WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 178

──────

Each Toward Their Own Path

Brett Lloyd's face filled with confusion.

He couldn't claim to know everything about Airen Farreira, but he knew the man's disposition well enough.

Airen was good-natured, sure, but not exactly outgoing. He didn't form connections with many people.

So the idea that he had someone he wanted to meet stirred up genuine curiosity.

'And apparently there's still something to learn here, too. That's surprising.'

Of course, continuing his training under the guidance of Tarakhan, Halifa, and Karakum, the greatest warrior among the orcs, would gain him plenty. But Krono Fencing Hall was still the better choice for that.

Just as Ian had once guided them toward realization through the Sword Dance back when they were probationary trainees, he'd surely offer fresh advice this time too, building on whatever they'd gained from their travels.

Brett was already looking forward to that moment.

So what could possibly be important enough to put it off?

The question didn't stay unanswered for long.

"Hm. I see."

What he had seen, heard, and felt. And the resolve he'd recently come to hold.

Airen had thought it over seriously, and in doing so, had come to understand clearly which direction mattered most to him.

His choice had come out of that. Having heard the whole story, Brett found himself nodding along.

Of course, the conversation didn't end there.

When Airen turned to him with a look that said it was his turn now, Brett laid out his own thoughts in kind.

"Well, you already know this, but my goal's always been to become a good lord. Since the day I first walked into the fencing hall, all the way up to now."

What made a lord a good lord.

What a truly noble bearing actually looked like.

What he himself needed to work on to get there.

Brett spoke his mind freely, holding nothing back, and Airen chipped in with whatever thoughts he had, thin as his knowledge on the subject was, helping carry the conversation along.

The talk didn't stay confined to their goals and dreams either.

Stories from the journey, memories from their probationary days, talk of Illia, talk of Judith, and all the other precious bonds each of them held that the other hadn't known about.

Beyond that, plenty more passed between them.

They'd wandered the continent together for nearly a year, but this was the first time the two of them had talked this long, just the two of them.

There was one reason for that.

'Guess this is goodbye, then.'

Just as the thought was about to leave his mouth, Brett paused.

Saying it flat out like that felt cold, somehow.

After a moment's thought, Brett looked at Airen and added one more word.

"So... see you again soon, then."

"Guess so."

Airen nodded.

Even if they parted for a while, they would meet again.

The two of them, bound now by a connection neither could sever, kept talking a while longer.

* * *

Five days after that long conversation between the two men.

Judith and Brett Lloyd finished preparing to leave Durkali.

Quite a few had come to see them off.

Airen, Illia Lindsay, Lulu, Kubharu, along with Karakum, Tarakhan, and even the ghost, Gurgar.

"You're actually dead, right? You're not lying about it while you're alive somewhere?"

"Hoho. Such hurtful words... Just for saying that, my time left in this world probably got three days shorter."

"Don't joke about that. It's creepy."

Judith frowned. But she didn't push it further.

Unlike everyone else here, still living, today would likely be the last time she saw Gurgar, dead as he was.

She reached out a hand. Gurgar reached back. Whatever trick he'd used, she could feel the touch of his hand despite him being a ghost.

She spoke.

"Thanks for everything. Take care."

"If we can meet again, we will."

Gurgar kept up his blend of joke and sincerity right to the end.

Judith stuck her tongue out at his grinning face, then turned to Lulu.

What followed was warmer than a handshake, warmer than a hug, an expression of parting all its own.

Thump, tap tap, thump

Judith's hand met Lulu's paws, tail, and head in a rapid flurry.

Everyone watching the two of them pull off their elaborate handshake broke into laughter.

The routine flowed so smoothly it looked like they'd practiced it for years, and it was honestly worth watching.

But Brett took it too far.

"Adorable."

"....."

"....."

Brett had stopped hiding his feelings for Judith a while ago, and nobody thought any less of him for it.

If anything, everyone was rooting for the two of them, quite seriously.

