WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 398: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

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Perru had not told the vampires to leave simply because she hated or feared them.

"...What happened in the clouds isn't widely known yet. If the vampires stay out of sight..."

With the Lord of Gold gone and the Thunder Lord dead, vampires appearing here would send the confusion spiraling out of control. They could not hide the fact that vampires had killed the Thunder Lord, but being attacked and being ruled were entirely different matters.

"...I don't want to become enemies with the Fog Duchy. The Duchy is strong and frightening. So please leave now. You've already achieved your goal."

Vampires could not rule beyond the fog anyway. They could travel through lands touched by sunlight, but even if they built a castle there, the next day's tide of sunlight would reduce it to sand. No one would serve a noble who lost their hold every day.

With the Lord of Gold gone, much of Claudia's geopolitical importance had vanished as well. Perru pleaded desperately with Tyr.

Of course, Tyr had no obligation to accept the offer. She was carefree about most things, but sensitive when it came to the Sanctum. Even if she did not conquer or subjugate Claudia, she had been considering leaving its people with a healthy dose of fear.

There was no need for that, though.

"Ughhh. I'm dying."

Making no effort to hide how exhausted I was, I collapsed against Tyr's shoulder. Startled, Tyr supported me.

"Hyu? Are you all right?"

"I was already in bad shape, and forcing myself to move feels like it's killing me."

"What did you do to yourself? Did you take medicine?"

"Not medicine. I'm unconscious, but I shocked my whole body with electricity to force myself up. Like what I did to your heart."

Strictly speaking, it had been far more delicate and dangerous than that, but Tyr understood the general idea.

Tyr looked at the dried blood on the front of my clothes. With bloodcraft, she might have been able to put blood back into my body, but Hilde had already healed my wounds enough for them to close. I would have died if she had not treated me then, but it was not as though I could tear myself open again like a dumpling wrapper just to fill myself with blood. I supposed anemia would be my companion for a while.

"What should I do...? Would you take my blood, at least for now?"

"Then I'd become a vampire. You aren't planning to let me die because you can bring me back as a vampire, are you? Surely that wasn't why you only put my head on your lap instead of taking me to a doctor earlier...?"

When I hit the mark, Tyr flinched. She flatly denied it, then called Valdamir if only to change the subject.

"Valdamir."

"Command me."

"I will take Hyu and head for the Duchy first. Remain here and root out the remnants of the Sanctum."

Authority was relative. Once you were the Progenitor, you could dump work on even the Duke of Crimson Blood. Tyr gave Valdamir an order. Suddenly burdened with work, Valdamir replied.

"I will obey if you command it, but if I may offer my opinion."

'Have I been working too hard lately? More work again. It's bothersome, but how do I talk my way out of this without offending her?'

Even someone like the Duke of Crimson Blood seemed to hate overwork. He thought faster than he had during the battle and quickly found an excuse.

"Claudia is nearby, and it will not be difficult to return here. Would it not be acceptable to leave things as they are for a while?"

"Leave them alone? What if they tirelessly sneak back in and put down roots again?"

"Would it not be easier to pull weeds once they have taken root than to dig through the earth and pick out every seed? The future may be theirs, but time is on our side. There will be no problem in watching them for a few years."

It showed the difference between humans and vampires when it came to what a few years meant. Tyr was just as generous with time, so she accepted the argument. Nodding elegantly, Tyr supported me as she spoke to Perru.

"Very well. Perru, we will leave. I am doing this for Hyu, but I chose it out of consideration for you. Otherwise, I would have no reason at all to leave this land unharmed."

"...Thank you."

"I hope you do not forget it. For your sake, and for this land's."

After leaving Perru with a stern warning, Tyr waved her hand. At Tyr's call, her coffin, which had been unable to catch up outside Cloud Waterfall, flew to her side. It was a vehicle prepared for me because I looked too weak to walk.

I appreciated it, but why did it have to be a coffin? I hoped it was not predicting my future.

Just then, heavy thumping sounded out, and Lungken's enormous body fell from the sky. Tearing away their badly singed fur without hesitation, Lungken roared.

"Uwooooaaargh! Who was the bastard who sent me flying?!"

"Lungken. We are leaving. Prepare yourself."

"What? Progenitor, I just got back."

"Good. Then return by the same route."

Lungken smacked their lips in disappointment. They clearly wanted to finish the fight they had been unable to settle, but they immediately gave up at the Progenitor's command.

Tyr and I sat atop the coffin. Without even looking back, Tyr set it in motion. Dense fog lay dark around us. Unhindered by sunlight, the coffin glided forward smoothly...

"Wait!"

The regressor blocked our path. She was still lost in confusion.

