WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 268: Uninvited Guest (1)
──────
Morning broke over the Farreira territory.
The same wind as always, the same sky as always, the same atmosphere as always.
No, that was not quite right. Everything was much like yesterday, yet something about today felt different.
At least, it was a day that could not help but bring a smile to the faces of everyone close to Airen Farreira.
“Hey, Airen. How does it feel to have started dating?”
It was all because of the meaningful and important event that had happened the day before.
“Ha ha...”
“Hm. Are you planning to brush it off like that? Fine. There is someone else I can ask. Illia?”
“Be quiet.”
“No.”
Brett Lloyd teased them relentlessly, and Airen looked flustered.
Illia’s response was sharp, but only her tone differed. Her reaction was otherwise no different from Airen’s. In other words, she was terribly embarrassed.
Finding that incredibly amusing, Brett spent quite some time teasing them both.
Kiril shook her head at his persistent, childish questions, while Lulu let out a sigh.
‘Whether it is the one teasing them like a child or the ones getting embarrassed like children, they are all the same.’
It felt as though their mental ages had stopped in their teens.
Their swordsmanship, however, was another matter entirely.
Clang.
“Brett, shall we spar?”
“...”
“I refuse your refusal.”
“...I suppose I have no choice.”
Unable to endure it any longer, Illia Lindsay drew her sword, and Brett Lloyd took a stance as well.
It was a sudden development, but there was nothing strange about it. They had come to the training grounds for that very reason.
Kiril, however, could not help finding it absurd.
‘No, how can they start dating and then both clock in at the training grounds the very next day?’
Her brother was one thing, but Illia was just as impossible to understand.
Of course, that passion and effort were why they had reached such heights at such a young age, but was it not reasonable to expect at least a little sweet, giddy energy at the start of a relationship?
“Seriously, idiots who only know swords...”
Clang!
Clang!
“Urgh...!”
“Hup!”
“Wow, they are really doing it.”
In the end, Brett and Illia truly began to spar.
They were not the only ones serious about swords. Airen’s gaze had grown just as intense.
Anyone could see that he was fully absorbed in their match.
Kiril sighed. Realizing there was no place for her there, she gathered Lulu into her arms and left the training grounds.
Even so, Airen could not take his eyes off the two of them exchanging fierce blows.
‘Illia’s skill really is improving.’
He had felt it during their visit to House Lindsay as well, that Illia had been showing explosive growth lately.
Even taking that into account, however, today’s display was astonishing.
Brett had only just entered the realm of Master, yet Illia was overwhelmingly suppressing him with room to spare.
What had happened?
Had Illia suddenly gained some insight?
Airen pondered for a moment before finding the answer.
The sword that had taken firm root in each of their hearts, beginning with Ignet.
The Hero’s Sword, no, the Heart Sword, had grown.
‘The same is true for me.’
The Heart Sword shaped Protective Will, which stood opposed to a demon’s Destructive Urge, into swordsmanship.
In other words, the greater one’s desire to protect something, the greater its potential became.
Airen focused on his own heart.
Their bond had already been deep, but through words and promises, it had become even deeper and firmer.
Thinking that its effects were being expressed through Illia’s sword made his feelings for Illia grow even more tender.
To the point that the days he had spent hiding his feelings, pretending not to know, and turning away now seemed foolish.
‘From now on, I should not do that.’
He would likely not be able to express himself smoothly right away.
But that was all right. This was not the end. It was only the beginning.
Watching Illia, who looked even lovelier today than yesterday, Airen smiled happily.
Then Brett, who had been sent flying by Illia’s attack, spoke.
“...You filthy couple.”
“...?”
“...?”
“You have the leisure to exchange glances while fighting me. How utterly humiliating.”
“Um...”
“Uh...”
“Here I come! Tahaaat!”
Boom!
Brett shouted and stomped down hard.
A charge fierce enough to leave spiderweb cracks across the training ground, followed by a thrust!
It carried the momentum of someone facing their parents’ murderer, but it could not reach Illia.
Thud!
Whirrrl...
Clang!
Brett was struck by a clean counterattack and lost hold of his weapon. The Blue Sword flew away helplessly, then hit the ground with an unpleasant metallic clang.
“...”
“...”
“...”
Silence filled the air.
The knights watching the Masters spar, the soldiers managing the training grounds, and even Kiril and Lulu, who had returned because they had nothing else to do, could not say a word.
Brett quietly picked up his sword, took a stance again, and declared,
“Until my sword reaches the sky, I will not stop today!”
“...”
It was the second day since Airen and Illia had become a couple.
Brett persistently pestered them until late in the afternoon.
* * *
Time passed.
The territory remained the same as usual, and so did Airen and Illia.
Other than their brief dates after dinner, they spent their days honing their swordsmanship at the training grounds.
Their days were so intense that even a few exceptionally diligent knights were astonished.
Yet there was one man who devoted himself to swordsmanship even more relentlessly than they did.
It was Brett Lloyd, a high-ranking noble of Gerbera Kingdom.
Whoosh!
