WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 101

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Reunion (2)

A high-ranking noble of Gerbera Kingdom and eldest son of House Lloyd, Brett Lloyd.

He carried confidence befitting his status, and the ability to back it up, but as a child, that confidence had run so far past reasonable that people often called him arrogant.

It couldn't be helped.

Nobody his age, not in his territory, not in the entire kingdom, had ever come close to matching him.

'I was a frog in a well.'

Then two people had appeared before him. Illia Lindsay and Airen Farreira.

They had shown Brett Lloyd, in no uncertain terms, what a real genius looked like.

Illia Lindsay he could at least accept. She came from a house whose founder, Dion Lindsay, had severed the neck of the Dragon King four hundred years ago. Everyone knew by now, it was hardly a secret anymore, that the only reason House Lindsay hadn't been elevated to a dukedom was the king's own wariness of them.

But Airen Farreira was different.

Effort that made no sense.

Talent that made no sense.

A will of steel that made no sense.

Watching that kid catch up to him at an impossible pace, and then pass him entirely, Brett Lloyd had felt a deep, gutting sense of defeat and loss.

Not that he held any ill will toward Airen. If anything, he felt something closer to gratitude.

Airen had shown him his own narrow-mindedness, made him see his own shortcomings, and in doing so had shaped him into someone more fitting to carry the name of House Lloyd.

So Brett had rooted for him, sincerely.

He'd hoped Airen would solve the Hall Master's assignment and make it back to Krono Fencing Hall in one piece.

He'd hoped that someday they'd meet again, smiling, blades crossed once more.

And yet.

'Didn't expect to run into him here, of all places.'

Brett Lloyd studied Airen Farreira with a sharp look.

Sure enough, something about this sat wrong with him.

Since the letter that had arrived from Farreira territory four years ago, Airen had never once reached out to the fencing hall.

He understood, of course. He knew exactly how it felt to hit a wall you couldn't see past.

He'd thought about writing a few times himself, then decided against it. He hadn't wanted to add to Airen's burden.

But this?

Traveling the continent without a hint of worry on his face, looking downright glowing.

'Wait, or was that just his normal expression?'

It had been long enough that Brett wasn't sure anymore.

Either way, Airen was clearly doing far better than Brett had imagined, and that irritated him.

Not even a single word of contact, and here he was wandering off to who knew where. A flicker of anger crept into Brett's eyes.

"Airen, what in the world are you..."

He called the other's name again, Brett Lloyd, and started to step toward him.

"Stop."

"...?"

A black cat appeared out of nowhere.

Then, right behind it, a burly orc fortune-teller.

The two of them pressed close beside Airen Farreira, eyes gleaming sharp.

Then they started sizing Brett Lloyd up out loud.

"A strong young man."

"Sure is. Really strong."

"From a spirit mage's view, his five elements sit in near perfect balance. People with a nature like this are rarely villains... Lulu, what do you think?"

"He doesn't look like a bad guy to me either. Still, he's strong, so we should probably be careful."

"...Airen?"

"Hold on, Brett. Just hold on."

That was the third time Brett had called his name.

The question was clear: who were these two beside him, and what exactly were they talking about?

Airen took a moment to untangle his thoughts, then spoke first to Lulu and Kubharu.

"No need to be on guard. This is my classmate from the fencing hall... my friend. Brett Lloyd."

"Ahh, the young man you've mentioned a few times."

"So we can relax?"

"Yeah. And... Brett, these two are basically my masters. This is Kubharu, a fortune-teller and spirit mage, and this is Lulu, a Sorcerer."

"Heh, master, that's far too generous a word. Good to meet you, I'm Kubharu."

"I'm Lulu. Airen's Sorcery master."

"We went through something rough about a month back, so forgive us if we seem a bit on edge. Whenever someone strong comes near, we tend to bristle up on reflex..."

"...I see. Understood."

Brett Lloyd nodded. The sharp edge in his eyes softened somewhat.

Part of that was thanks to Kubharu clearing up the misunderstanding, but more than that, it was Airen's single word that had melted something in him.

'Friend...'

So he hadn't forgotten me after all.

The thought crossed his mind and nearly pulled a smile out of him, but Brett forced his expression back under control.

Then he tried to gather his thoughts.

There was so much he wanted to say, but none of it would come out.

He shook his head with a sigh and said,

"There's a lot I want to ask, but I don't even know where to start."

"Same here. I've got a lot to tell you too."

"Did you know? I'm back at the fencing hall. Official trainee at Krono."

"Ah, I heard. From the Hall Master and Lance Patterson..."

"The Hall Master? Lance? You stopped by the fencing hall?"

"Yeah. About the Hall Master's old assignment, they told me..."

Airen Farreira was just about to launch into his own story.

Then a booming voice swallowed his calm one whole. Judith.

Airen and Brett turned their heads at the same time and met eyes.

"Let's deal with that first, then talk."

"...Does that happen often?"

"Not so much lately, but it's nothing strange. Hm... excuse me, could I ask you something?"

"Me?"

"That's right. I want to hear about that scuffle over there. Tell me straight and I'll give you a silver coin."

"Oh, sure thing!"

Brett Lloyd called out to one of the onlookers.

He couldn't just wade in there himself. There was no way to tell whose fault it actually was.

Whether she'd started it or not, Judith would swear up and down she was innocent regardless.

Listening to a third party would get him a far more accurate picture than listening to her.

The problem was, the man he'd picked turned out to talk entirely too much.

"Perfect timing, I was watching that red-haired woman the whole time, so I can explain it real well. Those slightly upturned eyes, that shiny red hair, it's the kind of thing that just pulls your eyes right over, you know? Oh! Wait, is she your companion? Sorry about that. I don't mean I was looking at her like that, just... oh, it's fine? Thank you, thank you. Anyway, where was I, ah, right! So the lady was sitting there quietly ordering food, no wait, did she order a beer somewhere in there too? So..."

"...Could you just get to the part about the fight?"

"Oh, my apologies. I do tend to talk a lot..."

Only after Brett cut in, out of patience, did the man finally get to the point.

As it turned out, the fault didn't lie with Judith at all.

While she'd been sitting quietly, drinking a beer as she waited for her food, three men, including someone who looked like a rich merchant's son, had barged over and demanded to share her table.

She'd refused, of course, and an argument had naturally followed. Somewhere in the middle of it, Judith had shown them her Silver Plate mercenary credential.

That was where the real trouble started. The men had accused her of forging it, and things had only gotten worse from there.

"Nasty bunch."

"Rude, all of them."

Lulu and Kubharu said, sounding mildly annoyed.

The kind of thing that could happen anywhere, anytime, which made it all the easier to get invested in.

But what Airen felt was a little different from the two of them.

He turned to Brett, looking genuinely surprised.

"...You're holding back, even in a situation like that?"

"Hm?"

"You're not hitting anyone, just arguing. The Judith I know would've..."

"Ah, that. That's thanks to my hard work training her. You can call me a professional Judith tamer if you like."

"....."

"Why are you looking at me like that."

"No reason."

Airen shook his head, thinking to himself that Brett Lloyd, like Judith, seemed to have changed a little too.

The same noble bearing was still there, unmistakably his, but there was something added now, a certain ease.

'Maybe it's more like slyness.'

While Airen turned that thought over, Brett nodded and pushed his way into the middle of the argument.

Airen followed close behind, Lulu and Kubharu with him.

Whatever the situation, he didn't want to keep putting off facing Judith any longer.

"You little punks, want me to show you right here? Go ahead, be a good story to tell, getting gutted by a Silver Plate mercenary."

"Ooh, that mouth's getting filthier by the second. Or is this just how you always were? Not bad. Kind of hot, actually."

"That's right. Right up the young master's alley."

"Wait, what the hell, where'd you even learn that dog of a way of talk..."

"Judith."

"Oh, Brett! What took you so long in the bathroom. You constipated?"

"....."

"Whatever, forget it, deal with these three for me. You're good with guys like this. I can't reason with them at all. Or maybe I should just get ready to get hauled off by the guard and have one round..., huh? Huh?!"

Judith, who'd been dumping curses and compliments onto Brett Lloyd in the same breath, went wide-eyed and stared past him.

Airen Farreira!

She shouted it in her head, then strode straight toward him. One of the three troublemakers stepped in to block her.

"Hey, where do you think you're going, we're not done talk... ugh!"

In an instant, Judith seized his arm and flung him aside.

Watching the man crash to the floor, the one they'd called "young master," Kora Murray, went rigid with shock.

'Wait, my bodyguard just got dropped in one move...'

The man usually came off as a smug pain, hardly reliable, but even so, taken down that easily?

While that thought was still forming, someone stepped in front of him.

A blue-haired man radiating an oppressive presence.

Brett Lloyd.

"Was it you who started something with my companion?"

"...N-no."

Kora Murray swallowed hard.

Something felt off.

A young man, ordinary in age, dressed in nothing special, and yet an unplaceable pressure poured off him.

It wasn't the kind of intimidation a skilled swordsman gave off. It was something closer to the air of someone noble by birth, born into a station far above the ordinary.

'No, why would someone like that even be here.'

Kora Murray bit down on his lower lip.

He was the youngest son of the Murray merchant house, doted on endlessly by its head. In this town, he didn't have to answer to anyone.

Feeling his courage return, he spoke.

"I just, that woman over there said something hard to believe..."

"Like what?"

"...That she's, a Silver Plate mercenary..."

Something was truly off.

No matter how many times he told himself, I am Kora Murray, son of the very merchant house even this town's lord can't push around, he still couldn't hold this blue-haired young man's gaze.

That he'd even managed to finish his sentence had taken every scrap of nerve he had.

"I see. That's what you wanted to know. Then let's just show you."

"...Huh?"

Kora Murray caught himself speaking with unwanted politeness and scowled.

Was he about to draw a sword right here?

Or, wait, was this some kind of threat?

Thankfully, it was neither.

Brett Lloyd went on.

"A son of House Murray must have somewhere suitable for a sparring match, doesn't he?"

"We've got a place, sure, but a sparring match, with who..."

"One of them obviously has to be the redhead, since she's the one you need answers from, and the other..."

The blue-haired young man pointed a finger at Airen Farreira.

"That blond over there."

"...Brett?"

"Hm? What's going on now?"

"I set up a stage for you and Airen to have a match."

"Oh! Really?! That's great!"

Judith, as though she'd never been angry to begin with, broke into a bright smile.

Seeing that, Brett let out a short laugh of his own, while Lulu, Kubharu, and Kora Murray, unable to keep up, just stared blankly at the lot of them.

Airen Farreira had been leaning more toward Kora Murray's side of confusion himself.

But soon enough, he found himself laughing along with Brett Lloyd and Judith.

'Lance Patterson, these two, all the same.'

Watching them, so utterly swordsmen at heart, Airen nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

He, too, felt like he finally understood, at least a little, how a swordsman's heart worked.

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