WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 39: That’s Why
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When it came to debating how much a single person was worth, idealists said this:
You could not put a price on a human being.
Yet if asked whether they would give up their entire fortune to save one person, few would nod.
Realists said this:
A human being could be valued.
Yet if asked how much it would take for them to sell their own life, few could give a proper answer.
Determining a person's value was that difficult. Countless people had pondered it since ancient times, yet no one had ever found an answer.
“To be honest, we were lucky.”
In that sense, the girl who had boldly taken on that impossible question and declared that even her clan's vast fortune was a bargain compared to Rimon's value was truly rare.
“...Lucky?”
“Yes. When we first made this plan, we had braced ourselves for as long as a century.”
The white-haired man wore a strange expression.
Looking at Rimon, she spoke with a bright smile.
“The Sword Duke's reputation was so lofty that we doubted it would fade even after a thousand years, let alone a hundred.”
That was no exaggeration.
The Guardian Deity of Humanity who had slain the Demon God.
The hero who resolved the Spirit Cataclysm that had swept across the American continent.
The last Sword Master, who had thwarted the Seven Dragons Society's countless schemes time and again.
The reputation Rimon Aspelder had built over centuries was so immense that, even thirty years ago, it showed no signs of fading.
Even the Seven Dragons Society, which had advanced the World Peace Plan, had doubted whether it would work.
“But people truly are remarkable.”
In that sense, after the Iron Age began and Constellations and Players appeared in the world, the changes people brought about had been astonishing.
“Far from a century, they completely forgot the Sword Duke's reputation in just thirty years.”
Players intoxicated by the power they had suddenly gained.
Those in power blinded by the wealth Dungeons brought.
Ordinary people who had come to take peace for granted.
People adapted to the changing era far too quickly, and discarded everything from the old age just as easily.
They became so absorbed in the wealth and peace before their eyes that they completely forgot who had protected the world time and again until then.
No, rather than forgetting, it was closer to burying him.
As if they considered the very past in which the world had been saved by some uncouth swordsman to be a shameful blot on history.
Without anyone needing to take the lead, people naturally buried Rimon's achievements and turned Sword Masters into objects of ridicule.
The change was so sudden that even the Seven Dragons Society, which had intended it, was taken aback.
“Isn't it strange? People forgot the Sword Duke so quickly that it surpassed even our own predictions, despite us having planned everything.”
Li Qing-yu added her own question to one of Rimon's lingering doubts. With a peculiar smile unlike any she had shown before, she continued.
“It isn't as if some transcendent beings intervened across the entire world.”
Her tone was light, as though she were joking.
Yet Li Qing-yu's eyes were not smiling. Seeing that, Rimon raised an eyebrow.
“...Are you saying the Constellations were why I fell so much faster than your plan intended?”
“It's the sort of thing people would call me crazy for saying.”
“At least you know that.”
Rimon frowned.
Rimon was only taking it this calmly because he was Rimon. Anyone else who heard Li Qing-yu's story would have dismissed her as a crazy bitch.
“If what you're saying is true, it means the Constellations are brainwashing and manipulating Players.”
“Not to that extent. I just wonder whether Players are subconsciously influenced by Constellations.”
“That's called brainwashing, isn't it?”
It was an outrageous claim.
No, it was pure madness.
In this Iron Age, where common knowledge held that Constellations were great transcendent beings who granted people protection and blessings, even a conspiracy theorist would have dismissed those words as bullshit.
Yet instead of correcting herself, Li Qing-yu spoke calmly.
“As I already told you, our Seven Dragons Society has worked toward world peace for the past several decades.”
“I know.”
“And the thing we worked hardest at was gathering information on people.”
“I figured.”
Having long been called the Guardian Deity of Humanity, Rimon could sympathize with much of what she said. He nodded.
The problem was what came next.
“I began to suspect the Constellations because I found something strange in the information we gathered.”
“Something strange?”
“More people than expected change after becoming Players.”
“It's common for people to change after suddenly gaining power.”
“That would be true for people who gained great power. But what if even those who gained only a little changed?”
Level 10 or 20 at most.
Li Qing-yu calmly explained the changes among people contracted to insignificant Constellations, people who did not even have enough power to be treated as Players.
A criminal who had habitually committed rape and robbery becoming a good person who donated their entire fortune.
Someone who loved swimming developing a terrible fear of water.
Someone who had spent their entire life studying to become a doctor suddenly trying to become a combat athlete.
After hearing the examples Li Qing-yu gave, Rimon narrowed his eyes.
“It's not impossible.”
“Yes, if it happened to one person in a hundred, it would be possible. But what if at least 70 percent of Players experienced changes, large or small, like these?”
“...Seven out of every ten Players change their personalities?”
“According to statistics on Players who have held contracts for over ten years.”
“I've spent decades watching Players, but I never noticed changes like that.”
