WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Scum of the Brave

Chapter 19

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Before I knew it, the area had gone silent.

Only the sound of the air conditioning echoed. The guests who had been making so much noise, and even the mercenaries who had been groaning, all lost their words at the appearance of the woman who ruled them. Even I felt a little short of breath. As expected of a first-rate Dark Lord. She understood how to stage an atmosphere full of pressure.

In that place, the first one to speak up was, surprisingly, Sara Pendragon.

"What the hell."

The mutter was a little hoarse.

"That thing is wrong."

Her pupils were wide open. You could say it was a side effect of E3, but her agitation was clearly more than that. I nudged Sara with my elbow.

"That's Lord Storm Coffin. Her head is crazy, but her ability is crazy too. You can tell?"

"Yeah. My Ether Perception..."

She seemed to hesitate for an instant, then whispered so quietly only I could hear.

"It's not that useful, so I'll skip the detailed explanation. It is really vague, but I can tell that kind of thing."

"Oh, that really does sound useless. An ability that just lets you get scared when you see someone strong?"

In reality, it probably depended on how she used it, but I teased her on purpose. Sara Pendragon barely reacted and kept glaring at Lord Storm Coffin with a serious face.

"I can tell. That is definitely not on Lord Amber Thorn's level."

"Strong?"

The one who cut in there was Indo Yukine. Before I knew it, she was beside me. She was looking at Lord Storm Coffin with eyes so cold they felt inhuman.

"Instructor. Is that tonight's real target? Can I go first?"

"We are not planning to fight her herself. No matter what you do, you lot can't handle her."

"Can't?"

Indo Yukine's brow twitched, showing a slight dissatisfaction. I had gradually learned something. Her emotions appeared between her eyebrows.

"If we can't, then what about Instructor?"

"Depending on the situation, if it's one-on-one, well."

I gave a careless answer. Maybe I was being a little too confident, but letting them think that was not bad. Besides, I was half serious. I was fairly good with a sword, and more than anything, my Ether Perception when using E3 was strong.

"Master, be careful."

Jogamine spoke without turning around, her voice tense to the limit.

"She is extremely evil. I can tell by reading her mind. I think we should make sure she can never recover, right here and now."

"Were you listening to what I just..."

I started to say it, then stopped. Pointless. She definitely had not been listening. More importantly, there was someone I needed to pay attention to.

"Once again. Good evening, Lord Yashiro."

Lord Storm Coffin gave an exaggerated greeting. She was smiling, but that smile felt like something out of a folk tale, and it was only unpleasant.

"Are you finished chatting with those rare beasts?"

"Rare beasts! You damn Dark Lord. We are proud members of the Academy..."

"Jogamine, shut up. I'll kick you."

Right after the warning, I actually kicked her shin. Jogamine made a fairly funny face, but this was not the time. I closed the distance to Lord Storm Coffin by a single step.

"I didn't come because you invited me."

I had to declare that first.

"You've been a real nuisance, so I came to complain directly. Sending me around a hundred invitations a month. And don't launder money through my account with those transfers."

"How hurtful."

Lord Storm Coffin made a face like she really had been wounded.

"I only want to speak with Lord Yashiro the Reaper and build a relationship of mutual trust."

"What a joke."

I knew Lord Storm Coffin was eager to expand her power. It was certain that she intended to swallow and flatten the long-running conflict in western Tokyo. She was not even hiding it. For that purpose, she was gathering Dark Lords and Braves to serve under her.

I had no intention of getting dragged into that nonsense.

"What displeases you so much?"

At times like this, Lord Storm Coffin used the tone of someone trying to persuade an unreasonable child.

"If only you wished it, I would promise you lifelong protection as a knight of my guard."

"You're insane."

I was sick of her. Dark Lords, as a result of Ether amplification surgery, all developed mental abnormalities without exception. Lord Storm Coffin was no different. I understood that all over again.

"I don't want to do this work for the rest of my life."

That would be a nightmare.

Until I died, or until someone killed me, I would wear down my nerves making murder into a business. And under someone else's orders. I absolutely refused to live that way. If I got my hands on a decent amount of money, my only hope was to live casually somewhere like Hawaii or Switzerland.

"Oh. How disappointing. Tonight, I thought my sincerity and feelings had finally reached you. If not, then the reason Lord Yashiro the Reaper would move must be..."

