WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 177: The Land of the One-Eyed

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Trees wearing clothes little better than rags.

It was not a metaphor. They really were trees. The ragged clothes were one thing, but the figures creeping toward them were unmistakably trees. Roots intertwined beneath their baggy pants to form feet. Their arms and hands were the same.

And their heads.

"I know people can look different depending on where they come from."

Kyle watched the approaching trees as he spoke.

"But isn't this a bit much?"

Where their heads should have been stood dry trunks. Short, withered branches stretched from where hair should have grown. Were those really people? Wouldn't it make more sense to call them monsters?

Thinking that, Kyle placed a hand on Fenris's hilt.

"Sir Kyle. Give the order."

Lucia whispered in a low voice. The knights, including her, were horrified by the bizarre creatures. Kyle, however, was not as shocked as they were.

He had seen many strange things.

The humans mutated by mana inside the Black Cube had looked no less grotesque than these creatures.

'Trees...'

He remembered what he had seen in the Central Research Building. The researchers mutated by the powerful mana at its center had also become trees.

But they had not been exactly the same. Those trees had been made of flesh, while these were more accurately described as living trees.

"We'll make contact first. Don't show hostility, but stay alert. Keep your weapons in hand."

Kyle stepped forward as he spoke. Katarina and Soha hurried after him.

Before long, they met the approaching group. There were ten of them, though he was not sure whether to call them ten people or ten trees. They were not exceptionally tall for trees. They were all around Kyle's height.

'Can they speak?'

The question suddenly occurred to him. Five hundred years ago, the East and West had used different languages. Those who had crossed over to fight in the Dark Age in the West had been able to speak the western language, however awkwardly, so the Sword Demon had never needed to study the eastern language in his previous life.

'No... can they even talk in the first place?'

There was only a trunk and withered branches where their heads should have been. He could not see anything resembling a mouth.

Then the bark covering one of the trunks wriggled, and small holes opened across it.

"Hisss..."

The holes squirmed as a sound like escaping air leaked out. Kyle stared blankly at the sight before speaking.

"Hello."

He greeted them first, with the brightest smile he could manage. He did not know whether they even had eyes.

Hiss... hisss...

Only the sound of escaping air came from the trees as they bowed.

"So they can't speak after all..."

[Kneel...!]

Amid the hissing came a will that transcended language.

Kyle froze and stared at the tree in front. The withered branches hanging like hair began trembling and rising upward.

[How dare a lowborn stand before Treefolk without showing proper respect?]

[Wait, middle brother. Look at them. They do not appear to be ordinary humans.]

Another tree stopped the one trembling in outrage.

"Treefolk?"

Kyle frowned and tilted his head. Tree people. It was an obvious name.

Another Treefolk sent its will toward the puzzled Kyle.

[Human. We do not understand what you are saying. Send your will so that we may understand.]

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Kyle let out a hollow laugh and muttered. He had often concealed his voice and communicated through mana before, but he had never sent his will beyond the bounds of language.

[You have simply never tried. You can do it now. Have you not opened your Upper Dantian?]

Fragment spoke from Jor, who had flown over from behind Kyle.

[It is not difficult. Opening your Upper Dantian means that you and the world can communicate. Think of conveying your will to the other person...]

[Oh, ohhh...!]

The Treefolk began trembling at the sight of Jor. One after another, they lowered themselves.

Crack!

Their trunks bent, splitting bark that fell to the ground.

All ten trees knelt before Jor.

[T-true dragon...!]

[You still remain in this world? And you are so healthy besides...!]

The trees went beyond kneeling, pressing themselves flat against the ground as they bowed to Jor.

Jor looked bewildered and turned to Kyle.

"Um, Master. I think I really am a dragon."

"They must be confused because of how you look."

Jor did look exactly like a dragon, after all.

Kyle said that, then collected himself.

[What exactly are you?]

The Treefolk fell silent at Kyle's question. After a brief pause, the one who had stopped the first Treefolk from growing angry slowly raised its head.

[Are you... a messenger of the Dragon Nether?]

[A messenger of the Dragon Nether? What is that? We came from the other side of the Wisdom Mountain Range.]

The Treefolk began trembling harder. Cracked bark fell from between their rags with a dry rustling sound.

[Um, can you understand my... my will properly?]

[You came from beyond the Wisdom Mountain Range... Does that mean you crossed the Wall?]

[As you can see.]

