Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint - Chapter 437

WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Chapter 437: Heaven-Defying Trial - 5

──────

For humans, sleep is a break.

After enduring a day of seeing, hearing, and feeling endless information while being forced to make the best possible judgment at every moment, the human body eventually needs to sleep as if dead. It must shut off every sense, loosen its nerves, end its exhausting day, and be born anew tomorrow.

"Hyu. Wake up. The moon is bright."

"..."

"This is serious. You aren't even whining for ten more minutes. Do you truly intend not to wake up?"

When it was denied the rest it deserved, a body that initially kept moving while merely tired gradually broke down until it stopped working. That was exactly my state now.

"Do humans truly collapse after only a few days without sleep? In my time, I fought wars day and night without sleeping."

"That's... because you endured it... long enough to survive until then..."

"To think my partner would be so frail."

"It's unfair for a vampire who doesn't sleep to say that...! Ngh."

I admitted that I was frail. Still, I wanted to argue that this environment made it unavoidable. I had started out as a patient, raced all over the Duchy, gotten drained dry, and followed everyone into a courtroom. If I had not collapsed after all that, I would have been a new species that came after vampires.

And besides.

"Who holds a trial in the middle of the night...? Good children are supposed to be asleep."

"Night is the time of vampires."

"So vampires must all be bad children..."

"You're one to talk. You aren't such a good child yourself."

In any case, after noticing my condition, Tyr rose leisurely instead of urging or pressing me.

"Then what shall we do about Lir's judgment? Would it be all right to delay it for a few days?"

"What? We were supposed to do it today. Can we postpone it?"

"It will only be a few days. A few days pass in the blink of an eye, do they not?"

"Even if a bug got into your eye, I think you'd open it again within a few days."

Was this the vampire way of thinking? She had no hesitation about putting off an appointment. Then again, Tyr had returned to her own country for the first time in three hundred years. Maybe that made sense.

She added with an utterly confident declaration.

"And what could stop me? I am the Progenitor of this country."

"As expected..."

Living power itself. No, dead power. No, power returned to life. Still lying face down, I raised a thumb.

"Please... I think I'll be fine after resting a little..."

"I see. Rest well, then. But, Hyu..."

Tyr lowered her voice slightly and poked my back, looking a little embarrassed.

"...When can we spend the next night together? The nights are long, and I am a little lonely."

"How long has it even been since last time?!"

"That passed so quickly that I barely understood what was what. If we savored it slowly once more, I think I would understand it better."

"When you say it like that, I sound like some kind of rabbit king! Tyr, three days isn't an instant! Go ask someone. They'll be shocked by my stamina!"

You would've died several times if you weren't a vampire! It was that difficult a battle! Ah, wait. Getting worked up was making my head hurt again. It might be a little unfair, but next time, I should try using the Demon God's power too...

"You do not look well. I can certainly feel that your blood flow has weakened. Hmm. I cannot make you overexert yourself any further."

Tyr prepared to leave me alone. She draped her coat around herself and gathered the darkness scattered through the room back into an umbrella. Once she was ready, Tyr smiled down at me in bed.

"I shall bring a physician, so rest and recuperate. I will tell them to wait for a while."

"I think I'll be fine after resting a little... Go on..."

"I still do not understand what a little while means in ordinary time. I will be going."

The door slowly closed. Tyr had gathered up all the darkness, so a faint sunset shone even at the top of the Castle of the Full Moon. Until the moment the door shut, Tyr stared thoughtfully at the room lightly soaked in red light.

'When our time moves differently, the gap between us becomes so vast. Closing that gap will be one of our pleasures, but someday, we must arrive at the same place. Whether I live an ordinary life, or Hyu becomes a vampire.'

Leaving with a little regret, Tyr tilted her head in puzzlement.

'How strange. Before, I thought it would be fine to live an ordinary life. Now that Hyu is here, I want to enjoy this time forever. Do wishes change when one's circumstances change...? When we have enough time next, I should speak with Hyu about it at length.'

Yeah. What would happen?

I wasn't someone who lived with firm plans for the future, either. When circumstances changed, wishes changed with them. My wish to find every Demon God had not changed, but I was satisfied that my life was comfortable now.

'...That too must be a pleasure. Hehe. To think such a time would come for me.'

