WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈

Chapter 22: Rules Manual Writing Practice (2)

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No matter how many times I visited the Rites Department Preservation Archive, I still found it difficult to navigate. All the bookshelves looked much the same.

After wandering for a while, I found the shelf that led to the Anomaly Records Office. I quietly composed myself and waited for a few breaths before a faint sound reached me.

Calling it something I had “heard” was not quite right. The intent to move certain books was clearly conveyed, but I could not make out any pitch or tone of voice.

‘Move the Analects on the second shelf from the top forward. Move the Zhuangzi on the third shelf from the bottom back...’

Once I moved the five books as instructed, the shelf slowly slid aside. The cool, damp air unique to underground spaces washed over me.

At least it would be pleasant to work here in summer.

The farther down the stairs I went, the clearer the sound became. What had seemed like a vague hum before the shelf was actually the sound of brushes skimming across pages.

Scratch, scratch, scratch─

Just as when I had first descended into the Anomaly Records Office, Fine Brushes moved in perfect order under the will of some terrifying master whose identity I did not know.

Even a sight this overwhelming lost some of its weight when seen every day.

Still, just in case, I bowed and offered a small greeting.

There was no way to know whether someone using remote object manipulation was watching me.

But surely it was better for a master with such immense internal energy and martial skill to think, “That youngster is very polite,” than, “That brat never greets their seniors when passing by, do they?”

The room of remote object manipulation transcription directly at the bottom of the stairs, which everyone called the records room, connected to four more passageways.

There was also another staircase leading down.

There was one stairway leading up, one leading down, and four passageways opening from the centers of the records room’s walls. Six paths in all.

Jade Scale stayed at the end of the north-facing passageway.

I lightly knocked on the black door.

Thump.

A rather heavy sound echoed through the corridor. I had thought the lacquered wooden door only looked black because it was in the dark.

It seemed to be made entirely of black metal.

‘That isn't Black Iron, is it?’

Surely they had not poured such precious Black Iron into making a door. Probably.

“Are you in there?”

“Ah. The newcomer? Come in.”

The black metal door swung wide open without even the scrape of hinges.

A fishy scent wafted out. Any martial artist would recognize that smell, which brought metal to mind.

It was the smell of blood.

I peered through the doorway. Everything around me was black, and only a dim lantern burned on the table at the center of the room, where Jade Scale sat.

It was deeply uncomfortable, but I could not refuse to enter. After taking a breath, I stepped across the threshold.

“Ah, do not move your feet carelessly until the door closes. It is easy to fall before your eyes adjust to the dark.”

The moment my body fully crossed the threshold, the door slowly began to close.

There was no sound this time either, but I knew the door was closing without looking back.

I could see the light entering from behind me gradually shrinking. When every trace of backlight vanished and even the shadows sank into darkness, Jade Scale spoke again.

“Now, walk over slowly. If your eyes have not adjusted to the darkness yet, you may wait a little longer before moving.”

“Mm.”

I looked around. It was so dark that I could only make out the outlines of objects, but...

The scent of blood from the books let me grasp the room’s layout to some extent. Judging the furniture’s positions by the strength of the scent, I carefully moved forward.

“Oh? You adapted quite quickly. Have you mastered an eye technique?”

“No. I can use more than just my eyes.”

Jade Scale fell silent for a moment before letting out a small sound of realization.

“I see. I read yesterday’s report. It said you had quite a keen sense of smell.”

Jade Scale tapped the desk where she sat. It was broad enough that even with two people seated across from one another, there was still plenty of space between them.

Once I sat down, I naturally found myself facing Jade Scale. It reminded me of a scene from a detective drama.

A suspect and a detective facing each other in a dark room, separated by a single dim light. The sort of scene found in an interrogation room...

‘She isn't about to interrogate me, is she?’

Pushing the ominous thought far from my mind, I spoke.

“Records Officer Jade, why is the smell of blood so strong here?”

It was an extremely suspicious place. The kind of place that would invite accusations of sorcery a hundred times over. How could there be a room so thick with the smell of blood beneath the Martial Alliance, which claimed to uphold the banner of the orthodox sects?

If someone from the Black Lotus Society saw it, they would likely shout that those rotten, hypocritical bastards from the orthodox sects were preparing some wicked grand art.

“Mm, there is a simple reason. Rulebooks are made with blood.”

“...Ah. Do you mean Records Officers shed a great deal of blood while acquiring accurate information?”

“No. I mean blood is used when rulebooks are bound.”

Why?

A question arose in my mind. This was the martial world, so I could understand how they obtained so much blood.

