WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈

Chapter 65: The Knight and the Prodigal (4)

──────

Even Alberic had no idea why the curse inhabiting Orisin could not be completely cleansed away.

"What is this? Do you usually go around eating strange things?"

[What I consume is the dew of purity and the sparkle of sunlight!]

"Well, that's strange. Both Sparkle and Darkness freak out whenever they see you. What kind of Spirit are you, anyway?"

[Ha! Those green little brats are not fit to share a table with even a single strand of this Orisin's hair!]

"Come to think of it, your honored father called that fellow Orisin Baek."

"Your honored father? That is a more old-fashioned term than most elves use. And Baek? The baek in count?"

Alberic tilted their head and muttered to themself. 'If Father knows about him, he really must be insanely old.'

Kriel looked at Orisin with renewed surprise. Then again, Orisin had claimed to have personally seen the founders of the United Kingdom.

[See? Even an Elder of a distinguished elven family immediately uses an honorific upon hearing my name. That is how noble I am. Serve me accordingly.]

"No. If even my father knows you, that just means you are an old man even by Spirit standards."

[Kgh! You disrespectful...]

While Orisin twisted about and complained about manners, Kriel casually probed about the whereabouts of the water High Spirit.

"Aren't healing and purification usually within the domain of water? Like the Truth Cup. I do not believe I saw a water High Spirit when you examined Orisin."

"Oh, that? There is one, but it is a bit complicated."

Before Kriel could ask further, Alberic waved a hand. Alberic had made a contract with a water High Spirit, but the Spirit would not listen.

"World Tree Elves inherit the Spirits that maintain the World Tree's garden from generation to generation."

"Then, is it the Spirit that served Lady Fand?"

"That's right. The inheritance is not fully complete yet, so it does not listen to me properly. It has been a long time since I last saw it. I vaguely remember seeing it back when I lived at the World Tree. It used to tease me relentlessly, calling me its little contractor."

As a Spirit with the attributes of water scenery and Mirage, it had taken Lady Fand's form and fooled Alberic several times. It would obey no one but its rightful master, Lady Fand, so Alberic's title of temporary contractor was practically useless.

"Even if I try to contract another water High Spirit, that one has such a strong presence because it is an old Spirit. They all refuse, saying they should not meddle with someone else's contracted Spirit. It has been a huge loss."

[Hah. That little thing sounds awfully arrogant. Want me to set it straight? What's its name?]

"Niv, I think. I am not used to Ancient Elf pronunciation, so I am not sure I said it right."

[...]

"Why? Is it a Spirit older than you? That cannot be. It is considered young among gardener Spirits."

[I do not know that name.... I thought I knew almost all the World Tree lot. How did the generation gap get this bad?]

"Huk, khahahahah! Ahahahahaha!"

Alberic laughed wildly, then desperately held it in and added one comment.

"Elder, are your teeth healthy?"

It was the first time Alberic had spoken to Orisin politely. Orisin was not pleased.

* * *

After finishing the examination, Alberic wrote Kriel a written opinion as requested.

'Day 1 of examination. Cause of the Abyss curse unknown. The treatment methods attempted are as follows, et cetera.'

Kriel did not know where Alberic had found it, but Alberic even brought out the Lir Family's signet ring and stamped it. It was more than credible enough as documentation to submit to the Western Army.

[Mwaah! Even a Spiritist cannot do anything! What did I ever do wrong?!]

"Keep your spirits up. It is only the first day. We may find a clue after a few more examinations."

[No. It was the same with Morgina and Armede. What they found in the first examination was all there was to it. Damn it, Six Principles. What sin have I committed against the heavens?!]

Orisin sighed deeply enough to sink the ground, then muttered, "I did chew on the villagers' hair before. I cannot say I did nothing...." and returned to the Horn Dagger.

It was rare for Orisin to shut itself away like that. Kriel opened his mouth, thinking he should offer some comfort, but Tuon stopped him.

"Leave it, Master. At times, one needs time alone to swallow one's feelings. Orisin seems to have buried itself deeply, so it will not listen no matter what you say. In an hour or two, it will come out again to spout its usual nonsense."

With that, Tuon returned to the form of a sword and went back to Kriel's waist.

It was strange. Tuon had taken the form of a sword without receiving any particular command.

[A knight's formal attire includes a sword as well. You cannot greet a guest with a curved sword hanging from your waist.]

A guest?

Alberic had already left the room. There was no reason for Alberic to suddenly return, and no one in the Lir Family was particularly acquainted with Kriel.

