WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 262: Idol Destruction (2)
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"Feel free to show the truth."
I confidently spoke to the princess.
"No, I'd like to beg you to let them find out. You're going to play everything I've done for the Earth Spirit Tribe directly inside their heads? My goodness. How could you possibly be this kind?"
"Kim Gong-Ja......?”
While my companions hesitated, my answer came out refreshingly swift.
As if I had been waiting for a chance to say this.
"While I can't claim we raised the best race, we certainly did our utmost in raising them. Ah, I can say this without a single blemish on my heart. Don’t you think?”
"......."
"Anastasia, what are you hesitating for? Are you worried that they'll be shocked to see our true faces? That they'll despair and go mad upon realizing that we are just like them?"
Anastasia didn't answer. But her eyes, the black pupils of my comrade, were clearly filled with anxiety.
Her eyes whispered with unease.
『What if they are disappointed in me?』
『What if they complain that I'm a fake god, curse, and insult me?』
『What then?』
It was a deep concern.
I slowly nodded.
“Of course...... It's natural to feel anxious.”
Parents know everything about their children.
That's why they can say they love without a hint of doubt.
But what about the children?
Children know almost nothing about their parents.
Children are born when parents have already grown up. They don’t know what their parents did before, where they were born, what kind of people they were in their hometown, how they felt leaving it, all those life events are unknown to them.
And they don’t try to know.
Parents show their children only the sides of themselves they want seen. With gestures already polished by maturity. With smiles. Stroking the children's foreheads, they become magnificent angels who reign over them.
“Anastasia, please look at my face directly.”
"......."
I stood up to meet Anastasia's eyes at the same level. As she was shorter than me, I had to kneel on one knee to face her.
“The director who raised me...... did a lot to raise us. Imagine how hard it must have been to run an orphanage back then?”
I shared my story.
Deliberately light, as if it was nothing.
"When the grandfather of some district-office official died, the director would uncharacteristically dress entirely in black and attend the funeral. The deceased had nothing to do with us, and the director was not even close to him. Even so, he attended every wedding and funeral in the city and made absolutely sure people saw his face. Every single one. It was about becoming a familiar face. That matters a great deal in our country."
"......."
"If the district office held an event, he went straight there. Even with mountains of work waiting at the orphanage, he went whenever they called. A district-office event was basically peddlers lining the street and asking whether you wanted colorful pottery, succulent planters, or handmade wallets, turning the place into a market among themselves. The shops had all been established with district support. They called it revitalizing neighborhood businesses or something."
"......."
"Whenever the director went, he stayed beside the district chief the entire time and always bought exactly three gifts, saying, [These pieces are so beautiful.] He normally trembled at the thought of wasting even ten thousand won, but there he spent thirty thousand, twenty thousand, as if it were nothing."
I closed my eyes.
That day, I secretly tailed the director from a distance. The peddlers' street market seemed to be a kind of festival, and they even sold colorful masks. I put one on and pretended to be a child walking with one of the nearby adults while stealing glances at the director touring the market with the district chief.
-Goodness, District Chief. How did you manage to make such beautiful pieces? Why, the street is full of master artisans. It is a street of masters. It seems our district has gained one more thing to be proud of. The children will love it too......
The director's face, voice, and tone were completely different from when he dealt with us at the orphanage. If any of the other children had seen him then, they would have received the shock of their lives. To us, the director had always seemed a little distant, someone we could visit whenever we wished yet who was somehow veiled in an inexplicable mist.
-So, all these are handmade products, right? Can we have the people who made these teach at the orphanage?
-Hmm? Teaching at the orphanage…?
-Yes. I run the orphanage, and all the children are good kids. They are good, but they have far too little to play with or learn. Even one succulent-planter class a week would be wonderful for their character development...... Wouldn't that be rewarding for you as well, District Chief? A street of workshops created with support from the city and district, now teaching the local children...... It makes a beautiful picture, doesn't it?
-Hm. Then, about the teaching fees...
-Oh, I would be delighted if the district office funded it. Then it would become a project led entirely by the district office. Officer, you know us, don't you? Our orphanage is exceptionally clean. Whether it is staffing or anything else, our accounts are the cleanest in the area. We will be easy to work with.
