WeTried Translations
Translator: Goku
Editor: Sty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The War Hero in the NTR Game Wants to Die ◈
Chapter 016
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Fading Flowers (4)
Only after some time had passed did the woman call someone to release me.
The chains binding my wrists were removed, and pushing open the door behind me, I found myself inside a small church.
For a place I had been kidnapped to, it was surprisingly serene, almost anticlimactic.
Light squeezed through the stained glass, stretching long across the floor, and the scent of incense lingered.
It had been a long time since I'd come to a church.
When I was young, the family head used to bring the whole family every Sunday... but after my mother died, I never went again.
The woman had the priests bring out drinks and food.
Everything was so natural, as if the fact that I had just died multiple times had receded to the back of my mind.
In front of her, as she sipped her tea, I merely fiddled with my cup.
Even though I was thirsty, I didn't want to drink.
"I heard you wanted to become an adventurer. Is that still the case?"
"Yes."
"Unfortunately for you, but you'll have to go to the academy."
I knew she was eccentric, but facing her directly, annoyance welled up.
" 'Why did you ask, you crazy bitch?' seems a little irreverent, doesn't it?"
"...Can you hear everything?"
"Just the swearing. Don't make such a serious face. I don't care much for what others say."
Was there such a setting?
I couldn't quite remember.
Perhaps it was because the person before me had one particular trait that was too impressive.
The woman stared intently at me, yet continued speaking as if what had just happened was nothing.
"Anyway, I've been waiting for a person of good lineage, great ability, and even faithful, like yourself, for a very long time."
Come to think of it, since I opened my eyes in this world, this eccentric person was the first one I'd met who offered such embarrassing praise.
I had always been treated like a worm, less than human, wherever I went, so I thought it would be the same this time, but I was mistaken.
"The Imperial Academy, you see, is a place where all sorts of beings from across the continent gather. Without distinguishing between human or not, all manner of things live mixed together there."
The sound of her setting down the teacup echoed with unusual clarity.
"But these days, it's said that those who worship strange things are increasing within it. So, I would like you to go there and become my eyes and ears. It shouldn't be a difficult task."
"What will you do if I refuse?"
"I'll persuade you."
"...Pardon?"
I had expected to hear things like being burned to death if I refused, or gently cut down with a sword, but an unexpected answer came.
"Somehow, I'll make sure you can possess a devout heart like mine."
The owner of the church said so, smiling faintly.
"I am very busy, but for a heaven-sent talent like you, I can make any amount of time."
A heaven-sent talent.
It felt as if I had wanted to hear words like these.
"I heard you've lived a life denied by your family until now. At least as long as you're with me, the church and I will not deny you."
Having only ever heard things like 'the Gryan family's waste product' or 'a worm despite your lineage,' hearing these words felt incredibly awkward.
"Riehen."
"Yes."
"I desire the absolute and complete extermination of all demi-humans and heretics. Though it carries a slight personal grudge, I believe God also wishes for this. And you, who encountered vile and barbaric demi-humans on the front lines, I believe will surely join my great cause."
I never thought I'd hear this line spoken aloud, a line that just hearing it would make one's mustache grow and right arm shoot up at a 45-degree angle.
As I just heard, the way to follow the Pope's route and see an ending is simple.
At the very least, you just need to exterminate all the demi-humans around the Empire.
That's why, if you had even a slight connection with a demi-human heroine... you would inevitably have to turn them into an enemy.
At this point, it didn't matter.
I just... wanted to meet Arin now.
That child who had left me, no, that's not right.
I wanted to hold onto the childhood friend who had left 'Riehen'.
And the powerful figure before me would surely be a great help in holding onto that child.
"Will you refuse?"
"No."
"A wise decision!"
The woman pushed off the table and stood up.
As if her business was concluded.
"You can hear the details from the Count who will arrive shortly."
Then, the Pope walked out of the church.
What should I say?
She was an utterly unpredictable person.
Familiar footsteps filled the space where the Pope had exited.
This time, he was wearing priestly robes instead of shabby casual clothes.
He was always so disheveled and drunk that I never would have thought him a priest.
"I am sorry about that. Her Holiness ordered me to bring you here like this, you see."
Despite uttering an apology, his expression was too unconcerned.
"Were you also caught like this?"
From now on, I intended to call him Count, not Captain.
