WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Scum of the Brave

Chapter 17

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They say Lord Storm Coffin began to stand out around four years ago.

There were rumors that she had been an executive in a Kansai yakuza group, but nobody knew whether that was true.

Still, it was a fact that she had expanded her influence in the western Yamanote area of Tokyo, which had been stuck in a muddy state of conflict. Whether she had that kind of talent or powerful connections, either way, she was a troublesome opponent.

The decisive event was the BFE Conflict that had broken out in Ikebukuro two years ago.

It began as a small dispute over rights to a narrow piece of land. But after several low-level thugs were killed, the Dark Lords flew into a rage, and once Braves joined in, the situation explosively worsened. That was all there was to it. Lord Storm Coffin used that well.

They say that while the powerful Dark Lords and Braves of the time were killing each other, she assassinated no fewer than four Dark Lords in a single night and seized their territories.

"I should've beaten that bastard to death back then."

That was something "Salt" Joe still muttered as a complaint.

Now, in the western Yamanote area, she had without a doubt become the largest Dark Lord power. The Dark Lord factions in western Tokyo Yamanote, which had been locked in a long conflict, were being unified by Lord Storm Coffin. Or rather, within the next year or two, that would probably happen. She was a powerful Dark Lord.

That was exactly why she was worth visiting.

Ishino's death had happened in her territory.

I was not going to let her say she knew nothing.

A party held by a Dark Lord was generally expected to be extremely lavish, and of course there was a reason for that.

Dark Lords did it to show off their strength. In the Dark Lord trade, more than actual ability itself, it was extremely important how much hidden power you had, or how well you could make others believe you had it. If people looked down on you, the business of being a Dark Lord did not work.

Even taking that into account, Lord Storm Coffin's party was excessive.

She was spending an absurd amount of money. This was already in the realm of hobby. It looked like someone had amplified the words flashy and luxurious about five times. The whole building had been remodeled for the party, and there were many invited guests.

Among them, there were probably famous people from various fields, broken former Braves, and almost-Dark Lords. A Brave hired by a Dark Lord was not particularly rare. Sometimes that made more money, and I had even been hired by Dark Lords to kill rival Dark Lords.

In short, this was a situation where carrying swords was not unnatural. That made sneaking in less difficult. We passed through the entrance among ordinary guests and reached the reception hall without any obstruction.

Actually, Lord Storm Coffin seemed to enjoy inviting unexpected Visitors like that.

"Welcome."

The receptionist looked at us and bowed without hesitation.

As expected of someone entrusted with Lord Storm Coffin's reception. Even after seeing a man like me, carrying the air of a fearsome warrior and accompanied by three strange little girls, she could respond this naturally.

"May I have your name, please?"

The receptionist gave a perfect service smile. I nodded grandly.

"I am Ed Cyrus. I have come as the representative of the great eastern general star, King Rob. I was asked to convey my regards to Lord Storm Coffin tonight."

I lined up a bunch of lies that were undoubtedly meaningless, but the receptionist's smile did not waver at all. Instead of asking more questions, she began operating the tablet device in her hands.

"Allow me to check. Please wait a moment. And the people with you?"

"Yes!"

Even in the noisy entrance hall, Jogamine raised a voice that rang through clearly for no reason. She cheerfully began to speak.

"I am Master's first disciple, Aki Jogamine. These two are his second or perhaps third disciples, Indo Yukine and..."

"This one is an acquaintance of my cousin, and she really wanted to come on a Social-Studies Field Trip, so I brought her."

I covered Jogamine's mouth just before it became fatal.

Maybe it was the kind of mutual understanding you got from being on the same team, but Indo held down Jogamine's right arm while Sara held down her left. Jogamine looked at us with a slightly surprised expression, apparently not understanding why she had been restrained.

"And this is my bodyguard, Indo."

I pointed to Indo. Indo nodded expressionlessly and let go of Jogamine's right arm. For some reason, she then gave an awkward bow.

