WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 369: As If It Would Last Forever

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The forces from Claudia were unlike the Lesser States. In other words, they were organized and well commanded. An army-sized force raced across the plains before Claudia in orderly ranks.

Only the automated carriage at the very front looked different. Its body was several times larger than the others, and thunder wheels brimming with lightning spun fiercely beneath it. They moved so quickly that their uneven surfaces were impossible to make out.

One person stood tall atop that carriage, staring straight at us.

Her most striking feature was her bright yellow hair. It fell all the way to her waist, tied in a single ponytail. Hair had weight, so it should have hung with gravity, but for some reason, her fluffy hair floated in the wind.

If it had only been long, it would not have left much of an impression. What was strange lay at its ends.

Tiny sparks flickered between the tips of her windblown hair.

Once she came close enough, she suddenly kicked off from her carriage and jumped.

Under this land's immense pull, every object leaving the ground moved in an arc. Unless it caught the wind and flew, the nature of that curve never changed.

But the Thunder Lord moved differently.

She rose into the air and sharply pulled her arm. Her body shot forward as though she had tied a rope to the Golden Ark and yanked it. She soared in an almost straight arc, then landed on the Golden Ark's deck in a single leap.

The deck boomed beneath her feet. Static crackled between her soles and the deck. The Thunder Lord patted down her dry, floating hair, then asked the only human on deck.

"This ship belongs to the Verdigris Lord. Are you the Verdigris Lord's guest?"

That was me.

Faced with the ruler of Claudia and the strongest person in the Lesser States, I swallowed hard and answered.

"Yes. She's collapsed in her cabin."

"I heard from the messenger sent by the Suppression Lord that the Lord of Gold was heading for Claudia. Where is the Lord of Gold?"

"Here."

"What do you mean?"

I pointed beneath the deck in response to the Thunder Lord's question.

"It's a long story, but the Verdigris Lord stopped the Lord of Gold. The Suppression Lord died in the process, and there have been some complications over the peace treaty, so we're heading to Claudia to settle them."

"Is that true?"

"If it were a lie, you'd be welcoming the Lord of Gold instead of us by now."

'The expected arrival time has passed, yet there is no sign of the Lord of Gold nearby. The land's shape remains as it was... Then it must be true.'

The Thunder Lord, ruler of an entire city, demonstrated her ability without fail. After quickly looking over the area, she reached her conclusion and spoke.

"Good. That wraith is dead."

"...Pardon?"

"What kind of god of alchemy was that? It was just a wraith that couldn't even die properly, wandering around the country. Hmph. Now that he's gone, this place might finally look like a proper country."

Once she decided there was no Lord of Gold attack to worry about, the Thunder Lord relaxed and poured out the feelings she had kept buried deep inside. As I stood there, unsure how to react, she raised her right hand. Pressing her thumb and index finger together, she muttered.

"Thundercatcher."

Snap.

The instant she flicked her fingers, lightning flashed in her palm. It was like two house-sized flints striking together. Branches of lightning rose above the Thunder Lord as though she held thunder in her hand.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

"Aaaah!"

As the two beasts panicked and thrashed around, the Thunder Lord shook the lightning from her hand and said,

"There's no need to be startled. It was a hand signal for my subordinates."

"Hand signal or not, it's scary because that was lightning!"

"Then there's nothing to be done. You'll have to endure it. It's not like I can refrain from using my ability."

Below the deck, the Thunder Lord's soldiers spread out in every direction. Having received the signal, they abandoned their combat formation and shifted into a search formation. It was coordination unlike anything one would expect from the Lesser States.

After giving orders to her subordinates, the Thunder Lord extended her hand. Without her physically pushing it open, the iron door leading to the cabins swung wide as though repelled by her hand. She turned toward the passage and walked down into the cabins without hesitation.

"Azzy. Let's go down too."

Azzy did not follow. When I turned around to see why, I found that static had made her fur stand straight up. It had always been dog fur in the literal sense, but now it was truly a mess, sticking out in every direction.

"Woof! My fur! My fur!"

"That's because of static. It'll get better if you wash it."

"Woof! No time! Hurry up, woof!"

"You're not even a cat. Why do you hate washing so much?"

I patted Azzy's fur down with my hands and followed the Thunder Lord into the cabins.

After checking the Verdigris Lord's face, the Thunder Lord woke her. Perru had not fully recovered yet, but the Thunder Lord decided it was more important to hear the truth from the person involved.

Perru felt the same way. Even through her pain, she explained everything she knew as best she could.