Because he wasn't someone who would find a way to overcome things if I trusted and followed him, but rather someone who sold me out to one of the few people who affirmed me after I landed here.
"...Well, something similar. She's a person who just does whatever she wants, one way or another."
Hearing the Count's answer, I was about to rebuke him but had nothing to say, so I just fiddled with my cup.
Because, as a subordinate, I'd have to follow orders if told to jump.
"Um, I'm the eldest son of the Gryan family, you know. How were you planning to handle the repercussions?"
"Don't joke. The family head abandoned you to me."
"Anyway, you'll have to grant me one favor."
Ultimately, I had crawled all the way to the capital to find 'Riehen's' childhood friend.
I thought I could somehow find her by pretending to be an adventurer and stirring up the bottom rung... but this might actually be better.
If 'Riehen' saw that slut, who abandoned him for another man just to be an adventurer, rolling around with another man right in front of him, he'd probably try to stab his own eyes out.
Regrettably, not the other person's, but his own eyes.
He's such a pathetic, useless guy that he wouldn't even be able to try to kill the woman.
"...A favor?"
"Please find me a woman. She's an adventurer."
"You came all the way to the capital for a woman... and said you'd even become an adventurer?"
"Yes."
"...Well, tell me about it first. Her name?"
"Arin."
The Count laughed, as if dumbfounded.
"Do you know how many Arins there are in the capital?"
"She's from the village around the Gryan mansion, has slightly pinkish hair, and is big-breasted and beautiful. She might even be working as a prostitute, so you could check that area too."
"...With that much information, I suppose I can try to find her somehow."
Having finished speaking, the Count put one of the snacks still remaining on the table into his mouth.
"By the way... she's not just beautiful because she's your woman, is she?"
"She'll be beautiful even objectively speaking."
This time, the Count pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to me.
"Anyway, you'll be working here from now on. Well, the work itself might not be much, but Her Holiness's assignment isn't just that, I'm sure. If the priests within the academy don't cooperate, you can just mention Her Holiness's name."
I took the parchment and unfolded it.
The Count had clearly said he would look into a lecturer position for me, but the appointment letter in my hand stated 'Professor'.
"Wasn't it supposed to be a lecturer?"
"It wasn't someone like me, but Her Holiness herself who put you in. There's no way it would end with something like a lecturer."
The reason the Imperial Academy is called an Academy is simple.
Even if it's a game, if you call it the Imperial University, the nuance becomes a little too grim, should I say.
Anyway, since the Gryan family's waste product, renowned as a scoundrel, became a professor at the Imperial Academy overnight, the people within the academy naturally whispered.
Thinking that the Gryan family head must have pulled some strings again.
Though in reality, that old man wouldn't even care about me.
Perhaps a normal noble family might do such a thing, but at least the Gryan family doesn't pull those kinds of stunts.
Because it's a place devoid of human affection.
Sticking the appointment letter into my pocket, I headed towards the academy.
Within the tall spires and gray walls, humans and non-humans mingled, coming and going.
Honestly, I don't have many good memories of the academy.
At least it wasn't the Gryan family, so I could breathe, but that was all it was.
To those without talent, it is a relatively merciless place, no matter how noble their status.
Anyway, while walking, I caught a suitable student, received directions, and arrived at the professors' building.
I did hear that I should visit the dean first... but do I really need to seek him out proactively?
Especially since I'm a parachute dropped in by someone impossibly high-ranking.
Young students passing through the hallway glanced at me.
It seemed to be because I was a new face, and one wearing the Gryan family crest at that.
Among the demi-humans, some discreetly made way for me, as if they had heard rumors about me.
Whispering things like 'Sword Demon' and 'Mass Murderer'.
It had been a long time since I looked into eyes filled with fear.
Anyway, the research lab I was assigned was wider than I expected, and emptier than I expected.
One dusty desk, two clean desks, a bookshelf crammed with Bibles and unknown books, and a wide training ground visible through the window.
In the training ground, young ones were clashing wooden swords.
Things, whether human or not, were intertwined, laughing loudly and brandishing swords.
Leaning against the windowsill, I took out a cigarette from my pocket and lit it.
"Would you be the professor who arrived today? I'm dispatched from the guild..."
I turned around, and dropped the cigarette I had clutched in my mouth.
"...Riehen? Is that you?"
I didn't even need to tell the Count.
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