WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 97: Your Heart (1)
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“Your face says this is the first you’ve heard of it.”
Lady Silver Lily remarked.
“Didn’t the Constellation that sent you explain anything to you? That’s rare. Usually, when a Constellation sends an Apostle, they provide as much information as possible. Are you on bad terms with your Constellation?”
“Apostle…?"
“Truly clueless. Interesting.”
Lady Silver Lily opened a drawer. Another hourglass, identical to the one she had just flipped, was inside. Clang! She lightly pressed the desk bell.
The office door opened.
“Did you call, Lady?”
“Add 15 minutes more. There might be further extensions, so everyone take a break.”
“Seems you’re enjoying the conversation. Shall I bring some tea?”
“Hmm. Something from Zerni.”
“Understood.”
A graying servant bowed and left.
I stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. Observing my demeanor, Lady Silver Lily slightly raised the corners of her eyes.
“Relax. Just stand comfortably.”
It wasn’t an invitation to sit.
“Which Constellation sent you? Mutia? The Three-Horned Star? Hisimet Cretsu? Nasaro? Psyme? Hmm. Judging by your face, it seems you’ve never heard of them. Who are you representing?”
“The Librarian of All Knowledge..."
My head was spinning. I sensed the Lady wasn’t ordinary, but this was beyond my expectations. I only managed to recall the Librarian's title, barely clinging to my last thread of sanity.
“No, the Holed-Up Head Librarian sent me.”
“The library.”
Lady Silver Lily twirled a quill in her left hand.
“The Holed-Up... Ah, Hamusutra?”
Hamusutra.
Their true name.
She knows the true name of a Constellation.
“Did Hamusutra not explain anything to you?”
“...The Head Librarian tries to minimize intervention in an Apocalypse. Rather than giving us information in advance, they would prefer that we uncover it ourselves.”
“Apocalypse?”
“A world where barriers have fallen due to the absence of Constellations. A world doomed to destruction, as the Head Librarian calls it.”
Lady Silver Lily narrowed her eyes in amusement. Her irises were red, so even when her eyes narrowed, her gaze did not grow hazy. She possessed a gaze whose very color overwhelmed those who met it.
“How arrogant, just like a Constellation, naming someone else’s world however they please. Apocalypse, is it...? Hmm. It is not wrong that this world will someday perish. Even so, I cannot simply hand over my soul.”
I blinked.
“...Wait. You still have no idea, do you? Did you not possess Lady Goldencup’s servant because you were after my soul?”
I shook my head. This was completely new to me.
"......."
Lady Silver Lily pressed her lips together. Her eyes began to take on the look of someone beholding a protected natural wonder. Rattle. Without taking her eyes off me, she opened the drawer and pulled something out. It was a third hourglass.
Clang.
“Did you call, Lady? I’ve brought the tea.”
“Take another 15 minutes.”
“The children will be very happy today.”
The servant left.
While sipping her tea, Lady Silver Lily continued to observe me over the rim of her cup.
“Look here, Butler of Lady Goldencup.”
“Uh, call me Kim Gong-Ja, please. That’s my real name.”
“No. How rude. How dare you ask me to call you by your real name? Blame yourself for possessing a butler who is not a noble.”
Isn’t this person subtly being snooty?
“Anyway, I see that you are a blank slate. You haven’t received a [Strategy Guide], it seems.”
Strategy Guide? What’s that?
“Something like this.”
Lady Silver Lily pulled out a paper from the drawer.
On an A4-sized paper, round handwriting was scribbled.
+
1. Lady Silver Lily is sensitive to sunlight. Prefer evening and night for dates rather than daytime.
2. Lady Silver Lily has a dull sense of taste and likes strongly flavored food.
3. She likes white flowers, but she’s tired of lilies. Keep that in mind when choosing gifts.
4. She's a pragmatist. Prefers politics, diplomacy, and money topics. Romantic poems won’t work.
.
.
.
10. Lady Silver Lily is loyal. It’s fine if she talks bad about the Empire or the Crown Prince, but she won’t tolerate others doing so. Be careful.
+
I was speechless. Crazy. What is this?
“An Apostle who came to woo me during the 6th round had this, sent by the Constellation Mahos. He called it a [Strategy Route].”