The regressor had shaken Hilde off and tried to approach, only to witness the fight between Peruel and me. Peruel's power of prophecy was familiar to her because she had seen it before her regression, but Peruel's attitude toward me was something she had never seen before. The Steel Maiden, once as unfeeling as stone, had treated me as an enemy, despised me, and feared me as though it were only natural. That felt strange to the regressor.

Holy Maidens with prophetic powers had always been mysterious and composed.

'King of Humanity? But that can't be. The King of Humanity I saw, no, the King of Sin, was... It was definitely...!'

On top of that, she was nearly panicking at the revelation that I, whom she had happened to meet and travel with, was actually the King of Humanity.

"The King of Humanity? You...? You deceived me?"

"I didn't deceive you. I never said I wasn't the King of Humanity."

It was wordplay. I had tried my best to hide it. She was trying to stop the King of Sin. How could I openly reveal my identity?

If possible, I had wanted to remain undiscovered to the end. Still, now that I had been exposed, I should make the most of it.

"Being the King of Humanity isn't something to boast about. It only draws attention, and it doesn't actually help with anything."

"If you really are the King of Humanity...!"

"If I am, what are you going to do? Kill me before I become a problem?"

The regressor flinched. She had not yet felt murderous intent toward me, but if killing me would make everything better, she would kill me without hesitation. That was what regressors were.

She might even kill me once and decide what to do based on what followed. I should keep my distance, then. I did not know what the next round would be like.

"That isn't it! I, well..."

"Enough. Hyu, let us go."

Tyr put an arm around my shoulders and glared at the regressor.

"Our path with Shei ends here. We traveled together because his desire to protect the world was admirable... but it seems we had no place in the world Shei envisioned. Just as the Holy Maidens decreed. Then we must part ways here."

The regressor was not good at lying. She could not shamelessly claim that we were comrades, that she would never harm us even if the world collapsed, because she knew she could not promise that.

'But if the world does not end! If Tyrkanzyaka does not begin a Blood March, and the King of Wolves does not bare its fangs at humanity. I want to be with you too! Then I will never have to point my sword at you someday!'

She was honest and righteous enough that I did not even need to read her mind. By ordinary standards, perhaps we were the ones in the wrong. Azzy, whom it was pointless to judge by civilized standards. Tyr, who trampled morality and dignity underfoot and laughed at them. And strange beings like me, abandoned by humanity.

Compared to us, the regressor was closer to the ideal human.

Yet the strangest thing was an ideal human. Such a being did not exist in this world. The framework of ideals created by the Sanctum bound people all the more tightly because it could not truly exist.

Unless she could bridge that gap, the regressor could not be with us.

There was Tyr, and even the Elders. The regressor was now at a disadvantage even in the martial strength she took pride in. She had often caught others off guard with information gained from the future, but an unexpected ambush had robbed her of many of her advantages.

"Yay~. We're finally parting ways, right? What a relief. Shei didn't belong with you people anyway!"

Hilde had approached without anyone noticing and quietly sat on Tyr's coffin. Her body was covered in scratches from fighting the regressor, but to someone who used qi arts, they were no more than scratches.

Tyr watched Hilde sit on her coffin without permission with displeasure, but did not push her away.

"...I dislike that you tried to use me, but I will overlook it this time. Do not think everything will unfold as you wish."

"Use you? This was a mutually beneficial deal! 'I' handle military state diplomacy, in my own way, you know? I don't pull thug-like stunts where I force someone else to take all the losses! Especially not against vampires!"

"You need not emphasize it. I know that well already. It is why I spared the life of a member of the Holy Sword Corps like you, so remember it."

If there had been even the slightest suspicious part to it, Hilde, as a member of the Holy Sword Corps, would not have kept her life. Despite the chilling warning, Hilde smiled with her eyes as though she was used to it and urged me on.

"Now that we have permission, Father. Shall we go?"

We should. I had wandered around enough. It was time to settle somewhere. I still needed time to fully make the Demon God mine, and I wanted to enjoy a little luxury with reliable backing for once.

"We expected our parting to arrive beautifully, once we were fully prepared. Yet the world betrays us as though it is only natural. Farewell, everyone. I hope we meet by chance when a new wind blows."

"There is no need. We will not meet again."

An Elder moved ahead before Tyr's coffin did. There was no one left to block our path, and even if someone tried, they would be dealt with before they could approach Tyr.

Unless the regressor hardened her resolve, that was. She was still confused.

If we met again, she would have decided exactly where she stood.

Tch. That was frightening. I should cling to Tyr even more closely.

And so Hilde, the vampires, and I left the traces of battle behind and entered the thick clouds. Deep within Cloud Waterfall lay a land always covered in shadow. A demon realm where sunlight never reached, a paradise for vampires.

With the Progenitor's return, leaving several people behind in the Lesser States, we stepped into the domain of darkness.

Footnotes:

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