WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 12: I’ll Forgive You

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His last memory before regressing.

After taking Yoo Na-gyeong’s hand and teleporting into a basement packed with explosives.

After barely escaping the collapsing building caught in the blast, only to find countless gun barrels aimed at him.

Remembering that moment, Rimon wore a bitter expression.

“...

TNT? A trap? What are you talking about?”

Yoo Na-gyeong blinked blankly.

She looked so vacant, she practically looked stupid. She did not look like the person who had plotted Rimon’s death.

But Rimon ignored her words completely.

He merely lowered his golden eyes sadly and lamented in a quiet voice.

“I was too stupid. There were plenty of things that didn’t add up.”

There was no way a lowly PAB employee like her could know the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters when even intelligence agencies had failed to find it.

There was no reason Yoo Na-gyeong, who had no interest in promotion or money, would actively suggest wiping out the Liberation Brigade.

For a group that had been attacked without warning, the Liberation Brigade had been far too well armed and prepared.

He should have realized much sooner.

His trust in Yoo Na-gyeong had blinded him to those inconsistencies.

“There was no way you could be in danger while you were with me.”

Another important clue.

It was the ominous feeling he had when he saw Yoo Na-gyeong’s constellation, the feeling that she might be in danger.

Thinking about it now, that itself made no sense.

Even if an army of a million charged at him.

Even if he fell into some elaborate trap.

Even if he faced a Monarch-class player.

Rimon could always protect at least one person and escape.

There was even less reason to worry if that person was Yoo Na-gyeong, a high-level player.

And yet, there had only ever been one way Yoo Na-gyeong could be in danger.

“...

Unless I killed you.”

The thought was so painful that bitterness lingered on his tongue.

But he did not lower his sword.

Like a swordsman who had lived far too long to drown in emotion and forget what needed to be done, he aimed his blade at his enemy and asked calmly.

“Why, Na-gyeong?”

“Team Leader? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re scaring me. Could you stop this joke now?”

Her clear, wide eyes did not waver.

She really was a clever subordinate.

Even if someone knew that playing dumb until the end was the best choice, few could actually pull it off.

Her only flaw was her lack of experience.

If she truly did not understand his words, her eyes should have shaken with anxiety.

Yet because she was so clever, the composure she had forced beyond all reason told him more clearly than any admission could.

“Were they hostages?”

“...!”

Her mask cracked.

Yoo Na-gyeong tried to keep acting calm.

But the senses of a Sword Master, sharp enough to be a curse, did not miss her racing heartbeat.

“Your parents or blood relatives wouldn’t mean much to an orphan like you. So they must have threatened you by holding the lives of the children at the orphanage.”

Rimon knew.

He knew that Yoo Na-gyeong was always cheerful and talkative because she was starved for affection.

He knew that she spent most of her salary caring for the children at the orphanage.

He knew how dearly she loved the other children from that orphanage.

That was why he felt no anger.

He only spoke with sadness.

“I understand your choice.”

Perhaps she could no longer endure it.

At last, her mask shattered completely.

Her face twisted as though she might cry at any moment, and Yoo Na-gyeong muttered in a trembling voice.

“...

How did you know?”

“You would never betray me for money or orders.”

“You really are sharp.”

Two words that sounded like admiration, resentment, and a sob all at once.

Looking directly into her eyes, filled with even more tangled emotions than her voice, Rimon asked:

“Was there no other way?”

“Do you think there was?”

“No.”

“That’s right. At least one of us, either you or me, has to die here.”

“I thought so.”

He had known even before asking.

If there had been another way out, someone as quick-witted as her would never have resorted to this.

The reason she could not tell him the situation and ask for help was because there truly was no other way.

The memory from the future that he had finally recalled proved it.

Yoo Na-gyeong’s sorrowful face as she detonated the bombs after teleporting with him into this building’s basement.

It was not an unfamiliar situation.

In the distant past, when he had fought the seven dragons that ruled the world.

When he had fought black mages who summoned a Demon God.

When he had stopped the Seven Dragons Society’s rampage across Asia.

Those who could not handle Rimon had each tried, at least once, to use people around him through hostages or threats.

Even in the age when Sword Masters were absolute, it had been impossible to stop every scheme.

That was why Rimon always had only one answer in situations like this.

“There is one last thing I want to ask.”

Rimon swallowed his bitterness.

Then he looked quietly at Yoo Na-gyeong with his golden eyes and asked:

“Are those children more precious to you than your own life?”

It was not a question, but a confirmation.

Yoo Na-gyeong did not avoid the eyes of the superior who wanted to fulfill at least the smallest responsibility of protecting his subordinate.

She looked Rimon straight in the eye and answered firmly.

“Yes.”

“...

Couldn’t you at least hesitate a little? Now I feel foolish for asking.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be very sorry. It wasn’t enough that you stabbed your exalted superior in the back. You even left all the cleanup to me.”

Rimon let out a short laugh.

She could not possibly have missed the meaning behind his question.

Yet her answer had been so firm.

Even Rimon, who had lived such a long life, had no choice but to admit that Yoo Na-gyeong was truly remarkable.

That was why he could make his decision more easily.

“But I forgive you.”

Her pupils widened as though she had heard something impossible.

Before Yoo Na-gyeong could recover from her shock, Rimon took a step.

One step to enter her blind spot.

One step to draw back his sword.

One step to gently drive it into her heart.

Shnk!

“So rest in peace.”

It was as if time had stopped.

Yoo Na-gyeong stood frozen with Rimon’s sword lodged in her.

