WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 682: Story From Afar. You Only Move When the Fire Reaches Your Feet

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The future had been decided.

Pride would tear through the sky and fall. A stone from beyond the stars would hurl itself down, declaring that it would become one with this blue planet. Earth Mother would embrace even that with compassion, but to the tiny creatures living upon her, it was nothing less than a disaster.

The Holy Maiden's foresight encompassed what lay within the sky. The alien stone drifting through space lay beyond her sight. She had been unable to foresee when Pride would fall, but now she knew.

Because the future had been confirmed.

In the Sanctum's most secret chamber, the Holy Maiden of Heaven opened her eyes. Even for one who watched all the time to come while asleep, the time had come to wake from her sweet slumber. Focus returned to her bleary eyes.

"Ah... First Holy Maiden who blessed me. Please, do not test us foolish ones. The world is far too fragile to endure your trial."

Was the single tear flowing from her clear eyes due to waking from a long sleep, or from inescapable sorrow? Even the Holy Maiden of Heaven, who foresaw the future, did not know.

Nor did she have time to ponder it.

The Holy Maiden of Heaven had to wake and live in the present.

The Empire, the continent's mightiest nation.

The Emperor, the Empire's most exalted being.

A banquet was being held in the imperial palace where he lived, as it was every day.

The Emperor's latest interest was musicals. A musical combined song, acting, and dance, making it the finest entertainment for an Emperor who loved all three. At first, stern authoritarians had harshly criticized the vulgar dances and songs performed on stage. Then the Emperor gave a standing ovation, and the authoritarians lost their authority. They became mere ideologues, unable to show their faces in artistic circles.

Beautiful music flowed from the imperial palace's grand theater again today. Given the opportunity of a lifetime, the actors performed as though burning away their lives, while the musicians played their scores with skill bordering on acrobatics. The flowers used as props were gemstones carved and hung from the branches of a World Tree metasequoia, while the ivory horns seemed to carry the majestic cries of ancient times.

Brilliant lights enveloped the stage, and a subtle fragrance lingered throughout the theater. The art on display was extravagance taken to its extreme.

Ten million gold had been spent on today's performance. Even the wealthiest Red Merchant Guild had been paralyzed for about two days while preparing for this single show. An immense amount of administrative power had been mobilized to bring this troupe to the grand theater, and imperial promissory notes had been issued to cover the costs like fallen leaves in autumn.

Yet there was nothing to question.

The Empire, which held hegemony over the continent. Its Emperor. A performance beloved by that Emperor.

That was the end of it. To question anything further was treason, a challenge to the Empire.

No one cared what happened outside. Even if the world collapsed, the imperial palace would be the last to fall.

This was the Empire, the pinnacle of the golden pyramid built by civilization.

"Grand Chancellor. A moment, please."

The sound was briefly cut off. Stormwell, the foremost of the Empire's Three Grand Chancellors, had the noise from the audience blocked before turning his head.

His status was equal to that of a vassal king, while his actual power far surpassed theirs. He could not be compared to the king of some mere vassal state. As the Grand Chancellor overseeing military affairs and diplomacy, he could subdue an entire vassal state with his private army alone.

Even the Grand Chancellor could not allow noise to disturb the performance His Majesty was watching. He had a subordinate mage block the sound before receiving the report.

"Has a war broken out somewhere?"

"It is not something so minor."

Treating war as a mere trifle, the man gave his report between ragged breaths.

"Intelligence from the Chenwig Observatory. Scenario 1."

"Scenario 1..."

The Grand Chancellor's expression stiffened.

The result of the witch hunt from long ago. It had brought one vassal state to ruin, yet left behind the refuse known as the Arcane Federation, which the Empire had failed to clean up completely. The Empire's polar expansion had succeeded, but it had failed to reap its rewards.

Leaving behind the dreadful consequence known as Pride.

"...So it has finally happened in my time."

Top-secret information passed down only to the Three Grand Chancellors and their direct intelligence agencies. Imperial Threat Scenario 1, Pride.

This truly was a grave matter. No matter how prosperous the Empire was, a star of destruction falling from space would crush even it with ease.

"All the better. I will not pass this consequence on to the next generation. The Empire's glory will continue after me."

"We must first report this to His Majesty and evacuate him."

"That cannot be done."

Even so.

The performance had to continue.

Because this performance would show that the Empire remained unshaken.

"Even if the continent is destroyed, the imperial palace will be safe. Report to His Majesty after the performance ends. I will respond first. Military Marquis, open the Grand Council Office and summon the Seven Armies. Mage Marquis, deliver this jade seal to the magic tower and have them activate the Imperial Grand Magic Formation. Divine Marquis, gather the court priests at my side. We must hear what the Holy Maiden has to say."

At the Grand Chancellor's command, the officials moved in perfect order. Not one incompetent person served beneath the Emperor of the Empire. Such people could not dare set foot in the imperial palace. Though they knew nothing of Pride, the administrators faithfully followed the scenario. Each would go to their assigned place and move the Empire like a single body.

But that alone would not be enough. This was still only the realm of administration.

To stop the destruction falling from the sky required something more mysterious.

At last, the Grand Chancellor called the attendant waiting nearby. The attendant, who had been fanning him before being summoned, waited tensely for his orders. After considering his words for a moment, the Grand Chancellor finally spoke with a sense of duty.

"And you, immediately... inform the Sword Saint."

The Sword Saint.

The moment that title was spoken, the world seemed to draw taut. Though the Sword Saint could not possibly have heard this voice, everyone shrank as if watching for someone's reaction.

The Sword Saint. A saint of the sword. A being who had reached the mysterious through skill alone.

