WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 376: Lightning Did Not Fall from the Sky - 1

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Claudia's mornings began with mist.

As the Cloud Waterfall fell, it gathered in Claudia's water source, but some of it did not settle and instead spread in every direction. The scattered vapor condensed into dew during the cold night, then lay fast asleep upon the earth until the morning sunlight woke it.

When morning came, it became clouds again and covered the ground in a thick haze. Fussy humans would correct you and say it was mist, not clouds, but what did it matter to the droplets what they were called? The important thing was that they floated together.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Thunder rang out three times in succession. Claudia's clock chimes used stored thunder, announcing that two hours had passed since sunrise.

I instinctively flinched, then looked out the window and grumbled.

"Dammit. For a city of clouds, it even tells time with thunder. No one's going to sleep through that."

"Woof, woof! That startled me! Woof!"

The thunder chime had woken Azzy and me earlier, and now we complained together.

The mist was so thick that I could barely see the sun. They said it cleared after noon and became brighter, but it was hardly different from dawn right now. The lightning lamps contained in glass spheres were brighter than the sunlight.

Because of that, Claudia's ordinary citizens stayed indoors during misty mornings, and their real daily routines began in the afternoon.

"Perhaps because the climate is similar, life here is much like the Fog Duchy."

Tyr gazed at the dense mist outside, lost in thought.

"The Fog Duchy is always filled with mist. Even at midday, you cannot see a shape through it, so that vile sunlight cannot reach us either."

"That makes sense. Claudia lies outside the Cloud Waterfall, even if it is nearby, while the Fog Duchy is land you reach only by making your way inside the Cloud Waterfall."

It would be worse there, not better. Why else would it be called the Fog Duchy? The Cloud Waterfall served as its roof, leaving the land in constant shade, so vampires could walk around perfectly fine even in broad daylight.

"Seeing this, I can truly feel that we are close enough to the Fog Duchy.... Now that we have come this far, would you not visit at least once?"

"If things in Claudia end properly, I think we will."

A country of vampires. I was somewhat interested too.

Tyrkanzyaka had once been a seed of the Demon God, but she died beneath the Sanctum's blade before she could bear fruit and became warped. Rather than becoming a god, she became a ghost and wandered the netherworld. Her power could not extend to all humanity, and instead changed into a way of creating a single species called vampires by sharing her blood.

They were certainly human, yet a new species whose way of life was far too different from ordinary beasts.

It did make me curious. Did the Sanctum regret bringing about the species known as vampires, or did it consider itself fortunate that the Demon God had not appeared?

Probably the latter....

"Hyu."

"Yes?"

Tyr watched me quietly with a faint smile, placed a hand over her chest, and gently asked,

"Is there something in my country that you seek?"

'Something the King of Humanity has searched for so desperately that he would turn the world upside down to find it?'

She did not say it aloud, but she was certain of it.

Ugh. These days, every Tom, Dick, and Harry knew my identity. Azzy was literally a dog, and she would have known from the start, so she did not count. But Hilde knew, and Tyr knew too. It had reached the point where calling it a lie would not work.

It couldn't be helped. If I became involved with the Sanctum, my identity was bound to be exposed. Should I be grateful that the regressor still had not guessed who I was? If she found out, the next loop would....

Ah, whatever. I shouldn't worry about what I couldn't do anything about.

Whether I was the King of Humanity or not wasn't that important. I was ordinary either way. I didn't boast about being the King of Humanity because there was no need to.

"I don't know whether there is or not. I don't like vampires very much."

"...Is that so?"

'Ordinary humans fear vampires. If Hyu is the King of Humanity, he must represent them all....'

It wasn't a bad guess, but that wasn't quite it. Vampires were human too, after all. It was just that...

"I'm much more comfortable with Tyr than with other vampires, and I find her much more approachable."

"M-me?"

Tyr asked as though she had heard something truly unexpected.

As the Progenitor, the Sanctum's archenemy, and an object of fear to countless humans, she had lived a life entirely opposite to the words comfortable and approachable. Even if she had not enjoyed it, death and slaughter had been frequent parts of her daily life.

Still, even that was human.

Compared to other vampires.

"Other vampires have masters. Their kings, you might say. As long as there are high vampires who are their wishes and their rulers, there is nothing I can do for them."

The control high vampires held over lower vampires was absolute. Like humans bound by gravity depended on the earth, the sensation of every drop of blood in your body being pulled toward someone else was entirely different from simple respect or loyalty. It was close to domination and subordination, yet worse because they were not even puppets.

