WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 554: Offer Up the Heart

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Two voices overlapped.

My ears were not malfunctioning. I could hear the words Mouth intended to say and the words coming from her mouth separately.

In other words, Mouth's lips were moving independently of her. Like the puppet the black mage had controlled.

'Offering God. Speak through my mouth.'

The difference was that Mouth still had her own consciousness. And that she was lending her mouth to a being that was not here.

Rashy hurriedly raised his right arm toward the Offering God's shaman and bowed.

"Offering God. By the right arm you granted me, I swear to heed Mouth's will."

““Right Arm, my power, my skill, my most exquisitely crafted limb. When Right Arm wished to see the knowledge beyond the steppe, I permitted it all.””

Come to think of it, Rashy had studied abroad in the military state. Right Arm seemed to hold a more important position than I had thought, so he had probably needed permission to leave as well.

““Since the Queen, a person from beyond the steppe has come to this land with mysterious power. Right Arm's mate is one Right Arm brought from beyond the steppe. I have permitted the union of Right Arm and its mate.””

I skimmed through Mouth's memories, but nothing had changed. Reading a puppet's memories would not let me reach its controller's memories, and reading Mouth's memories gave me no clue what the Offering God truly was.

Still, the way a puppet moved could at least offer an indirect clue to its controller's feelings. As I read Mouth's memories, I roughly grasped what the Offering God wanted.

"We've decided to hold the wedding soon."

““This is my will. No limb shall speak against it.””

The Offering God... seemed to want Rashy and Callis to marry.

The immortals did not seem pleased with Callis, but they had never seemed intent on stopping the marriage itself. This must have been the result of the Offering God's will.

Mm. That made sense.

...And I thought I was beginning to see what the Offering God was.

"Offering God. My will is also the Offering God's will. I swear on my right arm that this will certainly come to pass."

Rashy thumped his chest twice. Mouth smiled in satisfaction and continued.

““Now I shall speak of the will offered by Right Arm's mate, who wishes to set fire to my forest.””

"Ghk."

Even the Offering God seemed a little uncomfortable with this, judging by the sharpness in its tone. I could not read its thoughts, but I could sense its faint emotions.

““My Right Arm shall point out where to burn. You shall set fire to that place alone, without straying even an inch. Not a grain of ash may leave that boundary.””

"Oh! If that's all...!"

““I am not finished.””

Mouth coldly cut Rashy off and spoke toward the other side of the tent.

““Offer ten sacrifices to me.””

Even Rashy was greatly startled by that demand. He stammered at the wholly unexpected request.

"Ten, ten sacrifices?"

““For my limbs to multiply, I must grow. Ten. Choose ten and offer them to me.””

Mouth said no more and shut her mouth tightly, as though there was nothing left to say. When she felt her connection to the Offering God sever, she took out a veil and covered her mouth.

"This is the Offering God's will. Right Arm must step forward and carry it out."

"I, the Offering God's Right Arm, shall carry out its will."

Though confused, Rashy raised his right arm and bowed. Mouth smiled in satisfaction, then slowly withdrew as if her business was done.

I looked at Rashy, who showed no sign of getting up, and asked, "Ten sacrifices? Does that mean we have to offer the people we just rescued from the black mage as sacrifices? Like the black mage did?"

"No. An offering to the Offering God differs from a sacrifice. It does not mean giving up a life. It means receiving eternal life."

"Receiving it?"

"Yes. If you offer your body to the Offering God, you gain immortality like ours."

Hmm. Maybe that was why it was called a god. It differed from the sacrifices an ordinary black mage offered. Perhaps a god needed at least that much ability to be called a god.

Perhaps... what separated a god from a black mage was not status or origin, but ability alone?

"By immortality, you mean a body that can't die, like yours, Rashy?"

"That is correct. You must go through the process of offering your flesh and becoming one with a great soul, but if you endure it, you become an immortal like us."

"You gain immortality by offering just a little part of your body? That's an incredible bargain. The refugees who have been weakened so badly might even welcome it."

There were about ten people who were just waiting to die anyway. The number fit perfectly.

"Honestly, as an outsider, I can't help doubting the Offering God's intentions."

"The Offering God is not an evil god. Quite the opposite. It is a great will that shares its power with our tribe and grants us powerful vitality. How could it be evil?"

"That's true. Whatever its intentions, it's only human to be glad when something good happens."

It had permitted the slash-and-burn field, and it seemed willing to accept the refugees. Good was good.

"Hm? My right arm is twitching...! It must be about to point out the place to burn!"

Rashy gripped his independently twitching right hand and hurriedly got to his feet. Rashy's right arm was the Offering God. Normally, it was his faithful right arm, but at times it moved regardless of its owner's will. At that moment, Rashy's right arm was moving him to fulfill the Offering God's will.

"Rashy. I'll come with you. We need to survey and mark out exactly where it points."

"That would be best! Follow me!"

Callis followed Rashy out. Since they were supposedly a married couple, he naturally wrapped an arm around her waist as they left, and it was an unpleasant sight. They might go out to survey the land and come back after surveying each other's bodies instead.

Then my task was... choosing ten people who would become immortals?

I was not exactly the refugees' representative, but there was no one else here who could choose ten people. Work created jobs. At that moment, I was the Offering God's messenger, selecting immortals.

