WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Ode of the Brave ◈
Chapter 66
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Since it normally took six hours to walk from Beringen to the Academy, Ricart, Boribori, and Marie decided to rest at the guild building for a day.
It was what they always did after returning from field work. They would wash leisurely in warm water, then sleep as comfortably as possible in clean bedding.
But when they approached the guild building, they saw quite a few students nearby. Their uniforms made them easy to recognize.
Yet none of them wore those uniforms properly. Some had their jackets draped over their shoulders without putting their arms through the sleeves. Others had not worn their jackets at all because it was hot, leaving their shirts open to reveal an unpleasantly thick mat of chest hair.
The only things that set them apart from everyone else were their dark blue trousers and matching boots.
Still, perhaps because the war was not completely over yet, there seemed to be an unusual number of students around the guild building, with no active adventurers in sight. Normally, students were not allowed to come and go from the guild building as they pleased.
There were exceptions, like Ricart and Volka, but that was only possible because Dunkel had permitted it.
Ricart learned later that Dunkel was the guild master, so if he allowed it, anything was possible.
After what had happened in front of the tavern earlier, Ricart approached the guild building in some confusion.
The students all looked at him. Ricart and his companions stood out at once in their different clothes. Their stares seemed to say, This is our territory. Why are you coming here?
Someone openly looked Ricart and his companions up and down before abruptly asking, “Adventurers?”
Ricart frowned slightly at the student’s tone.
“...Adventurers? What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, are you adventurers?”
“I’m a student like you. But you shouldn’t speak to adventurers that way. Show some respect. They’re all your seniors.”
“A student? Are you new? You must not know, but those so-called seniors are the ones who carried on the old evils of the past. We’re different from them. We’ve been reborn.”
“...?”
Ricart could not understand what the hell the student was talking about. He only blinked, unable even to tell whether he should get angry or argue back. What was this nonsense?
And it was not entirely wrong to say that the older generations had passed down bad customs. The old Academy really had been a place overflowing with terrible violence.
But people who had not experienced it could not understand. Hearing about it was not enough to make it feel real.
“You’re fairly well armed. Did you join up along the way? Strange. If you had contacted us beforehand, someone would have gone to fetch you for your safety.”
The Academy student kept babbling as they pleased. Then Boribori, who rarely stepped in when Ricart was speaking, spoke up.
“Hey, friend.”
“Hm?”
“If you don’t want to die, I think you should talk less. We’re a little tired. We’re going through. Is that alright?”
Boribori spoke with an utterly innocent expression. Ricart turned to him in surprise, wondering what had gotten into him.
It was good that Boribori had grown through all the hardships they had faced together and developed opinions of his own, but not like this. Had he picked it up from Volka?
Boribori was not giving off any killing intent, but the student hesitated. Their equipment was too good for the student to casually look down on them as newcomers.
Regardless, Ricart entered the building. It was ridiculous, but they had come to rest. He thought that even if they kept talking, neither side would understand the other.
But once he stepped inside the guild building, he noticed that the layout had changed somewhat. A small raised platform, like a theater stage, had been installed against one wall.
And as expected, students had practically occupied the guild building. They were drinking alcohol and rolling dice.
“Huh? Ricky?”
Thankfully, one of them recognized Ricart. Finally.
Once one student noticed him, heads turned throughout the room.
“Huh?”
“It’s Ricky.”
“It’s Ricky!”
Then they swarmed around Ricart.
Seeing familiar faces, Ricart finally felt as if he had come home.
“Have you all been well?”
“Is the war over?”
“I heard you killed a hundred people in the Kaits Highlands!”
“That’s Ricky for you. Those Rubens bastards must have had their noses rubbed in it.”
“Are you hurt?”
Ricart had only asked whether they were well, but the students immediately poured out a flood of other questions. It had always been like this, but it was still overwhelming. What was this about killing a hundred people, and who were these Rubens bastards?
“A hundred, my ass. Anyway, this place seems to have changed a lot. Do you like the clothes?”
“Of course. The uniforms are our honor and pride. They show that we’re students of the Great Beringen Academy. No other Academy has anything like this.”
“What is this Great Beringen thing, anyway?”
“The great Beringen Academy. We broke the chains of submission and were reborn. We are all brothers and sisters, united as one. There are no nobles and no bastards. Under Kalli’s leadership, we’re building the Academy you wanted, Ricky.”
Since entering Beringen, everyone had seemed insane or kept saying things he could not understand. Ricart almost looked like he was about to cry.
“What are you talking about? I never wanted that.”
“But you said that everyone at the Academy was equally a student, Ricky...”
“No, I meant that you should not bully or discriminate against one another. I meant you should get along!”
“That’s what we’re doing right now.”
“Ha... Fine, but what is this leadership of Kalli’s supposed to be?”
“If you, Ricky, are the pioneer, then Kalli is the leader. He puts your teachings into practice, embodies them, and unites the students. He’s an excellent student representative.”
