WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 053

──────

Episode 53. All Your Worries, turning into a Shower.

About a month had passed, by my estimation.

“Your preparations seem sufficient now, boy.”

“Yes, Heavenly Demon.”

I had mastered the four fundamental stances of the Magnolia Sword Art. Though I still couldn't apply them like the Heavenly Demon or perform feats like erasing an entire forest, I could now use Qi to some extent.

“The realm of the Heart Sword (心劍). Let’s begin right away.”

Her black hanbok fluttering, Baek-Mokryeon approached me and spoke. Indeed, a long time had passed since I went missing. If I delayed any longer, the kids would worry.

“Boy, do you know what magnetite is?”

“..Do you mean a magnet?”

I sat with my back against a tree trunk and listened intently to the Heavenly Demon's story. The Heavenly Demon explained that since I needed to meditate, it would be good to receive the energy of wood (木).

“Yes, that wondrous ore where iron attracts iron. I drew inspiration from that.”

I was vague about what the realm of the Heart Sword meant. But a magnet, all of a sudden? I tilted my head, full of doubt.

“That human hearts could also attract each other in such a way.”

“..I’m not sure what you mean.”

“To escape this forest from Head Ache’s Erasure of knowledge, I told you one must know the direction. That means it should be possible by contacting someone outside.”

‘Like a compass, then.’

If that were possible, it would be able to nullify the Demon King’s power, which makes it hard to distinguish front from back and feels like falling into a bog. I nodded.

“Originally, the Heart Sword is a realm where mind and sword become one, boy.”

As she spoke, Baek-Mokryeon drew a sword from her waist. It was an ordinary black blade.

“It’s about imbuing the world with one’s inner image and cutting with it. But….”

Other than its black color, there were no particularly sharp or unusual features. I lightly thought, ‘Is she going to show me something with this?’

“..What remained for me was time. If it were only that, wouldn’t it be too simple?”

Baek-Mokryeon gently closed her eyes and continued speaking with a sad expression. Indeed, it had been a long time since she was trapped here due to Head’s Erasure of knowledge.

“Even if the magnolia flower becomes dull, I shall not forget you.”

As soon as Baek-Mokryeon recited the phrase, something unbelievable happened before my eyes.

Thud.

A sound was heard, and a sword fell from the sky. A white blade landed precisely at Baek-Mokryeon’s feet. It was the complete opposite of the black blade she had just shown.

“Suddenly, where did this sword come from….”

“It’s simple. It is forging a sword from within one’s heart and drawing it out. A sword capable of confronting a Demon King. Doesn’t it look somewhat familiar?”

“You mean… all that talk about willpower being important was for this?”

As I stared at Baek-Mokryeon with a dumbfounded expression, the Heavenly Demon, sensing the change in my emotions inside the helmet, smiled faintly.

“Khahaha! Yes, it’s a ‘Fake Holy Sword’! Boy!”

“..How is this possible?”

“If you think about it, it is truly absurd that only a sword forged by God can eradicate the Demon King!”

Baek-Mokryeon burst into laughter. Indeed, this weapon was so exquisite it could easily be mistaken for an artifact crafted by a god. A magnolia pattern was engraved on the sword, and,

“You mean this can harm a Demon King?”

“That’s right. A person’s heart is the most important and strongest thing. What would those who belittle human creations as mere masterpieces know?”

A faint blue wave was visible on the blade. Is it a Heart Sword created with Dennis in mind? Now I understood clearly.

“Imagine the a sword within your heart, and use it to overcome the Demon King’s power, boy.”

“And I need to think of someone else while doing it… is that right?”

“Only then will a unique blade emerge, one that cannot be broken or shattered by the Demon King. It is the your own weapon (武具) to cut down an unjust world.”

Indeed, the second strongest among the Ten Greats. She is truly worthy of a Heavenly Demon. I felt awe. While many risked their lives without a Holy Sword. It's an artificial Holy Sword, of all things.

“That’s incredible. I couldn’t even have imagined such a thing….”

“Even now, boy, you are using an iron sword. Or, like when you first met me, you’d take and use someone else’s Holy Sword. Truly foolish acts.”

“...”

“The Heart Sword will show you the direction and help you cut through the Demon King’s power.”

Sighing deeply, the brown-haired dragon berated me.

“Since the Inner Demon (心魔) in your heart has also retreated, now forge and draw out your very own Heart Sword (心劍), boy.”

The Heavenly Demon signaled me to close my eyes and meditate. A sword that connects human hearts to each other, what did I have left?

Ah, there was the Nameless Saintess.

I recalled a memory from long ago.

***

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: Hey, Saintess Fetish.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: What, Sugar Baby.]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: Are you going for the Saintess route in this sequel too?]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: It’s not my place to say, but try some other routes.]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: Exclude the Northern Grand Duchess route, though.]

On the day I was transmigrated into the game, this conversation took place in the guild chat.

“But the Northern Grand Duchess isn’t even in my thoughts.”

I stopped drinking my energy drink. Since he was a friend who knew I was a core player who only played the Saintess route from the original game. He certainly had the right to say such things.

“..I’ll handle it myself, dude.”

Just as I was about to type a reply on the keyboard, I saw a terrible combination of words.

[Forbidden NTR Knight: Agreed. Harem route and NTR route have been added, so play those.]

Damn it. Who invited that jerk to the guild? Immediately, my hand clenched, crushing the can.

[Pure Love Black Knight: Yeah~ This time too, I’ll instant-kill the Demon King, rise in status, and live happily ever after with the Saintess~]

I tried to quell the raging anger within me. No matter what, I’d hold back just this once. Since such routes were added in <Black Heart>,

“Ugh, this really pisses me off.”

