WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Prince of Rage ◈
Chapter 84
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Valerie and Ölvir had been on the road in search of the dragon for three days. After sleeping outdoors the whole time, they finally found a village.
There was no separate tavern or inn. One of the homes sold drink, food, and beds to travelers and pilgrims.
Rather than pastoral, the village felt somewhat empty.
“A dragon? Do such things really exist?”
The innkeeper asked with a puzzled look as he brought out something like porridge.
Valerie glanced at Ölvir, then looked back at the innkeeper.
“Have you not heard of Húginnis, the fire dragon of Mount Hekla?”
“Well... Ah, that, uh, I have heard there is a mountain that burns forever at the western edge of Aldincaster. I have heard travelers say a dragon lives there.”
In a world where records were nearly nonexistent outside the ruling class, many things were forgotten after only one generation. Clear facts often became legends, and legends often became facts.
Since Ölvir was not entirely sound of mind, Valerie had some doubts about what was true as well.
“I saw it...”
Ölvir, who had been listening to their conversation, muttered as he drank his porridge. In any case, Valerie no longer felt any need to deny whatever anyone chose to believe.
Apparently finding the two of them fascinating, the innkeeper sat across the table as though joining their meal.
“Are you two father and son? Or grandfather and grandson?”
“No. We are merely traveling together.”
“Surely you are not companions on your way to kill a dragon?”
“...That is correct.”
“My word, it has been a long time since I have met people so full of romance. These days, all anyone says is money, money. They cry over money, laugh over money, die for money, and live for money. How did the world become like this? When I was young, there were many young men who dreamed of adventure and wanted to sail out to sea.”
The innkeeper stared at Valerie and Ölvir as though they were truly strange animals.
With nothing to say, Valerie simply drank his porridge. He glanced around the house. It felt as though the innkeeper lived alone.
“Do you have no family?”
“Travelers passing through are all my family.”
He seemed to have a story, but Valerie did not ask further. Yet the innkeeper spoke on his own.
“Young people are bound to long for adventure. I was one of them. I left to see the world, and when I returned, my family was gone. I never married. But I did have love. I have suffered every hardship imaginable. Still, they were all valuable experiences.”
“Where have you been?”
Ölvir asked as he finished his porridge and drank lukewarm ale.
“Oh, nowhere much. I boarded a ship in the royal capital and merely traveled along the coast. Some say the Empire has fallen, while others say it remains strong. Ah, the Empire was a country ruled by the Golden Giants. They say it possessed the whole world, though I do not know whether that is a boast or the truth. I also saw the Salikans in the south, but before long, absurdly enough, I was captured and made a slave. After going through all sorts of hardships, I somehow escaped and hid in a farming village somewhere in Salika. One of the young women there liked me. She was a lovely woman. I could have simply stayed there, but one of my companions had a conflict with the village chief’s faction. He killed the chief and several others, and we left the village. That was the choice I regret most in my life.”
The innkeeper spoke with a quiet smile, but there was an indescribable bitterness beneath it.
“You are still breathing, are you not?”
“Hm?”
“If you are still breathing, you can go find her even now.”
“...The truth is, that young woman was the chief’s daughter.”
“Even so. Go, kneel, and beg. Let them cut off your ears and gouge out your eyes as payment, or let them kill you. Your life has stopped there.”
“...”
“The decision is yours. I am not forcing you. Bring me another bowl.”
The innkeeper seemed to fall into serious thought at Ölvir’s words, then took the bowl Ölvir held out and brought back more porridge.
There was no further conversation.
After eating, Valerie went to the village well and washed with Ölvir. They took off their clothes, scrubbed each other’s backs, and did laundry. Ölvir’s rag-like clothes, however, were simply thrown away.
They returned naked, paid the innkeeper, and received clothes. They were not new, but they were far better than rags.
Valerie changed into his spare clothes, hung the laundry to dry, tended to Snow, then went inside to rest.
Three men of entirely different generations stayed in the house.
After spending the night at the lodging, Valerie prepared to set out again with Ölvir.
The gambeson Countess Sybild had made was stuffed with cotton and had not fully dried, but he decided to drape it over the saddle and let it dry as they traveled.
They replenished their supplies of feed, flint, hard jerky and bread, firewood, and flint, then set out.
Valerie intended to at least bid farewell to the innkeeper, but the innkeeper was nowhere to be seen.
They had a long road ahead, so they could not wait indefinitely. Valerie urged Snow onward. The day was overcast, and a lukewarm wind blew.
To the right of the road lay plains, and to the left stood the edge of a forest. Birds and various animals cried out from within the woods.
After they had traveled for some time, animal cries could be heard only from afar. Nearby, they had abruptly stopped.
Valerie noticed even that small change and felt a thin thread of unease. Then Ölvir grabbed Valerie’s shoulder from behind.
“Watch the left. Let us dismount and walk for a while.”
Though his mind was not entirely sound, his instincts for battle still seemed sharp. Valerie was honestly a little surprised.
Valerie dismounted as Ölvir said. If they were ambushed, they could be caught by prepared traps, snares, or billhooks.
Riding a horse gave one superiority in charging power and mobility, but it was not good for responding to sudden situations.
Holding Snow’s reins, Valerie walked on while watching the forest to the left. The thick brush looked perfect for concealing oneself.
The unease grew stronger and clearer, until it almost became certainty. Valerie stopped.
He quietly turned toward the forest. He said nothing and stared at it for a long time. Then someone walked down the distant road.
It was the innkeeper.
He wore no special combat gear, but he wore a kind of work outfit, with cloth wrapped around his sleeves and ankles and a hood over his head. A short sword, tucked into his belt without a scabbard, was visible as well.
As he approached, people began emerging from the forest one by one. There seemed to be five or six of them. They blocked the way back and formed an encirclement.
“How did you know?”
The innkeeper asked. Valerie considered for a moment, then met his gaze calmly.
“That is what I would like to ask. Why did you leave us alone while we slept, only to do this now?”
“I gave it some thought. I did not want to go this far. Hand over the arm ring and the horse, and I will let you go.”
Apparently, the sight of Snow and Ölvir’s Viking arm ring had stirred his greed.
“Did you not say that travelers passing through were all your family?”
“Most are penniless. But is a gold arm ring like that not too much for an old man? And that warhorse is too much for you as well. You do not look like a knight.”
“So you have nothing to regret.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are simply that sort of man, with that sort of life.”
“Hahaha... Forgive me for ruining the romance, but the truth is, we raped every woman in that farming village and killed every man. There was never any love.”
Valerie was not disappointed. He had not expected anything in the first place. He was not angry, nor did his mood darken. He remained astonishingly calm. That was how he was when dealing with such insignificant things.
For his feelings to change at all would be an insult to his pride.
“I will break through ahead. Follow me.”
Valerie quietly told Ölvir. At that moment, something went whoosh past Valerie.
Something flew at high speed and buried itself in the innkeeper’s chest. It was Ölvir’s spear.
Whoosh! Thud!
Urk!
It happened so suddenly that the innkeeper could do nothing but flinch. He fell backward and writhed.
His companions were startled, and so was Valerie.
Leaning against Snow, Ölvir panted heavily.
“Do not worry about me.”
Valerie stood there, briefly dumbfounded, then drew his sword. He looked in every direction, then walked toward the nearest person.
The person Valerie chose stumbled back in panic, and those forming the encirclement rushed closer.
Valerie rapidly closed the distance, took one large step, and swung his sword diagonally upward from below. Just as his opponent tried to draw a weapon, their arm was severed and their torso deeply cut. Blood sprayed out.
Someone approached from the side, aiming for Valerie, but he ignored them for the moment and turned to head toward Ölvir.
There was no need.
Snow thrashed and smashed one person’s jaw with a hind kick. Ölvir stepped slightly away from Snow, avoiding another person’s attack while using that person as a shield to block the attack of another.
Ölvir had no swordsmanship to speak of. He simply stabbed. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he drove the blade in. He thrust his short sword beneath someone’s jaw, shoved the body aside, grabbed the remaining opponent’s arm, pulled them close, and stabbed them in the neck again.
He killed two people in an instant.
He was so used to killing people that he made it look easy.
Then he began panting again. Snow came back over so that he could lean against it.
Without even looking at the attack from his flank, Valerie stepped back slightly to avoid it, then sliced through the attacker’s waist as he passed. Even without drawing on his strength, Wound’s sharpness alone cut through half the person’s waist.
Their upper body twisted, and their entrails spilled out. Just as a scream burst out, Valerie drove his sword into their throat.
Six people died in an instant.
No, one was still alive.
Valerie walked toward the fallen innkeeper. With the spear lodged in his chest, he clutched its shaft and continued writhing on the ground.
After catching his breath for a moment, Ölvir led Snow over and looked down at the innkeeper. There was no ulterior motive or emotion in the eyes of the two men looking down at him. They were as ordinary as ever.
The innkeeper’s eyes, on the other hand, were filled with fear.
Ghk... Ghk...
“When you saw someone riding a horse like this, did it never occur to you that you should be careful? Do you think Viking arm rings are given to just anyone? Have you traveled the world without even developing an eye for such things? Pathetic, truly pathetic. How easy must life be for you to be this careless? Tsk, tsk, tsk...”
Ölvir clicked his tongue as though he found the innkeeper both pathetic and pitiful.
But the innkeeper could not speak, no matter how much he wanted to, because of the pain and the hole in his lung.
Looking at him, Ölvir spoke again as though telling an old story.
“Long ago, when I was young, one of my friends had his belly split open in battle and his entrails spill out, yet he lived for three days. I tried somehow to save him, but now I wonder whether it would have been better to simply kill him. This is what true adventure and regret are. In my prime, I would have pierced your heart at once. My apologies. Still, you were fortunate enough to have your lung injured. You will die within an hour, or within a few hours if you live long. I will take my spear back. Live the rest of your life well.”
With that, Ölvir pulled out his spear and deliberately did not kill him.
Ghk!
Valerie flicked the blood from his sword and wiped it on the innkeeper’s clothes. Then, while the man still lived, he searched through his clothes.
Ölvir also went around searching the bodies. Still alive, the innkeeper watched all of it. Nearly in tears, he gathered his last strength and spoke.
“You... you madmen...”
Whatever he said, Valerie lifted Ölvir back onto Snow, mounted as well, and simply left.
“You are quite capable.”
“You too. I thought you might leave me behind and run.”
“What? What do you take me for?”
“You are young. You seem somewhat skilled, but you were outnumbered, so I thought you might ride away.”
“I am not as young as I look. I have had plenty of experience with such things.”
“How old are you?”
“Let us say I have lived two lives.”
“Even if you have, you still seem younger than me.”
“That is true.”
The sound of their conversation and Snow’s clop, clop hoofbeats grew more distant until they could no longer be heard, and the innkeeper was still alive.
Breathing grew harder and harder. One minute felt like a year. In the lukewarm wind, after hours of suffering in which he could not breathe no matter how desperately he wished to, he looked up at the overcast sky and lost consciousness.
Still, his final words had been correct.
No one sane would go to kill a dragon.
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