WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Reincarnation of the Sword Demon

Chapter 87

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Black as Night

"Black Sword..."

Roel stared at Kyle with an expression of pure disbelief.

"Starting today, you said -- meaning you gave yourself this epithet personally?"
"Yes."

Since he had already decided to be bold about it, Kyle kept his chin lifted and answered without flinching.

"Unbelievable. Already giving yourself an epithet, and doing it yourself at that..."
"Kyle is fifteen this year."

Katarina spoke up.

"At that age, I suppose it's possible."

Hearing that, the urge to grab Jade by the collar surged up in Kyle with considerable force.

"You seem to be in better shape than you look, making jokes like that."

Still, her attempt to ease the mood had worked precisely as intended. Julius's stiff expression softened.

"It's just that the clothes are hiding it. Underneath, it's fairly serious."

Kyle made a mental note to put Jade through training that amounted to torture as punishment for breathing the wrong kind of life into this situation, then swept his gaze around the people gathered in the Sword Hall.

Captain of the Black Iron Knights, Raymond Alastor.
Captain of the Crimson Snow Knights, Barkas Alastor.
Captain of the Aurora Knights, Katarina Alastor.
Captain of the White Night Knights, Karthan Alastor.
Captain of the Sword Spirit Knights, Roel Alastor.

And -- one man Kyle had never seen before, standing beside the black iron throne. He could guess who it was.

'That must be the captain of the Funeral Knights.'

The Funeral Knights, Julius's personal guard, numbered only thirty-three, but every one of them ranked among the finest fighters in the Sword Tower. Kyle studied the man for a moment. He wore a pitch-black uniform, and his hair was a deep red-black threaded through with true black -- probably a collateral branch of Alastor, Kyle figured.

'Even at a conservative estimate, he's probably around the same level as Uncle Karthan.'

Those present in the Sword Hall were the six knight captains, Gerhard, Julius, and the Sword Wolf Knights. Arian and Aslan were nowhere in sight.

"I gave strict orders for your parents to remain at the Rose Mansion. If Arian came running out of worry for you, it would only slow down the conversation."

The Family Head was wise, as expected. Even to Kyle's ears, that sounded exactly like something Arian would do.

"What happened on Beltua Island?"
"We engaged the Demon Tribe."
"The barrier magic was breached. That means it wasn't a trivial opponent -- and you took injuries, after all."

When Julius had ordered the Secret Realm subjugation, he had named a Demon Tribe encounter as the worst-case scenario and warned Kyle accordingly. He had not sent additional forces because he trusted Kyle's abilities that much.

He had also believed the worst case would never actually happen. Beltua Island was imperial territory, however remote a corner of the North Sea it occupied, and the surrounding waters were covered by barrier magic. Any Demon Tribe member who managed to slip through would be some small-timer who had hidden aboard a merchant or fishing vessel -- the kind who could never wound Kyle.

But there was something worse than the worst case. The barrier magic had been broken, and word of it had not reached anyone until this morning. Once this conversation ended, Julius's fury would send the heads of the imperial Ministry of Defense and Security rolling en masse.

"Azel Beliar. A child of the Demon King was hiding in the Secret Realm."

Julius's brow furrowed at that. Gerhard, who had been standing rigid at Kyle's side, spoke up.

"The twenty-seventh son of Rosa Beliar, twenty-seventh wife of the current Demon King Babelio Ervos. Age twenty-three. A royal of low renown within Erebos."
"Hunting dogs belonging to a demon named Nasdel -- Nasdel Golora -- had occupied the Secret Realm. They were after Azel."

When Gerhard moved to recite further information on Nasdel, Kyle raised a hand and shook his head.

"No need. Nasdel and his entire family line have already been wiped out."
"What?"
"Lizet Beliar did it, apparently."

Gerhard's eyes shifted at that.

"Lizet Beliar. Age twenty-six. She holds the epithet Fist Demon and has been active in the Erebos Colosseum for ten years, making her one of the better-known royals."
"These injuries are from fighting Lizet."

Kyle looked down at his blood-soaked uniform. He had drunk a potion, but his whole body still ached, and the caved-in section of his chest remained as it was.

He finished his report on Lizet's sudden appearance, what she had said, and what she had done. A murmur ran through the Sword Hall.

"The Demon King's brand..."

Julius glanced toward Lucia with a low sound. She stood at rigid attention, her face tight with anxiety.

"Lucia. Do you feel anything from the brand?"
"N-no. Nothing at all. When it was first carved, the pain was severe and I felt drained, but right now I'm completely fine."

She answered, then hesitated for a moment.

"Though... something feels different. It's hard to describe, but my body moves more easily than I expect, and my thoughts feel -- clearer, somehow."

Lucia honestly described the sensations and experiences she had felt when she charged at Lizet. As she spoke, her eyes couldn't help but waver.