There were plenty of people who enjoyed the game in that way. If anything, I was the strange one for only playing the Saintess route. Because it was fundamentally a male-oriented game.

[Forbidden NTR Knight: She’s a character who dies anyway, so why not NTR her….]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: ….That’s crossing the line.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Ah, fuck.]

My hand immediately went to the mouse cursor. If I put up with this, I’m a total pushover. I can understand them insulting me, but I won’t stand by if they touch our Saintess.

[SYSTEM: Forbidden NTR Knight has been expelled from the guild.]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: You crazy bastard! Why would you expel him just like that?!]

The problem was that such a guy was in my guild to begin with. You sugar baby.

[Pure Love Black Knight: Give it up. I can overlook other things, but not that.]

You’d have kept sending 1v1 duel requests to anyone who said something like that about your Duchess, preventing them from playing the game.

“It’s a good thing I’m the guild master. It’s right to cut off guys like that immediately.”

I finally felt relieved. I didn’t expect a troll with a completely opposing concept to appear, perhaps because I had become too famous in the community.

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: I should just keep my mouth shut… Anyway, this Demon King is seriously hard to conquer.]

With a slightly more relaxed mind, I looked at the chat window again.

[Pure Love Black Knight: That’s why it took me a long time to clear phase 1. How’s it going for you?]

Magic Hat certainly had a much higher difficulty compared to other Demon Kings. You had to bring all elemental attributes, and there were even 4 phases.

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: I’m trying to clear it after placing my Duchess in the North, you know?]

[Pure Love Black Knight: That’s possible?]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: Turns out it is? But the Nameless Saintess is a supporting character, so you can’t use such tricks for her, can you? I just wondered if there was any need to go through all that emotional turmoil.]

“...”

Even though in <Knight Heart> Head was left out of the battle, in this work, she, a non-combatant, had to participate in the battle.

“..That’s why I try my best to keep her from getting hurt. Our Saintess.”

Even after equipping her with top-tier items, seeing the Saintess helplessly taking hits from the Demon King’s subordinates made me sad, so I honed my control even further.

[Pure Love Black Knight: I do it because I like her. You were also causing a fuss, traveling all over the country by train when you were looking for Easter eggs, weren’t you?]

In the end, we were all the same. Though one was an official route and the other a private route created by a user.

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: I only did it because it came out in data mining and strategy videos. But you know your ‘wife’ doesn’t even have that.]

They were players who cherished their game characters more than anyone else.

[Pure Love Black Knight: I’m the guy who bought an unmarketable life-sized statue from the game shop with cash because I like the Saintess. This is pure love. Watch and learn.]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: Is he really crazy…? It’s not my business, but take it easy with the game.]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: You’ve been logged in for over 12 hours now.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Actually, I went to the emergency room once.]

I had already been to get an IV drip. I was told to rest and recover, but for me, the game was both stability and rest.

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: ?! Do you want to see our guild disband? You crazy bastard. If you die playing the game, I won’t even go to your funeral.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Alright. I’m never going to die. Would I do anything to make the Saintess cry tears of blood? I think I’m about to clear it, that’s why. I’ll play a bit more then go to sleep.]

[Northern Grand Duchess’s Husband: That’s good then… Hang in there, Pure Love Black Knight.]

[Pure Love Black Knight: Thanks for the support, Duchess’s Husband.]

Four hours after saying this, I was transmigrated. I wonder if I wouldn’t have received the beta tester email if I had gone to sleep then.

Honestly, there wasn’t much reason I worked so hard. I just didn’t want to see her cry.

It was a common reason.

[I like rain more than snow, Knight.]

A story the Nameless Saintess told me once in <Knight Heart>.

Until then, I had disliked rain. What was so good about rain that couldn’t even put out fire?

[More than anything, I like the pattering sound of rain. It makes people more emotional.]

She smiled faintly. With an expression completely different from her cold first impression, she touched upon my trauma.

[Rain that taps on windows, waters the dry earth, and is equal to all things that support life.]

The drizzling shower outside. The game was made up of four seasons like this, and it rained every spring.

[There are people who can avoid the rain, but no one can stop the falling raindrops, right?]

I suppose I started to like the rain I once disliked from that moment on.

[And… even if you cry, your tears won’t be noticed.]

[In many ways, you’re so kind, Lord Rain.]

[Hehe, I hope you too come to know this wonderfulness, Knight!]

Her wolf ears and tail twitched slightly, as the Nameless Saintess spoke lines more hopeful than anyone else.

However, when I fought Head Ache, the Demon King of Omniscience, her tears mixed with the rainwater.

[Please… please… no… Black Knight…]

The first attempt had failed.

The reason I honed my skills so much afterward was likely heavily influenced by this moment. A playstyle that relied on pushing through with control and overwhelming with equipment.

[Why… surely it’s not because I’m inadequate again, so the healing isn’t working…?!]

After I died to the Demon King for the first time, her healing prayer, offered with clasped hands.

[Not yet… I can still… save… you…]

My character, now cold, had become unresponsive, it was too late to do anything, and the Saintess, desperate as if there was still hope, continued to pray.

Her tears were hidden by the falling shower,

[Knight…]

but her face was already crying. An expression that looked sad to anyone. Even her Divine Power, the embodiment of reason, was blocked by the grim reality and wouldn’t manifest.

That’s why I tried to learn healing prayers, and came to hate seeing her cry.

A Saintess crying on the game over screen, of all things.

‘She’s someone who should be happier than anyone, after all. Our Saintess…’

Touching the players’ emotions in this way was a characteristic of the original work.

It was then.

Thump, patter. A cold sensation tapped my shoulder.

It began to rain.

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