WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 203: Sample
──────
Kyle could not help but be surprised by the tall, narrow doorway.
Kyle was a swordsman, not a mage, but even he knew how absurd a spell called a Warp Gate was.
Warp was magic that allowed one to cross a distance that would take at least a month on horseback in a matter of tens of minutes. That magic had not existed at all five hundred years ago, and even in this era, it had been commercially available for less than a hundred years.
"Is this a product too?"
"Of course it is. Who do you think installed the Warp Gates spread across the continent?"
"Um... the Mage Association? Or the mage towers?"
"Crow Company spent centuries pouring funds into them and researching it alongside them. The patent still belongs to the Crows, and no one but the Crows can install them."
Duke Oun spoke with great pride.
"The continent's first Warp Gate connected the imperial capital to Avens, Crow Company's Central Branch. My great-grandfather supervised its installation. The research and support began in my great-great-grandfather's time. Didn't you visit the Central Branch? The records from that time should still be in its halls."
"To be honest, I only gave them a quick look."
Kyle searched his memories of that visit, but all he remembered was the portrait of Cyrus, the first chairman and his old friend.
"I understand that the Crows hold the Warp Gate patent, but... can you open one by yourself like this?"
"Of course not. Connecting cities through Warp Gates requires tremendous resources and mages. Calculating and fixing the coordinates, establishing the connection, and so on. The maintenance costs alone are astronomical."
"But you opened one by yourself."
"That's because I'm the chairman of the Crows."
Duke Oun chuckled and pointed to the Warp Gate he had opened.
"My son paid the energy cost of opening the door, Base 43 has an exit prepared, and I have the key."
Kyle stared at the ring on Duke Oun's finger. At first, he had thought it might be an Out-of-Place Artifact, but based on everything he had heard so far, it seemed that was another product made by the Crows.
'Or perhaps they dismantled an Out-of-Place Artifact and remade it.'
It was absurd. The mana that existed in the world, human intent and spiritual power, the holy arts of the sky gods and the dark magic of the outer gods. They had broken all of it down, reassembled it, and made products from it. Yet Duke Oun worshipped neither sky gods nor outer gods. To him, even the power granted by gods was merely raw material.
"Earlier, you said you took the power that manifests holy arts and dark magic. How did you even do that?"
"I skimmed it off."
Duke Oun gestured to the assembled people. The Black Wing Guard members carrying coffins, along with the researchers and employees, soon passed through the door.
"Skimmed it...?"
"You could also call it strategic redeployment. We extracted power from the holy power of a sky god drifting through a runaway Secret Realm, as well as various objects related to ownerless dark magic scattered across this dark frontier."
"After doing all that, you're upset about being cursed for having the gall?"
"How was I supposed to know the gods would be so stingy? I thought it was ownerless power. Whoever picks up such things owns them."
Duke Oun clicked his tongue and shrugged.
"Besides, it wasn't something I did solely for my own benefit. One day, the products I developed will benefit the whole world. Just like the Warp Gate my great-great-grandfather made."
"How exactly?"
"There's only one long-held wish I want to achieve after working myself to the bone on this land and dedicating my life to it. It is our company's long-standing wish."
The Valhalla Project.
Kyle could not tell where Duke Oun's sincerity ended. Garcia Rubalt, Duke Oun, was ultimately a hedonist who could never stay still.
The justification he used to convince himself was discovery and innovation, technological development and advancement, and intellectual desire.
That was what Kyle had thought. Yet when he considered the things Duke Oun had said, the man seemed rather devoted to humanity.
'It starts with the Crows' long-standing wish itself.'
The Valhalla Project, the Crows' long-standing wish established by Cyrus Rubalt, was a project for safe Ascension. It sought to determine whether an afterlife truly existed and make everyone born and dying in this land no longer fear what came after death. It sought to let people meet a happy death without damaging the fabric of the world. To make death into a new journey.
'Ruin's Ascension changed the Law given to humans born into this world. And Duke Oun... is trying to change the Law given to dead humans.'
This world was fucking awful and absurd. Every race was given a Law before they were even born. Dragons who boasted of their greatness became angels after death and were made to serve. Elves were bound by fate their entire lives, while the Demon Tribe went mad as death drew near.
