WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 52

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Peekaboo

At the Third Training Ground, matches between young martial artists were still going on, and if this were Kyle’s usual temperament, he would have stayed to watch.

Even if the sparring was not at a level that made his heart race, there was a saying that sloppy fights could be even more fun. High level or low, it did not matter. Kyle loved fighting, and he loved watching fights.

But right now, he had no choice but to ignore that preference. He glanced at Julius, who kept fiddling with the brooch, and spoke quietly.

“Can I go back to the Sword Tower and greet Mother and Father?”

He did not even ask about Isaac, who was sitting beside Julius, even though that unknown middle-aged man was clearly the kind of powerhouse that would usually make Kyle’s mouth water.

That was how badly he wanted to return to the Sword Tower. Julius, still stroking the brooch, slowly nodded.

“Go back first.”
“Thank you.”

Now that he had permission, Kyle moved to leave the seat of honor right away, but Isaac sprang up and offered him a handshake.

“Boy, I’m late in greeting you. My name is Isaac Shulhov. I’m your grandfather’s old friend, close enough that we call each other brothers.”

The unsolicited introduction was annoying at this moment, but Kyle did not show it. If they had never spoken, that was one thing, but Isaac had spoken first, and ignoring him would be rude. Especially when he was close enough with Julius to call him brother.

“I should be the one apologizing for greeting you late in all this confusion. My name is Kyle Alastor.”
“Hm, hm, I’ve heard a lot about you from your grandfather.”

Isaac smiled, pleased, and shook Kyle’s hand.

“Aren’t you that lovely grandson, the one who turned your always-stern grandfather into such a doting old man?”
“Isaac. Don’t hold my grandson back with pointless chatter.”

Thankfully, Julius understood exactly how Kyle felt. Still stroking the brooch, he shot Isaac a sharp look.

“He’s a child who couldn’t meet his parents for four years. He even got a younger sister in that time. You still want to keep him here?”
“Ahem, I was only trying to greet him, only greet him.”

Scolded by Julius, Isaac let go of Kyle’s hand with an awkward smile.

“I plan to stay as a guest in the Sword Tower for a while, so come greet me properly when you have time.”
“Yes, I’ll see you next time.”

Kyle gave a small bow and stepped down from the seat of honor. The presents for Bruno, Erika, and Lucia were still in the leather pouch, but he could give those the next time he saw them.

The instant he stepped down, he ran the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon and kicked off the ground. Fwoosh! Mana circulating nonstop through his internal circuits accelerated at extreme speed, and Kyle shot forward.

Past the lower, middle, and upper districts of Gladiheim. Then across the Sword Flower Garden in the highest district, where the Sword Tower connected.

A bright red mist exploded outward, as if trying to swallow him.

[Brat! It has been a long time!]

Baal shouted at the top of his lungs, but Kyle accelerated harder and pierced through the mist.

[B-brat! Stop!]
“Later.”

That prideful Demon King’s sword shouted in a panic, but Kyle did not look back once. He passed the Sword Flower Garden and reached the Sword Tower.

He had just crossed this vast city from the lower district, yet his breathing did not roughen at all. During four years in the Mudflat, his total mana had not increased much, but the circuits he linked while consuming Dregs and Byproduct, plus the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon, let him control mana at an absurd level.

And mana kept circulating without pause, no different from practicing his cultivation method the entire time he moved, without needing to sit down or focus in place. During that process, his breathing continuously drew in mana.

[Grrgh...]

Kyle did it as naturally as breathing, but Jor still could not get used to it. Back then, when Kyle was not running the cultivation method, Jor could at least coil up in the Middle Dantian and rest. Now he had no chance to rest and had to keep refining mana.

“Get used to it. You need to do it as naturally as I do.”
“Y-you make... it sound... easy...”
“Ah-ah.”

Jor’s rebellious puberty phase from two years ago was over. He let out heavy sighs and focused on refining mana as Kyle ordered.

The first-floor hall he entered after opening the door looked no different from four years ago, but Kyle, striding through it, sensed many things he had not felt then.

The complex, grand magic that made up the huge artifact called the Sword Tower. He did not understand magic deeply, but he could clearly feel vein-like structures woven through the inside of the floors and walls, and the mana flowing through them without rest.

He also felt gazes everywhere. They were the gazes of the Funeral Knights stationed in the Sword Tower, and the gazes of magical tools monitoring the interior.

‘I couldn’t feel this four years ago.’

This was less the function of the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon and more the function of a body transformed by consuming Dregs and Byproduct. Feeling senses sharpened like a honed blade, Kyle headed for the elevator.

He had a present for Nelia in the Great Archive too, but he did not stop there and went straight up to the fourth floor. After arriving, he recited Rose Mansion at the door, and at once he was facing the front gate of Rose Mansion.

Thump, thump.

Excitement filled him as he knocked. Soon, the door swung open.

“Kyle?!”

Arian stood there.

Over four years, Kyle had grown until he stood between boy and young man, but Arian was almost unchanged, still beautiful.

If anything, she looked even younger than four years ago. Standing face to face with her again after four years, Kyle felt a full, overwhelming emotion he had never experienced even in his past life, strange and hard to name.

“...”

What was this feeling? His chest pounded, and his nose stung. He knew that sting. He had cried in his past life too.

But he did not understand why tears were coming now. In his past life, he had sobbed when his father died. Arian, standing in front of him now, looked perfectly healthy. She even looked healthier and younger than four years ago, so why was he about to cry?

“My son!”

While Kyle was still wondering why he was tearing up, Arian burst into tears first. She ran to him with both arms spread and hugged him tight.

“You finally came out?! I’m not dreaming right now, am I?”
“Uh... mm, yes.”

Kyle lifted his head and looked at the sky. The sky in the residential zone on the fourth floor of the Sword Tower. It was not a real sky, but a magical ceiling. Still, the sunlight was warm and dazzling. Feeling that sting in his eyes, Kyle quietly let a few tears fall.

“Son, did you miss me so much you’re even crying?”

So that was it.

Kyle finally understood why he was crying. Tears did not come only from sadness. They came from frustration, from joy, and from longing too.

“You got so much taller! You used to fit right into my arms...”

Arian looked up at him and smiled with wet eyes. Seeing Arian now smaller than himself made tears rise again. Kyle did not force them back. He just cried.

“Mother, you look younger than four years ago. Did you take some kind of Elixir?”
“Listen to this boy talking. Mother stays young without Elixir. During those four years... ahem, I did take a few.”

After patting his back a few times, Arian gripped his hand and led him inside.

“Come in quickly! Do you know how long I waited for you to come out? Kyle, don’t be surprised. While you were inside...”
“I heard I got a younger sister?”
“Huh? You... how do you know?”
“I saw Grandfather before coming here.”

Kyle rubbed away his tears and walked as Arian pulled him along.

“Four years ago I joked that I wanted a younger sister, but I never imagined I’d really get one. Mother, tell me honestly. How many days did it take you to forgive Father?”

Four years ago, Arian had thrown Aslan out into the garden and told him to live there. Remembering that, Kyle asked, and Arian coughed awkwardly and avoided his eyes.

“O-one month.”
“That’s a lie.”
“R-right, it’s a lie. Actually, I let him back into the mansion in a week. I-it was kind of cold outside.”

The fourth-floor residential zone had temperature control all the time, so even nights were not very cold. And even if it had been freezing, someone at Aslan’s level would feel nothing even lying outside naked.

“...”

Kyle did not bother pointing any of that out.

Led by Arian’s hand, he stopped in front of a room on the second floor. It used to be an unused empty room, but now... even the door looked unusual.

No, not just the door. The walls in the second-floor corridor looked unusual too. Kyle scanned the colorful scribbles all over them, then looked at the nameplate hanging low on the door.

[Kaya’s Room]

The nameplate was decorated with animal stickers, rabbit, cat, puppy. Looking down at the crooked writing, Kyle asked,

“Her name is Kaya?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

Arian beamed and opened the door.

A room covered in pastel pink wallpaper came into view. Soft mats covered the floor, and colorful dolls and toys were scattered everywhere.

And in the middle of it, Aslan sat.

“...”

It was a shocking sight. Rabbit ears stuck up on Aslan’s ash-gray hair, and his now solid body was dressed in fluffy white fur clothes.

“Rrrr! Peekaboo! Daddy rabbit goes hop hop!”

Crouched down, Aslan wiggled his hips and waved his white furry gloves eagerly. Even while doing those antics, his eyes shook violently as he looked at Kyle.

“...”

There was no way Aslan had failed to notice Kyle reaching the mansion, coming to the door, and stepping inside. He simply could not stop. Even now, he was looking at Kyle and still waving his rabbit hands with all his strength.

“Hop, hop!”

The high voice he forced out of his deep bass was honestly painful to hear, but that was only Kyle’s opinion.

“Kyaahaha!”

A tiny girl sitting with her back turned burst into ringing laughter. Every time she laughed, her neatly braided red hair bounced.

Aslan’s appearance was shocking, but the girl’s existence was even more shocking. It hit him about as hard as the first time he sensed those gazes in the Mudflat, or when he saw the hand beyond the horizon.

Arian placed her hand on Kyle’s trembling shoulder. Gently stroking him, she spoke.

“Kaya.”

When that warm voice called her name, the girl turned around.

“...”

Kyle swallowed without realizing it. Golden eyes with a gentle glow. White cheeks that looked soft to the touch. And, and... Kyle gave up trying to process each detail. His younger sister Kaya’s cuteness was perfect.

“Huh...”

Without meaning to, Kyle walked into the room. Normally he would have strode in without hesitation, but now he could not. He approached Kaya very carefully, not even making a footstep sound.

“...”

Kaya blinked her round eyes up at Kyle, then planted both hands on the floor and pushed herself up, wobbling. She was so small. Of course she was small, she was only two years old. Still, even knowing that, her size was startling, like a doll.

“Who are you?”

Kaya asked with a blink. Her speech was slurred, fitting her age, and it pulled Kyle back to almost ten years ago, to days when he had to abandon the dignity of Sword Demon Raikal. His mind had been clear, but his body had not cooperated, so he had no choice but to speak clumsily.

Kyle smiled without realizing it and bent his knees to meet her eye level. His lips did not part easily, but his hand moved on its own and stroked Kaya’s soft cheek.

It was soft and squishy. Kaya tilted her head and took one step closer. Beautiful golden eyes shone with curiosity.

“Who are you?”

Kaya asked again. Only then did Kyle realize he had not answered his sister’s question. He calmed his trembling heart and replied.

“Kyle. I’m your oppa.”
“Oppa?”

Her round eyes blinked. Kaya stared blankly at Kyle, then turned her head toward Aslan. Aslan, still crouched and doing his rabbit act, nodded with a deeply moved expression.

“He’s your oppa.”

After hearing that, Kaya turned back and stared at Kyle again. Arian crouched down in front of Kaya.

“Mother told you many times, right? That you have an amazing oppa.”
“Mhm...”
“Ahaha. It’s your first time meeting him, so you must be surprised.”

Arian giggled and stroked Kaya’s head. All that time, Kyle had still been blankly stroking Kaya’s cheek with a finger.

“Oppa.”

Kaya murmured in a small voice. Then she burst into laughter and dove into Kyle’s arms.

“Oppa!”

Tiny hands wrapped around his body. At that small, precious touch burrowing into him, Kyle’s whole body trembled as if struck by lightning.

‘What is this feeling?’

It was strange. He had no siblings in his past life. This was his first time becoming someone’s oppa. Something in a corner of his heart turned soft and warm, unfamiliar, but not bad at all.

“Oppa!”

A tiny white hand, small as a sprout, touched Kyle’s cheek. The sensation made his heart drop with a thud. Even compared to when he first saw Ruin Alastor’s sword in his previous life, this shock did not lose out.

“Y-yeah. Oppa... I really am oppa.”

Kyle stammered and slowly lifted both hands. He lifted them, but hesitated to move right away, and Arian giggled.

“Give her a hug.”

Only then did Kyle carefully embrace Kaya, draining all strength from his arms so he would not hurt her by accident. Warm, soft, and carrying a sweet milky scent. It felt like the stench of rotting corpses and fishy mud from the Mudflat, still lodged deep in his lungs, was being completely washed away.

“Wow...”

Holding Kaya, Kyle rose carefully.

“Wow... wow...”

So many emotions rushed in, but he could not put them into words.

The family sat together in the pink room. Aslan still could not take off the rabbit suit, and he stared at Kyle with eyes full of tears. Arian sat beside him with a pleased smile.

Kaya sat between Kyle’s legs. Whatever fascinated her so much, she kept staring right at Kyle’s face and grinning.

“Raising a child is really hard.”

Arian spoke.

“It made me realize very, very clearly what an obedient child you were.”

Even when he was little, Kyle hardly ever cried, never drew on floors or walls, and never did anything incomprehensible.

Kaya was different. Raising Kaya completely overturned every concept of child care Arian had built while raising Kyle.

“Well, actually it’s not that hard. Kaya is very smart too. She started walking early, and she talks quite well... and above all else, she’s unbelievably cute. She’s my daughter, after all.”
“She’s my little sister too.”

Kyle gently stroked Kaya’s braided hair. Kaya burst into laughter, grabbed her own braid, and started swinging it around.

“Why is she doing that?”
“Don’t ask Mother.”

Smack, smack. Kaya’s braid whipped against Kyle’s leg like a tiny whip.

“Were you doing well these four years? Did you miss Mother?”
“I did. Father...”

Aslan’s gaze had been burning into him so intensely that Kyle looked at him once, and the moment their eyes met, Aslan started crying in big drops.

“You’re calling me Father.”
“Father is Father, what else?”

Honestly, Kyle still could not feel fatherly affection toward Aslan. He met him four years ago and then immediately entered the Cultivation Floors, so it could not be helped.

‘We can build affection from now on.’

How? Should he act cute like Kaya and use baby talk? He was too old for that now. At fifteen, he was old enough to start prioritizing the dignity of Sword Demon Raikal.

“Father.”

Kyle looked straight at Aslan, who was still shedding tears.

“Let’s have a spar.”

He had never learned how a son was supposed to build affection with a father, but he knew very well how one swordsman built affection with another.

Swordsmen grew close through the sword.

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