Pioneer? Leader? At that point, Ricart squeezed his eyes shut. What the hell was this nonsense?
“Kalli will give a speech tonight. You should listen too, Ricky. You’ll like it.”
“Forget that. Prepare some bathwater. Where’s the little clerk?”
The little clerk Ricart meant was the child who had guarded the guild building alone when they left the Academy to fight in the guild war.
“The little clerk? Chet?”
The student looked somewhere else. Following the student’s gaze, Ricart saw the child sitting at a table with Academy students, drinking alcohol and rolling dice. Chet already seemed pleasantly drunk.
“Heh heh heh... I’ve hit it big. I’ve hit it big.”
Ricart’s eyes widened. He hurried over to the table and flipped it over with a crash.
“What the hell are you doing!?”
The startled students looked as though they had no idea what was going on.
“How could you give alcohol to a child!?”
“...”
Everyone was flustered by Ricart’s sudden outburst. An awkward silence followed before someone said, “...Because drinking makes you feel good? And if we all feel good together, then that’s even better...?”
Even Dunkel had not offered Ricart alcohol, but the students seemed to think that if something was good, more of it was simply better.
Most of them could not even read and were ignorant, so they did not seem to understand what was wrong.
For the first time in his life, Ricart felt the back of his head tighten and his breathing grow short.
Once the active adventurers had left, even if they had been indifferent adults, the children had become a complete mess.
Adventurers were dying on the battlefield, and huge sums of money changed hands every day for the war effort. No one had time to care for the children.
Ricart barely got himself under control and spoke as calmly as he could.
“From now on, alcohol is forbidden until you become adults. Gambling is forbidden too. If anyone has a complaint, say it now. If I catch you doing either, you’ll die by my hand. Understood?”
The students inside the building only blinked. They might have been ignorant, but they tended to obey authority well enough when given orders. The problem was that, with time, things somehow changed into something strange.
“Take the child and put Chet to bed. And none of you drink any more. Go outside and do some work, or if you have nothing to do, go run around and play. If you’re going to drink and gamble, get out. All of you, get out!”
When Ricart shouted, the students flinched and hurried out.
Ricart stood amid the overturned, scattered mess, breathing heavily. It felt as though all the fatigue he had built up was crashing down on him at once.
Marie approached and rubbed his back comfortingly.
“This is getting a little scary. I think everyone’s gone mad.”
“You don’t need to worry. Once the adventurers return, they’ll act quiet as mice again, like nothing happened.”
Boribori was unexpectedly relaxed. The students were a mess, but he thought it would only be temporary.
In the end, Ricart had no choice but to wash in cold water. Marie filled a bath barrel separately and washed, then they each went to their rooms and immediately fell asleep.
But it felt as if Ricart had only closed his eyes for a moment before noise outside woke him from his pleasant sleep. He could hear loud, bustling voices.
When Ricart came out, he saw that the first floor below the railing was packed with students. They filled not only the tables but also the floor, sitting and standing all the way into the corners.
The only empty place was the small platform.
“Ricky, over here.”
Boribori, who must have woken earlier, spotted Ricart from a corner where he was sitting with Marie and called out.
The atmosphere was so loud and chaotic that the other students did not even notice Ricart. He squeezed through the crowd and barely made it down the stairs, reaching the shadowed spot beside Boribori.
“What is all this!?”
The room was so noisy that he had to shout even to Boribori beside him.
“There’s going to be a speech!”
“By who!?”
“Kalli! He hasn’t come yet!”
“Oh, right.”
Ricart remembered what he had heard that afternoon. There was supposed to be a speech that evening.
Honestly, he was a little curious. What kind of nonsense was that guy going to spout? After sleeping, Ricart’s mind felt a little clearer.
Even then, the students kept talking loudly. It seemed to grow louder and louder. Ricart wondered whether the building might collapse from the noise.
The hall was dim, lit only by lanterns and candles. But the students seemed to drive away the darkness with the vigor of youth.
Was that good or bad? Their energy was good, at least.
The chatter made Ricart’s ears ache. Then, just as the noise reached its peak, the guild building’s doors opened.
The room fell silent in an instant, like ripples spreading across water. Carlich entered, accompanied by several students who looked like attendants.
With his hands behind his back, Carlich slowly climbed onto the platform. He swept his gaze over the students before opening his mouth.
“Greetings, student comrades, brothers and sisters. I am endlessly pleased that so many of you have gathered again today.”
Carlich was remarkably solemn. He was not even speaking loudly. A moment ago, people had needed to shout to be heard by the person beside them, yet now everyone listened only to him.
Carlich seemed to savor the music of that silence for a moment before speaking again.
“Student comrades. Have you ever sat alone, lost in thought? Times of silence come to us all. I am no different. Yet when I sit quietly in contemplation, I hear a sound. Do you know what sound it is?”
Carlich threw the question to the students.
“The sound of birds singing?”
“The sound of people fucking?”
“Ha ha ha. I hear those sounds too, but I mean the sound heard in complete silence. I hear the rattle of chains. Can none of you hear them?”
Everyone looked confused at his sudden, incomprehensible words. Ricart had thought it before, but he wondered whether something was wrong with Carlich’s mind.
Then Carlich suddenly clenched his fist and shouted. He had been speaking quietly, so everyone flinched in surprise.
“It is the sound of the chains that bind us! The sound of oppression! Persecution! Submission! I find it unbearable! Do none of you feel the same!?”
Carlich shouted fiercely, looked over the crowd, then spoke quietly again. The students had already been listening intently, but now they listened as though spellbound.
“Whether you come from nobility or were born a bastard, you are all the same. You have lived under the pressure and contempt of your families. I am the same. But even now that you have left home, do those chains of bondage not still bind you? Does inexplicable anger not sometimes rise within you and weigh you down? We must break these chains! We have been given that duty!”
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
He ended with another forceful shout. Applause burst forth, and Carlich seemed to leisurely enjoy it for a while before raising a hand to stop it.
“To break those chains, we must fight! What are we fighting against? We must fight the ideas lodged in the minds of you and everyone else! Bastard? Second son? What comes to mind when you hear those words? Useless wretch, someone who should never have been born, a spare part, a damned bastard. Will you leave it that way? We must show the world! United as one! Let us fight against all that crushes and oppresses us!”
Seemingly drunk on his own words, Carlich threw back his head and spread both arms wide. The students all rose to their feet and applauded like thunder.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
The applause was truly deafening. It seemed to shake the entire building. Some students even pounded wooden cups against the tables.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Alcohol sloshed and spilled everywhere.
But Boribori also stood up and clapped enthusiastically. Marie seemed moved by the speech as well and was applauding beside Ricart. Ricart quickly grabbed both of them and forced them back down.
“What are you doing? Get a hold of yourselves.”
“But it seems like a better speech than I expected?”
“Better than expected, my ass. It’s dangerous.”
“What is?”
“What does he mean, fight the world? Even if they do fight, they need the strength to back it up. If they do this wrong, they’ll all die.”
His words might sound good, but when Ricart thought about them carefully, they were not realistic. That was why they were dangerous.
Then something unexpected happened. Carlich pointed directly at Ricart and shouted.
“I will end today’s speech early. Because today, we have a special guest with us. Our savior! Our pioneer! Our hero! The great warrior of the Great Beringen Academy! Ricky! Let us welcome him with applause! Eeeveryone!”
Ricart was startled. Looking around, he saw everyone staring at him and clapping until their palms burned.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
It was the first time in his life he had faced something so absurd. Even Ricart, who usually kept his composure, was flustered and did not know what to do. The wordless applause pressed in on him.
“Ricky! Ricky! Ricky! Ricky!”
Soon, the students began chanting his name.
Ricart had no choice. He could not remain where he was any longer, so he walked through the path the students had opened and climbed onto the platform.
Carlich stepped aside and applauded with a deeply satisfied expression. They had said some crazy agitator had become the boss. This was what they had meant.
The room was dim, but that only seemed to make the students more drunk on the atmosphere.
After the applause finally died down, every student’s gaze settled on Ricart. Their eyes were full of expectation.
Those who knew Ricart looked at him with smiles, while those who did not gazed at him with admiration.
Ricart had stepped onto the platform, but he did not know what to say. He had remained calm even under the murderous eyes of enemies in battles of life and death, but this was the first situation like this he had ever faced. He felt overwhelmed.
The students’ expectations were not something he could fight with a sword.
But he could not make up words he did not mean, either.
And honestly, the behavior of the Academy students he had seen since arriving in Beringen had not been good. They were united, but not in the right direction.
Still, how could he betray those expectant eyes? Each of them looked at him as though welcoming a god.
Perhaps Boribori and Marie had been moved by Carlich’s speech, while Ricart alone remained clear-headed because he had grown up in the only harmonious family among them.
Yet because he retained memories of his previous life, he could understand the students’ feelings in another way.
While Ricart struggled to gather his thoughts, time continued to pass. The silence stretched on. The students began to sense that something was wrong and started murmuring.
Then Ricart spoke. It seemed like an occasion that required formality, so an odd tone came out without him meaning to.
“I, Ricky, am disappointed in you students.”
The students would have gone wild at even a simple gesture, but at Ricart’s words, the room became so silent that not even a breath could be heard.
Their expectant eyes turned confused. Like lost sheep, they did not know how to react. Was it a joke? Were they supposed to laugh?
In contrast, after speaking those words, Ricart finally felt free from the pressure. He slowly looked over the students filling the guild headquarters.
It was as if he could see their unease, confusion, and resentment.
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