WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
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Chapter 283
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It was strange.
It felt as though something that must not go wrong was slowly breaking down. An ominous feeling was consuming me.
I had not first noticed it because something strange had happened around me. If anything, the tower had never been as peaceful as it was now.
But that very peace was the strangest thing of all.
I closed my eyes and recalled last night’s dream. The many treasures I had met there were the ones who told me how quiet the tower had become.
Since the treasures had attempted their mass escape, the frequency of incidents had gradually declined. By now, they said not even one incident occurred in a week.
At first glance, that result might have seemed natural. Those punished by the storehouse keeper were wandering through the tower.
Every treasure that had tried to escape had been implanted with a ragged tree and a snake made of curses.
It was both a seal and a shackle. The moment the tree fully took root in their bodies, they had no choice but to focus their entire minds on keeping it from collapsing.
So they quietly taught their classes while growing trees within their bodies. Even if they wanted to cause trouble, the snake had sealed away most of their power.
Still, they were not merely being punished. Because their bodies were firmly bound, they were allowed to leave the tower for brief periods.
The sealed treasures walked around the tower’s surroundings and wrote stories of the outside on the message board. They wrote of the gardens on the mountain and magical beast ranches overflowing with food.
Many treasures envied them. A few even went to the storehouse keeper to ask what conditions they needed to meet to go outside.
That crafty bastard gave only one condition. They merely had to accept a tree into their bodies, just like the punished treasures had.
Of course, no treasure would accept that. Having one’s power sealed was no different from placing one’s throat in that bastard’s grasp.
Besides, we longed for the outside world to fulfill desires that could never be satisfied. Being told to seal our power first had things entirely backward.
That was why no treasure accepted the condition. We only watched as those who had been punished came and went from the tower.
It could have been considered a warning from that bastard. A warning that anyone who ran wild in the tower would be sealed like them.
Yet I could not help finding it strange. The idea that treasures would stop causing incidents just because punished examples existed was impossible to believe, considering how vicious treasures were.
Treasures were beings that looked only as far as the next inch in pursuit of their desires. Most did not think about what came afterward.
The number of incidents should have increased with each passing day. They could not suppress their desires for long.
Perhaps that was what the storehouse keeper wanted. So I kept squeezing Blood Axe, trying not to make any move.
But my guess had been wrong.
Over the past month, rather than increasing, incidents in the tower had become less frequent by the day. Humans listened to the treasures’ stories, and the treasures bestowed favors upon the humans.
Through that cycle, the humans’ levels continued to rise. It was beneficial for both treasures and humans.
But I could not believe it. The other treasures dwelling in the dream felt the same way.
After discussing it with them, we decided that a treasure called Transparent Ring would investigate this strange situation.
It was chosen because of the power it possessed. True to the meaning carved into its name, it prevented its bearer from being recognized by others.
Those beneath a certain level could not see through its disguise. It could conceal all information within itself.
For Transparent Ring, the process was no different from devouring prey. The causality of those who dissolved and vanished became engraved upon it.
With the storehouse keeper’s puppets scattered throughout the tower, watching every corner, that power was an exceptionally useful tool.
Even if Transparent Ring’s power had been restricted, the puppets could not strip away that disguise. So Transparent Ring resolved to proceed with the investigation as carefully as possible.
Another month passed.
Naturally, no major disturbance occurred during that month.
It was time to hear what Transparent Ring had learned. I followed the token I had carved, and at its end, I reached the place where several masses had gathered.
But I could not help being greatly startled.
Originally, eleven attended our gathering, including me. Every one of us had been brought together by the Infectious Entity. But only ten masses were present now.
I stared at the masses of various colors, wondering who was missing. Before long, I found the gap and could only feel confused.
-Where did it go?
The one absent was Transparent Ring, which had previously volunteered to investigate.
For a moment, I wondered whether it was merely late, but I soon realized that was not the case. I could no longer sense the body it had carved into this place anywhere.
That was the coordinate that let us gather again. Without it remaining, Transparent Ring could not return here.
The others merely etched silence in response to my question. They must not have known either. I looked toward the Infectious Entity, the organizer of this gathering.
This was a space it had made using a sacrifice’s dream. It might know something.
-Ah, I do not know either. I only felt Ring’s stake being removed a week ago.
Its body trembled in apparent confusion. It had pulled out its stake a week ago. Had something happened while it was investigating?
Perhaps it had fallen into a trap prepared by the storehouse keeper. But even then, I could not understand why it would erase its coordinate.
The stake embedded in this dream was part of ourselves. Even if something happened, no one else could remove it.
Unless Transparent Ring itself wanted it gone, the stake could not disappear. That left me with only one possibility.
-Could it have betrayed us? The storehouse keeper would certainly be capable of it.
The storehouse keeper was more evil than any being I had ever seen. I was more wary of that bastard than the dragon that had imprisoned me in its storehouse.
The dragon had merely wielded power, but the storehouse keeper constantly used petty tricks to lead us into traps. Such a bastard would surely find it easy to win over a single treasure.
Even I was not confident I could completely reject its temptations. But my guess was denied by the intent of a treasure that had been quietly keeping silent.
-This Sovereign does not believe our comrade betrayed us. You said contact was lost a week ago. This Sovereign remembers meeting our comrade then, when I was feeding the prey.
The one who spoke was the treasure called Flowing Sword. It was the treasure sword-wielding humans chose first.
I also knew the two could have met, since I carefully followed the treasures’ class schedules.
I watched it calmly. They had met outside. That could be considered breaking our promise. When we first met, we had decided not to show interest in one another outside.
That was only natural considering the surveillance system outside. We did not have any particular connection in the first place. If we suddenly began speaking together, the storehouse keeper would surely become wary.
So we had agreed to share our suspicions only within this dream. Since Flowing Sword had exposed a gap, as it had said, it deserved rebuke.
But the two could not have contacted each other thoughtlessly. Flowing Sword must have noticed something strange and broken the agreement. I needed to hear what it had learned.
-This Sovereign approached our comrade because it was not moving at all. Far from investigating, it was constantly with the children. So I approached in secret and asked why. But it seemed extremely bewildered. At first, I thought it was pretending not to know because of our agreement, but...
Flowing Sword paused and stared at the place where Transparent Ring had embedded its stake. Then it continued.
-It appears our comrade truly did not remember this Sovereign. It seems to have erased every memory related to us.
Silence fell over us again.
If its memories had vanished, then the disappearance of its stake made sense as well. Our bodies were masses of desire, so losing one’s memories was no different from losing one’s body.
And if Transparent Ring had betrayed us, we could not possibly be gathered here. The storehouse keeper would not have left us alone.
The fact that we had gathered in the dream meant the storehouse keeper had not yet noticed our meetings. That was clear proof that Transparent Ring had not betrayed us.
But even after clearing away that suspicion, not every question had been answered. Instead, the matter had become more complicated and returned to the beginning.
Why had it erased every memory of us after leaving so confidently? We needed to find out.
Then I felt a small ripple. It came from the Infectious Entity.
-Ah, speaking of memories, I just remembered something.
It projected its intent while bobbing its pure-white body. It seemed to have recalled something. It stared at us and tilted its head.
-Have any of you felt something suspicious about those who travel with you?
-That headache? It has been rather quiet recently, thanks to This Sovereign constantly striking its head. Did yours cause some sort of trouble?
Flowing Sword expressed its confusion. I looked over the other treasures as well.
Though I stood in an exceptional position, the treasures gathered here were all ranked near the top of the humans’ rankings.
Flowing Sword was ranked fifth, while the Infectious Entity was second. Transparent Ring, now gone, had been seventh.
Their high rankings meant they could think far enough ahead to consider the future. They had gathered here because they possessed such intelligence.
And because of that, the storehouse keeper had treated them as harshly at the exhibition as it had me. They had no choice but to be paired with treasures ranked near the bottom.
Those damned things were among the most problematic treasures in the tower. Naturally, we had no choice but to keep them under control to prevent incidents.
Was I not the same? Irritation rose in me again when I thought of Blood Axe, that utterly stupid thing. The Infectious Entity shook its body as it looked over us.
-No. If anything, it has become very well-behaved recently. What I find suspicious is the happiness it holds. Recently, it briefly escaped my happiness.
-Escaped happiness? That should be impossible.
I projected my doubt. The reason I called it the Infectious Entity and remained wary of it, unlike the other treasures, was because of the power it possessed.
It forcibly infected nearby beings with happiness. Someone with equal power could reject it, but it had devoured many things until now.
None of the treasures recently released could withstand that power. Yet one stupid treasure stuck at the very bottom had rejected it. That was impossible.
-Ah, how embarrassing. I was curious how it escaped, so I dissected its body and briefly looked into its memories. Then I found out why.
It projected that intent with complete innocence. But the contents were horrifying.
For a treasure, its body was proof of its desire. The one that had been dissected was surely only half sane now.
Well, it was none of my concern. Treasures desired nothing more than to fill their own desires.
When someone grew curious about an obstruction to their desire and dissected the other party, it was only natural. What mattered now was what came afterward. The Infectious Entity excitedly projected its intent.
-It was astonishingly feeling at least a little happiness in the current situation. It was already happy, so my happiness did not work on it. Ah, is that not admirable? I must have educated it well.
I could not help feeling suspicious as I watched it rejoice.
Those bound together with us were things whose stupidity reached the heavens. Unlike us, who could look at least a little farther ahead, they were almost entirely made of desire.
A complete treasure would naturally feel suffocated and despairing when its desire was continuously blocked. They wished to escape the tower.
Yet it felt happy in the current situation? How could that be possible? It was impossible.
My thoughts reached that point, and I froze.
Happiness meant satisfaction. And I too had occasionally watched Blood Axe look satisfied.
Thinking back, when it first received a body, it had been filled with thoughts of running wild. If I had not stopped it in time, it would have tried to escape alongside the other treasures.
So I put a great deal of effort into educating it. I constantly squeezed it to firmly carve warnings into that stupid head.
Perhaps because of my devotion, it gradually began growing quieter at some point. Until now, I had thought that was simply the result of my education.
But when I thought about it, the time Blood Axe began settling down roughly matched the decline in incidents throughout the tower.
Even so, I had not become suspicious because it continued trying to run wild. I believed incidents did not occur because I was stopping it.
But what if it had been deliberately leading me? What if something had been taking root within its body? What if that was why it had become satisfied with the current situation?
Then what exactly was the thing beside my body now?
The other treasures seemed to feel something similar, and silence fell over us. We looked at one another. Danger had already settled at our sides.
During the little time we had left, we organized several plans. First, we would investigate our companions. A month later, we intended to gather again and exchange our opinions.
As the dream scattered, I lifted my heavy eyelids. Slowly, I rose from the incredibly soft bed.
Warm sunlight from the window wrapped around my body. Normally, I would have savored it to fulfill my desire, but I could not now.
A red-haired puppet was staring at me, half its face hidden behind the bed.
“Slaughter!” [Awake!]
It drew a smile with its eyes. Irritation surged through me, and I reached out to squeeze that tiny head.
But I could not help pausing.
For some reason, an ominous feeling came from the eyes staring at me. It felt as though it was no longer the being I had known before.
As I saw myself reflected in its glass-like eyes, I felt my body stiffen.
But its eyes soon grew cloudy again, as if its previous expression had only been an illusion. It looked at me and waved one finger.
“Slaughter... Slaughter!” [Until now, I only ever got beaten up... But not anymore!]
It pulled a helmet from its clothes. It was a covering made of remarkably thick magic.
“Slaughter, slaughter. Slaughter! Slaughter!” [Got it from humans. Nobody can break through it. I am invincible! I will repay my past humiliation!]
It put on the helmet and charged at me. Red magical power wrapped around its body as it shot forward like the wind. As it had several times before, it seemed intent on ramming into my stomach.
I let out a quiet sigh and sent out the wraiths. They blocked its path and began slowing it down. Before long, it had no choice but to stop.
That was only natural, given the difference in the power we possessed. Even so, it looked utterly confident despite its charge being stopped.
It was surely convinced that the helmet it wore would completely protect its head.
That thought was not wrong. My power had limits too. But that did not mean I had no way to touch it.
The reason I had always squeezed only its head was because I enjoyed its screams. The sound of that empty skull ringing was beautiful.
But now it had tightly wrapped up that head. I had no choice but to take the next best option.
No matter how thick the helmet was, it could not cover every part of its body. I reached out, grasped its thin neck beneath the helmet, and squeezed.
“Idiot. What exactly do you keep in that head of yours?”
I tightened my grip with far more force than I had used when squeezing its head before. Its face gradually grew pale.
“Slaughter... Slaughter, slaughter-slaughter-slaughter!” [Cannot, cannot breathe. Hieeek, I am dying, really dying. My head is going blank!]
Regardless of its screams, I continued squeezing it. Before long, its eyes rolled back.
I examined its limp body. It had clearly fainted after becoming unable to continue breathing through its body.
I threw it onto the bed and looked down at my hand. My fingertips were trembling slightly.
I had acted bold while dealing with it, but even that performance could not hide the horror blooming within my body.
What exactly did this thing hold within itself? Looking at it like this, it was still an incredibly stupid thing.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at it.
When the other treasures had escaped, I had stopped it. I believed remaining still was best. I had judged that, if we did so, the storehouse keeper would not dare touch us.
But now, I realized that might not have been the answer.
Perhaps what the storehouse keeper wanted was for us not to move.
Perhaps it wanted us to believe we were safe, then leisurely hunt us down one by one.
So from now on, I had to find out how it was hunting us. There were enough clues. All I had to do was accept a little risk.
What exactly had it planned?
I could only swallow hard at the ominous feeling filling my chest.
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