WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 753: Hospitality

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Romen naturally fell in with the group.

"People live in the Cursed Ground?"

Enkrid asked as they walked. Was that not something worth being surprised about?

Demon Creatures and Magic Beasts were creatures that killed people. The Cursed Ground was overflowing with all kinds of Demon Creatures and Magic Beasts, including unusual individuals.

Surviving in a land like that was a distant prospect. Even the Hidden Village had prioritized concealment above all else and made the most of its surroundings just to survive, yet this village was supposedly immediately visible to passing travelers?

"Yes, I was surprised too," Romen answered without making much of it.

He had said that it had not even been ten days since the Parasitic Worm had gotten him. That was the estimate he arrived at after judging the time. Audin had also casually mentioned that if Romen's Will had faltered even slightly, he would not have awakened.

Of course, he had said it loudly enough for everyone here to hear.

Half of it was praise, but Romen no longer heard it that way.

"Fine, let's say I'm a fool."

Romen knew it would be difficult to persuade them with words or force, so he gave up.

Seeing Rem snicker at that made it clear the words had been meant to tease him.

So Romen had started telling them about the strange village he had seen instead. It was an excellent attempt at changing the subject, and it succeeded.

As Enkrid walked, his thoughts broadened based on what Romen had said.

The continent was vast. How much of it was occupied by intelligent races, humans included?

A scholar who had once held something close to the title of Sage had said:

"The truth may be that this world is surrounded by powerful beings we know nothing about."

The existence of the Cursed Ground was the basis for that claim.

The Grand Cursed Ground had been invaded before, but it had never fallen. Within it lived the Six Demons, beings humans could not handle.

And when one looked across the continent, there were simply too many Demon Creatures. With so many Demon Creatures, there were also too many Magic Beasts.

How many of those gathered Demon Creatures had developed into unusual individuals?

Furthermore, before the safe road network was established across the region centered on Border Guard and extending to the former territory of Count Molsen, even land within a nation's borders had been full of not only bandits, but Demon Creatures as well.

'Even those bandits had to band together to hold out, or they would die.'

That alone made the existence of a village like this mysterious.

"You were caught by a Parasitic Worm and woke up with your memories intact?"

The half-blood Giant kept coming over to ask for some reason, and Romen nodded to say that he was fine.

Though judging their location was not easy, Romen groaned as he found the way. His sense of direction was good enough to reach this area without a guide, and after spotting jagged red-and-black mountains in the distance, he set them on the proper course.

Of course, they would only know whether it was the right direction after going there. Watching Romen, Enkrid spoke.

"Want to have a spar?"

Judging by Romen's gait, his stamina had not fully returned yet. His steps carried a faint imbalance, like someone who had gone two nights without sleep.

Still, as Rem had said, Romen was tough.

'He's holding up well.'

His head was probably spinning, and breathing likely felt more uncomfortable than usual. Audin had treated him with divine power, but he had been caught by a Parasitic Worm once already.

It would have been stranger if Romen had been in good condition.

'Still, what he possesses at his core does not change.'

Being in worse condition than usual did not greatly alter one's ability. That was a natural quality for a junior knight.

No one could fight at their best all the time.

A person was called a junior knight because they could still demonstrate their skill reasonably well even in situations like this.

"Now?"

Romen asked. He did not seem displeased by the suggestion.

Enkrid drew his sword. Worldbreak, Sky, Duskforge.

The sword called by a mixture of three names gave off a pale blue glow.

"An Inscribed Weapon," Romen murmured.

The present was far too different from when they had known each other before.

He had resolved to rise first and steeled himself to do so, yet now he had been left behind.

Red and black emotions seemed ready to surge up. Romen gripped his greatsword and leveled its blade at Enkrid.

It had not been properly maintained, leaving its edge dull, but a greatsword of that size was still a dangerous weapon even without an edge.

"What are you two doing in the middle of the road?"

Rem grumbled.

He was right. This was not a campsite. What were they doing, stopping in the middle of their walk at dawn to spar?

Still, he did not say anything more. The others said nothing at all.

Watching would be entertaining, and they seemed to understand why Enkrid was doing this.

'He really is remarkable.'

Rem grumbled out of habit, but he felt differently inside. Enkrid had raised Fell and Ropord to knighthood.