Tyr was beautiful, powerful, and above all, devoted to me. It was not easy to gain an absolute ruler who granted every request and satisfied every desire. Being a concubine was a good profession.

Right. It was good. For an ordinary human, it was good enough to make the final destination of their life.

Provided that destination stayed where it was.

I drifted between sleep and wakefulness with my face buried in the bed, which still carried Tyr's faint scent. Then the door abruptly flew open.

Lir Nightingale strode inside with a small medical bag in hand, unconcerned that this was the Progenitor's room.

"I heard there was a patient. Where is the patient?"

"Uuugh."

"...? You are not even close to being a patient this time. Other than being slightly weakened, you are perfectly fine."

Having diagnosed my condition in an instant, Lir fiddled with an ampoule instead of opening the medical bag.

"Would you like some blood for nutritional replenishment?"

"I'm not a vampire..."

"It has been refined for humans to consume. It makes the body temporarily believe that its blood has increased. It is especially effective when you need to regain your strength quickly."

"I'll be fine after a little rest, so please leave me alone..."

"A good choice. Time is an even better remedy for restoring one's strength."

Lir nodded, pulled over a chair, placed it where she could see me, and sat down.

"...What about the trial?"

"The Progenitor has entrusted me with the health of the concubine. I have been informed that I do not need to attend the trial for the time being. Of course, they are discussing what to do with me even without me there."

"What do you think will happen?"

"I do not know. The Progenitor does not seem to intend to punish me, but who knows? Someday, I too may be attacked and killed like my father."

"Since you're talking about some unknown someday, it seems you won't die right away... What a relief. Then I'll rest for a while."

It seemed Lir had realized she had survived as well. What an easy life.

Then I could sleep without worry.

I briefly dozed off with my face buried in the bed.

"I've slept enough!"

When I came to, my head felt much clearer. I sat up, feeling restored, and looked at Lir, who was still sitting in exactly the same posture as before.

"You are awake."

"How long did I sleep?"

"About three hours."

Three hours. A short time that would pass in the blink of an eye, according to Tyr. Still, it was enough time for a human to pull their shattered condition back together. My body had been worn down in several ways, but there was nothing actually wrong with my health, so I recovered quickly.

I stretched lightly and checked my condition.

"Nngh. I feel refreshed. I might even be a little healthier."

"You have always been healthy, Concubine. You were likely the healthiest patient ever carried in with a penetrating abdominal wound."

"I never got sick often, but I wasn't this sturdy. Has my physical prime arrived?"

It wasn't really my prime. There were probably excellent bloodcraft practitioners nearby. With hundreds of vampires around, their influence must have affected my body, even if only slightly.

After checking my cards once more, I slipped the remaining cards into my pocket and asked:

"The Duchy is quiet even though an Elder died. When I heard that an Elder had died, I thought things would turn into complete chaos."

"The Duchy endures under the Progenitor's power."

"But Tyr has lost her power now, right? Shouldn't things become a little noisy?"

Lir answered clearly.

"The Progenitor's power has not gone anywhere. Her dominion merely remains inside her body, circulating within it. She escaped the shackle in a way different from what my father intended, by circulating her dominion back through herself in a loop. The Progenitor has reached a new realm alone."

"Alone? Someone could have helped her, like your father."

"My father never helped anyone. Separately from that, helping the Progenitor is impossible."

"Why are you so certain?"

"Who could wield bloodcraft equal to or greater than the Progenitor's, and how could anyone help the Progenitor objectively recognize and control her own blood? There would need to be two Progenitors."

In other words, if someone had helped, that person could only have been Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka herself. Since that was impossible, Lir concluded that Tyr had awakened on her own.

...What was this? Was this the insight of the person who would later be called the Healer Sage? Lir could roughly read the flow of blood without even opening someone up. Was it not bloodcraft, but simply a sharp eye?

No, wait. At this level...

Maybe even if it weren't Tyr, a Blood Demon God could be born.

But how had Lir done it?

"Wait a moment, Lir Nightingale. You seem to have an exceptional ability to diagnose other people."

"It is enough to diagnose only as much as necessary."

"No, more importantly. Lir Nightingale, you escaped the blood shackle, did you not?"

"That is what happened. It has become rather meaningless now that the Progenitor has also cast off the shackle."

