WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 452: All for One

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"You're special."

I didn't lie very often. Most of what I said was the truth. No, not most. One hundred percent. Had I ever lied before?

"Tyr. Many people have wishes. Everyone carries desires in their heart. But can I grant every wish just because they have one? A wish I don't even know?"

I was a mind reader, so I could read people's hearts, but that didn't mean I truly knew them. How was I supposed to grant someone's wish to eat something delicious when I didn't know what they considered delicious?

"Three things are needed to fulfill a wish. A specific, clear goal, the ability to reach it, and the will to continue that journey. Surprisingly, most people stop at the first hurdle. They don't even know what they want."

Tyr, held in my arms, listened quietly. There was no point trying to give her the answer she wanted by reading her thoughts. I had to sincerely persuade her. Her emotions were running wild right now...

And I couldn't read all her inner thoughts, since she had placed some part of herself within that shadow.

"Tyr was different. You had a clear goal. You would have tried as long as there was a way, and though things went a little astray, you nearly succeeded. Tyr, you already saved yourself. That's why I saved you too. As it happened, I had the means."

Even if someone wished for world peace, they couldn't fulfill that wish if they didn't know what peace was. Even if they somehow compromised and decided their goal was a world where humans didn't fight one another, they would still have no way to achieve it. They could beat every fighting human to death, but someone who truly sought world peace would rather give up than choose that method.

"So even if I say I'll grant wishes, it doesn't mean I can grant them all. If someone doesn't even know what they want, I'll laugh at them rather than grant their wish. Tyr, you've already become someone special to me."

In that sense, Tyr was a truly special human. After living so long, her wish should have eroded away, yet perhaps because she was a vampire, she had continued to hold on to that desire. In the isolated environment of the Abyss, I had fully understood Tyr's wish and carried on her intent by carving a heart into her own.

Come to think of it, Tyr was the first person whose wish I had granted without any ulterior motive. I spoke to her sincerely and truthfully.

[Even to the end... you will not say that I alone am special.]

Of course, that didn't work.

I couldn't see Tyr's expression clearly. Yet Tyr's shadow smiled bitterly on its own. Then, as though it had thought of something dangerous, it raised a hand with a smile stretched almost to tearing. Feeling a sense of dread, I hurriedly added,

"Tyr, you're special enough."

[I am sorry, Hyu. I am a greedy, ugly woman. I do not think enough will be enough for me.]

The shadow rose. Darkness gradually gathered around me. Tyr had given it no particular command, but... her shadow moved to carry out her will.

The power was steadily breaking away from its human wielder. Growing anxious, I quickly added,

"To be honest, Tyr is the only one right now. The only person whose wish I've personally fulfilled."

[I won't be the only one in the future either.]

"No, I mean, I'm not a prophet. I don't know what will happen in the future."

Even after I mentioned prophets, Tyr silently tightened the hand holding me.

[My emotions, my senses. Everything you gifted me is guiding me. Telling me to hold on, even if it is ugly. Telling me never to let go again. If I were not alive, perhaps I would have quickly resigned myself and let you go.... But now, as one who sings of life, I am crying out to cling to you and hold on.]

"Hahaha. To be obsessed over by someone so beautiful, adorable, and noble. I don't know where to put myself."

[Do not worry. I will prepare a place for you.]

Tyr smiled faintly, wrapped her arms more tightly around my neck, and kissed me. She was practically hanging from me, so I had to bear nearly all her weight. Even while our lips continued to move together, my mind raced.

Damn it. What was this? How did it turn out this way?

Was I supposed to lie my way out of this immediate crisis? Whisper eternal love and swear to stay together for the rest of my life?

I could have. But the result would have been the same. Tyr would have made those words reality by turning me into a vampire! This was my best option!

Perhaps she sensed the dangerous atmosphere. Hilde stepped in with an awkward smile.

"Um~. It's nice that the two of you are making love, but still, doing it in the middle of the street is a little... Kyaaah!"

A black hand seized Hilde. There was no warning, and it happened too quickly for her to react. Hilde sharply drew in a breath, but the strength, no different from Tyr herself, was so overwhelming that even the qi arts of one of the military's Six Generals could not free her.

[Negotiations are over, Hilde.]

"Ah, ngh...! Tyrkanzyaka!"

[Hyu will remain here with me. I will maintain friendly relations with the military state. And I will let you live.]

"Th-that! Father is, with the military state...! Kyaaaah!"

Crack.

When the shadow clenched its hand, something twisted with an awful sound. Hilde's arms and legs, protruding through the gaps between its fingers, seemed to have shifted far from where they should have been.

Tyr watched Hilde writhe in pain without much emotion, then gave a quiet warning.

[This is the last mercy I will show the Holy Sword Corps. Be satisfied when I promise you sufficient results.]

"Argh...!"

For Tyr, this was conceding a great deal. Normally, she would have killed anyone from the Sanctum without asking questions, but this time she was at least asking questions first. I didn't know whether that counted as becoming more human. The person in question looked like she was about to die from pain, though.

[Hyu. I am sorry, but I will not let you go. Even if you come to hate me.]

This did put me in an awkward position, but...

"That's human. You've finally become a little more human."

[More human? That makes it sound as though I was not before.]

"You acted that way yourself. You acted as if you were some natural phenomenon. This is much better than that."

The shadow's grip loosened a little. Tyr had acted forcefully while prepared to be hated, so she looked puzzled by my unexpected response.

"Tyr. I think you're misunderstanding something. I don't particularly dislike it, you know? Being here, being with you. I won't try to run away just because something else is controlling me."

Tyr was under a huge misconception. She thought restraining me would make me hate her. It was unfortunate that she had reached the conclusion that she would restrain me even if I hated her.

It was a truly huge misunderstanding. Why did she think I would always hate being restrained?

"How much in this world goes exactly as one wishes? If you're trapped in the Abyss, you live in the Abyss. If you're trapped in the military state, you live in the military state. Tyr, I think you might be mistaking the Beast Kings for something extraordinary. Most Beast Kings simply live."

[Simply live? From what I saw, they were bound by their beasts.]

"That was only when they had room to spare. Why do you think Azzy was in the Abyss? Because a dog's brain couldn't find a way out of the Abyss. Why was I living wretchedly within the military state's system? Because I had neither the means nor the ability to go elsewhere. You might think beasts can do whatever they want, but that's wrong. Even doing whatever they want requires room to spare. Usually, they live by adapting to their given environment. Though calling it adaptation is generous. It's really submission."

I shrugged and gently placed a hand on Tyr's shoulder.

"I'm especially like that. I've lost my strength. My power is ordinary, so I'm weaker than most people. That's why I always have to use something else. I can't achieve anything through my own strength alone."

[Then...]

"But Tyr, you need to prepare yourself. If you truly love me."

I didn't mind being restrained. But I had to get something out of it too.

It was a terrible thing to do, but I took Tyr's feelings hostage and said,

"You'll need to make sure staying in the Duchy isn't a waste for me. Wouldn't that make our newlywed life satisfying for both of us?"

Tyr was going to restrain me anyway. If I was going to be restrained, I might as well bleed her dry while boasting that my shackles were the best.

[Newlyweds...]

Tyr liked the sound of that. She smiled brightly and whispered,

[As long as you do not leave me. I will give you anything.]

Separate from the fact that my situation had become troublesome... it was quite appealing. An incomparably beautiful older woman with power, a country, and strength, obsessing over me. It was the kind of situation anyone would dream of.

What would really change? I'd always been pushed around by others.

"All right, all right. There are a lot of people watching. Let's go inside."

[Do other people's eyes bother you that much?]

"No, but we should still care. We live in a world with other people."

[There will be no need.]

'Hyu in the Abyss did not respond to other humans' wishes. Even if he is the King of Humanity, he cannot grant the wishes of humans he has never met.... If I only keep him from meeting others as much as possible, even Hyu will not change any further.'

She had gone off the rails in a strange direction. No, was she going to lock me up so I couldn't even meet anyone else? It was certainly an effective method against the current me, but...

[Let us go to the castle, Hyu.]

"Wait a moment. There was a little accident in our room, and now there's a huge hole in the wall."

[The bricks making up the Castle of the Full Moon are saturated with blood. They can be restored at once.]

"The bed fell and broke too. We need a bed, don't we? I'm the Progenitor's concubine, after all. I can't sleep on a hard, bare floor."

Vampires might be fine lying in coffins, but only dead humans lived that way. Even if I was going to be confined, I didn't want to become a corpse.

Despite my perfectly reasonable protest, Tyr narrowed her eyes and asked,

[Do you hate returning to the castle that much?]

"How did you get that from what I said?"

She was sensitive. Until her suspicions died down a little, I shouldn't do anything that could be misunderstood.

"It doesn't matter where we are as long as I'm by Tyr's side. You could get us an inn room instead."

[Hehe, yes. You are finally saying something I rather like.]

Huh? What?

As I questioned that, the shadow rose. It appeared without a sound, like a ghost's shadow. No one had noticed when it arrived, but once it appeared, everyone became aware of its presence.

Screams rang out, but only briefly. Pitch-black darkness seemed to cover both sides of my vision, and before I knew it, I was inside the shadow. Only then did I realize Tyr's shadow was holding me in its hand like a pebble.

My body was flung this way and that in a sensation as though I had been cut off from the world. The dizzying feeling of truly being a pebble shook me several times, then it carefully set me down before long.

What was this place? Indoors? I had been standing in the middle of the street moments ago, but now I was in a secluded room without the faintest presence. Feeling unsettled by the changed scene, I asked,

"Where are we?"

[A villa. It is a good place to spend a few days.]

"A few days? Aren't you busy?"

[Are a few days not an instant of time to someone like me?]

There was a limit to vampire time. A few days right after a rebellion broke out? Shouldn't she be cleaning things up?

[Valdamir will handle most of it.]

"It's not good to dump all the work on a capable subordinate."

[It is your fault. If you had not kept trying to push me away, I would have left less to him.]

Tyr smiled precariously as she sat on the edge of the bed, quietly watching me as though she didn't intend to let me out of her sight for even a moment.

Damn it. How had things turned out this way?

Footnotes:

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