Of course, those two had sufficient talent, coupled it with effort, and never lost their desire to improve.

But if everyone with those qualities became a knight, there would be ten times as many knights on the continent.

'Though there are clearly more than there used to be.'

They were still extremely rare.

That was why it was so remarkable.

Ragna watched the two indifferently, one hand resting on the hilt of Ilchul.

The swordsmanship of the man called Romen had acquired many bad habits. If they actually clashed, more problems than were visible on the surface would likely reveal themselves.

It was something obvious without having to be told.

'How is he going to correct those habits?'

It would not be easy.

Ruagarne watched with anticipation, while Sinar and Jaxon had no interest.

Fell, Ropord, and Teresa focused because they believed there was something to gain from watching and learning anything.

Then Romen's greatsword moved. It drew a fluid line before falling diagonally.

'Fast and powerful, but he prepares too much for whatever comes next.'

That was Fell's impression.

'His thoughts are slow.'

That was Ropord's impression.

Enkrid saw it much the same way.

So, what should he do now?

Enkrid stepped forward with his left foot, set his stance, and swung his sword, using the same motion as when cutting down a Demon Creature.

'Control of strength.'

Enkrid had watched Jaxon remove the Parasitic Worm from Romen's head.

It would have been a lie to say that he had not felt a thrill upon seeing that sword strike.

'The height of precision, beyond mere delicacy.'

After seeing it once, Enkrid had practiced alone by moving his hand. The previous night, he had trained even in dreams.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

The ferryman had called several times, but Enkrid had been utterly absorbed in Jaxon's swordsmanship. Now, after watching and trying it a few times, he could imitate it.

Enkrid found every part of that process immensely enjoyable.

Clang!

Vortex, more precisely a sword strike carrying limited rotation. It was also a powerful blow delivered simply, with the shoulder as its axis.

Romen's sword was knocked backward in a single strike.

"Again. Let's do it while we walk."

After that, Enkrid repeated similar actions. Without receiving any instruction, Romen could only keep swinging his sword.

Romen wished Enkrid would say something, but he did not.

Enkrid simply knocked aside every blindly thrown swing with one strike.

Was he showing off his skill?

But Enkrid's expression and attitude were too calm for that.

The onlookers were much the same.

Romen tried to understand the intention. There had to be a reason for this.

Was this not a spar, but some form of torment?

Then Enkrid smiled.

Hey, is that all? Just that much?

At the same time, a voice could be heard. It should have been a hallucination, but the voice was so real that it dug into Romen's heart.

By the time they had exchanged around fifty blows, Romen's shoulders hurt, his elbows hurt, and honestly, there was not a single part of his body that did not hurt.

His head had been spinning ever since the Parasitic Worm got him, too.

Yet with Enkrid's smile, the words just that much, just that much, just that much echoed repeatedly from somewhere.

Crunch.

Romen bit his tongue.

'Fine. I know you're impressive, but the time I've spent wasn't insignificant either.

I too honed myself to the bone and trained with my life on the line to serve Knight Aoara and keep my word.'

Malice gathered. Blood surged from Romen's bitten tongue, and the pain awakened his entire body. His eyes became bloodshot.

'In one strike.'

Using his left foot as an axis, Romen drew upon the sword strike he had once trained intensely. It was the method he had used to imitate Knight's Strike.

It had also become part of Enkrid's experience when creating Vortex.

For a junior knight to wield a sword like a knight, every muscle in the body had to tighten and relax while infusing Will with determination and pouring that Will into the strike.

It was something Romen had once taught Enkrid.

'Hit.'

A desperate wish guided Romen's Will. He swung the sword.

It felt as though a dam that had blocked his chest had collapsed.

With a sense of relief and liberation, he swung the sword with full strength for the first time in a very long while.

Boom!

Romen's sword tore through the air and fell, but Enkrid caught it with the Sword of Chance and guided it away.

Ting, rattle-rattle-rattle. Tap.

Romen's greatsword did not accomplish its purpose. The tip of the greatsword in his hand struck the ground, utterly drained of strength.

The sound was too weak. It ended with only a tap.

Then a crack split through the middle of the greatsword, and the blade broke apart.

