WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 10: Graduation

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I had definitely grown stronger.

Still, compared to Master's strength, I was nothing.

Master's sudden declaration that we were graduating left me answering awkwardly.

"Come on... Master, what kind of joke is that? I still haven't landed a single solid hit on you."

Luna, who had been standing there blankly, chimed in as if she agreed.

"That's right. Even if both of us came at you together, we'd lose in less than thirty seconds."

Despite our little festival of stating the obvious, Master's expression didn't change.

Was she really going to graduate us?

"You're right. It was impossible for you to defeat me with magic or martial skill from the start. But it's also true that I have nothing left to teach you."

Master tapped the floor with the black parasol she always carried.

A magic circle glowed on the floor, and two rings appeared in her hand.

"These are gifts from me to you."

She placed an identical ring in each of our hands.

They were ordinary silver rings that didn't look particularly remarkable.

I couldn't sense any magical power from them, and they didn't seem to have any special function.

Luna seemed to be thinking the same thing. She simply stared blankly at the ring in her hand.

"Master, is this just a ring?"

Master looked at me as if I were pathetic for even asking.

"Put it on."

Just as expected of Master. She never wasted words.

Luna and I put on the rings at the same time.

It didn't seem like anything had happened...

I looked over at Luna, wondering if there was anything unusual about her, but she seemed just as unimpressed as I was.

Noticing my gaze, Luna met my eyes.

That was when I realized what the ring did.

Luna's eyes had changed to the same sky-blue color as Celia's.

Her red eyes, the symbol of demonkind, were nowhere to be seen. Looking oddly innocent, Luna tilted her head and stared at me.

"Luna. Look in a mirror."

"Hm? Why?"

I summoned a mirror with magic and handed it to her.

"I'm as pretty as ever. What's the... Huh? What is this?"

Only then did Luna seem to notice the change in her body.

She threw the mirror aside and reached into the air.

Yet nothing happened, despite how firmly she thrust out her arm.

"...My magical power is gone..."

She looked genuinely flustered.

Master didn't say a word. She simply smiled at us.

With her red eyes and magical power gone, Luna looked completely... human.

Could it be...?

"The time has come, my disciples. You haven't forgotten the promise we made at the beginning, have you?"

My reunion with Celia, the one I had yearned for so desperately, had come far sooner than I expected.

Following tradition, every Hero went through a set series of stages before reaching the Demon King's throne.

The first was Awakening. Heroes designated through the Saintess's revelation became aware of their mission and developed the qualities needed to be a Hero.

The second was Proof. To prove that they possessed the greatest strength among humanity, Heroes entered the academy where the finest talents from every continent gathered. There, they gathered companions to aid them and rose to the academy's peak as humanity's representative.

The third was Qualification. To stop the Demon King, who possessed the power of the primordial demonkin, Heroes had to be recognized as worthy by Sacred Relics and gain complete control over the Sacred Relics' power, not just their own power.

Only after completing all three journeys could a Hero finally begin their journey to the Demon King's Castle.

Demonkind had tried countless times to nip the Hero in the bud before they could reach the Demon King's Castle in the Abyss.

But once the first stage, Awakening, was complete, Heroes had already reached the limits of human potential.

That was why killing them through force or assassination was only possible before Awakening. Attempting a surprise attack during the second or third stage had long been dismissed as pointless.

That was, until the variable known as Yuwol appeared.

From the Awakening stage onward, past Heroes had been mentally fortified by the trauma and hatred of losing their families to demonkind.

In other words, half-baked plans to lure them in with words had never worked.

But if the Hero's family were alive, and if that survivor stood with demonkind as living proof of humanity's ugliness, then it might be enough to twist the cycle. That was what Master and all of demonkind expected from me.

And if my plan failed in the worst possible way...

I could also be used as their perfect hostage.

Right... If I were human, I thought there might be a decent chance.

But thanks to a certain someone, I was now in a position where I'd be lucky not to be executed in the Human World.

"Luna... Even if you take all that, it won't fit in the dormitory. Take a reasonable amount..."

Master told us that the Hero's Proof would begin soon.

In Celia's case, we also learned that, unlike tradition, her Awakening had progressed at a much faster rate.

Poor Celia. Just how horribly had humans treated her for her to achieve that much so quickly...?

I wanted to run to her and get her out of there right away.

