WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

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◈ Prince of Rage ◈

Chapter 17

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Dawn generally belonged to the servants. They had to have hot bathwater and meals ready by morning for the people they served.

But some people began their day at dawn by choice, not necessity.

They did so to make longer, more precious use of the time given to them.

Valerie and Arne were such people. The two began each day with physical training at dawn.

So today, too, they met before daybreak to train. Arne handed Valerie a vest, but Valerie did not take it.

“One more person has to come.”

“Huh?”

“I arranged to meet someone.”

“Who?”

“You'll know when you see him.”

Arne thought it was sudden, but there was no harm in exercising together.

And he was secretly curious. He had not thought Valerie would already have another friend besides him.

Not long after, someone came down from the hill where the castle stood. It was dawn, so only a dark silhouette could be seen, but the person did not seem very large.

At first, Arne paid no attention. Someone coming down from the castle would be a member of the ducal family, or an attendant or servant who served them closely.

But the person who came down the hill walked toward them. Naturally, Arne turned his gaze that way.

As the person approached, Arne's eyes widened more and more. The person Valerie had arranged to meet was none other than Knut, the third young master of House Viding.

When he finally reached them, Arne's heart was pounding. The difference in status was one thing, but Knut's notorious reputation was another.

Knut came up to them without a word of greeting and stared straight at Valerie with those large, catlike eyes.

Knut was a year younger than Valerie. He was bigger than Hakon, but noticeably smaller than the other two. He was a head shorter than Valerie, who was tall for his age.

Yet something thorny radiated from his small frame, making people uncomfortable and intimidated for no reason.

Of course, Valerie did not care in the slightest. Arne alone was restless.

“There is still someone I need to introduce you to. Come with me.”

Valerie started walking somewhere. Arne awkwardly followed, and Knut followed as well.

Valerie headed for the stables. After giving the stablehand a casual greeting, he led Snow out without even putting tack on him.

When the huge black warhorse appeared before him without any restraints, Arne was speechless. Its imposing presence made his knees weak.

Valerie calmly stroked Snow. In the faint dawn light, Snow's coat gleamed now and then as though it had been oiled.

“Th-this is the one from the horse market...”

Arne had already heard of Valerie's feat at the horse market. Seeing proof of the rumors with his own eyes gave him a slight sense of awe.

“Snow, these are my friends. You don't need to be wary.”

Valerie spoke to Snow as though he were speaking to a person. Snow did not snort even once, like a well-trained warhorse, and merely looked quietly at the two people he was meeting for the first time.

“Want to touch him?”

Valerie invited them both to do so.

Though frightened, Arne seemed captivated by the sleek yet massive creature and carefully touched its neck.

Knut stayed still, but when Valerie tipped his head as if urging him again, Knut gently stroked Snow's neck and shoulder.

It felt both peaceful and like walking on thin ice. Then Valerie abruptly spoke.

“I'll call you Knut. Do you have a problem with that?”

At first, Arne could not react, wondering if he had heard wrong. When he understood a moment later, his eyes went wide.

“W-Wid.”

Yet Knut himself showed no particular reaction to Valerie's rude attitude. He neither got angry nor looked surprised. He neither shook nor nodded his head, merely continuing to stroke Snow.

Arne was so uncomfortable he felt like he might die. Whether Valerie knew how he felt or not, he went further and asked Knut an even more shocking question.

“Why did you kill that person named Ketil?”

Arne's mouth fell open, and he gaped like a fish. He wanted to throw Valerie over his shoulder and run away at once. But he could only watch Knut's reaction and did not dare do so.

Valerie had heard Arne's explanation before and roughly guessed what had happened, but he had the feeling Knut himself might have had another reason. That was why he asked.

Still stroking Snow, Knut answered. Perhaps his voice had not changed yet, because compared to Valerie and Arne, it sounded truly childlike.

“He was acting up.”

“How was he acting up?”

“He crossed the line.”

“What line?”

“He said, ‘You and I aren't in such different circumstances.’”

