WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 4: The Sword Speaks (2)

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‘What... are you?’

Thanks to doing as the Short Sword instructed, I had survived the crisis.

At first, I thought I was hearing things, or that the Short Sword was possessed. The unfamiliar, bizarre experience was so startling that I could hardly process it.

“I am the SoDam Sword.”

The Short Sword proudly announced its sword name.

Its name was the SoDam Sword.

It was carved onto the scabbard.

“Wouldn't you like to change the Small character carved on the outside to Big? Being short is bad enough, so why does it have to be small too?”

This thing seemed to have an odd inferiority complex about being a Short Sword.

Still, I could not understand how something without eyes had noticed a second-rate warrior's attack and even told me how to respond.

“Because I could see it. That is why I told you. I saved your life, and now you're picking a fight?”

‘That isn't what I meant.’

“Sure it isn't. You are far too suspicious.”

‘Would you accept this easily if you were me?’

“That is true. I find it strange too, that a human can hear my voice.”

It accepted what I said.

It felt less like speaking to a Short Sword and more like speaking to a person.

“Good grief. Forty-seven years into my life as a sword, I finally get to speak with a human, and it turns out to be someone as dimwitted as you.”

‘Dimwitted? Are you insane?’

I bristled at once.

It was calling a perfectly normal person dimwitted.

A Short Sword, of all things.

“Funny. I may look like this, but I have seen and heard plenty. I probably know more about Martial Arts than some brat who spent all his time drinking.”

‘Ha! You know Martial Arts?’

“If a village dog spends three years at a schoolhouse, it can recite poetry. I watched the owner before my last owner wield their blade for nearly twenty years. Do you think I would not know?”

‘The owner before your last owner?’

If its previous owner was my late mother, then the owner before that must have been the person who handed it to her.

Could it have been my maternal grandfather?

“What nonsense is that? Did you already forget that your mother bought me from a passing fence and gave me to you? Are you rewriting your memories?”

...This thing had a surprisingly sharp tongue.

I never expected to take emotional damage from a sword.

Then again, there was no way my mother, who had once been a maidservant, could have received a Short Sword from my father.

‘I was young, so I don't remember clearly.’

“Yes, yes, of course. You were too young to remember, and you drank too much to remember. What a convenient life you lead.”

This bastard talked far too much.

If I kept bickering with it, there would be no end to it.

One member of the group of three remained. I had to deal with that person and escape quickly.

“You seem busy.”

The Short Sword clearly wanted to keep talking.

But I had no time.

‘I need to get out of here quickly.’

“Hey, before that, at least say thank you. I went out of my way to help you...”

Ugh. So noisy.

‘Fine. Fine. Thank you.’

“Okaaay!”

I felt like I was getting swept along somehow.

In any case, I needed a weapon, so I picked up the dead masked person's saber.

I hesitated, wondering whether this saber might speak because the Short Sword had, but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it did not speak to me.

‘So this one really is unusual.’

“Can't you hear what that saber is saying?”

‘What?’

I could not hear anything at all.

Then the SoDam Sword snickered.

“It is cursing you up a storm. It says some weakling killed its master. Oh... this bastard is cursing me too. Is helping a dimwit such a crime? Hmph!”

I had no idea what it was talking about.

‘Ah...’

More importantly, the saber was much heavier than I expected.

Since this was before I had trained at all, the saber did not seem suited for me to wield smoothly.

‘Damn it.’

“Who told you to slack off? You should have trained. At least built some strength.”

‘I know.’

It was too heavy.

I might be able to wield it with both hands, but if I ran into someone as skilled as the dead masked person, I might end up on the losing side.

I had no internal energy, and if I lacked skill, I at least needed to be nimble.

I gave up on taking the saber and searched the dead masked person's body. I found five iron darts.

I had learned how to use these in the Blood Cult as well.

However, without internal energy, I would have to throw them from extremely close range to use them effectively.

‘I should take them for now.’

“Do you know how to use those?”

‘I do.’

“When did you learn that?”

The SoDam Sword sounded puzzled.

It seemed to know only about my present self.

Then again, even I, who had returned to the past, could hardly believe it.

“Hey. Behind you.”

‘What?’

Startled, I rolled forward.

Thud!

A heavy impact sounded behind me.

After barely regaining my form, I looked back and saw a masked person slamming an iron club studded with sharp spikes into the ground.

“Damn it.”

A curse burst from the masked person's mouth.

It seemed the masked person had been trying to ambush me.

Perhaps because the iron club was heavy, the masked person's movements were slow.

‘Now.’

I lunged forward, intending to stab the masked person in the chest with the Short Sword.

But the masked person let go of the club and used a step to leap backward, avoiding my attack.

My ominous prediction had been right.

This one also possessed the skill of a second-rate warrior.

And then...

Whoosh!

Perhaps having learned a Kicking Technique, the masked person evaded with a step and counterattacked with a kick.

The right foot shot swiftly toward my head.

“Lower your head.”

The SoDam Sword's voice rang through my mind.

I quickly ducked.

“Strike the instep!”

The instant it spoke, I tried to drive the Short Sword into the instep of the masked person's left foot, which supported the masked person's weight.

But the masked person avoided it.

Then, perhaps becoming wary, the masked person leaped backward.

Thinking I could not let the masked man escape, I chased after them to keep the distance from widening.

“No!”

The SoDam Sword's cry rang in my head.

At that moment, the masked person's kick struck my abdomen.

Thwack!

“Ghk!”

Pain tore through my stomach, and I fell backward.

Had I trained or cultivated internal energy, I might have endured it by tensing my abdomen. But I had not.

An ordinary person could barely breathe after being struck in the stomach.

“Cough, cough.”

Like someone struggling to breathe, I coughed in agony.

The masked person frowned at the sight.

“What? You could not even avoid that?”

It seemed the masked person had expected me to evade the kick.

“Idiot. You fell for such a crude lure?”

The SoDam Sword criticized me, but I was in too much pain to hear it properly.

Even as tears threatened to spill, I saw the masked person rushing toward me.

“Dodge! I said dodge!”

The SoDam Sword shouted, but it was useless.

After taking a kick infused with internal energy, I could barely breathe. There was no way my body would move.

Thwack!

“Urgh!”

With that blow, my consciousness faded.

I had struggled so desperately to avoid being captured by these people again.

Yet, just as in my previous life, I had not even managed to leave the inn.

* * *

I did not know how much time had passed.

Gradually, I regained consciousness at the voices reaching my ears.

“Two of you died to a mere brat? Is a group leader supposed to manage their members this poorly?”

Murmurs filled the area.

It seemed that after I lost consciousness, I had indeed fallen into their hands.

Although I was awake, I kept my eyes closed and focused on the voices to assess the situation.

“I apologize. Please punish me.”

“Hmph!”

Thud!

A heavy blow followed the snort.

It sounded as though the person asking for punishment had been struck and knocked to the ground.

“Stop exaggerating and get up.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Who is this brat?”

“These are the belongings he carried. An identity plaque, an old Short Sword, and six silver coins.”

“Where is he from?”

I was finished.

With my eyes still closed, I lamented inwardly.

It seemed my background would be revealed to them again.

“He is So WoonHwi of the So Clan in Luoyang city.”

“The So Clan of Luoyang city... Wait, if it is Luoyang city, is that not Yiyang County?”

“Yiyang County? The Yiyang So Clan!”

The Yiyang So Clan.

The martial world had many Clans renowned as martial families.

Among them, my family, the Yiyang So Clan, was one of the Three Great Prestigious Martial Clans in Hunan Province.

“What? Then this is the trash the Yiyang So Clan cast out?”

I was pretending to be unconscious, but they were calling me trash right in front of me.

My insides churned.

Still, I could not deny it.

At present, I was trash who could not even be considered the child of a martial family.

“His age seems about right.”

“They said he was trash who could not even learn internal energy, but a martial family's child is still a martial family's child. He took down two low-rank warriors.”

The person who appeared to be in charge praised me.

I did not welcome those words.

I had killed two of their people. This was truly a dangerous situation.

“He caused all this with nothing but a rusty Short Sword. If he had learned internal energy, he would have been quite useful.”

The voice sounded regretful.

This was very different from before.

Back then, I had been treated as trash here, just as I had been at home.

If they thought so highly of me now, then there was a good chance they would not kill me immediately as they had before.

But then...

“Unfortunately, kill him.”

‘!!!’

At those words, I flinched without thinking.

This was leading somewhere completely different from before.

“What? He should still be a mid-grade product at this level.”

“Two people under my command are dead. You expect me to bring someone like this along and use him? I do not need him. Deal with him quickly.”

Of all things, this person appeared to be the superior of those two masked people.

I was completely dumbfounded.

I had barely returned to the past, only to face death that very day.

Then...

Thunk!

Something flew through the air and struck my head.

“Argh!”

The pain rattled my skull, and I groaned as I opened my eyes.

Around ten masked people were staring at me.

Among them, a middle-aged person with a blue sash and a long scar near their lips shook their head.

‘A Squad leader!’

In the Blood Cult, a blue sash signified the rank of Squad leader.

It was a position only someone with the Martial Arts skill of a high-rank warrior, an Advanced warrior, could attain in the Blood Cult.

Judging from the Squad leader's fingers, the person must have thrown something at me.

“If you are awake, open your eyes. Do not eavesdrop like a rat.”

I had been caught.

The Squad leader made a slashing gesture across his throat.

Shing!

Two masked people near me drew their sabers and swords.

They looked ready to cut off my head at once.

‘Damn it.’

My body was bound tightly with rope.

I could not escape. I was about to die without being able to move.

Like a prisoner awaiting execution, I would have to watch them cut off my head.

Then I noticed something.

A masked person standing behind the Squad leader.

More precisely, my eyes fixed on the white leather cord tied to the end of the sword hilt at that masked person's waist.

“Pain lasts only a moment.”

The instant a masked person raised a saber to cut off my head...

Bang!

I slammed my forehead against the ground and shouted as though driven mad.

“Hail the Blood! Hail the Blood! Hail, hail the Blood! This lowly one greets the great Fourth Blood Stars of the Blood Cult!”

Murmurs broke out among the masked people as soon as I finished speaking.

They all looked in the direction where I had bowed, including the scarred Squad leader.

The masked person standing quietly behind him looked troubled for a moment, then removed the mask.

A handsome man with an aura as sharp as a sword.

“Gasp!”

The instant they saw his face, the Squad leader and masked people started in surprise, then hurriedly dropped to one knee in salute.

“We greet the Fourth Blood Stars!!!”

The man called the Fourth Blood Stars opened his mouth.

“Interesting.”

The object of his interest was me.

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