WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Ode of the Brave ◈
Chapter 39
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Though they had unintentionally gained the nickname of heroes, the three had only one goal: revenge, and the punishment of the Ernberg Five.
In any case, Ricart, Boribori, and the Nameless One traveled together as if they were one body, defeating villains wherever they went.
A beastlike man who might have been a Nord or an Imperial, and two boys who could not even communicate with him. It was a truly strange combination, yet the three worked together astonishingly well. Like a family.
The three grew closer by the day, and Boribori and the Nameless One were especially close. The Nameless One looked after Boribori as if he did not care, while Boribori put on little antics without quite meaning to.
Once, a country lord hosted the three in thanks, and they were able to bathe in warm water for the first time in a long while.
The three scrubbed one another's backs. Though the two boys could not communicate with the Nameless One, they laughed, put on fresh new clothes, and lay down in clean beds to sleep.
Ricart was not a particularly devout believer, but as he fell asleep, he prayed. May those who were struggling and weary find rest, and may those he was grateful to be blessed.
Ricart understood how painful it was to be unable to sleep properly, even for a moment, until one died while punishing oneself.
So he did not know whether the Nameless One would have nightmares or sweet dreams, but he prayed with all his heart.
God, grant this poor beast rest.
Perhaps that prayer was answered, because the Nameless One slept soundly for the first time in a long while. No one knew how long it had been. He had always been half-awake, his nerves stretched taut.
Their journey continued, and the three kept hunting down those who were both the Nameless One's personal targets for revenge and bad men.
Then one day, when they were pursuing his last enemy besides Steiner, they came upon a secluded building.
A wooden wall suddenly shattered with a Craack!
Then a large figure burst through the broken wall and roughly slammed someone else against it.
Thud!
“Ghk!”
The large man tightly gripped the throat of the person he had pinned to the wall with one hand. His thick forearm was covered in scars, as though a log had been slashed at random with a blade.
He held a battle axe in his other hand, and thick blood dripped from its edge.
“Ghk. Kgh. Ngh.”
The person being choked grimaced in agony. Before his eyes stood someone wearing a helmet that covered their entire face. The helmet was covered in scar-like blade marks, making it intimidating in itself.
Even more terrifying were the blue eyes gleaming like a beast's beyond the helmet. And the familiar Ssshh, ssshh of his breathing.
It was X the Nameless.
Yet the Nameless One did not immediately finish off his sworn enemy. He only stared at him for a long time. He hesitated because he felt an emotion he had never known before.
Emptiness? Futility? Now, of all times? For what reason? Had he forgotten the mark he had carved into himself?
<Your wife was raped and killed, and your young son was torn apart limb from limb. Find your enemies and kill them all. You live for that purpose alone. Never forget it, not for a single moment.>
Had he forgotten those words, carved into his mind, his heart, his bones, and his soul? What was he doing? Tear him apart and kill him.
The Nameless One lashed himself with those thoughts. His emotions churned, and the hand gripping his enemy's throat trembled.
Then a young voice called out from behind him.
“Mister! You have to kill him quickly! The enemies are coming!”
The young voice belonged to Ricart.
They had just ambushed a Thieves Guild disguised as a merchant operation. On the surface, it pretended to deal in ordinary goods, but behind the scenes, it bought and sold people.
All Thieves Guilds were secretive, but this one had been especially difficult to track down because it had gone so far as to hide behind a disguise.
“Mister! Hurry!”
Ricart urged him on. The Nameless One twisted his enemy's neck with one hand and killed him. Despite his damaged body, his grip was incredibly strong. It was terrifying to imagine how strong he must have been in his prime.
Crack.
The man, strangled and then killed when his neck snapped, collapsed with his mouth hanging open. His entire face had turned bluish, and foam filled his mouth.
The Nameless One slowly raised his foot and stomped down on the man's head with all his strength. It burst apart in one blow, like a smashed watermelon.
Crunch!
“Did you kill him? Did you?”
Boribori held a sword in one hand and kept looking back at Ricart while watching outside. Ricart looked at the enemy whose head had been crushed beyond recognition and answered.
