WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 61

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A Wholesome Life

The classroom was already on the quiet side, but after what I said, it felt like sound itself had been murdered. The regressor stared at me with her mouth hanging open, and Azzy was still looking down at Mister Puppet with gloomy eyes.

All the while, I stayed on one knee in a reverent pose.

It was a childish old line you would expect to find in a museum, but it worked perfectly on an ancient being older than most national treasures. In the case of a twelfth-century girl vampire, even knowing this was all an act, she was deeply pleased.

'You know how to recite flattering lines. Well then, I know this is a joke, but let me hear a little more.'

"...I permit it."

"Thank you, my lady."

Without a moment's hesitation, I kissed the back of the hand she offered. Caught up in the mood, the vampire accepted even that without displeasure.

I picked up an empty chair, set it down low across from her, then bowed and asked for permission one more time. Only after she nodded did I sit opposite her, half a beat late.

'Hmmm. You know your etiquette pretty well.'

She was deeply immersed. Like someone crying at a musical or a stage play, she knew perfectly well it was an act, yet her emotions still overflowed.

With sensitivity like this, how could she say she was fine? If her heart still beat, I could not imagine what would happen.

Either way, I kept acting.

"If I may ask, which house's young lady are you?"

"None."

She answered briefly, but her thoughts were anything but brief.

'When I was roaming the world, many approached me, bewitched by my appearance. When I gave this answer to those who assumed I was a noble, their reactions were always one of three kinds. They either changed their attitude and looked down on me, treated me like a servant, or pretended to be special and said they were fine with it, all while putting on a hypocritical act.'

As if testing me, she tapped the table with her finger, urging me to answer.

'Let's see. Even if this whole situation is an act, how will you answer?'

I had misjudged.

A twelfth-century girl's sensitivity was far beyond my expectations. Why had she been so slow to remember this was all acting? Was she too immersed in the role?

Well, there was nothing wrong with committing to a role. I matched her energy.

"As expected, you were someone sent down from the heavens."

"Hm?"

"Are you truly a fairy? If not, how could beauty that seems to have come from beyond this world appear so suddenly, with no context and no rumor at all? I am fortunate. I was the first to discover the beautiful fairy heaven gifted to earth."

'...Not bad....'

It was an absurd level of overreaction, enough to make the listener cringe.

But my counterpart was a vampire carrying old-world sensibilities into the present. Lines this embarrassingly dramatic had once been normal conversation.

"I regret to disappoint you, but that is not what I meant. I meant I have no family worth boasting of. My father came from a collateral branch of a nameless house. He left that family as if driven out and started a separate household. In other words, I have no family name to speak of."

"Ah. So you were human, not a fairy. Part of me is relieved, while another part falls into despair. Someone as beautiful as you surely already has a knight by her side, brave as a lion and noble as a duke. Eyes blazing, ready for any jackal that might covet his treasure. A man like me, with nothing but the clothes on my back, could never have even one second of a chance...."

I placed a hand over my chest and sighed in sorrow. The vampire gave a small laugh and replied.

"Just because I said nothing, you start guessing as you please. Did I not say I have no family to boast of?"

No family to boast of. She had never had the kind of relationship where she could share names with someone.

In old phrasing, that meant she was not involved with anyone.

And in every age, "I am not seeing anyone" always carried passive approval.

"Then the whole world must be blind! How could they leave someone like you alone! Or perhaps all the other men, besides me, formed a pact? To do nothing but watch the most beautiful flower on the highest cliff, never touching it?"

"Heh. Nonsense."

She laughed, then answered with a self-mocking smile.

"Perhaps they noticed some other disqualifying flaw in me."

"That is exactly what blindness is called. Beauty bears no sin, and elegance has no class. People prattle on that they cannot grasp someone's essence while sitting face to face, yet those same people are the worldly types who only care about money, power, or bloodline."

As I said that, I reached out and held her hand. She no longer pulled away. If anything, she even squeezed back a little.

"I trust my eyes that hold you, my ears that hold your voice, and this hand touching yours right now."

"...Even knowing what I am."

"Whatever it is, I am not afraid."

I said it shortly and firmly, then let my gaze drift to the corner and added:

"The only thing I fear is that weak and lacking as I am, I might fail to satisfy you, might fail to fill your heart. That alone."

"Arrogant. Did you think someone strong and exceptional could fill it easily? Did you take my heart for a merchant's scale?"

The vampire, who had been listening quietly, suddenly raised her voice. I pretended to flinch, and she scolded me with a deliberately angry expression.

"A heart can only be filled by time. Whatever one's nature, however little money one has, none of that matters."

"Then will you permit me to stay by your side, so I can fill you with my time?"

"Very well. Try."

I stood up. As I walked around the desk toward her, she sat upright with her chin raised, staring straight ahead.

I sat in the seat to her left as if it had been mine from the beginning, and took her left hand with my left. Since I used my far hand, our bodies naturally drew closer. Smoothly, I extended my right arm and wrapped it around her small shoulder, small enough to fit in one hand.

