WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 205: Among Geniuses (1)
──────
Ignet Crescentia.
Known as the continent's most talented swordswoman, she had, strictly speaking, been a blade-user rather than a swordswoman until a year ago.
That was because she used a saber rather than a sword.
It was not that Ignet could not handle a sword well. The saber had simply been the finest weapon among those she possessed.
Of course, that was no longer the case.
No matter how exceptional a Vulcanus Numbering Sword was, it could not compare to the Holy Sword personally bestowed by the Holy King.
Ignet adapted to the sword in an instant, astonishing those around her with skill even greater than before.
And now.
At a quiet training ground in Lavath territory, her all-out attack flew toward Joshua Lindsay.
Swoooosh!
Ignet's swordsmanship was unusual.
It was clearly a thrust.
Yet rather than driving straight ahead, it swept in a circle like a slash before piercing inward only at the very end.
Her slashes were no simpler.
More precisely, her technique was so refined that it was difficult to tell whether an attack was a thrust or a slash until the very moment their swords met.
Even so, her speed was terrifying and her power overwhelming. They were movements Airen could not hope to imitate yet.
Clang!
Of course, Joshua Lindsay was not someone who would be rattled by that much.
Aura wrapped around him, followed by wind. Before long, he radiated a fierce presence, as though he had become the embodiment of a typhoon.
With an utterly serious expression, he calmly knocked Ignet's sword aside.
He blocked, blocked again, and kept blocking. The same pattern continued for a while.
What was remarkable was that Ignet's offensive only gained momentum.
Boom!
Boom!
Booom!
She thrust her sword without pause and moved her feet at a speed that was hard to follow. But she did not stop there.
Drawing out even greater strength, she bore down on Joshua Lindsay from every direction.
It was like dozens of eagles swooping down upon a turtle curled up on the ground.
A terrifying gleam flashed in her blazing eyes. Airen swallowed without realizing it.
Then, an unbelievable presence burst from Joshua's entire body. Until then, he had done nothing but defend.
“...!”
Crackle!
Whoosh!
Ignet's smile vanished. Her relentless sword strikes stopped at once, along with the footwork that had spiraled inward.
Her expression grave, she retreated at a terrifying speed, faster than she had moved at any point before.
Joshua swung his sword immediately afterward.
Rumbleeeeeee!
Like a rubber ball pressed all the way into the ground before rebounding.
Like wind compressed beyond its limit finally exploding outward, the lord's sword swept away everything around it.
Nothing remained.
Ignet, her attacks, even the fierce momentum that had burned as though it could cover the world, all vanished without a trace before that intense wind.
“Haah!”
Joshua's counterattack did not end there.
After swinging his sword five times in an instant, he shot forward with the speed of a gale.
Ignet swung her sword wildly at the lord as he charged in on a wave of sword wind.
She looked like a wildfire spreading faster as the wind grew stronger.
Airen nodded at her response. She did not retreat, meeting him head-on and striking back just as fiercely.
Strength against strength.
Forceful Strike against Forceful Strike.
The landscape around them shattered beneath the force of their swords colliding head-on.
The training ground floor burst apart. Fragments of stone scattered in every direction, while thunderous roars shook heaven and earth.
The battle between two giants turned the surroundings into ruins in an instant.
At the edge of it all, Airen Farreira watched the spectacle they created without even blinking, committing it to his heart.
‘What is this feeling?’
Watching swordsmen fight, especially swordsmen stronger than himself, was immensely helpful.
There were countless things he could watch, learn, and make his own. Swordsmanship, footwork, breathing, Aura control, and more.
If the head of House Lindsay and the Commander of the Black Knight Order were to duel, there would be a hundred swordsmen willing to offer their entire fortunes just to see it.
But Airen was not watching their swordsmanship.
Joshua's attacks, as fierce as a typhoon, and Ignet's counterattacks, as hot as the sun, could not hold his interest.
He did not know why.