“Yeah, he's dead. Let's go. Mister, come on.”
Ricart slipped out through the back door he had spotted beforehand. Their enemies were no pushovers this time, so they had decided to eliminate only their target and escape rather than fight them all.
Beyond the back door was a dock beside a great river. Smugglers hurried about, moving cargo. Ricart went around an alley to reach the square, then blended into the crowd.
If they left quietly like this, it would have been a perfect assassination. But when Ricart looked back, the Nameless One was nowhere to be seen.
“Where's Mister?”
“Huh? Didn't he come?”
“I definitely saw him kill that man...”
“What do we do? Should we go back?”
Ricart thought for a moment, then made a quick decision.
“Let's circle around and check the docks first.”
“O-Okay...”
Rather than returning the way they had come, Ricart and Boribori went around toward the docks. They hid in the reeds along the riverbank and watched the place where they had caused trouble from a distance.
The Thieves Guild members were looking around, but it did not seem as though the Nameless One had been captured or had gotten into a fight.
That meant he had escaped. Then where had he gone?
“...I think he went alone.”
Ricart spoke. He was quick to judge a situation, so he was quick to realize it as well.
“W-Where?”
“To kill the Five.”
“Why?”
“It's probably one of two reasons. Either we're a burden to him, or...”
“T-That can't be true.”
Boribori shook his head. He agreed with almost everything Ricart said, but this time he refused.
Ricart spoke that way, but honestly, he had an idea. There was something only Ricart could understand.
Perhaps the Nameless One felt that he was becoming weak because of us. Or perhaps he intended to kill Steiner alone somehow, because he was afraid we'd get hurt.
“Let's go to the emergency rendezvous point and wait.”
“...Okay...”
Boribori answered gloomily. His voice seemed to catch a little with hurt and regret.
Ricart and Boribori emerged from the reeds and left the city. They waited for the Nameless One in a remote clearing off the road. The cold felt especially bitter.
They did not know how long they would have to wait, so they lit a fire to drive away the cold. Time passed.
Ricart and Boribori did not speak to each other.
Night fell, and stars bloomed in the cold winter sky. On their exhausting journey, the moon and stars sometimes brought comfort to their hearts, but they could not fill the emptiness they felt now.
Though the city lay right in front of them, Ricart and Boribori spent the night outside in the bitter winter cold. They waited for one person.
But that person never came.
He had truly left them.
At dawn, Ricart rose with his tired body. Yet he truly did not want to wake Boribori. Because even if Boribori got up, the Nameless One would not be there.
Still, they could not wait forever. They could not help feeling sad and regretful, but they had their own work to do and a place to return to.
Every journey gave people a special experience, but this one had felt even more special.
When he thought about it, was it not a truly strange bond?
A nameless man who could not speak, a beast punishing himself for his family's revenge. They had traveled throughout the northern region with such a person, defeating villains.
How much time had passed? One month? A month and a half? What month was it now? Were the Academy students doing well?
Ricart had sent money to the Academy through the Imperial Guild Office whenever he had the chance, but grain prices were as high as gold, so he worried.
All those worries and lingering regrets made Ricart feel low as well. He almost wished that the tiresome snow would come pouring down again.
Ricart pulled his cloak close and shook Boribori awake, curled up tightly as he slept.
“Bori. Bori. Wake up.”
“Mmm... Did Mister come?”
“No.”
“I see...”
“What do you want to do?”
“What?”
“If we track the Five, we might be able to find Mister. I think he went alone.”
“Then let's go.”
“We could die.”
“Wasn't that a risk we accepted when we left the Academy?”
“...Right.”
Boribori slowly got up. He brushed his bowl-cut hair, sticking up in every direction, into place with one hand, tied his bag tightly, and slung it over his back. Then he stood and looked around.
“Where do we go?”
“This place is dangerous. Sigpringer is a little better, but the Adventurer Guild probably has more information... Should we try finding a Thieves Guild...?”
To track someone, they needed information. But Ricart had made enemies of the Thieves Guilds by stirring up trouble everywhere. He would be lucky if they did not attack him, let alone give him information.
“Let's get moving first.”
“Okay.”
The three who had moved as one had returned to being two. Their steps did not feel light, because something felt deeply missing.
Ricart and Boribori followed the road east. After about an hour of walking, they saw someone coming from the opposite direction, wearing a hood pulled low and leaning on a staff.
The person did not seem to be carrying a weapon, but had a lute strapped to their back. A bard?
They were about to pass by when Ricart heard a familiar voice.
“Young master?”
Ricart turned toward him. They said there would be meetings after partings, and it was a welcome face. The Imperial Guild Office courier who had taken Ricart from his hometown to Rainfurt.
“Huh? Arno?”
“It is you, young master. What are you doing here? Didn't you enter the Academy?”
“I am an Academy student. I just came out for work.”
“Is that so? Is life at the Academy bearable?”
“Yeah. It's all right. I've made good friends, too. Let me introduce you. This is Boribori, my friend.”
Ricart introduced Boribori, who stood beside him in confusion.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Arno.”
“Uh... Hello? But who is this young master?”
“The young master is the young master. This gentleman here. Young Master Ricart, the Boar Slayer of Stormhertz.”
“...What?”
Boribori stared at Ricart in disbelief. Ricart only smiled awkwardly and said,
“I just thought everyone might feel uncomfortable. My real name is Ricart. Ricky is a nickname my family used for me.”
“...What are you talking about?”
“That's all. It isn't important.”
“You were a noble?”
“Yeah, well, something like that...”
“Whaaat!?”
Boribori, who had not known Ricart was a noble, opened his eyes so wide they looked ready to split. Arno blinked, unable to understand why.
Ricart hurriedly tried to change the subject.
“Have you been well, Arno? What was it again? You said you were going west to become a monk?”
“Ah, hahaha. My goal has changed. Now I want to become a bard. So I've been traveling around, gathering stories.”
“Did you quit your courier job, then?”
“Yes, that's what happened.”
“Hmm... I don't really understand, but I'm rooting for you anyway.”
“Thank you. You are still so kind-hearted. You haven't changed at all.”
Ricart smiled faintly.
“I wonder. Oh, have you heard of the Ernberg Five?”
At Ricart's question, Arno's expression suddenly hardened.
“...Why do you ask?”
“It's just for work. Have you seen them somewhere recently, or heard any rumors?”
“You should not get involved with them, young master. They are terrifying people. They once massacred a village. They simply killed everyone. There are even dreadful rumors that they stripped the skin from every child with fine skin and took it away.”
“I know they're bad people. I'm asking whether you know anything about what they've been doing lately.”
“...”
Arno quietly looked at Ricart for a moment. People said children changed by the day, but aside from being a little taller, Ricart did not seem to have changed at all.
He was calm no matter what happened, and there was that somehow chilling air about him.
“I do not know about all five, but I have heard that Reto the Experimenter's laboratory is in Sidria Marsh.”
“Really? Where is that?”
“Sidria is farther north from here. Not many people live there. They say necromancers have appeared there from time to time since long ago. But if you actually go there, it is only endless soft ground covered in moss.”
“So if we follow this road and turn north, we'll get there?”
“...Young master. I do not know why you are doing this, but you should not. They are madmen. Do you know the most chilling thing about them?”
“What? Do they eat people?”
“No. They have done such horrible things, but they are not wanted. Isn't that strange?”
“...Oh. You're right.”
The villains they had dealt with while traveling with the Nameless One had all been the worst kind of scum. Yet it was strange that people even more vicious than them were not wanted.
Ricart was carrying out a request to kill Reto and Erze. He was not hunting wanted criminals.
“According to rumors, when the Emperor wants to punish a vassal he dislikes, he secretly gives them orders. Of course, it is an irreverent rumor, so everyone keeps quiet about it.”
No matter how powerful the Emperor was, his direct rule extended only to his own domain.
In other words, he was always in a tense and conflict-ridden relationship with his vassals. So he tried to keep them in check and win them over by any means possible.
In that context, the Emperor's Champion was more a political asset than a direct means of force. So Emperor's Champions were almost never sent to some distant region just to maintain public order.
