WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 60

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Hidden Dragon of Hale Kingdom (4)

"....."

Those who had been listening to the exchange between Hill Burnett and Airen Farreira wore strange expressions.

His heart hadn't been set.

What kind of riddle was that supposed to be?

It wasn't complete nonsense, but the sight of a young man, not some grizzled priest, saying something like that made people uneasy.

'That's just a fancy-sounding non-answer, isn't it?'

'What's he even talking about?'

"Hm."

Hill Burnett stroked his chin.

He'd had that same thought himself, if he was honest.

But a thread of expectation still lingered in his heart.

He pressed the question again.

"I think this needs more explanation now than it did a moment ago. Your heart hadn't been set, you said. Can you lay that out for me in more detail?"

"My apologies. I wasn't trying to sound profound."

"It's fine. Don't hold back, just speak."

"...The reason I joined the subjugation campaign is to eliminate the demonoids. And through whatever I accomplish in the process, to raise the honor of my house."

An honest answer.

Not a bad one. Of course a young lord would strive for his house's glory.

The young man kept going.

"I've been thinking about what I could do to make a real contribution. Of course... watching the others swing their swords, I wondered for a moment if I should be doing the same. But I judged that training on the day of the campaign itself wouldn't actually help the effort."

"Hm."

"Effort is only complete when devoted action is joined by a devoted heart. If my heart wasn't set from the start... then swinging a sword right now wouldn't really deserve to be called effort. That was what I meant."

The people around Airen Farreira, especially those who weren't on good terms with House Farreira, let out quiet snickers after hearing his words.

He'd opened with something that sounded so profound, and in the end it was just self-justification.

It was true that training hard on the day of the campaign itself wouldn't make much difference. But doing something, anything, was obviously better than doing nothing.

'The lazy lord, through and through.'

'Even his excuses for laziness come in so many flavors.'

'And the reasoning itself isn't anything special either...'

Their eyes drifted toward the vice commander of the Twilight Knights.

Hill Burnett wore his usual stern expression, sharp enough that not a needle could slip through.

His gaze stayed fixed on the lazy lord, unmoving.

The people around them shivered without meaning to.

That cold stare was not something anyone wanted to hold for long. Heads turned away on instinct.

But Airen Farreira did not look away.

He had no reason to.

The tall young man kept his eyes lowered just enough to stay within the bounds of courtesy, holding his posture steady.

The vice commander studied him for a long moment before rising from his seat.

The march preparations had just finished.

He swept his gaze over the subjugation force and spoke in a loud voice.

"We move out immediately! And... you, come walk beside me. We need to talk a bit more."

"...!"

People stared at the two of them, startled.

It wasn't just the regular knights and soldiers. Among those staring were Laiyan Gairon and Viscount Phil Gairon.

'What in the world...'

'What did he even see in him?'

A wet, burning jealousy simmered up in them.

But neither Hill Burnett nor Airen Farreira spared the Gairon father and son a glance.

The subjugation force, which had briefly halted, began its march once more.

* * *

Hill Burnett, vice commander of the Twilight Knights, never judged a conversation by its content alone.

That was especially true when he was sizing someone up.

The eyes.

A mirror onto a person's heart.

The eyes revealed exactly what someone was thinking, and to him, they mattered just as much as the words themselves.

At least, that was how Hill Burnett saw it.

'Even if two people say the exact same thing, the weight of those words changes completely depending on whether they actually mean it.'

An eighty year old who had weathered every hardship life could throw at someone, saying "life is fleeting" in dead earnest, carried a different weight than a five year old parroting the same phrase after overhearing it somewhere. The gap between the two was enormous.

Whenever someone stated an opinion in front of him, Hill Burnett cared, more than anything else, about whether that person could actually bear the weight of their own words.

And from what he had felt just now...

'Airen Farreira is the former.'

Not just someone who "thought that way," at some surface level.

His were the eyes of someone who had already lived out what he claimed, for a long time, tested it, and built conviction on top of that experience.

The moment Hill Burnett saw it, he swept every negative rumor about Airen Farreira far out of his mind.

Curiosity, one he couldn't hide, took their place instead.

He wanted to know more about this young man.

With that thought, the vice commander spoke to the young man walking beside him.

"Let's pick up where we left off. You said you've been thinking about what you could do to help with this demonoid subjugation, correct?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I imagine that thinking led to a few conclusions. Would you share them with me?"

"I lack experience, so this may not satisfy you... but I've focused my thoughts on three things in particular."

"Three? Go ahead, tell me."

The vice commander's interest was piqued, and he pressed him on. Airen nodded and laid out his thoughts.

First. He himself had never once seen blood spilled in combat. He was inexperienced, and so he needed to prepare in advance for the shock and confusion that would come with his first kill.

Second. He had heard that nothing was more dangerous than an inexperienced soldier acting on impulse. He would keep his excitement in check, follow the direction of his superiors, and take care not to become a burden to the subjugation force.

Third. He would stay constantly alert to the demonic aura given off by demonoids and the monsters serving under them, and do his best to detect and report the enemy's presence before it was too late.

Having heard it all, Hill Burnett nodded, looking satisfied.

Then he spoke.

"Far more grounded than I expected. Not bad at all."

"Thank you."

"The first point matters a great deal. Even the most seasoned veteran feels their nerves before a first real battle. Getting your mind ready ahead of time is a good habit. Just don't let the tension freeze up your movements. Keep that in mind too."

"I'll remember that."

"The second one isn't bad either. It's a mistake I've seen plenty of first timers make. I've watched fools who couldn't even see themselves clearly, ignoring orders and showing off, get themselves killed in an instant. I must have seen it happen a hundred times by now."

"I'll be careful."

"Ah, I'm not saying you'd do that. This composure you're showing right now, it's excellent. If you can hold on to this same mindset, there shouldn't be a single problem. Now, as for the third point..."

Ha, the vice commander of the Twilight Knights burst out laughing.

He'd realized once more just how inexperienced the young man beside him really was.

For a moment, seeing such composure at his age, he'd wondered if the boy might secretly be a veteran after all. But now it was confirmed. He was a greenhorn.

'Still, if he grows well, he could turn into fine material.'

He wasn't trying to show off, and he wasn't trying to curry favor either.

None of that. Just a pure, straightforward line of thinking.

How could he help with the demonoid subjugation.

Hill Burnett liked that unassuming attitude of his a great deal.

Enough that he wanted to teach the boy himself.

Setting his thoughts aside, he kept his smile and continued.

"You don't need to worry about that part."

"Is that so?"

"Right. That's exactly why we brought priests along."

If foul demons that corrupted the world lurked deep underground, then far above, in the high heavens, a sacred god watched over the continent.

And priests who could wield a portion of that great being's authority were present with the subjugation force right now.

"The vile demonic aura that demonoids and their monsters give off, priests can sense it without any trouble."

"I see."

"Of course, there are creatures so steeped in darkness that even sacred power can't detect them. But we also have a relic of the church with us this time. So there's no need for someone experiencing their first battle to worry about that part either... hm."

Hill Burnett's expression, which had been flowing smoothly through his explanation, suddenly went rigid.

Because of Airen Farreira.

The boy had been listening intently the whole time, but now his manners had gone strangely poor.

He'd turned his head to look back, even though their conversation wasn't finished.

'What's going on?'

The vice commander didn't get angry right away.

If this had been their first meeting, maybe. But after spending time together, he'd gotten a decent read on the boy's character.

He wasn't the type to act like this without reason.

There had to be a reason. What was it?

He was still turning that over in his mind when it happened.

A chill shot up his spine without warning.

Whoooosh!

"...!"

Repulsive, filthy things that stirred a fear reaching down to the roots of what it meant to be human.

Monsters, utterly horrific, revealed themselves at the rear of the subjugation force.

They appeared as though two pictures had been swapped out for each other, without a trace of presence, all in an instant.

"Wha, no!"

"Monsters?"

Panic spread through the ranks.

This wasn't one or two scouts.

At a glance, there were dozens, and the number kept climbing.

The vice commander shouted as he watched the black creatures rising up out of the shadows of trees and stones.

"Everyone, battle formation! Knights, to the front line! The six houses, fall back and protect the mages and priests!"

'I need to read the battlefield!'

Hill Burnett's face hardened as he barked out orders in rapid succession.

There was no time to wonder why the priests hadn't sensed this coming.

He focused on what needed doing right now. The moment his thoughts settled, his eyes swept the battlefield fast.

No, he didn't even need to.

He watched a giant, five meters tall, rising up into the sky, and thought.

'I have to take that one myself!'

The reason he'd joined the subjugation force.

To crush any threat his allies couldn't handle on their own.

Orders were orders, but simply taking on a monster that powerful alone would keep the casualties to a minimum.

Except the situation right now was bad.

He should have moved ahead of time, prepared and stepped forward in advance, but he hadn't.

Even moving immediately now, he couldn't stop the thing from reaching the front line first.

Damn it, he should have just run the moment he saw it, without a second's hesitation.

He should never have let himself be too late!

That was the thought running through his mind when it happened.

A blond young man came into view, closing the distance right in front of him.

It was Airen. All his talk of staying calm and following orders, gone, as he moved on pure impulse.

The vice commander's expression turned even more frantic.

"Don't...!"

There wasn't even time to finish saying don't.

Thud!

A leap, with a boom that shook the ground beneath it.

Whooosh!

A fierce downward strike came crashing down.

Sharp as a bolt of lightning driven straight into the earth.

The five meter tall monster, unable to mount any real resistance, was split clean in two.

One strike.

Hill Burnett's hand, halfway through drawing his sword, froze in place as if struck by a petrification curse.

'What in the world was that?'

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