-......Director Lee's orphanage is indeed known for being easy to work with. There is no falsified paperwork, and they have never violated a form requirement or deadline.
-Hm.
A middle-aged gentleman, whose name and face I didn’t know and probably would never know, nodded.
-Then have the officer take charge of it. I will send the necessary instructions your way...... It might look strange if we support only this one director. What about the kindergartens? Children at kindergartens like playing with sand and dirt, don't they? Look into pottery or handicraft classes for them too.
-Yes, I understand.
-Thank you, District Chief! You do not merely make the streets beautiful; you beautify people's hearts as well. I cannot tell you how relieved I am that someone like you took office while I was doing this work.
-Haha. Our director here really has a way with words.
The district chief and his entourage gradually moved away. I should have followed, but I could not summon the strength to move. The shock of seeing the director's unguarded face had overwhelmed me.
‘Embarrassing.’
At the time, the director was my parent. Something even greater than a parent. He was the teacher of us all, the counselor who advised us whenever hardship arose, and the wise lord who ruled the enclosed world of the orphanage.
Whenever we went to sleep, he vividly told us stories of events from thousands of years ago, and we inherited our entire legacy from his voice, tone, and expressions. Grow to a continental scale. Always remain calm. Be rational. Above all, rage against injustice......
To us young children, wasn’t the director a god?
‘Shameful.’
I had discovered the face the director wore in the [outside world] and the way he spoke there. He was not our kind and wise god. Seen from a distance, speaking with the district chief and an officer, he was merely...... a middle-aged man.
A normal man.
"......."
I opened my eyes.
Perhaps due to the strange silence.
Anastasia was quietly looking at my face without saying anything. The Heretic Inquisitor, the Countess, and the Paladin also looked at me. I nodded once and quietly said to them.
“So what if it’s a bit embarrassing?”
"......."
"Because they're young. They're still children. In their youth, they may feel tremendous embarrassment upon discovering that their gods were ordinary humans. Ah. The beings who delivered prophecies to us in magnificent voices...... were really just people who knew how to use a little aura. We thought they watched over and protected us through wondrous miracles, but they too were only people, running everywhere and struggling in places we could not see......"
One day.
A free succulent pot-making class was held at the orphanage.
The children, tired of cross-stitching and caricatures, seemed to find the novelty of playing with clay to shape pottery surprisingly refreshing. Every time a class was held, as many as 15 children flocked to touch the clay.
The pottery teacher was kind, and the children enjoyed themselves.
I did not participate.
Being there felt somehow shameful. It felt like committing a severe disloyalty to the director.
And so, I quietly continued my life at the orphanage without telling anyone what I had seen.
“Seeing our true selves... they might feel quite embarrassed. Probably will.”
Recalling the image seared into me during childhood, I spoke to my present companions.
“But that’s it.”
"......."
"Once enough time has passed and those children are ready to accept it, they will eventually acknowledge things as they are: that we strove, labored, and worked for their sake. They will understand that we are human beings just like them."
“Really...? Will they?”
Anastasia hesitated.
“I heard it's tough even in ordinary parent-child relationships. And for us, being like gods to our race..."
“It’s okay. We are neither ordinary parents, nor have we raised ordinary children.”
On the hologram, a giant monster had shrunk to the size of a big mammoth and was lying defeated.
Around the monster, hundreds of thousands from different races celebrated with a festival of colorful auras. They were overjoyed by the fact that they had endured the disaster without any damage and had achieved perfect success under their own command, irrespective of their race.
‘Yes.’
We are not ordinary parents and children.
“Anastasia. We are a group of the finest humans who have entered the tower.”
"......."
“And honestly, our children are far superior to the humans of our world. There’s no reason for things to not work out.”
I withdrew my gaze from the hologram.
Then, I spoke crisply to the [Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages].
“Tell all the children.”
“…Really? For real? You don’t need to ponder over it more?”
“What’s there to ponder about? There's no one better than me to raise them with utmost sincerity. Frankly, whether I am a god, a human, or even an alien monster with a hundred tentacles, those kids will accept me. Just tell the truth to our race now.”
“Wow. As expected of the King of Death. I like that overflowing confidence.”
