WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 65

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Kids These Days

Narua's movements were the same as in the first screening, but her mindset was different.

Earlier, her swords held no killing intent. Back then, her blades had aimed at no one; it had simply been Narua's own dance. But now, Narua's swords were clearly swinging at Kyle with killing intent.

Kyle was still releasing killing intent, no, even more than he had directed at the previous candidates. Even so, Narua's swords did not waver. Right in the middle of that pressure, the kind that should have left her unable to move at all, she stubbornly tried to keep dancing.

Flames bloomed along the twin swords' arcs, swaying and spreading with the dance Narua was trying to perform.

Kyle watched the swords guiding those flames. His earlier evaluation stayed the same. Narua's swordsmanship was not the best among what he had seen today. But her blade did not bend.

The three before her had each broken in different ways. They had stepped back, or their hands had frozen, or their sword paths had collapsed. Before the wind called Kyle's killing intent, their swords had snapped.

Narua's sword did not snap. Her blade, which could be compared to flame, looked as if it fed on the wind and burned even hotter.

'People who don't stop dancing, even in front of death.'

A memory from 500 years ago overlapped with the present: warriors of the Avara Plateau, cut by knights' swords, pierced by spears, drenched in blood, yet still dancing.

Smiling, Kyle swung Fenris.

Kkaang!

The twin swords that were about to surge in were blocked by Fenris. Narua let out a sigh at that moment.

The dance ended. Feeling the weight transmitted through Fenris, Kyle withdrew his killing intent.

The air in the training ground, cold and heavy moments before, finally loosened. Bruno let out a long breath, Jade relaxed the fingers that had been about to grip a sword, and Lucia rubbed her chest in relief.

Narua stared at Kyle, panting. The killing intent in her eyes was gone, but now they looked full of regret. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and veins stood out on the hands gripping her twin swords.

"What was your name again?"

Kyle asked again even though he remembered her name.

"Narua."

Narua answered without a hint of irritation. Even out of breath, her voice was clear.

"You look unsatisfied. Did one round feel like it wasn't enough?"
"Yeah."
"If you had kept dancing, did you think you could've killed me?"

At the word dance, Narua's brows twitched.

"You understand Narua's sword?"
"Not deeply."
"Then why call it a dance? Did Narua's sword look that pathetic to you, like some dance?"
"I didn't call it a dance as an insult. It just felt like a dance to me. Did I read it wrong?"
"No, you read it right."

Narua shook her head.

"I only asked because it was strange. You people usually don't see a sword as a dance."
"I read swords a little better than most people. That's why I'm running a test like this."
"It showed. I'll answer your question. Even if Narua had danced longer, I still couldn't have killed you."
"Then why are you disappointed?"
"Because I don't dance to kill. For Narua, dance is satisfaction. Just now, Narua wasn't satisfied. That's why it's a shame. If I had done more, I think I would've been satisfied."
"Even if you died because of that?"
"If I can die satisfied, that's a happy death."

Inside Kyle, the loser from 500 years ago, the one who had died swinging a sword only for self-satisfaction, smiled in approval at that answer.

"If you join my knight order, you'll be able to dance enough to be satisfied without dying."
"Will you dance with Narua?"
"Of course. And besides me, there are others who can dance with you too."
"Yeah."

Narua nodded. As she sheathed her twin swords and wiped her sweat, Kyle grinned and asked,

"You can look happier than that. You don't seem very happy."
"Why be happy?"
"Out of all these people, you're the only one who passed."
"Narua knew from the start that Narua would pass."

She really sounded like she had expected exactly this.

"Nice confidence. Ah, if you're joining the knight order, can I drop formal speech?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Then I'll speak freely. Ah, sorry everyone else. Narua is the only one who passed, so please head back."

Kyle spoke to the people still in the training ground. A few hesitated, lingering with regret, but most accepted the result and left.

"C-can I try too?"

A few people who remained came up and asked Kyle. He readily nodded and released his killing intent again.

No one else could properly swing a sword. In the end, among everyone who had gathered, the only gem Kyle picked out was Narua.

Kyle slowly looked over the four people standing around him.

Bruno Alastor, a pure-blood who still watched his father's mood.

Lucia, a Demon Tribe Half-blood who had learned swordsmanship from the Sword Tower elders since childhood.

Jade, famous for standing in for duel trials in Ransel.

Narua, a native from the southern Avara Plateau.

Different races, different backgrounds, and he liked that their temperaments and swords were all different too. Their swords being different did not only mean sword styles and mindsets. In a very simple sense, all four people Kyle had gathered used different weapons.

Lucia used a standard straight sword, and Bruno used a greatsword as huge as his body. Jade had no sword right now, but in a few days he would hold the sword breaker Gallen was crafting by hand. Narua used twin swords.

"It's good that all of you have strong individuality. Let's do introductions first, since a new recruit just joined."

Kyle flashed a grin and started with himself.

"I'm Kyle Alastor. I don't know exactly where I rank in the family, but my mother, Lady Arian Alastor, is the current Family Head's sixth child. I'm fifteen this year."

After setting the example, Kyle glanced at Bruno. Bruno wore a face that openly said he didn't want to do this, but he opened his mouth anyway.

"I'm Bruno Alastor. My father is the Family Head's second son and commander of the Crimson Snow Knights, and I'm twenty."
"Must be nice, having such a great father."
"You just said who your mother is too, so why are you giving me shit...?"
"My mother isn't a knight commander."
"So what does that... hey, wait. If you're saying my father is great because he's a knight commander, are you saying your mother isn't great?"

Kyle had not expected a counter like that from Bruno. For a moment, he could not continue and just stared with wide eyes, while Bruno clenched his fist in private triumph.

"Hey, you... no matter what, isn't using family for jokes crossing a line?"
"W-what?"
"I'm really disappointed."
"You bastard! You're the one who brought up fathers first..."
"Next, Lucia. Introduce yourself."

Kyle didn't let Bruno keep yapping and quickly called Lucia. Loyal Lucia picked up what Kyle wanted and obediently began.

"I'm Lucia. As you can see, I'm a Demon Tribe Half-blood, and I'm eighteen."

With that, Bruno's speaking rights naturally vanished. Jade, chuckling at Bruno's frustrated expression, greeted everyone with fairly formal posture.

"Jade Crase. Twenty-three years old."
"Crase?"

Bruno's jaw dropped.

"C-Crase? As in that Crase, one of Ransel's Round Table Houses?"

At Bruno's stammered words, Jade clutched his stomach and laughed.

"Wow, this guy has great reactions for his face."
"If it's Crase, that's a founding house of Ransel!"
"In front of Alastor, the greatest martial house on the continent and the benefactor of the Empire, no, of continental history, it's a small name, isn't it? Why are you so shocked? That pure-blood commander over there looks totally unimpressed."
"T-that idiot over there just doesn't know what kind of house Crase is!"
"That's true."

Kyle nodded easily. Ransel, nicknamed the Kingdom of Knights, had not even existed in his previous life. It had been formed during the Dark Age 500 years ago by houses that rose up in different regions trying to become kings, along with wandering knights that sprang up everywhere.

"What's a Round Table House?"
"The houses of the sixteen knights who founded Ransel."
"And now not even half of them are left. They spent 500 years biting and fighting each other."

Jade said it with a snicker. Bruno glared at him as if he couldn't understand.

"Are you really Crase? But those rumors..."
"I'm the illegitimate son of the current Crase Family Head. Even inside Crase, only a few people know about me, and the Family Head treats me like I don't exist. I ran away from the house at ten and made my living by the sword."

Jade shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"It's not the kind of background I can brag about. I don't like them much, and they don't like me much either. So I never bothered talking about it."
"Then why say it now?"
"Hey, commander. You're favored by the Thunder Emperor, right? And that young master there, I don't know if he's favored, but he's pure-blood too. I didn't talk, but if Alastor decided to dig into my background, it'd come out fast anyway. So I'm saying it in advance. So nobody gets surprised later."

Jade himself had not revealed it on purpose, and Crase treated him as if he didn't exist. Even so, if he entered Alastor's new knight order, especially Kyle's, Alastor's information network would naturally dig through every member's background.

"The Crase Family Head is too prideful to use me as a connection to Alastor, but who knows. He might've softened with age. If any contact comes, commander, just ignore it yourself."
"Thanks for being honest."

Jade let out a dry laugh when he saw Kyle's grinning face.

"I just thought saying it myself now was better than getting exposed later."

Jade's introduction ended. Kyle turned to Narua.

"Narua. From the southern Avara Plateau. Nineteen."

Jade, who had been blinking quietly, spoke.

"Miss, there aren't just one or two tribes on the Avara Plateau. Which tribe are you exactly from?"

Avara natives used their tribe's name as a surname. Narua shook her head at Jade's question.

"No tribe."
"Oh come on. Miss, what does that even mean? Even I, an illegitimate son, gave my family name, and you're saying you're hiding yours?"
"Narua has no tribe."

Narua's eyes flickered. Her voice landed heavy enough to shake the listeners' chests.

"Sounds like there's a story there."

Kyle nodded.

"So it means you can't tell us that story right now?"
"Narua doesn't know you. You don't know Narua either. To share secrets, we first need to know each other."
"Introductions aren't enough?"
"Knowing each other means bleeding together."

Kyle watched Narua for a moment as she said something that heavy so lightly. For words like that to come out naturally, she had probably lost many people she had already bled with.

"Fine. I'll hear your secret later. But let's make one thing clear now."

Still smiling brightly, Kyle looked around at everyone.

"I made this knight order, so I'm the commander. You joined, so you're members. If I, the commander, give an order, you follow. That's a knight order."

He said it lightly, but his eyes were not smiling.

"If, really if, I order you to die, you die. Can you do that?"
"Whew."

Jade whistled.

"The answer is obvious, but I'll ask anyway. Commander, what happens if we disobey an order?"
"You die by my sword."

Kyle said it with a smile, but it didn't sound like a joke at all. Jade felt a chill run down his spine and forced the corners of his mouth up.

"This is... maybe I shouldn't have volunteered to join."
"If you don't want it, you can quit even now. Right now, there is no price."

Kyle stressed the words right now.

"But if you say later that you want to quit, there will be a price."
"What price?"
"How about cutting off the arm you use a sword with?"

Jade's smile froze. Kyle was still smiling. The words from that smiling face did not feel like a joke in the slightest.

"For someone who uses twin swords, that might feel unfair."

Sweating cold, Jade glanced at Narua.

"True enough. Narua, which hand do you usually use to eat?"

Kyle's gaze shifted to Narua. She answered calmly.

"Right hand."
"Then I'll cut only the right."
"Thanks."

Narua stayed calm. She was thanking him in front of a threat to cut off an arm. Jade shut his mouth, unable to tell whether she was bold or out of her mind.

"Should I call you commander?"
"Yeah."
"Commander. Will you order Narua to die?"

Narua asked with narrowed eyes. Her black pupils, like obsidian, shone sharply, as if trying to read Kyle's true intent.

"No."

Kyle denied it shortly, then continued.

"But I will give orders that feel like death. If your ability is lacking, you may die."
"..."
"My job as commander is to make you strong enough that you won't die even in front of those orders."

As he said that, Kyle swung Fenris. The blade came down from above, cutting the air with a sharp sound.

"If you know how to use a sword properly, you usually won't die. Even then, if by some chance you end up in a situation where you die."

He rested the once-swung Fenris on his shoulder and finished in a calm voice.

"That would mean I'm in a situation where I die too. So don't worry. I won't leave only you to die."
"You die too?"
"If you're human, you die someday."

Kyle answered lightly. In truth, he was someone who had already died once in the past.

"But I don't die easily. If I don't die easily, you won't die easily either."

Kyle met each member's eyes in turn. Bruno, Lucia, Jade, Narua. Four pairs of eyes were on him.

"So what we have to do is simple. Together, we become bastards who don't die easily."
"Understood."

Narua nodded.

"Commander. Narua has a reason she must not die. But if commander orders it, Narua will die. That's because if Narua stays with commander, Narua thinks she can become stronger."

Narua placed a hand on her chest and stared straight at Kyle.

"So commander must satisfy Narua's expectations. And Narua is clever. Narua will use commander."
"How?"
"Narua knows the name and power of Alastor. Commander is favored by Alastor's Family Head. Right?"
"Right."
"If Narua stays in this knight order, Narua can get what she wants. So Narua will not leave this knight order. Just now, Narua told a little of her true heart."

Narua's eyes flickered. Beyond them, Kyle saw a familiar emotion, one he had seen countless times 500 years ago.

In the depths of Narua there was a thirst for revenge. Kyle could guess her background without much difficulty. Why a native who should have lived her whole life on the Avara Plateau had come all the way up north. Most likely her tribe had been destroyed by someone, and she had left the plateau in pursuit of revenge.

'Jade must have his own circumstances too.'

An illegitimate son of a founding house. Jade had said himself that he ran away at ten and lived by the sword. Why choose such a dangerous road? Even treated like he didn't exist, he could have lived comfortably if he wanted.

That guess wasn't hard either. In the depths of Jade there was probably a desire to be acknowledged by the family that had despised him. The epithet Rending Fang that he carried had been built by standing in for other people's duels.

'Each one has one thing missing. Perfect.'

Kyle grinned. People with cracks and missing pieces usually become obsessed with something and go mad trying to fill that emptiness. What Kyle had to do as commander was turn their deficiencies into love and madness for the sword.

"Good. Let's stop introductions here. Me, Bruno, Lucia, Jade, Narua. From now on, the five of us are the Wolf Knights."
"Wolf Knights?"

Narua's brows twitched.

"That's our knight order's name?"
"Yeah."
"Then from now on Narua is Narua of the Wolf Knights?"
"Huh? Yeah, that's right."
"..."

Her dark brows knit together. Kyle tilted his head at that expression and asked,

"Why? You got something to say?"
"Commander. Can Narua speak honestly?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"The knight order name is lame."
"..."

Kyle's eyes shook. He had heard doubts about the name yesterday from Erika too, but her opinion had not mattered to him at all. Erika was not a member, and she was the type who proudly shouted things like Snow Flower Tempest for her sword techniques.

But Narua, whom he had just met today and made into a member, this strange southern native with awkward speech, was bluntly saying the knight order name was lame. Kyle looked at the members other than Narua.

"Anyone else not like the name Wolf Knights?"

Bruno raised his hand quickly, and Jade slowly raised his too. Lucia narrowed her eyes and shot looks at the others.

"Kyle-nim. I like the name Wolf Knights."
"..."

Lucia's opinion could not be trusted. Even if the order name were Mutt, Lucia would clap and say it sounded great.

"If three out of five say the name isn't good... fine. We'll change it. I'm not a dictatorial commander."

Kyle muttered quietly.

'When I made the Crow Mercenary Band 500 years ago, everyone said they liked it.'

To tell the truth, not everyone had agreed even then. If people could interpret events from just yesterday however they liked, what about events from 500 years ago?

'Kids these days only care about looking cool.'

The old man from 500 years ago grumbled inside Kyle.

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