"...Nice to meet you."

She even added those words. Maybe this was her idea of acting.

"And this is my little sister, Sara."

"Wh, hey."

Sara panicked badly. She grabbed my arm and pulled on it quite hard. Her blue eyes opened like a rabid delinquent's, and she hissed as quietly as she could.

"What the hell is that? I didn't hear anything about that. Are you screwing with me?"

"Little sister, your brother is sad."

"Don't mess with me. I'll knock you flying."

"Go ahead, if you can. Just don't tell Papa."

"You bastard."

I had said it with the intention of thoroughly hurting Sara's pride and mocking her, but she only grimaced. That felt a little anticlimactic, but I decided to move the conversation along.

"Well, jokes aside, more importantly..."

"No, wait."

At some point, Jogamine had escaped restraint and now stood in front of me with a stern face. It was a magnificent guardian stance, placed just right to block the receptionist's line of sight.

"Only I was introduced in a way that made me feel a strange psychological distance."

Her tone openly blamed me.

"Why is Yukine the bodyguard, and why is Sara the little sister? Compared to that, why am I treated as an acquaintance of your cousin? I request a convincing explanation."

"No particular reason. It just came out naturally."

"That makes it worse. At least I want the introduction to be based on a rational reason. Yukine! Sara! Did you send Master some kind of bribe? Even if Master seems weak to that sort of thing!"

"I didn't."

Yukine shook her head. Of course she had not.

"I am pretty strong. I think that is why."

"This Sensei is just messed up in the head. What little sister?"

Sara spat that out, but it apparently drove Jogamine toward another impulse.

"Wait, Sara! There! I felt something off before, and now I noticed. I want to know when you started calling Master 'Sensei.' I do not overlook things like that."

"Huh! No, wait! That's not it. That's just politeness..."

"Exactly. You noticed my outstanding teaching ability, right?"

The conversation looked endless, so I quickly cut it off. Sara glared at me unhappily, but tonight would get a little busy from here.

"Anyway, we can talk about that another time."

"Ah! Master! Were you not clearly trying to dodge the issue just now?"

"Um, excuse me, sir."

The receptionist put an end to the painfully barren argument.

"The name Ed Cyrus was not on the guest list. Do you have anything that can prove your identity?"

"Ah, wait. Proof of identity, like..."

I shoved aside Jogamine, who still looked dissatisfied, and pulled a cylindrical tool from my pocket. It was an injector dedicated to E3. Naturally, it was fully loaded.

"Will this do? I didn't bring an insurance card or anything."

The receptionist looked suspicious when she saw the E3. Because of that, she was about two seconds late in hurriedly signaling the security staff with her eyes. I leisurely brought the E3 to the side of my neck and injected the contents. As I tasted a momentary intoxication, I tapped Sara on the shoulder.

"Training starts now. You can use E3."

Indo could do whatever she wanted. In fact, she had already driven E3 into the side of her own neck. As expected, she was oddly used to it. Sara, on the other hand, wavered slightly, narrowed her eyes, then opened them again.

"Huh? Ah... ah."

The hand she used to lift the E3 was a little awkward. The guards who had received the receptionist's signal were approaching. Pretty fast. As expected of staff entrusted with an entrance hall where suspicious people could easily intrude. But from there, my movement was exactly as expected of me. At the same time that I drew my bastard sword, I cut down one of the approaching guards. Bullet speed, truly. A moment later, I felt the wind.

"In this place, these guys can't use guns."

I said it loudly enough for Sara, Indo, and, just in case, Jogamine to hear. This was the entrance hall. There were too many guests. Because of the risk of stray bullets, shooting was impossible.

"We start with an easy stage."

Jogamine drew her sword while letting out some kind of brave-sounding voice, and Sara assumed an iai stance with a stiff face. Indo immediately vanished. This was where the training began. Someone might die tonight, I thought.

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