If they tried to surpass or change those Laws through Ascension, the outer gods devoured them. If they died without attempting Ascension, they could not even reincarnate and were devoured by the sky gods.
"If you handed over Fenris, I could certainly complete that long-held wish. What do you say? Do you have any intention of helping me?"
The eyes behind the crow mask curved into crescents. Kyle quickly came to his senses. Duke Oun's great cause did sound rather convincing when he listened to it, but Kyle had no intention of handing Fenris over.
[Grrr...]
Fenris was already voicing its refusal.
'Then why did you ask to come along?'
Was there something ahead where Duke Oun was headed? Or was it because of the power Duke Oun handled? Kyle did not know about the former, but the latter seemed plausible enough. After all, Kyle himself had magical power inside him. This material was purer and of a higher grade than the power extracted from dark magic and relics.
"Achieve your long-held wish yourself. May I take a look at that ring?"
"You have no conscience. You won't give me what I want, yet you only seek what you want?"
"I said I'd help you get that curse of theirs lifted."
"That's because of the promise I made ten years ago."
Duke Oun grumbled as he gestured to Kyle and Lucia.
"Maintaining the door isn't easy, so hurry inside. I can only enter after you do."
"I wish we could go backward instead of forward. Or send the messenger back."
"The door is starting to close. If we don't enter now, we'll have a long trip to Base 43."
Duke Oun changed the subject so obviously that it was almost comical. Kyle did not press him further and passed through the door with Lucia.
In truth, there was no need to examine the ring any more closely. The power he had seen earlier. A product created by Duke Oun. Kyle also had its raw material, and its method of manufacture...
He focused on the magical power dwelling inside his body. Two near-death experiences, the interior of a rift where time and space tangled together, and his innate Chaos Spirit Root. The quality that could contain anything and become anything let him grasp the nature of a product he had seen only once.
'Something feels strange.'
As he passed through the door, Kyle frowned. Duke Oun had suddenly taken him outside the base to look around, then put on a grand display while asking whether he was curious about power.
'Did he simply want to stir my curiosity and leave a favorable impression?'
If that had been his intent, then he had succeeded. But Duke Oun knew Kyle was the Turning Point. While treating Kyle's unconscious body, he had confirmed both the Chaos Spirit Root and the magical power dissolved within Kyle.
When Kyle considered that...
Everything Duke Oun had just shown him felt like a deliberate demonstration.
'I don't know what he's thinking.'
Still, seeing what could be called a sample had been useful.
* * *
"It failed."
[What?!]
The moment he spoke with a long sigh, the screen shook wildly.
Crackle. Crackle.
The man staring at the screen thick with static let out a shorter sigh than before and rubbed his temple.
"Don't raise your voice. Guspell, how many times must I tell you that the communication conditions are unstable?"
[I... it... failed?]
The static gradually subsided, and the screen recovered.
A long single horn protruded from the center of the man's forehead. Despite his muscular body, his face was purple and swollen with flesh as he panted heavily.
[I never get used to seeing you.]
A giggling voice came from the screen on the other side.
[Little brother, aren't you taking too much medicine? Your body got bigger, but your face is ruined. Your mind seems the same. Seeing you flounder in delusions, this big sister is worried you might suddenly croak.]
[You must have meant expectations, not delusions...!]
Guspell shot Galea a glare with bloodshot red eyes at her mockery.
[Ahahaha. Still, we're blood relatives, so I do worry. If it seems like you'll die from the side effects, please die in front of me. I'm interested in Demon King Inscriptions too. If you die in the dark frontier, especially in front of Father... ahahaha, our father might truly become the Demon King.]
[Shut up!]
[Brother Garod? Don't you think he's changed a lot beyond just his body? Is that another side effect of changing races?]
Galea whispered to Garod while giggling.
"He has certainly changed a great deal. His body changed, so I suppose it is only natural."
Guspell Rubalt had originally been a thin man with a small build and little appetite. But four years ago, he transfused himself with Demon Tribe blood secretly researched by the Northern Branch, underwent every kind of surgery, swallowed mountains of medicine, and appeared again after transforming himself from a human into a member of the Demon Tribe.
"Honestly, I'm worried about your condition too. As your brother."
[It's already too late to go back. And I don't want to go back...!]
The horn growing from Guspell's forehead was not attached through surgery. It was a natural change that came with becoming a member of the Demon Tribe. However, the procedure was incomplete in many ways, so Guspell had to take dozens of pills every day.
