WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 62

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Hidden Dragon of Hale Kingdom (6)

"What's this now?"

"Sparring, looks like?"

"With the vice commander? For real?"

"Yeah. Heard it walking by. Guess he wants to know how strong the kid actually is."

"Huh..."

The vice commander of the Twilight Knights and Airen Farreira walked toward the clearing right beside the camp.

The people of the Six Southern Houses watched them go with eyes full of curiosity.

The most entertaining thing in the world is watching someone else's house burn down. The second most entertaining thing is watching a fight.

And this wasn't just any fight between nobodies.

Hill Burnett, the young knight called the future of Hale Kingdom.

And Airen Farreira, who had pulled off performances nobody could have predicted.

If those two crossed swords, it would be a show far better than any house fire.

Of course, curiosity wasn't the only thing in the eyes of the Six Houses.

'Can't deny it anymore. Airen Farreira's landed himself real connections with the vice commander.'

'Well, after what he showed today, of course people would take notice.'

'Ah... if only my son were standing there instead.'

'I wish I'd had a chance to spar with a swordsman of that caliber too...'

Envy, plain and undisguised.

Watching people practically radiate that feeling, Baron Farreira wore another happy smile, while Viscount Gairon looked distinctly uncomfortable.

And a little ways off, the knights of the Twilight Knights sat clustered together.

"Sparring with the vice commander? Ugh..."

"Don't even want to think about it."

"Awful. Just awful."

Their reaction was nothing like that of the Six Southern Houses.

Not a trace of envy or jealousy.

The way they looked at Airen Farreira was closer to how you'd look at a young animal being led to slaughter.

One of the youngest knights, listening in on the conversation, finally asked a question.

"Um, is sparring with the vice commander really that rough?"

"Huh? Oh, right, you haven't been with us long enough to know."

"Yeah, I got sent out on deployment right after joining... so, um, what exactly is the vice commander like, that you all talk about it like that? I mean, sure, he doesn't seem like the type to let his guard down, but sparring with someone that strong should still teach you a lot..."

"Teach you?"

The surrounding knights let out a snort at the rookie's words.

He said that because he didn't know better, but they couldn't hold back.

One of them spoke up.

"Teach you, sure. There's plenty to learn. After one round with the vice commander, monsters and demonoids alike stop feeling all that scary. You'll understand once you go through it yourself."

"..."

"Watching someone else do it doesn't really hit home. You've got to try it yourself. Ha ha ha!"

"Exactly. Give it a try! Not that you'll have a choice either way. Ha ha ha ha!"

Listening to his seniors laugh, the rookie felt a nameless unease creep in and turned his eyes toward the vice commander.

Naturally, Hill Burnett paid no mind to the attention gathered around him.

Right now, only one thing occupied his head. Airen Farreira.

He spoke.

"Not too dark for you, is it? The moonlight's strong tonight, and there's a fire nearby too."

"No, I'm fine."

"Well, at your level, darkness probably doesn't matter much. You've already reached the rank of Expert."

"You flatter me."

"That kind of humility is part of your charm, but overdo it and it starts looking rude to others. Aside from me and the commander, there's not a single person in this knight order better than you. Keep being modest like that, and where does it leave the rest of them?"

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good. Enough chatter, then..."

Shhhing.

Hill Burnett drew his sword. The blade caught the moonlight and gleamed with a sharp, dangerous edge.

But something else caught Airen's attention far more.

Airen Farreira looked into his opponent's eyes.

"..."

An entirely different look from a moment ago.

Not simply the intensity a skilled swordsman gave off. This felt different.

Far more savage. Far rawer.

A faint scent of blood seemed to hang in the air, and a chill ran down Airen's spine.

"Most of the defining moments of my career as a knight have been demonoid subjugations."

Hill Burnett said this while swinging his sword.

He didn't look serious about it. More like a neighborhood kid playfully swinging a toy around.

But Airen couldn't afford to relax. He summoned the greatsword from the Otherworldly Realm and raised it.

"You saw it yourself today, so you know. They're truly awful things. Uglier than any beast, more repulsive than any monster."

"At first, I hated facing them more than anything. Everyone feels that way, but I had it worse than most."

"Given my style of swordsmanship, I end up having to get much closer to their faces than most people would."

The vice commander's swordsmanship was unusual.

To be precise, it wasn't really swordsmanship at all. Fists, feet, shoulders, headbutts, his technique relied on his body far more than his blade, closer to something in a broader category altogether.

Because he favored that kind of raw, close-quarters fighting, Hill Burnett had no choice but to lock eyes with monsters closer than anyone else.

No choice but to meet the bone-chilling gaze of demonoids head on.

There had been one moment, just one, where fear made him want to sheathe his sword.

But after surviving that trial.

His eyes had come to hold an intensity fierce enough to make even demonoids tremble.

Whoosh.

"Let's not drag this out. The point of this spar is just to check your ability. Whatever else, I feel like I need to properly gauge your combat strength. The demonoids seemed stronger than I expected, after all."

"..."

"So, show me one clean strike, your very best. No need to push yourself into an injury... we'll settle this in a single exchange. Understood?"

"...Understood."

Airen Farreira nodded and took his stance.

Dead center. The greatsword sat exactly at his center line, tilted toward neither side.

Hill Burnett felt a flicker of admiration inside.

'Not even a trace of a wobble.'

