WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 366: There Are Stray Thoughts in My Cards

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The moment I let my guard down, another strange memory seeped into me like a dream.

What was this memory? King Elik? The lingering thoughts of someone who had died hundreds of years ago were still here?

I had sensed something was strange.

Elik, the Golden Lord. Taking the form of the king of the old Golden Kingdom, she had spoken and acted like a king and reigned as the guardian of the Golden Palace for a long time. From Hecto's thoughts, she had apparently looked exactly the same since they were young.

She was part of the Lord of Gold, yet she had far too strong and independent a sense of self to be a puppet he controlled. She had even given Hecto orders on her own, and though they were the most senior figure in the Lesser States, they treated the Golden Lord with respect and bowed to her.

Among unburied corpses, some retain their original form by one means or another. Even after death, they can remain for a long time and exert great influence on the world. Like the incorruptible corpses inside the Abyss, King Elik must have retained her original form under the Lord of Gold's power, leaving behind a little of her lingering thoughts as well.

No wonder she had felt strangely alive. It was not that the Lord of Gold's gloomy delusions had reached a new level. Sorry for slandering you, Lord of Gold. Then again, someone who could not even give a city's design some variety could hardly portray a woman that well.

Perhaps the Lord of Gold had become more complete because the two of them existed together.

Well. That was all in the past now.

One place in the columbarium would be enough. They would have wanted to be buried together.

As my consciousness swayed, I gave them one final farewell before returning to the reality pulling me back.

"Woof, woof, woof."

Scrape, scrape. Something clawed frantically at the ground. At the edge of my vision, a crack in the pitch-black darkness trembled. I narrowed my eyes to look, and the crack suddenly widened before light poured in.

Azzy found me curled up among the wreckage, raised her head, and howled.

"Awooo! Good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, but that isn't what you say here."

The King of Humanity had nearly been crushed to death under rubble. I could hardly go around calling myself a king after that. Grumbling, I squeezed my way outside.

Just moments ago, the Golden Palace had been racing across the wasteland in the form of an enormous fortress. Now, the fortress was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the cubic blocks that had formed it had broken apart and lay scattered everywhere.

The Lord of Gold must have done something that caused the blocks to lose their cohesion and collapse. I had been buried inside them, then Azzy had rescued me dramatically.

The blocks that had once been a fortress, once been the Golden Palace, rolled about pitifully. They said even the brightest flowers only bloomed for ten days, but before the Lord of Gold, even solid bricks were less enduring than flower petals. I carefully found my footing so I would not slip and patted Azzy.

"Good work, Azzy. You found me somehow."

"Woof! It was easy! I hide bones all the time!"

"There's no point hiding them. We're always moving."

"It's an investment for the future!"

"You should only invest when you can get something back. That's just throwing it into the ground."

"Woof woof! I'll get it back! Someday!"

"...Why are you saying that while looking at me?"

The way she stared at me with sparkling eyes, as if she intended to collect somehow, was a little frightening. It was not as though I planned to stiff her. Still, there were limits to what I could do. I would not forget a promise, but I could not help it if I could not fulfill it.

That was when the regressor hopped across the blocks toward me.

Phew. After surviving that close call, I was even glad to see the regressor. I waved and greeted her...

"Hughes! What happened to the Lord of Gold?"

...Or rather, I was about to. My expression went cold as I answered.

"Could you worry about me first? I was trapped under there until a moment ago."

"No one attacked you. Some rubble just collapsed."

"Ordinary people die when falling rubble crushes them. Do you know how frightening and dangerous that was?"

Ordinary people like me did not have overflowing vitality like her, nor did we possess incredible treasures. It was a miracle I had survived.

As I complained at length, the regressor snorted and changed the color of her eyes. Penetrating green eyes, the Seven-Colored Eyes that could see through any material except metal.

"Don't sound so helpless. It wasn't even that dangerous."

The regressor pried open the crack I had just crawled out of with Jizan. That exposed a space among the blocks barely large enough for me to lie down, surrounded by a structure of cards.

