WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 626: How to Live in a Right-Handed World

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The Cyan Tower Master smiled as though this was exactly what she had expected. I sighed and shrugged.

"Lankart says you're still better than he is, Cyan Tower Master. I can see why."

"So you behaved similarly in the military state?"

"Much less so. I was younger then, and the military state didn't accommodate my circumstances. Compared to that, this place is much more comfortable, since you do."

I had been found out, so there was nothing to be done. The Cyan Tower Master must have spoken because she was certain.

"I'm truly grateful to Senior Avant-garde. I've been doing my best to treat her well."

"I wasn't trying to scold you. Avant-garde has reached a higher level thanks to you, so it's mutually beneficial. And because you've been stirring things up wherever you go, lively exchanges have sprung up within the Crystal Tower as well. As your teacher, I'm rather proud."

Had the Cyan Tower Master mentioned it merely to satisfy her intellectual vanity? Rather than being wary of me or criticizing me, she looked at me as though I had done well. That was a relief. Some people found this sort of thing offensive.

'Talent for dealing with people is rare, so it took me longer to notice. Lankart's hint was useful, but even without it, I would certainly have noticed. He is certainly exceptional. Heh. He's fun to learn about.'

That was probably because the Cyan Tower Master was such an exceptional and arrogant mage.

It was not some grand secret, nor was it directed at the Cyan Tower Master. Still, she had figured me out. At least for now, I had lost on points.

Pretending to ease my tension, I took a sip of tea and asked, "Does it bother you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm taking advantage of Senior Avant-garde's affection."

"Oh my. Do you take me for someone that naive?"

"It might not bother someone as coolly rational as you, Cyan Tower Master, but I can't help worrying."

"You must have been through plenty of messy situations. It's fine. You're clearly talented, and your presence benefits the tower. Even if you toy with the feelings of one cute female mage, so what? As long as you're both happy."

It was fortunate that the Cyan Tower Master was so cool and open-minded. She might even cheer me on. She did not seem like the type to interfere.

"That only matters if I climb the Dragon Gate."

"Even if you fail at the Dragon Gate because you cannot solve your mana problem, your abilities would let you enter any tower in the lower realm."

"The Crystal Tower would be best. I'll find a way."

"I'll look forward to it."

Our business was finished. I drained the rest of my tea and stood.

Layered magic circles and a bloodstone high crystal. Even with both shortcuts, I was still far from where I needed to be. I had to think of another method.

Could I really find a method that even the tower's master had failed to discover? I was the King of Humanity. I was simply good at handling fields humanity had already developed, not someone who could forge through uncharted territory.

As I was about to say goodbye and leave, the Cyan Tower Master added, "Oh, my disciple. I forgot to tell you. There's one more piece of good news."

"You forgot? That can't be right."

"You're right. It isn't exactly good enough news for you to be pleased. Lankart has finished the investigation and returned. He should be at the Intelligence Bureau by now."

"...Hah. That is certainly awkward news."

It was not bad news, exactly. Still, I did not feel happy about it. I should go see him.

The floating castle was a city where everyone lived with their feet planted on its shell through gravity magic. There was no horizon like the one visible from the lower realm. Instead, the other side of the city curved overhead in an arch. There was no need to climb high for a better view. If I wanted to see farther, I only had to raise my head.

Unlike the sun, which pretended to be impartial while neglecting people more and more as latitude increased, the light from the floating castle's artificial sun shone on the ground with perfect fairness. Its shadowless gaze had no blind spots. With the artificial sun overhead, it was always noon in the floating castle.

After carefully looking around, I found the Intelligence Bureau. Its location was easy to identify. Every important facility in the floating castle had high ceilings. I only had to count the buildings closest to the artificial sun.

Since I could not use gravity magic, I trudged over to the Intelligence Bureau. I had never had business there before, but if I showed the insignia the Cyan Tower Master had given me, I should be able to get inside.

"Hui."

