WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 80: The Other Half of the Heart

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Tyrkanzyaka had intended to do the cooking herself, but to a girl who had not set foot in a kitchen for twelve centuries, it was a paradise of unfamiliar objects. She was more familiar with maces than spatulas, halberds than ladles, and saw-toothed swords than tongs.

Especially when they were pointed at her.

In the end, the golem had no choice but to demonstrate.

It was surprisingly skilled at cooking.

Its only problem was that it was too small to do anything on its own, but Tyrkanzyaka solved that easily.

With a casual wave of her hand, black currents formed around the golem. Beginning at the bottom, they gradually took shape, gently lifting the golem and wrapping around its body.

The golem looked around, unable to adjust to its suddenly elevated viewpoint. A shadow rising above its head copied its movements. When the golem raised an arm, the shadow did the same. When it took a step, the shadow stepped forward as well.

It was like a shadow puppet.

『This is...! No, even the military state's technology can't do this?!』

"An image bound to a shadow may grow infinitely larger than the original or shrink to the size of dust. That is a shadow exactly three times your size. It will copy everything you do."

Once the golem had grown accustomed to its shadow body, it reached out. Following its movement, the shadow took a pot from the cupboard and turned on the faucet.

Though it was a shadow, it had physical substance.

The golem was thoroughly flustered by the shadow reproducing movements three times larger than its own.

"Surprised? Be as surprised as you please. Domination and control are my true strength. They are nothing like your little games with tin dolls and mud."

『...Tin.... I would like to deny it, but I cannot....』

Having gained a new body, the golem busily moved its hands and feet. It soaked the beans in water, drained them thoroughly through a sieve, then put the drained water into a pot to boil while reducing the beans in a pan.

Tyrkanzyaka carefully watched everything it did and committed it to memory.

After putting in every effort, the golem presented the finished meal.

『It is complete. Braised canned beans and broth soup.』

"So this is how cooking is done. Thank you."

『Do not mention it. I intend to provide you with ample conveniences.』

The golem had its own calculations.

The laborer had openly rebelled, and the other trainee was not someone it could rely on. On top of that, Tyrkanzyaka was currently the strongest and most influential being in Tantalus. It was only natural for a golem that needed information from within Tantalus to try to establish a connection with her.

"Good. A tin can that has finished its work should be put away."

『Tin...?』

There was one problem, though.

Tyrkanzyaka had never intended to cooperate with the military state in the first place.

"Go back to sleep now."

『Mm? Sleep...?!』

Click.

The shadow tore off the speaker. The golem reached for the speaker as it moved away before its eyes, but shadows suddenly rushed in from all directions and restrained its arms and legs.

This future had been decided from the beginning. More precisely, from the moment the golem had shown hostility toward him.

Looking down at the golem buried in darkness, Tyrkanzyaka spoke gently.

"You taught me with such sincerity, so I will not break you. Still, I must make sure you cannot say anything unnecessary. It seems you cannot speak without this."

『.........!』

"It appears I was right. I will retrieve you when I need you again."

Snap.

At the flick of her fingers, the golem's body was wrapped in darkness and rolled away like a ball. Tyrkanzyaka placed the removed speaker in the highest part of the cupboard.

While the golem struggled alone in the darkness, Tyrkanzyaka picked up the plates with both hands and headed toward him.

"Here. I brought food."

He was still sitting there blankly. Yet perhaps the smell of food had stirred him, because his unfocused eyes faintly followed the plates. Drool glistened at the corner of his mouth.

Appetite was the will to live.

Seeing that it remained in him, Tyrkanzyaka was overjoyed.

"It seems your appetite remains. Here is your food."

"...Food."

"Yes. Food. Eat well."

Tyrkanzyaka placed the plates before him, then sat across from him and watched. He stared quietly at the meal with hazy eyes before reaching out.

Straight for the food.

"Wait!"

His movement stopped at once. He looked at her quietly, as though waiting for her reaction. Tyrkanzyaka carefully placed a spoon in his hand.

