WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 51

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I Told You It Suits You

Jade looked back and forth between the sword hilt in his hand and the metal dust scattered across the floor. It had not been cleanly cut, and it had not snapped in two either. The instant it touched, the structure itself had collapsed and crumbled.

If that blade had aimed for his neck instead of the sword breaker...?

A cold shiver ran down his spine, and Jade trembled.

If that young master had wanted to, Jade would have been blown into tens of thousands of flesh fragments across the training ground floor.

"...Good thing you're rich."

Jade let out a dry laugh and fiddled with the broken hilt.

"I heard the blacksmiths of Gladiheim can match dwarves. Is that true?"
"That's what I've heard too, but I don't know for sure. I've never used the blacksmiths here before."

If he had wanted to hold a real sword, he could have done so anytime. But he had avoided real blades because he had sworn the first one he held would be Fenris. So of course Kyle had never used Gladiheim's forge.

"But just because I've never used them doesn't mean I can't place an order. If you need a new sword, go to the forge, give them my name, and ask them to make one."

As he said that, Kyle looked toward the high seats. Among the wide-eyed relatives, he saw Julius smiling in satisfaction.

"I put on this much of a show, so Grandfather will probably allow one sword order, right?"
"Ha ha..."

Jade let out another hollow laugh and shook his head.

A show.

That single strike had been nothing more than a show for his grandfather, to that young master. Jade kept shaking his head as he asked,

"What's your name, young master?"
"Kyle Alastor."
"I see."

Jade took a step back, then bowed deeply to Kyle. He had swaggered in, but he accepted defeat cleanly and acknowledged Kyle's skill.

"I learned a lot. If I ask for another match later, will you take it?"
"If you don't mind your sword breaking."
"Heh. Then I'll do my best not to let it break."

The winner had been decided, and Jade turned and left the training ground.

But silence still hung over the stands. Half of the young martial artists gathered there had not even seen how Kyle swung that sword. Most of the other half saw it, but barely understood it. Only a very small few understood even a little, and they were stunned.

Clap, clap, clap.

Someone started applauding.

It was Lucia. She sprang up from her chair, looked straight at Kyle, and clapped hard.

"Wa... waaah!"

Lucia's applause became the signal flare. The young martial artists who had been standing there blankly with open mouths burst into cheers. In that thunderous roar, Kyle hesitated for a moment, then raised Fenris.

"Waaah!"

The cheering grew louder. Most of them did not know that the sword in Kyle's hand was the beloved sword of the Sword Demon from 500 years ago. But they did know this: the Alastor young master who had suddenly dropped from the sky had seized a sword that had also flown in from the sky, then displayed overwhelming skill.

He had done enough of a little ceremony, so Kyle lowered Fenris again. He could feel emotion from Fenris, as if the sword thought the time to act like a sword was over. A faint black mist even started to rise.

"No."

Kyle remembered training the war hound from his past-life mercenary days and whispered to Fenris in a firm voice. The mist immediately sank away, and through the hilt he felt a sullen mood.

"Who told you to bite me in the first place?"

Ten years ago, when he had approached Fenris full of joy, that bastard had bitten him with sharp teeth. Kyle still had not forgotten. He was not a petty man, in his past life or now, but in this case, petty or not, Fenris was absolutely at fault.

Kyle tucked the now-quiet, sulking Fenris at his waist. He had no scabbard, so he just shoved it roughly into his leather belt. It looked pretty shabby, but Fenris stayed quiet without complaining about the treatment.

"Want me to show you more swordplay?"

When Kyle shouted toward the high seats, Julius, still smiling, shook his head.

"I've seen enough. Come back up now."

At those words, Kyle sprang straight upward. With mana constantly circulating through his whole body, he felt light enough to fly, and reached the high seats in a single leap.

He landed with a heavy thud and bowed deeply to Julius and the relatives.

"I'm back."

At that greeting, Julius rose from his seat. As he strode closer, his presence was not weaker than four years ago. It was even fiercer and stronger.

"I never expected you to stay there for four whole years. For an old man like me, four years does not feel that long, but for a child like you, it must have been long and boring."
"It wasn't boring. I never felt staying there was a waste."
"Then what was it like?"
"It was fascinating and fun."
"Weren't you afraid?"
"It was more fun because it was scary. It was thrilling."

Like the fun of listening to a ghost story with your heart in your throat. When Kyle added that, Julius laughed again.

"I thought it might be like that, but it seems you really did well in there."

Julius looked into Kyle's golden eyes. Those were the eyes that had pressured the young knights. Julius, too, felt the abyss in those eyes, but even so, Kyle still looked to him like his cute, dear grandson. Julius watched Kyle for a moment, then turned his gaze to Fenris.

"I never thought Fenris would fly over on its own. Did you call it?"
"It probably didn't want to see me holding another sword."
"Looks like it finally acknowledged you."
"Seriously, what an arrogant sword."

Julius snorted a laugh at the grumbling answer.

"You look healthy. You've grown a lot too."
"I ate a lot of good stuff in there. I'm glad you look healthy too, Grandfather."
"Wouldn't it have been better for you if I had aged four years and grown weaker?"

Julius asked with a mischievous smile, and Kyle turned serious and shook his head.

"Not at all. You have to stay healthy for a long, long time. If I beat a weak grandfather who's old and worn out, it won't make me happy at all."

It was outrageously disrespectful, but Julius laughed, and the other relatives could not.

"W-what is this brat saying?"

The one who shot up from his seat in shock was a relative Kyle had never seen before. A young man with dark brown hair and yellow eyes glared at Kyle with wide, angry eyes.

"Who are you?"

There were three unfamiliar faces in the high seats, and the one Kyle was most curious about was obviously the Wandering Sword Sovereign, Isaac Shulhov, who sat next to Julius.

The reason was simple. He looked extremely strong. But before Kyle could hear who Isaac was, this man, who did not seem nearly interesting enough to deserve much attention, stood up and shouted in anger, so Kyle's expression naturally turned sour.

"Roel Alastor. My fifth son."
"Ah."

That uncle, the one who had left the Sword Tower to find a way to cure the Family Matriarch's illness. Kyle bowed to Roel.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Kyle Alastor, son of Arian Alastor, and the youngest pure-blood."
"Greetings are... enough. Explain what you just said instead. Y-you... what did you just say? How dare you babble about defeating the Family Head..."
"Grandfather likes it when I talk like this."

Kyle raised his head and said,

"Isn't this the ideal relationship in our family?"
"W-what...?"
"Proving your worth over and over, raising your value, and becoming stronger. That's Alastor's family law, isn't it?"

Roel could not answer and only opened and closed his lips. Just as he was about to say something more, the eldest son, Karthan, spoke.

"Sit down, Roel."
"Br-brother?"
"Kyle is right. Your nephew is young, but he understands Alastor's family law better than you do. Maybe even better than I do."

Karthan looked at Kyle with a faint smile.

"But Kyle, there is one thing in what you said that needs correcting."
"What is it?"

During his six years in the Sword Tower, Kyle had met Karthan several times. Karthan had never once shown him dislike. As the eldest son, he stood closest to becoming the next Family Head, so it would have made sense for him to be wary of Kyle, who was favored by the Family Head, and uncomfortable with him.

So hearing those words from Karthan made Kyle tense a little. Maybe the kind face Karthan had shown until now was just a mask hiding a beast inside.

His fifteen-year-old nephew had grown to a point where he could no longer be dismissed as a child, so Karthan was finally showing his true colors...

"You're not the youngest pure-blood."
"...What?"
"Arian gave birth two years ago."

Beastly nature, my ass.

Kyle's body swayed at Karthan's words. Before entering that damned Mudflat, he had joked with Arian and Aslan about a younger sibling. But he never thought he would really get one.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl."

At that answer, Kyle let out a sincere sigh of relief. Just like he had said to Arian back then, if he got a sibling, he preferred a younger sister over a younger brother.

"She has red hair and golden eyes, like you."

At that, Roel's face twisted, and Kyle did not miss it. Arian had said before that the three in the family who disliked her were Barkas, Jerard, and Roel.

"That guy must be jealous of red hair and golden eyes."

Those traits were the symbol of the Founding Ancestor. And the current Family Head, Julius, also had red hair and golden eyes. Among his children, only Karthan, Katarina, and Arian had those features.

"Among the grandchildren, Cassius and I had red hair and golden eyes, and now even my little sister does too."

Roel, who was already jealous of Arian, had every reason to grow even more twisted.

"Her name is... no, never mind. I'll hear it from her myself later."

Kyle felt a mix of emotions and excitement. In his past life, his very professional mother had never told Sword Demon Raikal about any half-siblings he might have had. And Raikal himself had never cared to ask about siblings.

But now things were different from his past life. Feeling his heart race, Kyle glanced at the Sword Tower in Gladiheim's top district.

"So that's where Mom and Father were. They're in the Sword Tower, right?"
"The girl is still very young. Arian and Aslan stayed in the residential area, saying this isn't good for a child's emotions."
"With Father's personality, he would have wanted to come here."
"He can't act however he likes anymore."

Karthan said it with a bitter smile. Julius, who had quietly listened to their conversation, raised a finger and pointed at the leather pouch Kyle was holding.

"What's that?"
"Ah... these are gifts I brought from inside."
"Gifts?"
"Nothing that great."

Kyle opened the pouch and took out a brooch.

"I figured you already have plenty of truly great things anyway."

Julius stared blankly at the brooch in Kyle's hand. The diamond-cut brooch looked refined, but not flashy.

"I thought with your personality, even if I gave you something flashy, you wouldn't wear it. So I picked something that would suit you."
"You... chose this for me?"
"Well... to be exact, I didn't choose the brooch design myself. The Cultivation Floors chose it on its own. But when I made the request, I asked for something that would suit you and that you could wear regularly."
"You asked for a gift for me inside the Cultivation Floors?"

Priceless jewels? The Sword Tower treasury was overflowing with those. But to Julius, jewels like that felt no different from roadside pebbles. The craftsmanship of the brooch was excellent, but he had received gifts like this from children and grandchildren many times.

Even so, Julius's fingers moving toward the brooch trembled slightly. This was not even the first gift he had received from Kyle. The first one had been a letter, and he had gotten several more letters after that.

Was he moved because the brooch was worth far more than handwritten letters? No, that was not it. Yes, Julius was deeply moved right now.

...

Julius himself had entered the Cultivation Floors several times, and he knew well that rewards for hunting could be claimed there.

The Cultivation Floors was a brutal place even for simple survival. The higher the level, the worse it got. Kyle had entered the lowest one this time, the sixth level, but for an eleven-year-old child, every day there would have been terrifying.

In a place like that, instead of asking for tools that made survival easier, or delicious food, or luxuries to soothe a mind on the verge of collapse, he had asked for gifts and brought them out. That thought sent a sharp ache through Julius's heart.

"Your eye for things... isn't that great. I don't usually wear accessories like this. If I had to wear one for a formal occasion, I'd wear something plainer than this."
"Then you're not taking it?"
"No, if you're giving it, I should take it. Like I told you before, I've invested a lot in you. So you'll have to pay me back for a lifetime."

Julius quickly reached out to grab the brooch, but Kyle pulled his hand back even faster. Julius's eyes widened.

"Why did you pull your hand back? I clearly said I'd take it."
"I'm going to pin it on you myself."

Kyle grinned at Julius, who asked with a stern face. Roel, still standing awkwardly because he had not been able to sit back down, could only stare as if he could not believe the great and fearsome Family Head was being led around by his grandson.

"Huh..."

Isaac felt the same. He had known Julius longer than Julius's own children had, but he had never once imagined that his cold-blooded, iron-blooded elder brother could show this side.

"Right side or left side, which do you want?"
"..."
"Let's do the left. It's closer to your heart."

Chuckling, Kyle walked over and pinned the brooch on the left side of Julius's uniform.

"I think it looks good on you."
"..."

Julius said nothing and glanced at Isaac. Feeling the silent demand in that look, Isaac clapped and laughed.

"Hyung-nim, it suits you well!"

After hearing that, Julius turned his eyes to his children. The eldest, Karthan, immediately exclaimed and clapped.

"It suits you very well."
"I-it looks great on you, Family Head."

The eldest daughter, Katarina, also stammered out her answer, and after her, all the children said the brooch suited him.

"Ahem. It doesn't look that fitting to my eyes... but since all of you say it suits me, maybe it does."
"I told you it suits you."
"In that case... I suppose I have no choice."

Julius straightened his expression and looked down at the brooch on his left chest.

It was not something he could say out loud, but Julius had decided he would wear only this brooch for the rest of his life.

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