WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reformation of the Deadbeat Noble

Chapter 87

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Vulcanus's Numbering Sword (1)

"Mr. Kazar."

"Y-yes?"

"This necklace. Where did you get it?"

Airen Farreira stared straight at Kazar as he asked.

His eyes were cold.

It wasn't on the level of a demonoid or a monster, but this corrupted necklace still carried a demonic aura too strong to ignore.

It had been unsettling Airen without pause, dragging the Man in the Dream up to the surface.

Kazar, unaware of any of this, felt a bolt of fear that Airen might kill him on the spot.

'Don't lie. Tell the truth.'

"Th-that is, well, I mean... huh?"

But nothing came to mind.

It was strange. He clearly remembered wearing the necklace, but he couldn't recall when that had even happened.

And it wasn't just that. He couldn't make sense of his own actions up until now either, especially the ridiculous stunt he'd just pulled.

'Wait, why in the world did I do something so idiotic?'

Skimming half the goods off every merchant might feel good in the moment, but it always ends in disaster eventually.

Whether the merchants dried up entirely or a subjugation force finally came calling, either way things would get worse than they already were.

He knew that better than anyone, which was exactly why he'd never let greed get the better of him and had managed to keep things running smoothly until now...

"I asked where you got the necklace."

"Ah! Th-that's..."

"You don't remember?"

"No, I'm terribly sorry... it's, it's true! I don't remember anything at all! Like I was under some kind of spell... a-actually, even what just happened... um, everyone, merchants..."

Kazar turned belatedly toward the merchants, trying to smooth things over, but the mood had already soured.

Their faces looked ready to draw blades and charge the moment Airen Farreira gave the word.

Kazar hunched his shoulders, swallowed the rest of his sentence, and waited meekly for the young man's judgment.

Fortunately, Airen wanted a peaceful ending.

"Mr. Kazar."

"Y-yes."

"I'll believe that you were under some kind of spell."

"Thank you. Thank you so much!"

"You understand, don't you. The surrounding territories have stayed quiet up to now because you kept within the line. I hope today's mistake doesn't repeat itself."

"Of course not!"

Kazar bowed deeply.

He wasn't alone. The bandits, still wearing dazed expressions, bowed along with him. A few even dropped to the ground in full prostration.

None of them could make sense of their own recent behavior either.

The one saving grace was that Airen Farreira had the strength to stop their rampage.

And that he wasn't the type to treat human lives lightly.

He turned to the merchants and said, "Well, since that's settled, let's get moving."

"..."

And just like that, a situation that had been one spark away from disaster dissolved in an instant.

Thanks to the efforts of Krono's Golden Generation, 27th Cohort official trainee, Airen Farreira.

* * *

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

"You saved our lives, swordsman! Truly, the 27th Cohort of Krono, the ones who'll carry the continent's future on their shoulders... I've seen your reputation with my own eyes!"

"Long live Krono Fencing Hall!"

"Long live! Long live!"

"Um... thank you."

Once the business at the Alhad Den had wrapped up, and people had more or less collected themselves and grasped what had happened, Airen Farreira found himself treated like nothing short of a great hero.

"I'm sorry. I was under such a huge misunderstanding this whole time! I let my own foolish assumptions upset you, swordsman, and I'll pay for that offense with my life if I must!"

"No, please, calm down. It's fine, really. It's fine."

Trant and a few other mercenaries who'd quietly looked down on him before now offered heartfelt apologies, and the merchants went so far as to treat him like visiting royalty.

Naturally, all of this made Airen Farreira deeply uncomfortable.

He'd only done what needed doing.

And if someone asked whether it had truly been the best course of action, he couldn't nod along with any confidence there either.

Had there been some flaw in what he'd done?

Might there have been a better way?

Airen mulled it over, and Lulu took the question seriously.

"I'm glad we got out of the den safely, but... was it too careless to just leave the bandits like that?"

"Yes! Way too careless! Those rotten men, daring to bother us? You should've snapped every single neck!"

"That seems... a bit much. Still, I think it might've been smart to put some kind of safeguard in place. Other merchants could get hurt after we leave... or, hm, maybe not, now that the necklace is gone?"

"If not necks, then legs! You should've snapped their legs!"

"..."

"Anyway, you should've broken something on all of them! Or thrown them in a cell!"

"That would've started a fight, and then people on our side might've gotten hurt too. Hah... thinking about it more, I think just leaving was the right call. Merchants and the surrounding territories are all tangled up in this. Unless we meant to solve every last piece of it ourselves, it's probably better to leave it to the people whose job that actually is... for now, at least."

Word had probably already reached the local lords, and things were likely being handled as they spoke.

Even as he said that, Airen Farreira kept turning the problem over in his mind.

Searching for something better.

Kubharu watched him with deep, thoughtful eyes.

'Still won't stop mulling it over, even after it's all done.'

The first time Kubharu had met him, he'd thought Airen just seemed young. Not much life experience, not much knowledge, a young lord raised soft and sheltered within his own house.

Teaching him a few things here and there had seemed like it'd be entertaining, and that was reason enough to join this little party.

But every time that deep, serious side of him surfaced like this, Kubharu found himself thinking that he was the one learning more.

'He doesn't run from a problem just because there's no clean answer. He keeps thinking it through, over and over, until he finds his own answer.'

Most people didn't do that.

Whether the Alhad Den had been in the right or wrong, most people treated a question like that as nothing but a tiresome headache. There wasn't even a proper answer to find.

So most people gave up thinking and just followed the old, familiar current.

But a rare few didn't.

The ones who didn't run from the countless problems scattered across the world, who kept wrestling with them, striving to arrive at, if not "the answer," then at least "their own answer."

Those were the ones who actually held a conviction of their own, the ones who carried their sword without wavering.

'Airen will end up like that too.'

Kubharu smiled and said as much out loud.

Airen looked embarrassed. It suited him.

Never getting cocky about himself, that was one of his better traits.

And Airen really did find Kubharu's praise embarrassing.

Just a few years ago, he would've run from anything difficult without a second thought.

He'd closed his ears against people's mockery out of fear, forced himself to sleep just to escape memories from his childhood...

He couldn't have argued if someone had called him the lazy lord back then.

'Still... compared to who I was then, I think I've grown a lot.'

That thought didn't feel bad at all.

Just as Kubharu said, he'd overcome the habit of running from anything hard or difficult.

He said, "Thanks, Kubharu. That's a lot of praise to take in, but it still feels good."

"Ha ha. That's not too much praise at all. Look at the way those people over there are gazing at you with adoration. That's what real pressure looks like."

"I should get back into my sword practice too. I've been slacking off for a while."

Airen said this suddenly, turning his face away from the mercenaries' heated stares.

Kubharu narrowed his eyes at the rather random remark.

"Why all of a sudden? Aren't you already strong enough? You were amazing today, of all days."

"Right? If you wanted to learn swordsmanship more, you could've just stayed at the fencing hall."

"Ow, your claws!"

Kubharu scowled at Lulu, perched on top of his head.

Airen laughed lightly. Watching those two always put him in a good mood.

He kept that faint smile a moment longer, then slowly laid out his thinking.

"The more my swordsmanship improves, the more options I'll have to choose from. That's what I've been thinking."

"..."

"Take today, for instance. If I hadn't been strong enough to overwhelm Kazar, we'd have had no choice but to fight, whether we wanted to or not. A lot of people probably would've died in the process."

"Hmm. That's true enough."

Kubharu nodded.

It was true.

No matter how much thought went into finding a good answer, it was worthless without the strength to carry it out.

That was exactly the point Airen Farreira had put his finger on.

He said, "You said a lot of famous swordsmen gather in the artisan city of Derinku, didn't you?"

"That's right. Duels break out now and then over who gets a blade from a famous artisan, so it should be a fine place to broaden your horizons."

"I'm looking forward to it."

The moment Airen Farreira nodded slowly.

Fwoosh!

Kubharu stopped dead in his tracks.

Something had shifted inside Airen.

It happened too fast to properly grasp, but...

'For just an instant, I think the flame in his heart flared up.'

"Kubharu? What's wrong?"

"...No, it's nothing."

Kubharu brushed it off vaguely and started walking again.

Airen watched him with a puzzled look, while Lulu had already drifted off to sleep atop his head, purring softly.

Walking a step ahead, Kubharu wore a small smile on his lips once more.

* * *

Four days after crossing the Alhad Mountains safely, Airen's party was still traveling alongside the merchant caravan.

Since most of the allied merchants were headed for the artisan city of Derinku anyway, there was no reason to split off and travel separately.

And after what had happened that day, everyone went out of their way to look after Airen's group's comfort, so every day passed more pleasantly than the last.

The one thing that still nagged at him was the demonic-aura-infused necklace Kazar had been wearing, but there wasn't anything to be done about that right away.

Kubharu had sealed it inside a spirit magic pouch, so there was no immediate danger from it.

"Still, where do you think it actually came from? Something like that doesn't just show up in the world for no reason..."

"There's no point in us racking our brains over it when we won't find an answer anyway. Let's bring it up at a temple later. The fire-element pouch has anti-demonic properties, so it should hold for about a month."

With even the matter of the demonic aura set aside, nothing stood in their way anymore.

"Does that feel good, Lady Lulu?"

"Mm-hm. There, comb a little more behind my neck."

"Yes! Please enjoy our House Reika Trading Company's magic comb. It plucks out every dead hair without fail!"

"What? This is a magic tool?"

"Ah, no, not quite a magic tool, more like... I meant it's just that good a product..."

"Ah, I see."

Lulu, nestled in a laborer's arms, was getting her fur groomed.

"Hmm! This deep aroma... this is a well-aged one, at least seventeen years or more..."

"That's right. Talista, twenty-one years. A whiskey with a touch of smoky character added in, it's a bit of an acquired taste, but I figured someone with as fine a palate as you, Kubharu-nim, would surely appreciate its charm..."

"Naturally. It's a wonderful flavor! But, offering me something this precious..."

"Oh, please, don't mention it. If you're traveling with Airen Farreira-nim, we could bring out something far finer than this."

"Is that so? Then perhaps..."

"Now now, have a drink first, and think about it after!"

"Huh? Well then, I suppose I shall. Keu... that's good."

Kubharu, enjoying an expensive whiskey with a mid-level merchant.

It was hospitality lavish enough to make even a noble jealous.

But Airen, who could rightly be called the star of this whole group, spent his days unremarkably, asking for no special treatment.

'This is way too much.'

Of course, that didn't mean he accepted none of their goodwill at all.

Turning down every single offer was exhausting, and he understood that his refusals themselves might come across as a burden to them.

Honestly, having a nice room set aside for him and things like that, he didn't mind those parts.

Airen dropped his bags in a room spacious enough for five people and headed down to the first-floor hall.

Lulu was fast asleep, thoroughly enjoying the laborer's grooming, while Kubharu was already drinking with a third man who had somehow joined the table.

"Airen! Come over here."

"I don't drink. I was just going to grab some food and head back up..."

"No, no, I'm not telling you to drink. There's just an interesting story here, and I wanted you to hear it. This gentleman brought some news from Derinku."

"News from Derinku?"

"Ah, is this the young hero who taught the Alhad bandits a lesson? Quite the handsome one too, I see!"

"...Thank you. Could I hear about Derinku first?"

"Ah, of course. Did you know? The finest blacksmith in Derinku has just come out of seclusion. Word is he's looking for a new owner for one of his swords."

"The finest blacksmith?"

"A dwarf named Vulcanus. There's a rather fascinating story tied to him. Here, come sit."

At the stranger's gesture, Airen took a seat.

Vulcanus. The name sounded familiar. If someone with as little worldly experience as Airen had heard the name before, the man's skill had to be something else entirely.

What kind of person was he, to get this stranger so worked up just talking about him?

The curiosity didn't last long.

"Vulcanus puts numbers on the swords he holds especially dear. They're called Numbering Swords, and there are currently nine Vulcanus swords on the continent. He only ever hands a Numbering Sword to one of two kinds of people."

"I see. What kinds?"

"The first kind is a Sword Master. And the second kind... someone who will one day become a Sword Master."

"What?"

"The story goes that every single person who's ever received a Numbering Sword from Vulcanus has gone on to become a Sword Master, without a single exception."

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