WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 404: The Shepherd Tends the Sheep Best

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They say that wherever the Progenitor resides becomes the center of the Duchy, so the Fog Duchy has no separate capital.

However, where the Progenitor wants to be is another matter.

Tyr wanted to show me the finest part of the Fog Duchy. Even on the same hand, there is always a finger one favors more. Though she pretended to be impartial, Tyr insisted on visiting the grandest city.

"Eeh~. It'll be a pain getting back once we're farther from the military state. Can't we just stay here?"

"Then you may stay here."

"That's hurtful. 'We' have been traveling together as companions all this time!"

Hilde clung to Tyr with a smile. Even vampires could not spit in a smiling face, so Tyr merely looked at Hilde instead of roughly shoving the person away.

'Hilde... I don't bear any ill will, but I don't want Hilde nearby.'

If I had to put a name to the feeling, Tyr rather liked Hilde. Hilde's characteristic irresponsibility and cynical tone resembled mine.

Still, liking someone did not mean one could keep them close.

'Hilde knows too much about Hyu, and wants to learn more. There are no secrets that must never be exposed within the Duchy... Yet I hesitate to tell Hilde more about myself and the Duchy. Especially now that Luscinia is dead.'

Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone lived in a world where they spoke their hearts honestly?

Unfortunately, I was the only one living in that world.

Tyr hid those thoughts as she spoke.

"There must be a reason you came all the way to the Duchy. What business do you have?"

Hilde, having vaguely sensed the feelings beneath Tyr's words, asked in return.

"Why business? Do you want to send 'me' away that badly?"

"If not, do you intend to remain a freeloader forever? I must at least hear your business for there to be any point in keeping you around."

"Hmm. It's a matter of state, so isn't it a little beneath its dignity to discuss it out on the street~?"

"I'll look forward to it, then, so prepare yourself. I hope its substance lives up to at least half your words. Otherwise, I'll have to reconsider your value."

Their cold exchange, with each concealing their true feelings, came to an end. Tyr soon turned to me with a gentle smile.

"Come, Hyu. Twilight Fortress was built to fend off invasion, so it lacks much in many respects. I want to show you Castle of the Full Moon. There is still much in the Duchy that I have yet to show you."

"Hm. I don't mind going... but Tyr, will that be all right?"

"All right? What do you mean?"

I answered Tyr's question rather sternly.

"I'm the King of Humanity. A representative who speaks for all humans. But vampires consider humans livestock, don't they? I don't think you should proudly show me humans being treated like cattle right in front of me."

Of course, I was not a human rights activist.

I was the Beast King, and beasts fundamentally had the nature of eating or being eaten. While making other beasts into livestock, there was no rule saying humans, who were also beasts, could not become livestock.

I had only opposed and overturned the military state because I sensed the Sanctum's involvement in the military state's command.

More precisely, it felt as though the Holy Maiden, who read the future, was restraining military state citizens before they had even committed crimes. It seemed as though she wanted to carve up the beast called humanity to suit her tastes and turn it into something else, so I lent my strength to the regressor, who wanted to shake up the military state.

The military state's command turned out to be somewhat different from what I had expected, though.

Vampires were humans all the same, and even if they controlled others through strength, that was natural enough. People without power were treated like livestock everywhere in the world anyway.

If anything...

"Hehe. You think far too little of me and this country. Even if I had nothing to fear, would I show you the shameful side of my nation?"

Tyr laughed lightly even at my rude question.

"I will show you before we go. What this country is like."

Sea fog rising from the Sea of Leviathans covered the sun and formed clouds. Carried aloft by the wind, the clouds passed over the Duchy like a vast roof before meeting a towering mountain range and becoming trapped there.

All except in one place, where they gathered over low hills and escaped.

A place where sunlight could not reach, dark all year round. A place where the sea wind always carried a fishy smell. A place where that smell mingled with the stench of blood until they became impossible to tell apart.

The Fog Duchy, where grief and fresh blood flowed.

There...

"Come on, cheap! Cheap! We've got every kind of meat!"