"Um, Teacher. We heard earlier that it was possible to become an immortal..."

The refugees who had overheard Mouth's words approached me. Their eyes gleamed with the desire to become immortals.

It was amusing. People who had nearly died as sacrifices were volunteering to become sacrifices themselves. Offering gravely ill people as sacrifices might save their lives, but their desire for immortality had painted over such calculations.

I read their desires with interest and asked, "All right. Who here doesn't want to die?"

* * *

"Whew. I didn't stay here just to do odd jobs..."

"Woof, woof."

The regressor and Azzy both looked tired after their continuous work.

It was not physical exhaustion. Neither the regressor nor Azzy would complain over a few days of overwork. They looked tired because of mental strain, not physical exhaustion.

"Starting a fire is easy, but keeping it from spreading takes concentration. We can't let anyone get hurt, either. It's nothing but annoying work."

"Mouths, lots! Me, busy!"

The regressor set up a barrier to keep the flames burning the forest from spreading outside. It was not difficult with Skywarbler's power, but it was tiring work. Even after the fire had been started with magic, small embers continued to burn quietly beneath the ashes. It took an entire day to tamp the ashes down thoroughly and make sure no lingering embers remained.

Azzy, trying to help, kept bringing back birds and wild boars like a hunting dog. Even if it was the King of Dogs' hunt, a dog was still a dog. She could only carry one at a time, and the meat vanished like melting snow. Then Azzy would look at them as though they were gluttonous freeloaders and head out to hunt again.

The regressor and Azzy's efforts had greatly helped Mortal Village prosper, even if they were tired because of it.

"It feels like there's even more work because there aren't many healthy people in the village. How long are we going to keep this up?"

Azzy was sensitive to people's emotions, and the regressor was an ordinary person. Both were affected by their surroundings. Being among injured and sick people naturally made them irritable and tired.

'Maiél's blessing is supposed to guide me down a path that helps me... Is this really right? For now, I'm helping the village because that seems like the most natural course.'

The regressor was not normally the sort to work while putting up with her own exhaustion, but she trusted the Holy Maiden's blessing and was obediently volunteering for the time being.

Maybe the Celestial God's truly impressive power was not its revelations, but its ability to make the regressor move.

"By the way, we've finished our mission, right? Haven't we heard anything from the Holy Maiden?"

"Exactly. I have my doubts too. It was resolved too easily for an ancient evil, and it's suspicious that there hasn't been a revelation when there should have been one."

"Do they think we're their lackeys? If they tell us to wait, do we have to keep waiting? Let's go demand an answer right now."

The regressor stopped me as I tried to spring to my feet.

"Let's stay a little longer. There is still work left to do."

"Work? What else is there?"

"That. Their wedding is still left."

"Oh, that."

You could not begin slash-and-burn farming immediately after setting the forest on fire. The ash-covered land needed to be turned over and left fallow. And now that the Offering God had given permission, it was time for Rashy and Callis to hold the wedding they had put off.

Callis, military state to the bone, decided to handle two projects efficiently at once.

"So they'll stay underground while the land lies fallow? Just like someone from the military state."

"Military state or not, it's efficient. Besides, they asked us to dig a tunnel so they can move around freely while they're buried. You know about that, right?"

"I do. It was my suggestion."

The plan was to slip out periodically and tend the land while it lay fallow, making efficient use of their time. I had suggested it, but it was pretty ruthless.

"I knew it. It was oddly petty for the two of them to come up with it themselves."

"What?"

"Yaaawn. Then after a little while... I'll dig a tunnel... and get some sleep."

The regressor let out a huge yawn and left the tent. Azzy had already claimed the best spot and was nodding off.

Well, everything seemed to be wrapping up. That meant it was time for me to do what I had to do as well.

I got up, stretched, looked around the tent, and quietly stepped outside. The scent of smoke blowing in from afar tickled my nose.

The Mortal Village people gathered around the burned forest were enjoying a festival. They roasted potatoes in the lingering fire, brought lye water to wash themselves, and smeared black ash over their faces as they drew pictures. Only humans remained where the forest had burned.

Still, slash-and-burn farming meant burning things. Crops grew well for the first few years when trees and grass were burned and crops planted over their remains, but once all the nutrients were used up, the land quickly became barren. It did not matter to people who would soon leave, but it was unpleasant for those who called this land home.

Amid the strange tension, I walked toward the group of barbarians gathered awkwardly off to one side. Belonging to neither side, they had been waiting only for me. They were nervously wiping their hands on leaves, but when they spotted me, their faces brightened and they approached.

"Is it time?"

"Yes. Now is the best time, while everyone's attention is on the burning forest."

They were the people who had volunteered to offer their bodies to become immortals. The Offering God's sacrifices.

A few refugees who had overheard Mouth's proposal had kept it secret from the others and monopolized the opportunity. The excuse was that letting more refugees learn about it would only cause more confusion. It was an excuse so transparent I could see right through it, but I respected their wishes and decided to take them to the Offering God.

It did not matter who they were, after all.

I returned their awkward smiles with a fellow conspirator's smile.

"Let's go. To offer your bodies to the Offering God."

Footnotes:

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