WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Ode of the Brave ◈

Chapter 35

──────

No one knew his past. Nor did he seem to live with tomorrow in mind. A man with no past and no future. That was why he had no name.

People called him the Nameless One, and he was only X because he simply wrote X whenever he signed a contract.

Now, he was like a tiger roaming the snowy plains alone. Where was he going, beyond that harsh blizzard and the lightless dark?

Yet like two little birds fearlessly hovering around a tiger, two boys followed behind the Nameless One.

The driving snow struck their faces. They had to hold their hoods down with one hand to keep them from blowing off. Their noses soon went numb.

Boribori walked ahead of Ricart, carrying a lantern that swayed in the wind with a creak, creak.

Ricart never took his eyes off the Nameless One, who looked so faint in the darkness and blizzard that he might disappear at any moment. He had to know they were following him, yet he never once looked back.

They kept walking through the midnight blizzard for one hour, then two. It was hard enough to be unbearable.

Compared to Boribori, who now knew how to use Mana Drive fairly well, Ricart had it harder.

They had walked for over two hours, so it would be difficult to return to the tavern. There was no guarantee that they would find somewhere to rest ahead, either.

Even if there was, how much farther would they have to walk? Should they keep going, or turn back now? They might truly become stranded here and die.

Then the Nameless One, walking ahead of them, suddenly collapsed limply into the snow.

“Huh?”

Ricart and Boribori hurried over. In the brief moment it took them to reach him, a thin layer of snow covered his back. If they left him like this, he would be buried in snow and die in no time.

Ricart grabbed his shoulder and tried to lift him, but the man was so large and so heavily armed that he could not raise him.

“I’ll carry him.”

Boribori handed Ricart the lantern.

Once Ricart took it, Boribori squeezed his eyes shut and, with a Nngh, barely managed to raise the Nameless One halfway. With Ricart’s help, he got the man onto his back.

The immense weight pressed down on Boribori’s body. Boribori began using Mana Drive in earnest. Trying to forget the strain and focus as hard as he could, he asked:

“Where do we go now?”

Who knew? Ricart held up the lantern and shone it around. Beyond a few meters, there was nothing but darkness and heavy snow.

Woooooosh...!

Even Ricart, with his sharp powers of deduction, had no choice but to trust in luck now.

Or pray to a god.

Had it been wrong to follow him without any clear reason? No. If we had not, he would have died. Whether this was fate playing tricks or leading us somewhere, we had no choice but to move forward.

Ricart held up the lantern and pushed through the snow, not knowing where I was walking or where I was headed. My will alone had to be my guide.

He was so tired and exhausted that one minute felt like ten years, but they walked for another hour.

At first, all sorts of pointless thoughts filled his mind. Later, he could think of nothing at all. He simply moved his two legs.

Then he suddenly felt the blizzard weakening.

More accurately, they had entered a forest, and the trees were blocking the snowstorm.

Ricart let out a breath of relief and swept the lantern around. Trusting some instinctive sense, he searched for somewhere they could rest.

Then, as if by a miracle, they came upon a hollow where the ground jutted out around them like shelter.

“Let’s put him down for now.”

Ricart spoke, and Boribori finally lowered the Nameless One to the ground. He had silently followed behind while carrying that heavily armed adult man without saying a word.

Ricart strained to keep the Nameless One from toppling over, helping him lean against the wall.

The moment Boribori set him down, he dropped flat onto his back with a flop. He squeezed his eyes shut and panted, huff, huff.

Ricart hung the lantern from what might have been a root or branch growing through the ceiling. The wind howling around them sounded like the cries of a beast.

“Good work.”

“Yeah...”

“Lie down. I’ll start a fire.”

Ricart rummaged through his bag and took out the tinder and flint he had prepared beforehand.

He gathered stones from nearby and made a temporary fire pit. Then he collected branches that were a little less wet and fed them into the fire.

The thin flame fluttered again and again as if it might go out. But as Ricart cupped his hands around it and gently blew on it, it gathered strength.

Once it had grown enough, it burned on its own like a fully fledged adult. Blazing brightly.

By then, Boribori had pushed himself upright and was warming himself by the fire. He took off his shoes and gloves to dry the sweat from them, then pulled food from his bag.

Once they had settled in somewhat, Ricart looked back at the Nameless One. It seemed as though every piece of his equipment, from his helmet to his armor, bore the marks of all the hardships he had endured.

“What should we do?”

Boribori asked.

In winter, it was always best to remove gloves and shoes while resting so they could dry. The difference between the inside and outside temperatures caused moisture to build up, making hands and feet swell and leading to frostbite.

“Let’s take off his gear first and cover him with a cloak.”

“Okay.”

Like little birds clinging to a large beast to pick off its insects and parasites, the two boys went to work removing the Nameless One’s gear.

They took off his gloves and boots first. Then, when they removed his helmet, Boribori flinched in shock.

“Eek!”

His face was covered in terrible burn scars. His flesh had melted away, and that was probably why he seemed to have trouble breathing. So that was why he had been making that wheeze, wheeze sound.

It was hard to believe that someone in this state could fight so fiercely. And he had overwhelmed multiple opponents at once.

When they carefully removed his armor, they found his whole body covered in scars from burns, scratches, stabbings, and cuts.

There were also words tattooed across him like messy graffiti. Strangely, the sentences had been carved backward.

