SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 385

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 385: The Garden of Time (1)

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The curtain of sand parted left and right, revealing a staircase, and I slowly began to descend.

Thud, thud.

I could not tell what the stairs were made of, but they supported me firmly. With each step, the sound of my footfall echoed through the air.

The place where I had conversed with Princess was on the 90th floor.

Naturally, below that was the 89th floor, which was my sanctuary.

"......."

A Garden of Withered Flowers. I set foot in that place.

Retainers of the King of Death's household, serving as gardeners, wandered around. They were neatly dressed in uniforms designed by the Ivansia Duchy's personal tailor and woven from water-thread by the mermaids of the Aegim Empire. Each carried what they needed to tend the garden, such as shears, shovels, and watering cans.

‘Eek.’

Upon seeing Silvia approaching with garden shears, I hastily hid behind a rock.

-King of Death, what are you doing?

Princess asked, looking at me as if she had seen something curious.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling awkward.

-No, I mean. After putting on that whole show, even getting my hair cut before going up, it would be pretty embarrassing to hear, "Why are you back down already...?" Huh.

I stopped mid-sentence and shut my mouth.

-Oh… Hm? The state of my voice…?

What came out of my mouth was a mere whisper, as if only my lips moved, or the kind of sound you'd imagine in your head, barely audible, as if it wasn't there at all.

-Uh….

It wasn’t just that.

Stepping back a bit, I realized that I couldn’t hear my own footsteps.

-Huh?

Even after stamping my feet a couple of times, it was the same.

Until just a moment ago, the floor returned the sound of my weight with a thud, thud, but now there was no sound at all.

-Heh.

I then did a standing jump on the spot.

Neither the sound of the jump nor the thud when landing could be heard.

It wasn’t just sound; not a single grain of sand or a leaf moved.

-Could it be?

-Yes. That’s exactly it.

Princess grinned widely. Only then did I realize that her voice and movements also had no effect on the surroundings.

And so, I understood.

-Are Princess and I in the same state as the Sword Emperor?

-Yes! Exactly.

Princess nodded. Feeling intrigued, I twisted my body this way and that, then looked at Silvia approaching me.

-And that means….

“Sigh.”

Silvia sighed right in front of my nose.

“It's been roughly 2 hours since the Lord went up.”

Just as expected.

Silvia was completely unaware of my presence!

“This is driving me insane. Seriously, what does he think he is going to get out of forcing his way up there?”

Sitting on the ground, Silvia grumbled as she jabbed the soil with her planting spade.

Someone responded to Silvia's words.

“Ugor, Head Maid. What if someone hears and thinks you're talking behind his back?”

Uburka, dressed as a gardener, came walking with a large bucket on his bald head and spoke up.

Silvia shrugged her shoulders.

“Ha. There’s absolutely no one listening aside from you. After all, I've made sure of that much, so I can afford to talk behind their back.”

“Are you so sure about that?”

“Of course, of course. I played the young lady twice at Sormewin Academy. I even managed to turn out an Ivansia duke once. What does that mean? It means my social awareness is maxed out.”

Silvia boasted with an air of arrogance.

‘I’m right here listening to you, though.’

It was a moment as pitiful as Silvia herself, but it also meant my stealth ability was functioning perfectly.

‘Anyway, this is interesting.’

I circled around Silvia and Uburka.

I circled them normally, circled them while walking on my hands, circled them while doing somersaults, and even circled them while dancing the Cossack dance.

The Guardian Spirit wore a rare expression of embarrassment.

-Zombie... Why are you throwing a fucking fit while smacking your lips like a yellow mutt with a charcoal-grilled rib bone in front of it?

-Thank you for seeing it that way. When I was desperately struggling to learn Aura, you did exactly this. What you are feeling now is exactly what I felt then.

-So that is how it was, you bastard... I had no idea. Now that I know, I am reflecting on it very deeply, but that aside, should you really do the same thing just because I did? It always falls to juniors and disciples to break the chain of evil with one clean snap.

-I wanted to break the chain of evil too... But my strength was not enough. The monster deep inside me, the snake coiled around my heart, keeps whispering... [Do the same thing to him. Are you going to spend your life taking it? Hurry. This is your chance to pay him back...] Again and again, I succumb to the devil within. You might call that my incompetence and impotence...

-You win.

-Victory achieved.

Even as we exchanged such banter, Uburka and Silvia showed no signs of noticing us.

At this point, even I started to feel a bit awkward.

-Princess, Sword Emperor. So, what should we do now? Where is the key?

-Hmm, why not take a look around the places that come to mind?

Princess suggested with a grin.

Hmm.

‘Hearing that with such a face makes me a bit uneasy….’

I suppressed my unease.

Leaving Uburka and Silvia, who were still chatting away, I started walking.

-Where are you going, Wailing Heaven?

-Oh, well… You said to check out the places that come to mind, right? That's what I'm doing.

-You’re so active! Yep, yep. That’s good. Very good.

Although that was also a disconcerting comment, I continued walking, holding back my feelings.

First, I thought of visiting the director.

When I arrived, the director was just giving instructions to Kim Yul.

“Mr. Kim Yul, Please gather the gardeners.”

“Alright.”

Following the director's orders, Kim Yul summoned the gardeners. Ester was the first to rush over, and the Goddess of Protection flew down with a flap of her wings. Silvia and Uburka, who had been lazing around in a corner, had no choice but to come and stand before the director.

The director spoke.

“Hello. I've taken charge of managing this garden.”

The director began speaking in his characteristic calm voice.

“I am quite inexperienced.”

"......."

“Some of you may be displeased that I have called everyone together like this, thinking, ‘Why are we suddenly having a regular assembly?’ At times like that, just think, ‘Ah, an older person...’ No, compared with all of you, I am not even old. I would appreciate it if you pitied me and thought, ‘This person simply has shortcomings.’”

The gathered people showed little reaction to his words. More accurately, it wasn’t the kind of reaction that was outwardly visible.

Just like me.

-Director….

I murmured with a lump in my throat.

Of course, the director didn't notice me. He just continued talking to the people in front of him.

“As you may know, Gong-Ja has ascended to the next floor today.”

"......."

“I’m barely a rookie, not even worthy of being called a hunter. If you put me on the 2nd floor, I probably wouldn’t make it back alive. So, I don’t know what the 90th floor is like. Does anyone here know?”

At that question, someone raised their hand.

It was Ester.

“I know very little about the 99th floor. I cannot discuss the details because of my contract with the tower...”

“Is it dangerous?”

“…Yes, extremely.”

Ester replied.

The director took off his glasses and pressed his nose bridge with his thumb and forefinger before speaking.

“Can he return?”

“If the Lord decides to come back, he could do so immediately.”

Ester replied and then slightly bowed her head.

“However, in that case, as a general rule, you can’t attempt it again. That’s why most of the distinguished Constellations are stuck without ascending to the 100th floor.”

“I see….”

The director sighed lightly.

“It’s somewhat relieving to know that he can come back if he chooses.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

“But, that boy will definitely not return.”

The director's sigh grew heavier.

Ester, the Goddess of Protection, and even Uburka sighed in a similar manner... What's with this united front of the King of Death family?

“He was quite a stubborn child since he was young.”

The director said.

Silvia perked up her ears.

“What was he like?”

“Chamberlain, I sense something ominous from your curiosity.”

“No, no, advisor. Aren’t you seeing me in too negative a light? I'm hurt. I'm just curious about what kind of person our family's head is. And you, advisor, don’t you also look very curious?”

“As an advisor, I merely wish to know the head of the household better.”

These vassals….

“I’m also curious. Ugor. What was daddy like as a child? Or did he even have a childhood?”

This son….