For a swordsman, especially one at that level, holding a steady stance wasn't exactly rare.

Even his own subordinates, far below this kid's level, could manage that much.

But it was a different story entirely when facing his gaze directly.

He'd seen knights break into a cold sweat.

Seen them take a step back, unable to bear the pressure.

Seen one who trembled outright. That wasn't arrogance talking, his presence really was that vicious.

To take that pressure head on and still hold steady wasn't something you could dismiss with a single compliment.

'Better than I thought.'

He was in the middle of raising his mental estimate of the kid even further.

Staring at Airen, the vice commander frowned slightly, sensing something had changed.

'What is this...'

The kid looked different.

From this twenty one year old young man, something unlike before radiated outward.

A solid slab of rock.

No, something even tougher than that.

'Steel?'

Right. That was close.

Not the feel of someone flaunting natural talent, but something forged, hammered again and again against its limits until it became steel.

Under that pressure, Hill Burnett's mouth slowly began to dry.

Groaning, creaking...!

And it didn't stop there.

The image looming behind Airen kept growing. Endlessly expanding its size.

From a person to a mid tier monster, from a mid tier monster to something even larger.

Something even more massive!

Whoosh!

Hill Burnett pulled his own energy up harder.

He couldn't afford to hold back anymore. One misstep, and he'd be the one swallowed by the kid's presence instead.

The vice commander completely abandoned any thought of taking it easy on his junior.

His eyes turned colder and sharper than even when facing a demonoid, sharper still.

The atmosphere kept heating up. Growing tauter by the second.

What finally broke it wasn't either of the two locked in the standoff.

Clatter!

"Ah! Aah..."

"..."

"S-sorry, hic, I'm sorry!"

A soldier from House Russell, who'd been staring blankly at the standoff, had dropped the mess kit he was holding.

Every eye in the subjugation force turned on him, and he shook with sheer terror.

His face, already streaked with tears, kept bowing again and again.

At that moment, Airen Farreira spoke up.

"Should we keep going?"

"...No. This is enough."

Ah, disappointed sighs rippled through the crowd that had been watching the spar. The pressure on the soldier who'd dropped his kit only grew worse.

Fortunately, that mood didn't last long. The vice commander made sure to look after the soldier.

Once the situation wrapped up in that somewhat unsatisfying way, Hill Burnett spoke as if making an announcement.

"From now on, Airen Farreira may act independently, without falling under my command."

"...!"

"At this level of skill, letting him move freely will do far more good for the subjugation force. That includes situations where a demonoid, not just a lesser monster, shows itself directly."

With that, the vice commander returned to his own bedding.

The Twilight Knights, bound to him by deep trust, simply nodded and accepted it as it was, while the people of the Six Southern Houses stared at Airen Farreira with expressions that said, what just happened?

And Hill Burnett, having returned to his spot and settled down quietly, was seriously reconsidering the words he'd just spoken.

'That level of skill, huh...'

Just how strong was Airen Farreira, really?

Did he actually know the answer to that?

He didn't. He couldn't even tell right now whether he himself stood above the kid or below him.

A massive shock hit Hill Burnett.

'Third time. A shock like this...'

The first had been hearing that Ignet, the continent's greatest genius, reached the rank of Sword Master at the age of twenty.

That had made sense, in its own way.

No one could witness her reaching that great rank at the fastest age in history without being stunned.

The second had been when Illia Lindsay, a genius on par with her, became an honorary member of the Moonlight Knights at fourteen.

That, too, had been remarkable.

If anyone were going to break Ignet's record for youngest Sword Master, it would only ever be Illia Lindsay.

"Hmm..."

Compared to those two events, Airen Farreira's achievement was, honestly, a step below.

Matching him at twenty one was certainly impressive, but search the whole continent and you'd find that level of genius here and there.

Being vice commander of a minor kingdom's knight order was, in the end, just that much of a position.

And yet...

'There's something here that can't be explained by a simple comparison like that.'

He couldn't put his finger on what it was. Actually, he hadn't even managed to properly grasp it yet.

Hill Burnett felt something tighten in his chest.

Still, it was fine.

Airen Farreira was from Hale Kingdom.

Which meant this connection could keep going.

At last, Hill Burnett's expression brightened.

He nodded, a smile settling onto his face.

"..."

Airen Farreira's face, meanwhile, was more serious than usual.

He'd just felt, again, the same sensation he'd felt facing the two monsters earlier that day.

To be precise, it had started the moment the vice commander's gaze turned savage.

'That was some presence. Felt like standing in front of a monster, not a person.'

Not that Hill Burnett had fallen to corruption, of course. It just meant his aura had been frightening and powerful enough to make Airen think that.

Either way, after being exposed to that pressure, his sword had grown sturdier.

Sharper, too. Maybe because this was the third time, he could grasp it more clearly now.

How was he supposed to take this?

Just as he was about to sink deeper into that thought, Airen felt an overwhelming drowsiness creeping over him.

It wasn't a lack of stamina.

He'd been through a lot in a single day, but none of it compared to his days at Krono Fencing Hall or in the Otherworldly Realm.

Maybe this was the fatigue of taking a life for the first time, catching up to him now?

That might be it.

Thinking that to himself, Airen Farreira slowly closed his eyes, and soon sank into a long sleep.

And the next morning.

"..."

For the first time in a long while, the dream had changed.

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