Tch. Fraudster.

I could not even exaggerate my pain because of that cheating ability. The regressor studied the card structure curiously.

"You made a shelter even while everything was collapsing. More importantly, what is that? Steel cards? Alchemy?"

Could I call it alchemy? It was hard to explain.

It was closer to the Demon God than a technique, was it not?

Alchemy was already a human technique. Like every other alchemist, if I had alchemical currency and spare mana, I could use them to create whatever object I wanted. That was how my card equipment had been made.

Of course, just as giving everyone the same materials would not produce the same result, things made by a skilled alchemist were more elaborate and functional than mine. Mana was power. With my pathetic mana, even crudely shaping something took everything I had, while alchemists could add all sorts of things on top of that.

To compare it to building a house, I struggled to stack logs into a house, while an alchemist processed those logs into planks, built a house, and even made furniture with the leftovers.

Yet no matter how skilled an alchemist was, they could not create value where none existed. If the only material was dirt, then no matter how much mana they poured in, all they could make was low-grade alchemical steel that broke more easily than pottery.

The lords were said to deceive the scales because their innate arcane could make even such worthless alchemical steel useful. But that was only deception, not creation.

...Elixir's true realization was a little different.

The way humans used earth magic was no more than digging holes and leveling ground. Gaia Ego's true realization, though, was an understanding of the earth beneath our feet.

Likewise, alchemy, which changed the structure and form of matter, was more complete as a technique... but it was still only a technique refined for humans to use.

That was not Elixir's essence.

All matter had the same origin. Gold, steel, even coarse sand that seemed utterly useless.

Even humans were nothing special in terms of what made up their bodies. Form and function were determined only by how those things were assembled.

The Lord of Gold had realized it.

Everything was made of infinitesimally small blocks.

My Spade cards were idols of the Demon God. They commemorated the immense realization glimpsed by the Demon God and served as a medium through which one could touch that great truth. If I recognized that the Demon God had once been human, then I, the King of Humanity, could use that power as well. I could transform matter itself into something else, regardless of its kind.

The problem was...

"Why does it have to be cards?!"

"What does?"

I was ordinary right now, so I could only call upon limited power through the idol. My Spade 8 could only transform material it touched into steel cards. Regardless of the material or type, all I could make were Spade 8s in the exact same shape as the idol!

Fine. Even if I had been given the ability to make anything, I lacked the strength, mana, and technique to use it properly. Using earth magic did not make someone the Great Master, and learning druidism did not mean they could even follow in Nevida's footsteps. Even if I had glimpsed the peak of alchemy, I could not transform every object in the world like the Lord of Gold.

At least the card I had made most often came easily to hand, but still...! It did not have to be cards! Was there not something more useful?

I was fuming inside, but it was better than having nothing. I should be grateful. Calming myself, I said, "I didn't do it. I think the Lord of Gold saved me."

"The Lord of Gold saved you?"

"Yes. Perru succeeded in reaching the Lord of Gold."

The Golden Palace had collapsed. At the last moment, the Lord of Gold had made a choice, saved Perru, and done something. I could not read his thoughts, so I did not know exactly what he had done, but one thing seemed certain from the current situation.

The Lord of Gold was dead.

That was not quite the right description for something that had been dead from the beginning, but at the very least, it had abandoned the obsession with the Golden Kingdom it had shown until now.

Instead...

Jingle.

A bell rang somewhere nearby. Blocks stirred.

It seemed as if someone unseen were stacking the blocks one by one to build a structure. The blocks that had collapsed in a mountain piled themselves into shape. From that structure, where a small stairway was visible beyond the darkness like a door leading underground, someone emerged.

It was Perru.

Her injuries remained. The wounds and bloodstains all over her body showed what kind of ordeal she had endured. Her complexion, already poor to begin with, had worsened to the point that she looked ready to die at any moment.

There was one difference, though. A small golden bell hung from Perru's waist. Whenever it rang, a structure made of blocks rose up in Perru's path.

As if blessing the road ahead of her.

