WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 57

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Because We're Family

The meal was over, the spar was over, the proof was over, and permission to found a knight order had been granted. But no one left the banquet hall.

“It has been a long time since we all gathered like this. How about we talk a little longer?”

Perhaps he was still excited from crossing swords with his young nephew, because Karthan was the first to speak.

“That sounds good.”

Julius looked a little surprised, then nodded. Teacups were promptly set on the neatly cleared table.

“It is not often this family gathers like this. Especially today, this is a very happy day. Kyle, this child came out of the Cultivation Floors after four whole years.”
“Were you worried about me?”
“Of course I was worried. No one your age has ever entered the Cultivation Floors before. And no one has stayed in there as long as you and come back alive. Kyle, what did you do in the Cultivation Floors?”
“I survived by catching and eating mudflat monsters and sea monsters.”

At that, Karthan’s fingers froze halfway to lifting his teacup, and everyone else stared at Kyle with wide eyes. Even Julius looked shocked, though Kaya had been twisting his beard with her little hands.

“Y-you ate those monsters?”

Barkas asked, eyes bulging.

“How... how could you eat that? No, wait, were those even edible in the first place?”

Katarina also muttered in a dazed voice. There was no reason to hide it, so Kyle answered honestly.

“The dokkaebi I met in the Sword Tower gave me a blessing so I could eat monsters. Ah, it said that was possible because my Spirit Root is special.”

He wanted to explain how horrific everything he had eaten over those four years had tasted, but he decided not to. The meal had just ended, and if he talked about that now, everyone’s expressions would obviously twist.

“The sea... you mean during Flood Tide? Don’t tell me you moved around during Flood Tide. How?”
“I demanded equipment that would let me move around during Flood Tide as a reward. I got boots and a cloak.”

He had carefully stored the cloak and boots he wore before leaving the Cultivation Floors in his room. They were pretty worn down, but they might be useful again someday.

“So there was a method like that...”

Jerard muttered while stroking his chin. That started it, and one by one, the relatives began asking Kyle how he had spent the last four years.

“How many times did your Lifeline snap?”
“Once. I overdid it a little during my first Ebb Tide.”

He answered Dante’s question.

“That place has severe mana hardening. I heard your Spirit Root is special, so did that make you less affected?”
“No. I struggled with mana hardening just like everyone else. It was actually worse because of my Spirit Root. There were too many things I could sense.”

He answered his youngest uncle Seros too.

“What did what was at the horizon look like to you?”
“Hands... something pretending to be hands.”

He answered Isaac too, even though Isaac was not family and had joined dinner as a guest.

“Do you really have to eat nothing but dried-up bread in there?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Y-you... why are you talking casually to me?”
“Just because.”

He answered his cousin Bekius too.

Karthan watched all of this with a quiet smile. Seeing that expression, Kyle vaguely understood why Karthan had steered everyone into this conversation.

The talk did not last long. It could not be helped; they rarely gathered and rarely talked in the first place. Once the conversation died out, Julius stood first. Then the other relatives stood one by one as well.

Kaya was already nodding off in Arian’s arms. Kyle had been the same at that age. His body never moved how he wanted, and his eyes would close on their own if he moved even a little. There was no way Kaya, who was not reincarnated, could resist sleepiness.

“Kyle.”

Karthan called out to Kyle, who had been about to leave with his family. Karthan walked over and asked with a gentle smile.

“Could you spare me a little time? If you are willing, let’s take a walk together.”
“All right.”

There was no reason to refuse. Karthan sent off his surprised-looking wife and children first, then left the Sword Tower with Kyle.

The sun had set long ago, and it was already night. Karthan looked up at the star-filled sky for a moment, then led the way at an easy pace. Like he said, it was a walk with no real destination.

“Do you have something you want to tell me?”

The walk was only an obvious excuse for a conversation. Kyle asked directly, and Karthan chuckled softly before pulling something from inside his coat.

“Take this.”

What Karthan handed over was a small document envelope. Kyle tilted his head at the sudden item, and Karthan added,

“It is a list of young martial artists from this Exchange Tournament who were judged to have notable potential.”
“Wow.”

Kyle’s eyes widened without him realizing it. He had not expected Karthan to hand over material personally.

‘Even when we crossed swords earlier, there was no hostility at all.’

