WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 274: Swordsman (1)
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1.
The Paladin had said when she withdrew on the 34th floor,
『If you have to choose just one person, make it me.』
『It's fine.』
『I can say this now, but I do not particularly want the Gill-Fin Tribe to seize hegemony over the continent. It is enough if they can defend themselves and live decently.』
Was the Paladin lying to me, or was it all an act?
I don’t think so.
Probably, after hearing about the [Kim Gong-Ja Test Plan] from the Countess, she agreed to participate. But not so much out of suspicion about me; rather, she joined because she trusted me.
『I leave the rest to you, Gong-Ja.』
She just didn’t tell the whole truth.
The Paladin.
Patricia was almost always that kind of person.
“I expected you wouldn't fail.”
The Paladin stroked the cat in her arms.
“The issue was how you would control the failure.”
“Control?”
“Discrimination against the Fairy Tribe by the Earth Spirit Tribe is inevitable. Conflicts will surely arise. And even if resolved once, they won't disappear overnight. Gong-Ja, even if you mend the wounds of conflict, they will reopen over time. That’s why......"
The Paladin smirked.
“I thought you’d be a bit frustrated.”
"......."
“Who would have imagined you’d introduce a new art form to the Fairy Tribe? I didn’t see that coming. Blood Fire Drama! Right, Countess? Neither you nor we thought of such a clever solution!”
The Paladin’s strokes became a bit more vigorous. Receiving the petting divine art, the Countess cat meowed, Maah, Maah.
“Nya. Choosing the Fairy Tribe as the revivalists of Blood Fire Drama was an excellent move. Blood Fire Drama isn’t just a stage art; it's beyond a normal performance. It’s not martial arts, even though it uses aura. It's both art and martial arts. Martial arts and art. Truly, a martial artistry. ……But vice-captain, your touch is a bit, well, overwhelming......"
“People discriminate and despise everything! It's impossible to heal discrimination and contempt!”
Pet, pet.
The Paladin, seemingly oblivious to the Countess’s complaint, started getting excited.
“But there are exactly two things before which people willingly cast aside their contempt: strength and beauty. Physical strength keeps people from acting up against you, while aesthetic beauty makes them open their hearts of their own accord!”
“V-Vice-Captain…? Maybe stop petting for now……"
“Blood Fire Drama encompasses both! Brilliant. Who among the Earth Spirit Tribe would look down on fairies who elegantly dance and scatter strong aura? Aah. The perception of the Fairy Tribe must have changed. No, it might have been a turning point for the Earth Spirit Tribe to soften their view of [different races] completely! Completely!”
“Miyaaaah…!”
Hmm.
I understand the Paladin is excitedly praising me, but it's a bit awkward focusing on her words while watching the cat, melting like ice cream in real time.
Wait a minute. Could it be the Countess, walking around transformed into a cat and mandating cat ears for the Sang-Ryun guild members, is not her own taste but the Paladin’s?
That’s a dangerous thought. Surely not. Even if it's true, I’ll faithfully respect the privacy of my friend….
“……You’re not listening and again daydreaming about something strange, aren’t you.”
The Black Dragon Master seems to be reaching max level in reading my expressions.
“Well, sure. I’m great, but Blood Fire Drama was originally a culture the Earth Spirit Tribe kids had. I just helped their talent to fully bloom.”
“Did you hear that! Countess!”
The Paladin became even more fervently excited.
“I have the [Lie Detection] skill on now! That statement is utterly true without a hint of falsehood. Even when he said [I’m great], the [Lie Detection] didn’t go off. Isn’t that amazing! Countess, when you speak, the detector buzzes annoyingly 8 seconds out of 10, but this is a different level!”
“Miyaa, Miyaaaah…!”
“I see. So you agree with me, Countess. Excellent! There is no need for any more tests. Kim Gong-Ja, you not only passed the Countess's test, but solved the problem through the most difficult and most effective method. If you become our leader, I will gladly follow you.”
Leader.
“I, of course, agree!”
The Heretic Inquisitor chimed in.
“Some of you may not know this. Right after clearing the 32nd floor, I already swore loyalty to the King of Death! I was a bit faster than the rest of you!”
"......Loyalty and such are irrelevant, but yeah. Talking to him seems pointless.”
The Black Dragon Master sighed.
“I agree too.”
“……Anastasia.”
“I know you don’t need the title of leader.”
Her eyes, holding the colors of the night sky, looked at me.
“But we need you. Not me, not the Paladin, not the Heretic Inquisitor or the Countess. If these guild masters, each forever going their separate way, are ever to call themselves ‘us’... Kim Gong-Ja, we need you.”
"......."
“And you also need us.”
The Black Dragon Master nodded. Was she unconsciously showing that she had convinced herself? Or did she connect this conversation to some other thought?
The answer came straight from the Black Dragon Master’s mouth.
“We’ve been together for quite a while, haven’t we?”
“……Yes.”
“I’ve never heard a single joke about Ukraine from you.”
I tilted my head, not understanding at all.
"What?"
"Ukraine. My homeland.”
"No, I’m aware of that… A joke? What do you mean?”
"Aren’t I pretty?"
"......."
Is Anastasia sick?
Worried, I examined my respectable friend, but she just looked at me expectantly, as if it was the most natural question in the world.
“I’m pretty, right?”
“B-Beautiful, certainly. It’s not for nothing that you’re on magazine covers with the Heretic Inquisitor.”
“Then why haven’t you ever joked? Because I’m from Ukraine, like ‘You’re beautiful because you’re Ukrainian’?”
What's she talking about?
It’s not just a cold but a flu-level issue?
Did fighting with six or seven summoned mirrors make her intoxicated with her own appearance? Did the skill description include a warning like [*However, you may become somewhat addicted to your own appearance]?
“……Yes, that’s right. That expression. ……It seems a bit like you're treating me as a fool, but anyway, it clearly shows your way of thinking.”
“Sorry. I’m still not getting what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve heard that joke over 300 times. Also been asked if I’m a communist over 200 times, and about my thoughts on the Nazis about 50 times. I’ve received countless questions about which side I supported in the civil war.”
“I-Is that so?”
"Yes."
The Black Dragon Master turned her head to look at the Paladin.
The Paladin, too, gave a slight nod and moved her chin.
“Gong-Ja never made a joke about Venezuela to me. I sometimes use beauty jokes or oil jokes to lighten the mood, but I can’t recall him ever doing so.”
Uh.
…I just didn’t know much?
“Nor have I!”
The Heretic Inquisitor laughed.
“Even when I talk about my past, the King of Death only listens. He has never taken it upon himself to pry any deeper! Aha. It is curious. Most people would ask more questions out of sheer curiosity!”
“C-Curry jokes too. I have never heard one from him.”
While enduring the Paladin's assault, the Countess in her cat form managed to speak.
“Weren't you curious about our religion? Whether we are atheists or not? Didn’t you want to ask?”
“Uh….”
“Have you even thought about it?”
I hadn’t.
“Maah.”
The Countess laughed.
“You have no interest in that area. None at all.”
None.
“Your indifference is comfortable for us.”
"......."
“It is not as though you are indifferent to us as people. Quite the opposite, you try almost passionately to learn about us. You know nearly everything we have said, everything we have done, and every mistake we have committed. Frankly, you like us. Yet strangely enough, the scope of your interest is remarkably limited, is it not?”
"......."
“The Black Dragon Master and others call you a virtuous person for that.”
Tap.
Finally, the Countess jumped out of the Paladin’s arms.
As she fell through the air, she was a cat, but by the time she touched the ground, she had transformed back into a human. Her beautiful emerald sari fluttered like a cape for a moment. Flap! The sari concealed the shadow of the Countess between the sky and the earth.
“I don't care whether you are a virtuous or evil person.”
The sari gently settled.
There, the Countess stood, holding a fan with a crafty smile.
“Your character might simply be the result of not wanting to be disliked by others. Deep down in your heart, there might be a strong desire to be recognized by others, so maybe your attitude towards us is all flattery and fawning.”
"......."
“But that doesn’t matter to me. What I care about is not where a person's character originates from but where it is going and where it has arrived. The destination you’ve chosen is quite comfortable for us.”
Isn’t that an overestimation?
Of course, I want to appear good in front of these people.
But suddenly, I was worried. What if my wish was too successful, earning their favor more than I could handle? Can I always meet their expectations, my comrades' trust, my friends' belief? Was my success too excessive?
Will I disappoint them?
“Nisha.”
"......."
“That's my real name. You must have heard the Paladin casually call me by my real name.”
Indeed.
I knew the Countess's real name.
When fighting against [The Immortal Missionary of Happiness], the Paladin undoubtedly shouted the Countess's name. Although she never told me her name directly, it was registered in a corner of my memory.
