WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 456: Escape from the Principality no.3

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Long ago, humans were slower and weaker than other four-legged beasts. To survive, they had to make use of different strengths. Fortunately, humans had more to boast of than their large heads.

Endurance.

Perhaps because they devoured anything they could find, meat and grass alike, they were remarkably fuel-efficient as well. No matter how fast an animal fled, humans could pursue it tirelessly until they caught and hunted it.

Was this revenge from the beasts humanity had hunted back then?

I was now in the exact position of prey.

"Find them! Don't let them get away!"

"Search every inch of the area!"

"You don't have to catch them! Just don't lose them! Once night falls, we'll pursue them with the Yeilings!"

Baron Zenryu and several other Ains were searching for us with a large force of humans under their command. Few humans had properly learned energy arts, so they posed little threat, but it was nearly impossible to shake off those who kept pressing forward while tracking Hilde's and my trail.

Hilde glanced back.

"These tiresome vampires! They just keep chasing us without getting tired!"

"Don't say something so foolish. Vampires don't get tired."

"I know that! That's not what I mean! It's broad daylight, and they're still chasing us! If they're vampires, they should stick to the vampire concept!"

"The problem is sunlight, not the time of day. If they have a way to block the sun, they can chase us."

The plan had gone a little wrong.

Sunlight was like a sharp bee sting to vampires. It did more than weaken them. It restricted their movements as though they were trying to act in a room filled with bees. That was why we had attacked Baron Zenryu first and stolen the horse that would serve as their legs while their movements were hindered.

Unfortunately, they belonged to the line of Du Lahan, the Dark Knight. Like a knight, they had prepared spare horses. The instant we fled, they mounted another horse and chased after us. They were not as fast as we were during the day, but they could still command their forces.

"Listen to how relaxed you sound! You think you won't die, don't you?! It's so irritating that I want to hit you!"

"I'm not particularly relaxed, but I have a plan."

"What is it?"

"Taking Baron Zenryu out."

"Don't tell me you're planning to ambush them now? You really don't know anything. Turning around to charge back is the number one thing you should never do while fleeing! And they're not even a Yeiling, they're an Ain. It'd take a week to make them stay dead! By then, the pursuit force will have us surrounded three or four layers deep!"

"That was a vivid explanation. Sounds like you've run away a few times in your life."

She probably spoke from experience. Hilde had once been an enemy of the Empire known as the White-Faced One, and she had spent years on the run before joining the Holy Sword Corps. She had learned shapeshifting in the first place so she could flee.

If she hadn't been carrying me along now, she would have shamelessly slipped out of this encirclement herself. Her complaints were only natural.

"Don't worry. It isn't such a foolish plan."

"Then what is it?"

"Give me a moment. Ahem."

After clearing my throat, I turned around and shouted.

"Baron Zenryu! I'm going to tell you an extremely important fact, so open your ears and listen carefully!"

My voice echoed through the silent gorge. There was no reason for them to answer, but perhaps because they were a knight, Baron Zenryu responded themself.

"I'll listen after I catch you and force you to kneel!"

So they could hear me well despite the distance. I drew my voice up from my stomach and continued shouting.

"Your liege, Lord Du Lahan, is in danger right now! There was an uproar at the Castle of the Full Moon before I escaped, and Lord Du Lahan got caught up in it and was falsely accused! They need your help!"

"Ha! You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe it or not, that's up to you, but Lord Du Lahan is in danger if you don't confirm it quickly. Are you going to stand by and watch while your liege is in peril?"

"Are you trying to divert my troops' and my attention? If you thought I would fall for that, you were mistaken!"

I wasn't deceiving them. Du Lahan really was in danger. The problem was that they might already be dead.

"Lord Du Lahan, who values honor above all else, would never rebel, yet you dare slander them! I will capture you and make you pay for insulting my liege!"

...They were the one being deceived. Du Lahan might have been honorable, but they had also started a rebellion faster than anyone else.

"I'm telling you the truth! Your friends who headed toward the Castle of the Full Moon will appear soon, so find them and hear what they have to say!"

"Silence! You all heard that! Head toward where that voice came from!"

Baron Zenryu fell silent after that. Instead, the presence of humans gradually tightened around us from every direction. Hilde spurred the horse harder and rebuked me.

"Are you planning to bring enemies over to fight instead of turning around to charge back? What a wonderful plan!"

"It is a good plan. Everything I said was true without a single lie. They'll break away soon enough because of it."

"When is soon enough?"

"Let's see. News from the Duchy needs to arrive first... Two days, perhaps?"

"Wooow. That's soon enough by vampire standards. I think we'll be out first tonight~."

"If we make it through tonight, we have a chance."

