Chapter 161 – Glasses boy considers it, but…
Translator’s Notes: I was dealing with depression over the past few months and was unable to work properly because of that, so a different translator had to fill in for me for c156-160.
They did a pretty good job, but a handful of things were off due to them not knowing the context of the series, so I figured I’d highlight it here in case anything caused confusion.
In c157, Eil at one point mentions how Lisse would go check the orphanage if she heard the word “Devil Incarnate”. The actual word there is “Taboo Child”. As in, Lisse would realize that the person who beat Zett up is Florentine, so she’d check the rumor out.
Also, near the end of the chapter, Eil asks if it would be okay if he dropped by, but Cherry says that it would be troublesome if they received too many visitors… This exchange is inversed. Cherry is the one who asks him if he wouldn’t be fine with going inside, but Eil replies that it could be troublesome if he got too close.
In c158, the Demon Beast shown is listed as a King Horse… That’s actually how the author wrote the reading for the Demon Beast’s name, but the characters that compose the name are [King]; [Horse]; [Destruction]… Saying stuff like “The queen of the King Horses” sounds horrible, so I’m changing that to Destroyer Horses instead.
In c160, Eil asks Katsumi if he knew that Eil was a boy… Katsumi had already left the scene by that point. What happens here is that Eil asks Tatsunami if Katsumi knew too, and Tatsunami replied by saying that he wasn’t sure, but Katsumi surely noticed that there was something strange about Eil.
That should be it. Onwards with the story now.
—————
“So here’s what happened, Eil.” Old man Tatsunami grinned.
He’s definitely plotting something.
“As far as results go, I lost the bet with Chace.” He said.
The bet he is talking about should be on whether or not Chace would be able to kill the queen of the Destroyer Horses.
Tatsunami promised that he would tell Chace about the Tower of Bryne and would make him a spear if he was able to hunt the queen.
“I’m not a gambler though. I replied without thinking twice about it when Chace talked about hunting the queen.
“It was something said on the spur of the moment… Or rather, I was barely talking to him and just said a ‘yeah yeah, sure’ and left it at that.” Old man Tatsunami said.
I see… “You essentially assumed that Chace was just a child saying nonsense.” I replied.
“Exactly. I mean, when you make a bet you need to decide on what would happen if the other party lost, right? But that wasn’t done.
“If Chace failed and died, he wouldn’t be able to come back here.
“Moreover, even if he did survive, I still wouldn’t gain anything. This bet had nothing going for me.
“To begin with, this isn’t even a Demon Beast that one would make a bet on. There’s no way we’d have left it alone for several years if it could easily be hunted.
“The queen of the Destroyer Horses is a really strong Demon Beast that usually gives a very flash death to anybody that attempts to hunt it.
“I never even imagined that a kid like Chace would have been able to kill it. Especially because he didn’t even have a decent spear, so I didn’t pay any attention to his proposal.” Tatsunami told me.
That makes sense.
I mean, there are plenty of strong people in this city, so… If the queen has still been around even with people like Zett in here, it wouldn’t be strange to assume that a newcomer like Chace have had no chance of hunting her at all.
Though I’m not sure if the really strong people of Krozheit have ever challenged the queen.
After all, if Chace was able to hunt her, then Zett would probably be able to do it too.
“So, because of your half-hearted agreement, you ended up losing the bet.” I commented.
After all, Chace did hunt the queen. I saw her body myself.
“Yeah… Information on the Tower of Bryne aside, I’m the one who is going to supply all the materials and who will do all the work in making the spear for that brat, you know?
“It’s honestly frustrating. I lost a bet that I didn’t intend to take, and I now have to deal with the consequences.” Old man Tatsunami grumbled.
I can certainly understand his frustration.
It would have been fine if this was a proper bet, but it’s hard to not get frustrated when someone that you barely listened to tries forcing you to keep your end of a bargain.
That said, old man Tatsunami seems to be planning on making this spear anyways.
Judging from his tone, he probably intended to start working on the spear right after telling the location of the Tower of Bryne to Chace. Perhaps he’ll even use the queen’s horn as a material for it.
I guess old man Tatsunami is a man of his word. So he’ll keep his promise even if it was made half-heartedly.
“And so, that’s where you come in.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
Ah, here it comes… I have a bad feeling about it.
“Be my pawn on this. Have a match with Chace.
“Then, regardless of you winning or losing, I’ll make you a knife for free. What do you say?” Old Man Tatsunami proposed.
Ah, I knew something troublesome was coming.
… Huh? Hold on.
This isn’t that much of a bad deal actually.
******
I wondered what he was going to get at after he started talking about his relationship with Chace, but essentially… “You want to bet against Chace again and win this time. Is that it?” I asked him.
Old man Tatsunami nodded, “That’s it.
“Though to be honest, winning or losing is secondary. What bothers me is that we didn’t do the bet right and I lost for something that I didn’t agree to.
“This has been on my mind for too long and I just don’t feel right because of it. I don’t think I can make a good spear in my current state.
“So this time, I wanna bet properly. I don’t care about winning or losing, I just wanna compete in a proper bet.
“Basically, I’m annoyed because I lost in something that I barely knew about. This sickens me.”
So, he doesn’t care about winning or losing, he just wants a proper competition?
I can’t say I’m too fond of betting though. Losing can be really frustrating, and winning can lead to other people hating you.
Not to mention other people can trick you in the middle of the bet, so… Well, it is the kind of thing that can make relationships deteriorate fast.
Though well, I guess it’s not as troublesome if you’re in a place where you don’t have strong ties with anybody in particular.
“I’m considering your proposal, but me accepting it or not depends on the contents of the bet.
“For example, if you were to tell me to fight Chace head on, then I would have no chances of winning.” I told old man Tatsunami.
“Of course. Chace did kill the Destroyer Horses’ queen, after all. It would be unreasonable to expect you to win against him in a fight.
“But… That bastard did tell me that you’re a real hunter.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
Chace said that too? That damn fool.
“So, how about a Demon Beast hunting competition? Whoever is faster at hunting the target Demon Beast wins. Isn’t that a good idea?” Old man Tatsunami suggested.
Well, if it’s like that, then I do think I have a chance of winning.
“But I’m getting the knife regardless of me winning or losing, ain’t I? In that case, wouldn’t I be able to simply play poorly and let Chace get an easy win?” I asked.
Old man Tatsunami said that the money I had with me would only be enough for a down payment… I don’t know how much money he actually wants for the knife, but this amount should be enough to buy dozens of reasonable good knives.
So, if he can make the Obsidian Wolf knife for me for free, then this really isn’t a bad deal.
Though he really asks a lot for his services, doesn’t he?
“Ha! I don’t care if you do that! It’s not like I’m any good at gambling in the first place!
“Regardless, the bet itself is the goal! I don’t care about winning or losing!” Old man Tatsunami replied.
He really doesn’t care about winning or losing… He’s okay with me losing on purpose even.
As in, he’s reassuring me that he’ll make the knife for as long as I cooperate with him.
… It’s hard to lose on purpose when he seems that excited about the bet though.
“Also, there’s the thing with Beckenberg.” Old man Tatsunami suddenly said.
Huh? “What about him?” I asked.
“Well, you do have a connection with him, don’t you? So, should I tell you about it?” Old man Tatsunami replied.
For some reason, he seems to have decided that it was okay to talk to me on this matter.
… I might regret not stopping old man Tatsunami from speaking any further though.
Sometimes it’s better to not know too much.
… Because once you do know, it becomes hard to not get involved.
******
“It’s easy to fall in this city.
“A small stumble may make you fall rock bottom.
“Knowing that, Beckenberg came to me even if he didn’t have the money to pay for my services. He wants to stop his fall before it becomes too late.
