WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 61

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Hidden Dragon of Hale Kingdom (5)

It wasn't only the vice commander who had frozen.

The knights of the Twilight Knights, moving fast to handle the crisis, and the forces of the six houses too, all stopped where they stood.

Even the lesser monsters that had been charging toward them looked visibly rattled.

Then it happened.

The black giant that seemed to have fallen apart to either side, its glowing eyes flared red once more.

Kraaaaargh!

Kuwaaark!

A shriek tore out of the split mouth. The divided mass moved, each half acting as though it had its own will now.

The subjugation force stared in shock as fists came flying in from opposite directions.

But Airen Farreira didn't flinch.

He swung his sword again, faster than before.

Fwoosh!

Fwooosh!

Fwoooosh!

He swung.

He swung.

He swung again.

None of the people here knew it, but this was, without a doubt, Judith's swordsmanship.

Rotational force layered around a powerful core, each blow carrying the principle of a single decisive strike, Forceful Strike!

The black giant broke apart into countless pieces under that blazing assault.

Fragments of the defeated monster scattered and fell, having tasted defeat a second time.

But it wasn't over yet.

Thorns, blades, sprouted along the surface of the pieces as they crumbled through the air.

A sharpness horrifying just to look at lunged at Airen from every direction.

Of course.

He was ready for this too.

Thud!

Thud, thud!

Brett Lloyd's defensive technique formed a smooth arc.

Shhhk.

Right after came Illia Lindsay's Sky Sword, free flowing yet sharp, merciless.

The greatsword swung without pause, over and over.

Under the storm of blows, the giant's corpse split into hundreds of pieces.

Thud, thud.

It didn't move again.

The soldiers of the subjugation force simply stood there, watching the whole scene, dazed.

Crash!

Thwack!

"What are you doing! We're still in combat! Get a grip!"

"...Waaaaaugh!"

They didn't stay frozen forever, of course.

Hill Burnett rushed to the front line, kicked a lesser monster aside, and barked at them, snapping everyone back to their senses.

Seeing a monster turned into a slab of meat by a single kick did the trick.

Steeling themselves, they threw everything they had into their swords.

Thwack!

Crash!

Hill Burnett shone brightest among them all.

His swordsmanship, rough but devastating, laced with brutal body technique, literally burst and shattered the monsters apart.

He didn't let a single terrified straggler escape, chasing them down and cutting them apart no matter how far they ran.

It was a performance worthy of the vice commander of the Twilight Knights.

But the true hero of this battle was someone else.

"Hah, hah."

"..."

"..."

Airen Farreira, expressionless, catching his breath after cutting down every last enemy.

The soldiers of the subjugation force looked at him with a mix of emotions swirling in their eyes.

Awe, envy, confusion, bewilderment, admiration.

Among them, the one whose gaze burned deepest was, naturally, his father, Harun Farreira.

'I'm proud of you, Airen!'

Even when his son had started showing unprecedented confidence, Baron Farreira had still lost sleep worrying over him.

It couldn't be helped.

Airen had changed after his time at Krono Fencing Hall, sure, but the son Harun had known until now had only ever been a soft hearted boy struggling under the weight of an old childhood wound.

But right now, every last one of those worries had flown far away.

An overwhelming performance.

Watching his son do something straight out of a storybook, Harun's eyes went red.

"Jack! Jack Steward!"

"You called, my lord."

"What we talked about before we left, put it in motion."

"...As you command."

Hatred, and fury.

Instead of the gentle expression he wore in public, Viscount Phil Gairon's face had hardened into something rigid as he gave the order to the knight under him.

Jack Steward nodded, his expression dark.

It was around half a day since the Demonoid Subjugation had begun.

* * *

The Demonoid Subjugation Force's march continued without pause.

Even the unexpected monster ambush couldn't stop them.

Aside from a few minor injuries, no one had been hurt.

It could easily have turned into a disaster, but instead the subjugation force pressed on toward the demonoid's stronghold with morale soaring higher than ever.

Of course, no one let the thrill of victory push them into recklessness.

Hill Burnett had let his guard down once, but he was still a veteran knight with plenty of experience hunting demonoids.

He wasn't the type to make the same mistake twice.

"Airen Farreira."

"Yes."

"From here on, I'll weigh your word above the priests' holy relics. If you sense a monster approaching, tell me the moment you feel it. Understood?"

"Understood!"

He'd learned right after the battle that the necklace Airen Farreira wore was an extraordinary artifact.

And that it had been made by Airen's younger sibling, Kiril Farreira.

That was why Hill Burnett moved so quickly to give Airen a place of trust.

A more hidebound noble probably wouldn't have done the same.

However outlandish a Sorcerer's abilities might be, there were still things that made prioritizing an artifact over a holy relic uncomfortable.

A few priests had, in fact, voiced their displeasure with the decision.

But then.

"Enemy. Approaching from the left."

"Everyone, battle stations!"

Once Airen caught the approach of monsters early a second time, no one could keep arguing.

The subjugation force made it through the afternoon and into camp without a single casualty.

"That artifact is something else."

"You're telling me. Better demonic aura detection than the church's own holy relic..."