“But you never mentioned my name. Not even a hint or suggestion that you knew it in front of me.”
“That’s because obviously......"
“Obviously, you were just practicing common courtesy, you must be thinking that now.”
The Countess fanned herself.
“That is precisely why I, why all of us, wish to raise you up as our leader.”
"......."
“Become someone whose presence feels only natural to us, Kim Gong-Ja.”
As the Countess smiled broadly.
[Quest Progress.]
[The Pure Humans Tribe voting begins.]
I looked at the Sword Saint.
The intimidating aura he had when he first approached us had completely vanished. Now, the Sword Saint was just gently smiling at us.
“Before coming here, I told the kids to start the vote if they didn't hear any sounds of a fight after 30 minutes. They listened well to my words.”
“Elder.”
“I already agreed with the Countess's opinion. I observed if you could really cooperate to advance through the stages without giving any help, without participating as much as possible.”
[Vote Completed.]
[Option 2 votes: 23.81%]
[Option 1 votes: 76.19%]
“Not just me, but all the races who watched your actions directly through [The Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages] have been watching you.”
"......."
“Responsibility is heavy. I too once took the lead in the tower's conquest, bearing responsibility. And to take even a piece of responsibility for the purge, I stepped back from the front lines, never to involve myself in the tower's politics again."
The Sword Saint chuckled.
“In other words, standing before you is a [failure].”
"......."
“What stands before you now is [the worst-case scenario], the end that awaits if you fail utterly, a real example of the fears and worries troubling you becoming reality. Now then, answer me, King of Death.”
The old man's eyes twinkled.
“Does this failed creation look truly unbearable?”
“……No.”
I spoke.
“Elder… you are not… terrible. Not at all. At least, to me, Mr. Callenbury is not.”
“That’s good to hear.”
The old man nodded.
“Then your failures won’t be so terrible either.”
"......."
“Reassurance from an old man like me may not sound very reliable, but do not regard failure as something so terrible. Perhaps you too will receive a second chance, just as I did. Someone may appear who makes you reverse your retirement and return to active duty.”
[Stage Cleared.]
[The 46th floor has been cleared.]
"......."
Heretic Inquisitor.
Real Name, Bambolina.
In charge of the Mountain Snail Tribe.
Vote Percentage, 77.50%. Stage Cleared.
Countess.
Real Name, Nisha.
In charge of the Fairy Tribe.
Vote Percentage, 88.40%.
Stage Cleared.
Paladin.
Real Name, Patricia.
In charge of the Gill-Fin Tribe.
Vote Percentage, 98.68%.
Stage Cleared.
Black Dragon Master.
Real Name, Anastasia.
In charge of the Vampiric and Dream Demon tribes.
Vampiric Tribe Vote Percentage, 97.55%.
Dream Demon Tribe Vote Percentage, 100%.
Stage Cleared.
Sword Saint.
Real Name, Marcus Callenbury.
In charge of the Pure Humans Tribe.
Vote Percentage, 76.19%.
Stage Cleared.
King of Death.
Kim Gong-Ja.
In charge of the Earth Spirit Tribe.
100%.
Stage Cleared.
“---Hey, hey.”
Then.
“Nobody objected except me. Is this for real?”
“Everyone here is too damn nice for their own good. Huh? If human relationships could end with ‘Hey, I like you,’ and ‘Yeah, I like you too,’ every counselor in the world would lose their job and wander the streets. Huh? Feelings are feelings precisely because you cannot sort them out with words.”
Treading through the jungle's shade, the one-eyed swordsman approached.
“Hey.”
The swordsman adorned his entrance with another “Hey.”
“I went through one hell of a grand closed-door training session, just as you told me. Now I feel like the protagonist of a martial arts novel. And any proper martial arts protagonist, well, you know, has to speak with the sword before agreeing with words. That is the way of the martial world. My kids say they do not give a damn about the vote or anything else until we settle this with one more match, so what can I do?”
Among all those gathered here.
Excluding the Sword Saint, he was the first to reveal his real name to me.
“Draw your sword, Kim Gong-Ja.”
Viper.
Real Name, Liǎofàn.
In charge of the Ghost Tribe.
“Enough of all that. Let’s fight.”
Vote Percentage.
Undetermined.
[Quest Progress.]
[The Ghost Tribe voting begins.]
Voting initiated.
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