WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Ryuu

Editor: Ilafy

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Pulled Out Excalibur

Chapter 172

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Interlude – On the Continent (4)

Dieta didn’t particularly like romance novels. The protagonist’s mind was a flower garden, and they effortlessly gained the affection of those around them without much effort. The process of falling in love itself felt too contrived. A prince who magically appeared to save the day whenever the protagonist is in danger?

“Where in the world does that happen?” Was the world really that easy?

She was the type of person who couldn’t enjoy creative works as they were, always comparing them to reality, which made her a rather troublesome individual. It wasn’t just with romance novels—she didn’t particularly enjoy reading novels in general.

The fact that she had devoured all the popular romance novels in the empire over the past four months was… not due to her personal taste or hobbies, but rather due to a strictly business-oriented move based on a “thorough business plan.”

“Chairwoman Dieta, have you heard of the novel How to Seduce the Trading Company Owner? I couldn’t help but think of you while reading it! The male lead in the novel is the owner of a major trading company. I wonder how it would feel from the perspective of someone who owns a trading company.”

The master of the Platinum Tower, Cipria Gachevskaya, read romance novels. To keep up with her conversations, Dieta had read all the romance novels she could find and even stayed up all night reading some of them, but it was never out of her own will.

It was simply to make conversations with the master of the Platinum Tower flow more smoothly, not because she was curious about the next volume. Absolutely not, she would even swear it on gold coins.

“Ha, a man who owns a major trading company just gives away everything without calculating profit and loss? How cliché. There’s no way such a merchant exists in the real world.”

Despite finding the content ridiculous, Dieta flipped through the next volume as if enchanted. Sometimes, while deeply immersed in a novel, a particular line would strike her. 

The following line was one such example: “An appropriate distance between a man and a woman deepens their relationship and nurtures affection.”

She absolutely did not think of Najin and herself. She considered herself the type of reader who wouldn’t think, “This is totally my story…” while reading a novel. It was just a memorable line, so she wrote it down and stuck it on her office desk.

Dieta slowly took a deep breath as she pondered that line. A full four months! That was more than enough time for affection to sprout, but what she had overlooked was that the affection had sprouted within her first.

Four months. A whole four months…

Not hearing his voice or seeing his face for four months had left her restless and anxious. 

‘Was I not important? Didn’t he say he’d visit often?’ 

She often found herself looking up at the sky with a heavy heart. After four months, they had finally reunited.

Seeing Najin’s bright smile and warm greeting, she felt relieved, but at the same time, she was struck with a fatal blow. Perhaps because it had been so long, the impact was unusually strong.

“Hic-” To stop the hiccups that were threatening to burst out, she gulped down her coffee. Barely catching her breath, she tapped the sofa across from her. Originally, there was some distance between the two sofas, but just a few minutes before Najin arrived, she had complained, “Isn’t the distance too far…?” and pulled the sofa closer.

As Najin sat down, she silently glanced over him. He had changed a lot in the time they hadn’t seen each other. She couldn’t quite put her finger on how, but he seemed more mature. The atmosphere around him had shifted.

“So, let’s hear it.” Dieta pretended to sip from her empty coffee cup as she spoke. “What on earth have you been up to that you managed to gain two stars in just four months?”

“So…” Dieta blinked. “If I heard correctly, you clashed with a four-star constellation, then a six-star constellation, and—not stopping there—you even dueled with an eight-star constellation and won… and then you dealt a blow to the ten-star constellation, the Carnival King, in the Battlefield of Stars?”

In essence, that was correct. There were many details to unpack, so Najin added a few words to Dieta’s summary. “The first one was half-dead, the second had lost their sanity due to a Fallen Star and was weakened, and the third didn’t even use his Sword Aura.”

“Still, these are characters straight out of a fairy tale. Anyone with more than five stars is a Transcendent, right? So you’re saying you fought against Transcendents?”

“To be precise, they were former Transcendents.”

Dieta’s eyes wavered. What on earth was the man saying? She had prepared herself to accept some outlandish stories, but that was on a scale far beyond her imagination. “And, about two weeks ago, you were involved in a massive movement of the stars, right? No, not just involved, it sounds like you were the cause of it…”

“I did play a significant role in summoning the Carnival King there.”

Not only did he face a four-star, six-star, and an eight-star constellation in succession, but he was also involved in a battlefield where dozens of constellations, including the ten-star Carnival King, descended.

“Hmm…” Dieta’s head tilted involuntarily. Her hair tumbled down as she gave Najin a dumbfounded look.

‘He doesn’t seem like the type to lie.’

It was the kind of story you’d expect to find in myths. No matter how much she trusted him, it was hard to believe. However, the two stars he had acquired in just four months supported his story.

“So, Najin…?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have extra lives or something? Or maybe a constellation that rushes to your aid whenever you’re in danger? What on earth were you thinking, doing something so reckless…?”

