WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
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Chapter 273: The Greatest Expert (1)
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Looking at the continent as a whole, the central region was relatively safe.
It was the crossroads of trade running east and west, north and south, and it fell within the sphere of influence of Abilius, the Holy Kingdom, the strongest nation in the world.
On top of that, graduates of Krono Fencing Hall and swordsmen from Gerbera Kingdom were not an uncommon sight there either.
That did not mean every corner of the central region was safe, though.
If travelers stayed on well-maintained roads and under the protection of nearby territories, they usually had nothing to worry about.
But large bandit groups sometimes struck through gaps in patrol coverage, and merchants unwilling to pay road tolls sometimes risked taking other routes.
The Nora bandit gang specialized in exactly those targets, small-time merchants and travelers.
And right then, a middle-aged man entered their sights.
"Boss, what about that one?"
"What about him? Since when do we pick and choose? Even just the sword on his back would fetch us a meal. Everyone, move."
"Hmm..."
One big-nosed subordinate frowned.
Something did not feel right.
It was not because the man was armed.
Sure, there were only five of them, but they had crossbows and bows, which gave them a clear edge.
No matter how skilled a swordsman might be, there was no way to withstand attacks raining down from a distance.
Of course, that only held if the middle-aged man's skill fell within ordinary limits.
Which meant...
'Right, he is probably not an Expert.'
In other words, he was not at the level of a regular knight from a major kingdom's order.
Having thought that far, the subordinate shook their head.
Yeah, they were overthinking it.
If they turned down every job just because someone was muscular, tall, or gave them a bad feeling, they would never get anything done.
They wanted a decent score, drinks that night, and a woman in their bed.
With those thoughts in mind, they carefully aimed their bolts without letting the target notice.
That was the moment the middle-aged man drew his sword and manifested an Aura Sword.
Vwoooooom!
"........."
"........."
"...?"
"Wait..."
'Is this a dream...?' was what one of them was about to say.
With a thump, the man vanished.
He disappeared so completely that it was as if he had evaporated. Every bandit stared in shock.
Fortunately, they managed to find their target again almost immediately.
Of course, finding him was all they could do. There was nothing else they could do about it.
Sshhhhk!
The man appeared before them in an instant and swung his sword straight down.
A blue Aura Sword extended from his already massive blade, making it even more intimidating.
Of course, no one had the chance to properly feel it.
They only realized something was wrong after seeing a nearby tree sliced through like a bundle of straw before it toppled over.
Craaash!
Craaaaaash!
"........."
"........."
"........."
"Meet two conditions, and I will let you live."
"W-we will do whatever you say."
Nora, the bandit leader, nodded frantically.
As long as it was not some wordplay about leaving their head behind, they were ready to agree to anything.
Even if he told them to hand over their subordinates' lives or leave an arm behind, they were prepared to say yes.
Thankfully, the man's demands were not that difficult.
First, they were to leave behind every weapon they carried.
Second...
"Huh? Z-Z-Zet Fro... The famous 101st-ranked swordsman?"
"That's right. I am that famous fool who spent decades stuck at Expert rank. Of course..."
Zet Frost grinned and continued.
"...not anymore. Call me the 100th-ranked swordsman, or Sword Master Zet Frost. Spread that word far and wide."
"Y-yes! We will!"
"Of course! Sword Master Zet Frost, sir!"
"Good. Get lost."
"Yes, sir!"
The leader answered quickly and moved first, with the others close behind.
Watching the bandits scramble away, Zet Frost clicked his tongue.
Regret had caught up with him a little too late.
Thinking it over, they were the sort who tried to fire their crossbows from hiding without even showing themselves. There had been no need to let them live.
"I feel a little bad, but I take that back."
Zet Frost muttered quietly and was about to move when it happened.
Whshhhk!
Gack!
Kuhk, kheeegh!
Thud, thump!
A sharp sound cutting through the wind, screams, and the sound of bodies rolling across the ground.
There was no need to look. They had died instantly. Zet Frost frowned and turned to see who had done it.
It was not because the attacker had been merciless.
The figure was familiar and recognizable.
But when he saw the young man before him, completely changed from the last time he had seen him, he spoke.
"Brett Lloyd?"
"It has been a while, Mr. Frost."
"Ah... yeah. It has."
"Just so there is no misunderstanding, all of these bandits had bounties on them. They are notorious criminals. Five neighboring territories issued wanted posters calling for them to be dealt with, dead or alive."
"Ah, I see."
"I only said it in case you misunderstood."
"No, that is not..."
Zet Frost's expression stiffened.
At first glance, he had not been sure.
But up close, there was no mistaking it. Brett was not even bothering to hide his presence.
Still, it was hard to believe.
A strange hollowness settled in his chest.
If he had not met this young man before, he thought, he might have sunk right back into the swamp of frustration he had once been trapped in.
'...But I am different now.'
It had not been easy.
But he could at least manage to look composed.
Zet Frost finally smiled and offered his congratulations to the much younger swordsman.
"You have become a Master. Congratulations. I mean that."
"Thank you. And... congratulations to you as well, Master Zet Frost."
Brett Lloyd wore a calm smile as he returned the congratulations.
* * *
"...And that is how I ended up heading to Mr. Kun's residence."
After joining up with Brett, Zet Frost laid out his whole story without holding anything back.
How, ever since meeting Airen's group, he had felt the wall blocking him start to crack, until he had finally reached Master rank.
How the process had been anything but smooth.
How, even after resolving to find his beginner's mind again, other people's achievements had kept gnawing at him, and the sword he had built for himself had wavered again and again.
That was exactly why he had wanted, more than anything, to see Kun, the great swordsman who had walked his own path for seventy years, no, nearly a hundred.
"Plenty of people call Hall Master Ian or Commander Julius Hyul the greatest, but for me, it was always Mr. Kun. So I went to the Hall Master and asked where he lived, and that is how I ended up here."
"I see."
"What about you? Ah, right. I heard Judith became Mr. Kun's disciple. And... that you two ended up in that kind of relationship. Ahem, the Hall Master told me."
"That is right."
"Well, I will be. Never thought things would turn out this way."
Zet let out a short laugh.
He had always sensed they got along despite all the bickering, but he had never imagined the two of them would end up as lovers.
Especially given Judith's personality.
'She hates losing more than anyone, hates it more than death itself... When it comes to swords, nobody is more honestly selfish than her.'
And that girl was in love.
With her own rival, no less.
...No.
With someone whose skill had now far surpassed hers.
Zet's expression hardened as the thought settled in.
He turned to Brett, his face dead serious.
"You are going to see Judith, are you not?"
"I am."
"Does Judith know you have become a Sword Master?"
"She probably does not. Unless she has traveled through a city, and even then, I doubt word has spread that far yet."
"...What are you going to do about it?"
"What do you mean?"
"I am asking if you plan on showing her the full extent of your strength."
Zet Frost's eyes were dead serious as he asked the question.
He could not help it.
Theirs had only been a brief acquaintance, but he knew Judith's personality well enough. He knew her wounds, her trauma, and the obsession, jealousy, and anger that had grown from them all.
That was exactly why he was worried.
Illia Lindsay and Airen Farreira, her fellow trainees, had reached Master rank, and now Brett Lloyd had as well. That could become another wound for her...
'This kid, a genius among geniuses who made Master at twenty-one...'
...probably had no idea.
That was exactly why Zet Frost had taken on such a serious expression.
"Hmm."
But after hearing everything Zet had to say, Brett remained perfectly calm.
If anything, he trained his swordsmanship nonstop during the days it took to reach Kun's estate.
He swung his sword while walking. Sometimes, he talked about swordsmanship.
Zet found himself surprised all over again.
This was not someone freshly arrived at Master rank.
Watching the blue-haired young man, who had already reached a level far above his own, he felt that same sense of loss creep back in.
'No, forget about me. Judith is the real problem here!'
He himself had only ever aimed for Master.
He had never dared dream of anything beyond that, so even when a genius capable of turning the whole continent upside down had overtaken him, he had somehow managed to endure it.
But Judith was different.
She dreamed, seriously and sincerely, of becoming the strongest on the continent.
But her talent fell woefully short of that dream.
In a way, she might have been more unfortunate than anyone else.
If this were not the current era, one in which geniuses destined to be remembered in history sprang up one after another, perhaps she too would have been called talented enough to reach the very top.
'But this generation...'
While Zet sank deeper into that gloomy line of thought, an exclamation slipped from Brett Lloyd's mouth.
"Ah."
"...Ah."
Following Brett's gaze, Zet Frost let out the same sound a beat later.
It might have sounded like a foolish reaction.
But there was no helping it.
Craters.
Enormous pits, countless in number, stretched beyond the horizon.
'Has somewhere like this always existed on the central plains?'
It had not.
Zet Frost could not claim to be especially well traveled, but he had never once heard of a place like this.
No, to begin with, this was not the kind of landscape nature could produce on its own.
Which meant someone's deliberate power had shaped it...
Fwip!
"Curious?"
"Gah!"
"It has been a while. You said you would visit twice a year, but you are later than I expected."
"...I made some progress. It took time to properly settle things before coming here."
"Hmm, I see."
"That is how it is."
A white-haired, muscular old man appeared before the two of them like a ghost.
He never gave his name, but Zet knew exactly who he was.
Standing before the person he respected above all others, he offered his greeting in a trembling voice and introduced himself.
Kun waved a hand, looking mildly annoyed.
"Enough. I already know who you are."
"Y-you know me?"
"I know most of the people like me. But you do not seem to be as pathetic as I was. You are not sixty yet, are you?"
"N-no, sir."
"At that age, you became a Sword Master quickly. How does it feel? Good?"
"Uh..."
Zet could not answer.
Honestly, it felt great.
What swordsman in the world would not be thrilled to become a Master?
But something told him it was not wise to say so plainly, so he kept his mouth shut to the end.
Watching him, Kun clicked his tongue.
"I was not trying to give you a hard time, but I guess it came out that way."
"Ah, sorry."
"I was not fishing for an apology. Honestly, you are probably thrilled. Who would not be, becoming a Master?"
"........."
"...That is what I used to think too."
When the goal was far, far higher, and a person reached a point where Master rank could never satisfy them, becoming a Master did not actually feel all that good.
Kun started telling his own story, and before long, Zet and Brett were following behind him toward his residence.
It was a fascinating story.
The inferiority, frustration, sense of loss, anger, suffocation, emptiness, envy, and anguish Kun had once felt.
Every bit of it came through vividly, and Zet could not help but feel a quiet reverence.
Ambitions and hungers far bigger than his own, and the gulf that opened up because of them.
Who could fail to respect Kun, who had pushed through every negative feeling born of that gulf and become a giant of his era?
But there was no chance to put that respect into words.
They had already arrived at Kun's residence.
The moment he saw the red-haired swordswoman standing before it, eyes burning bright, Zet Frost felt a powerful urge to take a step back.
"For your information, Judith has not reached Master yet. She is still an Expert. But..."
"........."
"...that might make her all the more terrifying. Back then, I fought tooth and nail to sweep the anger from my chest. That one does not let go of even that anger. Even if the hand clutching that anger burns fiercely, she will never, ever, ever let go..."
"........."
Brett Lloyd drew his sword.
Vwooom! Blue Aura flared up along the blue blade, throwing off a light sharp enough to sting the eyes.
Zet Frost swallowed hard. He sensed more power than at any point while traveling alongside Brett until then.
Judith did not back down.
Gripping the Red Sword, the color directly opposite her lover's, she settled into a middle stance.
She drew a deep breath and let it out in a short burst.
The instant she did.
Whoooosh!
The red-haired swordswoman became a perfect blaze and unleashed a massive explosion.
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