You could call it a dependence close to subservience.

That was why a vampire's thoughts could change so easily. No matter how well I had sweet-talked them and built a relationship, a single word from a higher vampire could overturn those thoughts completely. Even wishes they had held firmly for centuries could be bent in an instant.

There was nothing I could offer vampires except one thing.

"But Tyr is the Progenitor while still being fully human, and she has wishes of her own. I'm several times more comfortable with Tyr."

In that sense, the Progenitor of vampires was ordinary. Even if she had lived for over a thousand years, her wishes were her own.

'...I am human. If anyone else had said it, I would have dismissed it as empty flattery, but hearing it from the King of Humanity leaves me with a strange feeling. Is that why the Lords of All Creation search for the King of Humanity...?'

Tyr's gaze wandered slightly, and she cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Is that why you were so rude from the moment we first met?"

"Rude? You make me sound like some savage who doesn't know manners. Could you call it being approachable instead?"

"Fine. You were approachable without any manners from the moment we met. Thanks to that, we were able to speak sooner, so perhaps I should say we benefited from your rudeness."

"If you think about it, Shei deserves more credit. If Tyr had kept the underground armory door sealed and slept soundly, we would never have had a chance to talk."

"That is true. If you think about it, it all happened because Shei caused trouble. I am not sure whether I should be grateful for it."

Tyr chuckled softly and looked out the window. The Thunder Wheel visible through the glass was so enormous that its massive outline showed even through the mist. Artificial lightning flashed from the slowly rotating wheel.

It looked like the preparations to kill the Thunder God were finally complete.

"Still, Hyu. The Thunder God, servant of the Celestial God, is about to submit to humans. Will you truly not come to witness such a rare sight?"

'The Hyu I know would never miss a spectacle like this.'

If that were really true, I would have gone to watch with popcorn in hand. Even apart from Tyr's grudge against the Celestial God, it was worth seeing. But something was bothering me.

I waved a hand and said,

"I'll rest this time."

"I understand. Rest, then."

'He must be planning to do something behind our backs again. It is regrettable that he does not reveal his thoughts even though I would help with whatever he does, but if that is what he wants, I will not press him.'

Had she already noticed? Had I become too predictable lately? Tyr had always paid close attention to me, so it wasn't strange that she caught on.

'...And I have not told him something either.'

Tyr glanced toward the Cloud Waterfall and smiled faintly.

- "Citizens of Claudia, stop what you are doing and listen. There is something you must know."

Before the mist had fully cleared, the Thunder Lord's voice boomed throughout Claudia. At the great Thunder Lord's speech, the citizens of Claudia stopped what they were doing and listened. The Thunder Lord waited until they were fully attentive before speaking.

- "The Lord of Gold has stopped marching."

Murmurs spread through the city. The citizens who understood the meaning of those words a moment later were shocked.

Why was Claudia the greatest city in the Lesser States? It had certainly prospered through the power of thunder, but the greatest reason was that it was the only settled city in the Lesser States. In the Lesser States, where the Lord of Gold roamed the land, it was the only place untouched by the Lord of Gold, allowing it to accumulate the essence of alchemy in one location.

If the Lord of Gold had stopped, Claudia would no longer be the Lesser States' only settled city.

- "Several brave Lords and a distinguished guest from another land stopped him. Thanks to them, the Lesser States are now free from him."

She probably did not say that the Lord of Gold had disappeared because she wanted to keep public sentiment from being shaken too badly. The Lesser States had survived on the Lord of Gold's power, after all.

- "Great change will now come to the Lesser States. Claudia, which has been pressed down by the Lord of Gold below and the Thunder God above, unable to expand its influence, must now break its shackles and move forward."

It was hard to believe, but the Thunder Lord did not lie. The strongest and greatest Thunder Lord in the Lesser States was a perfect being, and such a being had no need for something as petty as lies.

- "With the help of those who stopped the Lord of Gold, I will sever our ill-fated bond with the Thunder God. For Claudia's future."

Only then did Claudia's residents understand the Thunder Lord's grand purpose, and they cheered.

After ending her speech, the Thunder Lord turned and walked away. The Thunder Guardians moved after her in unison. They were not as powerful as the Thunder Lord, but every one of them could wield lightning. Most of them had been deployed to reduce the damage when fighting the Thunder God.