Still, when he blurted out lines like that so casually, it was hard not to feel a little queasy.

Even Judith felt it.

At first she hadn't known what to do with Brett's onslaught, but after a month or two of it, she'd built up a resistance.

Or rather, Brett's words always seemed to carry a bit of comedy and a bit of teasing mixed in with the affection, from the start.

Judith, frowning harder now than she had at Gurgar, looked wordlessly at Illia.

Catching her gaze, the silver-haired swordswoman stepped forward and spoke to Brett.

"****."

A curse foul enough that it was hard to believe it had come from a daughter of House Lindsay.

It should have been shocking, but nobody so much as blinked.

Everyone there knew Illia had spent the last few months taking swearing lessons from Judith.

This wasn't even the first time. For the past month, Judith had been sending Illia in to curse Brett out on her behalf.

Of course, the young lady of House Lindsay had struggled with it plenty at first, but at some point, when it came to Brett specifically, she'd started to genuinely enjoy it.

'How did she manage that?'

Airen was deeply curious, but had no way of finding out.

What on earth had the two of them talked about, just the two women, to end up here?

He didn't think badly of it, though. If anything, Illia, who used to feel a little on the outside of the group, had grown closer to both of them because of it.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Ah."

Lost in thought, Airen hadn't noticed Judith stepping up in front of him.

He smiled and offered his hand. She smiled back, faint but real, and reached out too, and the two of them shook hands lightly.

But their eyes carried anything but lightness.

After a pause, Judith spoke.

"Don't get complacent. Train hard. Next time we meet, I'm wiping the floor with you, and Illia too."

"Better hurry up and come find me, then, so that doesn't happen."

"...Whatever. Just do good work. Stay healthy."

"So cool."

"Shut up, Brett. You got nothing to say?"

"Not really. We'll see each other again soon enough anyway."

Hearing that, Airen's group all nodded at once.

He wasn't wrong. They'd grown far closer than before, and every one of them had become someone bigger than they used to be.

For people like that, distance didn't matter much. From here on, they could meet whenever they wanted.

Still, that didn't make the moment of parting any less bittersweet.

"Well, we're off. Kubharu, I'll come visit sometimes."

"Thanks for everything you taught us. Karakum, Tarakhan, Gurgar. And Kubharu, next time I'll bring some whiskey from the house."

"Sounds good. I'll have some good stuff set aside too."

"Well, then..."

Brett Lloyd offered a formal, elegant bow.

Judith did the same beside him. Much more awkward than Brett's, but you could tell she'd practiced.

Airen and the rest watched the two of them leave for a long while.

"Bye! Judith! Brett!"

Lulu kept shouting goodbye every ten seconds, dragging the farewell out longer than it needed to be, but even that couldn't stop the parting from coming.

Before long, the two figures had vanished from sight, and the plain already felt the shape of their absence.

"...Let's go."

But there was no time to keep wallowing in the ache of it.

Karakum turned, and the rest of the orcs followed suit.

Illia scooped up Lulu, who was still staring off toward where Judith and Brett had gone, and Airen turned his own steps back toward the Durkali fortress.

And so, a farewell more painful than the one from six and a half years ago came to its end.

* * *

[Brett Lloyd Side Story]

Back before Airen Farreira had even arrived at Krono Fencing Hall.

Ahmed came to find Brett Lloyd, who was hard at work training with his sword.

"Working hard, as always."

"Ah, senior. Care for a sparring match? It's been a while."

Ahmed let out a short laugh, watching his much younger junior bring up sparring with such confidence.

It wasn't mockery. Not even close. He knew too well.

Just how terrifying this madman's talent was. And beyond that, just how much patience, how much resolve, he carried.

'Ignet Crescentia and Illia Lindsay are impressive, sure, but this one's right up there with them, no question.'

Maybe, someday, he'd grow into a swordsman whose name made it into the history books.

Of course, Ahmed kept that thought to himself.

