SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 186

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 186: Flame (1)

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-I was born in a pathetic little village.

The one-armed Yumar said.

-In the countryside, there's nothing to do even as you grow up, so I just hung around with kids my age. Sometimes watching for tigers coming down from the mountains, collecting tolls from merchants passing through the village... It was a village as poor as dried-up tree bark.

Yumar scratched their forehead.

Wrinkles creased Yumar’s green brow.

-Have you ever killed someone?

“Yes.”

-So, quite a few, I see.

The one-armed actor nodded.

Yumar did not seem very surprised.

-Where was the first place you saw blood? On the battlefield? Or...

“It was on a hunting ground. I killed with an ambush.”

-Ah, not exactly a warrior's feat.

Yumar lifted the corners of their mouth.

Anyone confessing to murder smiles at least once during the conversation.

Everyone does.

It's not about laughing or talking about murder. It’s mocking oneself for bringing up such a topic, for the act of confessing. They subtly hope that I will join in their mockery.

“Yes, right. I was no warrior.”

That moment is crucial.

That's when you must not join in their laughter.

I asked calmly without changing my expression.

“What about you, senior?”

-.......

The smile faded from Yumar's lips.

-...A few years ago, I think it's been 13 years. The village chief kept going to other villages. At first, I thought they were visiting friends, but they went too often. After 7 months, the chief came back looking triumphant.

「I've created a business for our village. You fools.」

The business the chief learned from the neighboring village was drug manufacturing.

-At first, we gathered the village loafers and got started. There were about six of us. Backwaters have plenty of young layabouts like me. It was called [Silver Vine Flower]. You Fairies go wild for it. You extract it, then harden it into pills...

“You're not just a simple drug dealer, but the head of an organization, senior.”

-.......

The one-armed Yumar shut their mouth.

-How did you know?

“I can tell just from a little conversation. Senior, you're smart. Exceptional memory. You remember that the village chief lurked in the neighboring village for 7 months 13 years ago, right? You're good with numbers.”

I poured tea into Yumar's cup on the table.

Thanks to my direct training from Raviel, my tea ceremony skills had improved dramatically.

It's a pity that this troupe only has cheap tea leaves.

“You even know how to manufacture drugs. You remember everything about the village chief, so you're not just a henchman. Either a boss or at least a deputy. You were a core member of the organization.”

-...You're quick-witted.

Yumar gave a bitter smile and lifted the cup with their one arm.

Yumar took a sip of tea and looked slightly surprised.

-Fuck. Why is this so damn good?

“Then what was it really like?”

-...Yeah, right. I was the head of the village organization. Turned out I had a knack for managing the kids. Also had good luck.

It was more than just luck.

Yumar was a genius.

Yumar's [business] expanded rapidly.

-I was born lucky in business.

Yumar gathered the village youths to form a militia and swallowed the neighboring village to expand the organization. Yumar personally supervised the drug-manufacturing process, ensuring its quality.

Yumar's drugs were recognized as top-quality and spread along the waterways of the Elf ports.

「Juice of Divine Grace.」

「Late Learner's Powder.」

All were hit products initiated by Yumar.

Despite lacking special talent in Aura, Yumar commanded a hundred subordinates. They called Yumar [a warrior among warriors].

Just when their group was about to grow from a hundred to five hundred, Yumar had an intuition.

-I felt it coming. If I continued like this, we'd be screwed.

It was instinct.

-The Fire River Council is lenient. It wasn't as if we were selling drugs to the Earth Spirits. They weren't going to bother with some riffraff selling a little dope to rich Fairies. But when that riffraff numbers one hundred, then five hundred, it's a different story.

Yumar's organization had grown too well.

-There was no evidence, not even any concrete reason to suspect it, but I could feel it. This was the moment! If I didn't cut my losses right then, we'd all die together.

Yumar gathered their friends.

Let's end the business.

The friends who used to extort tolls together in the village had become organization executives, with their fangs grown.

-Those bastards nodded in agreement in front of me.

“So, you ended it?”

-Like hell we did. That very night, they stormed in and tied me up. They threatened me to hand over the drug formula. I had bought the daggers they carried, and they held them to my throat. Motherfuckers.

Yumar spilled their know-how while crying.

Yumar swore never to touch the business again or seek revenge.

Yumar’s childhood friends admired that oath.

-My right arm was gone.

But Yumar survived.

The boss of the organization became 'the One-Armed Yumar'.

-I didn't join the troupe with any acting ambitions. Just roamed the streets, and the troupe leader took pity and took me in. That was 10 years ago. All in the past. Well, acting turned out to be fun.

“What happened to the organization?”

-.......

“It collapsed.”

The one-armed Yumar quietly looked down at their tea cup.

-It was wiped out less than a year after they drove me away. I heard the Council sent thirteen rankers from the top one hundred. All five hundred members were killed.

“What happened to your childhood friends?”

-Dead. They were executives.

Yumar's nose twitched.

“You think it's your fault, senior.”

-.......

“You believe it was your fault for being too capable, for growing the organization too successfully. If the business had only done moderately well, or if it had failed outright, the people from your hometown wouldn't have died. You blame yourself for failing to stop the village chief back then.”

-Damn.

