WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 365: A Tale of the Past: The Fall of the Golden Kingdom

──────

Once there was too much gold, gold lost its value.

Until it happened, people did not even know such a thing was possible. The proverb telling people to regard gold as stone meant they should not become obsessed with its value. No one had expected it to truly become worth no more than an ordinary rock.

Only after living through it did people try to explain the phenomenon by giving it names like the curse of gold and inflation. Once the Sanctum understood the situation, it hastily consecrated "pure" gold and guaranteed its value. Until alchemy spread and alchemical currency came into widespread use, sanctified gold was the continent's only currency that reliably held value.

Other countries watched the Golden Kingdom collapse and began reforming their systems and preparing countermeasures. People even emerged who studied economics as a specialized field.

Humanity had learned one more thing that had never existed in the world before.

Still, all of it had been built on the ruins of the Golden Kingdom.

Several months after Demo's execution, the chaos in the Golden Kingdom grew beyond control.

The craftsmen who had been pushed out of power took up arms and rose in rebellion. They allied with regional forces, supplied them with high-quality weapons, and marched on the capital to reclaim their power. They executed every alchemist they encountered as they advanced, and no one seemed capable of stopping them.

But after Demo's death, the alchemists were no longer willing to sit quietly either.

They made weapons with alchemy to kill people. They did not have to be spears or swords. Poison, gunpowder, mechanisms, traps. The alchemists continued to develop their craft to survive and kill their enemies.

War breeds technological advancement. Alchemy, which had been used solely to make gold for the past several years, gradually expanded into other fields. All kinds of bizarre tools appeared, most of them designed to kill people. Alchemists who could make mechanisms without furnaces or workshops committed every kind of terror attack, plunging the Golden Kingdom deeper into chaos.

The superiority of technology was obvious. Yet how could craftsmen accept alchemy? The craftsmen tried to kill alchemists through conventional means, while the relatively weaker alchemists evaded them in unimaginable ways and continued to resist.

Battle, destruction, death, chaos.

It did not take long for the Golden Kingdom to be covered in blood and flames.

The entire country had become the enemy of the alchemists, yet they stubbornly maintained their existence. It was partly because of their skill, but more than anything, because of a single ghost wandering the Golden Kingdom.

"King Elik! Please stop him!"

The craftsmen who had driven out the alchemists and reclaimed power no longer respected the king as they once had. No matter how exceptional the king's craft was, it paled beside alchemy. Having witnessed a greater mystery, the pinnacle of craftsmanship no longer impressed them much.

More than anything, this was an age of power. The things King Elik made were excellent, but they were not powerful. What use was even the sharpest famous blade if the person wielding it was weak? The warlords held the power, while the king was treated like a puppet.

Had she not possessed the ability to understand the alchemists' complex mechanisms at a glance, the warlords would not have treated her as a king at all.

"You said the traitor Demo was certainly dead! Yet he is still roaming the Golden Kingdom, using alchemy!"

It was difficult to say they treated her much like a king even now.

Elik, who had been worked to exhaustion again the day before, rubbed the corners of her eyes and answered the Grand General's demand.

"Is he not restoring collapsed buildings and cleansing contaminated land? There are more urgent matters to deal with at the moment."

"Ha. It seems Your Majesty has lost her wits as well! Do you truly believe that?"

She did not even have the strength to rebuke such insolence. At present, the Grand General was the most powerful person in the Golden Kingdom, and King Elik had been reduced to the crown resting atop the Grand General's head. Elik waited for the Grand General to continue, her face exhausted.

"Alchemy. He is using alchemy right now! The ignorant masses thank him for restoring their buildings. Some fools even revere the alchemists and help them! They only believe what they see and praise him, even though he is the reason the country has become like this! They do not realize it may be a cursed power!"

Of course people would be grateful when he restored their homes. If the Grand General disliked the people's cheers so much, the Grand General could build the homes personally.

Elik swallowed her sarcasm and replied.

"Then go and stop Demo yourself. Would that not solve the problem?"

"That is..."

The Grand General trailed off.

