WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 61: Gut Me!
──────
Rimon knew.
That all sorts of things could happen in life.
For example, children could come back from an amusement park with a baby bird in one of their bags.
And that baby bird could turn out to be a rare species that had escaped from the zoo and was dying from a cold.
“Huh? There was something in a kid’s bag?”
“It was a baby bird. From what the children said, it seems to be one they saw at the zoo.”
“Seriously?”
“It seemed to be in poor condition after getting caught in the rain, so I left it at the veterinary clinic in Leviathan for treatment. What should we do?”
“Ugh, just make sure it gets treated. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Yes, Sword Duke.”
So when Rimon first learned about it, he had been displeased but not surprised.
He had merely clicked his tongue at a peculiar bird causing peculiar trouble.
“Honestly, what kind of zoo can’t even keep track of one bird?”
Even as he grumbled, Rimon returned to the amusement park the very next day.
If it had been a stray animal, that would have been one thing.
But the children had unknowingly taken a bird from the zoo, and a rare species at that. It was not something he could simply dismiss as a mistake.
Perhaps because the zoo employee was naturally good-natured.
Perhaps because they recognized Rimon.
Or perhaps because Li Qing-yu had contacted them on his behalf.
The employee in charge of the birds did not blame them for secretly taking the chick.
No, they had even seemed relieved and eagerly explained the situation.
“Thank you for contacting us. When we realized some Player’s stupid prank had made us lose a Bluebird of the Florine, I nearly had a heart attack.”
“A Player’s prank?”
“We checked the CCTV footage and found traces of a spatial-type player interfering.”
“That’s unusual. Players rarely bother with such trivial pranks...”
“Yes. Maybe that’s why the police would not even take our report seriously.”
“It’s too much of a hassle for the police to get involved, but too minor for the PAB to handle.”
Whether the employee was worried about the chick or afraid of being held responsible for losing a rare bird, they had investigated diligently enough to examine the CCTV footage.
Rimon listened only out of habit from his days as a PAB agent.
Who had done it.
What their purpose had been.
Rimon had no interest.
If it had been a tiger, a wolf, or some other dangerous beast, that would have been different. But releasing a single bird, rare species or not, was far too trivial for him to care about.
“Still, shouldn’t something be done? The footage is clear evidence.”
Rimon changed his mind after the employee showed him the CCTV footage.
More precisely, the moment he saw the baby bird vanish with a pop before reappearing beyond the bars.
“...!”
Rimon had once been a PAB agent.
At the same time, he was a Sword Master with senses surpassing those of most Tracers.
So he knew.
Even spatial-type players used slightly different Skills.
Just as every person had different fingerprints, the ripples they left behind when using spatial teleportation had their own distinct traits.
‘What is this?’
That was why, the moment the baby bird crossed through space, he widened his eyes at the ripple left behind.
The footage was extremely blurry because the entire facility was old, and he could not see the ripple clearly.
But he recognized it.
Because it was the ripple Rimon knew best.
A ripple he had once seen several times a day, but had thought he would never see again.
“Hey, what do I need to do if I want to raise that bird?”
“Pardon?”
“I suddenly want the bird really badly. So tell me how I can buy it.”
“Uh, this is a rare species that cannot be traded...”
“Then tell me which government office needs what paperwork if I want to take care of this damned rare bird. You work at a zoo, so you must know tricks like that.”
“...”
Until moments ago, the employee had thought Rimon was a decent man returning a lost animal.
Then he abruptly turned into a smuggler.
The employee’s jaw dropped at Rimon’s threat.
Still, what could they do?
This was Rimon Aspelder.
Whether the story was true or not, he was the man who had stormed the Blue House, taken the president hostage, and broadcast it nationwide. The employee had no desire to provoke such a lunatic.
After that, everything proceeded smoothly.
Rare species, inspections, and all the rest.
The paperwork bearing Rimon’s name was processed at absurd speed the instant it reached the relevant departments.
No government official wanted to get involved with Rimon over a single bird.
“Wow, we get to raise this bird now?”
“Gramps is the best!”
The children were delighted when they learned they could keep the baby bird.
Rimon, however, was troubled.
Why could the chick use spatial teleportation?
Why were its spatial ripples so familiar?