Yumar gulped down the rest of their tea.

-Good riddance. Those idiots.

Next.

Finally, the one-eared actor entered.

Holding an old lion doll in their arms.

-I used to be a servant in a prestigious family....

The one-eared actor's name was 'Sakum'.

-I happened to catch the master of the house fucking someone from outside the household. Well, I didn't actually see it. I heard them through the wall. It wasn't as if I was trying to listen, and hearing it didn't even turn me on. But they were offended that I'd heard them moaning, so they cut off my ear...

The one-eared Sakum muttered expressionlessly.

-Isn't that too much?

The one-eyed Arika.

Son of a gambler.

The one-armed Yumar.

Former drug boss.

The one-eared Sakum.

Former servant of a prestigious family.

"Yes."

I nodded in front of the actors.

"Let's dance, seniors."

In one week.

The day of the play arrived.

The house was full.

-Is this the Bullshit Troupe?

-Strange. I've been here before, but it didn't have this name...

The audience started gathering 30 minutes before the play.

Spectators who saw the street performance and came, those who heard rumors, and those who just wandered in seeing the crowd. Not only the VIP seats but also the standing areas were packed.

-No watermelon beer? What about watermelon fries? Ugor, unbelievable.

-Does this theater even want to make money...

-Really. There's one Fairy Tribe member working here who is amazing. She can manipulate Aura at will, making sound out of thin air. No, really! Why would I lie...

-Ugor. If someone doesn’t come clean about touching my butt, you’ll witness not a Blood Flower but a bloodbath.

-It's a play without a single line of dialogue.

-Just an exaggerated advertisement.

-They even offer refunds?

-There are too many people!

Clamor filled the theater.

It was a marketplace in there.

Backstage, the seniors peeked at the audience.

-Damn.

The seniors were tense.

Especially the one-armed Yumar.

-I saw him. I did! That red-tattooed guest in the VIP seats is definitely Morcan, ranked twenty-first on the Council. Fuck.

"Who's that?"

-A madman who adds a centimeter of tattoo for every enemy head he takes on the battlefield. Look at the tattoos all over that guy!

The one-eared Sakum also muttered anxiously.

-Actors from the troupes 'Flame' and 'Fire Demon' are here too.

-Ugor. Where?

-There... the two wearing masks in the VIP seats. I can't see their faces, but I recognize them. One is Sormakunda, the ace of 'Flame,' and the one next to them is Jamahan, recently popular in 'Fire Demon'...

-Why are they here to see us!?

-Not here to see us.

The one-eyed Arika spoke.

Arika kept checking his makeup in the mirror, seeming uncomfortable.

-They're here to see Ssoniya.

There was nothing special about the makeup.

Bare body. Just a cloth tied around the waist and black tattoos all over the body. That was it.

-Right. It's incredible. Isn't our youngest just a rookie, debuting after only a week of selection? This is her debut performance. Filling the house on her first stage is unprecedented among elf actors.

-Even including our tribe, it seems unprecedented...

"Let's start soon."

I opened my mouth.

The seniors, who were chatting to ease the tension, suddenly fell silent.

"We've practiced hard for a week. Don't worry. Even if your body doesn't move or your limbs don't cooperate, it's fine. Just relax."

-Are we going to fail...?

“I'll control your bodies with Aura. Don't resist needlessly.”

-That's impossible... No, it must be possible. Damn.

The four of us joined hands.

I lightly sent out Aura.

"Relax."

Red Aura flowed through the seniors' arms.

The seniors' shoulders jerked.

Perhaps they had grown accustomed to my Aura over the past week's intensive training. Soon the seniors took deep breaths and calmly accepted it. I loosened the actors' muscles as though giving each of them a full-body massage.

-Uhm.

-Ugor....

Their expressions relaxed.

Definitely less tense than before.

"You don't need to worry. As you know, no one out there expects much from this Fire Drama. Expectations are at rock bottom. Just doing what we practiced will be a hit for the audience. Okay?"

The seniors nodded cautiously.

Okay.

"Let's begin."

I stamped my foot.

Kwoong!

My footwork vibrated the air with Aura.

-What's that?

-What's happening?

From the other side of the stage, the audience was surprised. Startled by the sudden sound, the Hopgoblins stopped their chatter and looked around. I kept moving my feet, undeterred.

Kwoong, kong! Kong!

The sounds of my feet were not just rhythms. Each footstep carried a pitch.

-Aura?

The audience too noticed the specific pattern in the sounds, showing surprise in a different sense. The most astonished were those sitting in the front row of the VIP section.

-My goodness. That's an air-rending sound made with nothing but Aura, without using a voice?

-Right. It's Aura. I told you, even in the street performance....

At that moment, the one-eyed Arika burst forth.

On the dimly lit stage.

Arika ran with his legs spread as wide as possible, like a sprinter, infusing each step with a vast stride. Naturally, the audience's gaze was drawn.

Doom-

The focus of the audience wasn't just because of the appearance of one character.

Dooom-

Every time Arika's feet touched the stage, a new melody embroidered the air.

The melody that had run as a single line expanded into two.

Before the audience could fully settle their surprise, the one-armed Yumar and the one-eared Sakum, one after another, burst onto the stage.

The same was true for them.