WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 41

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Sorcerer (2)

"Yeah. Not sure if you'll like it."

Kiril tore the wrapping open before Airen Farreira had even finished speaking. She popped open the small box and pulled out what was inside.

A necklace. A beautiful blue sapphire necklace.

But that wasn't what mattered.

What mattered was that her brother, of all people, the one who'd spent most of his life shut up in his room, had thought to get her something at all.

The twelve year old girl stared at the necklace for a moment, then managed to force out a word.

"...anks."

"Hm?"

"...Thanks. Get it right the first time."

"Ah, sorry..."

Her voice came out unusually quiet, and just as blunt as ever.

Watching this, the Farreira couple's faces lit up.

Kiril was one thing, but it was Airen's astonishing change that really made their chests ache.

Seeing them like that, the lazy lord felt a weight lift off him.

I'm glad I listened to Marcus.

The servant had insisted, over and over, that he should bring something back for his family after so long apart.

If not for him, Airen probably would have come home without a single thought for gifts, empty handed.

I should look out for them more from now on. Make up for all the years I didn't.

A change he couldn't feel in himself.

But to everyone else, it was the eldest son of the house showing more growth than anyone could have imagined.

Thanks to that, the room was filled with nothing but warmth.

In the middle of all that, just as Airen reached for the gifts meant for his father and mother, a voice cut in.

"Hmm, so that's it. No wonder there was a similar scent on you, so you're the brother?"

"Eek!"

Kiril let out a startled yelp at the sudden voice.

The strange creature, no, the strange cat, Lulu, raised both front paws in apology.

"Ah, sorry! I wasn't trying to scare you. I just figured it'd be easier to win you over through your brother than to convince you directly, and the thought slipped out loud."

"Who talks to themselves that long! And what do you mean, win my brother over!"

Kiril slid off her mother's lap and snatched up the Sorcerer Lulu without hesitation.

The Farreira couple flinched at how fearless she was, but the black cat let itself be caught, hanging placidly from Kiril's grip.

Dangling in midair, body stretched long, she said,

"No, I just mean, he seems like an easier personality to work with than you. And..."

"And?"

"You like your brother a lot, so if I win him over, wouldn't you come around too? That's the idea."

"..."

"Huh? Was I not supposed to say that? Was I supposed to just think it?"

"If you go poking around in my private thoughts like that again, I'm never becoming your disciple!"

Kiril Farreira's face went red as she shrieked. Startled, Lulu slipped neatly out of her grip and apologized.

"Sorry! I won't do it again! Don't hate me!"

Hop!

Whoosh.

She leaped into the air and vanished in an instant. As if she'd never been there at all.

Watching the whole scene unfold, Harun Farreira let out a sigh.

"I have no idea how to even begin handling this."

It was a genuinely awkward situation.

If the Sorcerer Lulu became Kiril's master, that would be the best outcome by far.

But whether he could be trusted, and whether Kiril would even come to like him, both remained completely uncertain. More time was needed.

And if the relationship soured, the problem would only grow worse.

A powerful Sorcerer who could slip past the guards and wander freely through the castle, holding a grudge? He didn't even want to imagine it.

Even without a formal master and disciple bond, at the very least they needed to keep things amicable.

But how...

"Dear?"

Amel Farreira's calm voice.

The baron looked at his wife.

Her expression carried that faint, languid ease that always settled the hearts of anyone who looked at her.

She said,

"Let's think about the complicated stuff later. Right now, let's focus on our Airen. We haven't even properly talked about the fencing hall yet, have we?"

"Right. Save that for later. Brother, tell me about Krono Fencing Hall. How was it? Did you learn a lot?"

"...True. Sorry, Airen. The cat Sorcerer matter is important, sure, but there's something more important right here."

"No, not at all. And, Kiril, hmm... where should I even start?"

Airen shook his head at his father's words and smiled.

He was still more used to a blank expression, so smiling took some effort, but it came far more naturally than it used to.

After that, the Farreira family spent a joyful, happy stretch of time together.

It was the most Airen had spoken in a single day in his entire life.

* * *

The hectic day passed, and late night settled in.

Back in his own room, Airen gazed out the window, lost in thought.

Krono Fencing Hall, the Hall Master's advice, his own sword, his family, his little sister, the cat Sorcerer Lulu, House Viscount Gairon...

The world outside his room was difficult and complicated. A world away from the days when he could just close his eyes, cover his ears, and run.

Still, even accounting for all of that, it was far better than before.

He thought back over the conversations he'd had with his family that day, and the smiles they'd worn.

They were all so happy, just because I brought back a gift...

They'd seemed even more moved by that than by his conditional acceptance into the fencing hall.

Seeing that, Airen had felt happy, but also more than a little sorry.

He hadn't done anything grand, just something any son from an ordinary household might do without a second thought, and yet his parents and little sister had been overjoyed by it. Seeing that made him regret all the time he'd wasted until now.

Let's not do that anymore.

Airen Farreira clenched his fist.

There was no need for anything grand or extraordinary. He wasn't capable of that anyway, and his parents had never wanted that from him in the first place.

He just had to stop running the way he used to.

Even when it was hard, he could straighten his back a little more. Even when it felt like too much, he could hold on a little longer and stand a little taller.

That alone would be enough to put a smile on his sister's face instead of that irritated scowl.

...I can't put off finding my own sword either.

Airen's expression turned serious.

The homework the Hall Master of Krono Fencing Hall, Ian, had given him was brutally difficult.

A philosophical, abstract subject he'd never once considered in his entire life. His head throbbed just thinking about it, and part of him wanted to toss the whole thing aside.

But he couldn't do that.

Sitting still just because something was hard would accomplish nothing.

Thanks to that dream, if nothing else, the lazy lord had learned that lesson to the bone.

Airen chuckled once he got that far in his thoughts.

Here he was, trying to steel his resolve to break free of the swordsman in his dreams and forge a sword of his own, and in the process, leaning on the help of that very dream.

If irony had a definition, this might be it.

"...Well, whatever."

Airen Farreira shook his head hard.

Deep, heavy thinking invited too much worry, and worry invited anguish.

Anguish spiraled into depression, listlessness, self loathing.

Maybe it was different for other people, but that was how it went for him. He'd learned that lesson to the bone too, over the past ten years.

He cleared his mind of the useless thoughts, one by one. Once he did, what he needed to do the next day became clear.

Airen called out toward the door.

"Anyone out there?"

"Yes! May I come in?"

"Yeah, come in."

The moment he finished speaking, a maid stepped inside. Airen said,

"I'm planning to head to the training grounds around five tomorrow, so let them know ahead of time and get things ready."

"Pardon? You mean tomorrow, right away?"

The maid asked, sounding flustered.

Airen didn't understand why she was so surprised, but he nodded anyway.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"No... but, when you say five o'clock... do you mean in the evening?"

"I wouldn't be telling you this now if I meant the evening. Morning, obviously."

"Morning..."

The maid looked flustered all over again, and Airen waited quietly.

After a brief silence, she carefully voiced her concern.

"Um, will you be all right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... I heard the distance from Krono Fencing Hall to here alone took more than half a month, and with the travel fatigue still on you, you haven't even had a proper rest yet... and if you get up that early in the morning and go straight to the training grounds... I'm worried something might happen to you..."

The maid was young, but she'd worked in the castle for over three years, so she knew Airen Farreira's old self very well.

He'd changed into a different person before leaving for the fencing hall, sure, but in her mind, the young master was still fundamentally the "lazy lord."

No, forget that, even someone with great stamina would find this excessive.

That was the only conclusion she could reach as a maid.

But Airen saw things differently.

Over the past year, his average sleep had come to under five hours a night. Every other hour had been nothing but training, training, and more training.

For a boy like that, the past half month spent in a carriage hadn't been a grueling journey at all, just rest.

If not for the problem the Hall Master had handed him to chew on, he probably would have kept swinging his sword nonstop even during the trip.

Airen answered with a faint smile.

"I'll be fine. Just get things ready the way I asked."

"Y, yes."

"And have something ready to eat too. Even if it's a bit much for breakfast, that's fine."

"...Understood. But tomorrow the soldiers have their regular training, so the training grounds will be crowded from early morning. Will that be all right?"

"Doesn't matter. I won't be taking up much space."

"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."

The maid bowed politely and backed out of the room.

Click. The door shut, and she murmured quietly to herself.

"Is he doing this because he's embarrassed about failing to get into the fencing hall?"

Getting in would've been the far more unbelievable outcome, honestly.

She kept that last thought to herself and padded softly down the hallway toward the kitchen.

Only the family and Marcus knew that Airen had received a conditional acceptance, so her reaction was hardly surprising.

"Make him something to eat before dawn tomorrow?"

"The young master's really heading to the training grounds that early?"

"He doesn't need to push himself that hard."

The kitchen maids had similar thoughts of their own.

The mean spirited ones thought, no point wearing yourself out now, it's too late for that. The kind hearted ones thought, well, at least he looks a lot more energetic than before, that's good.

Sadly, not a single person, on either side, expected just how much Airen Farreira had grown at that fencing hall.

And so the night passed, and dawn arrived.

"Well then, time to move this body after so long."

Exactly five in the morning.

Fully prepared, the lazy lord appeared at the training grounds of the estate.

He didn't rush into movement.

Since it had been a while since he'd properly worked his body, he warmed up thoroughly. Static and dynamic stretches loosened every muscle in his body, bringing a light heat to his limbs.

Of course, that wasn't the end of it.

Everything so far had just been to prevent any possible injury.

Sword training mattered, sure, but after so long without proper movement, he felt the urge to really put his body to work. Airen swept his gaze across the training grounds.

"..."

The equipment here was far more lacking compared to Krono Fencing Hall.

But that was fine. There were plenty of exercises he could do with just his own body.

"No one's around yet, so I guess I can spread out a bit."

Muttering low, he started jogging slowly across the training grounds.

He didn't stay slow for long.

Bit by bit, Airen's pace picked up.

* * *

"Damn it, why do we have training this early in the morning..."

"Tell me about it. Hell training? What a joke. If they actually wanted results, they'd have us eat a good breakfast and start around nine instead..."

"Can't be helped. I heard it straight from up top, this is all for show, to impress the neighboring houses. They want it to look brutal from the outside, no matter what."

"That's such a pointless..."

Soldiers gathered at the training grounds for the six o'clock morning muster.

A steady stream of complaints spilled from their mouths about the whole situation.

Of course it did. No one in their right mind wanted to drag themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn, rubbing their sleepy eyes, just to go work their bodies.

"Huh?"

Except.

There was someone like that.

A boy jogging across the training grounds, his face blank at a glance, but somehow oddly refreshed.

"The young master?"

"He's back?"

"Right, he got back from the fencing hall yesterday. But..."

"Why's he sprinting flat out this early in the morning?"

"Isn't he going to hurt himself doing that?"

The soldiers, spotting Airen Farreira, tossed out one comment after another.

More than a few of their faces carried genuine concern.

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