The princess looked at the other comrades.
“What about the rest of you? Do you agree with the King of Death?”
"......."
“You all started collaborating from the 31st floor. If even one of you disagrees, it puts me in a difficult position. Though, anyone who votes against will be specially barred from accessing floors beyond the 40th…”
“I’ll do it.”
Anastasia opened her mouth.
Her face already showed determination.
“I’ll do it. Whether the children despise me or not, that’s their right. If I was afraid of that, I wouldn’t have chosen a race in the first place. To keep them in the dark forever now would just be... my selfishness. Tell the truth to the Vampiric Tribe too.”
“Ah. I agree as well!”
The Heretic Inquisitor raised his hand.
“I’ve done my best to raise the Mountain Snail Tribe! Ahahat. My best might be different from others, but compared to parents who don’t even try, aren’t I quite exceptional? The Mountain Snail Tribe will surely think highly of me. Please reveal the truth to them too!”
“……Setting aside our innocent psychopath for now.”
Paladin sighed.
“Children have the right to know about their parents. Even more so for grown ones. The tribes living on that continent have reached a mature stage. Reveal the truth to the Gill-Fin Tribe.”
“......Hmm, hmm, hmmmm."
The Countess pondered. Washing her face several times with her cat-like hands, she hummed and groaned. But after five minutes, she made up her mind.
"Well, fine! At least I kept them from starving to death. Considering how many people in this world die of hunger, I have bestowed a favor as vast as the sea upon the Fairy Tribe. Anyone born a fairy starts life in the upper middle class, does that not go without saying? Forget aura; this is the greatest cheat of all. I have nothing to be ashamed of!"
“You’re agreeing too, Countess?”
“Agreeing, indeed. Show the truth to the Fairy Tribe!”
The [Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages] chuckled.
“Really. Such cute kids. I hope I don’t end up favoring them too much... Well, it’s out of my hands now.”
Clap!
The princess clapped her hands.
“Viper and the Sword Saint, still on stage, have agreed to disclose information. All seven participants in the raid voted in favor, so under administrator authority, I'll disclose the information to all races!”
[The Heretic Inquisitor’s information will be revealed to all of the Mountain Snail Tribe!]
At that moment.
A buzzing sound began to emerge from beyond the hologram.
-Lime?
-What is this, Lime...? An illusion?
-No, it can’t be a collective hallucination since we are still communicating...
The first to react was the Mountain Snail Tribe.
With their wrinkled snail shells, now removing the now useless wooden steps and tools, the Mountain Snail Tribe sensed something strange and raised their antennae.
Just as the [Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages] had announced, [our raid team’s footage] automatically played for them.
-……Tower? A raid?
-Our Great Puppy God, what is this......
But the confusion showed no signs of abating.
Rather, it accelerated.
[The Black Dragon Master’s information will be revealed to the entire Vampiric Tribe!]
Bats hanging from palm branches in the jungle cocked their heads with cries of 'Ki?' and 'Kuu?' Murmurs rose from the stairways built over the monster's body, and countless leaves throughout the jungle rustled.
[The Paladin’s information will be revealed to the entire Gill-Fin Tribe!]
The Gill-Fin Tribe, transporting food, drinks, and bedding for hundreds of thousands on ships, flinched. Their fluttering tails created splashes, and a few boats tilted due to sudden reckless steering.
And it didn’t stop there.
-What is this!
-You, are you seeing something flash before your eyes too?
-We are… Is this some curse unleashed by the Ki Dragon as it died?
-No. I clearly heard a voice in my head. This is the truth of the great Red Dolphin. Unless some demon is deceiving us...
-Ugor? What’s going on with you guys?
The jungle and the entire world began to convulse. Commotion erupted everywhere the races had built homes. Villages. Towns. Cities. Even here at the Ki Dragon's grave, where nearly every warrior had gathered.
[The Countess’s information will be revealed to the entire Fairy Tribe!]
[The Viper’s information will be revealed to the entire Ghost Tribe!]
[The Sword Saint's information will be revealed to the entire Pure Human Tribe!]
And then.
[The King of Death's information will be revealed to the entire Earth Spirit Tribe!]
The moment that was bound to come, unfolded right then.
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