“Everyone seems curious about Gong-Ja. Naturally, they would be.”

The director smiled wryly and put on his glasses.

Most of the household, probably, no, definitely, stared at the director with sparkling eyes, eager to dig into my embarrassing past. The director, however, proved that those decades spent caring for children had not been for nothing.

“Let's continue this story at the next assembly.”

“Ah.”

Just when their curiosity was piqued, the vassals made a sound of disappointment as the story was cut off.

“Take your time. Please wait patiently.”

The director said with a smile.

“We'll be seeing each other's faces here for a long time.”

With that, the assembly ended. Watching the gardeners disperse with regretful faces, I raised my hand to wipe my forehead.

-I need to get out of here quickly… preferably today.

-Hmm. Even so, you don’t want your dark history to be exposed right in front of you, huh?

-Yes, yes. So… uh, the key?

I looked around, but nothing caught my eye.

Just in case, I even searched through the director's clothes, but found nothing there either.

-…There’s nothing here?

-Seems like it's not here.

Princess said with a bright smile, which also triggered a sense of unease.

Then, the Sword Emperor's voice rang out.

-Zombie.

-Yes?

I turned towards the Sword Emperor.

And I saw him looking at me with a pitiful expression.

-Cheer up.

Uh….

-Sword Emperor, what does that expression mean?

-What do you think?

-It’s shitty….

-Yeah….

-Come on, no, wait. Why not get angry or something... What was that resigned ‘yeah’ supposed to mean? Are you sulking because I played a prank on you earlier? If that is it... No, seriously, what is with that expression? I would rather you mocked me. What the hell...

The Sword Emperor remained silent.

He just looked at me with a face that seemed to pity something.

‘This unease is creeping up on me like the smell of manure from a dungheap….’

Ugh.

I clapped my hands together with a smack and, after calming my breathing, began to walk.

-Anyway, it’s not around the director, that much is clear. Hmm. Then it must be there.

My sanctuary was a world unto itself, but it had only just been created, so it was not especially vast. I thought that if I searched each likely place in turn, I would find the key or whatever it was...

To put it bluntly, I was mistaken.

My sanctuary, the Garden of Withered Flowers.

Sitting crouched on the seashore where the red waves rolled in, I spoke with a weary face.

-I was wrong.

I wasn’t sure if my face really looked weary. After all, my reflection didn’t appear on the surface of the sea.

And it wasn’t just because the sea in my sanctuary was red. I had also set up a greenhouse for flowers that needed warmth, but my figure didn’t reflect in the glass of that greenhouse either.

-Keuh. You’re quick to notice, zombie.

The Sword Emperor sat cross-legged beside me and picked his teeth with the tip of a fingernail.

-To realize that in just about [a week].

That's right.

Since I entered this place, the 89th floor, or rather, what should be called the 91st floor, a whole week had already passed!

-Why isn’t there a single clue anywhere!?

I exclaimed with the fury of spitting fire... Did I exclaim? Damn it. In this place where I couldn't even use my real voice, even that felt ambiguous.

It was like my very existence was becoming ambiguous, akin to the expression that a seal or a Shiba Inu usually has!

-I thought there would be something beside the director. Or that the area around the Constellation Killer's flower, the lily of the valley I planted first, would start sparkling or something. But this... Do you know how I feel right now?

-[It is as though I have been cast all alone into a test map where the events were never implemented.]

Princess said as she jumped next to me.

-That's how some climbers put it.

-Who is that climber?

-Mahos.

The very Warhorse of the Eternal Plains.

-That person talks like that….

-Mm. Since Wailing Heaven doesn’t like treating the inside of the tower like a game, you might get angry at that analogy....

-Yes, no, no. I get the feeling. Sword Emperor, you know too, right?

-Of course, I know, zombie. How could I not?

The Sword Emperor lay back, supporting his head with his interlocked fingers.

Above, the sky tinged red by the broken sunset had square clouds drifting by.