Even for Rimon, who had lived a long life and seen every hardship imaginable, there were too many questions without answers.
‘What kind of scheme is this now?’
His suspicion was only natural.
There were too many suspicious details to call it a coincidence.
What finally settled his suspicion was the moment his vision turned black as he watched the baby bird sleeping soundly in its cage.
“...
Is this for real?”
When the eye that revealed Constellations activated, Rimon was dumbfounded.
It was not merely because this power had activated on a mere bird.
In the cage visible through his blackened vision, where there had only been one bluebird moments ago, he saw a tiny woman no larger than his palm.
The spatial ripple from the CCTV footage.
The baby bird’s strange reactions.
And the sight revealed by the eye that saw Constellations.
Together, they led to an utterly absurd conclusion.
That was why, even while keeping the chick in his room and caring for it himself, Rimon did not let go of his doubts until the very end.
But when the chick woke up, he finally accepted it.
No, he had no choice but to accept it.
There was no way a baby bird that pretended to cover its eyes with its wings while eagerly peeking at his abs could be anyone but Yoo Na-gyeong reincarnated.
That was what had happened while the baby bird was asleep.
And why Rimon was now holding a sword as he interrogated it.
* * *
“So, after you died, you suddenly saw some white feather and followed it, then got reincarnated as a bird?”
Peep.
“You woke up in the middle of a zoo, couldn’t get in or out, and stayed trapped there until now?”
Peep.
“Then you saw me visiting with the kids, made a desperate escape, and followed me here?”
Peep!
“...
You weren’t revived through black magic or turned into a cursed evil spirit that stole this bird’s body?”
Peeep! Peep! Peep peep peep!
As though asking why he had suddenly started spouting nonsense, the baby bird glared and kicked the smartphone with a thump, thump.
Even while looking at that perfect embodiment of injustice, Rimon did not readily nod.
He merely tapped the hilt of his sword with a tap, tap, his expression deeply suspicious.
“Hmm. Should I really believe this?”
Peep! Peep!
The baby bird thumped its chest with its wings.
Anyone could see that she was going mad with frustration and indignation, but Rimon’s response remained cold.
The truth was, Rimon did not doubt that this baby bird was Yoo Na-gyeong reincarnated.
After using every possible method to communicate with her, he had confirmed that the chick possessed Yoo Na-gyeong’s memories.
That was the problem.
“No, even if you really are Na-gyeong, there’s no guarantee you weren’t manipulated by black mages. Using the dead in cruel ways is their favorite trick.”
The dead could not return to life.
In the past, that had been an almost absolute law.
It was a truth that no absolute being, not even the Seven Dragons, the Great Witch, or the Word Speaker, could deny.
There was only one exception.
Black magic, which denied the laws of nature themselves.
From human bombs who did not even know they were zombies to ghost assassins who had once been his comrades, Rimon had suffered through every kind of returned dead while fighting black mages.
He could not help viewing his old subordinate’s return from death with suspicion.
“Well, this is an age where nothing would be surprising anymore...”
Times changed.
In the past, when there had been no Skills, such a thing would have been impossible.
But in this Iron Age, where Players existed, it was no longer wise to declare anything impossible.
Among the ten Monarchs was even a mysterious Player called the Reincarnation Monarch, whose death itself was practically a cheat Skill.
‘Besides, it’s not as though I have no idea what happened.’
Rimon remembered the white feather of light that had risen from Yoo Na-gyeong’s body and vanished before he left her behind.
If that was the feather Yoo Na-gyeong had seen after dying, then the story of her somehow being reincarnated was not entirely unbelievable.
“...
Instead of clinging to memories from your past life, why not just die again and reincarnate properly? I can send you off painlessly.”
Peeep?!
Unfortunately, the one who needed to gain Rimon Aspelder’s trust was the baby bird.
Whether because of his old martial-world paranoia.
Or because he had learned that the dead were best left dead.
Rimon spoke absolute nonsense with a serious face, far removed from anything resembling a joke.
The baby bird froze with her beak hanging open.
Then she came to her senses and began flapping furiously.
Peeep! Peep! Peep peep peep!
Did he want to kill his subordinate twice?
What color was Team Leader’s blood?
Had she been a fool for dying peacefully?