“Falling is fine if you can recover from it, but you never know who will target you while you’re down.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
The ‘small stumble’ is probably referring to Zett’s robbery of Beckenberg’s mansion.
And judging from his threatening attitude earlier, it seems like the robbery affected Beckenberg quite a bit.
I guess it will take him some time to be able to get back to the culprits and to make back his money.
But right now, Beckenberg is probably focusing on surviving through the current crisis. He should be able to make as much money as he wants once he stabilizes again.
“What did he want with you?” I asked.
“He wants to purchase everything that comes from the queen.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
Oh?
“Basically, he wants to show off. To tell everyone that he still has plenty of money and power.
“And well, I don’t really care about that myself, but it’s convenient to have him handle the distribution too.” Old man Tatsunami crossed his arms before continuing, “He has bought all the Demon Beasts that were delivered to me so far, then he resells the meat, bones and fangs on the market.
“Things don’t necessarily have to be done through him within the city, but it’s hard to rely on anybody else when it comes to importing and exporting goods to the outside.”
Distribution, is it…?
Old lady Adyll said something similar to Lisse yesterday. When she told Lisse to not kill Beckenberg.
“I stayed true to my policy and sent him away though.
“I have been doing this for a long time, and I cannot allow exceptions.
“If I make someone an exception once, then a time will come when they’ll definitely expect an exception again.
“However, it’s true that I cannot ignore Beckenberg’s situation. I don’t know what will happen if someone kicks him down right now.
“There are too many people on his belly and too many on his back. If he falls, he won’t be the only one to get hurt.” Old man Tatsunami said.
On his belly…?
I guess he isn’t talking about the fact that Beckenberg is fat. It’s probably a metaphor.
The people allied with Beckenberg would be under him, and those that have connections with him would also be hurt, as they too are attached to him.
And at the same time, ambitious people would start competing with one another to try taking his place… Old man Tatsunami probably means something like that.
“Well, no matter how things turn out in the end, if Beckenberg falls, many weak people will surely die in the process.
“So, when taking the actual harm that would come out of it into account, I can’t simply ignore him.
“That bastard understood this much, so he came here.
“Him bowing his head and asking for help does mean that he is in quite a bit of danger though.
“So… Well, I have known that bastard for a long time now. I certainly can’t ignore his issues after seeing him go this far.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
I see… It looked like they were fighting, but that was just what it looked like on the surface.
… Human relationships really are way too complicated.
But basically, while they do have a conflict of interests, their final goal is the same. Both Beckenberg and old man Tatsunami want to maintain the survival and stability of this city.
They want to avoid a situation where the weak would die.
Old lady Adyll was thinking about this kind of thing yesterday too, so I guess they all have this goal in common at least.
“I thought about telling Katsumi to handle that bastard, but now that you’re here, there’s another option available.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
Eh? Me? Wait, hold on, I have nothing to do with this.
“You’re acquainted with Beckenberg, so let him in on the bet.
“We can adjust things so as to let him get some nice profits from it. I can’t let him get the horns of the queen, but I can give him everything else. This would surely be for the best.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
Even if he tells me to let Beckenberg in… “I can’t really tell him to participate without knowing all the details of the bet, can I?” I asked.
“Of course. Glad to see you’re motivated.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
… I didn’t agree to it, yet he is already talking as if I had accepted.
Well, this deal doesn’t really hurt me, so I guess I am kinda motivated about it.
The survival of the city has nothing to do with me though. I’m only doing it for my knife, so it would be nice if they could handle this kind of thing on their own.
But well, I should be able to handle Demon Beasts in a hunt. Most Demon Beasts aren’t too tough once I use the Shadow Hunter Warrior gift. A single arrow to the head is usually enough, as it can pierce their skull once they’re weakened.
So, if the targets are Demon Beasts, I have a good chance of winning.
… Wait, hold on.
I don’t have a bow with me right now.
Chapter 161 – Glasses boy considers it, but…
Translator’s Notes: I was dealing with depression over the past few months and was unable to work properly because of that, so a different translator had to fill in for me for c156-160.
They did a pretty good job, but a handful of things were off due to them not knowing the context of the series, so I figured I’d highlight it here in case anything caused confusion.
In c157, Eil at one point mentions how Lisse would go check the orphanage if she heard the word “Devil Incarnate”. The actual word there is “Taboo Child”. As in, Lisse would realize that the person who beat Zett up is Florentine, so she’d check the rumor out.
Also, near the end of the chapter, Eil asks if it would be okay if he dropped by, but Cherry says that it would be troublesome if they received too many visitors… This exchange is inversed. Cherry is the one who asks him if he wouldn’t be fine with going inside, but Eil replies that it could be troublesome if he got too close.
In c158, the Demon Beast shown is listed as a King Horse… That’s actually how the author wrote the reading for the Demon Beast’s name, but the characters that compose the name are [King]; [Horse]; [Destruction]… Saying stuff like “The queen of the King Horses” sounds horrible, so I’m changing that to Destroyer Horses instead.
In c160, Eil asks Katsumi if he knew that Eil was a boy… Katsumi had already left the scene by that point. What happens here is that Eil asks Tatsunami if Katsumi knew too, and Tatsunami replied by saying that he wasn’t sure, but Katsumi surely noticed that there was something strange about Eil.
That should be it. Onwards with the story now.
—————
“So here’s what happened, Eil.” Old man Tatsunami grinned.
He’s definitely plotting something.
“As far as results go, I lost the bet with Chace.” He said.
The bet he is talking about should be on whether or not Chace would be able to kill the queen of the Destroyer Horses.
Tatsunami promised that he would tell Chace about the Tower of Bryne and would make him a spear if he was able to hunt the queen.
“I’m not a gambler though. I replied without thinking twice about it when Chace talked about hunting the queen.
“It was something said on the spur of the moment… Or rather, I was barely talking to him and just said a ‘yeah yeah, sure’ and left it at that.” Old man Tatsunami said.
I see… “You essentially assumed that Chace was just a child saying nonsense.” I replied.
“Exactly. I mean, when you make a bet you need to decide on what would happen if the other party lost, right? But that wasn’t done.
“If Chace failed and died, he wouldn’t be able to come back here.
“Moreover, even if he did survive, I still wouldn’t gain anything. This bet had nothing going for me.
“To begin with, this isn’t even a Demon Beast that one would make a bet on. There’s no way we’d have left it alone for several years if it could easily be hunted.
“The queen of the Destroyer Horses is a really strong Demon Beast that usually gives a very flash death to anybody that attempts to hunt it.
“I never even imagined that a kid like Chace would have been able to kill it. Especially because he didn’t even have a decent spear, so I didn’t pay any attention to his proposal.” Tatsunami told me.
That makes sense.
I mean, there are plenty of strong people in this city, so… If the queen has still been around even with people like Zett in here, it wouldn’t be strange to assume that a newcomer like Chace have had no chance of hunting her at all.
Though I’m not sure if the really strong people of Krozheit have ever challenged the queen.
After all, if Chace was able to hunt her, then Zett would probably be able to do it too.
“So, because of your half-hearted agreement, you ended up losing the bet.” I commented.
After all, Chace did hunt the queen. I saw her body myself.
“Yeah… Information on the Tower of Bryne aside, I’m the one who is going to supply all the materials and who will do all the work in making the spear for that brat, you know?
“It’s honestly frustrating. I lost a bet that I didn’t intend to take, and I now have to deal with the consequences.” Old man Tatsunami grumbled.
I can certainly understand his frustration.
It would have been fine if this was a proper bet, but it’s hard to not get frustrated when someone that you barely listened to tries forcing you to keep your end of a bargain.
That said, old man Tatsunami seems to be planning on making this spear anyways.
Judging from his tone, he probably intended to start working on the spear right after telling the location of the Tower of Bryne to Chace. Perhaps he’ll even use the queen’s horn as a material for it.
I guess old man Tatsunami is a man of his word. So he’ll keep his promise even if it was made half-heartedly.
“And so, that’s where you come in.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
Ah, here it comes… I have a bad feeling about it.
“Be my pawn on this. Have a match with Chace.
“Then, regardless of you winning or losing, I’ll make you a knife for free. What do you say?” Old Man Tatsunami proposed.
Ah, I knew something troublesome was coming.
… Huh? Hold on.
This isn’t that much of a bad deal actually.
******
I wondered what he was going to get at after he started talking about his relationship with Chace, but essentially… “You want to bet against Chace again and win this time. Is that it?” I asked him.
Old man Tatsunami nodded, “That’s it.
“Though to be honest, winning or losing is secondary. What bothers me is that we didn’t do the bet right and I lost for something that I didn’t agree to.
“This has been on my mind for too long and I just don’t feel right because of it. I don’t think I can make a good spear in my current state.
“So this time, I wanna bet properly. I don’t care about winning or losing, I just wanna compete in a proper bet.
“Basically, I’m annoyed because I lost in something that I barely knew about. This sickens me.”
So, he doesn’t care about winning or losing, he just wants a proper competition?
I can’t say I’m too fond of betting though. Losing can be really frustrating, and winning can lead to other people hating you.
Not to mention other people can trick you in the middle of the bet, so… Well, it is the kind of thing that can make relationships deteriorate fast.
Though well, I guess it’s not as troublesome if you’re in a place where you don’t have strong ties with anybody in particular.
“I’m considering your proposal, but me accepting it or not depends on the contents of the bet.
“For example, if you were to tell me to fight Chace head on, then I would have no chances of winning.” I told old man Tatsunami.
“Of course. Chace did kill the Destroyer Horses’ queen, after all. It would be unreasonable to expect you to win against him in a fight.
“But… That bastard did tell me that you’re a real hunter.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
Chace said that too? That damn fool.
“So, how about a Demon Beast hunting competition? Whoever is faster at hunting the target Demon Beast wins. Isn’t that a good idea?” Old man Tatsunami suggested.
Well, if it’s like that, then I do think I have a chance of winning.
“But I’m getting the knife regardless of me winning or losing, ain’t I? In that case, wouldn’t I be able to simply play poorly and let Chace get an easy win?” I asked.
Old man Tatsunami said that the money I had with me would only be enough for a down payment… I don’t know how much money he actually wants for the knife, but this amount should be enough to buy dozens of reasonable good knives.
So, if he can make the Obsidian Wolf knife for me for free, then this really isn’t a bad deal.
Though he really asks a lot for his services, doesn’t he?
“Ha! I don’t care if you do that! It’s not like I’m any good at gambling in the first place!
“Regardless, the bet itself is the goal! I don’t care about winning or losing!” Old man Tatsunami replied.
He really doesn’t care about winning or losing… He’s okay with me losing on purpose even.
As in, he’s reassuring me that he’ll make the knife for as long as I cooperate with him.
… It’s hard to lose on purpose when he seems that excited about the bet though.
“Also, there’s the thing with Beckenberg.” Old man Tatsunami suddenly said.
Huh? “What about him?” I asked.
“Well, you do have a connection with him, don’t you? So, should I tell you about it?” Old man Tatsunami replied.
For some reason, he seems to have decided that it was okay to talk to me on this matter.
… I might regret not stopping old man Tatsunami from speaking any further though.
Sometimes it’s better to not know too much.
… Because once you do know, it becomes hard to not get involved.
******
“It’s easy to fall in this city.
“A small stumble may make you fall rock bottom.
“Knowing that, Beckenberg came to me even if he didn’t have the money to pay for my services. He wants to stop his fall before it becomes too late.
