Scum of the Brave - Chapter 16

WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

◈ Scum of the Brave

Chapter 16

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As a finished product, I thought the result was pretty decent.

The sizes were not exactly perfect, but since Ishino had collected them for his hobby, the party dresses themselves were good quality.

Besides, all three of them were so stupid that I sometimes forgot this, but their looks were not bad to begin with. Once they changed into the outfits Sara Pendragon had prepared, they ended up drawing attention in front of Ikebukuro Station.

Ishino was probably rejoicing from beyond the grave.

The first problem, though, was Jogamine.

From the moment we met up, she had worn an endlessly dissatisfied expression, and I had been forced to listen to a long stream of objections, or rather complaints. Indo was not exactly silent either.

"Hard to move."

That was Indo Yukine's first impression. She had been stamping her feet for a while now. To be fair, the hem of her white party dress was long, and it looked like it was wrapping around her legs. Apparently, she did not like that.

"Sara, wasn't there one with a shorter hem?"

"Couldn't be helped."

When dealing with Indo, Sara's tone became like she was soothing a child.

"You said it was a pretty proper party. Besides, any dress is hard to move in."

"Then I want one more like Sara's."

Indo grabbed the hem of Sara's dress. Her black dress, which looked like mourning clothes, had an unnecessarily wide hem. It also had a lot of frills and similar decorations.

This was just my opinion as someone with absolutely no clothing knowledge, but I thought it might be a little too girlish. Since I was wise, I kept that to myself.

"This one's hard to move in too. Seriously."

"It is?"

"It is. And I picked a white dress that suited Yukine. You like white, right?"

"I like it."

"Then it's fine."

"Wait. In that case, about my outfit."

Jogamine cut in from the side.

"This. This thing. Why this design?"

Jogamine's dress was probably the one drawing the most attention from the people using Ikebukuro Station. It was red. It also exposed a lot of skin, and the hem was short. It was obvious that she had very intense complaints about that.

"With this, there is a risk that my character will be misunderstood! Even though I am such a beautiful girl, was I not the one with a modest and graceful charm? Look, my knees are showing this much! At this rate, I will be scouted as a model! Why did you think this dress suited me, Sara? Explain in detail."

"Aki, your self-esteem is as ridiculous as ever. I'm almost jealous... but, well, about that..."

Sara faltered and looked back at me. Her eyes accused me.

"Sensei told me to make it that one."

"Huh?"

Jogamine opened her mouth so wide her jaw looked like it might come loose.

"My apologies! In that case, the story changes completely. I am honored! Master, you have surprisingly good taste! I was displeased until just now, but I have recovered. How is it?"

"Yeah. I think that amount suits your station."

I gave my full approval.

"I made it a beginner design. Jogamine is bad, so she is not at the stage where I should give her handicaps yet. Nowhere near it. Too presumptuous. In Indo and Sara's case, moving poorly in those dresses should make for just the right practice. Probably."

"Huh?"

"Practice?"

While Jogamine's face clouded, Indo reacted quickly.

"Are we training now?"

"Obviously. You came armed, right?"

The three of them exchanged looks, then glanced around their waists. They were wearing party dresses, but they were also carrying swords. Jogamine even had an old buckler fastened at her hip. From the outside, they probably looked like a pretty laughable cosplay group.

"Good. Last time was actual combat where each of you launched a one-on-one surprise attack, but that wasn't very interesting, was it?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, I wasn't exactly looking for fun."

"I see. Was the problem that I performed far too brilliantly last time? After all, at the time, against a suited man who possessed a vicious handgun, I delivered splendid blows two or three times..."

All three more or less answered the way I expected, but I ignored them and continued. Listening to Jogamine was a waste of time.

"So I reconsidered and decided a little more stimulation would be better."

I had never been a teacher in the first place, so I had no choice but to feel my way through how to teach them. In short, I would try the methods my master had taught me, while arranging them in slightly different ways.

Tonight's plan was one of the practical-combat training menus I had often been forced to do.

"We are going to do real combat with multiple sides against one, starting from a state where everyone is hostile. This is extremely thrilling, and you can try all sorts of techniques one after another, so it is fun. Searching the streets for people to fight would take time, right?"

"...Yes. Um."

At some point, all three of them had gone silent. Eventually, Jogamine slowly raised her hand.

"Master, where are we going tonight? I was told this was a Social-Studies Field Trip."

"There is someone called Lord Storm Coffin."

I pointed to the tallest building in sight. Against the cold night sky, harsh lights blazed brightly. If you did not know the circumstances, it would probably just look like an office building.

"His castle is there. As a Dark Lord, he is probably the strongest in this area. At the very least, he is on a different level from Lord Amber Thorn. And tonight, apparently, he is holding a small party."

I looked in turn at the three girls, whose faces were full of confusion.

"In other words, what we have to do is simple. We are going to make a scene and liven up that party."

"Yes, Master!"

Jogamine's answer was always so clear it pissed me off. She probably was not thinking about anything. Or maybe she seriously believed this would be easy for her. If so, she was terrifying.

Indo was looking up at the building with her usual expressionless face, and Sara had visibly gone pale, her cheek twitching.

This seemed like it would be perfect training for the three of them, I thought.

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