WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 120

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Illia Lindsay (4)

Most noble houses carved their family crest into flags or clothing to mark their identity.

Houses with deep history and real power sometimes went further, forging that crest onto a plate to give to important guests, close friends, or allied powers. All five of the Western Continent's Great Sword Houses possessed such symbolic plates.

If asked which of these plates carried the most weight, most people would name House Lindsay's Platinum Plate without hesitation.

Unlike the other four houses, who handed out their plates rather generously, House Lindsay gave theirs only to those it had bound itself to through truly deep ties.

House Lindsay's Platinum Plate stood apart.

A treasure that only blood oaths could earn, essentially.

So when an object like that appeared out of nowhere, Hints had no choice but to stop in his tracks.

'Is that real? No, there's no way.'

He knew exactly what the Lindsay House Platinum Plate represented.

At the very least, it wasn't something a young man like that could produce so easily.

Nine times out of ten, this had to be a lie.

Some elaborate forgery, cooked up just to get a look at Illia Lindsay's face. That had to be it.

But if by some chance it was real, that fact alone would make for an incredible story.

Hints, who prided himself on being the best reporter in Aienmarc, couldn't just walk past a possibility like that.

He tucked himself against a nearby building, ears perked, and caught the gatekeeper's voice.

"Ju, just a moment... please wait just a moment. I'm sorry, but for verification purposes... could you let me hold onto the Lindsay House Platinum Plate for a moment?"

The voice was thoroughly flustered.

Understandable, really.

The man had just called someone he didn't even dare look at directly "Miss Illia Lindsay," and now here was this stranger, calmly pulling out a Lindsay House Platinum Plate as if it were nothing.

This was absolutely not something a gatekeeper could handle on his own.

To begin with, he had no eye for judging whether the plate was genuine.

Sweating buckets, the gatekeeper took the plate and hurried inside through the gate, off to find someone of higher rank.

In the quiet that followed, Airen Farreira waited with the same steady expression, unchanged.

'Please, please, please let it be real.'

Hints prayed with everything he had that the young man's claim would turn out to be true.

'No, wait, this isn't the time. Let me at least get a photo first.'

Forcing down his excitement, he pulled out his magical camera and captured Airen Farreira's figure.

Carefully, discreetly, from several angles, so as not to be caught.

While he worked, the mansion's firmly shut gate swung open.

Alongside the gatekeeper appeared a woman with an expression so blunt it bordered on severe.

The elf spotted her and quickly captured the two of them together in his camera, silently celebrating.

'The guard knight, Emma Garcia!'

A knight specially trusted by Joshua Lindsay, the head of House Lindsay, remarkably skilled for someone in her mid-thirties.

She handled not just guard duties but every matter, large or small, connected to Illia Lindsay.

The fact that she herself had come out meant one thing: the Lindsay House Platinum Plate Airen Farreira had presented was genuine.

Sensing the makings of a massive scoop, Hints snapped another photo.

Angled so both Airen Farreira's and Emma Garcia's faces, standing face to face, showed clearly.

Of course, his ears stayed wide open the whole time.

Soon, Emma Garcia's flat, businesslike voice carried over.

"Good day. I'm Emma Garcia, charged with Miss Illia Lindsay's protection."

"I'm Airen Farreira. I've come to see Illia Lindsay."

"I see. First, allow me to return the Lindsay House Platinum Plate. It's confirmed genuine. If the verification process caused you any displeasure, I ask that you set it aside. We've had our share of troublesome incidents involving this, so..."

"It's fine," Airen said, calm. He wasn't the type to get irritated over something this minor.

He hadn't even been left waiting outside for long, so it made no difference to him.

But what Emma Garcia said next was enough to harden his expression.

"However... this is quite disrespectful to say to the owner of the Lindsay House Platinum Plate, but the young miss has declined the meeting."

"...She declined?"

"She did."

"..."

"The young miss currently here is not acting as the heir of House Lindsay, but as a knight visiting the Proof Land for training. Under normal circumstances, she would of course receive an honored guest of House Lindsay. But she wished to convey that, at present, she wants to focus entirely on her training."

Emma Garcia's explanation continued.

The young miss was well aware this was an extremely rude thing to do.

But once her training concluded, she intended to visit the guest in person to apologize, and she hoped for understanding in the meantime.

Hearing this, Airen Farreira fixed the House Lindsay guard knight with a deep, searching look, but she kept her head slightly bowed and didn't so much as flinch.

Her stillness carried the weight of someone who'd have to be cut down before letting anyone through that door.

Listening to this exchange, Hints let out another silent scream of shock.

'She won't even meet someone who brought the house's own Lindsay House Platinum Plate? What is this...'

To repeat, the Lindsay House Platinum Plate carried a weight far beyond any other house's symbolic token.

Roughly nine years ago, when the entire house had refused to receive outside guests because of Carl Lindsay's defeat, even then, holders of the Lindsay House Platinum Plate had been the sole exception. Given that history, Illia Lindsay's current attitude was, by any reasonable standard, strange.

'Did something happen to Illia Lindsay? This goes way beyond simple reluctance to see outsiders...'

Hints swallowed hard, throat dry, and listened in with an even more serious expression.

Illia Lindsay's situation mattered, sure, but what was about to happen right now mattered more.

He didn't think that blond young man would back down easily.

He could tell just from watching for a moment. The face looked mild enough at a glance, but that type, once they dug in their heels, turned out tougher than whale sinew.

And the guard knight couldn't defy Illia Lindsay's order either, so some kind of clash was bound to happen, one way or another.

'How's this going to play out? A good brawl would make for the best story...'

Of course, running a story like this might bring House Lindsay's pressure down on him, but being an elf worked heavily in his favor in situations like this.

The Holy Kingdom, which despised conflict between races above almost anything else, would serve as his shield.

So go on, show me something.

Come on, hurry!

Hints wet his dry lips and leaned further into the moment.

Of course, even without his wishing for it, the mood was already drifting toward something far from pleasant.

"..."

"..."

Airen Farreira looked at Emma Garcia.

Emma Garcia, who had briefly bowed her head, didn't look away from his gaze either.

She met the House Lindsay guest's stare with an expression as rigid as an iron mask.

In that uncomfortable standoff, the gatekeeper behind them was sweating buckets when Airen Farreira quietly asked a question.

"You said Illia Lindsay refused to meet me, correct?"

"That's correct."

"When you explained the situation, did you mention my name? That Airen Farreira had come to see her?"

"...I intend to report that once I go back up. As I said, the young miss won't forget her rudeness today. So..."

"Then I'll wait."

"..."

"Ask her again. Tell Illia Lindsay that her friend, Airen Farreira, has come to see her. That I want to meet her right now. If she still refuses even after that..."

Then I'll quietly withdraw.

Having said that much, Airen fixed his gaze forward, steady and unwavering.

"..."

Emma Garcia found herself unable to speak.

She had no idea who this young man could possibly be, holding the Lindsay House Platinum Plate, calling the young miss his "friend" as though it were nothing.

She couldn't even begin to understand why he seemed so certain the young miss would agree to meet him.

Under normal circumstances, she would have snapped at him to stop talking nonsense a long time ago.

But she couldn't do that here.

The way his eyes looked at her.

The way he stood, chest out, without a trace of hesitation.

The weight carried in the way he said the name "Airen Farreira."

All of it told her, clearly, that she had to deliver this message to the young miss.

"...Please wait a moment."

Emma Garcia bowed her head and went back inside.

Airen waited calmly, and the gatekeeper still stood there, looking as strained as ever.

Farther off, hidden away, Hints held his breath and waited to see what would happen next.

A short while passed.

Emma Garcia reappeared, her expression unable to hide her shock.

"Please, come inside."

"...!"

"...!"

The guard knight wasn't the only one caught off guard.

The gatekeeper looked stunned too, and Hints was even more stunned than either of them.

Airen Farreira was walking into the mansion.

Which meant every single thing he'd claimed so far had to be true.

'What is this? What in the world is going on?'

A man skilled enough to single-handedly take down the professional gambling gang known as Black Skull.

An owner of the Lindsay House Platinum Plate.

And someone Illia Lindsay, who wanted nothing to do with outsiders, had personally called her "friend."

'And I know nothing at all about someone that impressive?'

Me, of all people?

The reporter who knew every notable swordsman across the Western Continent, and honestly most of the rest of the continent too, inside and out?

Frustration surged up in him, sharper than curiosity.

His pride scratched raw, Hints muttered to himself as he moved quickly.

"Airen Farreira, Airen Farreira, Airen Farreira..."

He'd mobilize every contact in his information network and expose the man's identity within two hours.

Hints, the eccentric elf reporter fully embracing his passion for the job, sprinted down the street with quick, light steps.

* * *

Once inside the mansion, Airen Farreira followed quietly behind Emma Garcia.

Getting to see Illia Lindsay was a relief, but his mind was still tangled with worry.

What should he say?

Ask if she'd been doing well?

Ask why she'd been giving off such a difficult, heavy atmosphere?

Ask if it had something to do with her brother? Was it even okay to bring up something that sensitive?

Thought after thought chased its own tail through his mind.

Before long, the two of them reached Illia's room. Emma Garcia bowed her head and said, "I'll stop here."

She stepped back a good distance despite being the guard knight, apparently feeling it would be rude to listen in on their conversation.

Not strange, really. Illia Lindsay was, after all, one of only a hundred people across the entire continent to reach the rank of Sword Master, a genius among geniuses.

'Feels a little funny, worrying about someone like that...'

But he couldn't help the worry either way.

Airen took a deep breath and thought.

What would Illia look like, beyond this door?

What kind of expression would greet him?

What would she say first?

"..."

Questions with no way to answer in advance.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts and knocked, twice.

"Come in."

The voice came right away.

It carried a maturity he hadn't heard from her before.

Struck once more by how much time had passed, Airen took another breath and turned the handle with a click.

The door finally opened.

Sitting in a chair with elegant poise was Illia Lindsay, eighteen now, not thirteen.

The faintly cold expression he remembered from before was nowhere on her face. Instead, she wore an unbelievably bright smile as she spoke.

"It's been a while, Airen."

"...Illia."

The first feeling that rose in him.

Relief.

The Illia he'd seen at the arena, despite standing at the lofty rank of Sword Master, had looked precarious somehow, shadowed.

But the smile she showed him now was nothing like that.

A pale face. White teeth.

And a smile brighter than either.

Relief washing visibly over his face, Airen Farreira stepped toward Illia Lindsay.

"Why did it take you so long?"

"..."

"I even sent you a personal letter, and all I got back was some excuse about circumstances. That reply wasn't even in your handwriting."

"..."

"Well, whatever. I should hear you out first. But..."

If the reason isn't good enough, I'm going to be very disappointed.

Illia Lindsay finished speaking with an even brighter smile, and watching her, Airen Farreira broke into a sweat as he thought.

'Come to think of it, I should probably explain my side of things first.'

Sitting down with an awkward smile, he began laying out everything that had happened, reading the mood of the friend he hadn't seen in so long.

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