Still, he had no regrets. By coating his vessel in the colors of the Demon Tribe, he had obtained things he had never possessed before. Guspell steadied his breathing as he felt the heat of the Demon King Inscription embedded in his chest.
[Talk... about the failure. Why did it fail? Father shouldn't have been at the base we attacked this time.]
"It seems the information was wrong."
Garod let out a short sigh and rubbed his temple again.
"Looking at the golems' battle records, Father was there. The attack could only fail."
[Fuck! You didn't even verify the information?!]
"I told you not to raise your voice."
Garod's brow twisted deeply.
"The one who wants to shout the most right now is me, you stupid mongrel bastard. We deployed two hundred and thirty golems in this attack. We lost them in one day. Just one day!"
[Half the mana tanks in those golems belong to the Northern Branch! You're not the only one who lost something! And I hired those Demon Tribe members too!]
"So what do you want me to do about it? Unlike you, who are making a branch your private property and screwing around about becoming the Demon King, I manage headquarters! If the losses we've hidden so far are caught during an audit..."
[Then why don't you stop playing businessman, Brother?]
Galea, who had been admiring her black-painted nails, whispered softly.
[Or do you not want to give up the name of the Crows? Honestly, Brother, what will remain even if you protect that chairman's seat?]
Galea blew on her nails and leaned toward the screen.
[Father hasn't shown himself for twenty-five years, and every new technology is locked away in Father's pocket. The chairman's seat you occupy is only a place to stamp approvals. Two hundred and thirty golems? Ahahaha, you mean those toys built with investments from the Beastfolk Allied Nations and the Empire?]
"..."
[Yes, if you lost those, neither country will leave you alone. So why not gather everything you can get your hands on and come south? I'll treat you well.]
"You want me to crawl under you?"
[Oh, not under me. It would be a partnership. I'll let you contribute to your little sister's great undertaking.]
Garod did not answer. He pressed his temple repeatedly, then shook his head hard.
"Why do you think I joined this madness? I'm doing this shit because I want to become chairman somehow, and you're telling me to run away and crawl under you?"
[I can't understand why someone who wants to become chairman so badly is doing something this insane. If you just sit still and keep breathing, Father will hand over the position himself.]
"Father would never hand over the chairman's seat to someone like me who hasn't produced results...!"
[If you knew that, you should have done a better job until now.]
Garod finally snapped at the mocking remark and slammed his fist down on the desk. The two screens shook violently with a bang.
"Father never even gave me a chance to do well! Father monopolized every decision-making right in headquarters and turned me into someone who only stamps the documents he sends! Father took most of headquarters' important personnel to that black land! Father rejected every one of my business plans...! Fuck, is it my fault that headquarters was overtaken by the Central Branch in performance under these circumstances?"
[Choosing your connections well is also a skill. Look at the youngest. They made the right connection with Alastor and secured exclusive development rights to that bonanza land in the East. Meanwhile, you've spent all this time lobbying rotten connections and botching everything.]
Galea spoke lazily, resting her chin on her interlocked fingers.
[Now you're participating in a little get-together for killing Father. Ah, was this plan proposed by the second one?]
[So this is my fault? Wasn't wanting to kill Father something all of us agreed on?]
[Leave me out of that. I think Father is an old has-been, but I have no personal grudge against him. If anything, I'm grateful. I've gained so much by being born as Father's daughter.]
She had no personal grudge against him, yet she was still participating in a plan to kill her father. One did not need to hate someone to kill them. Galea only wanted to remove Duke Oun because he would interfere with the great chaos she desired.
[So the attack failed... and knowing Father's meticulous nature, he probably left behind only data filled with decoys. Ahahaha, and there wouldn't have been any casualties among the Black Wing Guard either.]
"...Yes."
[It's unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Is there anything else I need to hear?]
"No."
[Cold, aren't you? Fine, then. Contact me whenever you need a favor. As I said before, I'll always welcome your defection, Brother. Though I'll scold you if you come empty-handed.]
Galea's screen shut off with her giggling. Only after confirming that the communication had completely ended did Guspell begin grumbling.
[She only pretended to invest, yet she talks so fucking much. Who does she think she is, saying someone else is floundering in delusions? She wants to overthrow the Empire and conquer the continent. That crazy bitch...]