Night belonged to vampires. The roads weren't level, so we couldn't ride horses at night. If we made light, we would only reveal ourselves to them. Yet if we hid in the darkness, the vampires would become faster and stronger as they pursued us.

"How are you going to make it through?"

"Do you know how we escaped from the military state?"

Hilde hadn't been there, but she was Shadow Casket of the military's Six Generals and a close subordinate of Holy Maiden Yuel. She must have heard the whole story.

"You used Rallion as bait and escaped? Even Yuel couldn't see through darkness and got fooled, but that only worked because you were on a moving Meta Conveyor Belt! It's too cliché to call it a strategy."

"Cliché means traditional. We can't spend our whole lives bluffing. We have to make the straightforward approach work at least once."

Of course, I needed a better hand than my opponent for that. Fortunately, I had recently made a good acquaintance.

When I spoke confidently, Hilde reluctantly accepted it.

"...Fine. I don't know. Let's do it."

* * *

The vampires' time arrived. Once Baron Zenryu judged that the sun had set enough, they finally took off their thick armor.

"Good work, squire."

"Ah, my arms are so heavy.... You're finally up."

The human squire who had held a parasol over the Baron's head all day complained as they clutched their numb arms. Baron Zenryu deliberately frowned.

"It was only one day. You carried a parasol, not a heavy banner, and you're already whining? Back in my day, a standard-bearer couldn't let go of the flag before their arms fell off! If their arms could no longer move, they held the pole in their mouth to support it!"

"Only a great Baron like you could do that...."

"Do you think I was strong and great from the beginning? I endured and overcame such pain and hardship to become what I am now! You are the same. If you stop complaining and carry the parasol more faithfully, you may become a great knight like me one day!"

"You're an Ain, Baron. Even if I died and came back to life, I couldn't become an Ain...."

"Life is unpredictable. I never dreamed that honorable Lord Du Lahan would knight me and make me an Ain, either!"

"Is that so?"

Baron Zenryu, who could not even imagine that Lord Du Lahan had died, made a promise that could never be fulfilled. As the squire's expression eased a little, Baron Zenryu firmly patted their shoulder.

"Get some rest. You have to carry the parasol again tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow... All day...."

Leaving the despairing squire behind, Baron Zenryu raised a hand and gave a signal. Blood energy rose from their fingers and waved twice like a flag. Soon after, mounted soldiers in dull, dark armor began appearing behind them one by one.

"Knight Puainyu. In accordance with the Blood Oath, I have answered Baron Zenryu's call."

"Knight Maini of Fence Ridge. In accordance with the Blood Oath, I have answered Baron Zenryu's call."

"Red Stray, in accordance with the Red Oath, has answered Baron Zenryu's call!"

Ten lone-mounted knights. Baron Zenryu's Yeilings. Their personal order of knights, whom they had carefully chosen and turned into vampires, formed ranks behind them, giving off red ghost-fire in the dark night.

Baron Zenryu looked over their knights with satisfaction and began their speech.

"Before setting out, I thank my faithful kin and loyal members. Your hearts, which rushed here without forgetting your blood oath, have reached me."

One advantage of vampires was that they didn't feel bored even after listening to such an old-fashioned speech. The human soldiers under their command looked disgusted, but Baron Zenryu continued without concern.

"Night is our time. We must pursue and punish the fugitives who dared attack me, claim to be the Progenitor's concubine, and insult our liege, honorable Lord Du Lahan. Although it was daytime, the skill that cut off my head was no ordinary one, but who are we? We are the hands and feet of honorable Lord Du Lahan, knights who guard this land. No one can take our honor, our lives, or our pride."

Baron Zenryu was a vampire too. They didn't feel any surging emotion or boiling passion while delivering such an old-fashioned speech. They gave it because they were an old-fashioned knight. To them, a speech before setting out was simply common sense.

It must have been even more terrifying for the humans listening, but what did it matter? Vampires didn't care.

Having done more to diminish morale than raise it, Baron Zenryu pointed forward.

"...Time is short, so I will stop here. We begin the pursuit. Glory to the Progenitor."

"Yes!"

They had once been nightmarish figures in old tales that frightened countless children. The Dark Knights, who pierced through the dim night, pursued the fugitives. Finding the fugitives' trail was not difficult despite the darkness. The horse carrying two people had galloped noisily, leaving hoofprints behind.

"Though Nox, the beloved horse they stole from me, is a fine steed, those who are not vampires cannot maintain their speed at night. They could not have gone far. Follow the trail."

"Yes!"

The Yeilings spread widely along the road. Baron Zenryu leisurely followed it from a position where they could head in any direction.

The trail remained long and clear. They followed the road for some time when a human squire who had been looking around approached Baron Zenryu.

"Baron. Will we keep following the road?"

"Of course. Nox's trail remains, does it not?"

