WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈

Chapter 38: The Wizard's Melancholy (3)

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After answering, Kriel calmly continued his meal. Somehow, that composure felt comforting.

“Most of that was right.”

Armede slowly began telling him what had happened after he left.

“Do you remember what you said when we parted?”

Kriel paused with his fork in hand. Back then, he had barely been in his right mind, enduring the aftereffects of using too many skills.

All he remembered was wanting to get away as quickly as possible because he thought he would cause some kind of trouble if he stayed.

He did remember being asked if there was anything he wanted and, as usual, blurting out, “One coin.”

“When we parted? You mean the one coin?”

“That was in the hospital room.”

Kriel recalled what had happened in the County of Kett. He had fought the Wraith King until dawn and, from what he had heard, only woke up after three days and nights had passed.

The moment he opened his eyes, Armede appeared before him. Because of the aftereffects, she had looked like a blood-soaked intruder to him. She suddenly asked what he wanted, and all he remembered was saying, “Just give me a coin,” before leaving.

“…It’s fine if you don’t remember. Anyway, this is what happened afterward.”

After nearly seeing her territory swallowed by the Wild Hunt, Armede had begun thinking again about the beings that threatened the world.

It was easy to misunderstand when people spoke of the Abyss as the greatest danger and the Three Calamities as threats comparable to it, but the Three Calamities had no particular subordinate relationship with the Abyss.

The Abyss was simply so overwhelmingly dangerous that it was treated as the permanent holder of the title of the world’s greatest threat.

Its history alone was on another level. The Three Calamities usually had an origin if one traced history back far enough, but to find the Abyss’s origin, one had to go beyond history and into myth.

“The Three Calamities each have ways to deal with them. The Western Army handles the Automatons in the west. The Wild Hunt can be dealt with if you know its route in advance and find a way to redirect it. As for the Evil Dragon… it’s asleep for now.”

The Abyss was different. It was a calamity that possessed the Automatons’ ability to multiply, the Wild Hunt’s elusive nature, and the Evil Dragon’s power.

The Abyss’s greatest problem was the Demonic Nature it bestowed. The closer one got to the Abyss, the more that Demonic Nature fused with the soul itself. There was no way to purify it without sacrifice. A mage’s total Mana would decrease, while a warrior’s attainment in Fighting Energy would decline. It was a decline on a spiritual level.

Once corruption passed a certain point, purifying only the Demonic Nature became impossible. The soul and Demonic Nature became impossible to distinguish. At that point, purification was another word for eternal rest.

In truth, corruption had to progress quite far to reach that stage. It was not a state one could reach by simply being cursed, but a nadir attainable only through actively committing murder. At that point, the soul itself could be said to reject purification.

That was why the Abyss Eradication Society’s research was broadly divided into two subjects: separating Demonic Nature that had completely fused with the soul, and finding a method of purification that required no sacrifice.

Both subjects had been researched for a very long time. The problem was that their long history had been marked entirely by failure.

“No matter which field you’re in, Monsters aren’t enough for clinical trials. You need Demonic Beasts. Demonic Beasts that have been subdued so they can’t harm anyone nearby are rare. Even with my entire yearly budget, it’s hard to get proper specimens.”

“And then a patron appeared.”

“Yeah. I was using my family’s connections to look for patrons. That was when that idiot Mazhar showed up.”

Mazhar Gabi was the youngest son of the Gabi Trading Company, one of the Empire’s wealthiest merchant companies. No member of the Gabi Family had been corrupted by the Abyss or anything of that sort.

What caught their attention was how desperately poor the Abyss Eradication Society’s members were. In other words, it was a gathering of mages willing to swallow their pride to earn money.

Mage labor that could be controlled with money was useful anywhere.

“At first, it was a simple contract exchanging money for services. They asked us to attach a few mages registered with the society to their trading expeditions. Since all the society members were in terrible financial shape, it was easy to find people who’d quietly do as they were told as long as they were paid.”

Until then, Mazhar Gabi had only acted as an agent for the trading company. He had been thoroughly businesslike.

“But it was about time for a succession dispute to start within their family, you see?”

Ah. The complicated circumstances of the two families had become entangled. Kriel imagined a young man burning with ambition to seize the position of family head from his siblings.

Mazhar looked nothing like the ruthless third-generation conglomerate heir from dramas, but at their core, they were similar in their desire for power.

“Let me ask. Is the Gabi Family part of the Bloodline Nobility?”

“No. It has enough history to be called a family, but it has no Fief.”

“Then I understand why they’re targeting you.”

In the Empire, nobles were divided into two types: the traditional Bloodline Nobility and the Robe Nobility. The Bloodline Nobility passed noble status down through bloodlines and possessed inviolable rights to govern their Fiefs.

The Robe Nobility entered the ranks of nobility by obtaining official posts. Since those posts could be bought and sold, they were also called merchant nobles. In the end, though, they were not considered “proper” nobles. They lacked Fiefs, the source of noble power.

Apart from the right to govern the County of Kett, Armede Kett had a Fief of her own that she would inherit. The funds her family gave her every year were ultimately the proceeds from the Fief reserved for her.

“If he marries you and inherits your Fief, he can enter the ranks of the Bloodline Nobility. It would be a drastic way for the youngest son to overwhelm his siblings’ commercial achievements in one stroke.”

Armede sighed. During their previous dealings, Mazhar Gabi had merely acted as his father’s errand boy, following the orders of the head of the Gabi Trading Company. He was not the kind of man who could come up with such a scheme on his own.

“His father’s two damned wives probably pulled strings behind the scenes. They must think that if they pressure me into marriage in exchange for sponsorship, he can surpass his siblings and become the family head.”

Armede irritably continued cutting her food. She was withdrawing from the succession dispute of her own accord, but apparently even that was not enough. They would only feel safe after selling her off to another family.

When a member of a noble family married into another family, they became an outsider from that moment on. They were bound by customary law and could no longer involve themselves in the affairs of their original family.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Armede let out a sigh.

“Ha, damn it. I left the door unlocked so the people bringing food could come and go easily, and that bastard had to come in and cause a scene.”

Kriel’s store of Love and War knowledge from Earth began working furiously. After thinking deeply for three seconds, he realized there was a way to resolve Armede’s situation.

“Why don’t you bring in a Matrilocal Husband?”

“What?”

“Instead of marrying into another family, you could bring someone into yours. Imperial law should recognize Matrilocal Husbands.”

Armede closed her mouth.

Wasn’t that why she was feeding him in a place with such a nice atmosphere right now? The words rose to the tip of her tongue.

His expression as he spoke so casually gave her a headache.

“If a wedding is too much right away, you could at least get engaged. You only need an excuse to keep Mazhar Gabi away. An engagement might be better, actually.”

“Because if you conspire with someone trustworthy, you can end the engagement when the time comes.”

Seeing Kriel say her plan aloud almost word for word, Armede decided to nod for now. In truth, whether it was a temporary engagement or a fake Matrilocal Husband, she intended to make it real when the opportunity arose. But the timing was not right to bring that up yet.

“That’s unfortunate. I don’t have many connections, so I don’t think I can help.”

“…What?”

“I thought it was strange how lavish this meal was. Weren’t you planning to ask me to introduce you to a good person among those I met while posing as a Wandering Knight? I feel bad after accepting this meal, but most of the good knights I know are already taken.”

Armede’s instincts whispered to her. Just say it.

Her reason agreed. If she did not spell it out, that bastard would never understand.

“You.”

“Yeah?”

“I choose you. Come join my family.”

“Yeah…?”

Unlike Kriel, who was bewildered, Orisin was giving a standing ovation in their heart. This was the very essence of knightly romance. Something about it was a little strange, though.

At that moment, someone knocked politely on the door. It was a servant informing them that the next course had arrived. Clicking her tongue, Armede unlocked the door.

A plate of dessert was nervously placed on the table. The trembling hands looked strange.

“Who are you?”

Armede raised her staff and shouted.

“Oh! Lady Kett! You recognize me no matter what I look like!”

The servant carrying the plate dispelled their magically altered appearance and thrust their face forward.

That hateful blond hair.

Armede became depressed.

Footnotes:

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