Chapter 316 Testimony
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 316
Chapter Title: Testimony
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"There was a battle due to a small misunderstanding, but it’s fine now. We resolved it through conversation. Ah! There was no sexual exchange."
Dietrich, despite being in his underwear, wasn’t flustered and calmed the people down.
However, the elf captain didn’t ease his suspicion.
"Dietrich, what was the content of the conversation that you even went inside the barrier in the first place?"
"That is..."
The moment Dietrich hesitated…
Drip. Drip.
The sky darkened, and raindrops began to fall one by one.
The people simultaneously raised their heads.
A dark cloud that had come at some point was covering the moon.
"Ahem. I’ll hear about it later. The mercenary group’s dismissed, and the onlookers should also go inside now."
The elf captain looked around, spoke, and turned around.
The people scattered while murmuring.
The adjutant Dina came running.
"Leader-nim!"
"Dina."
"A-Are you alright?! No. Please hurry back to your lodgings!"
Dina glared at Jeong Yoo-shin's group and shouted at Dietrich.
"I’m fine. I’ll have a brief conversation with these people first before returning."
"N-No!"
Dina shouted with a slightly red face.
"Dina, this is an order I’m giving you as the leader."
At the solemn tone, Dina immediately bowed her head.
"...I understand. At least tell me where you’re going…"
Third Brother then interjected.
"Dalmong's Inn."
"Where’s that?"
"The most flashy inn in the Southern District."
Dina immediately nodded.
"Ah... There."
She knew where it was. Because she saw it while marching down the street.
She didn't know how the inside looked. But based on the outside, it didn't seem lacking compared to the decent high-class inns of the central area.
Considering that most high-class inns were owned by giant merchant guilds, she soon realized that the financial power of these barbarians was unusual.
"Dina, don’t worry too much. They don’t seem like bad people. Besides, I was the one who drew my sword first."
“B-But…"
Dina examined the faces of the barbarians.
Every single one of them was an unusual figure.
The black-haired woman's chest especially caught her eye.
Contrary to her sharp impression, she boasted a feminine and sensual body.
The woman herself didn’t seem to realize her own charm.
When the black-haired woman, noticing Dina's gaze, crossed her arms, her large breasts crumpled like pudding and rose up.
"What? You got something to say?"
"N-No."
At the black-haired woman's question, Dina felt a strange sense of defeat and turned her head away.
The mystic guy turned around first.
"Somehow, the wind has been quite unusual since yesterday. Let's go to the inn quickly."
The rest of the Skars also moved their feet.
Dina returned to her lodgings, unable to hide her worried expression.
Jeong Yoo-shin walked slowly while getting hit by the raindrops.
'I gained a lot.'
He got quite a lot of inspiration while watching the battle.
Dietrich's Aura Blade imprint.
Of course, he already had an Aura Blade-type imprint within his Sacred Weapon, but he had never thought of a form that infused it into an actual sword.
If he did it well, couldn't he also infuse aura into his sword?
And the wolf Skar's martial arts…
He especially liked the ground-shaking stomp.
"The technique the third used a moment ago, wasn't it like the Heavenly Demon's Reigning Steps?"
At Jeong Yoo-shin's muttering, the expressions of TS Skar and the mystic guy walking next to him went blank.
""What...?""
"It is, isn't it? The steps that make all demons submit. The Heavenly Demons' Reigning Steps."
TS Skar slightly turned her head and glanced at the wolf beast-person and Dietrich following from behind.
The two seemed to not have heard Jeong Yoo-shin's words as they were quietly conversing.
"Heavenly Demons' Reigning Steps. It has a good feel to it."
TS Skar said with a smile.
On the other hand…
"Heavenly Demons' Reigning Steps. Heavenly Demons' Reigning Steps. Mamma's Reigning Steps*? Kuhuhu."
The mystic guy spat out an embarrassing technique name and grinned.
Slaaap!!!
TS Skar smacked the mystic's back.
"Big-breasts, why?"
"Don't twist the words strangely."
At TS Skar's nagging, the mystic guy had a slightly guilty expression for a moment, but soon grumbled.
"I get it, so just hit me once. Why do you hit with your hand and then hit again with your chest?"
The two bickering again.
Jeong Yoo-shin turned his head and looked at the wolf guy and Dietrich following a little distance behind them.
Had Dietrich's fate really changed?
He didn't know.
'I'll know if I talk to him.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A moment later.
Jeong Yoo-shin's group returned to the inn with Dietrich and took a seat at a table.
