WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Dionysus

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Chapter 239: How Dare You (1)

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It was a cool dawn, enough to make one forget the early summer heat.

At an hour when even the darkness had not fully lifted, the Second Demon Subjugation Force quietly left their lodgings.

They did not need anyone to see them off.

Most of them had retired and faded from the world's memory long ago. They were not doing this for public praise, so they had nothing to regret.

'We ended up staying longer than expected.'

'Still, it wasn't bad. It was necessary.'

'Leave the present to us. We can only trust you with the future.'

The old knights left the territory with pleased expressions.

They had been able to teach talents expected to support the continent for decades to come, perhaps even a century.

Airen Farreira.

And Brett Lloyd.

Those two would become a great source of strength for Ignet Crescentia, who had been working tirelessly on her own.

The subjugation force members' hearts were filled with hope.

Then Quincy Myers, who had been silently leaving the lord's castle, stopped.

"Wait."

Who would dare disobey them?

The subjugation force members nodded at their commander's instruction and turned toward where Quincy Myers was looking.

Someone was diligently swinging a sword in a small training ground within the territory.

They knew the name as well. It was a young man named Lance Patterson.

'He's certainly a fine talent...'

'Have our standards risen too high because of those two? I'm not especially impressed.'

'But why would the commander...?'

Puzzlement filled the old knights' eyes.

The high-ranking priests were even more confused.

Lance was certainly someone they wanted to encourage, but they did not think he was worthy of making their commander stop when they were in such a hurry.

Yet Quincy Myers watched Lance Patterson for over a minute. Even as they turned away, they said something that surprised the others.

"There are certainly many talents in this generation."

"......"

"Let's go."

"Yes."

Darin Holton, the highest-ranking priest, nodded in reply.

Darin Holton did not ask what was so remarkable about that young man.

Quincy Myers was the oldest knight in Abilius and one of its two strongest people. There must have been something the priest had failed to see.

With that, they completely left Lloyd territory.

Unaware that the subjugation force had been watching him, Lance Patterson continued to swing his sword with all his might.

Whoosh!

Nothing had changed.

He was still inferior to Airen Farreira.

Whoosh!

Compared to Brett Lloyd, his skill was still pathetic.

Strangely, though, he felt all right.

It was still difficult. It still hurt...

But he was far more at ease than he had been a week ago.

'Is it because of the Orc Counselor's advice?'

Lance paused and wiped away his sweat.

An unknown orc had suddenly appeared, mooched three beers off Lance, and vanished.

As Lance recalled their conversation, he turned his head to the side.

Kiril Farreira was looking at him with a smile.

'...Or is it because of her?'

"......"

After thinking for a moment, Lance threw himself back into his training.

He did not know.

He was not even sure he had fully shaken it off.

He might feel fine today, yet not tomorrow.

He might feel fine this year, yet drown in self-loathing next year.

Still, there was one difference from before.

No matter what happened, he had gained the confidence that he could endure it to the end and keep moving forward.

He was moving ahead, after all.

No matter how difficult or painful it became, he would not stop.

When he looked back, he would realize he had crossed such a vast distance that he would wonder how he had come so far.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Lance nodded and swung his sword. Then he kept swinging it.

Kiril watched him from nearby for a long time.

And then...

Sliiiide...

The darkness that had lingered around Lance for so long quietly disappeared.

It was even more covert than when it had first approached, moving carefully enough to evade even the Demon Subjugation Force's eyes.

* * *

At the start of June, when the sunlight was beginning to grow harsh, Airen Farreira's group prepared early in the morning to leave Lloyd territory.

Brett Lloyd, Lance Patterson, and several others came out to see them off.

Lord Philip Lloyd spoke.

"Thank you. If not for you, we might never have known there was a demon near the territory."

"No. We only did what we had to."

Airen answered humbly.

Delaying his participation in the subjugation force did not mean he would ever turn a blind eye to demons.

If evil appeared before him in the future, he would give everything he had to destroy it.

Of course, he would also keep working tirelessly to gain the strength to do so.

As Airen thought that, Brett suddenly stepped forward.

"You'd better be nervous when we meet again."

"......?"

"Because even I won't know how much I've grown by then. Heh heh heh..."

"......"

"Wasn't that funny?"

"Brett."

"Yes, Mother. I'm sorry."

"It's good that you apologize quickly."

"You're too kind."

Airen barely managed to hold back the laugh that was about to burst out.

Brett's mother was funnier than Brett. Still, if he laughed now, it would look as though he were laughing at Brett's words.

He turned and held out his hand to Lance.

They exchanged a firm handshake, then nodded to each other without saying much.

"Bye! I'll come visit again later!"

"Me too. Thank you for taking such good care of us."

Lulu and Kiril offered their farewells next.

Kiril also secretly gave Lance a meaningful look. No one failed to notice it.

Even Airen, who was normally oblivious to such things, understood.

'I never imagined my little sister would look at someone like that.'

It did not feel bad. If anything, he liked it.

Still, he could not remain lost in that thought forever.

Illia Lindsay.

Thinking of the friend he wanted to see, Airen gave one final bow.

"Then we'll be going."

"Safe travels."

Leaving the simple farewell behind, Airen's group climbed onto the Griffin's back.

With powerful wingbeats, it took off and flew away.

Watching them vanish into the distance as tiny specks, Brett muttered.

"They're leaving quickly."

He knew why.

His friend.

And Airen's friend.

Though perhaps she and Airen might have a different relationship someday.

Thinking of her, Brett quietly mused.

'Shouldn't you two move on to the next stage soon?'

Of course, it did not seem likely to be easy.

They were both so frustratingly dense.