“The longer you've known someone, the harder it is to notice those changes. They happen gradually over decades.”
If someone changed overnight, anyone would become suspicious.
But what if the change took place over a year, or several decades?
People would only think they had changed a little from before. No one would consider it strange.
Not even the person who had changed.
“But the Sword Duke should know. A person's nature does not change easily.”
“...”
“Do you truly think it is normal for such major changes to occur without any incident or trigger?”
Rimon could only remain silent at Li Qing-yu's point.
There were many people who changed their personalities or way of life after surviving a near-death experience or going through a once-in-a-lifetime event.
But what if seven out of ten people changed their personalities simply because they became Players?
What if the remaining three were still changing, or simply had not noticed the changes yet?
Could anyone truly say that the Constellations had no influence over those changes?
“...Even if that is true, there is not enough evidence to suspect the Constellations solely on that basis.”
“Yes. The Sword Duke is right.”
Li Qing-yu admitted it frankly.
Even if the changes in Players' personalities were real, that could not be considered proof that they had been brainwashed by Constellations.
It could simply be that a Constellation's disposition influenced its Player through their contract.
And if that was all it was, many would ask what the problem was.
Compared to the benefits Constellations gave, a little change in personality was nothing.
“That's why, aside from me, there is no one in the Seven Dragons Society who is wary of Constellations. At most, they are wary of Players expanding their influence.”
“...Why are you so wary of the Constellations, then?”
“I don't know much about Constellations, but there is one thing I do know.”
They had neither harmed the world nor interfered with the Seven Dragons Society.
Why was she so wary of Constellations on such weak grounds as changes in Players' personalities?
At his puzzled question, Li Qing-yu smiled faintly.
“There is no such thing as a favor without a price.”
“...A foolish question, a wise answer.”
From spirits to gods and the Seven Dragons, there had been many beings beyond humanity throughout history besides the Constellations.
Yet none of them had ever shown humanity goodwill without asking something in return.
Offerings, affection, faith, obedience.
They received payment in their own ways and gave benefits accordingly.
Constellations formed contracts merely when people demonstrated achievements, then granted power in the form of Skills. What did they receive in return?
Did they turn their contracted Players into spectacles?
Of course, that was possible.
If Constellations were great beings who transcended even gods, perhaps they could pay such a price as casually as a tycoon paid a television licence fee.
But at least the Constellations Rimon had seen did not seem that great.
Above all, having lived so long, he knew many truths of life.
“The more something looks free, the greater the price you must pay for it.”
“Yes. But in this age, too many people have forgotten that obvious truth.”
Li Qing-yu gave a small, bitter smile.
Then she looked at the wreckage of the display case Chao had smashed with their body earlier and let out a soft sigh.
“There are quite a few within the Seven Dragons Society who have also fallen under the Constellations' influence.”
When carrying out the World Peace Plan, the Seven Dragons Society had maintained absolute secrecy.
Only the princesses and elders of each clan knew the whole story.
Even the clans carrying out the plan had acted without knowing its true purpose.
If the secret behind world peace were exposed, all their efforts would be wasted. In the worst case, Rimon might intervene.
Their secrecy had been almost paranoid.
Then came the Sword Master's swifter-than-expected fall, caused by the Constellations' intervention.
The result was people like Chao.
Clan members who had been steeped in the common sense of the current age and come to underestimate Rimon.
Even Chao, Li Qing-yu's guard, had heard about Rimon several times and still thought that way.
There was no need to mention how Rimon was viewed within the Seven Dragons Society, apart from the leadership and some other exceptions.
Even the Seven Dragons Society, which had existed as the hidden power behind the world, could not escape the Constellations' touch.
“What are you supposed to do when you get caught in the conspiracy you devised yourselves...?”
“It's ironic.”
Perhaps she was ashamed of it herself, because Li Qing-yu's cheeks reddened slightly.
But she did not forget to add one more thing.
“Or perhaps it was inevitable.”
Those who used poison had to be prepared to take poison themselves.
Yet they had neglected that precaution.
No, it would be fair to call them lax.
Just as ignorant people had become intoxicated by the power Constellations offered and the abundance found in Dungeons, the Seven Dragons Society had also become intoxicated by the wealth and glory gained through legitimization, and by the arrogance of ruling the world from the shadows.
The fact that the other clans no longer felt the need to keep Rimon in check, even at the cost of maintaining the World Peace Plan, instead of being wary of Constellations, proved it.
In that sense, it was inevitable.
Perhaps it was the tide of the age, which no one could escape.
“That's why I proposed to the Sword Duke, staking everything on it.”
“...Because I am the only one in the world who can cut down Constellations?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Li Qing-yu nodded.
Then, looking at Rimon with calm eyes, she continued.
“Now that Players have taken control of the entire world, the only person who can defy the tide of the age and protect our Seven Dragons Society from the Constellations is the Sword Duke.”
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