“Falling is fine if you can recover from it, but you never know who will target you while you’re down.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
The ‘small stumble’ is probably referring to Zett’s robbery of Beckenberg’s mansion.
And judging from his threatening attitude earlier, it seems like the robbery affected Beckenberg quite a bit.
I guess it will take him some time to be able to get back to the culprits and to make back his money.
But right now, Beckenberg is probably focusing on surviving through the current crisis. He should be able to make as much money as he wants once he stabilizes again.
“What did he want with you?” I asked.
“He wants to purchase everything that comes from the queen.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
Oh?
“Basically, he wants to show off. To tell everyone that he still has plenty of money and power.
“And well, I don’t really care about that myself, but it’s convenient to have him handle the distribution too.” Old man Tatsunami crossed his arms before continuing, “He has bought all the Demon Beasts that were delivered to me so far, then he resells the meat, bones and fangs on the market.
“Things don’t necessarily have to be done through him within the city, but it’s hard to rely on anybody else when it comes to importing and exporting goods to the outside.”
Distribution, is it…?
Old lady Adyll said something similar to Lisse yesterday. When she told Lisse to not kill Beckenberg.
“I stayed true to my policy and sent him away though.
“I have been doing this for a long time, and I cannot allow exceptions.
“If I make someone an exception once, then a time will come when they’ll definitely expect an exception again.
“However, it’s true that I cannot ignore Beckenberg’s situation. I don’t know what will happen if someone kicks him down right now.
“There are too many people on his belly and too many on his back. If he falls, he won’t be the only one to get hurt.” Old man Tatsunami said.
On his belly…?
I guess he isn’t talking about the fact that Beckenberg is fat. It’s probably a metaphor.
The people allied with Beckenberg would be under him, and those that have connections with him would also be hurt, as they too are attached to him.
And at the same time, ambitious people would start competing with one another to try taking his place… Old man Tatsunami probably means something like that.
“Well, no matter how things turn out in the end, if Beckenberg falls, many weak people will surely die in the process.
“So, when taking the actual harm that would come out of it into account, I can’t simply ignore him.
“That bastard understood this much, so he came here.
“Him bowing his head and asking for help does mean that he is in quite a bit of danger though.
“So… Well, I have known that bastard for a long time now. I certainly can’t ignore his issues after seeing him go this far.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
I see… It looked like they were fighting, but that was just what it looked like on the surface.
… Human relationships really are way too complicated.
But basically, while they do have a conflict of interests, their final goal is the same. Both Beckenberg and old man Tatsunami want to maintain the survival and stability of this city.
They want to avoid a situation where the weak would die.
Old lady Adyll was thinking about this kind of thing yesterday too, so I guess they all have this goal in common at least.
“I thought about telling Katsumi to handle that bastard, but now that you’re here, there’s another option available.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
Eh? Me? Wait, hold on, I have nothing to do with this.
“You’re acquainted with Beckenberg, so let him in on the bet.
“We can adjust things so as to let him get some nice profits from it. I can’t let him get the horns of the queen, but I can give him everything else. This would surely be for the best.” Old man Tatsunami told me.
Even if he tells me to let Beckenberg in… “I can’t really tell him to participate without knowing all the details of the bet, can I?” I asked.
“Of course. Glad to see you’re motivated.” Old man Tatsunami replied.
… I didn’t agree to it, yet he is already talking as if I had accepted.
Well, this deal doesn’t really hurt me, so I guess I am kinda motivated about it.
The survival of the city has nothing to do with me though. I’m only doing it for my knife, so it would be nice if they could handle this kind of thing on their own.
But well, I should be able to handle Demon Beasts in a hunt. Most Demon Beasts aren’t too tough once I use the Shadow Hunter Warrior gift. A single arrow to the head is usually enough, as it can pierce their skull once they’re weakened.
So, if the targets are Demon Beasts, I have a good chance of winning.
… Wait, hold on.
I don’t have a bow with me right now.