Then who was coming?

The Abyss?

That would be even stranger. There could be Abyssal beings Kriel himself could not detect. He had not noticed Tushkin Gabi until Morgina drew his fresh blood.

But an Abyssal being that only Tuon could detect, outside Kriel's range of perception?

Unless it was the Demon King who had created the Seven Demon Weapons, no servant of the Abyss could possibly be like that.

Squelch.

Something flowed in through a gap in the door. Kriel reflexively drew Tuon and swung.

The most straightforward description was black slime. Though its upper portion had been cut off, it crawled inside without concern and took shape.

Rather than pitch-black, it was a murky silhouette. Its color resembled filthy stagnant water or a stream flooded by monsoon rains. It was only a head-shaped form sitting atop a body, with no eyes, nose, or mouth. Dim water swirled within it.

[That was a rough greeting.]

It was a voice unlike the composite of voices Kriel had heard from the Deceit Cup. It echoed as if spoken from inside a cave. Its gender and age could not be easily guessed.

Something even more horrifying was that Kriel could not sense the Abyss from it.

Not at all.

'An Abyss I cannot detect. Is it truly a fragment of the Demon King?'

Kriel immediately tried to pour Fighting Energy into Tuon. If physical attacks were meaningless, he could simply use magic. Some Servants of the Abyss could nullify entire types of attacks, such as slashing attacks, regardless of whether Fighting Energy was involved. Still, Tuon's cold aura should be able to break through even that.

'It would be troublesome if it has conceptual defenses, like "I cannot be harmed by weapons made of metal," though....'

[Do you wish to recover the Truth Cup?]

Kriel's hand stopped.

[Come to the backyard at midnight. Tell no one.]

The silhouette soon collapsed. The two feet that had kept its squishy form standing burst apart first, and filthy water soaked the floor.

Bewildered, Kriel was just about to draw upon even Blood Energy and Resentment to search for the vanished silhouette.

"Calm yourself, Master."

Tuon had taken the form of an ash-gray girl again and somehow acquired cleaning tools.

"It has left the water it was controlling. Neither you nor I can find it."

"What do you mean, we cannot find it?"

"Contrary to what you think, that was not a Servant of the Abyss. It was a Spirit."

A Spirit?

The name Niv crossed Kriel's mind. The water High Spirit that had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.

"The reason I was able to notice its presence is simple. Gratuon's memories include fighting Spirits controlled by World Tree Elves. It appears to have deliberately drawn out murkiness to disguise itself, but it falls under the World Tree Gardener category."

* * *

Just as Tuon had promised, Orisin emerged from seclusion after about one hour and six minutes.

[I am stronger now than I was one second ago... Why is the atmosphere so strange?]

"You're late, you vulgar curved sword, slow to hear the news. While you wallowed in your own sorrow within that coffin, our Master encountered a grave enemy that challenges his authority."

[Could you say that in words I can understand?]

"If you want to recover the Truth Cup, you were told to come to the backyard by midnight without telling anyone. Based on Tuon's memories, it is apparently a World Tree Gardener."

[...? Hey. How much time is left until midnight?]

"Thirty minutes."

[What?!]

Orisin made a huge fuss. Orisin asked whether Kriel seriously intended to walk obediently into such an obvious trap and suggested gathering everyone in the estate to pressure them by declaring, "The culprit is among us."

Kriel shook his head.

[Then what? You are just going to crawl into the jaws of death?]

"A knight keeps his promises."

[You lunatic!]

"...You thought I would say that, didn't you?"

Kriel grinned. Frankly, he had no idea who the traitor was.

Tuon was certain it was a World Tree Gardener, but it could be another Spirit serving as a World Tree Gardener rather than the missing Niv. Even if it was Niv, Kriel could not determine whether it had acted alone or under orders from Lady Fand or Alberic.

But.

"I will go there on time. About five minutes after midnight, I want you to run through the house making a scene."

If he did not know who the culprit was, he only needed to call everyone in the house.

Those who were not the culprit would help on their own.

He had worked it out. He could hold on to the Spirit, or whatever it was, until Orisin shouted, "People of the neighborhood, look over here!"

"I will go find it with Tuon and my greatsword and hold it down. Call Elder Nawiden and every other member of the family. Anyone still in the house while I am speaking with the culprit will be innocent."

* * *

Ah, damn it.

"Tuon. How many minutes has it been since we left the room?"

[More than fifteen.]

He was lost.

Next Episode

Footnotes:

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