'This has become much bigger than I expected. When I killed the Thunder God in the previous loop, I kept it secret and handled it quietly. What's going on?'

The regressor was puzzled by the unexpected development.

"...Isn't this making too big a fuss? We could just quietly kill the Thunder God."

The Thunder Lord firmly shook her head.

"Normally, we would have. The situation is different now. The shock of the Lord of Gold's disappearance will come eventually. Ordinary humans cannot accept sudden change, so we must reveal part of it now and minimize the confusion that will come later."

"Ah, I see. Because of the Lord of Gold."

'So that was why things were different from the previous loop. The Lord of Gold disappeared. So many things have changed this time. Well... I did get rid of the Demon God.'

She remembered what she had done and felt a small sense of pride. There was still much left to do, but she was satisfied to see things steadily move forward.

"You must prepare as well, Golden Lord. You possess power, so you must lead everyone alongside me. This will be the first step."

"...Yes."

Perru, who had been walking a little behind them, clenched her teeth and came alongside the others. The Thunder Lord watched her listless steps and spoke with slight disapproval.

"You do not look well. It will be a problem if someone who must lead everyone has a weak body."

"Don't worry. That's a problem caused by defeating the Lord of Gold, so it can be treated. I'll find a solution."

"Then that is reassuring. Shall we focus on what lies before us for now?"

Two Lords and one regressor headed toward the Lightning Rod Tower to kill the Thunder God. They were going to the Lightning Rod Tower, an idol symbolizing fear of the Thunder God and a structure that allowed people to overcome it, to sever their ill-fated bond with the Thunder God.

After they left, I walked toward the Lightning Rod Tower.

The Lightning Rod Tower was a colossal structure that stood fifty meters tall. It did not exist solely to receive lightning. Facilities powered by lightning filled its interior.

The Thunder Lord had shown me the farms, but there was much more. Mills to process harvested crops. Foundries that infused steel with lightning. Facilities that used it to make all kinds of tools.

The resources produced in the Lightning Rod Tower spread out beneath it. With abundant resources, Claudia functioned perfectly as long as there were people to work. Living here was far more stable than wandering the wilderness of the Lesser States, so powerless jackals hoped to live in Claudia.

The Thunder Lord only accepted jackals who had children, though, so Claudia was filled with newlyweds with nowhere else to turn and women with children. Even they had to leave once their children were fully grown.

The city prospered, but most of its people would someday leave.

Among them, those who did not leave were....

A guard spotted me and pointed the spear in their hand at me. Small bolts of lightning crackled threateningly between the spearhead's prongs, split like a fountain pen nib.

"Who goes there! State your identity!"

"I'm a guest of the Thunder Lord. You've seen me before, right? I came here with her."

Ignoring the terrifying lightning in front of me, I showed my face and walked forward calmly.

There was a benefit to coming here with the Thunder Lord yesterday. The guard recognized me and lowered their spear.

"My apologies. What brings you here?"

"What do you mean, what brings me here? Didn't you hear earlier? She said we would end our ill-fated bond with the Thunder God."

I asked as if they should know. Caught off guard, the guard stammered.

"O-of course. But the Thunder Lord used the elevator. She must head to the top of the Lightning Rod Tower."

"Oh, really? I must have misunderstood. I thought I needed to use the stairs to reach the top."

As someone visiting Claudia for the first time, I had confused the route. I should have taken the elevator with the Thunder Lord to the top of the Lightning Rod Tower, but I had come in through the entrance because I thought I was supposed to walk up. It was a common mistake for an outsider who had never experienced an elevator.

The guard put the information together and understood me.

More precisely, I guided them into understanding me that way.

"Sorry. I'm not familiar with the way around here. Could you tell me where the stairs are?"

"If you wait, the elevator will come back down."

"The stairs will be enough. I'm already late, so I need to hurry. There probably won't be much difference between the stairs and the elevator."

Of course, that was a lie. Stairs were humanity's worst invention, and walking up them was little different from torturing yourself. If I had to go up, the elevator was always the right choice.

I wasn't going up, though.

"A master of qi would have no trouble with stairs. They are over there."

"Thank you."

Without any suspicion, the guard showed me the stairwell entrance. I nodded in thanks and headed toward the stairs in full view of them.

Behind me, the loyal guard snapped a salute and shouted,

"Please, fulfill Claudia's long-held wish!"

"Don't worry. It'll be over today."

I gave a small wave, calmly disappeared into the stairwell... and immediately ran down the stairs.

Footnotes:

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