WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 471: Flip Suicide and You Get "Live"

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How should someone answer the question, “Do you want to destroy the world?”

Of course, they would deny it. Anyone in their right mind would not want to destroy a perfectly fine world.

What if they were not in their right mind? What if they really wanted to destroy the world? Even then, the rational thing to do would be to deny it first. If they carelessly revealed it, some hero trying to save the world would bash their head in.

Would someone truly mad enough to destroy the world obediently confess it? Anyone with that level of intelligence would already be dead. It was impossible.

So my answer was already decided.

Which was why I could not give it right away.

“Shei. Before that, let me ask you one thing.”

“I asked first. If you’re trying to avoid answering again...”

“Just hear me out. You’re not the only one with questions.”

I replied irritably and looked up at the regressor.

“What relationship do you have with the Sanctum?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“You’re looking for the King of Sin, warning about the world’s destruction, and you not only know the future but have all sorts of treasures in your hands, including Skywarbler. Isn’t it obvious? Even a passing dog would know you have close ties to the Sanctum.”

“Woof!”

Azzy nodded as though she agreed, despite not understanding what I said. Let me correct that. Passing dogs apparently did not know.

Put another way, everyone knew except dogs. Jiseon, Tyr, even Hilde had suspected a connection between the regressor and the Sanctum the moment they saw her. Honestly, they had said everything but the words themselves.

“That leaves one question. Just how close are those ties? What weakness of the Sanctum did you find that made them put treasures even the Holy Maiden would not receive into your hands?”

At my pointed question, the regressor muttered as though I had stabbed her.

“I knew it’d be exposed someday... You figured it out in the end.”

Right. A little slow to admit it...

Wait. Someday? In the end?

I had been trying to have a serious conversation, but I could not hold it in any longer and shouted at her.

“What do you mean, someday it’d be exposed?! I knew it from the start!”

“What? How?”

“I told you! Look at yourself! Skywarbler, that pocket, eyes shining in seven colors! You’re covered head to toe in things connected to Demon Gods associated with the sky, space, and light, and you expected nobody to notice?! What are you, a pheasant? If you can’t see something with your own eyes, does it not exist?”

I just had not bothered picking apart every excuse she had made so far. Nobody actually believed them! Even Tyr had been suspicious!

‘If you examine every single thing, I suppose it does seem suspicious. But he knew right away? Is the King of Humanity some kind of genius?’

What genius? Did she think “even a passing dog knows” was just an idiom? Examine every single thing? Just one of them was enough to make anyone suspicious!

Unaware of just how suspicious she was, the regressor tried to sound composed.

“You know those things surprisingly well. Many people only know they’re rare treasures. As expected of the King of Humanity.”

“As expected of the King of Humanity, my ass. I knew from the beginning. You were suspicious from the first time we met! You were a walking pile of suspicion from head to toe!”

Most of it was information I had learned through mind reading, of course. The regressor, who had no way of knowing that, looked thoroughly flustered.

‘He noticed from the start? During all that time in the Abyss? I never noticed at all...!’

That was because you... Sigh. Never mind. Back then, the regressor had shut herself away to train alone, and I had been throwing up a smokescreen too, so fine.

I asked sharply.

“If you answer honestly, I’ll answer honestly too. You. What are you really?”

It was not an unfamiliar question for the regressor.

She was young, yet possessed an unnaturally excessive amount of power. Abilities that could have been talent or supernatural gifts. The regressor had always lived under that kind of suspicion. The background and story behind the power she built up reset in the next cycle, so it could not be helped.

I knew through mind reading how she had gained that power...

Still, I had to ask.

That way, she would stop bothering me so much.

The regressor bit her lip and thought for a moment. But she was not me. With that brain of hers, it was impossible for her to devise the perfect lie that would resolve this entire situation. She quickly gave up and answered honestly.

“I have no relationship with them.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true. I don’t have any debts or grudges with them now. These were things I was given. I don’t think I owe them anything, and I won’t give them back.”

‘I’m grateful, but that’s all. We’re using each other.’

Unless she revealed the premise of regression, it could not be a proper answer. Still, it was the most honest answer she could give under the circumstances.

Anyone would be a fool to believe an answer like that. But I had already read her mind, so perhaps I could treat her a little more gently. I answered in a slightly softer voice.

“Then you don’t seem hostile to the Sanctum.”

