WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 521: Beyond One Mountain, Another

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A Beast King represents beasts. It does not rule them.

But beasts that live in packs naturally follow the strong. And Beast Kings possess both strength and natural leadership. It was only natural for packs to form around them.

That was how the wolf pack had come to be. Led by the King of Wolves, humanity's enemy born with savagery, the pack regarded every human as an enemy.

But the King of Wolves was now king of both dogs and wolves. The gentleness of dogs and the savagery of wolves both belonged to Fenrir. No longer the embodiment of malice but an ordinary Beast King, Fenrir had lost any reason to burn herself up fighting humanity.

And if there was no absolute reason to fight, fighting was not a particularly good choice. The human army was far too powerful to battle at the cost of their lives. Wolves were the unusual ones. Beasts would rather flee than watch their entire pack die.

Fenrir howled. She threw back her head toward the sky and cried again and again, her mournful voice filled with pain and fear.

Then the wolves began to retreat. As the wolves trapped amid the collapsed earth dug tunnels and escaped, they heard the howls and fled.

It was the dogs' victory.

Blanca Baskerville heard Fenrir's howl as well. As a dog beastkin, she roughly understood what had happened to the King of Wolves.

"...I see. It seems our king has been defeated. Will wolves ultimately die out, even in lands close to the wild?"

Before the lamenting woman stood the regressor, lightly wounded, with Skywarbler pointed at her.

To use Ground Drop, she had dropped Jizan. When the exhausted regressor was about to join the hunt for Fenrir, Blanca Baskerville intervened.

The King of Wolves was powerful. Without a powerful principle or relic, it would be impossible to finish Fenrir off. And the regressor wielding Skywarbler was the enemy Blanca needed to be most wary of.

So, after the regressor had used a major technique and weakened herself, Blanca charged in with the Baskervilles' elite.

But a regressor focused entirely on defense was like Mount Tai. With Heaven-Reversing Boundary, her invincible defensive qi art, and Skywarbler, which controlled space itself, the regressor had been able to keep this loop from ending even against the Baskerville family's coordinated attacks.

As too much time passed, Blanca Baskerville sensed her defeat.

"I should have killed you at least. Ah, I've failed again in the end. What am I supposed to do now?"

"What do you mean, what? Fenrir is dead, so you don't even have the king you've been waiting for all this time. Go hide somewhere and try to stay alive."

"I can't do that. I threw my life away long ago. If I don't use it for something, won't it simply disappear for nothing?"

"Yeah! Let it disappear for nothing! Stop turning the world into a mess!"

Even a heartfelt shout could not reach those standing on the other side. They stood too far apart to communicate through words.

"You wouldn't understand. The wish for the world to end."

"Understand? You want understanding? How am I supposed to understand you?!"

No matter how often she was hurt, how often she escaped death, or how miserably she died after losing to an enemy, the regressor who returned to save the world could not even try to understand Blanca.

"Humans abandoned you? Sure, that must hurt! You were betrayed? Sure, that must hurt too! You want revenge? Fine, I understand that! But why do the humans of Ende have to die?! Why should your despair lead to their deaths?!"

"Have you ever buttoned a shirt?"

Blanca Baskerville asked the sudden question and fiddled with the buttons of her dress shirt.

"Sometimes, when you're buttoning a shirt, you realize too late that you got it wrong. You failed to put the first button where it belonged. Then, even if it's annoying, you have to undo every button and start over."

Blanca's hand, which had been touching the button near her neck, slowly moved downward.

"The buttons aren't at fault. But there's nothing you can do, right? It was buttoned wrong from the beginning, and you can't fix it without undoing everything. So... you have no choice but to undo it all."

Click. Click. Click.

Blanca unbuttoned her shirt from the bottom up. Her tightly fastened shirt opened, revealing the skin beneath. Her white, living skin was marked by horrific scars, as though it had been used as a canvas.

No one could dismiss those wounds as an accident. The scars had been carved into her one stitch at a time, clearly by someone filled with deep malice. Blanca drew her shirt closed again with one hand and muttered:

"The world is the same. If the result of building and building and building this supposed golden tower of civilization is... something thoroughly wrong, then it has to be torn down and built again from the beginning."

"Even if the people living in it are hurt and killed?"

"I hadn't thought that seriously about it. But even if everyone died... I don't think it would break my heart. Woof."