“That crossed the line?”

“To be exact, he said there wasn't much difference between having a mother who was a concubine and former prostitute, and having a mother who was beheaded. So I killed him. Do you have a problem with that?”

“...”

It was impossible to know whether Ketilmund had said that because he wanted to find common ground, or because he wanted to look down on Knut.

In any case, hearing it directly from Knut made Valerie feel solemn for some reason.

“...No, I don't have a problem with it.”

“Then neither do I.”

“Hm?”

“You said you'd call me Knut.”

“Ah.”

Valerie nodded.

Arne's heart continued to pound. He could not properly grasp what exactly was happening. Perhaps because of Snow, the third young master, and the atmosphere of dawn, it all felt unreal.

If one looked past their public statuses, it was a conversation between a prince and the third son of a ducal house. Arne was not yet used to the particular force or charisma people like them possessed.

“You nearly killed me then, and I nearly killed you. Let's say that makes us even.”

Valerie said this, and Knut nodded.

Did that mean there were no hard feelings between them now? At least the two of them had none, but from Arne's perspective, the whole thing was deeply unsettling.

Regardless, Valerie continued asking questions without hesitation.

“There is one more thing I want to ask. I heard that when you were young, you cut open a servant's stomach while claiming to look for the person who stole a watermelon. Why did you do that?”

“Because he was trying to frame me.”

“A servant?”

“Yes. I cut open his stomach, and there was a watermelon inside.”

The explanation was lacking, but after seeing his mother beheaded as a child, Knut had developed symptoms close to mutism.

Then, one day, a servant secretly ate a watermelon belonging to the ducal house. When the duke looked for it, the servant framed Knut.

If Knut had remained still, it probably would have passed without much trouble. Surely the duke would not punish him over a single watermelon.

But Knut stabbed the servant in the stomach and cut him open on the spot.

“I see.”

Valerie nodded as if he understood.

Arne found it difficult to adjust to their conversation. One person was saying shocking things, while the other simply nodded as though it were nothing. What kind of conversation was this?

“I'm going to explain something now. Arne, listen carefully too. The duke gave us a mission. This isn't training. It's real combat. The three of us will do it. Do you understand?”

“W-What? Wait a moment.”

Arne said to wait, but Valerie ignored him and continued.

“To put it simply, it's closer to assassination or a murder contract. We're going to kill a man named Creed in the city of Gringen. Apparently, he's famous by the nickname Groin-Ripper.”

“...The city of Gringen?”

Gringen might have been geographically close to Torvik, but it felt far away when one actually intended to go there.

It was not a city within the duke's territory, and it was notorious as a place where all kinds of criminals gathered.

“Yes. But if the three of us simply go to Gringen, the Thieves' Guild will notice us immediately. They'll quickly figure out where we came from, what we had been doing, and why we came to the city. We don't know whether Groin-Ripper is connected to the Thieves' Guild, so we need a convincing story before we go to Gringen. A reason for why we came there.”

“...”

Arne blinked. Valerie had suddenly brought up a serious matter, and it was unfamiliar enough that he could not immediately understand.

Knut was the same, but unlike Arne, he did not show it on his face. No, in truth, he understood none of it. He merely kept his usual sulky expression.

“...So how are we supposed to do that?”

Arne asked.

“Business.”

“Business?”

“Yeah. We're not going to seek him out. We'll make him come to us. We should start a business that he'll find tempting. Of course, it's dangerous. Nobody does business in Gringen without putting their life on the line. They may try to ruin our business, take it from us, or get rid of us by any means necessary. Do you understand that much?”

“...So we need a sort of cover identity.”

It was not quite a cover identity, but even if Arne did not understand everything, he grasped the heart of it well. Compared to people who were ignorant or foolish beyond imagining, he might as well have been a genius.

“To sum it up, we draw his attention, identify him, find an opportunity, and kill him.”

It was a summary, but considering the process, it seemed almost impossible. Starting a business, facing assassination threats, getting into sword fights. And it would not end after just one or two fights.

Still, setting the direction was important, so Valerie had explained it in broad terms first.

Arne stared blankly at Valerie, then turned to look at Knut. He looked back at Valerie, then at Knut, and finally looked at Valerie again as he asked,

“Didn't you say... the three of us would do this?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“This doesn't seem like something we should be doing... Shouldn't knights or some sort of experts handle it...?”

“Then when will you do it?”

“Huh?”

“When will you take on a proper mission and carry it out? Will you do it after training for ten years? Listen, Arne. Crisis is another word for opportunity. The greater the crisis, the greater the opportunity. When do you think an opportunity like this will come to you again? A mission entrusted directly by the duke.”

At present, Arne mainly handled guard duties as a private soldier of the ducal house. He rose every dawn and trained hard every day, but there was no guarantee that his circumstances would improve because of it.

He was merely one replaceable soldier. Even among the knights, let alone the duke, most did not know who Arne was.

Even so, Arne could not readily agree because this was his first time. And since that first time was dangerous and immensely important, it was only natural that he would hesitate.

Arne wandered between an uncertain future and a stifling present, yet feared taking a step toward that future. Like any young person.

If the king died and a storm swept across the world, he might reveal his true worth within the whirlpool of fate. But for now, he was only a stone containing a shining gem.

“Arne.”

Valerie called Arne's name, gripping his shoulder. Arne, who had been looking down, turned toward him. Valerie's hand tightened on his shoulder.

Valerie looked at Arne seriously with those characteristically intense eyes.

“If you can't believe in yourself, believe in me. I know how brilliant a person you are. You alone did what no one else in the world dared to do out of fear. The Arne I know is the bravest person. Trust me and follow me. Then I'll make you believe in yourself.”

There was something strange about the tense Valerie used. But he spoke with such seriousness that it did not stand out.

There truly seemed to be great power in Valerie's words. Arne felt that if there was a time in life, it was now. There was nothing wrong with what Valerie had said. He could not train forever.

“All right. I'll do it.”

Valerie nodded at Arne's answer. He knew that if Arne said he would do something, he would truly give his life for it.

“And you?”

Valerie turned to Knut.

“Did I have a choice?”

“What do you mean?”

“You took me out of that cage.”

“That is true, but I'm not forcing you. I'm asking what you want voluntarily.”

“Voluntarily... I don't really know about that. Can't I just trust you too?”

“You can.”

“Fine. Then let's do that.”

It was somewhat anticlimactic, but Knut seemed rather numb to things like dying or the burden of major matters.

In any case, the three of them had decided to carry out the mission.

The day gradually brightened. Valerie looked back at the sun that had just risen. The morning sun resembled twilight, reddish mixed with gold.

Valerie brought out the tack and put it on Snow. As he stepped into the stirrup and mounted, he spoke to the two looking up at him.

Fresh morning sunlight, rather than flames full of resentment, shone in Valerie's eyes, making them gleam like jewels.

“Today, we'll look around outside the city. Knut, do you have a horse?”

“I had one, but I don't anymore.”

As the son of a ducal house, he naturally had access to horses, but they were provided by the duke and were not his personal horses. Since killing Ketilmund, Knut had been unable to use a horse.

“It can't be helped. The three of us will ride together. Arne, bring a mounting block.”

Arne went into the stable and brought out a mounting block. He rode in the back, while Knut rode in front. Valerie sat in the middle.

There was no reason three people could not ride one horse, but sitting in a row made them look somewhat ridiculous.

Valerie slowly guided the horse forward. After hesitating for a long while, Arne, seated behind him, cautiously spoke to Knut at the front.

“Um... Young Master, are you feeling all right?”

He had been confined in that harsh place for two whole days, so he could not possibly be in good condition.

But just as when they had first met, Knut kept his mouth shut and gave no response.

Only a morning-sunlight smile spread across Valerie's lips.

Chapter 5: What Comes After Dawn. End.

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