Before I could look for him, Lankart found me first. Oh. That saved me the trouble.

"You're here? It took you quite a whi..."

"Are you the King of Humanity?"

Huh? You knew too? Ah, he said he had gathered information at the Tree of Origin.

Seriously. By now, fewer people must be unaware than aware. I admitted it without resistance.

"That's right."

"Why?"

Why else? Because I was the King of Humanity.

That did not seem to be what Lankart wanted to ask. Looking disappointed, he grabbed his forehead and shook his head.

"This is absurd. You're the King of Humanity."

"Why? What's wrong with the King of Humanity?"

One of the one-of-a-kind Beast Kings, the representative of humanity, the dominant species on land. It sounded impressive just hearing it. Was it not a status that should ease some of his inferiority complex? What was the problem?

"You... You, whom I lost to, are such a banal right-hander? That can't be."

"What?"

"A mere Beast King. Nothing more than a conceptual being that has already been defined. The most worthless kind of right-hander..."

"Why are you suddenly throwing a fit? Do you want to fight?"

I had only said it jokingly, but Lankart did exactly that. He casually waved a hand. There was not a trace of strength in the motion, yet a massive vortex appeared in an instant and swept me up, sending me rolling about ten meters away.

"Hah."

Lankart had not been well lately. What was this all of a sudden? It was like his whole world had been denied.

Because I was the King of Humanity? Seriously. If I were the real King of Humanity, I would not even feel wronged. There was an outright superior version called Big Sis, and I had lost all my power.

...Had I lost it? It had belonged to Big Sis in the first place. If anything, I was borrowing it.

"Lankart. How much did you find out? Besides you, who else knows?"

"Damn it. I was competing with a conceptual being all this time..."

"Did you meet Big Sis?"

"Hui, I have no business with you."

So he had met her. Had they spoken directly? Let me see his memories.

Lankart and the mages of the Intelligence Bureau investigated the area around the Tree of Origin. They had countless methods at their disposal. They were all mages, and Lankart was a sorcerer. They analyzed the Tree of Origin magically, recreated the phenomena that had occurred there, and listened to the testimony of those who had lived there.

The Tree of Origin had shaken violently, sending countless people falling to the ground. After that, enormous flames had consumed it. Mortally wounded, the Tree of Origin fell silent and stopped moving.

The people who lived in the World Tree's shade were overwhelmed by confusion and fear. Hundreds had fallen, their homes had burned, and their future had become uncertain. The World Tree's shade, once one of the more fertile and blessed villages in the Kingdom of Ten Thousand, should have been left writhing in pain and spreading anger...

But that was not what happened.

They had paid a terrible price and harbored deep resentment. Yet they were filled with new hope.

The King of Humanity.

Beautiful, kind, resolute, and powerful.

A true King of Humanity born in the Kingdom of Ten Thousand would lead them.

Once the mages had grasped the situation, they approached the survivors to hear their testimony.

"Do you know my younger sibling? Could you tell me a little about my sibling?"

Lankart received a visit from Big Sis.

They had not talked for long, but Big Sis must have obtained much information. Lankart also recognized at once that the person before him was the King of Humanity.

Then he realized it. His opponent was closer to a phenomenon than a person. Comparing victory and defeat had no meaning.

That was partly true. I had thought it was a fair game, but it had not been. Still, had I deceived him?

"You're awfully smug for someone who only realized it because someone else told you."

"What?"

"You're free to expect whatever you want and disappoint yourself. I don't care. But what kind of attitude is it to look at the answer sheet, then resent me because I didn't tell you first?"

I looked at answer sheets too, but I did not come whining to people about it. If I read one wrong, I only grumbled to myself.

"You tested me enough. If you still could not recognize it, that was your limit. You've even lost your chance to find the answer yourself now."

"Hui...! You deceiver!"

Lankart's domain gradually expanded. The vortex began to swallow the floating castle.