"Ugh!"

Romen vomited blood. It was pitch-black.

"Here."

Audin had approached at some point and placed a hand on Romen's back, with Teresa pressed close behind.

This was part of the process of removing the traces of the Demon Creature left by the Parasitic Worm. Tearing it off and waking up had not been the end.

The energy Demon Creatures used, commonly called demonic energy, remained in Romen's body.

It now came out mixed with the blood Romen had vomited.

If they had tried to heal him immediately with divine power, Romen would have become mentally incapacitated.

The timing was perfect. Audin's gaze turned to Enkrid.

"Was that intentional?"

"Half of it was."

The rest could be called luck.

Romen raised his head after vomiting blood.

He would understand what that meant better than anyone.

At the same time, Enkrid asked, "You saw it, right?"

Romen would understand the meaning of Enkrid's question as well.

He had taken the wrong path during training. Romen had engraved Knight Aoara's swordsmanship, the flowing sword, into his body.

It was swordsmanship that drew fluid lines rather than deciding victory with a single strike.

Thanks to that, the man who had imitated a knight's downward strike had become solid in the Basics.

In Enkrid's eyes, Romen had drawn a proper circle, but was that the right path?

Romen had been born with a sturdy body.

His disposition also leaned toward putting power into a single strike.

'Will is influenced by disposition.'

That was what experience had taught Enkrid.

Ropord had lived a life of putting others first. He had spent time observing and thinking alone. That time had not been so painful because it suited Ropord's disposition.

Fell was the opposite.

He would pursue what he wanted, even if it meant breaking free from the confines of being a shepherd.

Will, that is, determination, was influenced by disposition. If one went against it, the path toward knighthood became distant.

"Thank you," Romen said.

Then he lost consciousness again.

"We've got another piece of luggage," Rem said.

"What was that earlier?"

Enkrid asked. Rem grinned and added:

"Wasn't it exactly what he needed at that moment?"

The words Romen had heard, "Is that all? Just that much?" had not been a hallucination. Rem had used Sorcery to play the trick, whispering them into Romen's ear.

"That's quite a trick," Enkrid said with inward admiration.

Whispering words into Romen's ear was one thing, but Rem's skill at reading Romen's condition and knowing exactly how to provoke him was even more surprising.

"Think nothing of it," Rem said with a grin, and Ragna nodded.

"You really excel at useless things."

Was that praise or a provocation?

"......What the hell's gotten into you?"

After their usual bickering, the two fought once in the realm of the mind, then set sword against axe in reality.

At some point, dawn had come, and the day was remarkably clear. Teresa carried Romen on her back.

When he woke in the afternoon, Romen said:

"I feel clear-headed."

"Is that so?"

There was no more sparring. Ruagarne puffed out her cheeks and stuck close to Enkrid.

"I'm curious how you learned to teach like that."

Enkrid talked with Frog, indulging her curiosity. Romen led the group toward the village he had seen.

How should it be put? It left a stronger first impression than any place they had seen before.

"Should we just destroy everything and kill them all?"

Rem asked, caught up in the atmosphere. Ragna rested a hand on Ilchul.

Enkrid looked at the carving that stood openly in the center of the village.

A pitch-black circle had been placed atop a long pole.

It resembled a black sun or black solar disc, one of the Cult's symbols.

It was no different from loudly declaring that they worshipped the demon god.

"Didn't you say it was a village?"

Sinar was an elf. She was sensitive to the energy emitted by Demon Creatures. An elf could not display their full strength in a place without the vital energy of the forest.

"It is a village, just one with a somewhat unusual way of life," Romen answered.

Once they entered, it was strange even by unusual standards.

People could be seen coming and going. By city standards, they were dressed nearly like the poor, but none of them looked as though they had been forcibly brought here to live.

One person blinked and approached.

The greatest difference between Enkrid's group and the person before them was likely skin color. The person's skin, neither dark nor light, held a faint purple hue.

"You returned alive."

The approaching man looked at Romen, then examined the rest of the group.

"And quite a crowd of guests has come, too."

The man gestured behind him. The village welcomed its first visitors in a long time.

To be honest, it felt a little awkward.

It could not be helped, considering this was the hospitality of a village that served the demon god.

Footnotes:

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