WeTried Translations x Flame Comics

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 137: Duty and Succession (4)

──────

* * *

From the moment the sun set and dusk settled over the land, the previously listless camp began to stir with life.

The resting soldiers and knights gathered at once, readying their equipment. Ivan and the others followed behind Gilles Ver.

Step, step, step. The footsteps of soldiers gathering in twos and threes soon blended into a single sound. Their discipline and training were impeccable.

The Initiate Knights naturally spread out, riding along the outer edge of the formation. Their light trot and the way they moved to protect the soldiers’ flanks flowed as smoothly as water.

Their high morale was only natural. Their commander was Gilles Ver de Etakrikh.

Other than Maximilian, he was the strongest man in this land and the pinnacle of all knights. That was the weight carried by the title Defender Duke.

“Not bad, is it?”

Gilles Ver looked at Ivan and grinned. His smugness was a little irritating, but this time Ivan had to admit it.

It was impressive.

Even more so when he thought back to the battlefields of an age without elite troops.

When he remembered the front lines on the brink of collapse, where there had been no time to train soldiers before sending them in, this could be called a change brought about by peace.

These were elite soldiers formed not by combat experience, but by systematic training and doctrine.

“It must’ve taken a lot of work.”

“It still had to be done.”

Gilles Ver smiled with satisfaction. His gaze swept over the troops following him, and there was even affection in his eyes.

“The First Legion on the Eastern Front has no time for thorough training. They can’t leave the border unattended. And the rest of the troops…”

“Yes, the private armies of each noble.”

“Exactly.”

Tilles was an old-fashioned nation that still maintained a feudal system. Each territory raised troops at its noble’s discretion, in numbers rivaling the king’s own legions.

When the king issued a summons, they naturally became the nation’s soldiers. Even so, they were no more than a gathering of mismatched rabble, each with different formations and troop types.

That was why Gilles Ver had needed to focus on training the capital’s defense forces. He had prepared this legion even before the Demon King’s death, and only now had it finally reached this scale.

Securing the resources for them alone had taken enormous effort. An army burned through money just by breathing.

“How is Krasilov? It must be better off than this place, at least.”

“Are you trying to pry information about my own country out of an intelligence agent?”

“Ha ha ha! You’ve gotten much better at jokes while you were dead!”

Gilles Ver laughed heartily. Isabelle rode up beside him and asked softly,

“Um, Your Grace…”

“Uncle.”

“B-but there are so many people around…”

“Uncle.”

“Uncle Gilles Ver…”

“What are you curious about, Bella?”

“This is driving me crazy.”

Isabelle clutched her forehead and groaned, then finally spoke in a voice that barely came out.

“You’re leading soldiers on this scale, so, um… aren’t you going to give some kind of speech before setting out?”

“A speech before setting out?”

Gilles Ver burst out laughing. Soon, he wiped the amusement from his face and answered solemnly.

“That’s only necessary when you’re setting out for war.”

“Huh?”

“This is a hunt.”

That face full of confidence was incredibly irritating.

Ivan let out a small sigh and turned around.

The army following them gleamed beneath the torches held high by each soldier. Their well-maintained armor shone red in the torchlight. Step, step, step. They marched in time, staring straight ahead.

There was no trace of worry or doubt.

Even though they were ordinary infantry who could vanish by the hundreds with a single breath from a dragon.

They said three to four thousand infantry were needed when a dragon went on a rampage. Put another way, that meant a single dragon could erase that many troops, no matter how well humanity prepared.

Yet there was no fear in their eyes.

Even though they weren’t safely hunting deer or wild boars.

Gilles Ver walked.

The Grand Duke of Etakrikh led the way.

The Defender Duke protected this country. Every step taken by those who followed him was therefore for the defense of this land.

The soldiers marched forward as though they were simply doing what was expected of them, their posture firm and their steps crisp.

Yes, this was impressive.

Ivan nodded. Gilles Ver’s ability was evident from the fact that he had raised troops this elite in such a short time.

“Ah, are the others the same?”

“The others?”

“You know. Those assassins your country produced. The ones Enrika trained… Hah, do you know how frightened the old men in our country were of them back then?”

“Hah.”

Ivan turned his head as though he had no desire to answer.

Gilles Ver was looking ahead and failed to notice his expression. He continued in an amused tone.

“Then why are you still unmarried? What was her name again? A young lady with a pretty name… Ra… Rachel?”

“Raella.”

“Ah, right! The young lady you liked.”

Everyone in the group went stiff.

The old man liked someone?

Ivan turned to Gilles Ver with a dry expression. Only then did Gilles Ver realize what he had said and flinch.

“She died.”

“I’m… sorry. I thought… all of you had been operating while keeping your fates a secret…”

“She died, Gilles Ver. All of them. Every last one.”

“…I apologize, Ivan. That was thoughtless of me.”

The group fell silent at Ivan’s words. Clop, clop. Only the sound of horses striking the earth continued.

At last, in the silence that followed, Ivan quietly sighed.

All wounds eventually became scars with time. If a wound did not kill someone, it would heal someday.

But scars never disappeared.