My mouth dropped.
“A Strategy Route…"
“He was so unbelievable that I poisoned him and took it after his death.”
Lady Silver Lily spoke plainly.
“When he died in my hands, he screamed, [I followed the strategy to the letter, why didn’t it work?]. As if he was wronged. But I was the one wronged. Can a person’s heart be captured by a strategy guide?”
[The silver-clad heart expresses dissatisfaction.]
“How trivially people view others. If one truly wishes to win my heart, they should approach me honestly. But strategy guides and routes? Such rotten seeds.”
“That’s… true.”
“Finally, a sensible response.”
Lady Silver Lily set down her teacup.
“The reason I rated you highly is not just for your intelligence, but also because you view the people of my world as [humans].”
“That’s… obvious, isn’t it?”
“Many have failed even that basic criterion. Beasts who don’t view others as humans. Yet, they staunchly consider themselves human. Filthy creatures.”
I held my breath for a moment.
Lady Silver Lily watched my reaction and rested her chin on her hand.
“Hmm?"
After a brief groan, she nodded.
“I see.”
Thump.
“Do these words mean something to you?”
Thump.
“Have you seen many of those kinds? Or have you been viewed that way?”
Thump.
“If not, then I see. Perhaps someone important to you once said something similar---”
“Lady.”
I cut in.
I could no longer bear the sensation that she was splitting open my chest, tearing out my ribs, and examining my raw heart beneath a magnifying glass.
[The silver-clad heart watches you.]
I couldn’t let her take control anymore.
I spoke.
“But you, Lady, also looked down on me for possessing a commoner, not a noble."
Lady Silver Lily didn’t even blink.
“What? Are you so upset that I didn’t call you by your real name?”
“It's just that you're not in a position to talk down to others.”
“Such a comment fits the rebellious Butler who blew up the Academy.”
Yet, the tone of Lady Silver Lily seemed oddly amused.
“But I acknowledge the validity of your point.”
So, shall we get back to the main topic? With that, Lady Silver Lily coughed lightly.
“So?”
“Yes?”
“What do you seek in crossing the boundary to this world? This is a world where the same 10 days repeat forever.”
[The silver-clad heart doubts your intentions.]
“Surely your Constellation did not dislike you enough to exile you here. I hear Hamusutra is close to the moderate faction. But neither can you have come on vacation or to enjoy a retreat. Answer me, actor playing the role of Lady Goldencup’s butler.”
“I am..."
“Don’t lie. The moment you utter even a shred of falsehood, regardless of your purpose, obtaining anything from me will become impossible. I don’t show my heart to those who don’t reveal theirs first.”
I pondered.
‘I want your world to become the 25th floor.’
Do I really need this stage? No. Choosing another stage wouldn’t make much difference to our tower.
‘I have a fragment of the Holy Sword in this world.’
Do I absolutely have to gather every fragment and complete the Holy Sword? No to that as well. Finding Shiny’s sisters would make me, her owner, stronger, but put another way, I would simply become a little stronger.
"......."
The reason for my stay in this stage.
“...I still don't understand love.”
“What?”
“Romantic feelings, that sort of thing, I’m ignorant of them. This world’s genre includes [Romance]. I think this is a fitting place to learn about love.”
When my master held her final sparring match, my Guardian Spirit blocked her sword and shouted:
The Guardian Spirit shouted at her:
「Gong-Ja hasn't yet experienced the joy of the world.」
「Do you know that, Cult Leader? This guy has never even loved anyone. Isn’t that ridiculous? He has never even dated!」
Those words were deeply etched in my heart.
“If there is something I lack, I want to learn it. No, I want to know it. Leaving it unknown feels unfair. Otherwise, it doesn’t feel as though I’ve lived life one hundred percent full.”
Lady Silver Lily observed my face intently. Her crimson eyes seemed, perhaps it was my imagination, slightly perplexed.
“So you want to learn about love?”
“Yes.”
“From me?”
“That... I’m not sure.”
“Explain.”
I gathered my thoughts.
“To be precise, I want to learn about love in this ‘world’.”
“The world.”
“Yes, I want to know what I lack. I want to feel it.”