Caught in a strange feeling, Airen watched the two not with his head, but with his heart.
Naturally, it could not continue forever.
Booom!
The match was decided with a roar loud enough to tear his eardrums. Joshua Lindsay had won decisively.
As the dust settled, Ignet was revealed lying flat in the ruined training ground.
Airen was staring at her when Joshua Lindsay, wearing his usual cold expression, spoke.
“Did you gain anything?”
“Huff, huff... Unfortunately, not really. Still, thank you.”
“If you're grateful, get back up. I want to beat you some more.”
“If that is what you wish, I will let you hit me... Hoo. You may beat me as much as you please.”
Airen nodded.
It had been a short exchange, but he roughly understood what had happened.
Ignet had asked Joshua for a spar to gain insight into swordsmanship, and the lord had accepted, leading to this.
‘What is the lord thinking?’
The atmosphere was strange.
Airen knew better than anyone what had happened between House Lindsay and Ignet, but he could not even imagine what Illia's father felt.
Truthfully, he did not fully understand why Joshua had accepted the spar in the first place.
Was it because he hated the feeling of running away?
Or did he truly want to give Ignet a thorough beating?
Airen's thoughts grew complicated.
No one had committed a clear wrong. Yet a great tragedy had still occurred. It was a heavy, suffocating reality.
There was nothing a third party could say about it.
Airen remained silent. The lord glanced at him, then strode toward Ignet.
‘Is he really going to hit her again?’
Airen looked flustered.
From what he had seen, Joshua was a serious man in all things. He was also a father who loved his children more than anyone.
A man like that might not take Ignet's joke as a joke.
Thud.
Fortunately, the lord did not harm the exhausted Ignet.
He did not glare at her with murderous eyes, nor did he press her about what she thought of that time.
Surprisingly, he sat down beside her, looked up at the sky, and slowly began to tell his story.
“...”
Joshua Lindsay's story was not particularly special.
It was the grief of a father who had lost his son, poured out in a calm manner that anyone could easily imagine.
Yet the weight of the feelings within it was immense. Despite his ordinary words and unremarkable descriptions, deep sorrow could be felt.
“The funny thing is, I couldn't think of anyone but you to tell this to.”
Perhaps he truly found it funny. Joshua, whose face was always expressionless, raised one corner of his mouth.
But his eyes as he looked at Ignet remained unchanged.
He gazed steadily at Ignet Crescentia.
No, he looked at Ignet. At the young girl she had been before she was formally registered in Abilius, Holy Kingdom.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“...”
Silence followed.
It was not long. Only long enough for Ignet, who had been panting in exhaustion, to catch her breath. It had probably not even been a minute.
But to Airen, watching her, it felt far longer.
What would she say?
He had no idea. More accurately, he found himself thinking she had nothing to say.
The Ignet he knew was that kind of person. Someone with no interest in anyone except walking her own path.
He could not imagine she would have any lingering thoughts about someone she had crushed and passed by more than ten years ago.
Airen's judgment was correct.
Ignet remained silent for a long time as he continued his thoughts.
She lay in the training ground, staring blankly at the sky. Joshua Lindsay's nails slowly dug into his palm.
That was why it was unexpected. In the heavy, dark, complex atmosphere, both hot and cold, Ignet did not speak of Carl Lindsay. She began to speak about herself.
“When I was young, there was a time when I lived in an abandoned house with my friends and younger kids.”
“...”
“...”
Airen and Joshua both looked at Ignet with some surprise.
What she was telling them was not some common story spread across the continent. It was a deeply personal story, drawn from what she had experienced and felt throughout her life.
Why?
Neither of them asked.
They simply became listeners and quietly heard Ignet's story.
They listened to the convictions and thoughts she had carried through all she had seen, heard, and experienced.
Thirty minutes passed.
It was by no means a short story.
Yet Carl Lindsay had not been mentioned even once.
Why, then, had Ignet brought up such a story?