That was why Kim Seonwoo could not control himself whenever he remembered those days. Ivan understood how he felt.

Raella Cherenovika, the woman who loved roses, had been Kim Seonwoo’s first love.

Not anymore.

She was dead. She could not return. And he was no longer Kim Seonwoo.

So it was fine. He already had more than enough scars on his body. A wound like this was nothing. The memories brought by old scars were nothing more than numb records of the past.

So…

Ivan suddenly noticed that the hand gripping his reins had gone white and was trembling. He quietly loosened his grip. His bones cracked as they shifted against each other.

He flexed his stiff hand, then grasped the reins again.

There was no trembling now.

The legion entered the Vernina Mountains.

* * *

As though they had done this many times before, the soldiers naturally dispersed across the foothills of the Vernina Mountains. Detachments of roughly a hundred soldiers each headed toward different slopes.

“We’ll move separately.”

“Ah, will you? Hmm… Then take this.”

At Gilles Ver’s nod, an adjutant approached and handed Ivan a cylindrical tube.

A signal flare. They were sticking to traditional methods.

Ivan put it away without a word.

“You know how to use it, right? If you spot the dragon, fire it into the sky. All the troops will gather within thirty minutes.”

“Understood.”

“And about earlier…”

“Enough.”

Ivan shook his head.

It was pointless. Gilles Ver had not said it deliberately, and it was not the kind of grudge worth carrying into battle.

Instead, Ivan silently held out his arm. Gilles Ver gave a broad smile and held out his own.

The two men firmly clasped each other’s forearms, then let go.

“May fortune follow you in battle.”

Ivan nodded and gestured to the others.

The group, each of them still stiff-faced, silently followed Ivan up the ridge.

* * *

Thanks to these chatty kids keeping quiet, Ivan was able to begin his search easily enough.

He was not searching for the dragon.

A dragon was, by nature, a massive creature. With a wide encirclement closing in and so many people searching, it would inevitably be found.

Until now, Gilles Ver had simply lacked the motivation. Today was different. With a reason to finish the hunt quickly, he would not delay any longer.

The claim that all troops would gather within thirty minutes was meaningless. The instant the signal flare was fired, Gilles Ver would arrive within ten minutes. One swing of his sword, and it would be over.

It was like picking up a coin off the ground.

With the Capital Defense Force and the Eastern Knights present, Gilles Ver could practically be considered invincible.

So…

‘Find the grand counts’ spy.’

If the grand counts had plotted to drive a dragon into these mountains, there was no way they had not placed someone to watch Gilles Ver.

And if their entire plan would collapse the moment Gilles Ver left these mountains alive, then there was a very high chance that observer possessed some means of assassination.

Ivan even felt a kind of pleasant anticipation.

What method could they possibly use? What unimaginable way did they intend to kill Gilles Ver?

Why did they think it was possible? Who had devised the plan?

Perhaps, and quite likely, it had been one of Alexander’s schemes.

Joining hands with demonfolk and inciting nobles into rebellion was exactly his style.

Perhaps Ivan could follow this thread to Alexander.

Perhaps he could do something utterly meaningless.

Take revenge.

Something more worthless and lighter than a flower laid on the graves of the dead.

Ivan looked around with satisfaction as he climbed the mountainside.

* * *

The old man had someone he liked?

Isabelle sat deep in thought atop her horse. She slowly swayed with the clopping hoofbeats and bit her lip.

Elphihara and Aesidis beside her looked no different. The three girls stared blankly at Ivan’s back as though their souls had left their bodies.

Being separated by death was cheating.

It was a presence that could never be forgotten or erased. One that would never fade. No matter how hard they tried, even if they somehow claimed a place by that man’s side, it was a rival they could never defeat for the rest of their lives.

Was that why he had never looked at them, no matter what they did?

While the three of them sat dispirited and dejected, Oscar’s eyes quietly shone.

‘A model of chivalry.’

Faithfulness to a lover lost to death.

He possessed such ability, yet he had not so much as wavered despite so many women launching advances obvious even to Oscar.

The three evangelical counsels of obedience, chastity, and poverty were not solely for priests. Knights who wandered the world in training were a kind of seeker, not so different from clergy.

That was even more true for the Eastern Knights, who pursued old-fashioned chivalry. One could join only after swearing oaths of loyalty, duty, chastity, and poverty.

As an invested knight of the Eastern Knights, Oscar looked at Ivan with renewed respect.

‘Girls, this isn’t the time to be worrying about that.’

Eugene sighed as he watched them.

They really did look like kids around twenty, which was nice to see, but acting like that gave them no chance. If they wanted to be at his brother’s side, they had to prove their usefulness.

Eugene had no idea what kind of person thought that way, but still…

‘They need to become useful.’

Eugene let out a long sigh and opened his Status Window. He adjusted it so that the profiles of anyone approaching nearby could pop up at any moment.

He would give these kids a few tips later. For now, work came first.

If a spy or observer approached as Ivan had said, the Status Window would find them faster than human eyes could.

As Eugene had reflected before, his Status Window was no different from the finest early-warning system.

* * *

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried