WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 43: Even a Dead Ember Deserves a Second Look

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The immortal's body was no different from a corpse. Perhaps because of the immortal race's nature, no blood flowed from it, but there was no sign of life in its grotesquely twisted, severed limbs or motionless chest.

Its right arm was moving, though. I had no idea why a muscle was moving on its own.

I looked at the corpse and muttered.

"Think he'd wake up if we splashed water on him?"

The vampire pointed out the obvious.

"Don't bother. Do not waste your effort. The lives of the earthfolk are separate from yours. When they touch the ground, they possess infinite life, but here, cut off from the earth, they will never open their eyes."

Yet according to the regressor's thoughts, that immortal had witnessed what happened inside Tantalus. He could not have been a witness if he had never opened his eyes.

Hmm. Should I try that method?

If all his vitality had been depleted, there would be no point. A fire would not catch without firewood.

Still, the amount of beans the immortal had wolfed down over the last few days was enough to make even the supply department wonder whether there was a hole in their inventory. If he still lacked vitality after receiving blessings on the scale of military procurement corruption, then he did not lack life. He lacked conscience.

If I could just kindle a spark, he would probably wake up.

"Alright, everyone. Today, I'll show you a fascinating magic trick."

"Magic?"

"Yes! The magic of cardiac resuscitation! I'm going to bring this person back to life!"

I spread both hands with a ta-da, and someone snorted in disbelief. When I looked over, the vampire was giving an incredulous laugh.

"Nonsense."

After laughing at me for a while, the vampire dismissed my words.

"Are you a god? Or is a heart some toy of yours? How do you intend to make a stopped heart beat again?"

"Something too wondrous for the limited imagination of ordinary people. That is magic."

"If that were possible, magic could raise the dead as well."

As though she had no need to hear any more, the vampire rested her parasol on her shoulder and straightened up. Her body language made it clear she was done paying attention.

At the same time, I sensed an unpleasant unease.

An alien sensation, like a bone caught in my throat. It was not something I felt myself, but an emotion flowing from the vampire.

A stabbing pain from within, accompanied by a discomfort that was hard to ignore. Irritation mixed with an unease too persistent to dismiss.

Even when she had dealt with the regressor earlier, the vampire had been defensive but still somewhat accepting. Now she was showing hostility?

That was strange. Honestly, from the perspective of someone from twelve hundred years ago, would a man liking another man not be more shocking than a heart beating again?

This was the time to read some thoughts. Let's see.

I narrowed my eyes and focused on the vampire's thoughts.

'A heart? Nonsense. If a heart could so easily beat again, all vampires would have their own hearts by now. Enough. There is no need to care. It is impossible.'

A firm conviction that it was impossible. What was that? Rigid thinking? An old person's stubbornness?

Or sour grapes? Blind anger toward a fruit she had wanted to possess, failed to obtain countless times, and eventually given up on?

'Except for the first two hundred years, I wandered for a thousand. I experienced countless lives, saw all that the world held, uncovered its darkest secrets and noblest truths, and witnessed gods and demons with my own eyes. Yet just as time that has passed cannot be returned, none of it could give new life to those who were gone.'

Or perhaps...

Was it the heart of a child who had lost something precious far too young, who hated and missed the parents who abandoned her?

Hmm. This feeling was fresh.

Usually, when there was an emotion, its background was clear. But perhaps because her life had been so long, this event and that event were all tangled together, making it difficult to pinpoint.

Then again, a tower built over twelve centuries could not be made of only one or two stones. Thousands, tens of thousands of tiny stones and grains of sand must all bear their share of the weight.

'Revive a heart? Absurd. It cannot be done. Never. No one has ever found a way, and if some great being had bestowed such a method upon humanity through some miracle... it would not come this late. It cannot come only after all the good things have withered away with time. It must not.'

Still, one thing was clear.

The vampire wished for her heart to beat again.

She wished to reclaim the life she had lost when she was far too young.

'...I got excited. What lingering attachment could someone who has lived another thousand years possibly have? It is all anguish and greed.'

Greed... Could it really be called that? I could not agree.

The desire to live was not greed. It was instinct, or providence. A premise laid beneath everything, a foundation. The categorical imperative supporting people from below all else.

I had read enough of the vampire.

Perhaps that was why a smile spread across my face.

Something denied for a thousand years, something she believed was absolutely impossible.

What expression would the vampire make if it actually happened? Right before her eyes, if an ordinary person like me performed that miracle?

Would a thousand years of failure become joy before a single success that arrived by chance? Or despair?

I was curious. It was unbearably exciting.

So I spread my arms and shouted.

"Excellent! When everyone thinks something is impossible, accomplishing it anyway is the quality of a magician! Trainee Tyrkanzyaka is denying it with all her might, so I'm feeling energized too! Very well. If that's what you want, Trainee, then as a magician, I'll put all my strength into making it happen!"

The regressor furrowed her brow at my words.

"A magician?"

"Ah, haha! That was my nickname in the military state!"

"What did you do to earn a nickname like magician?"

"I sold offices! It's magic that turns official posts into money! I got a little carried away with the concept."

'He's kidding... right?'

Oops. I should be careful. If I got too into it, I might make her suspicious.

Ahem. Anyway.

"Now then. Unless something fell straight from the sky, everything that exists in this world has an origin and history behind it, right? Let me explain from the very beginning."

I reached for chalk, then realized I had completely forgotten about it while teasing the regressor earlier. It did not matter. The important thing was the story.

I turned around and began.

"Lightning is the Celestial God's punishment, pure power descending from the heavens! Yet after that famous lightning thief incident, the Celestial God took pity on the humans who returned lightning to the sky and permitted them to use its power. That is this."

As I spoke, I gathered mana and raised a finger. Everyone's eyes followed it, then caught the grin at the corner of my mouth beyond it.

"Bolt."

Crackle.

Yellow sparks flashed. A volatile force spread through the air, vanishing quickly but all the more intense for it.

I flicked my finger, scattering the remnants.

"The power to generate electricity. From then on, humans were able to handle electricity... Though the power itself is so intense and brief that its uses are very limited. It is mainly used to light lamps, start various devices, or remove soot and rust from iron."

As I spoke, I casually took out a skewer. Holding the sharp skewer in my hand, I put on the gentlest expression I could manage so everyone would feel at ease.

"...Or perhaps to startle people who are needlessly tight-lipped, knocking on mouths that have been firmly shut? Well, it is similar in that it removes the soot in their hearts and makes them honest."

Though I had phrased it as gently as possible, the trainees had an uncanny ability to recognize evil deeds. They understood exactly what I meant.

'Torture...'

The regressor and the vampire frowned at the same time. The vampire lowered her parasol with a delicate grimace, while the regressor gripped the desk hard enough that I could hear the steel plate denting.

Yikes. Better move past this part quickly. I spoke rapidly.

"Now then. During the Military State Public Safety Bureau's process of conducting electric torture... No, peaceful interrogations involving electricity on certain people, they discovered a very unusual fact! When they gave another electric shock to someone whose heart had stopped, would you believe it? There were frequent cases where the heart began beating again!"

I felt disbelief from the vampire and pessimism from the regressor. Fine. Better than feeling nothing at all.

Alright. I held the skewer in a reverse grip, crouched beside the immortal's still-cold body, and carefully aimed for his heart.

"I'm going to test that method on this immortal. Here we go."

Without the slightest hesitation, I drove the skewer down toward the immortal's heart.

Thud. Was this what it felt like to stab a barrel full of cement? There was only a dull, deflating sound, and my skewer sank barely half a finger joint into the immortal's chest.

Something was wrong with this body. Why was it hardened like concrete? I could not even pierce his chest with this skewer using all my strength.

I put the skewer in my pocket and held out my hand to the regressor.

"...Ahem. I might damage the body if I use a skewer. Trainee Shei, could I borrow the sword floating above your head?"

"Skywarbler?"

"Skywarbler, what a pretty name. Yes, I'll use it carefully and return it clean."

The regressor narrowed her eyes and looked at me as if assessing me.

'That skewer must not be sharp. That man would not ask to borrow a sword just because he could not pierce a lump of flesh.'

No, it was sharp. I always kept it well-honed so I could use it whenever necessary.

'He must be asking for my sword because he fears that using his full strength will shatter the immortal's body. Either way, it would benefit me to learn how he woke up.'

No, I had used my full strength. Even then, I had only managed half a finger joint.

I really could not even pretend to use force carelessly in front of the regressor. If I was not careful, I might shatter the illusion she had of me.

'It would be foolish to place my only weapon in the hands of someone who might be an enemy... Hmph. But it would be just as foolish to refuse out of needless wariness. Besides, only I can control Skywarbler anyway.'

The regressor readily flicked her finger. The invisible sword flew over like an arrow and embedded itself at my feet. Skywarbler sank nearly three inches into the concrete floor, trembling.

"Fine. Your skewer does seem insufficient. Go ahead."

"Thank you. I'll use it well."

At least the regressor's weapon, Skywarbler, was exceptional enough to perform properly even in the hands of someone like me. It would have been a disaster if I could not cut him open even with a sword like this.

"Now then. Scalpel."

The blade smoothly cut through flesh. The immortal's blood resembled living slime, so even after I opened his chest, it did not flow out. Instead, it seemed to retreat deeper into his body.

Once I carefully pushed the flesh aside, I could see the heart deep inside the black rib cage. From there, I forced the skewer in instead of tearing open more flesh, pushing it down until it reached the center of the heart below.

"They did not take electric torture this far, but since we're doing it, it is better to be close to the heart. If I cast it outside the body, the magic could disperse. Anyway, shall we apply electricity to this stopped heart?"

I tossed Skywarbler aside and performed the somatic spell I had learned before. A standard spell that could forcibly draw mana from within the body even without mana aptitude. One of the few practical inventions created by the military state.

"Set, Tema, Ket, Oberli."

Then its improved form.

I extended the magical force I would normally have channeled through my fingertips a little farther. It reached into the skewer in my hand, the steel needle as much a part of me as my limbs, so mana could gather at its tip. The mana field followed the skewer's point into the immortal's body.

When the mana reached the heart, I burned it and recited the spell, a little stronger than usual.

"Bolt, Franklin."

Crackle!

The immortal's body jerked violently. The electric spell, which had the nature of flowing, ran through his entire body and stimulated his muscles.

The recoil of the mana sent my hand flying up. A numbing shock ran through it. The spell itself had worked. Now all that remained was the result.

Then, right after that.

"Gasp!"

The immortal opened his eyes.

Footnotes:

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