WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 347: The King Who Kills Others, the God Who Kills Himself - 7

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The one who appeared at the mention of the Golden Mirror was a young boy.

There was nothing particularly dignified or imposing about him. His innocent face held nothing but curiosity and a thirst for discovery.

The boy burst out of the town hall with the bell ringing and eagerly began boasting about what he had made.

"It's a corn harvester! I designed it to operate solely on pistons, as requested. Nobody but the Suppression Lord will be able to operate it!"

As if they had been waiting for this, Hecto hurriedly looked around.

"Is it complete, sir? Where is it?"

"Isn't it right there, Lord Hecto? Can't you see it?"

"Where...?"

Hecto looked where the Golden Mirror pointed.

It was a lush cornfield. There was no corn harvester there, only corn piled high.

For now.

"Look closely."

The Golden Mirror took one step.

At that moment, the corn swaying in the breeze across the space he had pointed to came apart all at once. Plump kernels, long silk beneath them, broad leaves, fibers forming the stalks. Every component that made corn what it was was completely dismantled.

As if to claim that even Mother Earth's crops were no more than machines made of parts, he divided them, cut them apart, and laid every piece bare. The materials patterned the air in separate groups.

The Golden Mirror took another step.

"There."

The dismantled components intertwined in an instant. Fibers rose into pillars, and leaves wrapped around them. Corn kernels assembled like blocks, while silk stitched them together. The process repeated thousands, millions of times, systematically and precisely where needed.

Then he took his final step.

"There it is."

The Golden Mirror was truth, the god of this land. What he said became reality.

When I looked again, a massive machine three times taller than the corn stalks stood there.

It had been made from corn, yet it was harder than any steel. The Golden Mirror was no longer constrained by materials. The properties he desired came into being. The designs he imagined were created exactly as he envisioned them.

Even if they did not exist in this land.

Even if humanity had not yet discovered them.

Hecto broke into a cold sweat as they stared at the machine that had appeared before them as though it were a lie.

"I-is that it...? Where do I operate it?"

The Golden Mirror sounded annoyed.

"Do I have to explain even that? Ugh. Just try operating it."

The Suppression Lord's innate arcane applied pressure to steel. Since its efficiency was greatest against surfaces that were flat and uniform, Hecto often made tools using pistons.

Put another way, if the shape was not uniform, their power was practically useless. The pressures would cancel each other out.

'I can't see any pistons no matter how closely I look... Still.'

Hecto used their innate arcane. Without knowing how the machine was structured, they simply activated their power and applied pressure.

The machine inhaled.

Air was sucked into it. The device swelled and settled as if it were alive. Its wheels rolled with a heavy rumble, swallowing the corn stalks. It harvested only the corn within its body, then restored everything else to its original form.

Even Hecto, the Suppression Lord, did not know how it worked.

Which meant I did not know either. Mind reading did not work when nobody knew the answer.

"H-how is this...?"

Hecto was an accomplished alchemist and a Lord of the Lesser States. Yet even they could not understand the machine the Golden Mirror had made in an instant.

Considering that understanding a design by looking at it was dozens of times easier than creating it, the gap between Hecto and the Golden Mirror was too vast to estimate.

Hecto muttered in reverence, but the Golden Mirror waved a hand as though he could not be bothered to explain.

"Because I designed it that way. Is that enough?"

Having lost interest in Hecto, the Golden Mirror headed toward Elik. He approached her with a bright smile, then cast Hecto a displeased glance.

"Your Majesty, forgive my audacity, but can we really entrust the Gold State's food supply to Hecto? They say not to put all your eggs in one basket. I'm worried they might monopolize the food with my machines and fill only their own belly..."

"I guarantee it. They cannot betray us."

"...If Your Majesty says so, I am relieved. Still, their ability is rather unreliable."

"You're simply too exceptional, Demo. Compared to you, who would not seem lacking?"

As she spoke, Elik stretched out a hand and drew the Golden Mirror into an embrace. Her left hand affectionately tousled his hair, while her right gently stroked his cheek.

The Golden Mirror smiled in ecstasy, as though he possessed the entire world.

His attitude was completely different from when he dealt with Hecto. The absolute being who had been kneading the world however he pleased moments ago was nowhere to be seen. There was only a child, happy to be with the one he admired.

Watching them, I was impressed for an entirely different reason.

If Elik had been alive and touching him of her own will, I would have gladly stepped aside and wished them a happy romance.

But Elik, who embraced him, was a doll that had been made. So was the Golden Mirror, who rested in her arms.