Swaaaaaaash.
The rain that had been falling lightly outside gradually grew stronger.
Karin and Cian, who had finished their requests and were resting at the inn, brought warm tea and put it down on the table.
Dietrich changed into Jeong Yoo-shin's clothes and sat with the other ‘Skars’.
The mystic opened his mouth first.
"Shall we talk now? That red orb, what's the reason why you're interested in the Warpstone?"
Warpstone?
Jeong Yoo-shin tilted his head.
A name that the rat beast-persons who liked to repeat the same words twice would like**.
"What's with Warpstone all of a sudden?"
At Jeong Yoo-shin's question, the mystic guy shrugged.
"It's not an official name. But it's a name the Mage Tower old men came up with in private. Isn't it a stone that twists space and opens a path to another world?"
"The name’s a bit so-so."
When the wolf Skar waved his hand, Jeong Yoo-shin and the mystic guy closed their mouths.
Only then did Dietrich slowly continue his story.
"On my last request, I patrolled the border adjacent to the Empire. Since it was near the border, I heard a few rumors from the Empire. That the towns and cities of the Empire were burning. I didn't believe it at first, but after hearing the news that the kin moved and harmed the Dwarf Kingdom, I went to see the atrocity."
Dietrich stopped talking for a moment, caught his breath, and then continued his story.
"How should I explain it? It was terrible. But contrary to that, I may have been fascinated by that overwhelming power. If I could obtain that much power, I thought it wouldn't be such a bad choice to enter another world."
"..."
A silence lingered for a moment, and Cian's eyes became fierce.
"Why do you desire that much power? Aren't you the famous White Night Mercenary Group in the Eastern Alliance?"
"Saint Ezdras gathered the evil and sealed it, but the world is still rife with war, discord, and monster uprisings. It’s still a world where evil hasn’t disappeared yet. Seeing that, I..."
Dietrich agonized for a long time and then opened his mouth with a heavy expression.
"I felt helpless. Overwhelming power. If I could just become a god, or at least obtain power close to a god, I think I could end all tragedies."
"..."
Silence descended the inn once again.
Dietrich gave them a bitter smile, took out the fragment of the red orb from his pocket, and put it down on the table.
The mystic frowned.
"This bastard… He’s quite a dangerous friend."
"So I want to ask. Skar-ssi, I heard that you went to another world, how was it?"
Dietrich asked, his eyes shining sharply.
Jeong Yoo-shin looked around. The other Skars were also looking at him with curious faces.
'Should I tell him this?'
Jeong Yoo-shin glanced at Cian. The latter was sitting with her back straight while glaring at Dietrich.
Her resolute and dignified aura of a female knight was being sharply emitted for the first time in a while.
Jeong Yoo-shin agonized for a moment and then opened his mouth.
"It's as you say. I’ve experienced entering another world because of the Warpstone."
"...!"
"H-How was it?"
The mystic frowned.
"How was it? It must have been fucking bullshit. There are no sane ones among the Outer Gods."
Jeong Yoo-shin nodded.
"Second Brother’s right. Since I entered a 'sex-or-no-escape' room."
Jeong Yoo-shin then spat out a bomb. The mystic's eye widened like saucers.
"What?! A sex... or no escape... room?"
"I-I'm sorry. My knowledge about other worlds is still lacking, so I couldn't understand. Um... What does 'sex-or-no-escape' room mean?"
Dietrich stuttered and asked back.
Jeong Yoo-shin closed his eyes and made a grave expression.
"Ah. A 'sex-or-no-escape' room. I was trapped in a room where you can't get out unless you have sex."
"..."
A different, awkward silence descended the table.
Dietrich's lips convulsed.
The other Skars also dropped their jaws.
"This is crazy. Who did you go in with?"
"I can't tell you that."
Cian's face ripened like a tomato. Her dignified aura from earlier instantly disappeared, and embarrassment bloomed instead.
She gently bit her red lips.
It was embarrassing, but it was true.
'How could I forget?'
She wore a cow-print bikini.
Leaning her back against Skar's chest back then, she spread her thighs wide, vividly revealing a part that was embarrassing to even mention, and introduced herself.
It was also the moment her sexual preferences were shattered to pieces by Skar.
"B-But it was supposed to be about power...? The mighty power that approached a god’s...!”
Flustered by Jeong Yoo-shin's testimony, Dietrich's gaze wandered as he muttered to himself.
Jeong Yoo-shin looked at the man with a meaningful smile.