“Right. If it can save the world, I’ll join hands with anyone. If it’s the Sanctum, which once stood for justice in the world, they’re at least the most trustworthy option.”

“The Sanctum rejects the King of Humanity. You know that, from the King of Humanity’s perspective, neither the Sanctum nor you seem very trustworthy, right?”

“That’s why I’m asking you!”

The regressor gripped Skywarbler. The sword lodged against my right shoulder trembled. She had no intention of swinging it down yet, but who knew? The regressor was someone who could do what needed to be done.

“The King of Sin who will destroy the world. That’s a fallen King of Humanity! And you’re the King of Humanity too! So tell me the truth. What are you planning to do with the world?”

Now she was ready to listen. Having finished my buildup, I chose my words slowly.

How should I answer a question with an obvious answer?

Was it not simple?

She was not asking me. She wanted something to believe in. That was why she was demanding faith from me.

“I’m the same as you.”

“The same as me?”

Then I just had to give her something to believe in.

“I’m the same. I don’t really care whose side you’re on or what your true identity is. Just as I took no side and let things pass when you fought Jiseon, I have no intention of deciding someone needs to die or be destroyed in advance just because they are suspicious or there might be a problem. I don’t have that kind of ability either.”

The regressor was ruled by her moods. She could throw away this life on a whim because she had another one. Since mistakes did not matter, there was more room to work with her than with the Sanctum and its obsessive perfectionism.

Put another way, no matter how well I handled things, one whim could still cost me my head.

That thought sent a cold sweat down my back.

So I questioned the regressor in return, to draw out sympathy from our shared position of being suspected.

‘He doesn’t care... That’s true. What matters isn’t who I am, but what I’ll do. And I don’t think Hughes is secretly working to destroy the world. Compared to the King of Sin, he’s certainly as weak as an insect.’

Mm-hm. Right, right. She understood perfectly.

If you wanted to persuade someone, you could not fight from the opposite side. That was just a fight. True persuasion meant starting from the same place, then walking forward while making concessions. As expected, emphasizing what we had in common made her call me insect-like...

What? An insect? Hey, the King of Sin is the weird one. I’m completely ordinary! I’m an utterly ordinary King of Humanity!

‘But he’s the King of Humanity. The King of Humanity is dangerous. Even if he hasn’t gained power yet, the strength humanity possesses will become the King of Humanity’s strength. If humanity pours out the malice it has honed while pointing swords and spears at one another, the King of Humanity will eventually reach the King of Sin.’

As I fumed inwardly, I found myself questioning the thought I had just read.

What? She knew how the King of Sin came to be? Even I did not know exactly how that happened.

The regressor’s thoughts could not be taken at face value. Her knowledge came from events in past cycles that I could not read, and it was highly likely that someone had told her even that much. If the Sanctum inscribed knowledge onto her blank, pure mind like a sheet of white paper, she would believe it was the truth. I could not be certain.

But that was not important.

If she knew, how had she never let it show until now?

Had she simply forgotten? Or had she subconsciously avoided thinking about the King of Sin?

Either way, that was impressive. As I silently marveled, the regressor finally brought out her last question.

“If... humanity wants to destroy itself? If ordinary people believe they’d be better off dead?”

If humanity wanted to destroy itself? What kind of stupid question was that? I answered immediately.

“I don’t really know now, since I’ve lost all the authority that made me humanity’s representative... But by then, I don’t think it would be a problem for the King of Humanity anymore.”

“...Tch.”

It was too correct for her to argue with. The regressor withdrew Skywarbler. Skywarbler, which could have torn off my right arm at any moment, quietly hid its fangs.

The regressor stepped back with a sulky expression and asked me,

“Did the King of Humanity come to the Abyss to find the Earth Mother?”

“I can’t hide it after coming this far. Yeah. That’s right.”

‘So I was right. Hughes had infiltrated Tantalus while hiding an ulterior motive! Well... I can’t really say much when I came down here looking for Jizan. Still, my suspicion was justified!’

Right. But I did not regret lying. If I had readily revealed my identity back then, I might have started out with my right arm cut off.

“Why are you going around looking for Demon Gods?”

“I have no obligation to answer, but I’ll be honest too.”

Making a show of it while adding a little more credibility to my words, I revealed my true purpose.

“To catch up with humanity.”

Footnotes:

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