“Then why not go to your Lady, Goldencup? Wouldn’t that be quicker?”
The Heretic Inquisitor.
Lady Goldencup.
“It won’t work.”
“Why? Do you dislike the person possessing Goldencup?”
“No, it’s not a matter of like or dislike. That person is..."
‘If I were like you,’ she had said.
Said it.
“That person is even more inexperienced than I am."
"......."
“To learn, one must seek someone more knowledgeable.”
Lady Silver Lily sipped her tea. A brief silence.
“Well, the current Goldencup doesn’t seem fit to teach love to anyone. Rather, she seems to be in a position to be taught.”
“Yes."
“Yet, I still see no reason for you to come to me.”
“There is a reason.”
I said firmly.
The thoughts I had in the underground prison came to mind.
“I want to understand you.”
She did not seem to have expected those words. A droplet of tea leapt from her cup and dampened the front of her dress.
She blinked and then said,
“Understand me…?”
“Yes. Whether it’s for the Crown Prince or for the Empire, I don’t know yet, but Lady, you are dedicating your life to loyalty. I wonder how you can do that. What feelings and heart drive you. If it’s because of love, I’d like to experience that too.”
"......."
"A bit embarrassing and awkward to say, but that’s my honest answer."
Lady Silver Lily fell silent for a while.
“This is,”
Now it was clear.
“Truly a first for me.”
Lady Silver Lily was flustered.
“To want to know love is already a fearless statement. And to want to understand me? One should not use the word ‘understand’ lightly. It's a word that can lead to poison. Understanding is not different from responsibility. Yet."
“Head Librarian.”
I looked up at the sky. Of course, the Head Librarian wasn't there.
But the Head Librarian would be listening to our conversation, and the Tower’s hunters would be watching.
“Please pause the broadcast for a moment.”
The office air went still.
“I have something I wish to say only to Lady Silver Lily.”
After a brief pause, a voice responded to my request.
[The Holed-Up Head Librarian gladly accepts your request.]
[You are granted a ‘Scene Skip’ for 10 minutes.]
Okay.
I looked back at Lady Silver Lily.
“I’m also a Returner.”
I began.
“But my nature of returning is slightly different from yours.”
“How so?”
“You said you repeat the last 10 days of your life. I return to a day before upon death.”
"......."
“It’s not just a simple return. If someone kills me, I can glimpse into their trauma.”
“Trauma?”
“Yes."
My voice softly flowed in the office.
“The deepest wounds, memories, scenes that people keep in their hearts. If the wound is about something precious being destroyed, I see that very moment of destruction.”
There was no need to carefully choose my words. As soon as I opened my mouth, let my tongue loose, the words I wanted to convey naturally flowed out. As I shared my secret with Lady Silver Lily, I suddenly realized.
“That is, I can [easily] understand others.”
Me.
I wanted to talk about myself to someone.
To someone in a similar situation, living a life like mine.
"......."
Lady Silver Lily was quiet. As my story continued, her eyes gradually became more serene. I could feel that she was listening to me seriously.
“It is a kind of skill. A technique. I’m afraid I will grow accustomed to understanding others so easily. One of the people I trust most told me, [Never grow accustomed to a skill]. But...”
“And yet?”
“Yet, if it’s a one-sided understanding..."
“That wouldn’t be understanding.”
“That’s right, and yet, I can’t just ignore people. Because…”
“If I give up, they’ll wither, twist, and die.”
"......."
“Even if it’s hypocrisy, I want to let them know that I’m here, watching over this place, thinking about them. What a blessed life that is. Isn’t it?”
I suddenly choked up.
"......Yes.”
"Foolish.”
Lady Silver Lily closed her eyes.
"Understanding is momentary, but responsibility is eternal.”
You’re willingly walking into hell.
After murmuring that, Lady Silver Lily fell silent.
[The Holed-Up Head Librarian announces the end of the ‘Scene Skip’.]
Lady Silver Lily opened her eyes.
"Very well, Butler of Lady Goldencup.”
She picked up one of the upside-down hourglasses on her desk. Watching the grains of sand slide down the glass, Lady Silver Lily spoke softly.
"I shall teach you about love."
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