WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 122: Red Lion
──────
The cleanup was over quickly.
Since this was an assassination, there was no need to make a scene. That actually made things easier.
Adeline flipped through the documents and said,
“For a branch that oversees logistics, they’re terribly incompetent.”
“They specialize in deliveries, not fighting.”
I picked up another document from the desk.
[Delivery Destination: Nevil Academy]
[Items: Monsterization Accelerator Concentrate, Monster Cultivation Fluid, Restraint Set...]
The scheduled delivery date was immediately after the second semester began.
They had already begun laying the groundwork. If we had been any later, all of this would have made it to Nevil.
When I handed the document to Adeline, her eyes turned icy as she read the list.
She stepped on the branch manager’s chest and crushed it beneath her foot.
He was already dead, of course.
While we gathered the documents, Luna planted Elia’s bombs among the goods throughout the warehouse.
Luna would detonate them remotely with Purple Flame.
Once the bombs went off, the goods bound for Nevil would vanish without a trace.
It would be a bolt from the blue for the workers, but we could compensate them later.
‘There it is.’
When I turned my head, I saw another safe in the corner of the office.
This one used a key rather than a dial. I searched the dead branch manager’s clothes and found a ring of keys.
As expected, the safe held ledgers, bundles of cash, and the item I had been looking for.
[Abyss Fragment]
‘That makes two.’
One more, and I would have enough to craft one final weapon.
I did not know whether its owner would be me or someone else.
As I pocketed the fragment, I heard workers murmuring outside.
We had tried to handle things quietly, but there was no way they would fail to notice their coworkers disappearing one after another in real time.
I tucked the fragment away and said,
“There’s more than enough evidence. We can leave the rest to the soldiers.”
Proof that this place was a cult branch was scattered everywhere, so there would be no problem leaving it as it was.
We immediately headed for the back door Luna had found beforehand.
Rain still poured down fiercely.
That was better. The sound of rain would erase any trace of our visit.
“So, are we heading straight to Ashfall?”
“No.”
A lighthouse beam was faintly visible beyond the rain.
“Once the rain stops, we’ll take a ship to Baran.”
“Baran... the southern island?”
I nodded.
Baran had always been the main event of this vacation.
We would wait for the rain to stop, travel to Baran, then handle the Aren-related event and clear the Shipwreck Dungeon.
After taking everything we could get from Baran, cleaning up the Ashfall branch, and returning to Gravner, about a month would have passed.
Then, if Elia and I raided the deepest part of the Demon Dungeon, the timing would be perfect.
As I sorted through that plan and threw open the iron door.
‘Death.’
My body reacted before my thoughts could.
I grabbed Luna and threw her behind me.
At the same time, I drew my sword and stepped forward.
Whoooosh!
A massive sword aura tore through the rain and rushed toward us.
It was a deep navy-blue aura, comparable to Adeline’s.
But there was one crucial difference.
‘What the...?!’
Adeline’s sword aura was specialized for widespread destruction.
This one had been fired for the sole purpose of killing me.
Boom!
The instant it struck my sword, the impact nearly broke my arm.
And that was not all.
‘This is insane...!’
What I had thought was a single slash was actually dozens of thin sword auras compressed together.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The compressed auras burst forth in succession.
I swung my sword at them frantically.
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
[Just Guard!]
...
...
Screeeech!
My feet scraped across the ground as I was pushed back.
“Urgh...!”
Just as I thought I had barely blocked the first aura, another navy-blue flash gleamed in the darkness.
A second sword aura.
‘Fuck.’
I did not think I could block that one.
I had spent most of my stamina stopping the first attack.
‘Better draw them into battle.’
Just as I was about to charge forward.
“Move!”
A golden flash shot out from beside me.
Boom!
Adeline struck the incoming sword aura upward head-on.
The shockwave from the collision of two immense forces scattered the rain in every direction.
Adeline steadied herself and pointed her sword into the darkness.
Neither of us asked, Who are you?
Adeline and I both knew who owned that sword aura.
The moment I blocked the first strike, I recognized the sword art being used.
‘Ultimate Divine Sword, First Form. Extreme Sword.’
The pressure was on an entirely different level from Aren’s, but it was undoubtedly Extreme Sword.
At this point in the story, only three people could use Ultimate Divine Sword with that kind of power.
And among them, there was only one person who would appear before me here and now.
Step.
Footsteps sounded through the rain.
But they were not from a single person.
Dozens of pairs of military boots, timed to sound like one.
The first person to emerge from their center was the knight commander, Killien Rubel.
Sword aura normally followed its owner’s hair color, but users of Ultimate Divine Sword were an exception.
Just as Aren’s turned gold only after activating Sun Shine, Killien’s sword aura was deep navy blue despite the knight commander’s blond hair.
That made identifying Killien easy.
The problem was...
‘Why is that person here?’
My question did not last long.
Killien, who I had expected to rush toward me, suddenly stopped and stepped aside.
Snap!
The dozens of soldiers following behind Killien also split to either side in perfect unison.
Luna’s expression darkened at the sight, while Adeline clicked her tongue in displeasure.
She shrugged and sheathed her sword.
“Our group does stand out. I knew this would cause trouble someday.”
Adeline looked toward the center of the parted soldiers.
“I wonder what pickings could possibly bring the Red Lion here in person.”
A path opened through the rain.
At its end, the Red Lion walked toward us.
‘I knew I would meet him someday.’
After clearing the Undead Dungeon, countless nobles had tried to contact me.
Some Academy instructors had suggested private meetings. Even students had done the same.
I avoided them with every excuse I could think of.
Whenever possible, I avoided meeting anyone alone. Whenever I went out, I made sure to stay with Cecilia, Aren, Mine, or someone similar.
But no matter how much I struggled, it seemed there were moments that could not be avoided.
