WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 409

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Even the Military State's King Can Walk Away If He Wants

Even having read her thoughts in advance, a non sequitur was still a non sequitur. Without needing to act at all, my voice carried every bit of the bewilderment I actually felt.

"King? Who? Me? Why?"

"The military state, of course!"

Hilde said it brightly.

"The military state is a nation of the people, without a king. A country built on the dream of ruling humans by law and rule alone, so that no one could exploit another!"

"Looks like they achieved that dream. The godforsaken place has no one who exploits or dominates others. That's because everyone gets exploited equally."

"Ahahaha. I suppose that's what you get from someone who actually lived there. You know it well. Quite the unfortunate state of affairs."

She had a hand in making it that way, and now she calls it unfortunate. Hilde avoided my eyes and spoke with breezy indifference.

"Even so, someone has to give direction even without dominating, don't you think? Lately I've been feeling that need more and more, and then Father-dear appeared right on cue!"

"You're planning to use me as another cog too? Not interested. Holing up in some rat's den and fielding communications is not what I'd call being a king. Go find the king of rats instead."

I answered flatly. Tyr smiled.

"Hilde. The 'king of the military state' you're describing doesn't seem to have taken a seat at the negotiating table yet."

'Trying to negotiate while treating Hyu as though he already belongs to her. What a schemer. Now that Hyu is a guest of the Duchy, he's practically mine...'

He is not. I belong to myself, and nobody else.

Being the vampires' emotional comfort object sounds worse than being the king of the military state, actually. I let a small opening show.

"There's nothing in it for me if I become king of the military state. No luxuries, no decent food, no one to talk to. A citizen of the Duchy eating all the meat they want sounds a lot better than a military state communications officer who can't have any of that."

Hilde's eyes went wide.

"Don't tell me that was your concern?"

"After everything I saw and heard in the military state, how could it not be?"

"Father-dear would never receive that kind of shabby treatment! You are the very thing 'I' and the military state have been desperately searching for, a figure of mystery who is a perfect fit for the military state!"

Hilde's eyes fixed on me and sparkled with a kaleidoscope of vivid colors. Every time she played a role it had been a single color, but right now it looked like every color had blended into one.

"The military state has made a serious enemy of the Sanctum. That makes them Father-dear's natural allies! The communications officer network needs to be organized and well-informed. The Demon God Father-dear is searching for could be found far more easily with the military state's organizational strength! Are you really going to turn all of that down?"

"No matter how useful it sounds, the quality of life is a different matter. Staying here as Tyr's honored guest would be a life on par with a level-five citizen."

"Come on. Would 'I' dare offer humanity's king only level-five treatment? If Father-dear were to come to the military state..."

Hilde smiled and slid across the carriage to sit on my right. Tyr's mood was darkening, but Hilde pretended not to notice and pressed herself close to me.

"I'll give you everything the military state has."

"Everything? Be a little more specific."

Hilde leaned over to look past me at Tyr on the other side. Tyr's face hardened the moment their eyes met, and Hilde responded with a delighted smile, then turned back and whispered near my ear.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Every resource, every seat of power, every piece of knowledge, every system. And every person in it. All of it."

"Tempting, but are you actually in a position to give all that? They might refuse to become mine."

"You don't mean a word of that."

Still grinning, Hilde inched closer and playfully nipped my earlobe. I yelped at the unexpected move, and she breathed her words straight into my ear.

"...In the first place, AB and Historia. Their hearts are already yours, aren't they? Both of them are already tangled deep in the military state, bound to it in ways that can't be undone. All Father-dear has to do is gather the seeds already scattered there. And on top of that, 'I'll' throw myself in as well."

Whose hearts are they? The way she talks about other people's feelings, like she's been holding them in safekeeping. Other people belong to themselves, just as I belong to myself.

Still, the offer itself was interesting enough. Being Tyr's honored guest had its appeal, but humans hold a passive position in a vampire's country.

"Did you get permission?"

I had Yuel in mind when I said it. Yuel was a Holy Maiden to the bone, and even if she had made an enemy of the Sanctum, she wouldn't hand her country over to me.

The sentence had no subject, but Hilde caught exactly who I meant, and smiled a sly smile.

"I don't need permission. 'I'm' going to make it happen."

'Yuel, sorry in advance. But you know by now that your power isn't enough, don't you? You'll understand my choice, won't you, our poor Holy Maiden?'

Even the Holy Maiden Yuel with her farsight couldn't peek into the inner reaches of the Duchy, wrapped in fog as it was. There was no better place to plot a rebellion. Hilde probably hadn't calculated all of that when she followed us here, but still.

Either way, the offer itself was appealing. I unfolded my crossed arms to show I was open to it.

"Could work. But it's a little scary to do alone when I'm this weak. If Tyr lends me just one Elder, I think I could take control of the military state without any trouble."

"A perfect plan! So, Tyrkanzyaka, are you ready to take a seat at the negotiating table now?"

To be cold about it, I am not the king of the military state. What Hilde is offering right now is nothing more than a promissory note, paying in advance with money she hasn't borrowed yet.

Even so, that kind of note trading happens all the time. What matters is whether the payment can actually be made, and more than that, whether the one receiving the note believes it can.

"..."

Tyr was silent, weighing things carefully.

"Now that's the kind of talk I like to hear!"

Support came from a completely unexpected direction. Cabilah, who had been listening the whole time, clasped her hands together and spoke in an excited voice.

"The Fog Duchy should have at least one ally on the outside by now. It sounds like an idle boast from a smooth-talker, but even a fraction of a fraction of it, strategically and politically speaking..."

The sharp look she shot my way was a little unnerving, but Cabilah quickly put on a bright smile and said something that could have been either an insult or a compliment.

"It doesn't do much for the image if unni's favorite just lounges around doing nothing all day, does it? But if he carries the title of king of the military state, there's something worth looking at! Even a shabby hat makes people look twice at a mangy dog!"

"There is no need to look at him differently. Hyu is my guest."

Tyr had been quiet until then. Now she spoke in a low, measured warning.

"That alone is reason enough for all of you to treat Hyu with respect."

Short and sharp. Cabilah went pale on the spot and dropped to her knees. She didn't spare a thought for her crumpling dress or the dust it was collecting. Head bowed toward Tyr, she pleaded.

"I'm, I'm so sorry, unni. I was only talking about how the world might see him. I was absolutely not looking down on him or disrespecting him!"

One word from Tyr and Cabilah went from calling me an idle layabout to calling me him. Social mobility on a revolutionary scale. Watching this, maybe being the Progenitor's honored guest isn't so bad after all.

Tyr didn't respond to Cabilah's apology, and Cabilah all but wept as she clung to Tyr's feet.

"I'm truly sorry. I'll make up for this transgression in any way I can. Anything. If this gentleman goes to the military state, I will help him solidify his throne. Hughes-nim, command me in anything. Use me like a subordinate. No, like a slave!"

Hughes-nim now. I was moved. I was about to take her up on that with great enthusiasm when Tyr stepped in first.

"I've heard your intent. You've made your peace. There's no need to grovel before Hyu."

"...! Yes! Thank you, unni! I will repay your forgiveness, I swear it!"

Tch. I was about to put her to work and Tyr cuts that off at the root. Cabilah's goal from the start had been Tyr's pardon. The moment Tyr relented, she had not a speck of further interest in me.

Tyr watched Cabilah with a small measure of relief and thought to herself.

'It would be hard to watch more women hovering around Hyu than this. Cabilah is my Elder, but now that I have lost my dominion, there's no telling what she might do...'

At any rate, Tyr had now fully settled her feelings, and she turned the offer Hilde had made over in her mind. Cabilah's words kept circling through her head.

'...Perhaps giving Hyu a position of power would be the better course. It's a proposal that benefits us both. Here he is nothing more than a favorite, but if Hyu stood as king of humanity and king of the military state... we could conclude a political marriage as equals. A husband ought to carry proper authority, after all.'

Setting aside why that line of reasoning ended at a political marriage, this twelfth-century girl was thoroughly trapped in old-fashioned assumptions. Why exactly does a husband need to carry proper authority? Can't he just eat well and live off his wife? Let the man marry into comfort in peace.

'Even so, I don't want to send Hyu away from my side just yet. There is no telling what might happen if he's out of sight.... I'll accept, but I'll set conditions.'

"So, Tyrkanzyaka? Do you need more time? Please don't take too long. 'We' are only human, and time is not something we have a great deal of."

"No. I'm done."

Tyr had made up her mind. She raised her head and straightened her posture. A small shift in bearing, and somehow the full authority of the Progenitor, which had seemed to wander off somewhere, returned in an instant.

"It's not a bad offer. But if I am lending my strength, there should naturally be something in it for my side as well. I have conditions. First."

Tyr raised her index finger.

"Until the trial concerning Luscinia's death has concluded, you will remain at the Full Moon Castle and assist me. The Duchy is unsettled by the death of an Elder right now. Until the confusion is resolved, I will not commit to any clear position."

An Elder's death was a grave matter for the Fog Duchy. Beyond a simple killing, the method by which an undying Elder had been slain was still unknown. Putting internal affairs ahead of outside ones was only reasonable.

"And second."

Tyr took my hand and stated her second condition.

"With Hyu's power, restore my senses. That is my condition for helping you."

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