WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 47: Nationalist Pride
──────
Hardbank Hunter Guild.
An office desk split in two.
Baaang!
“Fuck! How does this make any sense?”
Takahashi Kenchi's fist kept moving.
Whoooosh, baaang!
Nozawa Ryota's palm stopped the wildly swinging fist.
Thoom.
The forces of fist and palm canceled each other out, sending a shock wave through the office and leaving it in ruins.
Clatter.
Office equipment fell to the floor after flying through the air. The employees had crawled under their desks as though taking part in an earthquake drill. They trembled as they listened to the conversation.
“Stop it, Kenchi. Calm down.”
“How am I supposed to stay calm? They're calling me a liar! Does that make sense? Why do people believe that bitch instead of me?”
“Some people agree with you.”
“Damn it! They're a tiny minority! Their voices are already getting drowned out!”
“Some of them recognize the Mad Sovereign, just like you.”
“Who? What good does recognizing him do? They're all a bunch of cowards!”
“Not everyone is a coward.”
“Look at this bastard!”
Kenchi thrust a phone forward and shouted.
@Star GX
He certainly looks like him. Even so, you're better off leaving him alone. What does it matter whether he's the Mad Sovereign or not?
These days, people could easily express their opinions through social media without going through the press. A ranker would have tens of thousands of followers at the very least.
Dozens, even hundreds of hunters were doing this now.
“Look at the username! This bastard is Zhang Sun! This bastard definitely knows what the Mad Sovereign looks like!”
Zhang Sun, the Chinese SR ranker behind the @Star GX account, had died in Belheim at the Mad Sovereign's hands.
“They're turning their backs on the truth! The whole world is making me out to be a liar!”
“What can you do? It's Ryu Jai's word.”
“Fucking bitch!”
That was right.
Kenchi had worked up the courage to bell the cat and put forward the theory that Kim Junyong was the Mad Sovereign. Ryu Jai had denied it.
Their words couldn't possibly carry the same weight.
No matter how much the rankers shouted, she was G-rank.
The influence Ryu Jai had built over the years was absolute.
In East Asia, she was nothing less than a hero.
Her statement had changed the stance of every media outlet in East Asia.
Even the Japanese press was no exception.
[Ryu Jai Gives Her Word: The Korean Hunter Is Not the Mad Sovereign.]
[Three Reasons the Mad Sovereign Theory Is Absurd.]
[A Returnee Should at Least Know the Difference Between Demons and Humans.]
[The Link Between PTSD and Distorted Memories.]
[Public Figures Should Refrain from Reckless Remarks That Could Endanger National Security...]
It felt as though the world had abandoned Kenchi.
“Does this make any sense? I'm starting to wonder if this is some hidden-camera prank.”
Takahashi Kenchi found the situation utterly absurd. Just because Ryu Jai had said a few words, even the press back home was calling Kenchi a liar?
“Kenchi. I think you should lie low for now.”
“Lie low? You're telling me to lie low? You idiot! If we don't act now, we won't be able to later! The Mad Sovereign has already regained G-rank power! How much longer should we wait? Until he has enough power back to wipe Japan off the map with one little flick of his finger?”
Kenchi poured out that anger, driven by maddening frustration.
This was how Takahashi Kenchi saw it.
“We won't get another chance! You know that too, don't you? Every returnee starts from zero! It hasn't even been half a month since he returned! Barely fifteen days! And he's already recovered power close to G-rank!”
Kenchi was growing desperate.
Humanity should be joining forces to eliminate the Mad Sovereign, who was clearly going to become a threat...
“Kenchi, we have to consider the possibility that he isn't the Mad Sovereign.”
“What?”
Takahashi Kenchi stared at Nozawa Ryota with contempt.
“You... don't believe me?”
“What if they just look alike... Kenchi! Where are you going?”
Nozawa Ryota grabbed Kenchi to stop them from leaving, then flinched at the expression on Kenchi's face as they looked back.
“Let go.”
“Ah.”
Kenchi roughly shook off Ryota's hand and left the guild office.
‘It's hopeless.’
If even Nozawa Ryota, the colleague who should understand Kenchi best, reacted like this, there was no need to ask about anyone else.