"Well... that should be entertaining to watch in its own way."

"Son, what did you say?"

"Nothing. I was talking to myself."

Brett shook his head and looked up at the sky.

Not in the direction Airen had flown.

He turned his gaze toward where Judith was and murmured to himself once more.

"I miss you."

* * *

Riding on the Griffin's back, Airen's group flew toward the Adan Kingdom in the western part of the continent at a terrifying speed.

According to Kiril, they would arrive in four days. Considering that travel from the central region to the west normally took nearly two months, it was an absurdly fast pace.

'It feels much faster than before.'

Perhaps his sister had also taken another step forward through her battle with the demon.

Airen smiled brightly, then focused on himself.

He was not doing the visualization training he often practiced.

This was something much more direct.

It was not a swordsman's basic skill, but it was fundamental for Experts and Masters.

Aura control.

Hummm.

Hummm.

Hummm!

Golden light flickered over Airen's Greatsword.

He was training to draw out and retract his Aura Sword as quickly as possible. It looked simple from the outside, but it required an extremely complex and difficult process.

'If your total amount of Aura were as plentiful as ours, wasting a little would be fine. But that doesn't apply to you. If you want to use Holy Kingdom swordsmanship in real combat, you need to handle your Aura Sword more cleanly and efficiently.'

Quincy Myers had said this and taught him several training methods. None of them were easy.

Brett had not made any notable progress, and surprisingly, even Airen had not made much progress either.

That was all right.

Airen was different now.

He had retained the passion he felt when he faced Ignet, while maintaining his balance so that the impatience it created did not overwhelm him.

His mindset was as natural and effortless as flowing water, guiding him down the proper path.

Because of that, the two beside him felt more at ease than before.

'I'm glad Airen looks better. I hope he always stays like this!'

'This won't do. There needs to be more progress this time.'

Lulu and Kiril's thoughts as they watched him differed slightly.

More precisely, Kiril had something she wanted from her brother, namely progress in his relationship with Illia.

She had known from their first meeting.

There was something unusual between them.

And because of their personalities, they were not making much progress.

'Of course, it's fun like this too, but if they just sit around, they might still be exactly the same even after ten years.'

In Kiril's eyes, Illia Lindsay was a good person who was difficult to find anywhere else.

She had the ability, appearance, and personality to meet Kiril's exacting standards.

Of course, none of that mattered if her brother did not like her, but Kiril did not think he was entirely without feelings for Illia.

He simply did not know it himself. If that was the case, Kiril thought it would be fine for her to give him a little push.

'Still, it's a relief that he said he wanted to see her first.'

Kiril looked at Airen, who was absorbed in training.

What kind of help would make this dense man realize his own feelings and act on them?

All kinds of thoughts filled her mind.

The problem was that Kiril was a beginner when it came to romance as well.

In the end, she failed to come up with any particular plan before they reached Lindsay territory.

Instead, she headed toward the Lindsay lord's castle with nothing but an uneasy feeling in her heart.

"Kiril, did something bad happen?"

"No?"

"Then why do you look like that?"

"I don't know. Don't ask."

"Okay."

Lulu answered, while Airen looked at his sister with concern.

Feeling her brother's gaze, Kiril was dumbfounded.

'Who do you think I'm like this because of... No, calm down.'

She slowly took a deep breath.

It was good to worry for her brother, but she could not ruin the mood just because things were not going well.

She had always been Cesar's troublemaker, doing whatever she pleased, but she couldn't behave that way in front of House Lindsay.

Smile.

For now, just keep smiling.

Having made up her mind, Kiril moved forward with a somewhat frightening smile. Lulu followed behind her, feeling every hair on her body stand on end.

Airen watched them from the rear with a warm expression.

The problem arose when they reached the front of the lord's castle.

"What is this?"

"Three carriages?"

Airen muttered, puzzled.

Three carriages were waiting before the gate.

Lindsay was the most famous house in the west, but it was still strange to see so many visitors.

After Carl Lindsay and Ignet's spar, the head of the house had become reclusive.

Was something happening within the house?

As he considered that, another carriage arrived.

A gray-haired nobleman who looked to be around thirty stepped out of it and gave Airen's group a sneering smile as he passed.

It was clearly a mocking smile.

"......"

Airen's gaze immediately shifted to Kiril.

His sister was not easygoing enough to let something like that slide.

Sure enough, as she glared at the nobleman, she let out a loud snort.

"Hah."

The man, who was walking with his guards, stopped dead.

"......"

"......"

The nobleman looked at Kiril.

Kiril stared back at him.

As the atmosphere suddenly turned cold and Airen and Lulu looked flustered, the nobleman gave an even more blatant mocking smile.

"Hmph."

Kiril did not back down.

Her snort was far louder than before, thunderous enough to make even passersby turn their heads.

Giving her a scornful look, the man let out an open laugh, as if refusing to lose.

"Hah."

"Heh."

"Hmph."

"Hmph."

"......"

"......"

"......"

Airen's group.

The nobleman's guards.

Even House Lindsay's gatekeepers had nothing to say about this childish battle of nerves.

The people from Joseph Fencing Hall, who had arrived later, were the same.

Before long, though, they murmured in understanding.

"Did the Staunton Troublemaker pick a fight again?"

"To act like that right in front of House Lindsay..."

"He's over thirty already. How long is he going to keep this up...?"

Everyone clicked their tongues and criticized the nobleman.

They did not spare even the slightest thought for whether the other side might be at fault. No, they had no interest in the other side to begin with.

The Sword Master Joseph, owner of the fencing hall, was different.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked at Airen Farreira and thought.

'Isn't that young man standing at the back the one I saw in the Proof Land?'

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