"...With their help, I stopped the Lord of Gold from going out of control."

After hearing the rough outline, the Thunder Lord nodded.

"You did well, Verdigris Lord. Or should I call you the next Golden Lord? Every citizen of Claudia will praise your courage. Even if we used all the power of the Thunder Mill, we would have stood no chance. Thanks to you, we won't lose our home."

"...And."

"The truce agreement? Well, I don't care. The Abyss plains opposite Claudia are none of my concern... I will follow the Golden Lord's judgment. But."

The Thunder Lord glared sharply at the regressor and Hilde.

"If the military state makes excessive demands during the process, I will stop them at once. The Lesser States have not been defeated, and even if the Lesser States were defeated, Claudia would never be attacked. Whatever you're after, I won't give it up easily as long as I'm here."

As though answering her words, intense energy swirled around her arms and legs. The remnants of lightning spreading in every direction indirectly revealed the power she possessed.

Elkid, the Thunder Lord, was the greatest of the Lords and the ruler of Claudia.

She was the successor of the first Thunder Lord, who returned the lightning stolen by the lightning thief to the sky.

Steel possessed the potential to become a path for lightning. The more refined the steel produced through alchemy, the stronger that quality became. They said an alchemist who reached the pinnacle could constantly carry lightning within their body.

Yet great power like lightning could harm its wielder, so there was no reason to do that... except for a chosen few. Those with special qualities and innate arcane within them could contain lightning and become the strongest among humanity.

Elkid, the Thunder Lord, was a human chosen by lightning. She was the strongest Lord of the Lesser States, and within Claudia, where lightning always raged, she could borrow power close to that of a god.

Before such a Thunder Lord, the regressor...

"You're mistaken! I'm not really on the military state's side, and I have no intention of being your enemy! No, I'll even give you a gift!"

She acted as though she wanted to become friends.

That left the Thunder Lord, who had unnecessarily displayed all that force, hanging in the air. Since no one tried to oppose her, her crackling hair gradually settled in disappointment.

'What is this? I showed my strength so they wouldn't look down on me. If they're envoys from the military state, they should be trying not to lose our contest of wills.'

As her hair and presence both settled, the Thunder Lord asked suspiciously.

"...A gift? Nothing is impossible in Claudia. I don't know what you intend to offer, but I can't imagine it's something we especially need."

The Thunder Lord still did not lower her guard. Yet the regressor, who was more wary than anyone among us, had surprisingly opened her heart completely to the Thunder Lord.

That was a little unfair. Your charm was that you never backed down, no matter who you faced. Why wasn't she trying to cut off the Thunder Lord's right arm?

'Elkid. This is the first time I've met you this early. Until now, I came looking for you after obtaining Jizan, to house the Thunder God. So this is what Elkid was like a few years younger.'

Tch. School ties, regional ties, blood ties, and now connections from a past life too? How was someone with no connections supposed to live without feeling miserable? Thinking about the old days when my right arm nearly got cut off made me feel even worse.

The regressor spoke with certainty.

"No. You will need it."

"Setting aside what it is, what do you want in return?"

"Nothing in particular. It's a sign of goodwill. If there is one thing, I hope the truce agreement goes well."

"A gift given without compensation is even more suspicious. What could it possibly be for you to be so confident?"

The Thunder Lord was still suspicious, but the regressor had already built a bond with her in a future that had vanished. The Thunder Lord, who had always been an ally in previous cycles, was already no enemy of the regressor.

'You still haven't relaxed. But it's fine. As the Thunder Lord, you could never ignore this offer. The Lord of Gold has already been dealt with, so if I get rid of the Thunder God too, you'll become my reliable ally in this cycle as well. I can help Elkid too.'

Though those memories lay in a future that had not happened yet, the regressor spoke to win her favor again.

"Claudia is the city where the lightning stolen by the lightning thief was hidden, right?"

"My education is not so lacking that I need an outsider to teach me Claudia's history."

"Hear me out. The first Thunder Lord caught the lightning thief and returned the stolen lightning to the sky, but the Thunder God, whose existence nearly vanished, periodically rides the clouds down here and attacks Claudia to vent its anger. Isn't that right?"

"That is certainly a troublesome issue, but..."

The Thunder Lord swallowed the question she had been about to ask, whether the regressor would get rid of the Thunder God. Asking for the impossible would only amount to mocking the other person.

But... the Thunder Lord had no need to swallow her words.

"I'll kill the Thunder God."

The regressor spoke more warmly than ever, and said something more terrifying than ever.

Footnotes:

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