If the brand became reason to expel her from Gladiheim, what then? If the Family Head decided that, Lucia would have no choice but to accept it. The Alastor Family had taken her in when she had no memories and nowhere to go.

"It doesn't seem like a serious problem."

Contrary to Lucia's fears, Julius's eyes showed something closer to relief. So did Katarina's, who had been the one to take Lucia in.

"If the brand is helping you right now, that's actually a fortunate thing. It means you aren't simply being saddled with the burden alone."
"...Pardon?"
"Of course, we'll need to watch how it progresses. First, we'll have the Magic Division here in Gladiheim run a thorough examination, then request assistance from the Mage Association."

Julius's gaze moved to Gerhard.

"The Mage Association will certainly take an interest. They've been sending word for some time that they wish to examine Lucia. Add the Demon King's brand to that, and the Association Master or the Lastea Tower Master may come in person."
"They won't be conducting the kind of examination where they cut her open, will they?"

Kyle asked, just to be sure. Julius looked at him with an expression of plain disbelief.

"Black Sword. What on earth are you saying?"
"..."
"You went to the trouble of preparing your own epithet. Bold of you. But why Black Sword?"

Barkas asked. Kyle had expected mockery, but the look in his eyes was unexpectedly serious. There was even a trace of goodwill there.

There was an obvious reason for that. Kyle had left nothing out of his report on the fight with Lizet, and that account included the part where Bruno had faced Lizet head-on.

'He's grown a lot. No -- changed.'

Barkas glanced at his son and thought back. Five years ago, that boy had trembled but refused to kneel. He had shouted that he was different from his father, that he wanted to change his sword. That voice was still vivid in Barkas's memory.

And Bruno had genuinely changed. Because Barkas had felt it, he hadn't disowned him. He had even allowed him to choose the Sword Wolf Knights over the Crimson Snow Knights.

That change hadn't happened through Bruno's efforts alone. Knowing that, Barkas had to acknowledge Kyle too. Once a person started looking acceptable, even a brazen self-given epithet seemed like a mark of confidence rather than cheek.

"Fenris is black, so Black Sword."

Kyle answered without hesitation. Jor howled somewhere inside his chest, but there was nothing to be done. Epithets came from technique, reputation, deeds, and appearance -- most often from how someone or something looked. The single most distinctive thing about Kyle, the thing that set him apart from everyone else, was the pitch-black Fenris. Naming himself after it was only natural.

'Less room to be laughed at too. Safe choice.'

Not that being laughed at would shake him or make him angry. He simply had different sensibilities, and people who didn't understand that were the ones at fault.

"I sent you out for what was supposed to be a safe and comfortable first mission -- clearing a Secret Realm. I never imagined you'd come back after fighting demon royalty."
"All the same, it's a relief everyone made it back alive. You even achieved a major distinction. You drove off the Fist Demon, after all."

Karthan finally let his expression ease and smiled.

"It wasn't exactly driving her off. Strictly speaking, I lost."
"Even if you did lose, there's no shame in it. You're only fifteen. And the Fist Demon walking away alive -- that wasn't her decision. That was yours, as captain of the Sword Wolf Knights."

He said it with a smile, but there was weight beneath Karthan's words. Not a barb aimed at Kyle, not something meant to sting. What it meant was that even if Kyle had lost, Alastor had not. If Kyle hadn't sheathed his sword, Lizet would have died in that Secret Realm.

"Family Head. The report is complete. Shall we dismiss the Sword Wolf Knights? They'll all need treatment and rest."
"I haven't finished reporting the spoils yet."

Kyle cut in quickly. Everyone turned to look at him with puzzled expressions.

"There's no need to report that. Whatever you took from the Secret Realm belongs to you and your members."
"No -- I'd like to present them. I was able to come back alive today because the family has supported me without holding anything back."

The firm certainty in his voice put something in Julius's eyes that looked like emotion. The knight captains and senior relatives around them showed the same. The only one whose response was muted was Roel, who had reason to feel the comparison.

Kyle looked around the Sword Hall. Fortunately, it was large enough to display everything brought back from the Secret Realm without running short of space. He composed his expression and extended his right arm to one side.

The bracelet on his wrist -- the Out-of-Place Artifact obtained as the Secret Realm's blessing -- drank in his mana. All the spoils from the Secret Realm began to fill the open floor of the Sword Hall.

Resources the Demon Tribe members had collected, items taken from their bodies. Resources the order members had dug out while combing every corner of the labyrinth. And -- the blessing received from the core of the Secret Realm itself.

"This was a grade-four Secret Realm... wasn't it?"

Katarina murmured, staring in a daze. As captain of the Aurora Knights, she had cleared many Secret Realms. By the most conservative reckoning, the reward laid out before her was on par with a grade-two.