"Blood pudding for sale! One of these will easily cover two months of blood tax! Eat blood pudding and replenish your blood!"

"Excuse me. Is there a Yeiling looking for blood right now? If not, even a Twit will do."

It was far livelier than I had expected.

Even as I walked through the market, it did not feel dark or dreary. As though proving that it was not sunlight but a comfortable life and good food that brightened people's hearts, the people here were bright and healthy.

Standing in the middle of the street, I muttered in surprise.

"Why are they living so well?"

"What do you take us for? We stopped extracting blood from people one-sidedly over a thousand years ago. That method could satisfy neither vampires nor humans."

Tyr, wearing a hood made of darkness, spoke as though proudly showing me the lively street.

"Draining every drop of blood because one is thirsty is no different from dismantling an entire well. Our cruelty is directed only at enemies. We fatten and care for our allies."

There was no exaggeration in Tyr's explanation.

The stalls overflowed with things that would nourish humans: salted meat, dried fish, milk and blood pudding, cheese, oil. Wheat and rice, which required the sun's blessing, were scarce, but with such a variety of ingredients, I did not miss rice or bread.

The seafood stood out in particular. There was everything from familiar fish to shellfish. It would be difficult to find such a diverse range of seafood anywhere but the Fog Duchy.

There were not many mad humans willing to fish in a sea inhabited by sea-beasts.

There was another, more important trait. The Fog Duchy was a nation where vampires were the nobility. Vampires could not eat food.

Which meant that every bit of food in this market...

"It's all for humans, isn't it? Vampires don't need food like this."

The market's entire economy existed for humans. Tyr answered with a smile.

"Hehe. Correct. Some bored vampires occasionally put it in their mouths, but it is only entertainment. Vampires cannot taste it."

"Nobody is wasting away with anemia. Why did I always imagine this place as a gloomy gray city?"

"Snicker. That is not entirely wrong. It is certainly gray. But if we draw too much blood, there will not be enough to drink tomorrow, so excessive blood collection is prohibited."

Tyr seemed very pleased by my reaction. Regardless, I watched the street with fascination as well.

The most dangerous enemy to humans was other humans. Humans inevitably possessed what other humans needed.

Vampires, though humans as well, were a little different. They demanded blood, the thing most essential to humans, but cared about nothing besides blood. Vampires without appetites for food, sex, or sleep demanded blood alone and could yield anything else.

Even that blood was a resource they could receive only if the source remained alive and healthy. In that sense, vampires might be the most ideal nobility of all.

Like shepherds tending their flock.

"I heard that long ago, there were people who strutted around claiming to be kings or nobles, saying even their blood was a different color from ordinary humans'."

"A lie. When I caught them all and drained their blood, I found it was red just the same. Only vampires truly had different blood."

"So that was from when Tyr was still active. Anyway, it does fit better when genuinely different nobles rule. Would vampires demand money and food just to indulge in luxury? At most, they'd covet your body."

At my mention of coveting bodies, Tyr flinched for a moment and scolded me.

"That sounds strange when you put it that way. Correct it to blood."

"What on earth were you imagining? Blood is part of the body too, isn't it?"

"You should speak properly so there is no confusion."

I could not see how anyone could be confused. Wasn't Tyr the one with a demon in her head? A demon that wanted to turn my body into a vampire!

"Come to think of it, all the food sold at the market is healthy food that helps build strength. Blood pudding, liver, meat, seafood, and so on."

"You've been strangely steering the conversation in that direction. They are only foods meant to replenish blood easily."

"It's all similar. Maybe because I'm a little short on blood myself, but I feel like having some meat."

Meat had been hard to find in the military state. Using grain to turn it into animal flesh for food was terribly inefficient. Compressed meat from a cannery was the greatest luxury one could manage there.

Yet the Duchy, which drew blood from humans, encouraged people to eat meat to replenish their blood. How ironic.

Since I had come to the Duchy anyway, perhaps I should indulge a little. As I looked around, I spotted a stall. A huge chunk of meat hung from a skewer over a fire, and the seller carved it to order.

The sight of that enormous piece of meat made me think of Azzy. Could that beast I had left behind in Claudia have resisted if she saw this? Perhaps it was better for everyone that she was there rather than causing chaos in the Duchy's public order by herself.

"Welcome!"

As I approached the stall while lamenting, the owner greeted me with a bright merchant's smile. I looked over the stall and said,

"Give me two servings of your most popular item."

"Yes, sir! One moment!"

Fat melted and ran down the layers of meat piled into a massive block. The owner carved off slices of golden-brown meat with a thick-bladed knife, placed them on a plate with stir-fried vegetables and sauce, then handed it to me.

I did not know what kind of country the Fog Duchy was, but at least its food culture seemed second to none anywhere in the world. Drooling, I searched my pockets.

Then I remembered something I had briefly forgotten.

Ah.

I had not brought any money.

Where was it? In my room earlier? No, I had not even taken money out in my room. I had left all my money in Claudia. After spending time among people like Verdigris and the Lord of Gold, I had stopped placing much value on money.

"Sir?"

The owner looked toward my bulging pocket as though telling me to pay already. But there was no money in it right now.

"Owner."

"Yes?"

"I only happen to have cards on me. Can I pay by card here?"

"Cards? What kind of cards?"

Cards.

The objects I had made with the Demon God's power earlier.

I took out nearly ten cards from my pocket and spread them before the owner. Every one bore a spade. The owner frowned, wondering what they were.

"As for these cards, they are made through a mystery so profound that humans can scarcely comprehend it. They are masterpieces created by no less than the god of magic."

I tried to sell them using nothing but the truth, but the other party was a seasoned merchant who had run the stall for nearly ten years. The owner opened their eyes wide and said,

"Are you messing with me?"

"Don't be like that. Look. If they weren't made by the Demon God, how could there be so many?"

I continuously pulled cards from my pocket. Far too many cards streamed out for the size of the pocket. In truth, I was hiding the cards I had pulled out in my hand and pretending to take them out again, but to someone who did not know better, it would look as though cards were pouring from my pocket.

"See? The cards are infinite."

The owner was fascinated for a moment, but only for a moment. The seasoned merchant did not set aside their suspicion.

"Interesting trick. But we only take money."

"Can't you see? The cards keep coming out. You could probably get some money for them at a scrap dealer."

"Then go trade them at a scrap dealer! Get lost!"

I was shoved away with the meat right in front of me.

Tch. What a jaded adult. All sense of wonder had died in them.

After failing to eat without paying, I trudged back to Tyr and said,

"Tyr. That person dared point a finger at me, Tyr's guest. Scold them."

"Hehe. What a joke."

"No, I'm serious."

I meant it sincerely, but she took it as a joke. I really was asking her to throw her weight around. I had the Progenitor at my back, so why should I accept such poor treatment? They said a position made the person. If I was in a high position, surely I could be a little tyrannical!

"If you wished, I could take everything on this street, but that is not what you want. We have come out incognito, so let us observe ordinary sights a little longer."

'Walking through the market together like this is pleasant. It feels like an ordinary outing.'

What ordinary outing? The moment she thought that, it was already special! Ordinary people could not sleep because they worried about money!

"Ordinary people have money too. Without money, even the ordinary scenes Tyr wants are no better than cakes in a painting."

"Worrying about money? Who do you think I am? I am the owner of this land and the origin of all vampires. Do you truly think I would suffer from having no money in my own territory?"

"I feel like Tyr would. Haven't you already gone through that a few times?"

My prediction was correct.

Tyr rummaged through her clothes, then let out a small sigh. Tyr was not the sort of commoner who would consciously carry around the currency ordinary people used.

'This is humiliating...! Hyu is hungry, and I cannot even satisfy his hunger! It cannot be helped. Now that it has come to this, I will reveal my identity if I must!'

There it was. This was why people stuck close to those in power.

Just as I was sharpening my blade of revenge against the owner who had dared turn away the Progenitor's guest...

Footnotes:

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