"Um, I suppose...."

When the squire tilted their head and trailed off, Baron Zenryu answered as though they already knew the question.

"Do you think they may have used the horse's trail as bait and fled in another direction?"

"Yes. We haven't been lax in our pursuit so far, and even if Nox is a fine steed, I don't think the horse would have enough strength left to carry two people up a slope."

"A reasonable guess. It has two problems, though."

Baron Zenryu folded down their fingers as they spoke in a solemn tone.

"First. My horse Nox is a fine steed overflowing with grit. Carrying only two people, one of them a woman who looked less than half my size and the other a scrawny scholar, would never tire Nox out!"

It was the kind of grit-based argument old knights like them loved. The squire's words, Nox isn't a vampire like you, rose to the tip of their throat, but they barely swallowed them. They feared the lecture Baron Zenryu would give in anger more than the Baron's anger itself.

Ignoring the squire's feelings, Baron Zenryu continued.

"Second. Have you seen any human footprints or signs of brush being pushed aside, aside from the horse's hoofprints?"

"Uh, no."

"Exactly. There is only one road here, and beside it is a dirt path thick with brush. Humans would struggle to pass through it, and even if they did, they would leave obvious tracks. If they had pushed through the brush on foot, even people as insensitive as you would have noticed."

"What if they erased their tracks?"

"Erased their tracks? You people seem to think erasing tracks is like cleaning a room."

Baron Zenryu clicked their tongue and scolded the squire.

"Using Earth Qi Art to move lightly without leaving footprints, Water Qi Art to protect their bodies amid vines and branches, then moving carefully but quickly without even damaging the branches? A qi practitioner at that level would be rarer than a tireless fine steed. You might as well say they flew through the sky."

"Ah...! So you had considered all of that!"

"Your thoughts are simply too short and lacking. I will not scold you. Wisdom is like training. It can only be engraved into you through direct experience. Still, if you don't know something, you should listen and learn more humbly! How many years of experience do I have? Do you think I hadn't considered something even your shallow insight could come up with? It is truly lamentable. There was a reason I did not consider such a trivial guess...."

"Please just scold me instead!"

As they moved forward while listening to a lecture that dragged on as long as the pursuit, a Yeiling who had gone ahead sent a signal. Baron Zenryu stopped lecturing and spoke to the soldiers.

"Everyone, halt. You will stay here and guard the surroundings."

"Will there be a battle?"

"No. Even if there is, I will not leave it to you unless there is no other choice. The knight order will handle the battle, so focus on scouting and keeping watch."

Humans were resources. They could communicate and had many uses, but above all, their blood was precious. For a vampire, humans being injured or killed was the greatest loss. Therefore, combat fell to the stronger vampires, who did not suffer injuries.

This common sense resembled the chivalry Baron Zenryu followed closely enough that they had maintained the same character for hundreds of years. After organizing their forces, they headed toward where the signal had come from.

"Here!"

The Yeilings gathered one by one around the Baron, who had taken the lead. The Yeiling who had scouted the farthest and returned guided them from the front while following the trail. Nox's snorting could be heard in the distance. Each vampire readied a weapon in preparation for a possible battle.

Beyond the brush, they saw Nox panting as though exhausted and chewing grass. There was no sign of people nearby, as if they had abandoned the horse and left. Baron Zenryu carefully scanned the surroundings and gave an order.

"Find their tracks. An exhausted horse would not run down a night road alone. There will be human traces nearby."

"Yes!"

As the Yeilings scattered in every direction, Baron Zenryu approached their beloved horse. Nox might have been an insolent creature for carrying the fugitives far away, but what could a mere beast know?

Baron Zenryu was a compassionate knight, not only to humans but to horses. They were a vampire knight superior to horses and humans alike.

"You ran off without recognizing your own master.... I need to train you as a warhorse. I raised and sent off too many horses, so I neglected your training. Horses and humans both grow lax if they do not experience real combat."

As they approached the tired horse, they soon noticed something strange. Looking closely, they saw that a blindfold covered the horse's eyes and a small pouch was tied to its mane. Whenever Nox moved, something inside the pouch struck against itself with a rattling sound.

Horses were timid. If a rattling sound followed behind their ears while their vision was restricted, they would flee on their own even if no one was there. Nox must have been freed from the pursuing sound only after stopping in exhaustion.

"...Then when did they leave?"

Yet they had found no tracks on the way here. It would have been better if the darkness had simply hidden them, but that was not the case. Baron Zenryu was a vampire. Even if the human soldiers could not see, they and their Yeilings could see through the darkness. The absence of tracks through the brush had been clearly confirmed.

This time, the human squire had been right.

Baron Zenryu didn't know how, but they had a means of erasing their tracks.

Footnotes:

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