WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 509: Hour of the Dog and the Wolf - 2

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"Yeah? What did you say?"

"Just what it sounds like, Teia. I need you to act as bait and lure in the King of Wolves."

Teia pressed her fingers against her lips as she considered it.

She was better off staying somewhere safe. It was not just because of her injury. The Empire managed the safety and bloodlines of every racehorse beastkin. Her achievements on the track had earned her a certain degree of freedom, but that did not include the freedom to get bitten to death by wolves.

Teia asked as though she could not believe I was serious.

"Me? You really mean me?"

"Yes. You're the only one who can race the King of Wolves and take first place."

The Empire was far away, while my persuasion was right in front of her. My words, only slightly reshaped, stirred Teia's competitive spirit.

'A race against the King of Wolves does sound exciting. It's for a good cause, too. More than that, the rule is simple and thrilling. Get caught, and you die. Well, no matter who I'm up against, there's no way I'd lose!'

Even after she had already made up her mind, Teia swayed from side to side and pretended to hesitate.

"I don't mind doing it, but~ I'm recovering from an injury, you know. I can't run for long."

"What injury are you talking about? You couldn't run long distances to begin with."

Teia, struck right where it hurt, cautiously asked,

"...Have you watched me race before?"

"Not personally. But everyone knows racehorse beastkin are fast and lack endurance."

"That isn't true of all of us."

"Who watches long-distance races these days? The pace is too slow, and there are hardly any comebacks, so they're boring."

"Heeey, you know your stuff."

More accurately, the regressor knew it. Racing? What would I know about that? What kind of beast holds a running contest like that? If you get tired after running just a little faster, you get eaten in the end.

Whatever I thought, Teia was in a better mood now. She answered with a spring in her step.

"That's right! As long as it isn't a long-distance race, I can leave anyone behind in style!"

"You don't even have to leave them behind. The King of Wolves will probably be the only one who can so much as step on your shadow, and Azzy won't let you die to her."

"Azzy?"

"The puppy. The King of Dogs."

"Heeey. That's a nice name!"

If simple was good, it could hardly get better than that. Teia gave a big nod, waved, and vanished into the distance in an instant.

"Got it! Call me when you need me!"

Before I could even respond, she had run far away. There was no time to stop her.

I was supposed to tell Sapien-gong, then have Sapien-gong summon Teia. Still, I ran into her by luck on my way out and got the message across.

This was better. Teia was too important to use as bait, so Sapien might have hidden her away somewhere. The regressor probably assumed Teia would naturally help because of their connection in the previous cycle.

Anyway. The regressor had taken charge of planning the operation and entrusted communication with Ende to me. Considering her disastrous communication skills, it was an appropriate assignment.

Though I was not sure I could properly explain the regressor's plan either. If I had not been a mind reader, I would not even have understood it.

I walked into the meeting room, where Sapien and Gruel were waiting. Gruel half rose from his seat and called to me.

"Magician, you're late."

"What? I came right on time."

"The situation has changed. The scouts I sent out found the bones of several hundred sheep."

Gruel had spent an entire life hunting on the Enger Plain and knew beasts better than anyone. Even while Orcma had been struggling to govern Ende, he had continually sent Beast Faction warriors out to gather information.

"Few beasts store food like humans do. For meat-eating beasts, it is virtually impossible. If the werewolves had not been keeping a flock of sheep as a pantry, the wolf pack would have collapsed on its own."

"Emptying that pantry means they're preparing for battle now?"

"That's right. Wolves will likely be visible from Ende by tomorrow. Today will effectively be the last day we have to prepare."

I thought people were only saying time was short. It was tomorrow? That was urgent.

"I want to hear your plan. I hope it isn't as brutish as the one the recognized human proposed."

"Brutish...?"

Sapien looked shocked, as if he had never expected a beastkin to call him brutish. I did not know whether I could meet Gruel's expectations, but I told them both the regressor's plan.

"We're going to break the ground apart."

'Last cycle, it was later than this. The King of Wolves had wandered longer, and beastkin who could no longer endure discrimination joined her, making her forces much stronger. Unable to stand by, the Sanctum supported Ende alongside the vassal state. In Ende, dogs and wolves fought a proxy war between civilization and savagery.'

The regressor's confidence came from having defeated the King of Wolves in the past. Having knocked her down once, she believed she could do it again.

'Back then, if we hadn't resisted, we would have died. Every beastkin in Ende united. But... sin had already spread by then. The wolves were far stronger than expected. The casualties kept mounting. Just before we were wiped out, I decided to overturn the board in a desperate gamble.'

The regressor's final act of destruction, knowing she could leave the consequences to the next cycle, went far beyond anything I could imagine.

'I drew Jizan's power out to its limit and shattered the earth itself. It left a scar across the land like the Abyss, but it was the only way then. We barely reclaimed peace by defeating the King of Wolves after isolating her on the collapsing ground. This time, though, we can't just defeat the wolves and call it done. We need to prepare in advance for the people who will live here afterward.'

There was no way the regressor could smoothly explain something that grand while conveniently leaving out the part about regression.