If I pulled her in now, our bodies would touch. Even so, she did not resist.

Hmm. Pulling her in like this would be fun, but it would drift from what I had planned.

Regressor, are you really just going to watch?

"S, stop! How far are you planning to take this?!"

Perfect timing, regressor.

Face burning red, she slammed the desk. The flow broke. I smirked, stood up, and raised both hands.

The acting was over. The air that had briefly melted into sweetness turned cold in an instant. I flipped my attitude like turning over a hand, smiled, and approached the vampire.

"Trainee Tyrkanzyaka."

She answered half a beat late.

"U, um?"

"Honestly, you got a little drunk on the mood, right?"

For a brief moment, she looked utterly confused. My attitude had changed too abruptly.

Still, the mind follows the body. The turmoil lasted only a moment. A vampire with no heartbeat quickly composed herself, and her stalled blood flow cooled her body in an instant.

In almost her usual relaxed tone, she said:

"W, what are you saying? It was just amusing entertainment, so I played along."

"Entertainment?"

"Yes. Entertainment."

Entertainment, my foot. A vampire with twelfth-century chastity values acting like this? Give me a break.

"So it was just momentary entertainment?"

"Of course. You said this was all acting, so I approached it lightly as well."

She nodded to herself as if trying to convince herself. Pretending to be calm, she kept her back straight.

With a mischievous grin, I swaggered closer.

"Oh really. So Trainee Tyrkanzyaka is the type who gladly melts into the arms of an unrelated man for a bit of entertainment? You were that lighthearted?"

"What are you saying? I would never."

If she said "never," she contradicted herself. Her behavior from a moment ago would no longer stand.

I always think this, but the one who pushes a person into the abyss is always that person. Why say something you cannot handle?

"I, I told you. I knew it was acting and, ahem, took it lightly."

She rushed to explain, but it had no effect now. I crossed my arms and muttered:

"Wow, once one psychological hurdle drops, people change fast. Is this really okay? You used to scold me for even holding Puppy's hand."

"Bark?"

Azzy reacted when her name came up. Perfect. Time to show what she had just done with me.

"Azzy, paw."

"Bark."

Azzy immediately offered her paw, and I took it. While stroking the soft paw with hidden claws, I watched the vampire's reaction.

As expected, she looked at us like it was indecent. Even though she had just sat side by side with me.

"You see? This is exactly what Trainee Tyrkanzyaka did a moment ago."

"T, that cannot be! Slander!"

"Trainee Shei. How was it? Please be fair."

The vampire and the regressor met eyes. The regressor glanced away slightly, then nodded shyly. That alone was stronger evidence than anything else.

Cornered at last, the vampire covered her face with her parasol and cried out.

"Fine! I let my guard down for a moment! I admit it! But!"

Whip. The tip of the parasol pointed at me. From behind it, she shouted resentfully:

"So what if I did! You have already seen inside my chest anyway!"

At that moment, the regressor slipped and fell in place. She went down in the ugliest possible way, then flailed and looked over at us.

'What? Saw what? Inside her chest? What in the world did you two do?'

Oh dear. She had gotten a very wrong idea.

Still cornered, the vampire kept talking as if she did not care that the regressor was listening.

"Your fingers have touched me countless times already, and just this morning I received your service! What exactly am I supposed to guard against now?!"

'This morning too?! What the hell? What did you do this morning?!'

So noisy. One side speaking and the other side thinking, it was making my head spin.

"I feel awkward saying this, but Trainee Tyrkanzyaka tends to give her heart too easily. I think it is because she is immortal and very strong, but these days, if you live like that, you will get played in no time. Try building a habit of suspicion."

"By your logic, I should never have exposed my heart to you in the first place!"

"Oh, correct answer."

I was genuinely moved that she understood so quickly.

"How do you know what kind of person I am and reveal everything? If I ever had bad intentions, even Trainee Tyrkanzyaka would suffer greatly. Opening your heart to others, or opening your chest like that, is just that dangerous."

"But you did not do that."

She lifted her parasol slightly. Under its pitch-black shade, her glowing red eyes turned to me in reproach.

"Even with countless chances, you never poured malice into me. And you still tell me to be suspicious?"

"There is no guarantee I will not do it in the future."

"...Hah, fine."

The vampire sprang to her feet. Unusually, she used her own two feet and strode straight to the training room door.

"As you say. From now on, I will doubt everything."

With that, she left the classroom. Darkness surged behind her and slammed the door shut.

Once she was gone, the regressor, who had been standing there with her mouth open, stiffly turned her head and started pointing at me.

"Y, y, y, you."

"There. You believe me now, right? I planted suspicion, so now no matter what Finlay says, she will filter it once before accepting it-"

"No! Not that! What exactly have you been doing with Tyrkanzyaka?!"

Huh?

I planted suspicion so she would keep some distance from Finlay, exactly like you wanted. What are you upset about?

She talks like she is cool, but she gets way too immersed too.

I sighed and answered.

"As of today, I became your new stepfather. Try calling me Father."

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