"Sounds like House Farreira's Sorcerer is quite the talent."

"I heard the rumor is they're quite the looker too."

"...Who cares if some kid twenty years younger than you is pretty or not?"

Over their evening rations, the knights of the Twilight Knights traded stories about Kiril Farreira.

Feeling, even secondhand, the power of a promising Sorcerer they'd only ever heard rumors about, they couldn't help but talk about it.

But there was an even hotter topic than that.

The young swordsman who had shown incredible skill in both of today's battles. Airen Farreira.

"What'd he say his age was? Twenty five?"

"Twenty one."

"That's insane. Twenty one and already showing skill like that? He's basically an Expert already, isn't he? Or is that too much of a stretch?"

Expert.

A rank falling short of the lofty realm of Sword Master, but one carrying enough skill that it would wound the pride of ordinary knights and swordsmen to lump such a person in with them.

Naturally, the title of Expert wasn't something you could claim just by wanting it.

Someone who had formally graduated from one of the continent's famous fencing halls, like Krono Fencing Hall.

Someone universally recognized as a member of a great kingdom's knight order.

Someone acknowledged by the Holy Kingdom.

Or someone who'd earned a gold plate or higher from a mercenary brokerage.

That was, at minimum, the sort of credential needed to reach this glorious rank.

Obviously, it wasn't a title you slapped in front of the name of a twenty one year old greenhorn.

And yet.

"He's obviously an Expert."

"Right. That monster earlier, the three of us together would've had a hard time with it."

"That's true. It looked stronger than your average mid tier monster, and he took it down alone..."

"I bet the vice commander thinks the same."

"And it doesn't even look like he was going all out. Just how strong is he really?"

Remarkably, not one member of the Twilight Knights questioned Airen Farreira's rank.

Instead, their curiosity had turned elsewhere. Toward his true strength.

Naturally, this kind of talk among the knights spread through the nobles of the six houses in no time.

Envy and jealousy took root in their eyes.

'He's really made a name for himself.'

'Damn it, how is this even possible? That lazy lord, of all people...'

'Baron Farreira can't seem to wipe the smile off his face!'

A few heads of house saw Harun Farreira's expression and clicked their tongues in irritation.

They say you never know how a person's life will turn out, and it was true. The man who used to get pushed around by Viscount Gairon at every head of house council had suddenly climbed to the very top.

Meanwhile, House Gairon, expected to shine brightest in the subjugation campaign, had been utterly overshadowed by House Farreira.

Laiyan Gairon had shown solid skill too, of course, but not a single member of the Twilight Knights spared him a glance.

Every burning gaze went toward the blond young man who had outshone everyone else.

"..."

But Airen Farreira, at the center of all that attention, was quieter than anyone.

It wasn't that he was forcing himself to keep a straight face. He simply had no interest in the atmosphere around him at all.

His expression hardened as he looked down. His rations sat in front of him.

But something else caught his eye more than the food. His sibling's necklace.

And the fact that it had turned black.

Shhhhh...

The artifact was working hard, sending out energy to purify the food.

That meant the meal in front of him had been poisoned, which in turn meant someone in the group had directed malice at him.

'Not exactly a shock.'

Probably House Gairon.

They'd caught a glimpse of his ability five years ago, however dim, so it made sense they'd prepared a poison to cause stomach trouble ahead of time, just to keep him in check.

Anger?

He didn't really feel any. He already knew what kind of people they were.

What bothered him more was a note stuck quietly to the bottom of the bowl.

[This food has been poisoned! Be careful!]

A warning.

The crooked, slanted handwriting, as if written with the left hand, was striking enough, but the content was even more surprising.

How had whoever wrote this note known there was poison in the food?

And why would they go out of their way to help him?

'Who could it be... I never once thought there'd be someone here looking out for me.'

And that wasn't even the end of it. There was one more thing weighing on his mind.

He closed his eyes and went back over the two battles from earlier that day.

Not to look for what he'd done wrong.

As far as he was concerned, today's fights had been flawless.

Even though it was his first time taking a life, monster or not, he hadn't trembled at all. Even in his first real battle, his vision hadn't narrowed under pressure.

There hadn't been a single mistake, no hesitation swinging his sword that let damage slip through.

'That's exactly the problem.'

Something felt off.

He wasn't the type who was naturally good at things from the start.

He was the type who had to try, and try, and try again before he saw any real results.

Naturally, he'd expected to make mistakes during this subjugation, which was exactly why he'd told the subjugation force commander he'd focus on keeping his mind under control.

But when it actually came down to it, he'd been far too perfect.

Like someone who'd hunted monsters hundreds of times before.

Beep, beep, beep.

A sound blinked from the necklace.

It meant the poison had been neutralized.

Airen nodded and started eating.

He never once worried about what he'd do if the poison hadn't been cleared.

He and his sibling were bound by deep trust.

Maybe that trust was even what made the Sorcery artifact work better.

He'd just finished his meal with that thought in mind when it happened.

"Airen Farreira. Done eating?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Care for a sparring match?"

The vice commander of the Twilight Knights, who had appeared out of nowhere, made an unexpected offer.

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