Kyle pointed to his red hair. As far as he knew from his previous life, everyone in the East had black hair. The members of Izelion had black hair as well.

[Our hair color is different, isn't it? We are humans from the West.]

[Hair color...? We cannot see colors.]

The Treefolk murmured among themselves.

[Now that I look closely, they do appear different from the lowborn we know.]

[They are wearing clothes too...]

[Beyond the Wall lies blessed land. Those who live there must be true humans, unlike us... Oh, ohhh...]

[Honored guest, are you not a messenger of the Dragon Nether?]

The Treefolk directed their question at Kyle again.

[What is a messenger of the Dragon Nether?]

The trees were silent for a moment at his question. Then they creaked as they rose.

[If you came from beyond the Wall, then... that one was not born in this land as a true dragon?]

The trees turned to stare at Jor.

[Yes. Jor is not a dragon, and was not born in this land.]

[We... saw the lowly rabble of the Dragon Nether flying here.]

Their hesitant will continued.

[Where... did they go?]

Judging by what they said, the lowly rabble of the Dragon Nether meant Velatus's servants.

[If by the lowly rabble of the Dragon Nether you mean the winged eyes, they all died after coming to collect me.]

[They... died?]

[Do not misunderstand. I did not kill them. They just screamed and burst to death on their own. It has caused me quite a bit of trouble. I came here by invitation.]

Communicating through will had felt awkward at first, but Kyle was getting used to it. He smoothly continued the conversation.

[I came by invitation, but I know very little about this land. The eyes that came to greet me all burst as well. There is somewhere I need to go, but I have no idea where to find it.]

[Where do you need to go?]

[Where Dragon Queen Velatus is.]

If the servants meant to guide him had died without answering, he had no choice but to ask the locals.

The trees began shaking at Kyle's answer.

[Th-the Dragon Queen...!]

[You were invited by the master of the Dragon Nether...?]

[P-please forgive our disrespect.]

The trees, already prostrating themselves, lowered their bodies even further as they trembled in fear.

[What disrespect? You have not been disrespectful at all, so please rise comfortably. I do not want apologies. I want to know where the Dragon Queen resides.]

[Ohhh... How could servants like us know the residence of the Dragon Nether...?]

[If you permit it, we shall guide you to those who can answer the honored guest's question.]

The trees replied with trembling wills.

[Who exactly are you offering to guide me to?]

[They are... those who carry on the great houses of the Mok Family.]

Kyle blinked at the answer.

[The great houses?]

[Yes. We are a collateral branch of the Mok Family. Please forgive us for being unable to offer an answer that will satisfy the honored guest...]

"Mm."

Kyle stopped communicating through will and turned to Soha. The conversation had taken place in silence, and those who had not opened their Upper Dantians could not join it.

Did that mean every one of those trees had opened their Upper Dantians?

Kyle could not help but tilt his head at the thought. In this strange world, there were certainly more people who had opened their Upper Dantians than five hundred years ago. Even so, it made no sense for people who called themselves servants to have opened theirs.

'Is it related to what they have become?'

There were many strange things about the East compared to the West. Mana was abundant, but there were no Spirits. The Wall of Severance blocked all sides. Trees walked around like people.

Kyle pushed those thoughts aside and spoke to Soha.

"They say they are from the Mok Family."

"What?"

Soha let out a startled sound. She stared wide-eyed at the trees.

"They are from the Mok Family, but not the main line. They are a collateral branch."

"They... resemble Izelion's ancestors, so I thought perhaps..."

Soha muttered hesitantly. Those born with Izelion's blood became trees after death and joined the forest.

But the trees before them wore rags and moved like people.

"I asked where Velatus lives, but they do not know. They say they will introduce us to the Mok Family's great houses, which know where she is."

"It is suspicious, but we have no other way."

Katarina murmured.

"Why not follow them for now? I believe we should respond according to the situation."

It was a reasonable opinion. Kyle nodded and spoke to the trees.

[We will follow you. Please lead the way. Is it far from here?]

[It is not very far. Please, honored guest. Do not speak so respectfully to us. We are not beings worthy of such courtesy...]

At his answer, the trees rose one by one.

A strange procession began. Trees wearing rags led the way, and guests from the West followed behind them.

[This may be a rude question.]

Kyle spoke to the trees walking ahead.

[Are you dead?]

[Honored guest, we are too foolish to understand what you mean.]

[No... You say you are members of the Mok Family. You look very different from the people we know.]