Even setting aside the Out-of-Place Artifacts, the gold and gems alone amounted to a full year's budget for a mid-sized territory, spread across the floor of the Sword Hall. No matter where you looked, something caught the light. Kyle pressed a hand to his aching chest and lowered his head.

"These are the spoils recovered from Nasdel's hounds and Azel Beliar's body, the resources gathered in the Secret Realm, and the reward from the core's blessing. As you can see, there is far more here than my members and I could rightfully keep."
"I'll grant you that... there is quite a lot."

Julius murmured with a disbelieving laugh.

"My members and I will each take one item. I'll take this bracelet, Bruno takes the greatsword, Jade and Narua take elixirs. Lucia hasn't made her choice yet, so I ask your patience on that point."
"You're saying you'll hand over the rest."
"Grandfather, you've said it more than once -- the elixirs alone that you've invested in me add up to a year's budget for a decent-sized city. I believe this is enough to repay what you've put into me."
"Ha ha ha!"

Julius burst out laughing.

"Indeed. This is more than enough to recoup what was put into you. I'll accept it."

Julius settled back with a pleased expression, chin resting in his hand.

"Captain of the Sword Wolf Knights. Black Sword, Kyle Alastor. I, the lord of Vigrid, master of Gladiheim, and Family Head of Alastor, grant you and your members a reward. Everything before your eyes is yours."

It went exactly as Kyle had thought. Julius returned the offered spoils to Kyle on the spot.

Even if the spoils spread here amounted to a mid-sized territory's annual budget, Julius was the lord of Vigrid -- the largest territory in the empire's north. There was also five hundred years of accumulated wealth from being called the continent's foremost martial family.

What lay before him was nothing remarkable compared to what Gladiheim held. And since he had never intended to keep it in the first place, Julius could cheerfully hand over that sum as pocket money to a filial and impressive grandson.

"On top of that, I'll grant an additional reward. Sword Wolf Knights, all of you -- there's no need to answer now. See to your wounds, rest properly, and take your time deciding what you want to ask of me."

The expressions on Jade's and Narua's faces lit up. Both immediately thought of access to the Great Archive. Kyle and Bruno were pure-bloods and could enter the Sword Tower's Great Archive whenever they wished, but knights without pure blood had to accumulate merit before the archive's doors opened to them.

"May I make my request now?"

Kyle said it out of nowhere. Julius smiled and gave a small nod.

"If you don't need time to think, you may ask right now. Black Sword -- what do you want?"
"It's nothing much, really..."

Kyle raised his right arm. Whoosh! Every piece of spoils that had appeared in the Sword Hall was sucked back into the Out-of-Place Artifact's dimensional pouch.

"Grandfather. It's been over ten years since I came to the Sword Tower."
"Time really does fly. Has it already been that long."
"I've met so many relatives since coming here."

Kyle paused for a moment and wore a slightly sheepish expression.

"But I still haven't been able to greet my grandmother. So... won't you let me go pay her my respects?"

Julius's eyes went wide. His reaction -- and the reactions of the relatives around him -- were more raw and more intense than anything the report from the Secret Realm or the sight of the spoils had produced.

Gerhard's shoulders -- always cold and impassive -- trembled faintly. His eyes grew wet looking at Kyle. Karthan pressed his lips firmly together. Barkas's mouth fell open as he stared at Kyle with blank eyes. A single tear traced down Katarina's cheek. Even Raymond, a collateral branch member, was looking at Kyle with open emotion on his face.

Julius could no longer hold his chin in his hand. The hand that had lowered to the armrest of the black iron throne trembled slightly.

A grandson who had accomplished things no fifteen-year-old should be capable of, who had tried to present a vast haul of spoils saying he wanted to repay what he had been given. Julius had promised a further reward for that, and the boy's request was that he wanted to meet his grandmother.

Even Julius's own children were moved to the edge of tears hearing those words. Julius felt far more than they did. This was the Sword Hall, the seat he occupied was the black iron throne, and the station he carried called for composure -- he tried to hold his feelings down, but for the first time in a very long while, Julius felt a sting behind his nose.

"You want to... pay her respects."

The voice that left his lips was thick and muffled. Julius drew a slow breath and was silent for a moment.

Kyle was not certain the necklace he had obtained from the angel would actually help wake his grandmother. The angel had not said a single word about what the necklace did or how to use it.

If he declared he would wake his grandmother and then failed, the situation would become extraordinarily awkward.

Better to see her first. He had never met her at all, so using that as his reason -- just going to pay his respects -- gave him a clean excuse.

But the reactions coming back at him were too emotional for that.

'Good thing I didn't say I was going to wake her.'

A young grandson saying he wants to see his grandmother sends everyone this close to tears -- if that same grandson announced he had found a way to wake her, Karthan and Barkas, who were holding back tears right now, would break down weeping, and Julius would follow. And then if he failed, the awkwardness afterward would be considerable.