Only after a long while did her body begin to collapse, and Rimon quietly caught her.

She probably had not felt any pain.

She likely had not even known she was dying.

Even so, the smile left at the corner of her lips was faint yet unmistakable. It told him that she had accepted her death.

Rimon closed the eyes of his clever, cheerful, and foolish subordinate with a cold expression.

Ssssss.

Then the world turned black.

The unseen came into view.

A snake had kept its fangs buried in Yoo Na-gyeong’s neck. At last, it pulled them free, flicking its tongue as though mocking him.

The instant their eyes met, Rimon grabbed the snake by the neck.

He intended to take the softly glowing orb that it had pulled from Yoo Na-gyeong.

“Give it back.”

Whether the snake was startled at being caught or enraged at having its orb taken away, it writhed as though having a seizure.

Rimon did not even raise an eyebrow.

He only spoke coldly.

“This is not something a creature like you has any right to covet.”

Rimon did not know what the orb of light was.

But one thing was clear.

It belonged to Yoo Na-gyeong.

And that alone was enough reason for Rimon to take it from the snake.

Naturally, the snake did not accept that reason. It bared its fangs and lashed its tail at Rimon like lightning.

Unfortunately, it was not faster than him.

“Now get lost.”

Crack.

The snake’s neck bent at a right angle.

Its remains melted away like an illusion.

Rimon paid no more attention to the snake.

He only stared at the orb of light, which gave off an oddly familiar feeling, then placed it on Yoo Na-gyeong’s chest.

As though expecting some change.

But even after the orb melted into her body, no miracle occurred to bring the dead back to life.

Just as Rimon made a bitter expression at that obvious fact.

KABOOOOOM!

With a roar like the sky collapsing, a massive wave of heat surged from the basement and swallowed Rimon and the entire building.

* * *

KABOOOOOM!

...Is it finally over?

The Liberation Brigade’s headquarters stood beneath the sign of Haecheong Industries.

Until moments ago, the building had stood tall like a lighthouse under the pale moonlight. Now, watching it collapse beneath enormous flames, they let out a sigh.

I’m tired.

There were 144 tons of TNT buried there alone.

On top of that, they had deployed dozens of explosive items to strengthen the blast and barrier items to prevent escape.

If Yoo Na-gyeong brought Rimon into the basement as planned, even a Monarch, let alone a Sword Master, could never emerge alive.

Many had opposed their measures as excessive.

Even so, they had pushed the plan through.

Once they had tried to kill Rimon, they knew far too well that failure would leave them no way back.

But their worrying was over now.

With humanity’s last Sword Master gone, they no longer had to worry about insomnia, stomach problems, or hair loss.

That was what they thought.

“Ha, fuck.”

Until they heard a low voice drift from the thick cloud of dust rising from the ruins of the building, consumed by flames.

“How many sins did I commit in a past life that I have to go through this shit twice?”

“...!”

They held their breath without realizing it.

At the same time, they repeated to themselves.

No. That could not be possible.

They must have heard wrong.

The owner of that voice was already dead.

Whoooosh!

But a fierce gust of wind suddenly swept away the dust cloud.

Against the burning flames, the sight of a white-haired man standing amid the ruins with a woman in his arms wiped his mind blank.

They were not the only one shocked by the sight.

Everyone stationed around the building in preparation for an emergency froze in horror at the emergency that had actually occurred.

How?

It was the question they all shared.

The idea that a human could survive such a horrific explosion and collapse was far beyond their common sense and understanding.

“Stop, Rimon Aspelder!”

Fortunately, there was one exception.

Perhaps his nerves were exceptionally strong.

Or perhaps his ambition for promotion had overcome his judgment.

While everyone else stood frozen with blank faces, one man stepped forward alone and raised a loudspeaker.

Then, following the prepared manual, he shouted boldly.

“I am placing you under emergency arrest for the murder of a PAB agent and...”

“Terrorism and high treason. Kneel and surrender?”

“Y-Yes. If...”

“If I don’t comply, you’ll subdue me by force?”

“...Correct.”

Why? How does this bastard know what I was going to say? Did he see the manual or something?

He had stepped forward to claim the credit.

But after having every line stolen from him, the man became an extra without dialogue. His face turned red.

Thwack!

Rimon’s sword brushed the ground.

The man holding the loudspeaker had his head smashed like a watermelon.

“Try it, if you can.”

“...!”

Blood rained down.

The loudspeaker, covered in brain matter, fell to the ground.

Until the headless lump of flesh collapsed.

They remained frozen, staring blankly at the scene.

Not just them. Hundreds of people watching Rimon were frozen and unable to move.

It was not only because they had failed to see Rimon flick a grain of sand with the tip of his sword, making it look as though the man’s head had burst on its own.

“Anyone else want to step forward?”

Rimon had just killed a man, yet he looked around him with an indifferent expression.

His golden eyes made one thing clear.

Anyone who stepped forward before Rimon now would suffer the same fate as that man.

As if mocking their deathly silence, Rimon wore a smile as cold as ice.

Then he slowly turned his head and stared directly at one side of the wall of people surrounding him with their guns raised.

“What now? It seems these people don’t want to be your shields.”

“...!”

Their heart seemed to drop.

Rimon’s gaze was aimed exactly in their direction.

Rationally, they knew that could not be possible.

They had used a perception-distortion item to conceal their presence. Even a Monarch could not locate them immediately from this distance.

“Will you come out yourself? Or should I drag you out?”

But Rimon cut through that certainty with a single cold sentence.

“Kang Jeong-su.”

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