WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 169: Between a Master and a Friend (2)
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Master.
"......."
I gazed intently at my counterpart.
The fact that the Heretic Inquisitor was not using the term 'master' as a mere metaphor or symbol was evident from his beaming smile. Sometimes a boy, sometimes a young man, this man was not one to joke.
Still, I had to probe further.
"Just to clarify, Heretic Inquisitor, when you say you will serve me as your master…."
"I will obey your commands."
The Heretic Inquisitor replied instantly.
“I will kill the enemies you order me to kill and spare the enemies you order me to spare! As I said, I will defer my judgment to yours and align my actions with yours.”
The Heretic Inquisitor raised his right hand and placed it over his heart, adopting a dignified posture reminiscent of a butler.
"I am quite a useful tool!"
"......."
"A good tool's advantage lies in its consistent performance. Not to boast, but there isn’t a more useful tool than me in purging warlords, maintaining internal discipline, and keeping a group unified! King of Death, you can always trust and use my abilities!"
In other words,
The Heretic Inquisitor was saying:
[I will never change.]
"Please use me!"
The Heretic Inquisitor smiled broadly.
His confident expression of immutability somehow caused a twinge in my heart.
「Having gained emotions, I seem to have become a bit mischievous!」
Because I knew the Heretic Inquisitor had changed.
「I am becoming addicted to feeling emotions.」
「Is this how you always feel living with these emotions?」
Only I alone.
Even the Heretic Inquisitor himself had not experienced this facet, which I alone remember.
Under a tree shedding its pale magnolia blossoms, the Heretic Inquisitor murmured.
「If I had done that then. If I had done this at that moment. Do you live on like that, drifting and wandering through such thoughts?」
「That must be why you are so beautiful and lovable.」
「If only I, too, could feel like you…」
The Heretic Inquisitor had been unable to finish speaking then.
I could guess the end of the sentence he swallowed, “If only I, too, could have felt emotions like you. Would I have lived a different life?”
Having met many psychopaths, I know this much.
It's linked by three fragments of a sentence.
‘If only I, too, like you.’
From the moment these words are uttered,
The Heretic Inquisitor was no longer just a psychopath to me, but a man who had somehow ended up living his current life.
“…Name.”
I spoke up.
“Huh?”
“Your name. Not your alias, your real name. The Sword Saint’s name is Marcus Callenbury, and Viper's name is Liǎofàn.”
And the Countess's real name is ‘Nisha’. Unintentionally, the Paladin once referred to the Countess by her real name. However, since she had never told me herself, I pretended not to know.
So far, only the Sword Saint and Viper had revealed their real names to me.
“Heretic Inquisitor, I want to know your name.”
“Ahah.”
The Heretic Inquisitor blinked.
“Is that an order?”
“If it’s a request rather than an order, can’t you tell me your name?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“I, no, we made a promise with the Black Dragon Master long ago. [We are strangers who abandoned the outside world and came here. We cast our nationality, property, relationships, and everything else into the Dead Sea. Therefore, let us also erase the labels the outside world gave us. When we address one another, let us speak only the names we earned in the Tower.]”
Indeed.
‘So there was such a promise.’
I was reminded anew that I was not an original member of the tower.
“The Black Dragon Master has complex feelings towards the outside world. Hating it, despising it, yet yearning for recognition from them. Ahaha. Probably, she is the most emotionally intense person among us!”
The Heretic Inquisitor winked his left eye.
“Anyway, the Sword Saint has left our organization. He doesn't need to abide by that promise! Also, Viper never really cared much about such promises. But I hold promises in high regard. King of Death. If you really want to know the name I had in the outside world…”
The Heretic Inquisitor narrowed his eyes.
“Please, command me.”
"......."
“I will comply.”
I understood.
This wasn’t just about whether or not to say a name.
It was about prioritizing my [command] over the [promise] made among the original members.
It was a pledge of loyalty to me.
‘…Can I take responsibility?’
I pondered.
‘Can I give this man a different life? Can I take responsibility for a psychopath, a man who became a psychopath? The intention is there, the desire too. But do I have the ability?’
I looked down at the Heretic Inquisitor silently.
Without a word, he just waited for my lips to part.
‘In [Tales of Sormewin Academy], I had the opportunity to reform the Heretic Inquisitor. But I failed. I missed the chance. In assisting Raviel, I couldn't spare the effort to take care of this child too.’
If given another chance,
I pondered whether I could offer the Heretic Inquisitor another life.
‘I can.’
I reached a decision.
‘And I want to.’
I nodded.
“Yes."
Although the second chance has not yet arrived,
Until it does, let’s take responsibility for the child in front of me for the time being.
“Please tell me your name.”
"......."
The Heretic Inquisitor smiled lightly.
“My real name is Bambolina.”
Laughter flowed beneath his golden hair.
“Strictly speaking, it's hard to call it a birth name. It's more of a nickname!”
Nickname.
“I grew up in the hands of the mafia. The mafia often called me ‘baby doll,’ and that name stuck. Ah, Bambolina means ‘doll’! I was also called Kukla.”
The Heretic Inquisitor cheerfully continued.
“The organization that imprisoned me had its base in Bulgaria. It was an organization with branches in many areas. I was trained to be useful for their business.”
“The reason you specifically used the past tense is because…”
“It no longer exists on earth!”
The Heretic Inquisitor grinned, pulling out a padlock from his pocket. Swish. Swish. The padlock spun on his left hand like a rolling pen.
“I was confined for 11 years. One day, after training, as I lay in bed, a question occurred to me. [I can open the lock on that door. Is there any reason not to?]”
Click.
The padlock in the Heretic Inquisitor's hand made a metallic sound as it opened.
“Upon reflection, I realized there was no reason not to!”
Thus, he escaped.
“I saw no reason not to kill my dedicated watcher. No reason not to assassinate the boss!”
Some people won't act without a reason, but the Heretic Inquisitor certainly belonged to those who would act without one.
“I sowed discord between two high-ranking officers and four lower-ranking ones. I subtly manipulated the scenes to grow suspicion. Indeed, after half a year, they began suspecting it was my doing, but by then, half of the organization was already decimated!”
The mafia's ‘baby doll’ smoothly entered the Tower.
The Tower gained a creature of terrifying competence.
“...Why choose me as your master?”
“The first reason is, of course, that you, King of Death, are more capable than I.”
The Heretic Inquisitor slowly trailed off.
“The second reason is… because I hesitated.”
“Hesitated?”
“Hmm. Yes... How should I explain this for you to understand?”
Rarely, the Heretic Inquisitor seemed troubled as he furrowed his brows.
“After clearing [Tales of Sormewin Academy], I became somewhat… different. Even when trying to execute terrorists as usual, I couldn’t act as swiftly as before. To others, it might have seemed like only a second's delay, but to me, that one second was significant…”
Lost in thought, the Heretic Inquisitor paused.
“During that second, I recalled the scenes I shared with you at Sormewin Academy.”
"......."
“Strange, isn’t it?”
No.
Not strange at all.
In fact, I am inwardly startled.
‘The influence remained.’
The path where the Heretic Inquisitor fully immersed himself in Goldencup vanished. It was erased. However, even in the new history I forged, he must have felt Goldencup’s emotions, however faintly.
Even if the immersion rate was less than 10%.
Even if it was just 1%.
The little doll undoubtedly experienced ‘emotions.’
“You, King of Death, are my hesitation.”
The Heretic Inquisitor said.
“You occupied a second in my life. It was the first time I experienced such a thing. Maybe with you, seconds in my life could eventually become minutes, then hours!”
The Heretic Inquisitor beamed radiantly.
“I realize now, this must be what they call hope in humanity. Perhaps people always wait for someone else to occupy their time. In that sense, you are my hope!”
"......."
“Just because you occupy my time doesn't mean I become lesser. Yes, somehow, I’m certain of it.”
The Heretic Inquisitor handed me a lock.
Rusted with age.
“Your rhythm will simply be added to the melody that is me. My monody. I can barely imagine, even if only through metaphor, that your lyrics might be added to my monotonous humming.”
I accepted the lock.
“You might turn even a person like me into music, King of Death.”
The Heretic Inquisitor smiled.
“May I choose you as my hope?”
"......."
Heavy.
Frightening words.
The weight and fear are so close that I might fear taking on the Heretic Inquisitor as a burden.
I thought of the weight of Preta, the heaviness of the followers, the weight of Silvia Evanair, and the weight of the Constellation Killer. By the time I considered the weight of the Earth Spirit Tribe, I realized I could take on one more burden.
“Yes."
The Heretic Inquisitor is my comrade.
“I will be your hope.”
Even if he seems like a beast, it doesn't matter.
Humans, after all, are just beasts aspiring to be people.
Both the child before me and I are on the path to becoming human.
“Without my permission,”
I commanded.
“Do not kill anyone.”
“Yes!”
“Do not torture anyone without my permission.”
“Yes."
“Without my permission, do not imprison anyone.”
“Understood!”
“When in doubt, talk to me. In return, I will listen without contempt. I won’t look at you strangely. I will think from your perspective, Bambolina. Think of me as someone like you.”
"......."
The Heretic Inquisitor clasped his hands over his heart.
For the first time, I felt he was [praying].
“Yes. O one more capable than I. While you are my hope, I will strive for you.”
Fourth in the ranks. Master of the Pantheon.
The small doll swore loyalty to me.
“I have failed this stage. I cannot accompany you to the 32nd floor. Even this time we have together now was only arranged temporarily through a request to [The Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages]. It will end soon. I will keep your orders firmly in mind in Babylon!”
“Yes."
I patted the Heretic Inquisitor’s head.
“Stay put and take care of the house, Mr. Fake Cult Leader.”
“Ahaha-.”
The Heretic Inquisitor laughed.
“I will heed your command, Master Gong-ja!”
The Heretic Inquisitor’s figure melted away.
[The Heretic Inquisitor has failed to achieve the quest.]
[The Heretic Inquisitor has been eliminated from the stage!]
Then, in the next moment, my other comrades appeared around me.
Sword Saint. Black Dragon Master. Countess. Viper. Paladin.
The six of us in the raid team, including myself, looked at each other, puzzled.
“...We had to wait a little even after announcing the clear this time, didn’t we?”
The Black Dragon Master spoke.
“King of Death. You were the first to declare a clear. Where have you been until now?”
I smiled.
“Just saying goodbye to the Heretic Inquisitor.”
The path we've walked is not without meaning.
Even if it's unspoken and unseen, somewhere, someone is being influenced by us.
Holding the lock tightly, I spoke.
"Thank you all for your hard work. Let's move on to the next stage."
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