“Hah, hup.”
Whoosh!
“Haa, haa...”
Brett swung a sword while constantly maintaining an Aura Sword, despite the immense toll it took on stamina.
He did not hesitate to spar with Airen and Illia, who were far stronger. If anything, he eagerly sought it out.
Everyone in the Farreira territory could not hide their astonishment as they watched Brett push himself to the limit.
“...”
Kiril Farreira felt the same way.
No, her surprise was even greater than anyone else’s.
Of course, she had known that Brett Lloyd must have trained tremendously.
She knew that one could not reach the realm of Sword Master through talent alone.
However, Brett had always seemed relaxed, serious yet playful, and rather mischievous.
She had never given Brett’s efforts much thought.
‘...His efforts do not fall behind my brother’s at all.’
That was no longer the case.
The image of Brett quietly swinging a sword behind the scenes now stood out more clearly than his playful teasing of Illia.
The sight of Brett focusing on sparring until he lost consciousness was more deeply etched in Kiril’s mind than the absurd nonsense he spouted at Airen.
One week passed, then two, then three.
Even after a month had passed, Brett’s resolve had not dulled in the slightest. Seeing that, the young Sorcerer felt solemn.
A genius greater still stood in the path of geniuses whose extraordinary talent was apparent to all.
Watching Brett Lloyd walk his own path without ever despairing, even before them, Kiril thought that she was fortunate this man was her brother’s friend.
“See you next time, Big Brother Brett.”
“...!”
That was why.
Kiril used that familiar address for the first time when saying goodbye to Brett Lloyd as he left the Farreira territory.
Of course, no one else knew of her change of heart.
Brett did not either.
But his surprise did not last long.
The blue-haired swordsman grinned and spoke to Kiril.
“Do not fall for me.”
“...”
“I would not be able to face my friend, Lance Patterson.”
“...Just get lost.”
“Ha ha. See you next time. And... you two.”
Brett’s expression instantly returned to one of strict, solemn seriousness. Looking at Airen and Illia, he said,
“Wait for it. Before long, the Brett-and-Judith couple will crush you two.”
“...”
“...”
“Before long might be difficult? Anyway... that day will come, so stay on your guard.”
“Well, off I go.”
With those final words, Brett Lloyd left the territory. Without even a single attendant, he carried only a sword.
It did not suit the image of a high-ranking noble from a great kingdom at all.
Yet no one could take him lightly.
“...I’m going to train a little.”
Illia spoke abruptly while watching Brett’s retreating back, then headed straight for the training grounds.
Airen nodded. He had intended to do the same. His desire for the sword was always strong, but it was especially intense today.
Not right now, however.
He turned his head and looked once more in the direction his friend had gone.
Airen watched Brett’s figure for a long time as it moved along as leisurely as flowing water.
* * *
Leaving the lord’s manor.
Leaving the territory’s gates.
Brett Lloyd walked leisurely across the autumn plains, then glanced back.
The Farreira territory had become tiny in the distance.
Yet what Brett saw was the far larger image of his friends.
“...”
Brett did not remain there for long.
There was no reason to.
He was no longer the person he had been during his probationary-trainee days.
No longer the person who had despaired upon seeing Illia Lindsay’s Sky Sword.
No longer the person who had sunk into discouragement at Airen Farreira’s Vertical Strike and the enormous mark it had left in the ground.
He had grown old enough to let such things flow past.
“Let’s try letting it flow again this time.”
Clang!
Brett Lloyd drew his sword. The sound of it sliding free from the sheath was clear, and he liked the blue color of the blade as well.
With a faint smile, he stepped forward.
As he walked, Brett began to swing his sword slowly and leisurely.
Whoosh.
With one swing, Brett scattered his inferiority complex toward Airen Farreira.
Whoosh.
With two swings, Brett shook off his sense of inadequacy toward Illia Lindsay.
It was not only through the sword.
With every step, every breath, and every action, Brett gradually cast off the negative emotions that had bound him.
Before long, his movements began to flow proudly like water.
Whoosh.
Whoooosh.
A wind that had risen at some point settled around Brett and blended with his sword.
It was not an unpleasant wind.
It did not force him.
It did not block him either.
Nor did it try to bend him to its will.
Instead, Brett felt it gently and refreshingly pushing at his back, guiding him in the direction he wanted to go.
Brett swung his sword and kept walking for far longer than expected.
He came to his senses only after an hour had passed since he began his sword dance.
“...”
Who was that?
Brett looked around and thought.
The leisurely flow had been his own will, and accepting the wind that had risen partway through had also been his own choice.
But if asked whether he had created that wind, Brett could only shake his head.
‘An incredible... master.’
A mysterious figure had blended in so naturally that even Brett, a Sword Master, had not noticed. The figure had offered help, then vanished in an instant.
As Brett Lloyd recalled the faint memory of the sword dance he had shared with that presence for so long...
“...I can finally see it. My daughter must be doing well.”
The swordsman closest to the sky in this era was moving quickly toward the Farreira territory.
With eyes blazing fiercely.
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