If things went sour, they could probably accept donations from people with lifetime lodging rights in the Martial Alliance’s underground prison.

What truly puzzled me was why they used blood in the first place.

Jade Scale’s expression wavered beyond the haze of candlelight. As though she had read my question, she casually offered a single explanation.

“For the same reason as talismans.”

“Talismans?”

The talisman I had signed when I became a Records Officer. It was a tool that used an Anomaly’s distorted perception to make it mistake the place where the talisman was attached for a person’s vital point.

Come to think of it, that talisman had only been completed once it was signed with a Records Officer’s blood.

“You said you saw a rulebook in Soul-Severing Mountain Villa.”

“Yes.”

“Then have you ever wondered why? Soul-Severing Mountain Villa is a moving Anomaly. How could a rulebook with no legs remain there?”

It was not hard to piece together the circumstances. The seniors at the Anomaly Records Office were all kind enough to offer clues to newcomers.

“Because rulebooks are perceived as people?”

“Correct. Not exactly as people, but they are sometimes sensed as a kind of prey. If they have no prey, they starve to death, so they do not wish to let go of food that has fallen into their hands.”

“They starve to death?”

“The term Heavenly Order exists for a reason. Could there be any other reason the Demonic Path has not spread far and wide? The Orthodox Path and Unorthodox Path have already blended into the framework of our world, but the Demonic Path is different.”

Jade Scale slowly explained the nature of Anomalies.

Because the Demonic Path lay outside the framework of the world, its very existence was rejected by the Heavenly Order. That was why Anomalies could not casually reveal their true forms.

They only lurked in the shadows, swelling their bodies with people’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit while gradually expanding their influence. Then came the moment when an Anomaly revealed its true nature.

“It is when it overlays the present world with the influence of the Demonic Path. In some cases, it manifests concretely, as Soul-Severing Mountain Villa does. More often, though, it ends with little more than an inexplicable chill.”

The Anomaly Records Office simply called the range reached by an Anomaly’s influence as it hunted people a Chaotic World Domain.

It was a space filled with otherness, where an Anomaly could fully unleash its demonic arts. Yet the longer it maintained that domain, the more of its accumulated power was consumed.

The Human Path did not tolerate the Demonic Path.

Yet Anomalies could replenish their diminished lives by devouring people. That was why a Chaotic World Domain was filled with an attractive force that drew in people’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The final step of binding a rulebook was deliberately giving it the scent of a person, so that it would be swept up by that force.

“A Chaotic World Domain... What happens if the Anomaly that opened the domain hides itself again?”

“Usually, people return to reality as they are. People naturally belong to the Human Path, so they are bound to head toward the world more familiar to them. Rulebooks may smell like people, but they do not belong to the Human Path, so they remain buried in the Chaotic World Domain.”

The condition of “usually” caught my attention. She had likely added it because there were exceptions like Soul-Severing Mountain Villa, which constantly maintained its domain and made people disappear.

I nodded. That cleared up everything I had been wondering about. But...

“Ah. The special physician sent me here to learn how to write a rulebook. So, rather than how to fill in the contents, am I supposed to learn bookbinding first?”

From what I had heard yesterday, I had thought I would be learning how to establish rules from recorded information.

“Ah. You were on that side.”

“Pardon?”

Another ominous clue passed through my mind. What did she mean, “that side”? Was there someone else responsible for binding?

“Well, someone as talented as you will probably handle binding as well. There is no harm in hearing about it.”

“Someone as talented as me?”

“I said rulebooks are not perceived as exactly human, did I not? For convenience, I broadly explained it as Anomalies eating people, but objects rich in vital essence, such as spirit creatures, are also nourishing food for them.”

I suddenly recalled how uniform the scent of blood in this room had been. Even blood from different people had different scents.

If I could not detect even the slightest trace of discordance, it meant the blood had all been drawn from one person.

“Since it is not completely human, it is also more likely to remain within a domain rather than being pushed back into the present world.”

From what I had heard before, Jade Scale was someone whose constitution had changed, making her close to a spirit creature after accidentally eating the wrong fish, whether it had been a mermaid or a human-faced fish.

I was someone whose constitution had changed, making me close to an Anomaly after killing one the wrong way.

“...Are you going to draw my blood too?”

“Mm. If we draw too much from someone below First-rate, they will die. Once you reach the late First-rate stage or enter the Peak realm, we will begin drawing blood in earnest.”

Ah, damn.

‘The Martial Alliance isn't some Blood Cult.’

I had never expected to end up selling blood at the Anomaly Records Office.

Footnotes:

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