Nothing worked on Demo. No weapon could kill him, and no poison had any effect. He ignored anyone who spoke to him and simply wandered through the Golden Kingdom, making things over and over again.

Once, one of the Grand General's subordinate officers had swung a sword at him. The officer had intended to kill Demo again and make an example of him.

What followed was the sight of an obstacle being "disassembled."

Remembering it, the Grand General squeezed his eyes shut before answering.

"...He is beyond reason. A demon has possessed him."

There was no other way to describe it. Blades that deserved to be called the finest swords of the age appeared in an instant and dismantled a human being. The sight of a renowned officer coming apart strand by strand and scattering across the ground went beyond terror. It was enough to make one convulse with fear.

Even the priest dispatched by the Sanctum had retreated while muttering about a Demon God. It was especially irritating to those who stood opposed to alchemy. That was why the Grand General was making this demand of King Elik.

Naturally, Elik found the whole thing absurd. If she had the power, the first people she would sweep away would be the jackals hungering for authority.

Yet the Grand General suddenly expected her to dispose of a ghost. Cursing inwardly, she let out a sigh.

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

"Is that not what a king is for? The royal line has possessed mysterious power for generations."

Unable to solve it, the Grand General placed unfounded faith in the king's ability to somehow manage it. Did the Grand General believe in the king, or not?

Elik laughed hollowly, but chose to follow the Grand General's wishes.

"I will go. Make preparations."

Perhaps the Grand General had not expected her to agree so easily. After hesitating for a moment, the Grand General shouted.

"Her Majesty is departing. Everyone, prepare yourselves!"

As she traveled in a palanquin, King Elik thought deeply.

Even as the king of the Golden Kingdom, she had no way to deal with Demo. To begin with, she did not particularly want to dispose of the man who was trying to restore the Golden Kingdom even after death.

The country was full of scoundrels who claimed loyalty as they used the king, and claimed they would protect the Golden Kingdom as they destroyed it. The collapsed economy showed no sign of recovering, while even the remaining craftsmen could not do productive work because they were busy making weapons. On top of that, the alchemists, whose leader had died and who were consumed by malice, were launching indiscriminate attacks throughout the Golden Kingdom.

If King Elik disposed of Demo now, the situation would only worsen.

Then why was she heading to Demo?

The reason was simple.

It was simply more comfortable to see Demo than the Grand General.

After an entire day of searching, she received word that he had been found in an isolated village deep in a mountain valley. As King Elik went to find Demo, she considered what to say.

Thinking Demo would be easier to face than the Grand General was a terrible mistake. She had taught him, raised him, and killed him. What could she possibly say to a disciple who had died branded a traitor, only to rise again and repair what was broken?

While he had been alive, she had hated him and considered him the source of every problem. Now, she missed him more than anyone.

If it had been Demo, if he had still been alive... Perhaps he could have restored the Golden Kingdom through an unimaginable method, just as he had when he turned a bell into gold...

But that was already in the past. Demo was dead. Only his lingering will remained in an unburied corpse, wandering the Golden Kingdom. That he could even use alchemy was unexpected, but perhaps that too was a miracle created by Demo's obsession.

Elik lowered her head. How could she possibly face him again? She wished they would never arrive.

Ignoring the king's hopes, the palanquin carrying her reached Demo. Elik took a deep breath inside the halted palanquin, then opened the door.

Far away, she saw him repairing a collapsed house. Uriaa Elik swallowed her grief and longing, then called his name.

"...Demo."

There was no answer. Demo did not react. His face was as pale as a corpse's as he moved his hands through the air. The crumbled roof assembled itself once more.

She had thought she would be too ashamed to face him, but when she saw him again, all the concerns that had filled her mind vanished like a mirage. Uriaa walked toward him gladly and spoke.

"Your teacher has come, yet you do not even greet her. I ought to punish you."

Her voice could not reach someone moved by a lingering will. Since Uriaa knew it would not, she was not disappointed. Instead, she quietly watched him.