Blanca Baskerville turned away. The King of Wolves, a king of endless savagery and a useful tool. But Fenrir had been defeated, and Blanca had failed.

It had been somewhat predictable. In the first place, the King of Wolves was hostile toward humans, so only beastkin could even linger nearby. On top of that, an army made of beasts had very little strategic value and often fell apart easily even against weaker armies. Like now.

Still... it was something Fenrir had to do. The wolves' savagery had been spread far enough.

"Let's not see each other next time. Looking at you makes me feel so bad I think all my fur will fall out."

Blanca Baskerville left in solitude. Having caught her breath, the regressor looked toward where the Baskervilles had disappeared and gave an answer Blanca could not hear.

"Same here."

Fenrir, now bearing a complete crown, disappeared somewhere. Gruel seemed disappointed, but he did not argue further over a matter that had already been settled. After consulting with me, he began handling the aftermath while shouting that he had defeated the King of Wolves himself.

The situation had changed from war to clearing out remnants and relief work. Kito's innate arcane had saved human lives, but it had not given them freedom. The Obelisks and Beast Faction warriors joined forces to pull away the rocks and rescue the trapped humans.

After going beneath the trap to retrieve Jizan, I spoke to Azzy, who stood blankly without her crown.

"Azzy."

"Woof?"

"Are you okay? You won, but it feels like you gave up your place as king instead."

Azzy, as though waking at my voice, answered bravely.

"Woof! I'm okay! Me above! Wolf below! I pass the job down!"

"Is being king a chore? Something you can pass off to someone else?"

"Woof!"

Well, I suppose you could. Fenrir was Azzy's other half, after all.

Being a Beast King was not as great a position as it sounded. Beast Kings were conceptual beings. Whether they liked it or not, they had to follow the stereotypes of their species. Not that there were many Beast Kings as bound by promises and concepts as Azzy was. Azzy might have wanted to escape all those restrictions and promises.

But...

What was a conceptual being that had lost its concept?

"Then what will happen to you?"

"Woof? Rrr?"

"Right. There's no way you'd know when I don't."

Would she disappear? No, she was still here, so that did not seem likely. Would she remain as she was, losing only the crown and its duties? That was far too convenient.

Would she become like me? Hmm. That seemed the most likely possibility.

Wait. Then...

"You little punk. You've been throwing your weight around because you're strong, haven't you? Throwing tantrums whenever I wouldn't play with you. Running off whenever I tried to scold you, then hovering around nearby."

"Woof?"

"A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years. Feel for yourself how much ordinary beings are oppressed and suffer."

I had been weak until now, so she had ordered me around however she pleased. But now that Azzy had weakened, this was my chance. I would firmly establish our hierarchy. I rapped Azzy on the head with my knuckles.

"Woof!"

"Ha ha. How is it? Now you understand my pain a little... Gah!"

At that moment, Azzy clenched her fist and smacked me on the head. She had not extended her claws, but getting struck by a huge ball of fur still made my head ring. Once I came to my senses, I shouted:

"N-Now a dog is beating up a person!"

"You should try taking it!"

"Even if I hit you, you shouldn't hit me back! You're a dog!"

"Reciprocity!"

"Don't start throwing around words that sound like international treaties here!"

Wait a second.

Azzy had always been strong. And she had acted however she liked with that strength, but she had never directly hit or bitten me. The strongest violence Azzy had ever used was shoving me aside to save me.

But now, even if she was not serious, she hit me?

"Hughes!"

The regressor suddenly stuck her head out from above the trap. I wondered why she had taken so long to find us. Still, seeing an ally's face amid this chaos made warmth well up inside me. To think I had missed the regressor. This must be why people talked about comrades-in-arms.

"You defeated Fenrir, right?"

"Yes. While Shei was playing around."

"I wasn't playing around! I kept the Baskervilles from helping! More importantly, what happened to Fenrir and Azzy?"

The regressor lightly dropped down beneath the pit trap and looked at Azzy as she asked. I answered for Azzy.

"After Fenrir was nearly dead and we were about to finish her off, Azzy gave Fenrir her crown. Fenrir received the complete crown and ran away."

"Wolves and dogs became one?"

"Something like that."

"Hmm..."

The fact that the crown had become one did not seem particularly surprising to her. The regressor looked at Azzy, who was sitting there perfectly fine, and sank into thought.

