WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

SSS-CLASS HUNTER WHO DIES TO LIVE

Chapter 320: On the Path of Endless Strife (2)

Tick.

The needle grazed the white flesh of the clock, marking a scar that was destined to be there.

"......."

“How many times must I explain it for you to understand? I have nothing to do with Lady Goldencup! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"

I blinked my eyes.

As I blinked, the blond crown prince in front of me raged. Since we were alone in the audience room, he must be venting his anger at me.

"Lady, you've completely misunderstood me as a person!"

"......."

It felt like a long time had passed.

Yet, it seemed like only a brief moment had elapsed.

Was my sense of time damaged? It was as if every strand of my hair had dissolved in lukewarm water. Am I swimming in Raviel's dream, or is Raviel swimming through my time?

'Either way.'

I fanned myself with a fan.

'It doesn't really matter.'

There was no need to distinguish between us.

Meanwhile, the prince's voice grew louder and louder.

"It's utterly displeasing! Your tone, it's as if- as if you think I'm being unfaithful to you. Me, the foundation of the empire!"

I looked beyond the crown prince's golden hair.

Tick.

Tick.

A lavishly decorated golden wall clock consumed its own flesh to pass the time.

"……Wait. Lady, when someone is talking to you, where are you looking?"

"I apologize. I was looking at the clock."

"The clock? You mean to say even conversing with me is a waste of time?"

"Not at all. It's just that a clock continuously passes the same place as if it never knew it had been there before. Perhaps, the condition of eternity is oblivion."

"What? ……What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday, you yelled. You forget what you yelled yesterday. Yesterday, you nagged. You forget what you nagged yesterday. The day before yesterday, the day before that, a week ago, a month ago or a year ago. You forget and forget again, discard and discard again."

"......."

"The scenery that you passed just yesterday. The places where my touch lingered just yesterday. Yet, they seem entirely new, as if foreign. And thus, people live eternally. A thousand years ago, and a thousand years from now."

"I really don't understand what you're saying."

The crown prince furrowed his brow.

"Are you admitting that you misunderstood the relationship between Lady Goldencup and me?"

"Your Highness."

I closed my fan.

"In the course of history, you are not the first nor the last to make excuses after betraying love."

"......."

"Those who evaded a day by claiming it was a misunderstanding or a mistake were also not the first. They all met their ends and lie dead in their graves. Please be wiser. Would the impending disaster change just by getting through today?"

"I don't understand what you're saying!"

"Lady Goldencup cannot love you."

The crown prince paused.

"What?"

"She fundamentally loves herself. Don't you see?"

"......."

"The crown prince may harbor affection for her, but what truly excites Goldencup is [the image of herself secretly sharing love with the crown prince]."

I spoke calmly.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't share love. To share love with such a person, you must become a follower, Your Highness. Earnestly beg for Lady Goldencup's love, as if receiving mercy, and accept her favor. Only such a relationship will make both you and her eternally happy."

"......."

"However, Your Highness is the nation's foundation. You must stand the highest. Would you bow to a mere baroness? If Your Highness bows, your subjects will bow, and the people will follow suit, making the baroness the true ruler of this land, not Your Highness."

I gazed intently at my fiancé.

"Are you truly prepared to hand over the country to the baroness's family?"

Splash!

"......."

Drip. Drop.

Water dripped down my temple.

In front of me, the blond man was seething, holding an empty glass.

"You're the worst kind of person."

It was a meaningless curse.

Yet, even if it was the most trivial insult from the most insignificant person, the wound I received was still a wound, and the surface of my heart stung slightly.

"Why can't you understand me even once? I'm struggling too. It's hard! The prime minister nags endlessly, I have to attend unfamiliar places and keep a solemn face! Of course, being born into the great Ivansia lineage, you wouldn't understand! But..."

"But."

I looked at the prince expressionlessly.

And I thought.

"But, what are you saying?"

Should I replace him?

"......."

The current emperor is a saintly ruler.

But there are countless cases where a tyrant ascends to the throne immediately after a saintly ruler's death, leading the country to ruin. If the empire's fate is to last only one more generation, it wouldn't be bad to start preparations from now.

As a last resort.

For this certain end, I could spread spies across the country, assassinate obstacles in advance, and prepare to incite rebellion at the right moment.

"Your Highness."

He was hesitant.

The crown prince involuntarily stepped back.

"I understand Your Highness the deepest. Since childhood, I've strived to love you. This love may seem insignificant. But this is my utmost. In my heart, I cannot fuel a greater flame."

"......."

"Dismiss Lady Goldencup. That is the way for Your Highness, for the country..."

"Monster."

The crown prince reached for the doorknob.

"Such a monster."

And he fled.

"......."

Tick.

Time flowed.

"......."

Tick.

Water droplets wetting my hair fell with the ticking of the second hand.

"......."

Suddenly, I realized.

I had been betrayed.

"Ah."

It's tedious.

[Unable to find the alias of the skill target.]

In that tedium, a bit of anger coagulated.

[Unable to find the true name of the skill target.]

Tick.

But.

It's tedious, and it's a tedious life.

[Unable to find the appearance of the skill target.]

Tick.

Certainly.

[Re-enactment failed.]

My lord,

I, to you,

[Substituting necessary data for implementation.]

Tick.

It's tedious.

"......."

I blinked my eyes.

As I blinked, I realized that I was sitting cross-legged.

Had I fallen asleep in this posture, or had I briefly reached a state of emptiness with no worries, and failed to grasp enlightenment, slipping out entirely?

"Lord Heavenly Demon."

The sounds of the world reached me.

"......."

I slowly turned my head.

Flinch.

The eyes of a woman in black robes trembled as they met mine.

I knew her name.

"You are the Hell Ghost Demon."