"Sirius. This is how much luggage women normally have. And what, do you want me to be looked down on by other girls when I enter the academy?"

Ever since the date of our departure for the Human World had been set, Luna had been the busiest person around.

Master was as relaxed as ever, handling her work as usual and telling us to do our best.

Luna, on the other hand, eagerly gathered information about the Human World. Then she had her underlings acquire the latest fashionable clothes.

I'd heard that the academy provided uniforms, but even when I told her, Luna acted like she hadn't heard me.

It seemed Luna was approaching this journey with the intention of crushing Celia in every possible respect.

Luna... Celia doesn't even know who you are...

Watching her constantly compete with Celia, someone she had never even met, left me with a complicated expression.

Honestly, I still hadn't sorted out my feelings for Celia.

I loved Luna.

That was sincere.

But Celia had been my first love and my entire world for more than half my life.

For now, I was devoted to Luna and spending happy days with her.

Yet meeting Celia in person was something I desperately wanted, and didn't want at all.

Have you been well... Celia...?

Still, since you're a Hero, nobody's treating you badly, right...?

Her long golden hair came to mind.

I remembered the way she would look down at me with a displeased expression whenever I overslept.

Three years, nearly four, had passed, so she had surely grown up just as I had.

Just as Luna had gone from a girl into a beautiful young lady.

Half anticipation, half worry. Time passed like that, and before I knew it, the day of enrollment at the academy, the place of Proof, drew near.

Master said she had prepared identities for us to use when entering the academy.

Demonkind had hidden throughout the Human World, watching humanity's movements and acting in secret.

They came in all forms, from nobles to beggars on the street. Preparing false identities was nothing difficult for them.

We would enter under identities tied to House Iaros, a count's house from the Kingdom of Zeros rather than the Empire.

"So Luna will be a young lady from a count's family named Luna Iaros, and I'll be her servant?"

"You understand correctly, Sirius."

"Why don't I get to be a noble?"

I'd wanted to try living as a noble at least once.

I smacked my lips in disappointment.

Luna giggled beside me, as if she found my reaction adorable.

"Sirius, you just need to marry me... Should we get married in the Human World?"

Wow... There was a way...!

Then again, if I showed up in front of Celia as a married man, even human Yuwol's life wouldn't be safe.

I could guarantee it.

Beginning about a week before our departure, we made a habit of wearing the rings at all times.

I was already used to living without magical power, so it didn't inconvenience me at all. Luna, however, had a hard time casting magic with only pure mana and no magical power.

After living as a human, Luna said her opinion of me needed to be urgently reevaluated. She looked at me with pity.

I'm telling you, demonkind really does get everything the easy way...

Our combat strength seemed to be reduced by about half while wearing the rings.

Luna, in particular, couldn't even use half of her true power.

Even so, we were still strong enough that ordinary humans couldn't hold a candle to us, so living among them shouldn't pose any trouble.

Master gave us one last warning and reviewed our mission.

"If you fail to stop the Hero during the stage of Proof, stopping her during Qualification will be even more difficult. I urge you to get it done somehow within the three years you've been given."

Three years... It seemed like quite a long time, but I couldn't afford to let my guard down.

"If she completes every stage and heads this way, then a full-scale war will be unavoidable. Sirius, you will have to enter the battlefield as well."

I swallowed hard. That was the one thing I wanted to avoid.

"I don't care how you do it. Use your relationship with the Hero to persuade her, use your Innate Magic to make her lose her mind, or beat her into submission. If you're capable of it, that is."

Innate Magic...

I couldn't imagine what would happen if I used it on Celia as she was now.

Would she come to like me even more, like Luna did...?

"The rings you're wearing now were made by my own hand, so while you wear them, your identities will never be exposed. Except before the Saintess. I can't guarantee that. Avoid contact with her as much as possible."

I needed to take that seriously. The moment our identities were exposed, I'd be lucky if we weren't killed on the spot, plan or no plan.

"That concludes what I needed to tell you. May fortune be with you, my disciples."

Master spun her parasol and created a portal.

"We'll be going."

Luna grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

I turned for one last look at Master as she grew farther away. She pointed to her right hand.

Her right hand...?

I felt the texture of paper in my right hand.

A note?

The small slip of paper bore an introductory label.

[Message from the Demon King.]

It contained only one clean, concise sentence.

[I will be watching.]

My left hand, the one holding Luna's, was soaked in sweat.

Footnotes:

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