‘The crown became one before I regressed too. But I heard that Fenrir... ate the King of Dogs back then. Does the outcome change depending on who wins?’

The crown became one? If something similar had happened in the previous cycle, I should hear what had happened then.

The only ones who could directly meddle with the concept of Beast Kings were the Sanctum. And the regressor possessed an ability similar in nature to the Holy Maiden's, and had built close ties with the Sanctum in the previous cycle.

In the end, if I wanted to know what had happened to Azzy and me, and what had happened to my power, I had no choice but to ask the regressor. She was the only one who could tell me the answers the Sanctum possessed.

As silence fell for a moment, Gruel's voice echoed through the pit.

"Hey, you lot. You can use earth magic with that club, right? Help out! It'll take more than a week to clear the rubble without hurting the trapped people!"

I should finish up matters in Ende first. I handed Jizan to the regressor.

"Here, Shei. Go move some rocks. You're the one who collapsed the ground."

"You use Jizan. I'll use Skywarbler."

"I'm injured from fighting Fenrir, so I don't even have the strength to hold Jizan."

"You're injured? You look perfectly fine to me."

"Fine? I look fine? An ordinary person like me can be at death's door from injuries like these, you know?"

‘Injured? It sounds like he's exaggerating. He's just covered in a little dirt and blood, isn't he?’

That's because you're only seeing me with my clothes on. Underneath, it was a complete mess. My ligaments were strained, my bones were creaking, and my arms were longer. I had become an entirely new species of human.

The regressor looked at me skeptically, then sighed and accepted Jizan.

"Ugh. Fine. Get some rest... Kyaaah!"

The regressor sank into the ground as though she had fallen into the pit trap. Jizan, which had lent the regressor its strength until recently, now refused to be held in her hand. Looking at Jizan, which had fallen indifferently to the ground, the regressor wore an incredulous expression.

"W-What's wrong, Jizan? Is it because of Ground Drop? I had no choice! I did it to protect people!"

"See? This is why you should have treasured it. You asked the Demon God of Earth to destroy the ground."

"You agreed to the plan too!"

"That is how it works. The mastermind stays hidden, while the people doing the work take the blame. Just like how the Sanctum has schemed so much, yet still enjoys a good public reputation."

The person who steps forward gets beaten down, while the one who follows a step behind gets to pick up everything. That was why the world praised pioneers. Because I needed someone to step forward in my place.

"Heh heh heh. It's okay, Shei. I'll make good use of Jizan. Shei can just hug Skywarbler and watch."

"Jizan...!"

Wow. Her eyes were filling with tears. She was genuinely sad over Jizan's betrayal. I really wanted to tease her relentlessly.

Just then, Gruel urged us from above.

"Are you a magician? Stop talking and get to work! At this rate, hundreds of people will be eating dinner underground!"

"...Hey, Jizan. Want to make up?"

Forget Jizan, I did not want to work.

Jizan would probably get over its mood eventually, but it seemed likely to reject the regressor's hand for the time being. I had no choice but to work too. Despite having fought a historic battle, Azzy, the regressor, and I struggled out of the pit without getting a proper rest.

But an unfamiliar guest was waiting for us.

"Lord Shei. There you are."

A man in a purple cape glided forward. He was draped from head to toe in luxurious fur I had not seen in Ende, and wore so many accessories that there was hardly any space left on his body. His colors seemed different from everyone else's. Looking like he wore the value of several houses on his person, he bowed deeply toward the regressor.

"I am Manager Moore of the Purple Merchant Guild. I offer my congratulations on your victory in Ende, my lord, and as agreed, we plan to begin the trade route leading to Ende."

"Make sure you keep the agreement."

"A merchant guild does not betray trust. The agreement will be fulfilled in good faith."

The Empire had seven merchant guilds permitted to cross its borders. From red to purple. Named after the colors of light, the seven guilds controlled the economy through tremendous wealth and organizational power under the Empire's protection.

And each merchant guild "sponsored" a duchy.

Logistics, economies, currencies, and more. They managed all manner of things, making them equal to, or even greater than, the duchies. They were the most durable, yet most comfortable leash the Empire placed around the duchies' necks.

And now, the manager of one such sponsoring merchant guild had come in person.

"...However, there is one matter I must inform you of first."

Manager Moore explained why someone of his stature had come himself.

"One of the Five Tiger Generals of the Lilac Duchy is marching toward Ende."

Footnotes:

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