Reincarnation of the Sword Demon - Chapter 104

WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Chapter 104: Hic

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Mu-hyeok Izelion.

Dressed in eastern formalwear and bearing an eastern name, he looked eastern as well. His black hair was tied up, and his eyes were black.

Even from the way Mu-hyeok walked over with a wineglass in hand, Kyle could see there wasn't a single opening. His presence was so thoroughly concealed that it could not be felt at all.

'He's strong.'

Julius's presence was imposing, while Leonar, the captain of the imperial guard, had the solid presence of someone who would not bleed even if stabbed.

Mu-hyeok's presence, on the other hand, was so faint it felt almost transparent.

"My name is Mu-hyeok Izelion. It is good to meet you."

Mu-hyeok smiled as he approached Kyle. Kyle dipped his head in greeting.

"I'm Kyle Alastor."

"I'm Soha Izelion."

The girl walking behind Mu-hyeok peeked her head out. Soha, her black hair braided down her back, gave Kyle a bright smile.

"I hear you prefer things informal. May I just call you by your name?"

"Soha."

Mu-hyeok let out a hearty laugh and glanced at his daughter, but Soha answered with the same smile.

"You're the one who called even the Crown Prince hyung, aren't you? Meeting like this is a meaningful connection. Wouldn't it be nice if we got along?"

"Should I call you noona, then?"

Kyle asked playfully. Soha giggled and nodded.

"I'm eighteen this year, so yes, I'm your noona. Will you call me that?"

"Sure, noona."

"Mm, dongsaeng."

Soha's eyes curved happily.

"I hope my daughter is not being too rude."

"I'm not someone who worries too much about manners. I'm fairly rude myself."

"Thank you for understanding. We do not often come to places like this, so I think she is a little excited."

"I'm excited to meet the Izelion family as well."

"That is good to hear."

Mu-hyeok smiled as he looked straight into Kyle's eyes.

"We wished to meet you too."

"Me?"

"Why do you think Izelion left its forest and came all the way to this distant Empire?"

Mu-hyeok's gaze lowered slightly as he looked at Kyle.

"The Empire's new sword... Ha ha. Please do not take offense at my mentioning the name you do not care for. The Empire has been making such a fuss about it publicly."

"Is there something on my neck?"

Mu-hyeok's gaze had settled on Kyle's neck. At the question, Mu-hyeok raised his glass to his lips.

"You have a beautiful neckline."

"...?"

"Ahahaha!"

Soha burst into loud laughter, while Kyle could only stare at him in genuine disbelief.

'Is he insane?'

He stared at the neck of someone he had just met, then said that it was beautiful? Kyle was not easily startled, but Mu-hyeok's words had left him so flustered that he had no idea how to react.

Mu-hyeok reached for Kyle, who had frozen in confusion. When he tried to grab Kyle's wrist, Kyle jerked his hand back and even stumbled away.

"W-what are you doing?"

Kyle was not usually someone who stuttered, but the words slipped out before he realized it. He was simply not used to this kind of chilling threat.

"Your hand... is beautiful."

"Are you drunk?"

"Let me hold it just once. You shook hands with the princess of Ransel and the Crown Prince of the Empire, so surely you can spare me a handshake as well."

"I'd... rather not."

Mu-hyeok looked troubled at Kyle's stammered answer. Beside him, Soha was desperately trying to hold back an even bigger laugh, her face turning bright red. Covering her mouth and barely, truly barely restraining herself, Soha cautiously held out her hand to Kyle.

"C-cough, Kyle dongsaeng. Then shake hands with me. That's fine, right?"

Why were this crazy father and daughter both acting like this?

Kyle looked from Mu-hyeok to Soha with open suspicion. Surely they did not simply mean that they wanted to shake hands because... his hands were beautiful.

They had better not.

After steeling himself, Kyle offered Soha his hand.

'She isn't a swordswoman.'

He knew the instant he took her hand. Her palm did not bear the calluses of someone who had gripped a sword for years. Instead, there were hard calluses on the first joints of her right index, middle, and ring fingers.

The hand that drew a bowstring.

'An archer.'

Alastor inherited the Founding Ancestor's red hair and golden eyes, and stubbornly used swords as well, but being a Martial family did not mean everyone had to wield a sword.

Kyle had fought many archers in his past life. Arrows killed people differently from swords. A sword cut up close, but an arrow pierced from afar. In an era when magic was still uncommon, arrows shot from somewhere unseen were often more frightening on the battlefield than the rare spell.

"Not very pretty hands, are they?"

Soha smiled. She had noticed that Kyle was feeling the calluses on her fingers.

"For the child of a Martial family, hands like these are beautiful."

The moment she said that, Soha bent her index finger slightly and pressed it firmly into Kyle's palm.

A tingling sensation ran through it. Startled, Kyle pulled his hand back.

A reddish mark, like a fingertip seal, remained on his palm.

"What is this..."

[Sorry, sorry.]

Soha's voice rang in his head. It did not feel like a martial artist's voice transmission or a mage's telepathy. It was different from the magic tool Alero had used as well. Rather than mana carrying a voice, it felt as if the voice itself had surfaced in his mind.

[Sorry for startling you. And... pfft, for my father, ahaha, saying such strange things.]

[I did not wish to say such things either.]

Mu-hyeok's grumbling voice followed. Kyle had used one-on-one voice transmission before, but this was his first time holding a conversation with three people at once. He clenched his fist, hiding the mark on his palm.

'You could have simply asked to shake hands. Why did you say nonsense about my hands being beautiful?'

[You were wary of me, so I thought you would refuse a handshake.]

'You should not have said anything about my neckline in the first place.'

[Please understand. I could not bring myself to say it aloud.]

Mu-hyeok's voice reached Kyle's mind as Kyle stood there, bewildered.

'You could not even say it through voice transmission?'

[The Emperor can hear every conversation held on the land where the Imperial Palace stands.]

Mu-hyeok spoke aloud with a calm expression as he swirled his wineglass.

"Sir Kyle's hair is a beautiful color."

'Why are you saying such nonsense?'

[Would it not look suspicious if we stood here without saying a word?]

'What you are saying now seems likely to cause an even stranger misunderstanding.'

[Ah, ahaha, ahahahaha... Please, please understand. My father is trying his best too.]

[Sir Kyle, do not just stand there. Say something.]

Mu-hyeok sighed deeply. What was Kyle even supposed to say in reply to that? After thinking for a moment, he opened his mouth.

"My mother's hair is the same color as mine."

"Then she must have beautiful hair as well."

"Are you interested in my mother?"

The wineglass began to shake faster, and a little wine spilled over its rim. Mu-hyeok composed his expression before answering.

"Your mother... has a husband, does she not?"

"My father has a great deal of white hair."

"Oh dear."

"Y-your, eye... eye color is also, pfft, beautiful."

The laughter Soha could no longer hold back leaked through her lips. Kyle nodded with a sour expression.

"Thank you for the compliment. The two of you also have, ah, very beautiful hair and eyes."

'Could we just stop talking and go our separate ways?'

[No. This conversation can only be held at close range.]

In other words, they had to keep exchanging this nonsense.

"Have you... eaten?"

"I have."

"How is the wine?"

"Excellent. Would you like a glass, Sir Kyle?"

"I'm fifteen."

Mercenary life and alcohol had been inseparable, and Kyle had often drunk in his past life. He was curious about what alcohol tasted like in this reincarnated body, but if he drank before becoming an adult, Arian would smack him on the back.

'This works out well. I have something I want to ask you too.'

[So do we. You may ask first.]

While their spoken conversation remained utterly pointless, the three carried on their real discussion through this strange voice transmission.

'Are you certain the Emperor cannot hear this conversation?'

[Certain. The holy arts of the Imperial Palace convey speech through a physical voice or mana, whether through voice transmission, telepathy, or a magic tool. But this conversation is an art granted by our clan's Spirit Tree. It does not use mana, but delivers one's intent directly to the other person.]

'Have you tested it?'

[I have.]

'How did you confirm it?'

[The last time I entered the palace, I cursed out the Emperor's mother with my companion.]

"Excuse me?"

The words were so absurd that Kyle's voice slipped out. Mu-hyeok widened his eyes and glared at him.

"Sir Kyle, you eat five meals a day?"

"Y-yes?"

"Not five, but six meals a day? Impressive."

"Heh... C-cough, look at Sir Kyle's body, Father. He is very tall, is he not? He could not have grown that way at his age without eating six meals a day."

"Y-yes, that is right. I train hard too, so if I do not eat six meals a day, I am too hungry to sleep."

They were having a conversation about meals in reality.

[Sir Kyle. Please be careful. We absolutely cannot let the Emperor discover that we are having this conversation.]

'No... what you said was too shocking. You cursed out the Emperor's mother... Was that true?'

[Of course it was. I cursed without stopping, and the Emperor did not notice at all.]

'What would you have done if he had heard you?'

[What else? I would have run. I did it because I was confident I could escape.]

'Could it be that the Emperor simply pretended not to hear you?'

[Would a man called the Sun of the Empire tolerate someone insulting his own mother? Even if it was an insult he could not hear, the Emperor is not the sort of man to let it pass.]

Thinking about it, that was true. At least it seemed certain that this conversation could not reach the Emperor's ears.

[So, Sir Kyle. What did you wish to ask us?]

'I heard that Izelion is a family rooted in the east, one that guards the Hyeonmyeong Mountain Range straddling the Wall of Severance. Can Izelion cross the Wall of Severance?'

Mu-hyeok's eyes narrowed at the question, and Soha's smile vanished as well.

"You must chew your food thoroughly. Especially if you eat a lot."

"Yes..."

[Are you asking on Alastor's behalf?]

'If that were the case, the Family Head would have asked you directly.'

[If this is your own question, Sir Kyle, why are you asking whether we can cross the Wall of Severance?]

'It is not entirely my own intention. Someone asked me to make sure I asked if I met Izelion.'

[Who, exactly?]

'How should I put this... The Dragon King's... Fragment that made the Sword Tower? It is something like an avatar split off from the Dragon King. Not the Dragon King himself, but a pitiful being bound to the Sword Tower for five hundred years.'

Mu-hyeok did not answer at once, instead raising his glass to his lips. Soha answered in his place.

[Dongsaeng. If we could cross the Wall of Severance, would we have been unable to return to our roots for four hundred years?]

Bitterness colored Soha's voice in Kyle's mind.

[Our family crossed the Hyeonmyeong Mountain Range because of the work entrusted to us by our roots. It has already been four hundred years since we took up that family duty. We desperately wish to cross the Wall of Severance too.]

[I never expected someone from Alastor to ask whether we could cross the Wall of Severance.]

Mu-hyeok's voice came through, as though he had collected his emotions.

[And the one who asked you is the Dragon King's Fragment. Why does that being seek a way across the Wall of Severance?]

'It is curious whether the Dragon King, who went east, is doing well.'

[Then our purpose is the same. We too desperately, truly desperately wish to return to the east.]

'Do you still miss a homeland you left four hundred years ago?'

After living away for that long, could they still call it home?

[It is not because we miss our homeland that we wish to return to the east. It is because of our roots. The duty of the Izelion clan is our fate. Our roots commanded it, and even after four hundred years, that fate remains.]

'What kind of fate is that?'

[To tend to our roots.]

'Your roots...?'

[Izelion is a branch that flowed from the roots. We are a branch family with the command of the main house etched into us as fate. To escape that fate, we must find the main house and destroy the Law Book.]

'In any case... you are saying Izelion cannot cross the Wall of Severance either?'

[Not yet. But we are searching for a way, and we have found a clue of our own.]

'What is that clue? I need to cross the Wall of Severance as well, so if I can help...'

[We need to kill the Emperor.]

Soha answered.

"Hic."

This time, Kyle did not say excuse me. He hiccupped instead.

The Izelion father and daughter had a talent for saying shocking things in more ways than one.

"Oh dear, Sir Kyle. Did I not tell you that you must chew your food thoroughly?"

"Food... yes."

"You ate too quickly earlier, did you not? It seems you have indigestion. Here, drink this at least."

Mu-hyeok held out a glass full of wine, staring intensely at Kyle. Kyle awkwardly accepted it for the moment.

'Why... must the Emperor be killed to cross the Wall of Severance?'

[You saw the Emperor too, Sir Kyle. Do you consider it normal that a man over seventy, who has studied neither martial arts nor magic, has such a young body?]

'Perhaps... he takes very good care of himself. Or perhaps holy arts preserve his youth.'

[Do you truly believe that? You must have sensed something too. You have an Out-of-Place Artifact containing the power of Direct Sight around your neck.]

'So you were not looking because my neckline was beautiful. You saw the necklace.'

Kyle recovered from his shock and glanced down at the wineglass. The conversation had been so startling that his thoughts were a mess. He felt like simply downing the wine to clear his head.

'How did you recognize my necklace? Even Erdera, the head of the Mage Association, could not.'

[It is a power tied to our clan's fate. Naturally, the association head could not recognize it. A power that sees through things is all the more secretive from another's point of view.]

'Do you know what I saw?'

[I saw it as well. My eyes possess a similar power. The Emperor is a monster who maintains his youth by draining the vitality of his children. Is there any reason not to kill him?]

If that was true, Kyle was not sure there was any need to consider reasons not to kill him. He swirled his glass and asked.

'You still have not told me why killing the Emperor would let us cross the Wall of Severance.'

"What are you three discussing so happily?"

Someone approached as they intensely discussed killing the Emperor in their minds. The three immediately stopped and turned their heads.

"Ah, it seems I interrupted your conversation."

"How much did you hear?"

"Excuse me...? Well, um, I heard up to the part where Sir Kyle seemed to have indigestion and needed to drink water."

Had they said that? Thinking back, Kyle supposed they had. Their conversation in their minds had been so busy that he could barely remember their spoken one.

"So I brought water."

The approaching man showed his white teeth as he raised the glass of water in his right hand.

"In case you do not like water, I also brought wine. It was just poured."

The man held a wineglass in his left hand as well. Kyle returned the glass he was still holding to Mu-hyeok, accepted the new glass, and drained it in one long pull.

Right now, he desperately wanted a drink.

"My, that was quite bold of you."

After drinking, Kyle's thoughts and emotions settled somewhat. Only then did he get a proper look at the man.

Brown hair neatly slicked back with pomade. A pitch-black tuxedo. A badge shaped like a black wing was pinned to his left lapel.

"Ah, my introduction was late. This is who I am."

The man smiled as he took out a business card and handed it to Kyle.

Crow Company.

Central Branch.

Armaments Bureau Director.

Lentz Adigan.

Kyle looked up from the gold lettering on the pitch-black card and studied Lentz.

[Be careful of the Crows.]