This kid had an odd way of being just a little too insufferable to praise outright.

Better to save the compliments and hand them out to Judith or Lance Patterson instead.

Setting his thoughts aside, he got to the point.

"No, the sparring can wait. There's something far more important."

"Something important, meaning..."

"The Hall Master's called for you."

"...I think I get the idea. I'll head over right away."

Brett Lloyd nodded. As he made his way to the shower room, his face wore the unmistakable look of someone thinking, this is it, finally.

'Yes! The graduation exam! I'm first! You hear that, Brett? This noona's going first! Hahahaha!'

He remembered the taunt Judith had thrown at him just the day before.

She'd come by and spent the whole day gloating that Hall Master Ian had told her to go "experience the world."

Said out loud, it might have sounded like nothing much, but it was actually the final gate to graduating from the fencing hall.

Travel the wide world, find your own shortcomings, work to fix them, then come back to Krono and earn the Hall Master's recognition. Only then could someone become a true, official graduate.

Of course, whether you graduated first or later hardly mattered in the end.

'Still, hearing that kind of talk gets under my skin.'

Especially when it came from Judith, of all people.

Genuinely relieved at the thought of finally catching up, Brett washed up quickly and headed for the Hall Master's office.

His mind was already crowded with thoughts about the journey ahead.

Where should he go to grow the most? Who should he meet along the way? And wouldn't it make more sense to travel with Judith, if he had the choice?

But every one of those thoughts vanished the instant Ian opened his mouth.

"Congratulations on graduating."

"...There's no exam?"

"What exam?"

"The world experience thing..."

"That's only necessary for someone with gaps to fill. As far as I can see, you've already got more than enough to your name. No exam needed. From this moment, Brett Lloyd isn't a trainee anymore. You're an official graduate of Krono Fencing Hall, plain and simple."

Having said his piece, Hall Master Ian glanced at Vice Hall Master Keira Fin. She nodded and drew a metal plate from within her robes.

An emblem plate carved with magical engravings far more intricate than anything found on a trainee's plate.

Etched into it, in elegant script, was the name Brett Lloyd.

"Hold out your hand. I'll need some blood for the engraving."

"....."

Brett Lloyd stood frozen for a moment, unable to find words.

Ian and Keira Fin watched him with warm, satisfied expressions.

They understood completely.

He was nineteen. Graduating from Krono Fencing Hall before even turning twenty was an honor even most geniuses could hardly dream of.

He'd probably never once considered it a real possibility, and he was likely caught in a storm of conflicting emotions right now.

The two of them gave him plenty of time to collect himself.

But a moment later, what came out of his mouth was nothing like what either of them had expected.

"I'm sorry, but could I put off receiving the graduation emblem for now?"

"Hm?"

"I'll take it later... after Judith gets back from her journey and passes her exam. No, actually, I'll go with her."

"Hoh."

Ian and Keira Fin exchanged a glance.

They were caught off guard. No one in Krono's history had ever turned down the graduation plate.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a refusal, just a postponement, but it amounted to the same thing. Who in their right mind would respond that way to being recognized by the continent's finest swordsman?

'But still...'

'I think I understand.'

Both of them broke into a smile.

He probably didn't fully understand it himself yet. Why he'd made this choice. What feeling had driven him to decide to travel together with her.

But to the two of them, seasoned by years of experience, it was plain to see.

Ian spoke.

"You've changed a lot. Quite a different person from the boy who first became a probationary trainee. Oh, and I mean that as a compliment, in case you're wondering."

"....."

"Fine. We'll hold off on the graduation plate for now. Just make sure you look after Judith along the way."

"Finding her answer is her own job to do. I'm just planning to handle my own business alongside her."

Well, maybe a little nagging here and there, but...

Watching Brett Lloyd trail off, Ian and Keira Fin exchanged another smile.

A secret Judith knew nothing about. One that, in this whole world, only the three of them shared.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried