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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Lord Fourth
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“….”
“….”
Ophelia didn’t say a word on our way back from the treasure vault.
She walked stiffly, one hand swinging normally while the other, the one with the ring, hung limply at her side. She looked like a malfunctioning robot.
She kept holding the ring up to the light, tapping it, and then gasping whenever our eyes met. I tried to ignore it, but it was difficult, seeing her so flustered.
“Ahem.”
I had a hunch why she was acting like this. The ring on her ring finger. It could be easily misinterpreted.
“….”
Like… a wedding ring. I hadn’t intended it that way, but Ophelia seemed to have interpreted it as such.
“Ophelia?”
“Y-yes? What is it?”
Her drawn-out response confirmed my suspicions. And she flinched and looked down the moment our eyes met.
“….”
I had simply given her a nice artifact, but it had taken on a different meaning. Even Alberich had misunderstood. But I couldn’t just tell her that it was meaningless and that she should wear it on her pinky finger.
She would kill me. Or she would bash her head against the wall in embarrassment.
Knowing Ophelia, both were possibilities.
“Are you hungry?”
“N-no, I’m fine. I’m not… particularly hungry…”
“…Then…”
“No, wait. You have… things to do, right? Finish those first…”
Ophelia quickly brushed past me and ran towards our room. I sighed, watching her go.
“….”
I’d deal with that later. Alberich had told me something before we left the vault. I turned and headed towards the conference hall. Someone was waiting for me in one of the annex rooms.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
“Things happened.”
Azar de Albrecht, the Golden Lion, sat in a chair, sipping tea.
He had a new shield, a black buckler strapped to his arm, probably a replacement for the one I had broken. According to Alberich, Azar had arrived late and watched the spar.
“Have you finished your business in Lavre?”
“Mostly.”
Azar set down his teacup and offered me a seat. I sat down reluctantly.
We weren’t exactly on friendly terms. We had tried to kill each other just a few months ago. But he was an essential member of the front lines, along with Alberich. I had to recruit him for the final battle against the Demon King.
“When are you planning to go to the Demon King’s castle?”
“Not anytime soon. It would be suicide.”
“That’s true. It’s too early.”
Azar chuckled dryly.
“The Demon King…”
I muttered, leaning back in my chair. The hero. The Demon King. Such unrealistic concepts, yet so close. I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Are you tired?”
“Not really. And even if I was, I wouldn’t want your sympathy.”
I took the tea Azar offered and sipped it. The cheap green tea bags from Earth tasted better. Azar watched me finish my tea, then dismissed his subordinates with a wave of his hand. We were finally alone.
“I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I met a commander of the Demon King’s army. A few days ago.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He came to watch your spar with the Sword Saint.”
Clang. I slammed my teacup on the table. A commander of the Demon King’s army. There were five of them in the game.
Geldmere, the One-Eyed Knight.
Elgore, the Black Ogre.
Deravillis, the Archduke of Hell.
Vermina, the Plague Lord.
Idmien, the Chimera Mage.
The commander usually in charge of reconnaissance was…
“Idmien, the Chimera Mage.”
“As expected.”
Geldmere and Elgore were the strongest, and Deravillis and Vermina had the largest forces, but Idmien was the most troublesome.
He wasn’t particularly strong, and his forces weren’t large, but he used his chimeras to exert influence across the continent.
He was a constant thorn in the hero’s side throughout the game, and many players had uploaded videos of themselves killing him in creative ways.
“What did he say?”
“He knows you’re a transmigrator.”
“….”
“He seems to have… a method of determining that.”
“Did he tell you directly?”
“Yes.”
Azar knew I was a transmigrator, so he could easily dismiss Idmien’s words. But…
“He’s trying to sow discord. Every Mark bearer on this continent has some connection to the transmigrators, whether they know it or not.”
“That’s true.”
“They might be hostile, but they’re unlikely to be friendly. The Sword Saint, for example, lost several of his knights to a group believed to be transmigrators a few years ago.”
That was news to me. I frowned, and Azar shrugged.
“You didn’t know? He used to hunt down transmigrators. He killed more than fifteen of them, I believe. I met him during that time.”
“…I see.”
“He seems to have let go of his resentment now, but… who knows how he’ll react if he finds out you’re a transmigrator.”
Alberich’s personality seemed to be the same as in the game. Kind and considerate. But if he still harbored resentment towards transmigrators… Idmien’s words could have a devastating effect.
Should I distance myself from him? But he was an essential companion.
“….”
How had Idmien discovered that I was a transmigrator? Did he have chimeras nearby? Or did he know the original owner of this body? I felt a headache coming on.
“Damn it.”
Information about transmigrators… it was a blind spot for me, despite my knowledge of this world. My mind was in turmoil.
Azar continued, “What concerns me more is… the Saintess.”
“Ophelia?”
“Yes.”
“What about her?”
“Why did you approach her?”
“Well…”
“Wasn’t it for the same reason you came to me?”
“….”
Ophelia was the Saintess in the game. A powerful healer. I had endured her terrible personality only because I needed her.
Even now, though my feelings had changed, I couldn’t deny that I had approached her with ulterior motives. Azar, seeing my expression, smiled wryly.
“What do you think the Saintess’s reaction will be when she finds out that the knight who swore to protect her, who was so devoted to her, was a transmigrator using her for his own gain?”
“….”
“I’m not trying to be sarcastic. I’m just… concerned.”
I glared at him, and Azar simply sipped his tea.
“My advice is to resolve these things quickly.”
“Huh.”
The same words Lyla had said.
The sun had already set when I left Azar’s room. I hadn’t expected our conversation to last so long. Ophelia was probably waiting for me.
I bought some food from a street vendor. Cod dishes were popular in the capital, being a coastal city.
“How much?”
“Thirty copper coins.”
“Do you want a cod… I mean, a knuckle sandwich?”
“F-five copper coins…”
I paid the vendor, who had tried to overcharge me, and returned to our room. Azar’s words were still on my mind.
Revealing that I was a transmigrator was too risky.
The transmigrators’ influence was widespread, and Alberich and Azar weren’t the only ones who had suffered because of them. Perhaps even Titania’s change in personality, her distrust of humans, was due to the transmigrators.
I licked my dry lips. Fortunately, Ophelia hadn’t been harmed by them.
I should tell her the truth. But I was worried. Ophelia relied on me more than I had anticipated. I had approached her with ulterior motives.
How would she react if she found out? I climbed the stairs, lost in thought, and…
“Hee hee…”
…saw Ophelia giggling, looking at the ring I had given her, examining it from every angle in the candlelight, her small feet dangling off the edge of the bed.
I stared at her for a moment, then quietly went back downstairs.
I coughed loudly and stomped my feet as I climbed back up, making sure she heard me.
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Hi Lord Fourth here!
I’m still new to translating as this is my second novel to pick up, so if you find some mistakes or inconsistencies let me know about it on the dedicated channel on discord.
I think Ophelia will take the news well