"Kyle Alastor and Lucia... Beliar were with Father."
Guspell's grumbling stopped at Garod's sudden words. Guspell stared at Garod with his mouth hanging open on the screen.
[Brother, what did you just say...?]
"Kyle Alastor, who disappeared in the East ten years ago. He was with Father, along with the adjutant who disappeared with him."
Guspell stared blankly at his eldest brother, unable to compose himself. After barely coming to his senses, he asked in a stammer.
[No... r-really? Why didn't you say so earlier?]
"Do you think Galea's goal is realistic?"
Garod frowned.
"She was never right in the head to begin with, but after locking herself away in the South, she's gone completely mad. Has her brain mutated from spending time with dark mages? I can overlook her delusion that Kyle Alastor is Ruin Alastor's reincarnation. But she wants to overthrow the Empire and rule the continent? Does that make any sense?"
[That's... true, but...]
"I have no intention of throwing in with that crazy bitch. I don't even know what she has behind her. Your goal, on the other hand, is fairly achievable, and your backing is clear."
The ruler of Erebos. Babelio Erebos, the Demon King. It was the Demon King who had authorized and invested in the experiments Guspell secretly conducted at the Northern Branch. He was also the one who had allowed Guspell, a human, to become a member of the Demon Tribe, possess an Inscription, and participate in the succession contest.
"If it becomes known that Kyle Alastor is in the dark frontier, Galea, who has been locked in the South daydreaming, will come west as well. Then matters will become far too complicated. I don't know what that crazy bitch might do... and she's interested in Demon King Inscriptions too."
[Wait, Brother. Why are you telling me this? Because Kyle Alastor is with Father, are you telling me not to touch Father?]
Guspell asked in a trembling voice. All Guspell had decided was to commit the vile act of killing his father. He had no intention of making enemies of Alastor, which even had the Sword Church in its fold.
"Guspell, wasn't your goal to become the Demon King?"
[It was... but what does Kyle Alastor have to do with my goal... Ah, could Father be holding Kyle Alastor captive? If I rescue him, I might be able to join hands with Alastor...]
"Foolish little brother, that isn't why I told you. Kyle Alastor's adjutant, Lucia Beliar, isn't an ordinary Half-blood. She's a chimera."
Garod's frustrated words made Guspell shoot to his feet.
[A ch-chimera? Don't tell me...!]
"She's likely the product of mutant biological weapon development. Weren't you the one overseeing that?"
[...]
"So that isn't the case. You crazy bastard, did you sell Crow technology to the Demon King for preferential treatment?"
[I-I didn't sell it. It was joint research...]
"When every related party has slipped out of your control, what stake do you have left?"
Garod let out a deep sigh and pressed his temple hard.
"Forget it. What was taken can't be recovered... but if you truly become the Demon King, it may return to your hands. In any case, Lucia Beliar is a chimera. And that body bears a Demon King Inscription."
[What did you say?!]
"The succession contest that has lasted eleven years was not a three-way struggle. It was a four-way struggle. If you truly want to become the Demon King, you'll have to obtain Lucia Beliar's Inscription. Or tell the other claimants about it."
[Brother, how did you find out about this...?]
"This attack failed too, but it seems Father didn't expect it either. Unlike before, there was quite a bit of information left on the server."
After saying that, Garod quietly studied Guspell's face.
"I have no intention of entering the dark frontier myself. Nor do I have many resources left to do so. You, on the other hand, still have plenty of resources remaining. Don't you?"
[...]
"If you truly, sincerely want to become the Demon King, you have no choice but to make a bold decision. If you act, I'll support you with everything I have, without considering what comes after. If we kill Father and you become the Demon King, we'll recover all the losses we've suffered and more."
Guspell did not answer immediately and hesitated. Garod stared at his little brother, whose indecision remained even after becoming a member of the Demon Tribe, then rose from his chair.
"That's all I have to say. The decision is yours. But don't make me wait too long. You know as well as I do that Father is someone capable of anything."
Without waiting for his little brother's answer, Garod cut off the communication. Only after he was alone did Garod let out a long sigh and press his temples.
"Father, honestly... I don't know what you're thinking. Why are you making me do this?"
Garod shook his head and muttered to himself.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