“I thought we would meet soon, but it took longer than expected.”
A massive figure whose presence was overwhelming even in the pouring rain.
Hair blazing red like a lion’s mane.
“Halibal Velder.”
The Empire’s prince.
Joaquin Cyrus stood there.
⁎⁎⁎
Whoosh.
The wind swept through the bamboo forest.
Clack.
A hand like an old tree branch set down a card.
Tupa, an Imperial game one might see at a gambling table.
The old man sat on a cushion, playing alone at a table with no one seated opposite.
The worn wooden sword hanging at his waist was striking.
Crunch.
A figure entered the bamboo forest, stepping over the dirt.
His hair was too long for a short cut and too short for long hair, with the hair at the back tied up.
Aren Bright approached the old man and bowed her head.
Clack.
Without looking up, the old man set down another card.
“Have you decided to grow out your hair?”
Aren did not answer.
No, she could not.
She was not sure herself.
To the entire Empire, she was known as Aren Bright, a man.
The sacred relic of the Main Gods suppressed any sense that something was off, but it could not completely conceal physical changes.
The longer her hair grew and the more her facial features emerged, the closer the reflection in the mirror looked to a girl than a boy.
If it became known that the prophecy had been wrong, the Empire would be thrown into chaos.
Logically, she should cut it. Every time she looked in the mirror, she picked up the scissors, then put them down again dozens of times.
But in the end, she could not cut her hair.
“It is not only your hair that you failed to cut away.”
Aren’s shoulders flinched.
“Hesitation dulls the sword. You must have heard that until your ears bled.”
“I know.”
“You know.”
Clack.
The old man set down another card and muttered,
“How easy. Far too easy.”
“...”
“I have not even grasped my sword, yet my enemies are cut down on their own. Should I call that my skill, or say the other side is going easy on me?”
Only then did the old man look at Aren.
“What do you think? Do you truly believe that sword is on my side?”
She kept silent.
It was not a question asked in search of an answer.
The old man had always read currents she could not see. He must have sensed something this time as well.
“So why have you come here with that cumbersome thing? You did not come merely to ask after me.”
“I want to become stronger.”
‘If I want to stand beside him.’
She wanted to become someone who could stand on equal footing with Halibal, no, someone who could clear the path ahead of him.
That was why she had come here. To seek her master’s teachings for the first time in a long while.
“Your greed is excessive.”
The old man clicked his tongue.
“You have to play at being a man, harbor the romantic feelings of a woman, and still become the greatest?”
Aren’s eyes wavered at the direct hit.
The old man rose as though it were nothing and slowly untied the wooden sword from his waist.
Shhk.
“Then prove it.”
He pointed the wooden sword at Aren.
“Prove whether that hair is a mere whim, or poison gnawing away at your sword.”
Rumble.
He had merely pointed his sword, yet pressure seemed to bear down on the entire forest and crash into Aren.
Biting her lip, Aren drew her sword.
“...I am coming.”
Whoosh!
Before dust could even rise from the ground, Aren shot forward.
Sun Shine was already active. A golden slash rushed for the old man’s neck.
But.
Tap.
The old man lightly touched Aren’s blade with his wooden sword.
That alone knocked Aren’s sword away helplessly.
“How could your sword carry any weight when your heart is cluttered with stray thoughts? A sword that wavers over one man cannot accomplish anything.”
“That is...!”
Aren’s face flushed as she swung her sword again.
This time, faster and sharper.
But the old man deflected all of Aren’s attacks with only the smallest movements.
“Ultimate Divine Sword is completed when one focuses wholly on a single thing.”
Smack! Tap! Thud!
“Urgh...!”
Aren tumbled disgracefully as the wooden sword struck her side.
“I thought you had improved quite a bit. I was mistaken.”
Biting her lip, Aren stood back up.
It was frustrating, but she could not refute him. Her heart truly was in turmoil, and her sword had lost its way with it.
“...Then are you telling me to cut away all of these feelings?”
“Hmm?”
“Personal feelings only obstruct the path of the sword, so I should sever them all...”
“When did I say that?”
The old man asked as if dumbfounded.
“Why cut them away? Throwing yourself into those feelings wholeheartedly can also erase hesitation.”
“...What?”
Aren blinked blankly.
She had never expected those words to come from the master who always spoke of No-Self and composure.
“You are getting indigestion because you are trying to cover it up halfway. If you go all the way, stray thoughts disappear instead.”
“I-is that so?”
“Either all or nothing.”
The old man kicked the wooden sword up with his foot and slipped it into his belt at his waist.
It looked effortless, but it was a feat Aren had found difficult even after trying it many times.
“So. Is the man in your heart coming?”
Aren’s gaze shifted slightly downward.
“...He promised he would. Though I do not know whether circumstances will allow it.”
“If he comes to Baran, have him stop here first.”
“H-him?”
“Yes. No matter how I read the heavenly signs, I cannot see him at all. Only his path ahead is foggy, as if covered in mist. It is frustrating enough to drive me mad. I need to see him myself.”
The old man waved his hand, dismissing her.
“Now that you understand, go. I am not sitting here to listen to your love troubles.”
“...I will return.”
Aren bowed with a red face, then fled the forest as though escaping.
Her footsteps faded, and silence returned to the bamboo forest.
Looking at the Tupa table left behind, the old man let out a quiet laugh.
‘Only after the blade is refined with the steel called experience does it finally gain sharpness.’
He remembered the words he had once told his young disciple.
A swordsman grew strong through countless experiences.
But because of his own stubbornness, the child had to live as a man for life, and he had no way to teach her how to live as a woman.
‘But what is the greatest experience a young woman can have?’
It was love.
Master Jin slapped his knee and cried out.
“Ha! That child is finally in love!”
Footnotes:
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