Her explanation was vague and disorganized, but I managed to reconstruct it with mind reading. After I conveyed the outline, Sapien and Gruel asked if such a thing was even possible. Instead of answering, I showed them earth arts. This was only my own ability, and Jizan, which possessed the power of the earth, was far stronger than I was. Once I gave them the detailed plan and instilled that confidence in them, Sapien and Gruel accepted it for the time being.

The city did run better when those two kept each other in check. Now I understood why people hitched more than one horse to a carriage. Left alone, they just turned their heads wherever they pleased.

By the time I had drawn up documents and explained everything thoroughly, it was already late afternoon. Having grasped the heart of the plan, Sapien and Gruel each went off to organize their forces.

Then I should head inside and get some rest. Tonight would probably be the last chance I had.

I returned to the mansion once more. At the sound of my footsteps, Azzy came running over and circled around me.

"Woof! You're back! You're back!"

People say a dog's life is the good life... but there were bloodstains on Azzy's forepaws and tail. She must have taught the wolves that had raided Ende to scout the area a lesson. You were busy too.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back. How did it go? Is Teia willing to help?"

"Yes. I was lucky enough to meet her in person and tell her. Now all we can do is wait."

I gave a rough answer and strode into the mansion. The regressor glanced at Azzy, then trotted after me.

'I'm not imagining it. Something's off. Hughes seems irritated for some reason.'

What was this all of a sudden? I could understand Azzy, but why were you watching my mood, regressor? Were you the kind of person who cared even a speck about what others thought? Is that how someone who had barged ahead without a care all this time acted?

'Things are going smoothly thanks to Hughes doing his part. So what's the problem?'

That was exactly the problem. Things were going smoothly because I was doing my part. But there was no way to explain that, so what was I supposed to do...?

'Could he be on his period?'

As if that were possible!

When I abruptly turned around, the regressor saw my expression and became even more convinced.

'Right. I'm sure of it. Something has him in a physiologically bad mood. He's a man, so it can't be an actual period, but still!'

Change the order of your thoughts! You scared me. I was an idiot for wondering whether she had mistaken my gender or believed men could experience the same thing!

That way of thinking, where the idea came first and the reasoning followed, was truly terrifying. I asked the regressor,

"What is it?"

After watching my mood for a moment, she finally spoke.

"Hughes, has something been bothering you lately?"

"Do I look bothered?"

"Yeah. Everything's going well, but you always looked happier when things weren't working out."

"That makes me sound like a deranged person who enjoys stirring up trouble."

"That's right! Exactly that!"

This woman. I wanted to flick her forehead. She would just evade and counterattack with the Heaven-Reversing Boundary. Tch. I held back. Calming my twitching right hand, I said,

"No, it's just because of something I said while persuading Gruel."

"What was it?"

I had told Gruel that if he wanted glory, he should seek it himself. Rather than give pig beastkin an opportunity and become disappointed in them as he pleased, he should step into the mud himself and make it glorious.

Those words applied to me too.

Of course, I did not seek human glory. My conviction was firm. Humans were no more than beasts. Even if humans drove out the Beast King and established an order in its place, they could never stop being beasts. I had not changed my mind about that.

Still, to keep my promise to Azzy, I had acted exactly as Gruel did. I stepped forward myself and guided Ende toward a more ideal situation. It was possible because the people each had the will to protect Ende... but I was the one who had coordinated them in the end.

It was something I could do because I was a Beast King who had lost my power. Tch. At this rate, I would have no grounds to complain about having my status as the Beast King taken from me.

"Every word I said felt like I was speaking to myself. It made my stomach burn so much that it was irritating. I wondered if the people who listen to me always felt this way."

Did she even understand what I meant? The regressor immediately nodded.

"Yeah. The way you talk is kind of irritating."

"Thank you. That made me feel a little better."

"That is irritating too!"

The regressor suddenly snapped, then relaxed her expression.

"Still, the result is good, so what are you worrying about?"

"Shouldn't you be worrying a little more, Mr. Shei?"

"You say humans are beasts. Then there's no need to worry, right?"

"Do you think beasts don't worry?"

"Woof! I don't worry!"

"She says she doesn't."

With Azzy's assistance, the regressor put on a weighty air as if she were a sage.

"Worrying doesn't solve the future. There are countless things that won't work no matter what means you use or how hard you try. Circumstances change every time, and just when you think you did well, something suddenly falls apart at the end. I can only choose the present, hoping it works out."

It was strange hearing her say that. She was closer to being a Holy Maiden than anyone in the world.

Not the same, though. Perhaps because she was a regressor, there was a clear difference between regression and prophecy. The biggest difference was something like limitless opportunities. That was probably what separated the regressor from a Holy Maiden.

...Still, she was right. When had I ever worried about such things? I should be true to the desire I feel right now.

"Don't get ahead of yourself either, Mr. Shei. We don't have the result yet."

"Then stop being irritated and sleep, so tomorrow can be more perfect."

"You're the one getting in the way of that, Mr. Shei."

"Stop talking back so irritatingly!"

The regressor shouted in annoyance.

Footnotes:

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