What a grim sight.

"You did well, Demo."

"N-no! It's only a minor talent compared to Your Majesty!"

"With you here, a weight has been lifted from me. I can depend on you. Your existence may be the greatest blessing this nation has."

"Not at all!"

The Golden Mirror clasped Elik's hand and desperately shook his head.

"If Your Majesty had not existed, if Your Majesty had not found me, I would not exist either! The greatest blessing of the Gold State is having Your Majesty, so great and beautiful, as its ruler!"

"Demo..."

"To repay that grace... Whatever Your Majesty commands, I will accomplish it!"

I did not even want to say anything cruel now. He was already pitiful enough. It would be too much if I insulted him too.

Regardless of my thoughts, the boy and woman shared a deep bond that death had not been able to break.

It was clear now.

The Gold State no longer existed in this world. Yet the Golden Mirror was the Demon God of alchemy, a monster of understanding capable of creating all things.

What if, within the reach of his innate arcane, he alchemized the Gold State?

The Gold State's land, buildings, castles, cities, and scenery. Even its people. If he alchemized every last one of them and arranged them around himself.

If he made even the king he loved and kept her at his side, then let himself play upon that stage.

At least the world surrounding him would be the most ideal Gold State in history.

The fortresses and cities we had seen, the cornfields and all the assorted junk. They were all traces of his attempt to recreate the Gold State. To him, the Lesser States were a country built on the old Gold State's territory, a dump where he discarded things he no longer used.

Amazing. Once alchemy reached its peak, this was possible too. If the world had been a little smaller, he might have created everything in it.

The two, who had been gazing at each other fondly, moved on to another matter.

"Even a short holiday would not be enough reward, but we don't have that luxury. Demo. Something is urgently needed."

"What is it? Please tell me! I will prepare anything!"

Elik glared in my direction and muttered.

"A weapon to eliminate the Gold State's enemy."

Then again, this place was a model garden the Golden Mirror had made to recreate the Gold State. There was no need to calculate profit and loss. If something was lost, he could simply make it again.

From the Golden Mirror's perspective, perhaps he did not even need to wage war. If something else caught his interest, he would probably accept a truce.

Still... His pride must have been one of the Gold State's components as well. With power like that of a god, there was no reason for him to give up a fight for nothing.

"A-a weapon...?"

"Yes, Demo. War will come. The scent of blood flowing through steel will cover this nation. If you work for us, only the enemy's blood will flow."

"..."

I understood enough now, so what was I supposed to do?

He had godlike power, enough to create Juggernauts out of thin air. Honestly, this was hopeless. The military state crushed the Lesser States in every other field, but if the Golden Mirror put his mind to it, even the entire military state would not be able to withstand him.

The regressor said the military state defeated the Lesser States in seven days in the previous cycle, but how did you manage that? Is there even a way to win against this? Did you leave the Golden Palace alone and beat down the other Lords instead?

If so, it was not impossible. What the military state needed was not the Golden Mirror's surrender, but the alchemical resources scattered across the Lesser States. Other than the Suppression Lord, who oversaw food, none of the Lords seemed to have close dealings with the Golden Palace.

If Yuel used her farsight to pinpoint the Lords' locations, they could pick them off one at a time through mobile warfare. It seemed Hilde had originally planned to do that too...

Wait a moment.

What if the military state won the war in the previous cycle because...

They did not waste time and simply struck first?

"If I make a weapon... Will it help Your Majesty?"

"Greatly."

"...Then I will make it. A weapon."

Hey, regressor.

You gave them time by proposing a truce, and you even came straight to the Golden Palace. This looks like a disaster.

The Golden Mirror is going to make weapons. I really can't see the military state having a chance once he does. What are you going to do about this? Hurry up and deal with it!

That was when it happened.

"Heavenly Sword Technique, Meteor Shower!"

The world shattered.

A figure fell like a meteor, breaking through the veil of force that had even distorted my vision.

Meteor was not a mere metaphor. Trailing a long tail of flame behind her, Jizan smashed through the solid ground and burrowed into the earth.

Before Jizan, even the ground was no different from soft jelly. Her descent from the sky twisted the earth and made the land quake.

Even the Golden Mirror and Elik staggered from the impact. The regressor rose to her feet and spoke in a pleased voice.

"Found it. So this was the Golden Palace! I never thought it would be in a cornfield... Huh? Hughes?"

Come to think of it, what was so special about a god?

There was already a human who could grab the sky and earth and shake them around.

I believe in you, regressor.

You are a hero.

Footnotes:

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