No matter how tightly someone hid it, the truth at the bottom of their heart came out through the sword’s edge, and Kyle was skilled at reading emotion in a blade. But Karthan’s sword had carried no hostility or unpleasant feelings toward Kyle.

What he felt was pure admiration. Admiration and pride at the absurdly high level of a young nephew crossing blades with him. Kyle stared at Karthan, who still wore that calm smile.

“Do you not find me threatening, Uncle?”

He threw the question straight at the warm-looking Karthan, but Karthan’s smile did not waver.

“You are not a threat to this family. You are someone who will bring this family great benefit.”
“That is not what I meant. You are the eldest son, and you are strong. Right now, you are closest to becoming the next Family Head.”
“No, that is wrong. None of us is close to becoming the next Family Head.”

Karthan slowly shook his head.

“Because the Family Head is still in excellent health, and stronger than all of us. The Alastor Family Head is not decided by generation. The one who can become Family Head is the strongest person bearing the Alastor name.”
“...”
“Even if that person comes from a collateral line. We are called pure-blood only because my father, your grandfather, is the current Family Head. But if someone stronger than the Family Head appears from a collateral branch that does not even stay in the Sword Tower, then from that moment he becomes Family Head, and his descendants become pure-blood.”

That was how Alastor’s main house was decided. Cases like that had been rare over the family’s five-hundred-year history, but not nonexistent. If someone had the qualification and proved it, the Alastor Family had to acknowledge it. That had been family law for five hundred years.

“Of course, I also have ambition to become the next Family Head. But what is needed to become Family Head is not plotting.”
“Then what is needed?”
“You already know the answer, and still you ask. Do you want to test my true intent that much?”

Karthan smiled bitterly.

“The Family Head sometimes said you were a nasty little one. And truly, you are rather nasty. Ah, to answer your question, what is needed to become Family Head is proof from my sword.”

Karthan’s gaze dropped to Fenris hanging at Kyle’s waist.

“The same goes for you. If you want to become Family Head, you must prove your sword.”
“...”
“My younger siblings refuse to accept this simple truth and keep scheming, but all of it is meaningless. The knights of our family serve only the strongest. If someone who is not the strongest becomes Family Head, who would truly serve him?”

Karthan chuckled and stepped closer, then tucked the document envelope Kyle was still holding into his chest.

“So I do not guard myself against you. Neither you nor I are anywhere near the Family Head’s sword yet... and even if your sword surpasses mine, it only means I was lacking. And even if by some chance you become Family Head, that does not mean I lose all chance. I can simply surpass your sword.”

Karthan’s words were the very instinct that had let this family endure for five hundred years. Becoming Family Head did not mean you could lay down your sword. To avoid having the seat taken, you had to keep tempering your sword without pause.

“There may be an easier method.”

Kyle looked up at Karthan as he said it. Karthan understood at once, and his eyes turned cold.

“No. There is no easy method. There must never be one. Kyle, why did the Dark Age begin five hundred years ago?”
“Because the emperor of the Empire died suddenly, and a succession struggle broke out.”
“And it was our Founding Ancestor who ended that Dark Age and brought light back to the continent. The Founding Ancestor personally cut down six of the seven princes who fought in a war of blood kin. That is how our family, Alastor, began.”

Karthan’s hand ruffled Kyle’s hair.

“Then is it not a terrible contradiction for those carrying that family name to fight blood relatives in order to become Family Head? If that happens, Alastor will no longer be Alastor, and everyone who swore loyalty to this name will turn their backs.”

Kyle could not help but admire him. Karthan’s words were perfectly upright.

‘If Karthan truly wanted the Family Head seat and truly wanted to keep me in check, he had plenty of chances.’

And that did not apply only to Karthan. If any of Julius’s children truly wanted to become Family Head, they should have strongly checked Kyle, who had rolled in out of nowhere and won favor.

But Kyle had never received that level of harsh suppression. At most, Barkas had tried to discipline him through Bruno.

‘That wasn’t even real suppression. He only wanted to knock me down a peg.’

It had failed miserably too, and after that, Barkas never tried to check Kyle again. Was it because Kyle stayed inside the Sword Tower? Because Julius’s eyes were on him? Maybe those were reasons, but Kyle had never felt deep malice from Barkas.

Jerard, who had suggested the squire arrangement today, was the same. The relatives who tried to keep Kyle in check had watched him, tried to press him once, tried to put a leash on him, but none had tried to cut him off at the root.

Just as Karthan said, the family’s core itself hated blood-kin strife with absolute clarity.

‘Because we’re family.’

In his past life, Kyle had been captain of the Crow Mercenary Band, and he had carried out many commissions. In that era called the Dark Age, filthy fights were everywhere, and mercenary blades were always used in those fights.

He had seen it countless times. Siblings poisoning siblings for power, children stabbing blades into their parents’ backs. Ugly sights. Commissions involving blood-kin conflict always paid well.

Kyle looked up at the night sky for a moment. He was born in such an era, and lived as a mercenary in such an era, so he had never refused those commissions for being filthy.

He enjoyed fighting for commissions, but he despised the contents of those commissions. So he stayed wary. He had learned too well that even blood family could point blades at each other for money and power.

He had not wanted to be cut by such a blade. Relationships bound by money ended when the money ran out. Relationships bound by fear turned into knives the moment a crack showed. So in his own way, he had looked after people around him. Maybe because of that, his past life had not ended in betrayal.

The document envelope in his arms felt heavy. It was pure goodwill from Karthan, the eldest son, to a nephew who could become his rival. There was no price attached, no hidden scheme. Karthan dealt with Kyle only for the family’s future.

‘Family...’

A warmth spread deep in his chest. The relatives Kyle had seen after entering the Sword Tower competed with each other and sometimes snarled. Some showed open jealousy, others kept each other in check. But no one swung a lethal, razor-sharpened blade.

‘It’s not only because of family law. Pride in the blood in their veins. Dignity. Trust in each other...’

Kyle gave a small laugh. Something he had never had in his past life, blood ties that could not be bought with money and could not be stolen by the sword, was binding this whole family together. Today made that even clearer.

“Thank you for telling me.”

Kyle bowed to Karthan with sincerity.

“If you are thankful, may I ask one small favor?”
“Yes, ask anything.”
“I would like you to get along well with my sons too.”

When Kyle raised his head, Karthan wore an awkward smile.

“Cassius is overly conscious of you. From today, he will be even more so. And Bekius is afraid of you.”
“I know.”
“I approached you with goodwill, so I hope... you can do the same.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind. But Uncle, if I approach them and they act too arrogant, can I beat them up a little?”
“What? Hahaha! As long as it’s moderate, I don’t mind.”
“Like how you were moderate with me today?”
“Haha... I wasn’t all that moderate.”

Karthan shook his head with a troubled look.

‘So he isn’t a man with zero lies either.’

Kyle smiled back at him.

Kyle knew very well that Karthan had been very, very moderate with his sword today.

Before returning to the mansion, Kyle stopped by the Great Archive.

He came to deliver a gift to Nelia, the librarian. The gift he chose for her was a jeweled ring ornament for a staff.

“My goodness...!”

Nelia took the ornament with a shocked expression. She looked back and forth between the gift and Kyle’s face, then let out a long sigh.

“Whenever I look at you, I regret that I never married, never had children, never saw grandchildren.”
“I’ll drop by often and be your grandson.”
“Hehe... how do you speak so sweetly every time?”

Nelia smiled warmly and stroked Kyle’s head. He had been five when she first saw him, and now he was fifteen, yet he still looked like a little boy in her eyes.

“How should I repay this gift...”
“I didn’t give it expecting repayment.”
“That only makes me want to repay you more, because your heart is so lovely.”

Nelia turned the jeweled ring in her fingers for a moment, then spoke.

“Among the tens of thousands of books on these shelves, some are precise copies made for preservation. But sometimes, true value appears only when you face the original text touched by the author’s own breath. With your unique gift, you would feel even more from an original.”

Nelia smiled gently and stroked Kyle’s head again.

“If a book you choose later turns out to be a copy untouched by that breath, I will provide the real one at my own discretion. This privilege is granted only to you.”
“Compared to the gift I gave, that feels like too great a privilege.”
“The reason originals are kept separate is to prevent damage, and because past librarians had collecting obsessions. This falls under a librarian’s authority, outside regular library rules. In other words, I can do as I please.”

Her hand withdrew from his head. Decorating her summoned magic staff with the jeweled ring, Nelia whispered,

“You are a good child, so you won’t damage old books, right?”
“Of course.”

There was no reason to refuse when Nelia was thoughtfully granting him such a privilege.

He had delivered the gift, but Kyle did not leave the archive right away. He stayed and chatted with Nelia for a while. It was too short to fill a four-year gap, but the words they exchanged were warm. As not the master of the Great Archive but a kind grandaunt, Nelia asked whether life in the Cultivation Floors had been hard and whether any part of his body hurt.

“I should get going now.”
“All right. You must be tired, so go and rest.”

Seeing him off, Nelia watched as Kyle left the Great Archive and returned to the Rose Mansion in the residential area.

After watching Kaya’s softly sleeping face for a long while, Kyle entered his own room for the first time in four years.

Nothing had changed from before he left for the Cultivation Floors. He looked around the perfectly preserved room, then closed the door behind him and stepped in.

[Uuu...]

As soon as the door shut, he heard sobbing. Before he could even ask why, Jor slipped out of the middle dantian on his own without being called, coiled up in the corner, and shoved his head into a hole.

“What is it? Why are you like this?”
“Uuuuu...”

Jor trembled and sobbed. Was he sulking because Kyle had worked him too hard right after learning the Primordial Chaos Sword Canon? Kyle thought that for a second, then Jor mumbled.

“Why... why is it wolves?”
“What?”
“Why wolves... I’m a snake...”
“What are you talking about?”
“For four years... I fought with you... in that horrible mudflat and sea... tasted crap-level things... grew with you. That was me, the snake...”

Sniffling mixed into the mumbling voice.

“But then why did you... name it Wolf Knights... not Snake Knights...? Th-that guy... didn’t suffer with you as much as I did...”

Only then did Kyle understand what Jor meant. He was feeling jealousy and betrayal because Kyle had chosen wolves as the knight order’s name.

“I’m sorry.”

Kyle apologized first before trying to explain. After hearing him out, Jor was right. His bond with Fenris was from his past life, and in this life, he had spent more time with Jor than with Fenris.

“I’ll change it from Wolf Knights to Snake Knights.”
“I hate it... it’s too late now... and Snake Knights sounds like bad guys...”
“What’s bad about snakes? You’re a snake too.”
“I hate it anyway...”
“Then let’s do this. The name stays Wolf Knights, and the crest will be a snake.”

Only then did Jor slowly lift his head.

“Really?”
“Your master isn’t the kind of person who lies about something like this.”

Jor slowly uncoiled and slithered toward Kyle. A giant snake approaching could look creepy, but Jor’s face still had the same pathetic look he had taken earlier for Kaya.

Kyle sat down, using Jor as a backrest, and drew Fenris.

“Mutt.”

He whispered while staring at the pitch-black blade.

“Let’s finally talk.”

As if it had been waiting, black fog rose. A wolf’s howl sounded from beyond the fog, and Kyle’s heart thumped.

He closed his eyes once, then opened them. Before he knew it, he stood in the middle of a mental world created by resonance with a dokkaebi. He felt the texture of Jor’s scales against his back. Jor, a spirit contracted to Kyle, existed in this mental world too.

‘Fragment cannot hear us here.’

Kyle still had no intention of letting Fragment know anything about his past life. He glared at the dense black fog spread before him.

“Are you not coming over here?”

He stared at the red glowing eyes beyond the fog and spat out the words.

“Kkiiing...”

With a dejected sound, a pitch-black wolf slowly crept toward Kyle. It had been ten years since he had seen that form properly. Since their first meeting when he was five, Fenris had often tried to resonate whenever Kyle went to the Sword Peak Hall.

Each time, Kyle had refused.

He had been angry at the mutt that dared bite its own master.

“Kkiiing...”

Kyle’s expression was cold, so the wolf stopped walking. The black fur covering its body, no, the spiky blades and long tail, drooped low.

“I said come. Why are you not coming?”

When Kyle growled at it, the wolf started creeping closer again.

“Kkiing... kking...”
“Can you not speak?”
“Kkiing...”
“Even Jor, a baby spirit, can talk, and you can’t?”

Fenris crept all the way up, carefully pushed its head forward, and began licking Kyle’s hand. Even though it looked no different from a blade shaped like a wolf, Fenris’s tongue was damp and soft like a real dog’s.

“You’re not pretending you can’t talk because you’re scared of getting scolded, right?”

Kyle asked because he found it suspicious, and Fenris flopped over on the floor and showed its belly.

It could not speak, but it clearly understood speech.

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