"My apologies."

The Hell Ghost Demon prostrated herself.

"How dare such beings disturb the sovereign's practice... I have committed a crime worthy of death!"

"Such fuss. Enlightenment is said to be a peace so quiet that nothing can disturb it. If it were to be disturbed and broken, then it wasn't enlightenment to begin with."

I smiled.

"It's as if I awoke from a light sleep. Rather than ruining my enlightenment, I'd prefer to receive an apology for interrupting a pleasant nap."

"Uh... um... sorry...?"

Tsk.

"You’re such a joyless subordinate. Just stay there with your head bowed."

"Ah! Yes!"

The Hell Ghost Demon seemed to find that much easier and immediately responded.

"Then, I will report!"

"I'm listening."

"Firstly, we've circulated a proclamation throughout the land to evacuate the people."

The Hell Ghost Demon continued speaking while upside down, her head supporting her entire body without any shaking, showing that she was truly a well-trained elite of our sect.

"Many people did not believe the words that a plague was descending from the heavens, but when we showed them those already affected by the contagion, tightly bound and paraded around, even the most skeptical had no choice but to believe!"

"......."

I see.

For months now, a mysterious illness had been spreading throughout the martial realm.

This place is still before I, no, before my master faced the white curtain of death.

"Well done."

"It is an honor!"

"But what use is fleeing from a moving plague? One cannot build a hut under the sea or pitch a tent above the clouds. The edge of the sea under the sky will be the last refuge for the people."

"......."

"However, it's merely fulfilling the duty towards humanity. I am proud of you all for choosing to comfort the people, even for a day, rather than seeking refuge on an island where you could have lived another day."

The Hell Ghost Demon straightened up and prostrated herself again.

"Loyalty!"

Beyond her, hundreds of elites prostrated themselves.

"For the Demonic Way of the Heavens!"

Further on, tens of thousands of disciples kneeled.

"For the Survival of the Common People!"

A lofty echo resounded through the headquarters of the Demonic Path.

I sat on a stone platform and bowed my head.

The peak of the Demonic Cult, having reached its zenith at this time, spread before me.

"......."

It's tedious.

Despite the world facing destruction, what exactly is this eerily calm tedium?

It's not triviality. It's not boredom. I haven't lived in a world small enough to be considered trivial, nor have I led a leisurely life to be considered boring. I have always lived on the edge, fighting for survival through all seasons.

'Did I give it my all?'

Yes.

'Did I take responsibility for what needed to be accounted for?'

Yes.

'Did I shoulder what I didn't need to?'

Undoubtedly.

'Was it good to wield the sword?'

Perhaps.

'Was I happy?'

I don't know.

"......."

I slowly nodded.

'I can answer "thus" to a thousand questions.'

All disciples of the Demonic Cult bowed their heads. Only the sky could see and know my nodding gesture. Thus, I was nodding to myself, using the white sky as a mirror.

'Only two questions which I answered with "perhaps" and "I don't know," are making me feel tedious now.'

I want to know.

"NamGung Woon."

I spoke.

The Hell Ghost Demon slightly raised her head.

"Yes?"

"Send a letter to the Head of the Martial Alliance, NamGung Woon."

"......."

The Hell Ghost Demon didn't ask further. She simply brought the writing brush and paper.

I flicked my fingers.

Paper.

The paper floated in mid-air, stiffening.

After mastering sword techniques, I became less reliant on tools. As the Hell Ghost Demon swallowed a small exclamation, I flicked my fingers again.

Brush.

My finger became the brush handle. The ki at the tip of my fingernail became the brush tip. Drawing a circle with the ink at one point, there was nothing rough about writing, even with a space between the paper and me.

Ink.

Thus, the black letters imbued with my ki were written.

"Burn it."

I laid my hand down.

"How dare I..."

"A plague may ravage the world, but the world remains, and life persists after awakening. This is my will. If it's a will, it will remain even if burned."

"......."

The Hell Ghost Demon, trembling, set fire to my paper.

The flames, transferred from a candle, quickly consumed the edges of the paper. The fire devoured, turning the path it passed black, and spread wildly.

"Ah."

But the letters were not consumed by the flames.

Instead, they blazed.

The ki contained in the ink held the letters firmly. The letters became embers, fixed in place, burning brightly mid-air, even as the fire consumed their base.

The world may be incurable, but can't humans console each other's ailments?

Living a hundred years, does death depend on a second?

Come forth, Martial Realm.

My hundred years await here.

The Hell Ghost Demon trembled and prostrated herself.

I glanced at the conviction I had inscribed in the air.

"Write one more, and send it to that scoundrel of the Martial Alliance. Take it yourself and, in front of NamGung Woon, in front of the riffraff of the Martial Alliance, burn it with your own hands. It's a pity I can't see their faces."

"Yes, Lord Heavenly Demon."

The Hell Ghost Demon's voice faltered.

I muttered indifferently.

"When the embers burn out to ashes, you'll know you need not respond to the call for the Great Orthodox-Demonic War."

The disciples marveled at the words I inscribed in the air. They considered it a miracle. Just like rain falling from the sky and flowers blooming from the earth, the embers suspended between heaven and earth were evidence to them, a permission that they were still allowed to exist in this world.

They shouted.

"For the Demonic Way of the Heavens!"

Thud.

Something landed on the tip of my nose, causing me to look up.

"For the Survival of the Common People!"

Snow was falling from the sky.

It was the first snow.

"For the Demonic Way of the Heavens!"

Yes, NamGung Woon.

You wouldn't betray me, would you?

But.

"For the Survival of the Common People!"

Can I make you happy?

That was the only issue, and it remains an issue.

[Currently re-enacting the trauma of your killer.]

I quietly closed my eyes.

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