Just as that question arose, she spoke again.
“To be honest, I have never given much thought to the lord's son, Carl Lindsay. And I do not believe that will change in the future.”
“...”
“Still, I thought I should at least tell you what kind of person your son faced, what thoughts she lived with, and what purpose she will continue to live for...”
Ignet, now seated, looked at Joshua Lindsay.
No, it was not Ignet.
The person before him was no longer the seventeen-year-old commoner Ignet. She was Ignet Crescentia, who had lived another twelve years and grown stronger through them.
Realizing that, Joshua clenched his fist even harder.
His nails finally pierced his flesh, and a little blood seeped out.
But that was all.
Soon, he loosened his hand and let out a long breath.
He remained silent for a while, as though lost in thought, then suddenly turned to Airen.
“If you have something to say, say it too.”
“Pardon?”
“You watched a fight for free and listened to someone else's personal story for free. Isn't it only fair that you share something as well?”
“...”
Airen was briefly taken aback, then nodded.
It was not because he thought Joshua's words were right. He simply felt an urge to tell his own story as well.
At the same time, he realized why he had not been able to immerse himself in their swordsmanship.
He had sensed it instinctively.
More important than grasping the intricacies of their swordsmanship and their methods of Aura control was exchanging hearts with those two giants.
‘It had always been that way.’
Airen thought back on everything that had happened so far.
Sparring, sword debates, watching others fight. It would be wrong to say they had not helped him at all.
But when he thought of the times he had truly grown, most of them had come not from those outward things, but from looking into another person's heart.
As a provisional trainee, he had heard Illia Lindsay's new resolve and discovered his desire to improve.
A year and a half ago, Ignet Crescentia's ambition had ignited his fighting spirit.
The anguish, worries, and realizations of his Past Life had also helped him greatly.
If he had not exchanged hearts with that man, he would have wandered for far longer before finding his purpose.
‘The same goes for Brett and Judith. I... I've grown through connecting with others, not alone.’
Airen Farreira looked at Joshua Lindsay and Ignet Crescentia.
The thoughts, emotions, and hearts of those giants, people beyond any comparison to himself, flowed into him.
Perhaps not right away, but they would become immense inspiration and help him grow.
“What are you doing? Speak already.”
“...”
Joshua urged him on.
And Ignet watched him quietly.
Airen held back a laugh that threatened to escape for no reason. He felt incredibly good.
He had plenty to say. It was not difficult to organize his thoughts, either. Had he not told this story many times after meeting his friends?
The difference was that the two before him were not particularly close to him.
They were also senior swordsmen who were far stronger than him and had far more experience.
That only made it better.
Two giants who had objectively reached a realm far beyond his wanted to hear his story.
They had shown interest in him first and were trying to look into his heart. They were reaching out to connect with him.
That fact gave Airen a deep sense of fulfillment. It brought him a new kind of joy.
“I...”
In the best mood he had felt in a long time, he began sharing his story piece by piece.
Naturally, it was not Airen's story alone. It was the story of Airen and his friends.
It was the story of what he had experienced and felt as he moved forward with Lulu, Karakum, Illia, Judith, and Brett.
Fwoosh!
Just as Airen finished telling his story, the sound of flames suddenly flaring up rang out.
Joshua and Airen turned in surprise.
Ignet Crescentia sat there, her entire body burning with Fire Aura.
“This is...”
The sight of her sitting there, engulfed in flames with her eyes gently closed, seemed both sacred and mysterious.
A moment of enlightenment had clearly come to her. Airen had never seen anything like it, but he knew at once.
He stared at her blankly for a moment, then his expression turned serious.
He was pleased that his story had affected Ignet.
At the same time, he felt uneasy that the already considerable gap between them had widened even further.
Those conflicting emotions spread through Airen Farreira's heart like flames through Ignet Crescentia's body.
“...”
Joshua Lindsay watched him with an unreadable expression.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
