WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Scum of the Brave

Chapter 24

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Jogamine's merciless sword swung straight for my neck.

"In other words!"

Jogamine shouted.

At that instant, the path of the blade changed. The neck was a feint. She switched from the Front-Edge to the Back-Edge and came for my ribs. I could praise that point, but she had too much momentum.

"You treated only Yukine to food, while leaving me and Sara out!"

She was noisy, so I stepped in and struck Jogamine's wrist with the back of my fist. The sword Jogamine swung was a training sword, with the edge blunted, but if it hit, the impact reached the bone. It also had weight. In other words, with the momentum of her charge and centrifugal force, Jogamine's body staggered after I knocked her line off.

I swept her leg.

"That is practically compensated dating! This is a problem, Master! What is the meaning of this?"

Even while falling, Jogamine was noisy. Her spirit alone was astonishing. The impact of hitting the floor sent her sword rolling across the tatami.

"Don't let go of your sword even if you get knocked down."

At least, I thought I should give meaningful advice. While I was at it, I stepped on the sword that had left Jogamine's hand.

"Also, don't talk. You'll bite your tongue. And if you get knocked down, stand up immediately. As long as the opponent is in front of you, nothing good comes from lying there."

"Master, answer my question!"

Jogamine insisted stubbornly, but I ignored her and turned around.

There were still two more.

In the wide tatami room, Sara and Indo Yukine were holding training swords and taking stances. Sara gripped hers with both hands in a straight overhead stance. Yukine held hers one-handed, with her body turned slightly sideways. Including Jogamine, all of them had already been made to change into training tracksuits.

"Next."

I kicked Jogamine's sword away, took one step back, and measured the distance between Sara and Indo. About five tatami mats. Pale winter sunlight entered through the high window and lit the tatami.

"Hurry up and come. Are you scared again?"

This tatami dojo was one my master had used for training. Since it was in Shinjuku Ward, the location was convenient. Since my master died, I had thought many times about selling it off, but at times like this, I was glad I had kept it.

I often used it when training alone, or when rehearsing for important Dark Lord assassination jobs.

"I mean, I don't really care either way."

Sara suddenly spoke. Despite her words, she was clearly dissatisfied, and proof of that was how far forward her stance leaned.

"Yukine was crying."

The tip of Sara's sword stayed perfectly fixed on me. Her concentration today was fairly good. If I misjudged the timing when she jumped in, I would have a painful time.

"Sensei, you didn't say something that made Yukine cry, did you?"

"How should I know?"

I was sick of this. Was I a counselor?

"Sara, there is no problem on that point."

Indo Yukine spoke while slowly circling to my side.

"Instructor was kind."

"What?"

"Master!"

Sara's face turned like a thug's, and Jogamine sprang up and shouted. It was the right time. I let the tip of my sword hang loosely and looked toward Yukine.

"Shut up. Yukine, you keep quiet for..."

At that instant, Sara moved at the same time. She was probably aiming for the moment my attention shifted. Not bad. The problem was judging whether it was a trap. I heard Sara's toes slide across the tatami. Indo Yukine moved at the same time.

I swung my sword upward. That motion became a Back-Edge upward parry that knocked up Sara's sword.

"This."

When I knocked it up, Sara's posture collapsed. Her torso opened. Normally, I would cut down and gouge her abdomen, but I stepped in hard and only slammed her away with my body.

"This is an upward parry. If it succeeds, you can turn directly into an attack. It exists in every school, so I don't need to explain. And..."

From the side, Indo Yukine was jumping in. She swung a one-handed sword, but the motion was a little awkward. As expected, she was not used to it. Still, if she was going to move against those monsters, the Nephilim, she needed a weapon with a decent blade length.

"The trick to defense..."

I tilted my upper body and drew my sword back.

"Is receiving near the guard."

Indo's sharp sword blow, its tip, I received with the root of the blade near the guard. I had no intention of explaining the principle of leverage in detail, but the closer a sword was to its root, the more strongly it could transmit force.

In the instant we crossed, a metallic sound rang out, and Indo's sword flew away.

It did not seem like her grip had simply been weak. Indo had probably let go of the sword on purpose. She kicked off the tatami and leapt onto my right arm, the arm holding the sword. So that was her move. I had been thinking about a technique from receiving near the guard, but this was not bad.

Indo grabbed my arm and shifted into a joint lock using her whole body. It resembled a variation of a triangle choke. Rather than judo, it was closer to wrestling.

"Not bad."

I did not resist Indo's pulling force. I let go of my sword too. Instead, I put my weight in and fell toward Indo. Before the technique could fully lock in, I used my left arm to pin Indo by the collar.

Indo struggled a little, but offense and defense reversed in just one second.

"That said, this is one-handed sword training, so use the sword."

I pressed Indo down against the tatami and completely controlled the back of her neck.

"I know it's hard to use, but this won't train you."

"Instructor, it hurts."

