WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 525: Crossing, and Crossing Again

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Heart's potion dramatically boosted my physical abilities. Of course, it also made sure I paid the price.

People may be slippery, but the body is honest. If it does the work, the consequences are bound to come back in equal measure.

But who am I? A master at dodging payments. I'm an expert at settling debts with something else or paying them late. After deceiving others all my life, I suppose I had finally learned how to deceive my own body too.

"Haah. I feel great."

"Hey! Put your arm back in before you talk! Your shoulder's dislocated!"

Huh?

When I glanced down, my right shoulder sat about half a handspan lower than my left. It wouldn't move no matter how hard I tried to raise it. My shoulder had come completely out of its socket.

Still, that was cheap for the price of Heart's potion.

"What's the big deal? If I used that much strength, a dislocation is only natural. I just need to pop it back in."

"Don't you use energy arts? You could've stopped that with even a little energy in your shoulder!"

"I don't have that kind of energy. You know I can't properly use energy arts."

"Oh, right. You barely have any inner energy."

'It's impossible to gauge him. He's so talented at everything that I naturally assumed he could use energy arts too. Now that I think about it, that's really strange. Gathering inner energy is a skill too. It makes no sense for him to be good at everything else but have no inner energy at all.'

You had seen me weak plenty of times, yet you still overestimated me? This was my full strength, even strength beyond my limits. Don't give me this kind of role again.

"Well, Jizan saved my life several times."

"Woof! Woof woof! Me, woof woof woof woof!"

"...And Azzy helped too."

"Woof!"

Azzy puffed out her chest proudly.

No, you shouldn't be proud. I helped you fight that wolf, so you should be grateful to me.

Still...

"Azzy!"

"Woof?"

The regressor urgently called Azzy's name. Azzy looked at her with wide eyes after being called so suddenly.

It was no different from her usual reaction. Yet the regressor opened her mouth with difficulty.

"Azzy, just now... didn't you become a little blurry?"

"Woof?"

Azzy tilted her head, wearing the same clueless expression as always. But the regressor had clearly seen it.

Azzy had become translucent, if only for a moment.

"Hughes... did you see it?"

"Yes. I saw it."

"Why... is Azzy trying to disappear?"

The regressor knew the reason too. Even so, she asked because she wanted to find a reason Azzy would not disappear.

"It's not that strange. A Beast King represents a species. But Azzy gave up being the King of Dogs and made the wolf a complete wolf. Azzy doesn't represent anything now."

"So she's disappearing because of that? That's strange! She was fine until now, but she starts disappearing after handing over the crown...!"

"Listen to the end. It's the opposite."

"What?"

Honestly, I didn't know either. But Azzy had not disappeared yet, which meant there had to be a reason she remained.

"If she were going to disappear, she should have vanished the moment she handed over the crown. But Azzy has continued to exist since then. Right now, she represents something, even if we don't know what it is."

"Then why did she become blurry?"

"Who knows? Maybe she represents something blurry."

"Something blurry? What's that supposed to mean?"

"How would I know? Don't you have any ideas, Shei?"

"I don't know either. In Azzy's case..."

'Even after helping Azzy kill the King of Wolves, she only remained the King of Dogs and continued helping humans. I have no idea whether this change is good or bad... But one thing is certain. This never happened in the previous cycle.'

Hey, hold on. What did you mean, in Azzy's case? What was that supposed to mean, regressor? At this rate, you would reveal that you were a regressor before long.

Yes. Just reveal it already. I didn't want to keep walking a tightrope while reading your thoughts. Come clean, then let me ask you openly!

'Ugh. But I can't explain the previous cycle. It would be a problem if they didn't believe in regression, but it would also be a problem if they did. The moment they learn I regressed, their focus will shift from the world to my regression.'

Still, I couldn't let her notice that I knew about her regression. The moment she became conscious of my mind-reading, she would hesitate to think around me.

Fine. Since things had turned out this way, I would work on earning the regressor's trust instead.

I had been focused on my own affairs for a while. I had seen Marquis Lapaeno's army arrive, but I had already heard the news and paid it little attention.

That was why I reacted a little late when the fighting broke out.

"W-What? What is that lunatic doing?!"

I turned at the murmur of voices and saw Gruel fighting Marquis Lapaeno while Duke Erectus ran toward us with his guard dog in his arms. I didn't know what had happened, but a fight had clearly broken out.

The regressor held out her hand.

"Hughes. Jizan!"

"Here."

"Good... Aah! Why would you throw Jizan?!"

"You asked for Jizan. You even held out your hands so you could catch it."

The regressor had not doubted for a moment that I would throw Jizan or that she would catch it. She was so certain that, despite my hesitation, I ended up tossing Jizan to her.

Jizan's anger seemed not to have subsided, and it refused to let the regressor hold it.

"Ugh. You hold Jizan for now! I'll see what I can do with Skywarbler!"

"Wait a moment. My right arm won't go up, so I'll hold Jizan with my left hand."

"Why haven't you put your shoulder back in yet?!"

"I haven't had time! Then you put it back in, Shei!"

"I'll do it, so hold still!"

"Wait. Somehow, I don't trust you when you say you'll put it back in. I'll do it myself."

"What's wrong with me?! I can put a shoulder back in..."

'Come to think of it, have I ever put someone else's shoulder back in place? Almost nobody around me has dislocated an arm... Still, how hard could it be? You just use force, right?'

"...I think?"

"I'm not letting you do it!"

As I bickered with the regressor, Azzy suddenly tapped my shoulder.

It happened to be the injured shoulder, so I groaned and turned to her.

"Azzy. This shoulder hurts, so be careful when you touch..."

"Woof."

"Aaaaah!"

Azzy grabbed my shoulder and sharply twisted it. The sound of bone sliding back into place rang through my body. I screamed like a little girl and shoved Azzy away with my right arm.

"Hey! That hurt! What was that for?!"

"Healing!"

"What healing could a dog possibly... Huh?"

My right arm moved?

Had Azzy just set my bone? Since when had a dog been able to do that?

The regressor looked regretfully at my now-functional arm.

"I could've done that too."

'It would've been good experience to try setting one.'

I'm not experience points!

"Forget it. Let's get over there!"

Gruel and Marquis Lapaeno were fighting. On the surface, Gruel was moving quickly and driving the marquis back, but the battle was actually going the complete opposite way.

Marquis Lapaeno, who left slashes hanging in space, was the natural enemy of someone as fast as Gruel. The marquis steadily occupied more of the space around them, pressuring Gruel.

If it were only the marquis, the regressor joining the battle might turn the tide. But the problem came after that.

"Wait, Shei. There's an army over there."

The regressor's eyes briefly turned orange before returning to normal. Using the Seven-Colored Eyes, her Overlooking Orange Eye instantly estimated their numbers, and she clicked her tongue.

"Five hundred. Every one of them has learned energy arts!"

"What do we do? Fight?"

"Let's stop them first! We can think about what comes after later... Huh?"

At that moment, Duke Erectus, who had been running with the injured guard dog in his arms, spotted the regressor and me. He immediately ran toward us.

Blood streamed behind him as he approached, and even the regressor went pale.

"Damn it! Hey, adventurer! Save Welshi!"

"What?"

"There's no time! Welshi is dying! Hurry, you've got some way to save her, don't you?!"

Of course, the regressor had a way. But because of the image Duke Erectus had built for himself, she looked at him suspiciously rather than helping.

"You're the one who brought the duchy's army here."

"No! You people stopped me! Damn it, there's no time for this! Hurry..."

Duke Erectus's voice had become almost a scream.

It was unfortunate, but the regressor had no reason to save Welshi. Many beastkin had already died or been injured in the fight against the wolves. Even the regressor could not save them all one by one.

Making medicine in a huge cauldron and distributing it to the injured was the full extent of her kindness.

More importantly, she had to stop Marquis Lapaeno. That was the path that would prevent greater sacrifices.

"Hurry... please..."

Well, that was the regressor. I was interested in this man.

"Shei. Go. I'll take care of him."

"Huh? Okay."

The regressor stepped forward without hesitation, while I stayed behind to tend to Welshi.

Duke Erectus had apparently administered some first aid, wrapping her wounds in bandages, but it was nowhere near enough. So much blood had soaked through that the bandages looked like silk woven from blood.

Unless I were the Healer Sage, reviving Welshi was beyond my abilities.

Even so, I would try. It was what he wanted.

I used bloodcraft to force blood back into her body, then pulled loose some thread to prepare to stitch the wounds closed. Her body was resilient because she had learned energy arts, but there was no guarantee my crude surgery could save her.

Anyone could see that she looked much closer to death than life.

Still, Duke Erectus desperately denied the truth before his eyes and placed his faint hope in me.

"You can save her, right?"

"Honestly, it's unlikely. I'm not a doctor, and even if I were, do you think I could treat a wound inflicted by a Master?"

"Is there no way?"

"There is, but... it's far too precious to use on a mere dog beastkin."

Duke Erectus's face brightened at once.

"What do you need? I'll pay any price! Just save Welshi somehow!"

"It's too valuable... Wouldn't it be faster to get yourself another guard dog?"

"Damn it, what are you talking about?! I'm telling you to save Welshi!"

"What? I thought any guard dog would do. Beastkin are simply beings born from the Queen's womb to serve humans. Welshi has served enough, so let her go now."

"How can you say that?! Welshi has lived with me for nearly twenty years! She can't be replaced with anything else!"

"If she was that precious, you should've treated her better."

My words flew into his chest like a dagger.

Duke Erectus clenched his teeth, yet he could not protest or even think of laying a hand on me. I was the one holding Welshi's life in my hands.

"You humiliated her in front of people, mocked her for being useless, and whipped her. She even died for you twice, yet you never showed any gratitude. You never saved her either, but now you're asking someone else to save her. Don't you have any shame?"

"I know! But... she's still my guard dog! She's mine! Can't I treat and cherish something that's mine?!"

The best reason he could come up with was that she was his?

Those deeply rooted thoughts really didn't change easily. Still...

"I need my guard dog more than I need those damned humans!"

At least he was honest about his feelings.

I looked at him as he shed tears and said, "Your wish came true."

"What?"

"You wanted to find someone who would recognize your worth, didn't you? It seems you thought beastkin had no value because they were too lowly. But losing her makes you realize how precious she is, doesn't it?"

He had never considered a guard dog human. Just as people did not live worrying about the gaze of a dog they raised, he had treated them badly as if their opinions did not matter.

That was how he had been until he heard Welshi's feelings while fleeing Orcma.

Only after becoming a fugitive himself had he come to see Welshi as a fellow person.

"You already had someone who would look at you and acknowledge you. What you sought was right beside you all along. It's a lesson worthy of a classic fairy tale."

"Then..."

"Now you'll lose her."

"What?"

Mm. It was beyond my abilities. Without holy power or a vampire's treatment, I couldn't save her. What a shame.

I shook my head and stood. My gesture carried more than enough meaning, and Duke Erectus's face filled with despair.

There was nothing to be done. At least he had realized it in the end.

"Woof."

"Huh?"

As I was about to leave him behind, Azzy barked while looking at Welshi and Duke Erectus.

"You want to save her?"

"Who? Welshi? I do want to save her, but I don't have the ability."

"If you did? Save?"

I would do that much. If I had the ability, that was.

Everyone knew how to carry a boulder to the top of a mountain. Pick it up or roll it, then climb one step at a time.

But only a handful of people could actually accomplish it, and even they would not do it without an enormous reward.

So no matter how much someone begged me to save her, I couldn't grant that wish.

"Woof!"

Had she even heard my answer? Azzy placed a front paw on Welshi's back, then began licking her wound without hesitation.

I understood how she felt, but the healing ability possessed by the Beast King amounted to no more than disinfectant. Azzy's actions were no more than licking up the blood.

It was better than letting it keep flowing, but it wasn't enough to save Welshi...

"Huh."

A miracle happened.

A white glow formed, and Welshi's wounds began to reverse.

"Welshi! Can you hear me? Welshi!"

"...Master."

"Yes. It's me! Damn it. Why did you have to step in..."

It was power closer to restoration than healing.

Azzy had performed a miracle. Blood stained the corners of her mouth, yet she stuck out her tongue and looked at me with her usual harmless expression.

Footnotes:

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