[Our appearance is due to the grace of the Dragon Nether.]

One Treefolk spoke with pride.

[Our ancestor was born lowborn, but we received the grace of the Dragon Nether and shed our lowborn forms.]

As different as the worlds were, their notions of common sense differed greatly as well. To these Treefolk, humans seemed to be lowly beings.

Kyle recalled Fragment's earlier assumption.

Perhaps eastern civilization had collapsed, and humans had become worthless. The five great houses seemed to remain, but judging by their forms, neither human nor tree, the word human in this world seemed to mean something entirely different from what it meant in the West.

'This...'

Kyle unconsciously ran his hand over Fenris's hilt.

'I don't think we're going to like what we find.'

* * *

[Beyond that hill lies the territory of the Mok Family, honored guest.]

The Treefolk leading them sent its will. A low hill stood ahead, and something like cooking smoke rose from beyond it.

"Smoke."

Narua spoke brightly. Until now, all they had seen since crossing into the East were traces of the past buried beneath nature like ruins, winged eyes, and things that were neither humans nor trees.

At last, they had found signs of people.

Soha, on the other hand, had gone pale. She had come to confront the main family that had left them in the West for three hundred years and then lost contact with them. Discovering that the first members of the Mok Family they encountered were all Treefolk mixed with trees could not help but fill her with anxiety.

"Treefolk must eat too."

Kyle quickened his pace as he spoke. He passed the Treefolk walking ahead and climbed the hill first.

The Treefolk hurried after him, but Kyle reached the summit before they could catch up.

A vast expanse of farmland spread beneath the hill. Neatly arranged fields and irrigation channels running between them. At first glance, it was fertile farmland.

Humans were working in the fields.

"..."

They were not Treefolk.

Hundreds of humans with black hair, two arms, and two legs were scattered throughout the vast fields. They all had forms Kyle recognized.

Every one of them was naked.

They wore not a single thread. Their exposed bodies were all painfully thin. Their ribs stood out clearly, their limbs resembled dry branches, and their bellies were swollen.

They were bodies that had suffered long starvation.

Yet they worked the fields, swinging hoes and carrying loads as large as their own bodies on their backs.

Beside them, Treefolk wearing rags stretched the branches of their arms and swung them like whips. The screams of the humans being struck were the only sound that mixed with the noise of farming.

Kyle turned toward the source of the smoke.

It was a grotesque sight.

Treefolk wearing rags clung to limp human bodies, piercing them with vines extending from their branches. Emaciated human corpses lay scattered nearby.

The smoke came from a huge furnace beside them. Smoke billowed from long chimneys, and beneath them stood an enormous cauldron large enough to hold dozens of people. Its lid was shut, so Kyle could not see what was inside.

He did not want to know.

If people did not see something with their own eyes, they were bound to imagine it for themselves.

"Urgh..."

The knights who had followed Kyle stood stunned by the scene before them. Perhaps imagining something, Soha covered her mouth and swallowed back a retch.

[Honored guest, why are you in such a hurry?]

The Treefolk who had followed approached Kyle.

Kyle looked at the sight below and sent his will.

[What is that?]

[Ah, it is one of the farms governed by our Mok Family. We grant the lowborn the grace of labor.]

The Treefolk answered.

[And that?]

Kyle pointed at the humans being drained of bodily fluids.

[Ah, the overseers are eating. Forgive us... It is not normally time for a meal, but they must be hungry. Governing the lowborn requires effort as well.]

They were not apologizing for showing him people being eaten.

[And that?]

Kyle pointed at the smoking furnace and the huge cauldron.

[They are making cultivation pills. This is one of the outermost farms, so the lowborn used as materials are not of high quality. However, I hear the pill refiner is skilled, so the cultivation pills are high quality despite the ingredients used.]

The Treefolk spoke proudly.

Listening to that, Kyle nodded.

"I see. Their common sense is different."

There was a saying that in the land of the one-eyed, a person with two eyes was abnormal. This world had been cut off for three hundred years. Its common sense was completely different from Kyle's.

Kyle and his companions were outsiders in this world. Since they had come to the East, perhaps they should follow the laws of the East.

He did not want to.

Without hesitation, Kyle drew Fenris.

"Should we kill them all?"

Kyle glanced at Katarina as he asked.

"If you had insisted on talking again, I would not have followed you."

Katarina drew her sword as well.

Footnotes:

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