WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 427

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Diagnosis to Doctors, Nursing to Nurses

She was wearing an unfamiliar nurse's uniform when we met again after so long. She'd called herself an actress, so I wondered if she'd picked up a new hobby of wearing costumes. I looked Hilde up and down.

"What are you doing here in a nurse's uniform? Did you get a job?"

"I'm about to quit. No pay, all the work. The only thing I like about it is the uniform. If the outfit were even a little less cute, I'd have fled last night."

Hilde grumbled with a disgruntled air, then seemed to remember something. A playful smile crossed her face and she patted the nurse's uniform.

"What do you think, Father-in-law? The current me, in a nurse's uniform?"

"Clothes make the person."

"That's a compliment, right? Hehe! What's gotten into you? Giving out compliments?"

"I was complimenting the clothes."

It seemed a shame for such an outfit to be worn only by people tending to patients. No, wait, I should think about it the other way. The outfit was born out of necessity for people who care for the sick, so I ought to be grateful for their beautiful hearts.

Present company excluded, obviously. I asked Hilde:

"What information are you trying to dig up hiding here?"

"Shh. Somewhere without people first. Here, put this on."

She wrapped bandages loosely around my head and body. In an instant I looked like a patient. Hilde led me into an empty ward, closed the door, and slipped a piece of paper into the gap of the doorframe. Having rigged up her improvised trap, she moved deeper into the corner and spoke.

"So you've come here after all, Father-in-law."

"After all? Sounds like you've found something out."

"Don't play dumb. You knew from the start, didn't you?"

Hilde shot me a reproachful look, then crossed her arms and continued.

"Tyrkanzyaka's dominion has weakened."

"Oh. Three hundred years away from the seat of power, I suppose."

"That's part of it, but beyond political power, her pure 'dominion' seems to have weakened as well. Tyrkanzyaka is the heart and mind of the Duchy. Every vampire she created was nothing more than an extension of her will. Rebellion was structurally impossible from the very beginning, and yet...."

She had said she once belonged to the Holy Sword Corps, hadn't she? That must be why she knew so much about vampires. At least she wasn't floundering around not knowing what to investigate.

Hilde delivered the most critical piece of information she had uncovered.

"Vampires are plotting a rebellion. The thralls of dead Elders are the most active, but... it isn't only them."

"You found evidence?"

"One of Luscinia's bloodkin was killed by Tyrkanzyaka's hand. But it seems he left some kind of message as he was dying. After hearing it, the other bloodkin started moving. I don't know exactly what it was, but...."

"It was probably this: 'The Progenitor has cast off the shackle too.' I was there when it happened, so I'm certain."

"Ugh. Then the worst-case hypothesis has become reality. The Progenitor has lost some kind of influence, the dominion that made her the Progenitor. And...."

Hilde pressed me naturally against the wall. Thump, my back met the wall, and she closed in, her expression sharp as she pressed me for answers.

"You did this, didn't you, Father-in-law?"

I played innocent immediately.

"Me? Did what? How?"

"Don't act like you don't know. There have been reports suggesting that the Progenitor's thralls seem weaker than what historical records describe. Yuel couldn't see clearly through the darkness, so no reliable data was gathered, but... if Tyrkanzyaka's anomaly began before she emerged from the Abyss, then it was either Shei or you who did it."

"Mr. Shei did it."

"I'd have believed that if Tyrkanzyaka had followed Shei. Don't make me violate the natural order, Father-in-law."

Even without mind reading, overwhelming certainty has a way of wringing out the truth.

I had no choice. The more the facts came to light, the harder lying became. I gave in.

"It was a side effect. The weakening of Tyr's power wasn't something I intended. I simply granted Tyr's wish."

"What did you do?"

"I restored Tyr's heart. Back to how it was when she was alive."

"What? Someone else's heart, and a vampire Progenitor's at that? How? The dilemma... is that also a power of the King of Humanity?"

"Probably."

"Then you're saying the vampire Progenitor has been revived."

Hilde tried for a moment to picture the situation and made a troubled face. Even as someone who had overseen the military state's shadows, grasping the full picture in a foreign land where she knew no one was difficult.

"I have absolutely no idea how things will unfold from here, or where this situation is even heading. But one thing is clear: a massive storm of blood is coming, and 'we' have two choices. One is to run. And the other is...."

Hilde let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Fighting on the Progenitor's side. Somehow warning her about the rebellion in advance, gathering Tyrkanzyaka's allies, and fighting through to victory. The first option is safe but gains us nothing. The second is dangerous but could win us a great deal within the Duchy."

"This is a full-on palace power struggle."

"And Father-in-law plays the role of the breathtaking favorite concubine who sparked the rift. As for 'me,' I suppose I'm the handmaiden toiling quietly in the shadows behind the insufferable concubine."

"Since when does a handmaiden go wandering off without her mistress?"

"It's a handmaiden's job to do the work in place of a young lady who can't move freely. Anyway, Father-in-law, are you going to run, or are you going to stay?"

"I started this. I can't run."

If I leave, I'll leave only after seeing it through to the end. These were all seeds I planted. I said it with firm resolve, and Hilde nodded, interpreting it in a slightly different way.

"That's right. We have to win here to gain everything. If we ran, whether the rebels win or the Progenitor wins, they'd both be displeased with 'us.'"

"I'll leave it in Hilde's capable hands. You have my full trust."

"You work too, Father-in-law! It's for Tyrkanzyaka, whom you love, for the military state that will become yours, and for 'me' and yourself! If the Progenitor loses, the rebels will have the troublemaking concubine and her handmaiden executed first!"

"All right. I just need to warn Tyr and have her cut the rebellion off at the root, yes? Fitting work for a concubine."

"Charming women is Father-in-law's specialty. I'll leave the pillow talk to you."

Honestly. Anyone listening would get the wrong idea.

"Pillow talk? You keep trying to paint me as some woman-obsessed schemer, but that's not what I am. If it were true, I wouldn't even have a case for feeling wronged."

"What? You weren't? It didn't seem that way, given that you've only had women around you even among the vampires."

"The Duke of Crimson Blood assigned them to me on his own. Besides, vampires have no senses to speak of, so nothing you're imagining actually happened."

Not that things were the same now that senses were being directly cultivated. Hilde, with no way of knowing what went on at the top floor of the Castle of the Full Moon, gave me a pitying look.

"Is that so. You must be disappointed. Tyrkanzyaka may be notorious as a vampire, but she's also famous for her beauty. And you, the concubine, haven't even been able to benefit from that... Oh!"

Hilde suddenly covered her face with a wooden board she had been carrying. A moment later she lowered it, and there was "Tyr" wearing a mischievous smile. With an expression the real Tyr would never show, she stepped close and tapped my chest lightly, whispering.

"Just say the word, whenever you like. I'm still perfectly alive, so I can mimic Tyrkanzyaka's face and body. Instead of a beautiful but unfeeling Progenitor, let me take care of all your accumulated frustrations, Father-in-law."

Why does she keep trying to frame me like this? I was about to refute Hilde's slander when I stopped and thought it over.

...Actually, come to think of it, this isn't such a bad offer for me?

"Thanks for the offer. I'll make good use of it later."

"...Excuse me?"

"Tempting as it is, the nurse's services can wait for later. I only stepped out for a moment."

I pointed to the paper Hilde had tucked into the door gap. The paper, imbued with energy, was trembling faintly. Someone was approaching.

Hilde noticed it too and began preparing to leave. She covered her face with the board again, shifted it back to her own face, then lowered the board to cover just her mouth as she spoke.

"Just in case, please don't do too much to irritate the Progenitor. Win the game and still lose everything if you're not careful."

"Irritate her? What kind of thing?"

"Flirting with other women, like just now. I'm keeping quiet about it because it's me, but if Tyrkanzyaka has really reclaimed her heart like the rumors say, anything that provokes jealousy puts you in danger too, Father-in-law."

"You started it, and now you're demanding fidelity from me."

"That's the concubine's lot in life, they say. Well then, I'll be off."

Hilde left behind that strange warning and slipped over the windowsill, gone without a sound, moving with the silence of a snake crossing a wall. The moment she left, the door opened, and the piece of paper that had been wedged in the gap fluttered softly to the floor. Count Erte looked at the paper falling out of nowhere with puzzlement, then spotted me inside and came closer.

"Business is concluded. I apologize for the trouble. Ain who have lost their Elder tend to grow volatile, like horses let loose without a rein."

"As long as they're dead, that's all that matters. Don't worry about it."

"...If you say so, honored concubine, then that is a relief, but a death among the ain is no small matter for the Duchy. Might I suggest returning to the Castle of the Full Moon first? Inform the Progenitor of this and tend to your own well-being. You will be safe as long as you remain within the Castle. In the meantime, I will report to the Duke of Crimson Blood and see to the aftermath of the traitor Rutrik."

That aligned with what Hilde said, take shelter under Tyr's protection and prepare. A sound suggestion, certainly, but.

"Wait. If I tell Tyr what just happened, she'll assign an escort to me, won't she?"

"Of course."

"And getting out like this, easily, will become difficult. I'll have guards following me every time I leave."

"That would be so, though only temporarily."

"I've had enough of the vampire definition of 'temporary.' How long is temporary, exactly? A month? A year?"

"At least until the Night Ebb has passed, we would need to...."

"What? That's far too long!"

Count Erte blinked at my complaint. At a loss for words, she watched as I made the kind of suggestion you might expect from a heedless, spoiled concubine.

"Let's keep this between us. What happened here, the attack on me, never happened."

"Why? There is no reason whatsoever to conceal this from the Progenitor. The concubine's safety is what the Progenitor values most, and if she knew of this, she would take appropriate measures."

"But I can't be cooped up inside that castle the whole time, can I? Even if I do go out, trailing guards everywhere would feel just as stifling as being locked inside. Hiding this is better than that, isn't it? And Tyr has plenty to deal with already, she doesn't need to worry over something trivial!"

Wow. I sounded exactly like a clueless young noblewoman just now. Count Erte seemed to feel much the same and looked at me again, in a considerably less favorable light than before.

"Please reconsider. That is...."

"You're the one who should reconsider, Count Erte. I am Tyr's concubine. Who knows Tyr's feelings better? Me. So when it comes to Tyr, shouldn't things go according to my judgment? And besides, the Duke of Crimson Blood assigned you to attend to me, didn't he?"

Invoking the Duke of Crimson Blood's orders left Count Erte with no choice but to yield. She spoke with the serenity of someone who had made peace with the world.

"...Understood. However, you must bring me along without fail whenever you go out."

'I thought she moved boldly because she acted from certainty, but looking at her now, she simply lacks a sense of danger. This is a problem. Unlike vampires, humans die so easily, how am I supposed to protect her? Even I would struggle against two or more ain at once....'

She was a vampire who had weathered plenty of hardship herself. She knew well enough that humans don't always make wise choices. Count Erte had started to write me off as a thoughtless child.

"Since we're here, shall we look around the hospital a little more?"

"There was just a battle in this very place... no. As you wish."

'They say when a concubine gains influence, the country falls into chaos. And now, of all places, it looks as though that is exactly what is coming to pass in the Duchy.'

The loyal subject's worries deepened, right along with the shadows of the Duchy.

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