"Do you want to become a god and make a 'sex-or-no-escape' room here? It would help contribute to the birth rate."
"P-Please give me a moment to think."
When Dietrich fell silent, the mystic guy opened his mouth with a bitter face.
"The youngest got off easy. If you're unlucky, you could be trapped at the bottom of another world, suffering terrible torture and never being able to die for the rest of your life."
At that time…
The wolf beast-person, who had been quiet, opened his mouth.
"Dietrich."
"What is it?"
"Don't you need someone to share your heart with?"
"..."
"I understand your heart. It's not a problem to pursue an ideal. But if that path’s dotted with the blood and sacrifice of the people by your side, you have to think again."
Dietrich's face sank gloomily.
"Most people only see my back."
Veins popped out of the mystic guy's forehead.
"You're full of shit. They all just see your handsome face! You well-fed friend, I pray you get trapped in a 'sex-or-no-escape' room with a man."
At the mystic's curse, Dietrich's face changed profoundly.
"Ah... Yes."
"Or you get a Dwarf's Butt Hair Lover imprint."
"..."
Dietrich stood up with a pale face.
"I-I’ll be returning now."
The mystic raised his finger and pointed at the table.
"Where are you running to? Sit down."
"..."
Dietrich hesitated while in an awkward posture.
At that time, the middle-aged Skar stepped forward.
"Second Brother, let him go."
The mystic immediately bowed his head.
"Yes."
The middle-aged Skar raised his hand and pointed at Jeong Yoo-shin.
"If you ever need someone to open your heart to, find the youngest. He’s a trustworthy person. And if there’s a valid reason, he’s also a person who’ll fight alongside you."
"Skar-ssi...?"
Doubt lingered in Dietrich's eyes as he looked at Jeong Yoo-shin.
"The youngest has already conquered half the world. It might not take long until he reaches the peak."
The middle-aged Skar answered in a rare voice filled with laughter.
Dietrich bowed his head.
"...I’ll take that to heart."
The mystic guy immediately changed his expression and grinned.
"Right. Come to think of it, if our youngest does well, he might be able to bring love and peace to the world. The saying 'make love, not war' will really come true then, right?"
TS Skar made a blank face and smacked the mystic's back.
Slaaap!!!
"Stop it. You're completely possessed by a lewd demon."
"It's not a lie, though."
The two bickering again.
Dietrich bowed at the waist.
"I’ll be going now."
The middle-aged Skar waved his hand calmly.
"Go comfortably."
At that moment…
Dietrich's expression hardened.
"...!"
A chilling cold grazed his neck.
Dietrich quickly raised his head.
But the middle-aged Skar's expression was unchanged.
Dietrich immediately realized it.
'A silent warning!'
Meaning if he crossed the line or got caught doing anything funny, the man would just cut his neck.
He knew from experience…
This middle-aged man in front of his eyes would really do it.
"I’ll be careful."
Dietrich gave a polite farewell to the 'Skars' and left the inn.
TS Skar stretched.
"Ugh. But that guy, do you think he changed his mind?"
The middle-aged Skar stroked his chin.
"I don't think a person changes that easily. We’ll have to watch him for now."
The 'Skars'' gazes were fixed on the wolf beast-person.
The wolf beast-person Skar scratched his head.
"I also agree with First Brother's words. I’ll have to watch him a little more."
The mystic guy waved his hand with a tired expression.
"My body feels sluggish because it's raining. Let's just go to sleep. By the way, you two, when are you planning to enter the labyrinth?"
"We plan to stay for about 3 days and then go in."
The wolf beast-person replied.
"Yeah? What about party members?"
"Come to think of it, I don't think we'll need them."
"Do as you please."
Soon, the lights of the inn, where the sound of conversation had been echoing, went out, and it became quiet.
And…
3 days passed, and the date for the labyrinth foray approached.
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T/N - Okay, finally going into the labyrinth again. I hope the MC gets a good imprint this time as well. Danse Macabre’s good, but he needs something with a little more oomph to push him to superhuman status.
Also, I still don’t like Dietrich. Reminds me too much of Griffith. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author took inspiration for Berserk. With his current mindset, I can see what went wrong with the Dietrich in wolf Skar’s world.
*A pun that basically takes "Cheon-ma" (천마), meaning “Heavenly Demon”, and replacing it with "Mamma" (맘마), which is Korean baby talk for "food" or "mealtime” similar to English’s “num-nums”.
**If I’m not mistaken, this is a reference to the Skaven of the Warhammer Fantasy universe.