There were many floors in the Sword Tower that Kyle had never been to.

The Funeral Knights' quarters on the third floor. The Elder Council on the fifth. The residential floors -- the seventh, eighth, and ninth. The Sword Tomb in the basement, where the swords of past Family Heads were said to rest. The Ascension Platform on the eleventh floor, the very top of the Sword Tower.

And the tenth floor, where the Family Head resided.

Kyle was finally going to the tenth floor.

He walked the corridor of the Sword Hall alongside Julius. Just the two of them. The relatives had stayed behind in the Sword Hall to collect themselves, and the Sword Wolf Knights had left for the medical ward in Blade, the upper district.

"Don't hold it against us... that you never got to meet her before now."

Julius spoke in a voice still thick with feeling.

"You have never met your grandmother, not even once. She has been sleeping since before you were born..."
"I understand what you mean."

If he kept talking, Julius was going to cry. Kyle didn't want to see that yet.

"Why did you suddenly say you wanted to see her?"
"Mm... I nearly died, so family came to mind. And watching family kill family right in front of me -- it left me feeling a bit unsettled."

Kyle said that and quietly watched Julius's shoulders. He was walking behind him on purpose so he couldn't see Julius's face, but those shoulders were trembling faintly.

"I see. Have you heard anything about your grandmother?"
"A little, from my mother."

Not much. The woman who had been sleeping for nineteen years was a sore point for Arian too, and one that brought tears.

"Lavian Alastor. I heard she was a remarkable knight."

A fellow trainee who had been at Julius's side since before he became Family Head, a comrade who had stood back to back with him in the Aurora Knights. If she hadn't taken the Alastor name by marrying Julius, if Julius hadn't become Family Head -- she had the skill to have become captain of the Funeral Knights.

"She was skilled, yes. Not as skilled as me."

The thick, muffled voice carried a quiet ache of remembered things.

"Even after becoming a mother and the family matriarch, she was a woman who refused to put her sword down. Whenever she felt restless or thought her edge was dulling, she would invite herself along on outside missions without asking. When I tried to assign the Funeral Knights as her escort, she would bite back and say I didn't trust her."

Then nineteen years ago, the accident happened.

No one knew exactly what had occurred in that Secret Realm that day. It was a grade-two -- a place of real danger, but with Lavian's skill and the Aurora Knights' elites at her side, it should have been a subjugation they could handle without trouble.

They failed. The only survivor was Lavian. When the Secret Realm closed and expelled her, she was already deep in sleep.

"I tried every method available to me, but I could not wake her. The Association Master and the Lastea Tower Master, who came to assess her condition, said this sleep was in the nature of a curse or a binding."

The same words Fragment had used. Kyle said nothing and listened. The grandfather and grandson left the Sword Hall corridor and came to a stop before an elevator.

"If it's a curse, you break it. If it's a binding, you cut it. That holds true when a person is responsible. But she was afflicted inside a Secret Realm, so the only way to undo it was through a Secret Realm."
"..."
"We went to the Sword Church. I explained the situation and told them to cooperate. They said -- Secret Realms are the grace of the gods, and those gods are not one but many."

The elevator doors opened. Only once they were inside could Kyle see Julius's expression.

"To break the curse, we first had to find a Secret Realm of the same kind as the one Lavian entered. Nineteen years of that. We searched for a place where mana with the same wavelength as that Secret Realm was flowing. I spent two years searching myself. Gladiheim's knights spent six. Roel and Seros spent eleven."

The empire cooperated, and so did most kingdoms on the continent. The Secret Realm management bureaus of each country agreed to send word whenever they detected a new realm.

But after nineteen years, the number of Secret Realms found to emit the same wavelength was only twelve. Not a single one had yielded any result. Worrying that the management bureaus might have missed some, they had scoured the continent -- and that had yielded nothing either.

"Nineteen years is... a long time."

Julius murmured in that same thick voice.

"That is also why I told Roel and Seros to come home."
"Have you given up on her, Grandfather?"
"No."

Julius answered immediately. The elevator doors opened.

"The management bureaus across the continent still send word every time they find a Secret Realm with a wavelength matching the one she entered. I keep sending monthly donations to that damned Sword Church too."
"..."
"Lavian is not dead. She is sleeping. I believe that someday -- someday -- she will wake."

What showed in Julius as he said those words was not the lord of Vigrid, nor the master of Gladiheim, nor the Family Head of Alastor. He was simply a man who loved a woman.

"I've shown you something unseemly."

Julius collected his expression. A corridor extended the moment they stepped out of the elevator. At the end of it, a single door stood firmly shut. Julius turned to look at Kyle with a tired smile.

"Go greet your grandmother."

The door opened.

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