If the Empire was the extreme of human civilization, the Sword Saint was the extreme of humanity. If every human in the world were lined up, he would stand alone on the edge of some distant cliff.

After the Sword Saint appeared, countless poets had tried to praise him with ornate words. Yet no word could fully explain the Sword Saint. It was wasteful to heap modifiers upon him.

Two words were enough.

The strongest.

The attendant swallowed, realizing the weighty duty entrusted to him. Seeing him tense yet faintly excited, the Grand Chancellor felt a small measure of self-loathing.

There was only one reason the Grand Chancellor had entrusted that task to an ordinary attendant.

To the Sword Saint, it made no difference who delivered the message.

Whether the attendant delivered it, the Grand Chancellor delivered it, or even His Majesty the Emperor gave the order himself.

To the Sword Saint, all of them were simply weak people he had to protect.

"What should I tell him?"

He was a civilized man. He understood the value of order. He recognized the Empire's hegemony. That was why he obeyed the Emperor's commands.

If the Sword Saint reconsidered even one part of that logic, the Empire's order would face the greatest crisis in its history.

"Ask him to cut down what falls from the sky."

Fortunately, the Sword Saint's blade still turned against those who destroyed order. Pride would be no exception.

* * *

Somewhere on the Enger Plain.

The King of Humanity raised her head.

Thousands of years had passed since she fell asleep, but neither heaven nor earth had changed. The sky stretching wide above was little different from before, yet she saw something shining unusually bright in it.

What reason did a beast have for gazing at the sky on a moonlit night? After silently watching the sky for a long time, the King of Humanity suddenly asked the empty air,

"What's wrong, little brother? You don't have the strength to bear that."

He was not here. He probably could not hear this question either. Yet the King of Humanity muttered as though she had heard an answer.

"Are you trying to take that from me?"

There was no answer this time either. Still, the King of Humanity nodded and stopped walking. She turned around and waved her arm broadly.

"It looks like it's going to rain soon. Let's stop here for a while, Nevida. If a shower comes down, we should take shelter under a tree."

"Yes, my liege. I will obey."

Nevida strained to lift a staff that was far too large for her now. When she planted the small World Tree in the life-filled earth, it rapidly grew into a large shelter.

The King of Humanity had been about to enter it without concern, but then looked back and called to someone.

"You should come in too, Azzy. I permit you beneath my roof."

"...Woof."

Azzy only barked softly and did not follow her inside. Tilting her head, the King of Humanity approached Azzy.

"You look down. What's wrong?"

Azzy looked behind them.

At the far end of the Enger Plain they had crossed stood the Mountain Lord's mountain. It was territory that had served as a boundary for humans because the tiger king, the Mountain Lord, dwelled there.

Far across the Enger Plain, the Mountain Lord's mountain had stood like a wall blocking humanity.

"Is it because I killed the tiger?"

Now its form had been grotesquely twisted.

The lush trees had burned away. A corner of the mountain had been torn out and collapsed. The flowing earth and sand were visible to the naked eye.

There were excuses to make. Perhaps a forest fire had spread. Perhaps there had been a landslide. Perhaps a flood had come. With clouded eyes, one could dismiss it that way.

But that...

The enormous iron stake that seemed to have pierced straight through the mountain range could not be explained by anything.

It was an act of destruction against the very concept of a mountain. It was as though that stake had severed the mountain range's vein. Until the stake was pulled free, the Mountain Lord's mountain would never recover its proper shape.

And if one had seen the corpse impaled upon that stake... If one had seen the most violent beast on the ground hunted down so miserably, no beast could easily smile for a while.

The King of Humanity crouched and stroked Azzy's head.

"You are different from the tiger. Tigers are frightening and fierce, but you're cute and kind."

"Woof... But."

Azzy drooped as she turned her head away.

"Tigers aren't always fierce. Woof. The tiger I saw before was kind when it was full."

"That's right. A full tiger would be less fierce. Perhaps it could become kind if we tamed it with food."

Dogs were humanity's friends. Therefore, humanity was dogs' friend. Humans raised many kinds of livestock and formed bonds with them, but their bond with dogs ran much deeper.

That was why the King of Humanity also considered the King of Dogs a friend. Azzy had now undergone a division of concepts and become closer to the King of Gentleness, but that was not much of a problem.

After all, did humans not consider only tamed beasts to be friends?

The King of Humanity was as natural as any king of beasts.

That made her all the more ruthless.

"But a tiger that isn't like that would try to harm me. It's frightening because it has the strength to harm me. So they all have to die."

The King of Humanity was the king of beasts who ruled the ground. A savage tyrant more violent than any beast in this world.

Humans had hunted countless wild beasts. They set traps to catch rabbits that stole crops, killed boars that tore up fields with spears and nets, and gathered in even larger groups to hunt packs of wolves.

The Mountain Lord was no different. Even if they had to mobilize thousands and sacrifice hundreds, they would kill that one tiger and skin it.

It was savagery. Even if it was called the extermination of harmful beasts, even if it was a struggle for survival, it remained an order built on strength.

Savagery hidden by civilization, chaos concealed within order, brutality disguised as morality, violence covered in language.

The King of Humanity was a king in the most primitive sense.

Cheers could be heard. The King's followers had conveyed her words to the people. The King's subjects were entranced by the strength that had pierced and killed the Mountain Lord, and they cheered and sang for their powerful, great King.

Azzy thought as she looked at a friend so different from the friend she had known then. They were the same. Both were human. Yet they were so different.

What could possibly have made them different?

She did not know. Azzy did not have the intelligence to give form to such abstract ideas.

She could only watch from beside her.

Footnotes:

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