WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 428

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The Top-Ranked Heroine and the Ordinary Hero

The Night Ebb, the Fog Duchy's grandest event. When the currents shift and the sea-beasts surge against the tide, the Duchy's sea turns into a drained swamp. Once in a full moon's span, the ocean that no human dares approach bares its belly. The duchy's residents flock to the Castle of the Full Moon to seize whatever bounty they can, and the vampires come following that blood.

Even the thralls of Elders who were asleep or away were no exception. The procession that had come to pay their respects knelt before the Progenitor and bowed.

"The bloodkin of Du Lahan offer reverence for the Progenitor's return in place of their sleeping Elder. We humbly beg your forgiveness for our lord, who could not be present on so auspicious a day."

The Fog Duchy has vast land with a low carrying capacity for human life. And where there are no humans, beasts fill the space. On the highlands in the duchy's southwest, where no human sets foot, spirited wild horses run free.

It's safe to say there is no way for an ordinary human to tame a wild horse. One well-placed kick and you'd be leaving this world on the spot. But a vampire who neither tires nor takes injury can climb onto a horse's back with surprising ease and slip a bit between its teeth. Beyond that, unlike the ancient lands in the south, the wild horses of this region had spent hundreds of years interbreeding with escaped domestic horses, and the resulting animals were docile enough to be domesticated.

So the horses of the duchy's south had long been prized as exceptional mounts, selling at steep prices to the neighboring kingdoms. Knights needed horses, after all.

The humans and vampires who had grown strong handling those running herds, their ruler was none other than the Black Knight Du Lahan. Better known as the Headless Knight, he appeared to be sleeping somewhere at the moment.

"No matter. I too slept for a long time and have only now returned, so how could I fault Du Lahan? You have brought greetings on his behalf, and I shall take that as done."

"We are overwhelmed by your grace... But, Progenitor. Who is the human standing at your side?"

"Ah. This one, you mean?"

Tyr shot a sharp look at me where I stood beside her. A peculiar hostility came my way. I squirmed under it, and Tyr muttered with obvious displeasure.

"Who else would it be. My concubine, who does nothing but wander outside. No different from an idle layabout, so don't pay him too much mind."

Ambushed by that, I felt wronged enough to talk back.

"Tyr. A layabout? Yes, I'm doing nothing right now, but I came here as a guest to begin with."

"Guest or not. What sort of guest goes out every single day and never shows his face?"

Tyr replied with a pout.

This had been going on for a while. After I told her that the treatment to restore her senses was complete, things were peaceful for a time, but after I went out a few more times, Tyr had grown progressively sharper.

The reason was obvious enough. Tyr was unhappy that I never seemed to make time for her. Push it one step further, and it might even be jealousy of the most elementary kind. She hadn't noticed it herself, so I couldn't be certain.

A girl with twelve hundred years of life being this girlish. I had known she was a little girlish given how long she had lived, but I hadn't expected it to be quite this bad. I suppose I should be glad she's becoming more human, but the fact that it's directed at me makes it its own kind of problem.

"Then give me something to do! Give me a task and I'll take it on and handle it properly!"

"Hmph. Forget it."

"What? You just said I'm not doing anything! You won't even give me a chance to redeem myself? That's unreasonable!"

"They say a man who fails three times is beyond saving. I've already entrusted you with two tasks and you've been unsatisfying, why would I trust you with another?"

"Two? When did I take on two tasks, and which one did I fail? I finished one successfully, and the other hasn't even started yet!"

I'll admit I'm trying to slack off as much as possible, but I still meet the minimum requirements for the job. I work just enough to smooth things over with a bit of banter, at least.

When I protested, Tyr let out a short laugh through her nose.

"Success? That half-hearted thing?"

"Half-hearted? Just this morning you caught a floral scent and got so worked up you actually plucked a petal and bit into it like a horse. You were enjoying yourself more than anyone, and you call that half?"

"Wh-why are you bringing that up here? I said what I received was only half! And that flower didn't even taste good! It was so bitter I wanted to spit it out!"

"Of course it was! The flower didn't want to be eaten either!"

Anyone watching would have said we were arguing, and we genuinely were. The vampires who had come to see Tyr, though, read the scene a little differently.

'So the rumors about the Progenitor taking a concubine were true.'

'She speaks to her concubine with such familiarity. She was always as cold as ice, as distant as the depths of the sea. Right now she seems almost... human.'

No, really, we're actually arguing. Don't read into it.

I had gone out of my way to do her favors, taken risks on her behalf, and granted her wishes, and now she just kept wanting more. How long do I have to keep giving and giving?

Though, to be fair, right now I'm the one lounging around, riding on Tyr's coattails, and throwing my weight around with impunity. I'll grant that much. But surely that's an acceptable perk.

"Enough. Let's leave this conversation for later."

"For later? So in the meantime I just have to stand there like a stuffed sack of grain, and when some curious vampire can't help themselves and asks, I get called a layabout? Is this The Taming of the Shrew or something?"

"A shrew would be an improvement. You're worse than that."

'She looks displeased, but in an official setting she would never have shown even that much. Is it because of that rumored concubine? I can't see much worth in him beyond a slippery sort of face.'

'A man should at least have a sturdy physique and a fine beard. How on earth that concubine managed to wrap the Progenitor around his finger...'

'How dare he talk back to the Progenitor like that. No manners at all. If he's being so presumptuous on the strength of her favor alone, he'll meet a terrible end before long...'

So because I keep getting called a concubine, I actually look like some brainless kept man. I'm a capable person, for the record. Does the title King of Humanity look like the name of some third-rate novel to you?!

...Wait. This scene actually does feel like something out of a third-rate romance novel.

The male lead who is the absolute ruler of an entire nation. Chiseled looks, but a face as cold as ice. Ranked first in combat, an iron-fisted ruler who governs through fear.

The female lead, by contrast, comes from ordinary stock with a face that's just so-so. With nothing to boast of, she lives humbly and steadily under the banner of being plain, but she possesses one special ability: understanding others.

Even the male lead, who feared nothing in the world, was no exception. The ordinary female lead understands the exceptional male lead, and the male lead finds, without ever noticing when it happened, that his heart has started to beat...

Change the genders and that's me, isn't it? I'd been wondering why the vampires were looking at me with such strange expressions. It was the look of people pitying a hopeless human. The feelings behind it were so muted that I'd simply been slow to pick up on them.

'To think the Progenitor is walking about with her concubine at a time like this. They say a country weakens when attention turns to the concubine, and yet here we are.'

'There's no need to say anything about it, though. I have no wish to displease the Progenitor.'

'This too shall pass. More importantly.'

The vampires were not emotional creatures. Watching the Progenitor and her concubine banter, they stayed quiet, buried their true thoughts somewhere deep inside, and moved on to other business.

"If we may be so bold, might we offer our service to the blood horse, Rallion?"

"You look after Rallion as though he were your own Elder. Very well. See to it as you see fit."

"Your grace overwhelms us, Progenitor."

The clan that had finished paying their respects withdrew slowly. Their particular fondness for Rallion was genuine enough. But beyond that,

'I feel no pressure, no pull on my blood. Has the Progenitor truly lost her power?'

'With our Elder asleep, there is nothing we can decide right now, but...'

'If the rumors are true, we should wake Lord Lahan, even at the cost of some rudeness.'

'No. Perhaps it is truer loyalty to let him sleep and watch how things unfold. A rebellion can hardly have broken out already, and nothing would happen to shame the honorable Lord Lahan.'

So the word was already out. The vampires whose Elders hadn't woken were staying on the sidelines for now. That was a relief.

Things were moving quickly, but Tyr's humanization seemed to be moving even faster. For no particular reason she had told me to stand beside her today, showing off her authority a little, introducing me to the visiting vampires, and throwing in the occasional reprimand as though she were trying to domesticate me.

Looking at it that way, she really did resemble a romance novel's male lead. Putting on a show of authority.

So what do you do in a situation like this?

"There were quite a lot of vampires. It makes me realize all over again that Tyr really is this country's ruler. We've only been receiving greetings and it feels like the whole day is gone already."

"It seems you hadn't grasped that before. Keep it in mind going forward."

"Right. That was the last of them, wasn't it? Looks like the ain of the absent Elders have all come through?"

I was counting as I spoke, and Tyr looked up slowly from where she sat in her coffin.

There was no throne in the hall of the Castle of the Full Moon. Instead, Tyr's black coffin upheld her in its place. From her seat of power, where darkness and blood energy welled up without end, Tyr leaned back and spoke.

"Do you know who the Elders are?"

"Of course. They're written in the histories."

Every Elder I had met in person was a figure who had lived alongside history itself, famous enough that not knowing them would have been the harder feat. Setting aside the five I had met directly, the one who had died, and one other,

"Meurie of the Dark Moon. the Black Knight Du Lahan. The Watcher Rahu Khan. The Fallen Nun Sister Yegcheriya. Elder Bakuta the blood leeching. Every one of them with a famous, striking title, no wonder they're popular."

"Popular? The Sanctum had a heavy hand in how history was recorded, I should think."

"Looks like they didn't quite know what they were doing. No matter how wickedly you paint someone or how much you harp on their crimes, from a student's perspective it only makes them look cooler. People are just drawn to interesting villains over boring do-gooders."

Talking badly about a common enemy really is the best way to put someone at ease. My simple little maneuver worked well on Tyr. She smiled faintly and murmured,

"I suppose so. I too find myself drawn to someone hopeless."

"Pardon?"

"...Never mind."

I let Tyr's words pass as though I hadn't heard them and changed the subject.

"All we've seen so far were the thralls of those Elders. The other Elders aren't coming this time, are they?"

"They are not. Most are likely sleeping somewhere."

"That's a shame. I would have liked to see them."

If I could read the minds of those ancient Elders, it would certainly be interesting. Their techniques might even prove useful for Tyr. I let the words out with a touch of genuine wistfulness, and when Tyr heard them, she gave a nod and rose from her seat.

"Katalina. I am summoning the Elders. Wake every sleeping Elder and bring them before me."

What? A general summons of the Elders? I was still doubting my own ears when the handmaiden received Tyr's order with perfect composure.

"By what deadline, my lady?"

"Upon hearing this. Immediately."

"As you will, Progenitor."

"Wait, wait, wait!"

I cut in urgently, and Tyr's eyes turned toward me. I stepped in front of her just before things became impossible to take back.

"Hold on, Tyr! What are you doing?"

"What is the matter? I was going to call all the Elders to the castle, as you requested."

"The Elders who are sleeping soundly? Out of nowhere? Why?"

"Did you not say you wished to see them?"

Tyr answered as though waking every sleeping Elder and summoning them was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"There was simply no particular reason to call them before. Now that a reason has appeared, there is no cause to refuse."

"That reason being, by any chance..."

For a vampire, their thralls are as good as limbs. Even now, with her heart restored, that awareness hadn't changed in Tyr. Where an ordinary human like me saw Elders as extraordinary beings, to Tyr as Progenitor they were simply hands and feet to be called upon at any moment.

"Did you not say you wished to see them?"

Just the word of a concubine, and she'd summon them all.

Calling all of them at a concubine's single request, that would ruin me even if it didn't ruin the country. Moving the thirteen Elders who govern the nation around at will would stir up trouble I couldn't afford. I refused Tyr's suggestion firmly.

"Thank you for the thought, but really, it's fine! Being woken while you're sleeping is unpleasant, isn't it? Let sleeping people sleep!"

"It would make little difference. For a vampire, the long sleep is simply a way to pass all those centuries. Ah, and now that I think of it, there is also the matter of Luscinia's serious affairs to attend to, so calling them would give us something to work through as well."

"It's all right. The castle is small enough as it is. We can let them know later."

"The castle has more than enough room for every vampire in the Duchy."

"Let's not do this! This is the house you and I are sharing, the last thing we need is noise. Some privacy would be nice!"

The house we are sharing. Tyr reacted to those words. Until now, thralls had been limbs to her. Just as one does not ask one's own hands and feet to respect one's privacy, Tyr had not given them much thought either. But since losing her dominion, since beginning to feel the world outside herself, when Tyr imagined the Elders staying here, she felt a faint resistance she hadn't expected.

"Hm, well. I suppose. Besides, the Night Ebb is approaching soon, and having the Elders come along on top of everything else would be a great deal to manage."

"Exactly!"

"I understand your meaning, so I will cancel it... Wait."

Tyr had been about to call the handmaiden to rescind the order when she tilted her head and asked,

"Is there anything in particular you need privacy for? What exactly are you going to be doing?"

"If there isn't any yet, I'll just have to make some."

What's so hard about that?

"How?"

"There's no one else we need to meet, is there?"

"I suppose not."

"Good. Time is always better when there's more of it."

This wasn't difficult, and it wasn't anything that shouldn't be done. The only reason I hadn't done it yet was because I had been setting Tyr's hopes at a premium, stepping back to give her room to change after experiencing her senses for herself.

Given how long she had lived, I thought I'd watch a little longer. But this was far enough.

I walked over to Tyr. Already used to me by now, she didn't react much even as I came close. She only watched steadily to see what I would do.

Tyr had a stubborn side, and in matters like this she wanted someone to take the lead. So I'd give her what she wanted, even if it was a little bold.

I slid one hand behind her back and the other beneath her legs, and lifted her. She hadn't resisted, had been watching to see what I'd do, and before she knew it, Tyr found herself cradled in my arms. Like a princess.

Even a vampire of the world would be flustered by that. Tyr, having recovered her heart, was all the more so. She pressed both hands together and opened her eyes wide. Her red eyes wavered.

"Wh, Hyu?"

Lighter than I expected. Even an ordinary human can lift a girl of her size. I held Tyr in my arms and spoke.

"Katalina. We're done for the day, right? Please let everyone know not to come looking for us for a while."

Inwardly Katalina had clapped a hand over her mouth in shock, but she was a vampire. The handmaiden showed none of her surprise or alarm as she bent at the waist.

"As you wish."

"Thank you. And please cancel the Elder summons. Things are fine now."

I left those words behind and headed for the doors of the hall. In the handmaiden's heart a struggle was blooming, how to explain this sight, and to whom it would be safe to report, but that was none of my concern.

"Hyu, this is, well."

"Come on. Let's go, Tyr."

It seemed Tyr wasn't satisfied with having only half her senses restored.

The human body is like that. Everything is connected, and no matter how well I'd done so far, she was feeling a lack at the instinctive level. Part of Tyr's persistent complaints came from her emotions coming back to life, yes, that too, but there was a good chance she was also feeling a discomfort she couldn't even name herself.

I looked down at Tyr, sitting stiffly in my arms with both hands pressed together, and said,

"Time to make some privacy."

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