‘They're all idiots.’
A time bomb was about to go off, yet no one was willing to defuse it.
‘Once he regains all the power he had in Belheim, humanity is finished.’
The Mad Sovereign and the devils who followed him had combat power that went beyond nations. They operated on a planetary scale. He had been powerful enough to establish a third faction on that planet. They had to deal with him before he regained his strength.
Takahashi Kenchi even felt a sense of historic duty.
‘I'm the only one.’
There had to be others.
Other guardians of humanity around the world who thought the same way.
Kenchi had to find them.
There was no hope for Nozawa Ryota.
Even after hearing that the Mad Sovereign had descended upon Earth, Ryota's eyes showed no will to fight.
Drunk on money and power, Ryota seemed to have forgotten a hunter's duty to protect humanity. This was no time to worry about something like relations between Korea and Japan.
‘This isn't the time to worry about individuals or nations. Humanity will disappear. Humanity...’
Left alone in the office, Nozawa Ryota clicked his tongue.
“Haah. How did it come to this...?”
Takahashi Kenchi and Nozawa Ryota.
Hardbank was a guild built around those two SR rankers.
Now the guild was on the verge of falling apart.
No, half its fighting strength had already walked out.
Riiing.
“Yes, Guild Master.”
[What about Kenchi?]
“Gone.”
[...So it came to this after all.]
“What are you going to do?”
[How can we hold on to someone who's already left? We have to save the guild first.]
“Haah. All right.”
Nozawa Ryota slumped down in the ruined office. The employees, who had been watching nervously, slowly stood up and began gathering things and cleaning the room, stealing glances at Ryota.
After a long silence, Ryota shouted.
“Someone turn on the TV.”
“Y-yes!”
Someone quickly switched it on. The news appeared on the large screen mounted on the wall.
[...Takahashi Kenchi's recent press conference was an unauthorized act by an individual. Hardbank Guild neither guarantees the truth of those statements nor accepts responsibility for them. On Takahashi Kenchi's behalf, Hardbank Guild apologizes for this rash announcement of unverified claims. We also intend to strengthen our support and treatment programs for vulnerable hunters who continue to suffer from severe trauma...]
“Damn it.”
The guild master had a tough job too.
The pressure from the Japanese government was considerable.
“Haah. What on earth is Ryu Jai after?”
Nozawa Ryota.
Ryota, too, had been killed by the Mad Sovereign.
A long-range spell had done it, so Ryota had neither seen his face nor remembered his features in any detail.
Naturally, compared with Kenchi, who had been tortured to death, Ryota felt relatively little resentment, anger, or desire for revenge.
Even so, Ryota's instincts said that the hunter in Korea really was the Mad Sovereign.
As Kenchi had said, only someone on the Mad Sovereign's level could perform like that just days after returning.
What puzzled Ryota was how completely Ryu Jai had bowed down after losing to him. What was she after, helping the Mad Sovereign and Korea?
‘What kind of secret agreement did they make?’
Why was she defending him so fiercely, even at her own expense?
* * *
The South Korean government.
President Kim Seungtae frowned. The way things were developing was unusual.
“Director Park Taejun.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Well, now. Isn't this a strange turn of events?”
“It is.”
Bureau Director Park Taejun broke into a cold sweat.
For some reason, President Kim Seungtae didn't look pleased.
“What did you do to Ryu Jai to make her take our side?”
“I-I don't know.”
“Didn't you say a Bureau employee was there?”
That was true.
Deputy Head Lee Mina had watched the entire confrontation between Ryu Jai and Kim Junyong from right beside them. No, calling it a confrontation wasn't quite right.
“Apparently, she just dropped to her knees.”
“Goodness.”
The president tapped the table with a finger.
“Well, now. Was she crushed by his spiritual pressure?”
“Pardon?”
“Whatever the reason, Ryu Jai is completely under his spell and taking our side. Even while people in Taiwan are calling her a traitor.”
“Yes.”
Public opinion in Taiwan had turned.
People had been calling for revenge on Korea for the wounded Ryu Jai, even if it meant going to war. Now their opinions had completely reversed.
A traitor.