‘How did she know?’ Najin was inwardly startled. 

Dieta pressed her fingers to her forehead as if she had a headache. “You really managed to survive.” He was known for his recklessness even on the continent, but in the Outland, he acted as if he had multiple lives.

Dieta bit her lip. After letting out a short sigh, she stood up from the sofa. 

Najin blinked and looked at her; she leaned down and brought her face close to his.

Swoosh—

Then she reached out and grabbed his face with both hands. Holding his chin, she turned his face this way and that, and when she saw the scar hidden by his hair, she frowned.

Jingle.

She rang a bell. A secretary hurried in, and Dieta whispered something to them. Shortly after, the secretary returned with an expensive potion and a first aid kit before leaving again.

“Move over a bit.” Dieta patted Najin’s thigh with her palm. After he moved aside, she sat down right next to him and took out some gauze from the first aid kit, soaking it in the potion. “Turn your head. Like this.”

“I’m fine…”

“I’m not fine, I’m not.” Even though Najin had superhuman regenerative abilities, the scars from battles with Transcendents remained. Seeing the scar, Dieta bit her lip.

She had prepared for such a situation, but she never thought it would actually come to this. Removing scars was the domain of expensive potions and alchemy, and she chose the former. The potion cost billions per bottle, but Dieta didn’t hesitate to use every last drop.

“You’re driving me crazy, really. Isn’t that expensive?”

“Is price the issue right now?” Unconsciously, Dieta recited a line from the male lead of How to Seduce the Trading Company Owner, but she didn’t feel embarrassed. She hadn’t even thought that far.

“Done.” After successfully removing the scar, she let out a long sigh and glared at Najin. “I can’t bring myself to tell you not to overdo it, but at least get proper treatment, okay? I know you have good regenerative abilities, but scars still remain.”

She shook her head. “Well, I guess you can’t get proper treatment in the Outland. Just come back to the continent every few months for treatment. If you come to the capital, I’ll call some skilled alchemists.”

Najin was about to say that most injuries heal without leaving scars, and that scars like those only remained from battles with Transcendents, but he kept his mouth shut. If he said that, he’d surely get scolded with, “What on earth have you been doing?”

“I’ll do my best.” He smiled faintly. “Thank you, as always.”

Their eyes met. The distance between them had narrowed while she tended to his wound. 

Dieta blinked; then swallowed hard. She suddenly stood up from his side and returned to her seat, ears slightly red. 

“I missed you these past four months.” Dieta twirled her hair and spoke in a soft voice. “What about you? Did you think of me at all?”

Najin silently took out the ring he wore around his neck. As he clenched the ring in his hand, Dieta looked at her own finger, where she always wore the ring. Even during work, she would sometimes feel a sudden warmth and be startled, but she never took the ring off.

Pointing at the ring, Najin smiled slightly. “Does that answer your question?”

“Are you sure you’ve never been in a relationship before?” It was a sufficient answer. The warmth she had felt through the ring over the past four months had already answered for him. 

She fanned her flushed face and changed the subject. “How long do you plan to stay on the continent?”

“I need to recover and take care of some business, so I’ll probably stay for about two weeks.”

“How about extending that by a week?”

“Huh?”

Dieta said, “There’s a banquet I’m supposed to attend in about 20 days, and I don’t have a partner yet. You should join me.”

She could have easily found a partner if she wanted, but she had left the seat next to her empty. Originally, she had planned to attend alone, but… since Najin was there, there was no need.

Dieta smirked. “You’d need to be at least a rising star currently making waves in the empire to fill the seat next to me.”

‘She’s an expensive woman.’

Najin laughed as he watched Dieta tease him. “Yes, gladly.”

Dieta inwardly cheered, but thankfully, she didn’t let it out and embarrass herself. “Well then, I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, see you.”

After chatting with him for a while, as soon as Najin left the office, she buried her face in the cushion on the sofa and tapped the armrest with her palm, unable to contain her joy.

‘Oh, my God, oh, my God…! The ring! Giving him the ring was such a good idea…!’ She reminisced about Najin showing her the ring and smiling. Finally, she was unable to hold back her cheer any longer.

“…” Pasion, the guard outside the office, quickly closed the door to prevent the sound from leaking out.

The day after arriving in the capital, Najin stood in front of a certain tower.

Five towers stretched high, guarding the Imperial Palace. Since it was where the Pillars resided, the area was usually as heavily guarded as the Imperial Palace itself.

There was one exception: that particular tower had no guards whatsoever—a tower with seven stars hanging at its peak.

If you were to name the most powerful being in the empire, the tower’s resident would likely be the first to come to mind. No guards were needed because the tower’s master was its protector.

The First Pillar of the Empire, Gerd.

Najin had gone to the tower of the First Pillar to discuss matters with Gerd. There were stories he needed to tell the old man who supported the empire, and there were stories he needed to hear.