WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 524: Beyond the Wolf, the Human

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Private property could not be seized or subjected to an evacuation order arbitrarily. The vassal state was a feudal nation that had begun as a vassal of the Empire. Even a feudal lord had no right to dispose of a vassal's property as they pleased, and any reckless attempt would draw the Empire's sanctions.

"Are you saying we should leave the beast-ears alone after they rebelled and destroyed public order?"

A rebellion could serve as a pretext to interfere in another territory, but Duke Erectus denied even that.

"A rebellion? The beasts we kept merely broke through their fence and ran wild. So we stepped away for a while and then came back. I do not know whether Marquis Lapaeno has ever raised beasts, but animals are temperamental by nature and take work to manage. Is that not simply something one must accept?"

If beastkin were denied rights, then even their crimes could be denied. Those without rights could not commit crimes either.

It was a defense only Duke Erectus, who looked down on beastkin, could make... but it was still a defense.

'Wait. Is that rude recognized human protecting the beastkin right now? No way! He actually means it!'

'Erectus's words sound like nothing but contempt for beastkin, but if you listen closely, they are deeply political! Could Erectus really be calculating all this?'

Did Duke Erectus simply dislike the vassal state meddling with his property, or did he genuinely intend to help the beastkin? Neither Gruel nor Sapien could tell.

Even Marquis Lapaeno was no different.

"No, do you truly intend to live alongside beast-ears? I heard the beast-ears drove you out and even tried to kill you."

A rebellion was like a scar. Once it happened, it was easy for it to flare up again. Any recognized human who had felt threatened would lean on the vassal state, if only to preserve their authority.

That calculation had been behind the intervention, but the recognized human opposed it instead. The Marquis no longer had an excuse to interfere.

"I do not understand. Property that bites its owner? Have you grown attached to those beast-ears?"

"How could that be? Unless cherishing one's property is what you call attachment."

"Hmm."

Duke Erectus probably had not intended it, but thanks to his words, Gruel made up his mind. If there had been no choice, Gruel might have considered it longer. Yet somehow, Duke Erectus was taking the beastkin's side as well. There was no need to choose Marquis Lapaeno's coercive offer.

"Forget it, Marquis. I refuse too. I think I'd rather remain the Great Chieftain and keep running my business than become some sixth finger that may not even exist. There's no need to play commander in a tiny place like Ende."

"Is that so..."

Marquis Lapaeno drew out the words slowly. Ende's recognized human refused, and Gruel would not accept the offer either. Unless the Marquis intended to force the matter, there was no way to interfere with Ende. Even Marquis Lapaeno had not expected beastkin to be treated as private property and used to strip away his justification.

Still, if he were going to turn back over something as small as justification, he would not have brought a legion. For Marquis Lapaeno, this was simpler. Force could settle everything.

A faint, moustache-like curve played about the Marquis's mouth.

"Master!"

Welshi, the watchdog, sprang into action. Having focused every bit of attention on her master's safety, Welshi sensed the Marquis's hostility before Gruel did. She used aura arts to make her fur stand on end, shoved her master away, and stepped in front of him.

Unlike with the regressor, the Marquis did not stop his sword.

Shhk.

The slash emerged visibly from behind Welshi's body. Blood scattered along the tip of the rapier. Welshi's body jerked violently before she collapsed onto Duke Erectus. Duke Erectus hurriedly caught her.

"Welshi!"

"...Ah, ngh."

The hand against her back felt hot and wet. Duke Erectus saw the large, vivid-red wound across Welshi's back. Far too much blood gushed from that small body.

Behind her, Marquis Lapaeno held a flexible rapier and shook off the blood with aura arts. Sparks flew from Duke Erectus's eyes.

"Damn it, open your eyes, Welshi! Damn you! What are you doing?!"

Concern for his watchdog and hatred for the Marquis who had wounded her echoed through his mind. Reading those turbulent emotions, the Marquis spoke as if bored.

"See? You really have grown attached."

The air changed in an instant. Gruel and Sapien sprang to their feet, weapons in hand.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Marquis, what is this outrage?!"

At the same time, the soldiers behind Marquis Lapaeno moved. The army, already in formation, unleashed aura arts all at once and leveled their blades. The court mage unit drew their wands and summoned clouds. Rumble. From beyond the clouds came a threatening presence aimed at Gruel and the Beast Faction warriors.

An army was a group prepared for war. The force that would have faced the King of Wolves, had they been here, was now aimed at Gruel. As mana bound his entire body, Gruel dragged a foot across the ground, choosing his terrain.

Marquis Lapaeno, who had caused all this, remained calmer than anyone.

"I merely wished to see whether the watchdog did its job properly. It does. Since it saved its master's life, it will be satisfied even if it dies."

"What...!"

"More importantly, Gruel. Aren't you getting a little too full of yourself? I gave you my finest offer out of consideration for someone who has reached mastery. If you make me lose face like this, my dignity will suffer."

While both sides aimed weapons at each other in a tense standoff, Duke Erectus alone moved frantically.

First, Duke Erectus tore his clothes to stop Welshi's bleeding. It was like trying to hold back a dam with bare hands. When the blood would not stop, Duke Erectus scooped Welshi up and ran desperately.

Marquis Lapaeno casually extended his rapier at Erectus's back. There was only a faint aura in the blade, as though it did not matter whether Duke Erectus lived or died. Gruel, whose senses had been stretched to their limit, unfolded the terrain he had chosen and moved.

Clang!

Gruel's dagger violently knocked aside the rapier. The blade aimed at the recognized human's life was deflected. Feeling the heavy impact in his wrist, Gruel was stunned.

'Heavy! That thin, flexible sword...!'

It was not strength that could be gained through training alone. The Marquis's aura arts were so immense and delicate that they could manipulate even the rapier's elasticity. How many spiritual elixirs had he consumed? Even Gruel, who had encountered plenty of elixirs, could not dare guess.

"The lands south of the Enger Plain have always been under the vassal state's jurisdiction. Our rule was only delayed for a while because of wolves and other beasts. The spiritual elixirs hidden below, in the old territory of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand or the elephant graveyard... they are not lost property without an owner. You should not act as though everything belongs to you."

Those elixirs were the true objective of Marquis Lapaeno and the vassal state. Gruel finally understood and raised his inner power.

"So you never intended to leave me alone from the start...!"

"You were too troublesome to leave alone, Gruel."

Gruel moved again with Ground Leveling. He had not been able to choose much terrain in the urgency of the moment, but in a battle between humans, even that short distance could decide the outcome. Cutting through the wind, Gruel lunged at the Marquis's limbs with his dagger.

Marquis Lapaeno was also an aura artist who had reached the peak. With only a light step or two, he slipped free of the disadvantageous distance and counterattacked. The flexible rapier targeted Gruel precisely, like a snake.

'His reactions are astonishing, but...!'

Gruel's principle, Ground Leveling, was the pinnacle of Earth Qi Art embodied as a principle. Half a step before the rapier, Gruel's body came to an abrupt stop. The swaying tip of the rapier swept past before his eyes. It was a counterattack as magnificent as a painting, but Gruel read even that and slipped in a feint.

'Slower than the King of Wolves! I'll finish this before he can unfold his principle!'

His body, stopped for an instant, moved again. A fired gun was at its most vulnerable, and a swung sword was at its weakest. He let the attack pass by a tenth of a second and stepped into a space that should have been safe...

Then Gruel's body flew back with a thud. Something tore through the defensive aura spread across his body, a technique only an aura artist who had grasped the knack could use, and struck him in the face.

Had Gruel not protected his body with aura arts, or had he not slowed down during that brief stop, the invisible slash would have taken off his face. Thankfully, Gruel survived with only a bloody mark.

'Cut...? But by what?! There was definitely nothing there...!'

The problem was that even Gruel, who had reached the principle, did not know what had cut him. Marquis Lapaeno spoke proudly to Gruel, who could not approach carelessly.

"But you should have known your place a little better."

The Empire. The vassal state. A weapon of war created by humans who monopolized wealth and power.

The peak of a pyramid reached by those chosen by fate, who absorbed every spiritual elixir and secret manual with a nation's support.

Black Tiger General Marquis Lapaeno, the Duet Sword, unleashed his principle.

Duet Sword.

The path the rapier carved through empty space lingered. It was not the sword itself but the shape of its slashes that etched patterns into the air. Its epithet came from the way it seemed to embroider a musical score across the sky.

Where Gruel ruled distance, Marquis Lapaeno ruled space. The sword trails embroidered through the air were his space and his principle. Within the fortress made from slashes, he was practically invincible.

Seeing the flashing blade, Sapien cried out urgently.

"Gruel! Be careful! The Marquis's principle leaves sword trails in the air! Those trails are pure slashes. If you touch one, you'll be cut as if caught on sharp wire!"

"Hmm. Revealing a master's principle before battle... This is clear rebellion!"

Sapien knew how grave a crime that was. Still, there was no choice. From the moment he had brought an army, Marquis Lapaeno had intended to solve every problem through force if necessary.

Since Marquis Lapaeno had freely swung his sword at Duke Erectus and left Welshi with a serious wound, Sapien had no room to hold back either.

"Duet? Tch, I heard yeontan as 'coal briquette' and thought it was a sword that set things on fire!"

"That is not it! Here, yeontan means a duet score! Two people...! Ngh!"

"That is enough, Duke Sapien."

The adjutant, who had somehow come up behind Sapien, seized Sapien's cloak and threw him. Sapien's huge armored body flew through the air like a pebble. When Sapien tried to regain balance in midair, the adjutant caught his cloak again and slammed him into the ground. The already damaged ground shook uneasily.

"Urgh...!"

Sapien hurriedly got to his feet as the adjutant approached. Though the adjutant had not reached a principle, they were an elite fighter entrusted with serving the Black Tiger General. Sapien could match neither the adjutant's mastery of aura arts nor the adjutant's combat experience.

Even one exchange revealed a dizzying gap. Sapien instinctively knew that the gap between Gruel and Lapaeno was probably greater than the one between him and the adjutant.

"Secrets are secrets. Please do not reveal them carelessly."

"What does it matter? Even if it is a secret, there is no one who does not know it. Now that we have established our justification, let us at least show it off to Gruel."

Marquis Lapaeno smiled leisurely and tapped the scabbard hanging at his waist. Above the scabbard from which his rapier had been drawn, another remained, its sword hilt still hanging from it.

"I generally use two swords, Gruel. Just like you."

Among masters who had reached the principle, many used twin swords. Whether they used the left hand or right hand, they could unfold their principle in the same way.

In Marquis Lapaeno's case, the intricacy of his twin-sword technique had crossed a certain boundary. He etched trails into the air with two smoothly bending rapiers, gradually filling the space and pressuring his enemy until there was no room to breathe. He swung his twin swords as smoothly and powerfully as an orchestra conductor, seeming to perform two musical scores alone, which was why he was called the Duet Sword.

In other words, one sword could not reveal his true power. Marquis Lapaeno covered half his face with a rapier and spoke.

"You are a master too. Make me use both swords."

Footnotes:

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