Perhaps it was a limit of the feudal system. Not only the Emperor, but most lords of that era thought in much the same way. The Emperor was simply at the top.
When a country lord faced difficulties, there was no guarantee an overlord would help even if the lord asked. This was especially true when it came to mobilizing troops.
Helping someone else while cutting away at oneself could sometimes bring disastrous consequences.
That was why criminal organizations were cunning enough to operate without crossing certain lines.
What did that mean? If they murdered nobles or went too far, properly enraged great nobles might mobilize their armies.
Were counts, dukes, and lords not there to protect their own lands themselves? Then why should I clean up your mistakes? Why should I spend my hard-earned money and sacrifice my own people? That was the basic way of thinking in those days.
The concept of a nation existed, but only faintly. People could die for their own honor and family, but it was difficult to imagine dying for a nation when they barely understood what a nation was.
Only when foreign invaders came or a great disaster struck would they finally unite. That was the nature of feudalism.
Society did not run on a strict legal system, but according to the leadership, ability, and charisma of the individual ruler.
So depending on who was Emperor, king, or lord, everything from society and the economy to the military, diplomacy, and even the arts rose and fell unpredictably.
Of course, that did not mean rulers simply neglected their vassals.
Politics was complicated and involved many things to consider. If it were that simple, the world would not be this tragic.
After all, those who suffered the greatest losses were always the powerless.
That was why it was an age that needed heroes.
“The Emperor is behind them?”
“It's only a rumor.”
“...”
“Anyway, it was good to see you again. These days, people are especially cruel in winter. But they say Sigpringer is doing a little better because heroes suddenly appeared and defeated villains. The bad men who had been sucking the people dry are gone, so people may be able to make it through even this winter, when the Emperor himself can do nothing.”
“That's a relief.”
Ricart, Boribori, and the Nameless One had accomplished that together, but Ricart did not show it. They had not done it to be praised or celebrated. It was exactly as he said. He was relieved that people were living well.
“Indeed. It truly is a relief. That is why even a weak fellow like me can travel the roads alone. Hahaha.”
Ricart smiled quietly as he looked at Arno, who seemed to have changed somehow. The change did not seem bad.
“It was good to see you too, Arno. Sing me a song next time we meet.”
“Certainly. I will compose a masterpiece and sing it for you.”
“May good fortune go with you. I'll be going.”
“May good fortune also follow your path, young master.”
When they had parted before, they had not been able to say goodbye properly. But after meeting again with time having passed, the two of them could finally give each other a true farewell.
They sent one another off with smiles, and their regrets felt lighter.
Ricart was about to start walking again when he looked at Boribori. Boribori was blinking with a baffled expression.
“What?”
“You know...”
“Yeah.”
“I feel betrayed by Ricky.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you're a noble.”
“Do you feel betrayed because I'm a noble, or because I hid it from you?”
“Both.”
Ricart let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Does that mean all the hard times we went through together and all the moments we laughed together were fake?”
“No, but...”
“Come on. We have to find Mister.”
Ricart started walking. Boribori followed behind him.
After they walked in silence for a while, Boribori asked,
“Why did you come to the Academy?”
“Just because. Being a noble doesn't make me any more special than you.”
“That can't be true.”
“Think whatever you want.”
“Then where in the north are you from?”
“Not the north. The central south. Stormhertz. Ricart, third son of the Calderbern family.”
“Ugh. It sounds like you're speaking a foreign language.”
“Hahaha.”
“Anyway, Ricky is still Ricky, right?”
“Yeah.”
“By the way, Volka was right.”
“About what?”
“He said he'd never seen anyone as crazy as Ricky. I don't understand why a noble would come to the Academy.”
Ricart turned his head and glared at Boribori.
“Hey.”
“It's okay, even if you're crazy.”
“No, that's not the point.”
Boribori grinned, apparently pleased that he had teased Ricart for the first time in a while. Ricart let out a small laugh too.
They said there were partings after meetings, but there were also people who remained together. The two boys still could not fill the emptiness left by the Nameless One, but for a little while, they could soothe it with something else.
Small buds had begun to grow on the trees by the roadside.
Little by little, that fierce winter was beginning to wither away.
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