WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 4

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Those Who Watch (1)

Morning came. Or rather, it was still closer to dawn than morning.

Either way, the attendant in charge of the family's eldest son, Airen Farreira, had no choice but to move briskly.

He couldn't afford to sleep later than his master.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, yawned, washed up quickly, and straightened his clothes.

Then he took the light meal he'd asked a maid to prepare and stood before the young lord's door.

Knock knock knock.

"Young master, may I come in?"

"Yeah, come in."

He opened the door and stepped inside to find Airen Farreira already mostly ready for the day.

The attendant thought to himself.

'I thought this wouldn't even last one day...'

It had already been three days. Three days since Airen had started waking up early.

Someone might ask what was so impressive about that, but it truly was impressive.

The young lord hadn't woken up early in over ten years.

'And it's not like he's just getting up and doing nothing, either.'

Counting from the day he'd started training, this made day four.

The attendant finished his musing and spoke in a respectful tone.

"Here, your meal."

"Thanks."

Airen swallowed a sandwich in a few bites without much chewing, then took a swig of milk.

He finished off another sandwich, then another swig of milk.

Having polished off his meal in no time, Airen let out a puff of breath.

This too was different from before. He used to barely eat at all.

When he wouldn't even bother walking anywhere, there was no reason to need the calories.

But not anymore.

'Gotta eat a lot if I'm going to swing a sword.'

Airen nodded to himself.

The unknowable dream still tormented him, and as long as it didn't stop, he had no choice but to pick up the sword.

There was no resisting it. He'd tried forcing himself to sleep yesterday, but it hadn't worked.

Once his eyes opened, even lying still was torture.

Besides, training with the sword didn't feel all that difficult anymore.

Well, it was difficult, but still...

'...I guess you could say it's rewarding?'

Airen thought carefully.

The moment he lifted the sword, yesterday's accumulated muscle soreness would flare up, and by the time training ended, an even worse ache would stab through every part of his body.

And yet it didn't feel bad.

It felt like he'd found a new escape. Until now, sleep had played that role.

"Will you be heading to the training grounds again today?"

The attendant's careful question snapped Airen back to attention.

A gaze full of concern.

He ignored it. Nodding a couple of times, he said,

"Yeah."

"...Understood."

Airen left the room, and the attendant, bowing politely, followed behind him.

The maids cleaning in the hallway spotted the two of them and whispered to each other.

"Whoa, again?"

"It's incredible. Never thought I'd live to see this..."

It wasn't just the maids.

The employees handling business early in the morning, the guards on patrol, the soldiers already out at the training grounds, all of them were busy running their mouths at the sight of the changed eldest son.

"The young master's out again. That's already three... no, four days now?"

"Has he finally come to his senses? If that's really it, that'd be great..."

"Heh. I don't buy it. You think a person changes that easily? If he was going to change, he'd have done it long ago..."

"Fair point, that's true too."

Surprise, shock, and gossip with more doubt mixed in than approval.

Airen wasn't unaware of any of this. He hadn't heard the actual words, but he could read the mood around him.

He might have been a lazy bum, but he wasn't a fool.

Still, he understood.

He wasn't even angry. More precisely, he had no right to be.

What could he possibly say, having shirked his duties as a noble for over ten years?

Airen Farreira picked up the wooden sword he always used from the weapon rack and quietly settled into his stance.

"Hoo."

A deep breath.

Then focus.

For that, he quietly closed his eyes and pictured a man.

That man, whenever he swung his sword, never let anything sweep away his concentration.

Rain or snow, ignorant children shouting and carrying on, even thunder crashing down.

Compared to that, the stares pouring down on him now were nothing.

"Hoooo."

Just thinking that actually helped.

Airen steadied his breath once more and quietly raised the sword.

Then he brought it down with force.

Whoosh!

A vertical strike, tilted neither left nor right.

With many eyes watching, the lazy young lord's long day was beginning.

* * *

"Whoa, he's at it again today."

"Sure looks like it."

Two senior guards who'd just finished the morning gate watch, along with one rookie guard, made their way to the training grounds.

They hadn't come to train their bodies. They weren't lazy men, but they weren't exactly the passionate type either.

The reason the guards had come here was none other than to watch the training of the famous lazy young lord of House Farreira.

More precisely, to check on the progress of their bet.

The bet being, how long would the man famous for his laziness keep up his training?

Of course, this wasn't about looking down on or belittling the eldest son.

They were soldiers who'd served House Farreira for a long time.

But setting that aside, the current situation was too entertaining to just let pass without comment.

Without a little amusement like this, life got too stifling to bear.

Though in the case of the most senior guard, he'd ended up losing quite a bit of money over it.

"Who'd have thought he'd show up at the training grounds four days straight..."

"Didn't I tell you? Viscount Gairon's son really laid into him. I heard it wasn't exactly said to his face, but it was enough of a public humiliation that you'd have to be an idiot not to get the message..."

"Damn it, why'd you keep that information to yourself!"

"You think I'm crazy? Why would I hand that over to a senior when we've got money on the line? Besides, everyone but you already knew."

'Heh heh, he'll probably tough it out for a week just out of spite,' the big-nosed guard muttered as he pocketed the most senior guard's money.

"Hmm..."

While the seniors bickered again, the recently hired rookie guard focused not on the bet but on the eldest son himself.

He didn't have money to spare for betting anyway, and besides, observing a famous figure who'd until now existed only as rumor interested him more.

Of course, he hadn't planned to watch for long.

Whatever disgrace the man carried, he wasn't bold enough to openly stare at a noble, a superior, training in front of him.

But that thought began to fade little by little.

Before he knew it, the rookie's expression had turned serious as he focused on the lazy young lord swinging his sword.

'...This doesn't feel like someone just killing time.'

It really didn't.

Airen Farreira was swinging his sword with far more diligence and focus than the rookie had expected.

Someone might say, "What's the big deal, it's only been four days."

But he knew better. Not many people could even keep a three-day resolution, let alone longer.

That's just how people were.

No matter how motivating the words they'd heard, no matter how firmly they'd thought "I'll work hard the moment I wake up tomorrow," almost no one actually followed through.

Most people valued the sleep in front of them more than the plan they'd made yesterday.

And even if someone managed to drag themselves up and pick up a sword, that wasn't the end of it either.

The heavier the sword felt, the more the training repeated, the more pain piled up and the more willpower got worn away. The muscle soreness waiting the next morning was just a bonus.

He'd been the same. He remembered the day after he'd first picked up a sword, whining and running away from training for three straight days.

But...

'Up until now, the young master hasn't shown even a hint of that.'

A man who'd never exercised a day in his life.

Moving like someone who'd been doing this for years.

The rookie simply couldn't understand it.

Of course, the lazy young lord's swordsmanship was terrible.

He lacked the strength to handle the sword's weight properly, and his stamina wasn't enough to keep his breathing steady.

He couldn't be compared to nobles his own age who'd picked up a sword early, and honestly, any healthy grown man pulled off the street would probably look more impressive swinging a blade than he did.

But if you set aside the technique and judged willpower alone, what the boy was showing right now was nothing the veteran guards should be laughing at.

If anything, it deserved to be called impressive.

No.

Looking at the look in his eyes right now, maybe it deserved even more than that...

That was when it happened.

The mood around them suddenly changed.

Not just that. The most senior guard was tapping him on the shoulder.

"Ow, what's wr... oof."

The rookie never finished his sentence.

Without meaning to, his expression stiffened, and his eyes fixed on one spot.

His posture had already turned respectful, his shoulders dropping low. The others were the same.

Kraaawww!

A small, almost cute cry, yet one that somehow carried a strange dignity.

It was the roar of a legendary creature painted entirely in red, a griffin.

And riding atop it was the shining future of House Farreira, someone who'd earned the title of "Sorcerer" at the age of eleven.

Kiril Farreira, the lazy young lord Airen Farreira's half sister.

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