"Tyr can be understood, since bloodcraft and the blood shackle itself are her own power. But how did you escape the shackle?"

Luscinia ordered Lir to kill him.

Following that order, Lir tried to kill Luscinia.

But Lir failed, and Valdamir killed Luscinia instead. From what I had read, it was because Luscinia, freed from the shackle, had plotted rebellion against the Progenitor.

I thought Luscinia's actions had answered many of my questions, but the biggest question remained.

How had Lir escaped the shackle?

"...That is highly confidential. I cannot reveal it without the Progenitor's permission."

"Tyr has already escaped the shackle. With the Elders now at the highest tier of the shackle, there is no real problem with telling me. Besides, I am her concubine."

"Is that... so?"

The Progenitor had already escaped the shackle. Even the method was somewhat similar to the one Luscinia had discovered. Judging there was no need to hide it from Tyr or me, Lir began to speak.

"It is the circulation of dominion. Whatever the result may be, one only needs to use bloodcraft to exert dominion over oneself. It would be best to circulate dominion inside oneself as the Progenitor did, but... for a vampire who gained immortality through the external power of true blood, doing so alone is close to impossible. So my father created a circle of circulation through me as the medium. The dominion..."

No, I understood that part roughly. I was a mind reader. I had read Lir and Valdamir's thoughts, so I had already learned much of the truth.

I wanted the final piece.

Luscinia's mind, which I could no longer read because he was dead.

"Then what about you?"

"...Pardon?"

"You escaped the shackle too. What was your medium?"

There was only one thing I wanted to know.

What had Luscinia felt during the brief time he was free of the shackle?

I couldn't know because he was already dead? I didn't need to know. I could look at his actions. The heart was only the force that produced action.

"Why did Luscinia free you from the shackle?"

What mattered was what Luscinia's actions had accomplished.

Just as Lir realized what I was pointing out and flinched, I felt a thought from outside.

Something was approaching without even the faintest sound.

I knew vampires were naturally quiet and had little presence. That was why they deliberately made their presence known and approached with audible footsteps. They had to show courtesy to the Progenitor and her concubine.

But now...

There was clear hostility.

Tch. As expected. The world would never leave me alone. This was going to be troublesome.

I plunged a hand deep into my pocket and fingered my cards.

-----

"...I have heard everyone's opinions."

As Tyrkanzyaka had thought, a few days was not much time to vampires. They had accepted without complaint a trial held ten years after the Elder Murder Incident. Delaying it a few days did not make them impatient.

"Then we shall decide what to do with Lir after witnessing a demonstration of her abilities. Today's discussion is now concluded. There are no objections, I presume."

"Progenitor, I have a petition to make."

...'The Elder Murder Incident'...

Bang.

An Elder entered through the door. Blood Monk Dogo. A fighting monk who had departed in search of truth, then become a vampire after being promised eternal suffering. Though they were supposed to be recuperating from their injuries, they appeared not long after, whole and unmarked.

Dogo stepped forward in place of the absent Valdamir, respectfully joining their palms before the Progenitor as they looked around at those gathered.

"There is a matter that must be judged before Lir's case. It is several times more important and urgent."

"What is it?"

More than the incident of a mere Yeiling casting off the shackle and killing an eccentric Elder, more important was the fact that Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka had destroyed the blood shackle herself.

"Tyrkanzyaka. Progenitor whose name is disaster. Our beginning and the one who will be our end, our sovereign."

"...?"

"We were bound to the blood shackle and promised suffering because that shackle was powerful and absolute."

The vampires exchanged glances. Some closed their eyes as if they knew nothing. Collusion, conspiracy, tacit consent, watchful waiting. Countless political views passed beneath pale, expressionless faces.

Vampires were cold because their blood moved calmly.

Vampires were rational because they had no emotions.

Vampires were mechanical because they did not act on whim.

Vampires were blind because they could not defy their sovereign.

"Yet now, I can feel nothing from you. No surprise, fear, joy, or pain. Not even power."

"Blasphemous. Do you even know what you are saying?"

All those traits existed because there was a sovereign to suppress them.

"This humble monk, Dogo, requests a trial here to judge your qualifications."

How dare a thrall challenge its sovereign.

How dare the dead challenge the living.

How dare a believer place a god upon the judgment stand and pass sentence.

The Heaven-Defying Trial had begun.