There was no color in his pale face. His eyes had lost their former clarity. He did not react to any other stimulus, only wandering in search of things that had broken. Whenever he found something damaged, he restored it through alchemy.

The village that had been in ruins gradually became as good as new. How long had it been since she had seen something productive in the Golden Kingdom, where destruction and death ran rampant? It was something he used to do every day, yet seeing it again filled her with unfamiliar feelings. After watching the process blankly for a long time, Uriaa suddenly spoke.

"What regret keeps you from closing your eyes... Does the country that killed you still weigh so heavily on your mind?"

There was no need to ask. Even as he died, he must have worried about the ruined Golden Kingdom instead of hating the king. Uriaa suppressed the emotion swelling in her chest, gripped Demo's shoulders, and began to sob quietly.

"It is only you. Even in death, you are the only one who cares for the Golden Kingdom. Everyone else, instead of thinking about how to fix it... only looks after their own safety."

Then something strange happened.

Demo stopped moving. As though he recognized his king, he halted and stared quietly at Uriaa.

In truth, it was because the Lord of Gold could not decide whether she was an obstacle or not. Uriaa did not know that. Believing that some trace of emotion had reached him, she only pulled him into a tighter embrace.

"...I have come too far. How can We, no, how can I ever repay this debt to you...?"

Her voice was on the verge of breaking as she offered the apology she had not been able to give while he was alive.

Slash.

Something cut across Uriaa's back. Her back burned as though it had been seared by fire, and the unexpected shock made her stagger violently. A cold voice followed behind the blade.

"I knew this would happen. The alchemists will not disappear as long as the king remains so soft-hearted."

Behind her collapsing body stood the Grand General, raising a bloodied sword. The Grand General looked down at the dying king with cold eyes and muttered.

"If Her Majesty is found here as a corpse, people will believe she was killed in an alchemist attack. That will be enough to move those self-proclaimed loyalists who remain devoted to a king in name alone."

Only then did Uriaa realize she had fallen into a trap.

The Grand General had intended to kill her from the beginning. Knowing Demo was in the outskirts, the Grand General had urged Elik to seek him out. After killing her, the Grand General planned to place the blame on the alchemists.

King Elik's authority had been passed down since ancient times. No matter how deeply the Golden Kingdom had fallen into chaos, no matter how obvious the king's incompetence had become, many still respected the royal bloodline. The Grand General planned to use them.

"To root out the alchemists hidden throughout the country, the nation must move with one will. I will put Your Majesty's life to good use."

As the Grand General turned away coldly, Demo, who had been standing still, moved.

Death was when the boundary between the world and oneself collapsed. Uriaa was dying, becoming an object, and alchemy reached her body as well.

When humans die, they become objects. No, they are objects even while alive. It is simply difficult for outside forces to reach them because of their resistance.

Demo recognized that Uriaa was broken and began the process of repairing her.

Without any consideration, from a purely mechanical perspective.

"Urgh...!"

It could not possibly work. Parts of her body that had lost their vitality became targets for alchemy, things that were not Uriaa's body yet occupied it while pretending to be. Severed muscles were forcibly tied into knots, broken bones joined together as though plastered over. Every time she twisted in horrific pain, the hastily assembled body suffered even greater damage.

Each time he tried again, Uriaa experienced the agony of an entire side of her body being torn away.

Far in the future, the Lord of Gold would learn how crops made through alchemy could form a body. But the Lord of Gold, whose collection was still incomplete, was not yet so omnipotent. Uriaa Elik, the King of Steel, screamed as she was disassembled alive.

And yet.

Even in that horrifying pain, Uriaa felt relieved. Even this agony, beyond anything anyone could describe, felt like something she deserved to receive. His power kneaded every corner of her body and changed it as it pleased, yet instead of revulsion, a forbidden pleasure came first.

"...If that is the case."

Rather than suffering as a king in name only, perhaps becoming part of him would be better.

Her existence melted into him. The Demon God took her away. The King of Steel, who had once mastered every craft, had her very existence transformed into alchemical material...

She became material that made up the Lord of Gold.

Footnotes:

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