After thinking about why he had done that, Ricart realized they were not tattoos meant for others to see. They seemed to have been carved that way so he could read them himself.

Among the crooked tattoos, the largest words stretched across his chest. Since they were written backward, Ricart read them slowly.

<Your wife was raped and murdered, and your young son was torn limb from limb. Find every one of your enemies and kill them. You live for that purpose alone. Never forget, not even for a moment.>

Ricart and Boribori were overwhelmed into silence. Looking again, the crooked words seemed to burn like fire.

Once they came to their senses and examined the other markings, they found that they were all names, clues, descriptions, and areas where people were active.

Many names had sword-carved X marks over them. It seemed to mean that he had taken his revenge.

His body was a killing list steeped in bitter hatred.

One comparatively recent scar read: Lily, traitor.

Was that the woman from the carriage?

There were also several names against whom he had yet to take revenge. One of them caught Ricart’s eye.

<Mad Dog Steiner>

Ricart instinctively knew that this Steiner was the same man, the leader of the Ernberg Five and one of the Nine Swords of the Empire.

Meanwhile, Boribori’s mouth hung open as his wide eyes blinked quickly. He had never seen a body so horrible, so cruel, and so pitiful.

The more revenge the man achieved, the more his scars increased. It was as though they were eating away what remained of his life ever faster.

It was a body that plainly laid bare every trace of that.

Without realizing it, Boribori took a towel from his bag, wet it with snow piled around the hollow, and warmed it beside the fire. Once it was warm enough, he wiped down the Nameless One’s body.

Each name knotted with resentment. Each sentence filled with vengeance...

Meanwhile, Ricart roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes over the fire, taking out some jerky to prepare a simple meal.

After wiping down the Nameless One’s body, Boribori chewed the herbs he had brought until they were soft and applied them thickly to the wound on the man’s arm.

Then he happened to look up.

The Nameless One had opened his eyes and was quietly looking down at him. His eyes were a pale blue like the sky.

“Eek!”

Boribori threw the towel away in surprise and fell backward onto his bottom.

Ricart had been poking a potato with a skewer to see whether it was cooked, and he flinched as well. Wondering what had happened, he turned around and saw that the Nameless One was awake.

“Um... hello? You were collapsed on the road, so...”

Ricart tried to greet him politely, but it was a very awkward situation. Leaning against the wall, the Nameless One only moved his eyes to look at the two boys.

An awkward silence followed, then Ricart spoke calmly.

“Um, we’re trying to kill two people from the Ernberg Five, named Reto and Erze. If you’re planning to deal with Steiner, how about joining hands with us for a while?”

Ricart spoke while indicating the man’s tattoos with his gaze. Their business overlapped, so perhaps they could help each other.

But the Nameless One turned his head and simply closed his eyes. He seemed to be trying to sleep.

The whole situation was strange. Very strange.

Ricart could not tell whether the man was sleeping so defenselessly because he looked down on them, or because he trusted them. No matter how young they looked, they were armed.

“M-maybe he can’t speak.”

Boribori said.

That was possible. His vocal cords might have been damaged when he was burned.

“He looks kind of creepy and scary, but I don’t think he’s a bad man.”

“Bori, even if he can’t speak, he might still be able to hear.”

“Huh? I-is that so?”

Boribori realized he had misspoken and looked back at the Nameless One. But the man only remained still with his head turned away.

“What do we do? Should I apologize?”

“It’s fine. Cover him with your cloak. You can share mine with me.”

“O-okay.”

Boribori took off his cloak, approached carefully, and covered the Nameless One with it. He arranged it as neatly as he could.

The man did not react.

Boribori came back to Ricart’s side, and they sat together beneath Ricart’s cloak. They looked after each other as they ate.

“He must be hungry...”

Boribori said, glancing toward the Nameless One.

But the man still showed no reaction.

After they finished eating, Ricart and Boribori spent the night taking turns on night watch. More than guarding against an attack or wild beasts, it was important now to keep the fire alive.

Thus, the somewhat frightening, awkward, and strange night deepened.

The blizzard raged all through the night.

Woooooo...!

At dawn the next day, the two boys were asleep pressed close together beneath a single cloak.

The Nameless One quietly rose, though it was impossible to tell whether he had slept properly, and put on his gear.

He was about to leave the cloak he had borrowed unintentionally behind and depart when Ricart, who had seemed to be asleep, spoke to him.

“What happens if you die before taking all your revenge?”

“...”

“Think carefully. Are you really moving for revenge, or are you simply punishing yourself? You look so unsteady that you could collapse at any moment.”

With his distinctive helmet covering his entire face, the Nameless One glanced back at Ricart.

Then he simply left.

“Bori. Bori, wake up.”

“...Huh? Yeah...”

“That man left. Let’s follow him.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Huh? He really did leave. Let’s go.”

Ricart and Boribori hurriedly packed their things, stamped out the cold ashes, and set off.

The blizzard that had wailed like a sorrowful beast all night had stopped. But it was still dawn, and the world remained dark.

Ricart and Boribori left the forest and followed the pale black silhouette walking ahead of them.

As time passed, the sky gradually brightened, and the day’s sun began to rise over the distant horizon.

Majestic sunlight spread across the snowy plains, dazzling their eyes.

The two boys followed the trail the Nameless One had made, occasionally teasing each other as they walked.

They were like two thoughtless tiger cubs following their father.

The sun rose ever higher.

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