A warrior with no backbone.
A hero brought low by defeat.
The Taiwanese press had begun criticizing Ryu Jai.
She had been Taiwan's hero.
To its people, she had been their pride itself.
But she had fallen.
After losing, she had praised her opponent in terms so humble they were humiliating. As though she were that Korean hunter's personal bodyguard, she had gone after Japan's Kenchi like a hunting dog and leaped to the Korean hunter's defense.
The public was confused by this unfamiliar side of her.
Seeing the hero they had supported and cheered for go astray left them feeling betrayed.
Even fans of an idol would leave in disappointment if that idol committed a crime.
How much worse would it be for a national hero?
Taiwan had now begun attacking Ryu Jai.
It was Ryu Jai, the individual, who had fallen, not Taiwan itself.
Their cruel attempt to distance themselves from her wasn't impossible to understand, but Korea could only watch in bewilderment.
“Well, now. It looks like war is off the table.”
“Isn't that a good thing?”
“...”
President Kim Seungtae didn't look happy at all.
“Um, Mr. President. Has there been any word from Japan?”
“Well, yes. The prime minister called.”
“They called first? Did they ask us to confirm the facts?”
Park Taejun tensed.
Had it been a call to check whether Kim Junyong really was the Mad Sovereign?
“Confirm the facts? Nothing of the sort. The prime minister personally explained that they hoped there wouldn't be any misunderstandings.”
“Pardon?”
“Honestly.”
President Kim Seungtae chuckled at the memory of the call.
“You really do see everything if you live long enough. The Japanese prime minister practically bowed and scraped. Imagine that.”
“...”
Kim Seungtae seemed to be in a better mood again.
“Judging by how things are going, Japan seems to know about our special adviser's past.”
“The circumstances suggest so.”
“They're being cautious because they're certain he's the Mad Sovereign, but they can never actually call him that.”
The corners of Kim Seungtae's mouth kept curling upward.
“It feels like we have Thanos on our side.”
Japan was gritting its teeth and pretending not to know.
“Anyway, China's keeping quiet too, and Japan tucked its tail between its legs in no time.”
By now, the whole world had caught on.
Korea's special adviser, Kim Junyong, was the Mad Sovereign.
But declaring it a fact was another matter.
The moment they acknowledged it, they became his enemies.
That was why the Japanese government, startled by Takahashi Kenchi's press conference, had rushed to contain the damage.
They could neither acknowledge nor deny that he was the Mad Sovereign.
Ryu Jai had offered them a clear way out.
A Guardian who had worked tirelessly for world peace.
A returnee who had survived a hundred years in Belheim.
One of the Seven Final Heroes who had eventually defeated the Demon King.
The G-rank hunter Ryu Jai had publicly declared:
- Kim Junyong is not the Mad Sovereign.
- He is an apostle of God, the Messiah who will save the world.
The world had taken the bait Ryu Jai offered.
Those in the know understood that Kim Junyong was the Mad Sovereign.
But they were gritting their teeth and pretending not to know.
“Doesn't it feel as though the whole world is rooting for Thanos not to snap his fingers?”
“...We'll focus all our resources on helping the Adviser adjust to society.”
“Haha, please do. Having the special adviser makes diplomacy so very easy. So easy. Hahaha.”
President Kim Seungtae was in a good mood.
The war the president had secretly hoped for hadn't broken out, but the balance of power had become clear without one.
A Korea that made Taiwan jump, Japan grovel, and China watch its step.
‘Now this is a fucking country.’
Nuclear powers?
Nothing to envy there.
G7?
Heh. We have the Mad Sovereign.
If he blew up, Korea would be the first to go.
But the neighboring countries certainly wouldn't escape unharmed either.
“Hehehe.”
What a thrill.
There was something sinister about President Kim Seungtae's laughter, and Park Taejun shuddered.
‘Surely the president won't do anything reckless?’
The Bureau director couldn't help worrying that the president might put too much faith in the special adviser's presence and cause trouble.
Footnotes:
“Spiritual pressure” echoes Bleach, where a powerful being's spiritual presence can overwhelm others.
Thanos is a Marvel villain whose finger snap wipes out half the life in the universe.
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