She screeched what sounded like the sort of things Yoo Na-gyeong would say.
Then the baby bird glared at Rimon resentfully.
She typed a few characters on the smartphone, flopped onto the desk with a flop, thrust out her round belly, and cried with a squawk.
Peep, peeep!
[Gut me!]
As if daring him to kill her.
The baby bird looked not merely bold, but downright gallant for something so small.
Rimon smacked his lips at the sight.
‘She really does seem to be Na-gyeong reincarnated.’
Not everyone could act so brazenly before someone radiating killing intent, with guts swollen enough to make foie gras.
Only Yoo Na-gyeong, who was practically instinctively insolent toward him, could do something like this.
Which was why Rimon had no choice but to think harder.
‘What am I supposed to do with her?’
Sword Master or not, Rimon was human.
It was not as though he was unhappy to see Yoo Na-gyeong again.
Especially since he had been forced to take her life with his own hands.
Yet Rimon’s hesitation over whether to lay Yoo Na-gyeong to rest again was not only because he suspected someone’s scheme.
“Na-gyeong, I’m asking you seriously.”
Peep?
As if wondering why he was suddenly acting so serious, the baby bird lay on her back with her round belly exposed and tilted her head.
Even at that deflating sight, Rimon did not smile.
Instead, his expression hardened.
“Do you really want to live like this? Keeping the memories of your past life while living in that body won’t necessarily make you happy.”
Rimon had seen many black mages.
Some had been good people who became black mages solely to recover lost family members or lovers.
But their endings had been miserable.
Most of those brought back became zombies or evil spirits.
Even those who somehow achieved something close to resurrection later suffered until they succumbed to madness.
The side effects were especially serious for those revived in another person’s body, particularly one vastly different from their original body.
Because of the disconnect between mind and body.
And since Yoo Na-gyeong had reincarnated not merely into another body but into a bird, Rimon told her that it would be difficult to live happily, not only as a human but even as a bird.
The baby bird’s answer was clear.
Peep!
As if he was worrying over nothing.
She answered energetically while showing off her chubby belly.
After hearing that unmistakably clear response, Rimon was silent for a moment before letting out a quiet snort.
“All right. Then that settles it.”
She might regret this choice.
Perhaps it would be better to turn away.
But Rimon ultimately accepted Yoo Na-gyeong’s decision to live a new life.
Though he had effectively been forced into retirement, it was still his responsibility as the superior of a hopeless subordinate.
“Still, putting aside this new life, what are you going to do from now on?”
Peep?
“I’m asking whether you’re going to tell other people that you’re reincarnated.”
Peeep!
“...
Isn’t that conclusion a little too quick? You could think it over more carefully before deciding.”
Peep, peep.
As though she had already made up her mind, the baby bird firmly shook her head.
Rimon nodded at the answer that had come more quickly than expected.
“Well, there’s not much to gain by letting people know...”
The only benefit of being known as someone reincarnated would be receiving better treatment.
On the other hand, the disadvantages were endless. She could become a rare spectacle or be treated like an experimental animal.
If she had no one to help her, that would be different.
But the baby bird had already found a reliable ally in Rimon, so there was no reason for her to advertise her reincarnation.
Except for one thing.
“Will you keep it hidden from the orphanage children too? At least a few of them would be very happy to see you.”
Peep, peeeep...
The baby bird seemed troubled by that point as well.
She hesitated without answering, then eventually looked away to avoid the question.
Rimon smiled.
It was amusing that even Yoo Na-gyeong, who had always been utterly shameless, was embarrassed to reveal to children like younger siblings that she had reincarnated in this form.
“All right. For now, I’ll be the only one who knows.”
The baby bird did not answer even after Rimon made clear that she could tell him if she ever changed her mind.
She merely let out a soft sigh of relief.
“Hmm, then we need something to call you from now on...”
Peep?
As though the thought had just occurred to him, Rimon spoke.
Then, before the baby bird that watched him with eyes full of hope and anxiety, he gave a meaningful smile.
“You keep going peep peep, so how about Peepy?”
Peeppeeppeeeeppeep?!
[DoYouWantToDieTeamLeaderDoYouWantToDieJustKillMeYouOnlyHandsomeFacedOldFossilMuscleboundGrandpaAnimalAbuser!]
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
