WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 86: Contingency

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"Azzy! Time to eat!"

A suffocating silence fell for a moment. Both the regressor and Tyr stared at me at my sudden shout.

As though a coin had flipped, the self that had been holding its breath on the other side surfaced. The candle that had been reduced to an ember caught fire. The world brightened, and I felt as though I could look down on everything objectively.

Having come to my senses, I swept a hand down my chest in relief and shouted.

"Whaaa! That was close! I almost died!"

It felt as if I had fallen into a river, been swept all the way downstream, then barely managed to crawl back onto the bank. A waterlogged fatigue washed over me.

Damn it. I had only meant to read a little, but I let my guard down at the last moment and went too far. I was swept away by the memories and nearly lost myself.

Whew. Good thing I had insurance. All that diligent drinking and smoking had paid off. What would have happened if I hadn't?

Huh. What was this? The cigarette had burned out.

"By the way, what exactly brought me back to my senses?"

Tyr, who had been looking at me with a moved expression, rang the bell once more at my question.

Ding, ding. It was the chime bell I used whenever I fed Azzy. A psychological trap of sorts I had devised to better "use" the King of Dogs.

The instant I heard it, something stifling rose within me. It felt as though I had to do it, so I called Azzy's name without realizing it.

"Azzy!"

"Woof!"

Perfectly timed, Azzy burst through the door. She approached me with sparkling eyes, then looked around in confusion as her eager affection turned to puzzlement.

"Woof? Food?"

Ah, so instead of mana herb, which I hadn't smoked for weeks while imprisoned, it had been the bell I rang at every meal...

Ah...

"Woof! Food! Woof? Food? ...Where food?"

"Sorry, there isn't any. I was bored, so I played a little prank."

"Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"

"What? You don't dislike it that much? I knew you liked me."

"I hate you now! You stink!"

I reached out to pet her, but Azzy wrinkled her nose at the smell and left.

I scratched my head with the hand I had meant to use to pet her and muttered.

"It isn't useful anymore, so maybe I should quit smoking while I'm at it."

Anyway, it didn't matter how I got there as long as I reached my destination. The result was all that mattered.

All that diligent work had paid off. If I hadn't rung that bell every day to train Azzy, I would probably still have lost myself and acted as though I were a girl who had lived twelve centuries ago.

...It didn't feel great to have the bell I made to train a dog end up training me instead.

After catching my breath, I raised my head.

The regressor and Tyr were staring at me in the cramped room. Their gazes were different. Tyr was simply happy, while the regressor only wanted to clear away every question that remained.

"Now then, everyone. You must have had a hard time taking care of me while I was unconscious..."

I placed one hand over my chest, spread my other arm wide, and pretended to bow gracefully.

Then I suddenly lifted my head and shouted.

"...Did you think I was going to say that?!"

I struck first to stop them from acting shamelessly.

Perspective existed in the human heart as well. People tended to value a recent, small kindness more than a great favor they had received long ago.

Of course, there was also a little human selfishness in it. People easily forgot what they had received compared to what they had given.

That didn't work on me. I had worked as a fixer in the past and even collected debts. Any unpaid debt, even a debt of the heart, I would scrape out of them to the last penny.

"I ended up like this because I was trying to give Tyr a heart. I sacrificed myself for all of you! If I collapsed from the aftermath, of course you should take care of me! It's common sense, common sense! It's a necessary expense, like providing meals when you hire workers! Remember that!"

"Of course. How could I forget? I will always remember that you had to bear such a great cost for my sake."

Tyr immediately nodded. I had nothing to say.

...Huh. Why was she being so agreeable? If I said something like that, even the Buddha should want to hit me.

"Do not worry. Even though you have regained your senses, I will continue to protect you with all my body and heart."

"What? Ah, no, you don't need to go that far."

"It is fine. Compared to what you have given me, what I can give you is as light as a feather."

...Something felt a little strange. Her feelings were, um, a little heavier than I had expected. I was afraid to say anything more.

I felt like asking further would put me in an awkward situation, so I changed the subject.

"And none of you did anything strange while I was unconscious, right?"

Tyr flinched and quickly turned her head away. The regressor snorted.

Both reactions were a little strange.

I could understand the regressor. She had probably tried to check all sorts of things while I was out. Honestly, that was within my expectations.

But what on earth had Tyr done?

I stared at her. After hesitating for a long time, Tyr pointed at the regressor and tattled.

"Shei. Shei interrogated you."

The regressor, dragged into this out of nowhere, widened her eyes.

"Huh? Tyrkanzyaka? You helped too!"

"I was looking away. I also stopped it before the interrogation could continue any further."

What the hell had she done?

I wanted to read her thoughts, but my sense of self was still too hazy to use mind reading. It would take a few more minutes before I could read properly.

Still, my suspicion didn't fade. What had Tyr done that made her go so far as to tattle on someone?

I'd ask later. For now, I glared at the regressor, whose crime had been established.

