the proposal had caught her off guard. Tyr flinched, then gave a small cough and held out her hand.

"I am not especially inclined to do so, but for your sake, I shall accompany you. Lead the way."

"Look forward to it. I'll make it an unforgettable memory."

"Hehe. You are quite confident. What could you possibly be so eager to show me?"

I gently took her hand, accepted the parasol, and stood beside Tyr with a smile.

"A cornfield."

Corn was closer to reeds than trees, yet it arrogantly grew as tall as it pleased. It sucked up the land's strength, then hid the fruit it bore in tight little pockets. Clearly, it was a greedy creature.

Not as greedy as the humans who stole and ate it, though.

As we approached the cornfield, a man raised his hand and shouted.

"Stop right there. This place is managed by the Suppression Lord's Drum Company. No one is permitted any closer."

"Oh, sir. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. I'm so hungry that I just wanted to take one ear of corn. There is so much here. Surely one would be fine?"

I approached with the most pitiful expression I could manage. Yet the man did not care about my convincing performance and waved his hand.

"If you're going to steal, act like a jackal and pick at the outskirts! No human outside the Drum Company may enter this central area...!"

"Monopolizing food! Filthy bourgeois! Die! Stunning Strike!"

Having approached within arm's reach, I raised my hand and struck his neck. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, he coughed violently and glared at me.

"Cough! Hack! You coward...!"

Oh, he had not gone down in one hit. How troublesome.

"Stunning Punch! For your information, I keep hitting people until they pass out. Please pass out quietly."

I kindly explained as I struck him across the head. The good Drum Company guard, who had been ordered to protect the cornfield so that no one would become a homunculus, collapsed under the repeated blows.

'Cough... You bastard... Just wait. Once I catch my breath, I'll call every member of the company! You won't be leaving in one piece!'

Bring them all. That was exactly what I wanted.

I gracefully parted the corn and continued guiding the way.

"Tyr, let's go."

"Hyu. He still seems conscious."

"Leave him. You don't need to dirty those beautiful hands with something so ugly. I'll handle it myself."

"Hehe. I shall leave it to you."

Tyr followed me through the cornfield with a delighted smile. Whenever a corn leaf was about to hit her head, I discreetly moved it aside and earned myself a few points. Tyr seemed pleased by my small consideration and covered her mouth as she laughed.

"Would you like me to pick one for you?"

"We cannot eat it, but let us have a look."

I snapped off an ear of corn and peeled back the many layers of husk. No matter how carefully it was wrapped in thin clothes, to humans it was only a frail resistance that stirred the desire to conquer. I tore away the layers one by one and revealed the flesh hidden within.

The kernels were plump. This corn was the very embodiment of the ideal we imagined.

"It is a bountiful harvest."

"The kernels look ready to burst. Shall we have a taste?"

Freshly harvested corn was sweet even when eaten raw. I took a big bite out of the Lord of Gold's corn.

As expected, it tasted incredible. It was on an entirely different level from the military state's chimera beans. Those had sacrificed flavor for practicality, but this was incomparable in both quantity and taste.

If not for the Lord of Gold's curse, anyway.

As I savored it, Tyr went pale and shouted.

"Hyu! Did I not say you must not eat it?!"

"A little is fine. Even if I eat it now, it won't digest right away, and my body is made of things from outside the Lesser States in the first place."

"But..."

"I'm telling you, it's fine."

If anything, I needed to eat it if I wanted to resonate with the Lord of Gold, even a little.

With Tyr's worried expression before me, I chewed the corn thoroughly and swallowed it. My indiscriminate stomach began digesting it without even checking what it had just eaten. True philanthropy.

After swallowing, I gave my honest assessment.

"It is tasty, but we should eat it quickly. Corn loses its flavor once it's harvested."

"But it has not been harvested yet."

"It might as well have been. The Lord of Gold is an alchemist. To make this much corn, they needed materials. Just as corn draws upon the land's strength to bear fruit, the Lord of Gold must have drawn out all this land's strength."

The soil was completely dry and crumbling. It was not simply barren. It was dead land. Magic was the power that accelerated phenomena already present in the world, while alchemy was magic that transformed matter.

The Lord of Gold had probably forced every process corn would normally undergo over several months to happen in an instant. Through alchemy.

"It is still hanging from the stalks, but it is no different from being thrown onto the ground. Even chimera beans would not grow in soil this dry, without water or land strength."

Hecto could not have failed to notice. They should have been rushing to harvest it, so why had they still not done so...?

I knew. I had read Hecto's thoughts. I also knew what Hecto had needed a full day for.

Tyr looked around and muttered.

"I cannot begin to guess what sort of being the Lord of Gold is. What exactly is the Lord of Gold?"

"Tyr, do you know about Demon Gods?"

It was an unexpected question, but Tyr did not question me back. She thought seriously, searching her memories before recalling something.

"A Demon God... I have heard of them. A being the Sanctum is desperate to destroy."

"You have never seen one, right?"

"I did seek information about them, but their nature was difficult to grasp. The explanations were vague, as though they were grasping at clouds, and everyone said something different."

"Then I'll tell you. A Demon God is a god who has reached a great principle."

"Hmm."

Tyr's response was small but clear. She did not have dramatic reactions, but she was still good company. It made explaining things worthwhile.

"And a Demon God is also human."

This time she was slightly surprised, but she listened without interrupting me. She really was an excellent person to explain things to.

"Tyr. I told you about innate arcane before, right? Innate arcane is an extension of one's mental image."

"I know."

"But there are two kinds of extension. Extension of an object, and extension of a mental image."

I raised a finger as I spoke.

"When a mental image relates to an object or its function, such as Maximilien's gears, an extension of an object occurs when the mental image is contained in a distinctive tool. Its range of application is narrow, but the mage gains powerful control over that object's functions."

In that case, altering the object weakened the innate arcane. I had even sealed Maximilien's weapon by fitting small gears between his larger ones.

I alone could turn it against him if I came into contact with the object myself... but that was not easy with this pathetic body.

"If the mental image relates to a phenomenon, it is the opposite. The mage cannot exert such powerful control when changing the rules within a certain range. Instead, within the space they control, the rules are changed. For everyone."

Rowkett and Perru were cases like that. Rowkett turned steel within a certain range into explosives, while Perru accelerated the decay of all matter. They could not easily choose only the targets they wanted. What they changed were rules.

My ability was awkward in this case as well. Even if I stole a glimpse of their ability, I could only reinforce its tendency slightly, not cancel it out.

"Still, no innate arcane can directly alter another person's body. Another person's body is a microcosm completely isolated from the world. It is itself the strongest innate arcane, and aura promises complete protection over that microcosm. If mana is the extension of one's mental image, then aura arts are the extension of the body. That is why even innate arcane struggles to directly affect armor or weapons covered in aura."

"That must be why knights of old could fight evil mages on equal footing."

"Yes. The old saying that aura repels magic is not entirely wrong."

It was a lecture on aura and magic, advanced edition. Tyr remained interested even in theoretical material most people would find boring.

As expected, mature students were the best. They knew how precious learning was.

"You said one cannot affect another person's body... That was what you said when explaining the homunculus dilemma."

"You remembered exactly. That is why I said only the dead could be transformed through another person's mana. Even if it did not kill them directly, a body that had lost its resistance like that could die at any time."

"Then what does that have to do with Demon Gods? Are Demon Gods beings who have overcome that limitation?"

I shook my head. Something that trivial was not even a problem for a Demon God.

Of course, if a Demon God used their power to kill one human, they could achieve that result. But that would be like using a knife for slaughtering cattle to kill a chicken... No, like executing an ant with a guillotine. Pointless excess.

"There is a kind of innate arcane. The mental image of the human who possesses it is uniquely theirs... but at the same time, it is also a great principle running through this world. Such principles exist even without innate arcane, so their power resonates with the world itself."

Not life and death, but the standard that divided them.

Not dignity, but the belief that supported it.

A Demon God trampled upon those small wishes humanity had desperately protected.

"The target is all things in the world. The range is the entire universe. There is no time limit. Even if they die. Because it existed while they lived and will continue forever after their death."

Something that existed before humanity. Something that existed regardless of humanity.

"That is a Demon God. A mage who has attained godhood."

Before a great truth, even humans who called themselves rulers of the earth were no more than passing wind.

And... before truth, humanity faced a new obstacle.

"Then here is the next question. If humans are also part of this world... if they are one of all things that follow great rules?"

I slowly walked through the cornfield. Tyr followed behind me as though entranced. After crossing several rows of corn, I instinctively knew that I had arrived at an invisible space.

This was it.

The Golden Palace, where the Lord of Gold resided... was right here in this cornfield.

"What is a body?"

The moment I pushed aside the next stalk of corn, a sharp blade flew toward my throat.

Footnotes:

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