Lord Storm Coffin smiled. Here it comes, I thought.

"Him, yes? Ishino the Musician."

It was a decisive statement.

"If you were to move for personal reasons, I can find no other cause."

"So you know."

"A dragon with its face split in half. In truth, I am troubled by it too."

I tried to read as much sincerity as possible from Lord Storm Coffin's expression. Of course, that was impossible. It would be better to ask Jogamine later. The effort of dragging that irritating Jogamine all the way here would be rewarded.

I continued questioning her.

"What do you know about those people?"

"Many things."

Lord Storm Coffin looked genuinely amused. I could not tell whether it was a bluff. She laughed as if this was truly entertaining.

"Since we are in the middle of a party, please provide one small amusement."

There it was.

She took the bait, I thought. Lord Storm Coffin was insane, like other Dark Lords.

In her case, she liked conflict itself. She loved fighting herself and watching other people fight to an abnormal degree. I had expected her to make me fight. The opponent would probably be her personal guard, the Storm Guards, rumored to make at least a hundred million yen a year.

"The ones fighting will be the famous Lord Yashiro the Reaper, and my loyal Storm Guards."

Then Lord Storm Coffin deliberately looked at me and the three around me. It was a malicious gaze that made me feel sick.

"And let those adorable rare beasts take part as well."

"Wait."

I panicked a little.

"They are too bad to make entertainment."

Indo Yukine would put up a decent fight, and at the very least, she probably would not be killed.

But what about the other two? If Sara Pendragon took damage she could not recover from, or if something happened to her, her father would kill me. Jogamine was out of the question as combat strength, but I needed to question Lord Storm Coffin after this. I needed Ether Perception that could read minds.

"I can do four people's worth."

"Are those rare beasts so precious to you? I am growing curious about your relationship."

In other words, until now, Lord Storm Coffin had regarded them as about the same as stones on the roadside, or insects.

I wanted her to keep doing that for a while. Lord Storm Coffin looked arrogantly at Jogamine, Sara, and Indo.

"What are you to Lord Yashiro?"

"I have no name to give a Dark Lord!"

The first to react and declare that was, as expected, Jogamine. I knew it. I had thought this for a while, but this girl had to have a broken sense of fear. It was definitely not only the effect of E3. There was something fundamentally insane in her.

Then Jogamine looked back at me. Annoyingly, her eyes were full of fighting spirit.

"I will fight Lord Storm Coffin, Master."

"You really don't listen to people. First of all, I am not letting you."

"Instructor. I can do it."

"Ah, I see. Right. Indo, can you do it?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, Indo. The first spear belongs to me! For Master's future, I will take that commander's head."

"Shut up! Indo, keep this one quiet."

"Yeah."

"Wait, Master, I... wah! Indo, what are you doing?"

Leaving Jogamine aside, I hesitated.

Fighting in combination with Indo Yukine was not bad. The problem was how to bring it there. Right now, in order to harass me, Lord Storm Coffin would definitely demand either all four of us participate or I alone provide her entertainment. We needed to compromise somewhere. Maybe suggest a tag match and wager something.

"Wait, Sensei."

Suddenly, Sara Pendragon grabbed my arm.

"You sleep around there. I am thinking about how to do this."

"No."

Sara's gaze wandered left and right.

"Outside. Is it over there? No, but it is coming closer. Big. What is this?"

"What are you talking about? I am busy thinking. Keep quiet."

"I told you, my Ether Perception only tells me vaguely! This is bad. This is..."

After shouting, Sara looked like she had been struck. She held her breath and looked up. The high ceiling of the entrance hall. I followed her gaze.

Just as cracks entered the ceiling.

"Oh my."

Lord Storm Coffin looked up. A strangely hard sound ran across the entire ceiling. Vibration. Cracks widening with a strange lack of reality. The feeling of destruction. By the time those signs became decisive, the entire entrance hall was already in an uproar.

"More guests. Today is a fun day."

Lord Storm Coffin narrowed her eyes. Unbelievably, she looked a little happy.

"This is bad."

I pulled the three girls by the shoulders. I wanted to think I made it barely in time. The next instant, the ceiling collapsed, blew apart, and a group of new guests came falling down.

In other words, at this point, tonight's plan had been completely blown away. It was always like that with me. I had no memory of a plan ever going well.

Still, making things work somehow was the business of a Brave.

No helping it.

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