"Trainee Shei, do you fear no heaven? You read the contents of that note and openly ignored it? Do promises mean nothing to you?"

"You made a double note yourself..."

"It's not your first day in the military state, is it? Even if you were deceived, once you nodded along, you have at least a minimum obligation to fulfill it! You should read contracts carefully! And!"

Words weren't enough. Wanting to show just how dissatisfied I was, I slammed the bed with all my strength. Tyr, who was sitting beside me for no reason, bounced a little.

The bed was as hard as the country that made it. Rubbing my tingling fist against my thigh, I shouted.

"Think about my position too. How unreliable did you have to be for me to do that? Honestly, what was written in the double note wasn't a big deal! Was it so difficult not to mess with someone whose mind and body were weakened?! I used a double note to add a little fun and emphasis because I was afraid you'd reject even that trivial request, yet you ignored it like it was a joke!"

Every word was right. She was still suspected of trying to extract information while I was weakened.

The regressor spoke casually.

"...Fine. I was hasty. I'll admit it. But you have no right to talk, do you?"

What was this? She was the one at fault, yet she looked so confident.

As if she had found a weakness of mine, the regressor spoke with a smug expression.

"Your name is Hughes, right?"

"Huh? That's my registered civilian name. How did you know?"

What? Had she dug up all the details of my name while I was unconscious?

At my question, the regressor narrowed her eyes further and muttered.

"Level 0 citizen, Tantalus laborer, Hughes. Impressive. I was completely fooled from the beginning. Thanks to your pointless stunt, I had to take the long way around."

"W-What? How did you find that out?!"

Mind reading! Ah. It hadn't come back yet!

I had no choice. For a moment, I had to act like an ordinary person. Raising both hands, I protested.

"T-This is an invasion of privacy! A personal information leak! Who was it? Who exposed my registered civilian name in full?!"

"Me."

A voice came from outside the door.

I turned toward it and saw a stranger standing there with her arms folded, glaring at me. She was a woman with a large peaked cap worn only by military state officers and sharply cut short hair to match. Her stiff uniform and the medals proudly displayed across her chest stood out.

The officer spoke in an imposing tone.

"So you were here, laborer."

An officer. One in uniform, no less. Why was an officer, one of the military state's elite, here?

Huh? Had she come as an instructor?

An instructor?

Why was the instructor here already?!

The instant I realized who she was, I jumped up in shock and pointed at the officer.

"Waaah! Trainee Shei! What are you doing? Hurry up and cut off that person's arm!"

Most of them didn't even understand what I meant. Only the regressor realized it concerned her and twisted her face into a grimace.

The regressor answered coldly.

"...I didn't even cut off your arm, so why would I?"

"You didn't cut it off? Say that properly! You tried to cut it off and failed! Not equality of outcomes, equality of opportunity! Give that arm an equal chance to part ways with its shoulder!"

"No. I've lost interest."

"What? You've been cutting off arms just for fun? Is cutting off other people's arms such a trivial matter?! At least cut it off out of an equal sense of duty!"

The regressor answered indifferently, then even stepped aside to let the officer enter. She gave the officer a brief glance, but passed by without cutting off her arm.

The officer entered the room and surveyed its interior with a sidelong glance. Her manner made it seem as if she was looking for something to criticize, and I flinched like a frightened student.

"Tantalus is a mess. Have you left it unattended for days?"

"No, well. I was picking up some lost memories."

"And while doing that, you pointed at a supervisor and uttered the absurdity of ordering someone to cut off an arm."

The petty-citizen instincts ingrained in me kept me from saying anything back to the officer, and I shrank into myself. Seeing my attitude, the officer seemed all the more assured. From the faint thoughts I could sense, she even seemed a little pleased.

She must have been glad to see the only being weaker than herself.

"You are summoned, laborer. Come to the instructor's office immediately."

"Ghk...!"

An ordinary citizen could not defy an officer's command.

Officers had the authority to command workers in their assigned facility and the right to punish disobedience at their discretion.

The other person was even the instructor who had come as Tantalus's chief administrator. Even if she executed me on the spot in this Abyss, nobody would be able to blame her...

With a miserable expression, I lowered my head.

"Heh heh heh heh heh!"

But lowering my head was only a feint to build momentum. Laughter slipped through my clenched teeth.

The officer's expression hardened.

"What is so funny?"

"Hahaha! Did you think I would sit still without making any preparations until you arrived?!"

The military state always prepared contingencies.

Whether it was a new laborer or an instructor.

From the moment the golem warned me, the military state had probably been looking for someone besides me to manage this place.

...I hadn't expected the officer to arrive this quickly.

"I arranged things in advance for exactly this! Go on, try to touch me! I'll teach you a lesson!"

"You?"

What meaningless nonsense. She wouldn't be scared even if I taught her a lesson.

I sprang to my feet, pointed at Tyr beside me, and shouted.

"No! Not me, Tyr will!"

Footnotes:

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