"I'm choking you that way on purpose. This is over. First you let go of my arm."

"Instructor first."

What should I call this? Incredible stubbornness? She held my arm and kept trying to take the joint. She was basically clinging to me. It was ugly, but she had guts.

"This is bad, Yukine! Get away from Master immediately!"

Jogamine grabbed Indo's leg.

"For your emotional education, that position is extremely bad. Get away immediately. Get away, you fool! Sara, emergency! Help me! Pull!"

"...Hey, Yukine, stop. Let go."

For once, even Sara was pulled in by Jogamine and grabbed Indo's leg. Indo was stubborn. She frowned and clearly shook her head.

"I won't."

"Nice nerve."

I decided to use force. I let go of her collar. Instead, I aimed for Indo's elbow, formed a fist, and struck hard. The instant I did, Indo's upper body spasmed, and she let go of my arm. Jogamine and Sara were also thrown off and rolled over the tatami.

"Instructor."

Indo crouched while holding her arm.

"What was that?"

"The human body has a lot of weak points."

I stood slowly. That exchange had tired me a little.

"I can teach you someday, but little tricks like this aren't that important. A Brave's job is to kill Dark Lords. You should think about how to efficiently and quickly inflict fatal wounds."

"With respect, Master, a Brave is..."

"Leaving Jogamine's opinion aside."

Jogamine raised a voice of protest, but that did not matter now.

"There is a reason I held this special lesson. First, because you lot were noisy."

"That is because you called only Yukine out and treated her unfairly! I will absolutely hold a grudge over this act!"

"Leaving Jogamine's opinion aside."

"Actually, it does feel unfair."

Sara had been frowning the whole time. She seemed quite angry.

"If it was something you had to talk about alone with Yukine, tell us that. We won't force you to tell us. We can be considerate about that much. But keeping it totally secret is, anyway, yeah. It isn't good."

"Got it. My bad. I'll consider it."

"Ah."

Jogamine pointed at me and Sara.

"Your treatment of me is clearly different! Sara, what kind of person are you? Did you bribe Master again? Tell me what gifts are effective!"

The conversation was going nowhere, so I decided not to respond to the voices from the peanut gallery, meaning Jogamine. Right. This was no time for this farce.

"I will be away for a while on a trip."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I'm going too."

The last one was Indo. Expressionless, she slowly got up.

"If it's Hokkaido, I am going too."

"Hokkaido! Master! Then by all means take me, or at least, take us."

"What the hell, so sudden."

Sara pouted.

"Is that about the secret conversation with Indo too?"

"Maybe."

I decided to say something careless.

"Anyway, I'm going on a trip. Hot springs, beer, various things. I will be away for a while."

Then, with firm resolve, I declared to the three of them:

"I absolutely will not take you."

"Master!"

"Instructor."

"Listen, anything is fine, but I..."

For a while after that, I was severely condemned, but that part should probably be omitted. It had no meaning. Right, no meaning at all. Not my thorough refusal to let them accompany me. Not the fact that I beat the three of them thoroughly afterward.

It felt like my plans were made so nothing ever went well.

"No."

With that single word, "Salt" Joe rejected my precious invitation.

To be honest, I had been very much counting on Joe accompanying me to Hokkaido. Maruta was as aimless as ever, and I had no idea where he was. Ed was busy dealing with the recently increased customers. I approached "Salt" Joe, who was probably damn free, and this was the result.

"I don't have money."

Joe said.

"Also, I've got old acquaintances in Hokkaido."

"Your acquaintances are yakuza, right? Are they after your life?"

"Yeah."

Joe drained his beer and groaned bitterly. Somehow, I had hit the mark. I had no choice but to go silent.

"If you're going, go alone. I won't go to Hokkaido even if it kills me."

"I get it, Joe. You're scared of airplanes."

"Don't screw with me."

Joe made a gesture like he would bite me. It had been a while since I saw Joe oppose something this strongly. I was troubled, shrugged, and decided to use my final plan.

"Hey, Joe. Let's go to Hokkaido, soak in hot springs, drink beer, and play cards like crazy."

"And after that, we look for those creepy monsters you mentioned, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"I'm not going."

"I'll give you one of my cards. How about Lightning Attendant?"

"I am not going."

He definitely seemed to waver a little, but the answer was the same. Joe reached for a new beer bottle and, without using a bottle opener, easily pried the cap open with his teeth.

"Since Lord Storm Coffin died, things have smelled bad around here. I'll keep watch on this side."

"Joe, you're always drunk. Can you really keep watch? You really are scared of planes..."

"Shut up! Anyway!"

"Salt" Joe pointed behind me.

"Take those girls with you. Their stares have been annoying for ages. Are they ghosts or what? Yashiro, they are your jurisdiction, right?"

I had noticed even without being told. When I turned around, three schoolgirls were staring at me expressionlessly.

And that was how I, along with those three, set out to investigate Hokkaido.

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