Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 217: Deciphering the Past

Damien found himself in the peculiar position of reading someone else’s diary.

Well, admittedly, diaries of people from the past often served as valuable historical resources. Even in Earth’s history, both people on Earth and world history included the journals of notable figures as critical references.

Feeling slightly apologetic toward Yegor Tretyakov, Damien decided to proceed.

"Alright," Damien said. "But, like I mentioned before, this is so old that I might not be able to read much of it. If that happens, I’m sorry."

After all, ancient texts were typically the domain of specialized scholars. Even historical documents found in textbooks often used cursive scripts that looked like snakes wriggling across the page. Damien wasn’t sure how much of it he could make out.

"That’s perfectly fine," his companion reassured him. "Aside from the writings Yegor Tretyakov left behind, we have no other resources about Earth. Even being able to read a small part of it would greatly advance our research."

To unfamiliar eyes, strange characters often looked like mere patterns.

Damien considered himself lucky to have Elyon—a teacher knowledgeable about Earth—to guide him. He couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for people like Theo, who had no one to teach them.

"So... to confirm, Damien says this is written in Russian language, correct?" Theo asked, still somewhat skeptical.

"Yes," Damien replied. "I can read it, and it’s definitely Russian language. It says it was written by Yegor Tretyakov, so it might actually be a diary, as you suspected."

"Wait—hold on!" Theo exclaimed, visibly startled. "Are you saying the name on the cover is Yegor Tretyakov’s? It doesn’t mean something like ’the diary of the third farmer’?"

Theo’s reaction was one of utter astonishment.

Damien paused, realizing the source of the confusion. Theo must have been interpreting the characters individually—"diary," "farmer," and "of the third."

It was impressive, Damien thought, that someone from another world could make such educated guesses about the meaning of unfamiliar words.

"If that’s the case," Theo murmured, "most of our previous interpretations might have been... wrong."

"Well, it’s not entirely wrong," Damien explained. "In Earth, ’Yegor Tretyakov’ breaks down into ’diary’, ’farmer,’ ’of the third,’ and, uh... what was it again? Oh right, it’s using masculine nouns, something usually used by men. So, if you translate the meaning of the name it could be translated as the ’diary of the third farmer’.’"

"I see," Theo said, nodding in understanding. "We’ve only ever heard the sound ’Yegor Tretyakov,’ but I didn’t realize it carried such a layered meaning."

"Does the full name of Yegor Tretyakov appear here as well?" Theo asked eagerly.

"Yes, it does," Damien replied. "It says Yegor Tretyakov, it’s his full name."

"Amazing! To think we’ve uncovered his full name!" Theo exclaimed, nodding in admiration. "There are four other texts where this script appears, and one of our research topics has been identifying the commonalities. To realize it was a name all along..."

Theo’s excitement was palpable, and seeing his enthusiasm made Damien feel a sense of accomplishment. It was gratifying to know he was contributing.

Determined to make more progress, Damien turned the page with renewed energy—only to falter immediately.

While the cover had been neatly written, the text inside was a chaotic mess of cursive script that looked like writhing snakes.

"Well? How is it, Damien? Can you read this part just as easily?" Theo asked, his eyes sparkling with hopeful anticipation.

Damien felt the pressure of Theo’s expectant gaze. He glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, then returned his focus to the diary. No matter how hard he tried, the script remained an indecipherable tangle.

Theo’s expression, meanwhile, was akin to that of an overexcited cat expecting treats.

This was uncomfortable.

"Some of my colleagues once joked that this wasn’t writing at all but actual snakes wriggling across the page," Theo said with a sheepish laugh. "It led to a heated argument. If you can decipher any of it, I’ll finally have a comeback!"

Damien cringed internally. He scanned the text again, determined to find something legible before admitting defeat.

He stared at the page, scrutinizing every line. Time passed, and Theo’s eager expression began to wilt. Feeling the pressure, Damien kept looking.

Wait... was that... "село"?

Yes, it was!

"Good news!" Damien declared, pointing to the character. "I can read at least part of it!"

Theo’s face lit up instantly. "Really? You can?"

"Definitely! This here is село, which means something like a village or hometown. And this one is королевство, meaning kingdom or nation."

Though he couldn’t form a coherent sentence, Damien began identifying individual words. As he scanned the page, he pointed out familiar ones to Theo.

"Here’s село again, and королевство, and this one is отец—father. Then there’s культура, which relates to culture, and жизнь, meaning life. Oh, and старшая сестра—older sister."

The characters were scattered and disjointed, far from forming complete sentences. Nevertheless, Damien pressed on.

"Here’s мать—mother, желание—wish, жена—wife, село again, вернуть—return, and встреча—meeting."

The more cursive, crumbled characters proved too difficult, but Damien pushed to find more.

"Here’s дочь—daughter, мать, встреча, желание, дочь again, and печаль—sadness."

He sighed. "It’s fragmented, but at least we’re getting somewhere."

Theo’s smile was radiant. "This is incredible progress, Damien! Even if it’s incomplete, every words you decipher is a step forward for our research!"

Damien felt a flicker of pride. Maybe this tangled mess wasn’t so hopeless after all.

Toward the end of the diary, the same characters kept appearing repeatedly:

"дочь" (daughter), "жена" (wife), "желание" (wish), "вернуть" (return), "отец" (father), "мать" (mother), "старшая сестра" (older sister), "печаль" (sadness), "смерть" (death), "в одиночестве" (alone), "отец," "мать," "мать," "старшая сестра," "жена," "вернуть," "жена," "дочь," "вернуть," "дочь," "дочь," "желание" ...

For Damien, with his limited knowledge, he couldn’t find any of the more uplifting words like "радостный" (joyful) or "счастливый" (happy) until the very end.

As they finished going through the diary, lunchtime arrived, and they decided to take a break.

Today’s meal was sandwiches, specially prepared by Zima.

Damien and Theo relocated to a clear spot on the reading table where no documents were spread, and the delicious sandwiches were laid out before them.

The aroma of the tea Sebas had brewed wafted through the air, whetting their appetites.

Damien took a bite of the sandwich.