The Lord of Gold had entrusted his will to Perru. Like a memento, only his power remained, stripped of any other will. Perru would now use the Lord of Gold's terrifying power for the country.

The regressor spoke to Perru as she walked over on steps formed beneath her feet.

"Verdigris Lord. It looks like your plan succeeded?"

"...Urgh."

"Even considering the advantage in compatibility, I can't believe you stopped the actual Lord of Gold. You saved us. The truce agreement will proceed as planned, right?"

"...Ugh."

With that final groan, Perru collapsed forward.

The regressor's eyes widened at the unexpected sight.

"Huh? Verdigris Lord?"

"Mr. Shei, I told you. Not everyone is like you. Some people feel their lives are threatened just by being down there."

"This isn't the time to say that! Her energy is unstable!"

"Mr. Shei has been the calmest one this whole time, though? I told you to worry about us first."

Well, Perru had not been injured by being buried under rubble. The Lord of Gold had not caused the collapse with the intent to kill us in the first place, so it had not been as dangerous as it looked.

Perru was probably groaning because she had been injured and then repaired. Unlike a homunculus, Perru had been repaired while still alive. It seemed her new body had not settled properly yet.

Unaware of that, the regressor strode across the blocks toward Perru. Hilde burst out from beneath the blocks first. Hilde had been buried under even more blocks than I had, but no matter how many blocks fell on her, they were not enough to injure Hilde, one of the military state's Six Generals. Hilde naturally supported Perru, covered her mouth, and spoke in a sly tone.

"Oh my. Perru, are you dying? Did you kindly erase the Lord of Gold, only to exhaust your strength and collapse like this? Does that mean the Lesser States now have no owner? Free? 'Mine'?"

"Leave her alone! Don't you dare touch her carelessly!"

As the regressor approached in a huff, Hilde pouted and held Perru out as if handing her over.

"What is this? Someone would think 'I' drove her into danger. You were the one who urged her to fight, Shei, weren't you?"

"The Verdigris Lord agreed too! Thanks to her, the rampaging Lord of Gold stopped. If she had stayed still, the military state wouldn't have come through this safely either!"

"That's why 'I' said thank you! Besides, look. This golden bell here, no matter how I look at it..."

Hilde reached for the golden bell at Perru's waist.

A sharp force suddenly sliced between them like a blade. Hilde flinched back and slightly raised both hands. The regressor warned her with a fierce expression.

"Take your hand off it. It's not yours."

Even that aura, sharp enough to cut skin, did not faze Hilde.

"Then what? Is it yours, Shei? How greedy. Are you going to take even the Lord of Gold's memento?"

"If necessary. But that's for later. Don't touch it until the Verdigris Lord wakes up."

'There's no telling where this barely settled situation will go. I should put it in the Verdigris Lord's hands for now and see what happens. There would be no problem if I took it, but the Verdigris Lord seems relatively reasonable... compared to the military state, at least.'

The regressor usually lived carelessly, but she was strict when it came to relics of the Demon God. The Demon God could be both the power to save the future and a disaster that destroyed it, so that was probably why.

Still, saying she would take it if necessary was too blatant, was it not? Hilde would remember that choice. Seriously, be careful.

"I wasn't planning to touch it anyway. More importantly, you haven't forgotten, have you? The deadline for the truce agreement."

"Deadline?"

"We only stopped the Lord of Gold. The truce hasn't been confirmed yet, has it? If we don't receive a definite answer within the next two days, a war might break out."

When we first headed for the Lesser States, Hilde had specified a period of one week. Once an army began moving, it was like a rolling wheel. If it did not move somewhere, it would collapse on itself. Whether they returned to the military state or advanced into the Lesser States depended on the conclusion reached here.

"But there isn't anyone left to agree to a truce now, is there? Even if the Lesser States is a nation of alchemy, they can't alchemize a new leader for themselves. What are we going to do?"

With the Lord of Gold gone, there was no one with the authority to decide. Hilde pointed that out and spun in a circle. She looked far too delighted that the peace she had hoped for was not coming.

Footnotes:

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