WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 652: Managing People Is a Secret Organization's Job

──────

I gave Shei a brief explanation of what had happened in Celsius territory. I had done so much that, after condensing it again and again, it came down to this:

"I stirred things up."

It was a terrible explanation, but Shei understood it perfectly.

"You're still like this even after coming to a land of mages? What exactly didn't you like?"

"The rules."

"No wonder they call you a barbarian! What are you, King of Humanity, a spatula? Do you have to flip everything upside down once to feel satisfied?!"

"It does feel refreshing."

"If it feels good to you, then that's... not the point! You said we had to find the Demon God! This time, I was trying to go along with what you wanted, so I went to that Temple of the Demon God I don't even like and did their dirty work! The moment a prestigious mage family acts a little high and mighty, you turn it upside down like Ende again?"

Hey. Lankart was listening right there. There was a limit to honesty. What was someone affiliated with the Temple of the Demon God supposed to think after hearing that?

'Oh. Regardless of how that woman talks, she's obedient to Hui. I like that more than I expected.'

That was what he thought. You should try developing some sense of belonging instead.

"Am I the only one? You don't like people acting high and mighty either, Shei."

"It's fine as long as they don't do it to me!"

"Isn't that worse?"

I didn't give anyone special treatment, nor did I particularly want any myself. I merely pretended to be ordinary, then flipped things over whenever something went wrong. Wasn't I healthier? I was putting the words, Turn this rotten world upside down, into practice.

"You stay quiet and hold your breath until just before you turn everything over... You're worse because you strike where it hurts most."

How soft. That was exactly why I had to strike where it hurt. Why would I strike if it didn't hurt?

Shei pressed a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.

"You didn't contact me at all until now, then you went and caused a huge incident. If you involve Celsius territory too, things will really get out of hand. If you'd explained it beforehand, I could've at least coordinated with you."

"You make it sound like I'm the bad one, but you're the one who didn't come looking too, Shei. It takes two hands to clap. Was I the only one who didn't come looking?"

"I wanted to see you too! I even came all the way to Celsius territory! But you left behind no message or trace, so how was I supposed to find you?!"

What? How was I supposed to leave a message or trace in this distant foreign land? I couldn't even go up to the floating castle as one of the common folk. This was unreasonable.

"Isn't the same true of you, Shei?"

Shei's eyes widened, and she stammered in apparent confusion.

"Huh...? You wanted to see me? Th-that..."

"That's not what I meant! I meant that you didn't leave a message either!"

This person had really gotten strange. What had I even done? I had never tried to look good in front of Shei, and I had tried to keep as much distance as possible.

Shei let out a short sigh, then wiped away every trace of the emotion she had shown earlier.

"Elisha said she would arrange you a room with the Celsius family. If you'd stayed there, we could've contacted each other. You're the one who deliberately refused."

"You could've found me if you wanted to as well. You're the one who chose not to."

"Tch... At least I came down..."

Shei clicked her tongue cutely and grumbled. Put that way, I felt a little sor... No, I didn't.

"More importantly, this is the first I've heard of you joining the Temple of the Demon God. What got into you? Weren't you the type who avoided joining groups like that?"

"Like I said earlier. You said you were searching for the Demon God. Since I was coming to the floating castle anyway, I thought I might join up with the Temple of the Demon God and look for a few more clues."

"So there was another spy."

That meant she had come seeking information. Even if the Red Tower Master didn't care much, wasn't it dangerous to say that so openly? Lankart was here too.

"You're ready to look after Hui."

No. Let's pretend that never happened.

Shei tilted her head.

"A spy? Another one?"

"I was just saying it, so don't worry about it. How many clues have you found?"

"Not many."

"What? You haven't done much either."

"And what about you! I at least realized that the Demon King has something like a relic!"

I knew that, and I had been down in the lower world.

"The Demon King's innate arcane is a power that handles space, like Rene's. But it's a little different in nature. Unlike Rene, who creates separate spaces, the Demon King specializes in wielding space itself as a weapon."

"Are those two different?"

"They are. Innate arcane has categories too. The essence of alchemy is the substitution and transformation of matter. It can make weapons with that, but it doesn't use innate arcane itself as a weapon. Those two are clearly different. Rene creates separate spaces, while the Demon King compresses and releases space to use it as force. They use the same material, space, but the results are different."

Separate spaces and compressed space. Now that she put it that way, something came to mind.

"So Rene is the pouch, and the Demon King is Skywarbler?"

"Good analogy. Exactly."

...No, that couldn't be an analogy. Why did that good instinct fail you at times like this?

"The Demon King uses at least two powers. Perhaps even more. Even if space magic is a power close to omnipotence, it's still different from dropping a star, right? Considering the history of this floating castle, its ultimate weapon, Pride, may be the Demon God's power."

"Wait. Dropping a star? What do you mean by that?"

Lankart apparently couldn't just let that pass. Shei belatedly realized her mistake and closed her mouth, but I answered instead.

"Shei said she saw the Demon King drop a star in the future."

"A Holy Maiden?"

"Something like that. The Sanctum has practically acknowledged it officially."

"Hey! Hughes! You can't say that!"

Why not? Everyone already knew I was the King of Humanity, so were you going to keep up the mystery act alone? Not a chance. I'd reveal your identity too.

Besides, being a Holy Maiden was only one small part of who you were.

"Strange. With the White Tower Master there, for a Holy Maiden to appear? More importantly, dropping a star? The Demon King? That can't be."

Lankart muttered to himself. There was an odd certainty in his voice, so I asked.

"What do you know?"

"I know the Demon King. It wouldn't be strange for him to possess the ability to drop a star. The Demon King's power can shake heaven and earth."

True. What was so special about a star of destruction? If you raised the floating castle a little higher and dropped it, that would be a star of destruction. He wouldn't consume a precious floating castle full of talented people and magic that way, but the important thing was that he could. The Demon King had that ability.

"But he would never drop a star. He is a being who embodies mages themselves. He knows better than anyone that there is nothing to gain by dropping a star, and he puts that knowledge into practice more clearly than anyone. Someone like him would never decide to drop one."

Great power came with great responsibility. A ruler in their right mind would never press the button of destruction. I agreed with that, but I had met far too many people who left their sanity somewhere else.

"Something could happen to him. Maybe he gets drunk and loses his mind, or maybe an enemy appears who can only be defeated by dropping a star."

"The former is impossible, and the latter is unreasonable. If an enemy were that powerful, could dropping a mere star kill them?"

"Or someone greater than the Demon King steals that button and uses it."

"That is more plausible, but who could possibly be said to surpass him..."

Lankart stopped mid-sentence, startled, and stared at me.

"Hui? Surely you're not planning to drop a star on the ground?"

"What do you take me for? I'm not stupid enough to drop a star, nor am I great enough to take anything from the Demon King."

Why was he looking at me in the first place? His thought process was broken.

There didn't seem to be anything more to say. I turned to Shei.

"So the conclusion is that the Demon King holds all the keys. We'll eventually have to settle things with him, but that's the hardest part. What is the Temple of the Demon God's plan?"

"...The exchange gathering in Celsius territory. Apparently, they originally intended to persuade Elisha and move the Celsius family."

"Did it work?"

"You could say it succeeded, or you could say it failed."

"What?"

"The Red Tower Master and Elisha fought. The heating facilities exploded, and nearly all the pipes burst. The damage was so severe that they gathered every mage from the Crystal Tower and Celsius territory to repair it."

Something that fun happened while I was gone? I should've infiltrated the floating castle after all.

"Did they fight seriously?"

"It was a very deliberate fight. I took the role of stopping them in the middle. If not, I wouldn't have helped."

Shei acted on emotion and whim. Even if she had joined the Temple of the Demon God, she wouldn't attack the Cyan Tower Master. If she had no intention of attacking from the beginning, that was another matter.

"The target was the floating castle itself. They needed to cause a rift to create an opening in the floating castle."

"The Temple of the Demon God wanted to bring in Elisha and the Celsius family, but Elisha firmly refused. They decided to move to Plan B, but then an incident happened in Celsius territory."

"What incident?"

"The incident where you stirred things up."

Ah. What a shame.

"I wasn't aiming for it, but it somehow turned out that way."

"It's too much of a coincidence. Now they can move the Celsius family without going through Elisha. Did you perhaps discuss this with the Temple of the Demon God in advance?"

"How could that be? You joined the Temple of the Demon God too, so you should know. Was I even in their plans?"

"...Not really."

'In the end, the Temple of the Demon God got what it wanted, we got what we wanted, and the Celsius family is still intact. But in the future I saw, Celsius territory shattered and scattered.'

What? It shattered and scattered? What did that mean? Was it literal? It sounded unrealistic, but perhaps it was possible when looking at a map of the Arcane Federation.

No. I shouldn't think too deeply about it.

Shei's thoughts weren't lies, but she clearly had an intention.

Taking my eyes off Shei, I asked Lankart.

"Since we ended up cooperating with the Temple of the Demon God, I might as well help them properly. What is their plan?"

"Celsius territory was deeply involved in designing the floating castle's water purification, cooling, and heating systems. The battle between the Cyan Tower Master and Red Tower Master damaged the facilities, and Celsius territory, which happened to be the site of the Descent, devoted itself to the repairs. The Cyan Tower Master and Red Tower Master have a duty to restore the damage because they were the ones who fought, but Celsius territory served without receiving any compensation. The Demon King is a reasonable man, so he will surely grant Celsius territory suitable compensation."

"Mm. I roughly understand. So you provoke or persuade Celsius territory into demanding compensation related to Rene's Pouch, then find the Demon God that reveals itself in the process?"

"Precisely. Even though it's the Temple of the Demon God's plan, it falls within your expectations?"

'What? He tells Hughes, who just arrived, the entire plan without hesitation? He's practically a spy himself.'

As I half-listened to Shei's thoughts, I considered how the plan would unfold. It wasn't bad, but it was too straightforward. The foundation of an operation was deceiving others and hiding one's own intentions.

"It's a decent operation, but a little boring. Let's change it."

'You can just change it as you please? Is that allowed when you only just got here?'

Lankart answered without even asking why.

"What do you need?"

"Everything is ready. Let's go."

Lankart and I headed for the fireplace through which we had entered. The fireplace that had only recently been connected to Rene's Attic, one intended for me, had tiny words written on it: Celsius Territory Guest Room. I kindled the flames and opened the passage connected to the guest room.

It took considerable resolve to step into a blazing fire. If I hadn't possessed regeneration, I would've sent Lankart first. When I stepped into the fireplace, my surroundings wavered like heat haze, and the scenery before my eyes soon changed.

An ice castle. A room made of ice that wasn't cold. The walls, ceiling, windows, dishes, and utensils were all ice. It was the height of irony that even the fireplace used to start a fire had been made by piling up ice.

"...Welcome, members of the Temple of the Demon God. Have you finished your meeting?"

When we returned to that strange room, Elcia greeted me with an unpleasant expression. Since she wasn't part of the Temple of the Demon God, she couldn't enter Rene's Attic and had waited here.

"We've roughly decided on our approach. You have the right to request compensation from the Demon King for helping repair the floating castle, correct?"

Elcia Celsius understood what I meant and responded firmly.

"Impossible. The Descent is an event that comes perhaps once every ten years, and chances to serve the floating castle are even rarer. The family also spent many alchemical resources restoring it. I can't hand that compensation over to you without receiving anything in return."

Hmm. It sounded less like she was refusing to give us the compensation and more like she wanted us to promise equivalent compensation.

That wouldn't be bad, but what about another option?

"Of course, I'm not asking for it for free. You'll change your mind once you hear the alternative we propose."

"Choose your words carefully, so that we don't request your expulsion from the floating castle."

It was a warning to be careful, because if things went wrong, they might side with the Demon King instead. I could understand why she was on edge after the Temple of the Demon God had barged in like thugs. Still, once she heard what I had to say, those thoughts would disappear.

With a businesslike smile, I made Elcia an offer.

"I will give Celsius territory the floating castle."

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried