SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 266

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 266: Family Interview (3)

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“I’m sorry.”

Slowly.

The Heretic Inquisitor knelt.

“I was wrong, everyone.”

The Mountain Snail Tribe, watching the Heretic Inquisitor from a distance, gasped. 'Huh,' 'Hup!' 'Hoo!' Even though the truth had been revealed, the Heretic Inquisitor was a god they had worshipped for thousands of years. A transcendent being who had bestowed care since the beginning of time and a father who had shown them both the glory and downfall of their tribe.

This divine being knelt before them.

“I am aware that I am by no means normal. I think I am normal, but others… especially the King of Death said otherwise, so, hmm. Probably not. Then, as you said, the term [psycho] might suit me too!”

-Why.

Seimslam, representing the entire Mountain Snail Tribe, spoke up.

-Why did you become a psycho…?

“It is not an especially rare story. I was kidnapped by the mafia when I was around three years old. I do not know whether I was taken because my parents could not pay them, or whether they selected a useful child from an orphanage and brought me away. I have already killed everyone who could have told me.”

-.......

“I was taught how to kill people, how to keep them alive without quite killing them, how to cut an iron-willed person into hundreds of scraps and break them down before turning them into my subordinate, and how to beguile people. By watching over others’ shoulders, I also learned how organizations collapse from within and how they are destroyed from without. I am someone who knows nothing except such things. It cannot be helped...”

The Heretic Inquisitor sighed.

Then, brightening his expression, he looked at Seimslam.

“I thought I should not teach you [these things]!”

-Why is that?

“Well, those are the things I can do best, and the things I am best at. Even so, I did not want you to live lives like mine. It would be rather troublesome if the Tower filled up with people like me! One of me is enough.”

The Heretic Inquisitor smiled brightly.

“Of course... I couldn’t just teach you nothing. Mountain Snail Tribe, this world... this world is not an easy place. It’s truly terrifying. If you just sit still, eventually you’ll be attacked, maybe even kidnapped like me.”

-.......

“I had to make you strong.”

The Heretic Inquisitor.

He drew upon every piece of knowledge he possessed to foster the civilization of the Mountain Snail Tribe.

“There is no such person as someone you can trust completely in this world. If there is, there will be only one. Such a person is a miracle permitted only once in your lifetime and depends entirely upon your sheer luck. Therefore, disregard that possibility. Disregard it, and control others before they can betray you.”

He enslaved all the other tribes.

He confined them in caves so they couldn't betray him, divided the cave into hundreds of sections for isolation, and always had watchtowers observing the slaves.

“Then, you won’t have to fear this world.”

-.......

“I'm sorry for being a psycho. For being a psycho father.”

A dark silence filled the jungle.

Seimslam slowly raised her head and looked up at the Heretic Inquisitor.

-Father Kukra.

“Yes."

-You might be a psycho. But you tried to teach us only the most moderate, the most sensible, the most valuable things in your mind.

“That’s correct.”

-With your meager means, you made walls from planks and a roof from a hammock. Cold wind and rain would enter it, and it might readily collapse and fall to ruin, but even so, Father tried to build us the best home he could. Is that not so?

“That was the case.”

-Then, it’s settled.

Seimslam relaxed her tentacle.

She grabbed the hilt of a greatsword embedded in the ground.

-You tried to teach us your best. You hid your worst from us, never asking for understanding. You just…

『Compared with me.』

『Hoped you would at least be better people than me.』

-You truly did your best to care for us.

-I don’t want to curse you, Father, for giving birth to us and raising us, despite your many shortcomings.

Chuk.

Seimslam pulled the greatsword out of the ground and slung it over her shoulder, on her shell.

-I’m glad you’re my father.

"......."

-Maybe.

Seimslam smiled.

Always expressionless, and inclined to give no more than a “purbeupeup” sneer even when she smiled, this member of the Mountain Snail Tribe had been the first in history to rise to the chair of the Fire River Council and had ruled it for decades. Now she lifted her lips in a radiant smile.

-Perhaps, just at this moment, I might feel a bit happy.

"......."

-Thank you for telling me, for telling all of us, that you are sorry.

And then.

-Thank you, really. Father.

[Quest Progress.]

[Mountain Snail Tribe voting begins.]

[Option 1. I am glad to have been guided by you.]

[Option 2. I disliked being guided by you.]

Swish.

Fireflies began to rise from the jungle.

Or so it seemed at first glance. It wasn’t fireflies.

Mountain Snail Tribe members crouched at the base of palm trees, stuck to tree trunks, sprawled on tree branches, hiding in the dark recesses of the jungle, all had been listening to the conversation between Seimslam and the Heretic Inquisitor.

[Vote counting in progress.]

Blue lights emitted from the bodies of the Mountain Snail Tribe, detached, and floated towards the sky. From afar, they resembled fireflies.

Hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands of fireflies rose, twirling around palm trees and the jungle, ascending to the dark night sky. The countless twinkling lights gave the illusion that the jungle was floating in the Milky Way.

[Vote counting complete.]

A voice echoed through the forest of the Milky Way.

Like a small bell.

[Option 2 votes: 22.5%]

[Option 1 votes: 77.5%]

[Majority for Option 1 confirmed.]

"......."

The Heretic Inquisitor looked up at the night sky, bewildered.

In the dark sky, the Milky Way swirled in blue and green.

Mesmerized by the stunning dance of fireflies and falling starlight, the Heretic Inquisitor was captivated.

『I’m glad you’re my father.』

Perhaps it was Seimslam's last words that had stolen everything from him.

But….

As long as I live with the Heretic Inquisitor, I will come to know it someday.

[Stage Clear.]

[The 40th floor has been cleared!]

-That’s right. Money is the best.

A member of the Fairy Tribe shrugged her shoulders.

Apart from her, numerous other Fairy Tribe members passionately agreed, saying, “That's true,” “Life without money is horrible,” “We may lack pride, but do we lack money?” Before my return, the elves were fanatic followers of the Flame Emperor, but on this continent, the elves were apostles and preachers of a materialistic worldview.

Hmm.

I'm seriously doubting the nature of the elf race...

-Mother’s words are so profound that we cannot possibly refute them. Honestly, we asked only because we were curious. We wanted to know what you were thinking... what the hell you were thinking when you raised the Fairy Tribe into misers who know nothing but money.

“I'm relieved to have fully satisfied your curiosity.”

The Countess chuckled.

“If you knew how much it costs to talk to me, you’d naturally develop filial piety. After all, every minute and second is precious for a merchant like me. Well, since I watched over you like a parent, consider this a parental discount service.”

-A discount service is great. We gratefully accept.

The Fairy Tribe gracefully bowed her head.

-Then, taking advantage of the service, may I ask one more thing?

“I do not know who taught you to be so shrewd about squeezing every last bit of value from a bargain. Well, ask away.”

-Why are you still so desperate to earn money?

“Hmm.”

The Countess blinked her eyes.

The Fairy Tribe members also blinked in unison.

“What do you mean?”

-Didn’t you say that money makes many things easy? It allows you to learn music if you want to. Do other things if you desire. Even comfortably contemplate your own life. We completely agree.

“And then?”

-How long will you keep earning?

The Fairy Tribe tilted her head.

-Mother, you seem to possess an enormous fortune. Can’t you now do whatever work you want, do whatever else you want, and contemplate whatever you want as freely as you please? Don’t you already have enough to choose any life at all, without earning another coin?

"......."

-Why earn more?

The Fairy Tribe spoke up.

-What do you plan to do?

-What do you want to do?

-What are you contemplating?

-Why?

The jungle was dark.

Thus, the murmurs of the Fairy Tribe sounded like whispers flowing simultaneously from the forest, branches, and leaves.

-What are you doing?

-Is there really something you want to do?

-Are you contemplating something?

-Now?

"......."

The Countess gripped her fan.

Squeeze.

As the fan closed, the Countess’s expression was revealed. The 5th ranked hunter, with an expressionless face, looked ahead quietly, with a fury that was too old and chewed over too often, leaving nothing but dregs.

“Trash…”

The remnants of her anger first emitted a foul smell, then,

“I'll change the world.”

The sentence was refined after being filtered through the air.

“There’s too much garbage in the world.”

-.......

Even after refinement, the Countess's voice was too sinister for the Fairy Tribe to handle. Aura rippled over her shoulder. Even the Countess, who initially struggled to skillfully handle aura, had become somewhat accustomed to it after passing through the previous stages.

With this accustomed aura, the Countess was revealing the color of her heart.

“Listen. I realized one thing after being born on a garbage heap, growing up in a garbage village, and moving to a garbage city. The only real epiphany, which makes me regard being born from a trash can as some kind of luck.”

-...What is it?

“Garbage washed up from the sea, garbage fallen from the sky, garbage buried underground, garbage discarded anywhere... All of them are less filthy than [humans].”

The Countess laughed strangely.

It was a mocking laugh.

“Yet there’s no specialist in cleaning only humans. So I thought, if the market is such a blue ocean, shouldn’t I be the first to seize it?”

-.......

“I will use money to clean up the humans who are garbage.”

The Countess laughed with her arms crossed.

“Of course, I don’t think all humans are garbage. Not at all! Quite the opposite. I believe many people shine brighter than stars. The distance between stars is so vast, making it that hard for beautiful people to meet... but it’s only hard. If you look from afar, so many stars embroider the night sky.”

Perhaps she was recalling someone.

The Countess tilted the corner of her lips in a pleasant manner.

“They need a cleaner like me.”

-How do you plan to do that?

A Fairy Tribe member asked.

-Do you save the shining ones with money?

-Do you drive away the bad ones with money?

-How?

To the Fairy Tribe's questions, the Countess burst into laughter.

“Is there a need for that!”

Her laughter was hearty.

“There is no need to become a hero. I need not attach bat wings and fly precariously along the boundary between legal and illegal, spin webs from crime to crime to save pitiful victims, or raise a gigantic shield to protect them. None of that is necessary.”

The Countess’s voice was firm.

“Just spend money!”

And simple.

"Just make them earn money!"

Establishing a proper economy.

“Good companies and bad companies. Good organizations and bad organizations. Good businesses and bad businesses. Good people and bad people... Yes. Many have trouble telling them apart. They wonder when and how one can possibly see [human nature]. Most who harbor that curiosity claim it can be seen only in [extreme circumstances], then artificially create such circumstances. Utter nonsense. Understand? Listen carefully.”

And a celebration of uncorrupted circulation.

“Human nature is such a thing.”

The establishment of good currency against bad.

“Not [when you have nothing], but [when you have everything], you can truly see it.”

Perhaps.

Believing in people more than anyone.

“I scatter money, the good ones reveal their good nature, but the trash start to stink. Still, my job doesn’t change! I give money. I make them earn! I fatten them up, nurture their meat to become fragrant. Until they rot on their own, until they commit crimes on their own, I will invest my money in them.”

Perhaps it’s this woman smiling on a rock in the middle of the jungle.

“Then, if any human or company turns out to be rotten trash... well.”

Suddenly, such a thought crossed my mind.

“My generously sponsored heroes will take care of it.”

“That is why I continue to earn money without pause, as you put it, with such desperate tenacity. Sometimes, well, life presents circumstances one cannot avoid. So I skirt the law a little.”

The head of the Merchants Union smiled.

“This is why I make money.”

Before long.

The Fairy Tribe was gazing up at the Countess blankly.

Their gaze was a bit more dazed than when they worshiped the Countess as a god. Originally, the Fairy Tribe wasn’t very devout. They were loyal to the command of the god of money, not the god itself. Among all races, the Fairy Tribe was the most relaxed about faith.

“And.”

But.

“This is also why I raised you.”

Today was different.

In the eyes of the Fairy Tribe looking up at the Countess, there was definitely something akin to faith.

Admiration for those above them. Respect for those who walked before them. Reverence for those pointing to distant places.

“You all are far more capable than most merchants working in my tower. Naturally. They just live life and make money, but you live life while making money. Understand that you were born merchants.”

-.......

“I have been eagerly, sincerely, eagerly waiting for people like you to come to my tower.”

The Countess stood up.

The Fairy Tribe flinched.

Unconcerned, the Countess descended from her place and walked towards the Fairy Tribe surrounding her.

“Those who know how to make money.”

One by one.

“Those who see the flow of funds and materials.”

One by one.

As the Countess strolled in front of the Fairy Tribe, she raised her fan, gently supporting the chin of each elf with the tip. She made eye contact with each fairy before her. The Fairy Tribe, mesmerized by her gaze, could not escape her eyes.

“Those who find joy in making money but also seek other pleasures. Those who contemplate what this money is for. Those who find joy in such contemplation. In short..."

The Countess proceeded one by one, lifting the chins of dozens, meeting the eyes of hundreds, and speaking into the ears of tens of thousands.

“People like me.”

The jungle was dark.

So the Countess's whisper sounded like it was simultaneously flowing from the forest, branches, and leaves.

“My children.”

The Countess said.

“Follow me.”

The breath of the Fairy Tribe slowed down.

“This continent is small. It’s just a corner in the universe. Even if you monopolize the logistics and goods of this corner, what meaning does it have? Follow me. Climb the tower, seize all the money streams flowing in the myriad things, trample and rip apart the wealth piled up in the universe, make everything flow smoothly, from a coin wandering the world to a piece of wire thrown in a trash can.”

“I need you.”

Already, the eyes of the Fairy Tribe were hazy.

“I will come to love you.”

The Fairy Tribe’s breath was redder than body heat.

“I am the leader of all merchants, the master of the Merchants Union. Become my children, and together with me make all the refuse of every world be swept away by the current.”

The Fairy Tribe looked dazedly at the woman who once was their god.

And now, had become their mother.

“Will you follow me?”

It didn’t take long for the Fairy Tribe's lips to part.

-Yes....

In the dark jungle.

The palm trees, branches, and wide leaves all murmured simultaneously.

-Yes. Mother.

[Quest Progress.]

[Fairy Tribe voting begins.]

[Vote counting complete.]

The Countess smiled a smile as white as the moon.