WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 6

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Gladiheim

'That bastard.'

Kyle cursed inwardly. Ruin had said he'd remember,said it to his face,and yet the sword he'd carried as the Sword Demon was nowhere in the sword garden. No matter how many times he looked.

Maybe it had gotten mixed in with the rusted junk on the Discard Path. The thought settled over him like a bad omen, and his anger boiled hotter for it.

"Kyle, what's wrong?"

He was grinding his teeth, his whole body trembling. Arian crouched down and met his eyes, worry written across her face.

"Are you feeling sick? If something's wrong..."
"I'm... fine."

Kyle shook his head, burying the rage churning under the surface. Arian couldn't tell what he was feeling, but she wrapped an arm around his shoulder anyway.

'Well... it has been five hundred years...'

Ruin Alastor had said it himself.

[There are still many I have yet to cut down.]

And he'd meant it. Even after ending the empire's succession war, Ruin kept fighting. He put down noble rebellions personally, hunted down the territories that had seized independence in the chaos, and reclaimed them for the empire. After that, he wandered the world and ended wars wherever they broke out across the continent. He stood against the armies of demihumans, too. Over ten years, he made war disappear from the continent.

The new emperor wanted to use Ruin's strength to unify the whole continent. Ruin refused. The empire was already large enough, he said.

What could the emperor say? The man who had personally cut down every rival prince was telling him no to his face. In that era, the citizens of the empire revered Ruin Alastor far more than they did their emperor,the imperial throne held little weight against that.

So Ruin Alastor was proclaimed the Holy Man of the empire, awarded the title of Sword Saint, and granted the rank of Grand Duke.

He didn't stop there.

He took Vigrid, the barren wasteland in the empire's far north, as his personal domain. His stated reason: to watch over Erebos, the demon realm across the sea.

'He spent his whole life cutting down humans, demihumans, and demons alike. He might have even fought someone stronger than me.'

The anger had settled. Something else came twitching up in its place,jealousy, betrayal, disappointment, some tangled mess of all three. Kyle swallowed a rising sigh and forced a smile at Arian.

"I really am fine."
"Hmm... if you say so..."

She didn't look convinced. She studied him a moment longer.

"If something's wrong, tell me anytime. Okay?"
"Yes."

Arian stood and took his hand again. Raymond, who had been waiting patiently, resumed leading the way.

Past the sword garden, the Sword Tower was far more imposing up close than it had looked from a distance. Its pillars, carved from black stone, rose like swords thrust toward the sky. The banners hanging along its face bore the Alastor family crest,the Sword Flower, a bloom fashioned entirely from blades.

"This is as far as I'll go."

Raymond stopped short of the front gate.

"Thank you for escorting us, Sir Raymond."
"Thank you, Sir Raymond."

Kyle bowed his head. Raymond gave him a warm smile in return.

Arian took Kyle's hand and walked toward the gate. Rumble,both doors swung open on their own before she could touch them.

"Arian Alastor, arrived."

She led Kyle forward and stepped inside without hesitation.

The first-floor hall was filled with people. Every one of them radiated something beyond the ordinary, and every pair of eyes landed on the two newcomers at once.

Arian's brothers and sisters. Their children. Kyle's family.

'Hm.'

The gazes held different things. Curiosity. Wariness. Surprise. And hostility. An ordinary five-year-old would have shrunk under all of it, or burst into tears. Kyle walked on without flinching, cataloguing the emotions threaded through each stare.

'Alastor bloodline. Of course.'

He met each set of eyes in turn,uncles, aunts, cousins. Who was strongest? Hard to say without testing them, but from the weight of each gaze and the air they carried, he made a rough ranking.

'Two are missing.'

Not the whole family, then.

"Arian."

A man with red hair and gold eyes spoke. He let out a long, slow breath and shook his head.

"I don't even know what to say to you. You... you troublemaker."
"It's been six years. How about starting with 'it's been a while'?"
"Haa..."
"Fine, I'll say it. It's been a while, Karthan-oppa. Have you been well?"

Karthan Alastor. Eldest son. He stared at his sister, returned after six years, and exhaled.

"Shameless as ever. Don't you feel even a little sorry?"

A large man with brown hair scowled at her. He'd been openly hostile since the moment they walked in.

"Barkas-oppa, you've been married,you know how these things go. Couples have their ups and downs."
"You..."
"At least I didn't divorce like you did. We're just... taking some time apart."

The jab landed. A vein rose along Barkas's forehead. Before he could snap back, a red-haired woman grabbed his shoulder.

"Arian."

Cold gold eyes settled on her. Arian had held her ground against Karthan and Barkas, but under this gaze she couldn't manage it. Kyle felt her hand flinch in his.

"It's... been a while, Katarina-unni."
"I'm sure you had your reasons. I won't ask here,that's for the family head to hear."

Katarina Alastor. Eldest daughter. Her gaze moved from Arian to Kyle.

"Hello."

Kyle spoke before Arian could introduce him. He looked straight into Katarina's ice-cold eyes.

"My name is Kyle Alastor."
"Mm."

He hadn't trembled. Not even a little. Katarina studied him in silence.

"How old are you?"
"Five."
"Five..."

Her eyes drifted to the younger children nearby,all of them older than Kyle, all of them born and raised within these walls. Not one of them had ever met her gaze directly. Not even the ones who faced her every single day.

"Introductions can wait. The family head is waiting."

Karthan opened the door into the corridor.

The air there was colder, heavier. The gravity these strangers pressed onto the atmosphere felt like walking across bare blades, but Kyle paid it no mind and looked around. Portraits of past family heads lined the walls,not all of them shared the red hair and gold eyes, but many had.

'This bastard is really staring.'

Barkas had fallen into step right beside him. The feeling coming off the man was sharp. Ridiculous,he was jealous of a five-year-old's hair and eye color.

"Can I call you uncle?"

Kyle looked up at him.

No answer. Barkas stopped looking at Kyle altogether, turning his head away with irritation plain on his face.

"I'll introduce everyone properly later," Arian whispered, leaning close. She probably thought Kyle was hurt.

The end of the corridor. The heart of the Sword Tower.

At the doors of the Sword Peak Hall,where the Alastor family's every weighty decision was made,Karthan announced them.

"My lord. Arian and her son have arrived."

The doors opened in answer.

Arian drew a breath, steadied herself, and stepped inside with Kyle.

At the far end of the wide room, a man sat on a throne of black iron. He watched them.

The moment Kyle saw him, everything else in the room stopped registering. The hall's details blurred, swallowed by sheer presence. A name that came up in any honest conversation about the strongest on the continent. The ruler of the empire's north. Head of the Alastor family.

Julius Alastor.

He said nothing. Just watched. The silence he carried pressed down like a mountain range.

Arian let go of Kyle's hand. She placed her palm over her chest and spoke.

"I greet the family head. Your wayward daughter Arian offers her regards, after six years."

Julius did not reply. In the silence, his eyes shifted. Sharp gold eyes, predator-keen, fixed on Kyle.

Kyle felt it across his whole body,a pressure far too great for a five-year-old's mind to sit with comfortably. Julius was sizing him up. Openly.

Then it came. A thread of killing intent bled from Julius and pressed outward. Any ordinary child would go pale. Even a remarkable one would flinch, or cry, or bolt.

Kyle felt excitement. The good kind. The corner of his mouth tugged up on its own.

He'd known the moment he saw him. Julius was strong. The others had been strong too, but Julius was on a different level entirely. Warriors like this had been rare even five hundred years ago.

'So this is the Alastor family head.'

He didn't drop his gaze. His body trembled,not from fear. The sheer thrill of it. He genuinely regretted being five years old.

"Good eyes."

Julius spoke.

"Good expression, too."

The killing intent retracted all at once. The pressure lifted.

"You're quite the piece of work." Julius rested his chin in his hand and looked at Arian. "You left as you pleased and came back the same way. With a child in tow, no less."
"I missed my father. And I wanted you to meet your grandson."
"I'm no one's father. I don't recall having a daughter like you."

Harsh words,but the eyes looking at her had softened since she walked in.

"I hear Aslan entered seclusion."
"Yes."
"If that was all it took for you to run, why get married in the first place?"
"Because I love him."
"If you love him, you couldn't wait out his seclusion?"
"He loves his sword more than he loves me sometimes. This was one of those times. I woke up one morning and there was a letter on my pillow. Do you know what it said?"
"I don't."
"He had a dream about swinging his sword. Got some kind of realization mid-dream. So he went into seclusion. Just like that."

The last time Kyle had asked about his father was three years ago. He'd never seen the man, hadn't been particularly curious, and hadn't wanted to pry at something that obviously still stung for Arian.

Today was the first time he'd heard the man's name. The first time he'd heard the real story.

'Sounds like a fine bastard.'

Realization in a dream about swordsmanship,straight into seclusion. Kyle found himself liking the man despite never having seen his face.

"Sufficient reason to enter seclusion." Julius nodded. Arian made a face, as if she'd expected nothing less.

"Do you remember what you told me before I got married? That if I had a child, I should bring them to Alastor."
"If they showed exceptional talent."
"That's not a problem."
"So it seems."

Julius's eyes moved to Kyle.

"The boy's name?"
"Kyle Alastor."
"Why Alastor? You left to marry the man you chose."
"You never permitted me to give up the name."
"Since when do you follow what I say?"
"More often than you think."
"You follow your own impulses. Like now."

Julius's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I won't fault you for waiting five years to bring him, or for giving him the Alastor name. He's the kind of material that should carry it,not Aslan's."
"Then that means..."
"None of my own children have yet shown themselves worthy of the family head's seat. Your son is Alastor blood. Formally."

Arian swallowed a breath of relief. She'd braced for punishment,she'd behaved recklessly and she knew it. But Julius hadn't pressed her.

It was because of Kyle. If the boy hadn't impressed him, Julius would never have permitted the name.

The tension had eased, and Kyle's awareness finally widened beyond Julius. He could actually take in the room now.

His eyes went where any eye would go: behind the black iron throne.

A massive portrait hung there. Hair red as blood. Eyes brilliant gold.

The Alastor family's founder. Sword Saint Ruin Alastor.

Kyle looked at the face of the man who had killed him in a past life.

He'd never held a grudge. But a small one had been forming,because the Sword Demon's blade was nowhere in the sword garden, and he figured he'd earned at least that much resentment.

'That bastard...'

Wait.

His eyes went wide.

He'd been so fixed on Julius and the portrait that he hadn't noticed. Between the portrait and the black iron throne,

A single sword hung on the wall.

'What?'

Plain and unadorned, a black blade like a single stroke of ink. His heart kicked hard.

The dwarf-forged sword he'd won when he wiped out the Reberto family. Taken as severance pay when he left the Raven Mercenary Company, then carried for eighteen years after that. The blade he'd swung even in his final fight against Ruin Alastor.

'Fenris.'

Recognition hit first. Then confusion. Fenris, nowhere to be found in the sword garden,why was it here, behind the throne, beneath Ruin Alastor's portrait?

The conversation between Julius and Arian continued while Kyle stared.

"Have you ever given him a weapon?"
"No."
"Good. You haven't forgotten the family's rules."
"Of course not. And if I had?"
"I would have denied him the Alastor name. He would never have held a weapon for the rest of his life."
"Even your own grandson?"
"Rules are rules."

"Every descendant of Alastor is forbidden from handling weapons without the family head's permission. Mana training falls under the same rule."
"I know."
"Five is too young to judge martial talent, I would have said... but your son is different from most five-year-olds. He didn't flinch from my gaze. He smiled."
"He... did?"
"I never expected to see a grandson smile at me on our first meeting." A pause. "Bold child."

"If he's taken your fancy, how about a gift?" Arian asked, watching Julius allow himself a small smile. "Kyle wants a sword. He's still too young for a real blade, but if you gave him one now, for when he's ready, I think he'd be very happy."

"You're mistaken about something."

Julius's eyes sharpened.

"I said he's different from most five-year-olds. I called him bold. But I haven't confirmed his martial talent."
"But..."
"Five is too young. He's untaught, so his talent is unproven. I'll spend the next three years teaching him and see what he's made of. A real blade comes after."

The Alastor family was the greatest martial house on the continent. All the more reason those without the right could not be permitted to carry weapons.

"If my talent is confirmed, I can have a sword?"

Kyle cut in.

"And if I can have a sword, will you give me a gift, Grandfather?"

Julius's gaze moved. His five-year-old grandson was watching him without a trace of hesitation.

"If your talent satisfies me, a gift is within reason." A faint, amused smile. "Anything?"
"That depends on what you prove."

"Grandfather."

Kyle smiled back.

"I want that sword."

He raised a finger and pointed at Fenris.

"So please. Test me right now."

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End of Chapter 6
ⓒ 목마#14qpa
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1. Closed-door training (폐관): A practice rooted in East Asian martial arts tradition in which a warrior seals themselves away from the outside world, sometimes for months or years, to focus entirely on a breakthrough. In Korean and Chinese fantasy fiction, these sessions are typically triggered by a sudden flash of insight mid-training or, as here, even mid-dream. Kyle's father, Aslan, left a letter on his pillow and vanished the same night he had his realization,which is considered entirely reasonable behavior in the genre, even if his wife sees it differently.

2. Killing intent (투기): In Korean action-fantasy, killing intent is treated as a tangible, physical force that seasoned warriors can project from their bodies. Julius releases only a thread of it here, deliberately, as an informal assessment of Kyle's nerve. Even that thread is described as enough to make an ordinary child go pale and flee.

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