Right-Handed World. An innate arcane that erased every leftward rotation within a certain space. Innate arcane did not care about the type or strength of power. Within seconds, all movement aligned to the right. Air currents, mana, even the floating castle's rotation.

Creak, creak. Lankart's world collided with the existing one, grinding away at their surfaces. Everything left that conflicted with the right Lankart had defined collided with it and vanished.

"What? What's happening?"

"Defensive magic isn't working!"

"A spatial anomaly? Who could do something like this?"

They sensed the anomaly and tried to respond with magic, but they failed again and again within the Right-Handed World. The mana flow within their magic circles had become tangled under its influence.

"It can only be Lankart!"

"Investigator Lankart! Stop! Please!"

As though this was not the first time, mages ran out from the Intelligence Bureau, calling Lankart's name. Their footsteps soon began to veer slowly to Lankart's right.

"Investigator Lankart! Withdraw your power!"

"A world-type sorcerer cannot unleash their power in the floating castle!"

Of course, Lankart did not listen. He merely stretched a hand toward me while expanding his power. It was a small motion, but Lankart was the center of the Right-Handed World. His gesture was amplified through the raging vortex, and enormous pressure bore down on me.

"I respected you because you were left-handed. A being that defies laws. A being that shows another perspective. A being that finds a way."

"Really? I suppose I failed to live up to your expectations?"

"If you too are a conceptual being bound by laws, then even you are only an object I must analyze."

Lankart's power only continued to grow. Swept up in his innate arcane as its range expanded, I staggered forward.

Innate arcane came in different types. Innate arcane that focused on laws related to a particular object, such as Maximilien's gears, was object-type. Its range was narrow, but within that area, it wielded the most dominant authority.

The Black Tower Master and Green Tower Master's innate arcanes were similar, but slightly different. Their innate arcane was concept-type. It manifested a single concept, such as One-Way Traffic or Vanishing Point, as innate arcane. Conceptual entities were powerful, but everything outside them still followed the world's rules.

By comparison, the Cyan Tower Master's Crystal Theory and Lankart's Right-Handed World were world-type. These were extremely powerful, wide-ranging innate arcanes that forced their users' rules upon an entire space.

Of those, concept-type innate arcane was considered the most useful. It was not constrained by place or object, was tremendously powerful, and easy to apply.

But if someone asked which was the strongest, most people would choose world-type innate arcane with an unhappy expression.

I disagreed.

"Analyze? You couldn't."

Within the Right-Handed World, I barely took a step forward.

Everything in the world spun in a rightward vortex. Crossing straight through a raging vortex toward its center was extremely difficult. The force of the rightward rotation itself became a wall that blocked me.

But I had the power to erase walls.

"You're still half-doubting me. Still trying to test me. Talking about disappointment and all that. This is just an excuse, isn't it?"

Innate arcane. Right-Handed World.

It was far smaller and weaker than Lankart's, but a similar flow arose around me. I read Lankart's realization and manifested it.

There were two cores within the raging vortex. Lankart's immense flow, and the small flow centered on me. Both were the same innate arcane. The only clear difference was their power.

Still, what was rightward rotation for me could be leftward rotation for Lankart.

"I'll give you more than enough hints. Analyze it."

Between Lankart and me was rotation that was leftward for Lankart and rightward for me. The two canceled each other out. The vortex wall mutually vanished and scattered into pure force.

Outside Lankart and me was rotation that was rightward for both of us. The two reinforced each other. A flow more intense than it should have been pushed against my back.

The size of our power did not matter. Under Lankart's rules, as long as I maintained a rightward rotation centered on myself, I could approach him.

Because that was the rule of the Right-Handed World.

"You...!"

Round and round and round and round.

Caught between the two axes of rotation, I spun like a bearing. It was fine. As long as there was an observer, I did not feel dizzy.

When the rotation reached its peak.

Diamond 1. Turning the card folded between my two fingers into a skewer, I lightly pricked Lankart as naturally as if I were playing a prank.

Footnotes:

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