His body had not forgotten.

He found the spoon unfamiliar for a moment, then scooped up the soup before him as if he had never hesitated. At first, a few drops spilled onto the table, but less spilled with each spoonful.

Tyrkanzyaka smiled in satisfaction.

"Yes. You have not forgotten everything. That is very fortunate. Perhaps your memories will return soon."

Even if he remained like this for the rest of his life, Tyrkanzyaka would care for him forever.

Still, she missed who he had been before.

He had been arrogant. Though he pretended otherwise, he had been subtly rude. He had treated other people's deepest worries as something quite amusing.

Yet beneath that was an unexpected cheerfulness and a consideration that never showed itself.

The thought of him becoming a fool who could not even speak properly tightened Tyrkanzyaka's chest.

"You must have become like this because you breathed your soul into my heart."

Even now, when she placed a hand over her chest, she could feel the beat he had given her. A card marked with a bright red heart was embedded inside her chest, now impossible to distinguish from her own heart.

She did not know what it was or how he had made it.

But she knew one thing.

It could never have been made without profound feelings.

"...Come to think of it, even earlier, the King of Dogs did not bark at me. Truly, I have received so much. And I have given you almost nothing."

She could not even bring herself to count all that she had received. It began with interesting stories, then heart massage, and finally the heart now beating like this. The gifts had come so naturally that even she had not realized she had received them until she looked back.

Compared to that, how little had she given him?

She needed to repay him with all her body and heart.

Clack.

The sound of a spoon being set down reached her ears. Before she knew it, every bowl had been emptied.

Tyrkanzyaka had been so absorbed in watching him that she had lost track of time. Rising again, she spoke to him one thing at a time.

"Have you finished?"

He nodded.

He always answered her questions. He could speak simple words. He roughly remembered how to eat, walk, and move.

She thought she understood now.

The only thing he had forgotten was himself.

Then she only had to tell him.

"Give me your hand."

He held out his hand. Tyrkanzyaka clasped it tightly in both of hers and pulled it toward her chest.

"You may not remember, but you are my benefactor."

His hand followed without resistance. She held it dearly against her chest and murmured as she pressed it there.

"When my heart had stopped, this hand... touched my heart and made it beat. You awakened the time that had stopped within me."

It was a somewhat large hand. A hand that hesitated whenever it passed between her ribs, as though troubled, yet eventually reached her heart and gave her so much.

Fiddling with it, Tyrkanzyaka, who had become a girl again, raised her head.

"So do not worry, and recover your memories slowly. I will not leave until you tell me to go."

It was not a vow. If anything, it was closer to calmly confessing a fact.

She could not even imagine that this feeling would change simply because her heart had begun to beat again.

As she spoke, Tyrkanzyaka looked at the hand resting on her chest and recalled the past.

"Even though I have regained my heart, I miss the time when you sent electricity through it. Back then, I waited every moment for your fingers to touch my heart...."

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

That was when Tyrkanzyaka sensed something strange.

Her heart was clearly beating without bloodcraft. Whether she pressed his hand against it or not, it should beat the same way.

It should have.

For some reason, though, every time she brought his hand close to her chest, her heart beat harder.

There was no electricity flowing through that hand.

Because she possessed bloodcraft, she could tell all the more clearly. Her heart was pounding like mad, as though it had found its missing half.

When her heart had stopped long ago, that hand had sent something intense into her whenever it approached. It seemed to remember that time and welcome it. The trembling only grew stronger with time. Tyrkanzyaka became frightened that her precious heart might burst at this rate.

Still, one thing was certain.

Her body and heart both wished to get a little closer like this.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her face reddened on its own despite doing nothing. Feeling as though she would become strange if this continued, Tyrkanzyaka hurriedly pushed his hand away.

An intense sense of regret receded. Freed from the strange state, Tyrkanzyaka stared blankly as she touched her face once, then the area above her heart.

"Is it... broken...?"

At the moment, that was the only conclusion Tyrkanzyaka could reach.

Footnotes:

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