WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Scum of the Brave

Chapter 31

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"I do remember."

Sara Pendragon's voice came from beyond the cold night darkness.

"The one who taught me swordsmanship was my old man. At first, I chose the katana. The same weapon he used."

Through the darkness, steam drifted like white mist. It was faintly lukewarm. My breath mixed with that steam and thinned away in an instant.

"He was strong. Strict. He beat me down over and over, and there were times I thought I was going to die. He scared me when he was like that. No, that's wrong. It isn't. I know. I'm still scared."

"I bet."

With my back still turned to Sara's voice, I snorted.

"Is that why you're such a coward?"

It was so cold that I blew on my hands. That white breath disappeared in another instant.

"You know what real fear is."

"Maybe."

A faint sound of water echoed.

"Maybe I do."

"That's a good thing. But a Brave can't do the job like that."

A Brave had to overcome fear. Had to trick fear. Had to lie to it. Had to numb it. Otherwise, how could anyone survive trading lives? Sara's father had probably never wanted her to aim for being a Brave.

From her father's point of view, it had likely been no more than the minimum self-defense expected of King Arthur's daughter.

But the fear of his severity and her admiration for his strength had twisted something inside Sara decisively. That was how it felt. I did not know how harshly His Majesty King Arthur had beaten Sara down, and I had no intention of dragging that out of her and counseling her.

All that existed here now was the problem Sara had to overcome herself.

"I know."

After a brief pause, Sara said that.

"You're saying I'm a coward, right, Teacher?"

"More than that."

A cowardly Brave would die someday because of that contradiction. I tried to say it as gently as I could.

"You're not suited for it. Quit being a Brave. It's a shitty job anyway."

I could sense Sara becoming openly displeased.

"You're the one saying that, Teacher? You were the first person besides my old man I ever admired. I'm serious. I wanted to become like you."

"Idiot."

I laughed. Sara's voice grew even sharper.

"Don't laugh. Then why are you doing it, Teacher?"

"What else am I supposed to do?"

I turned around. I did not want to be asked that, so I wanted to end the exchange.

"Manage a hot spring inn?"

"That's, wait, actually..."

Through the steam, I saw Sara's furious face and collarbones that were far too pale.

"Don't turn around! Are you kidding me?"

She pulled her body back hard, making waves on the water. Because she was soaking in an outdoor hot spring. And if she was soaking in a hot spring, she was not wearing anything. The hot spring run by that Priest bastard prohibited bringing in towels and the like.

Beside her were Indo and Jogamine's stupid faces too. The three of them were bathing together, which had been the unanimous will of all of them, and also a necessity.

"My bad."

I apologized carelessly and turned back to the front.

Because I was angry.

I was not soaking in the hot spring. Fully armed, with my bastard sword and tear gas in one hand, I was sitting on one of the rocks of the outdoor bath. While doing that, I was watching the direction of the entrance to the inn. It was necessary.

There was no guarantee that Priest bastard would not try something unnecessary. He was the type to attack indiscriminately when he saw defenseless people. Once, while Maruta was in the bath, Priest attacked him with a blade and almost sold off his internal organs.

More than anything, I needed to talk seriously with these girls in a situation where they could not run away.

I thought this was dangerous.

Judging from the fight with Lord Morning Star Veil, all three of them were on the verge of self-destruction. Worse, in a way that dragged others into it. And for now, the "other" being dragged in would most likely be me.

Behind me, I heard Sara fussing.

"Actually, why are Aki and Yukine acting so calm? This guy, this, this right here. Teacher! About him existing in this space like it's normal!"

"Not really."

Yukine dismissed it in an emotionless voice.

"I don't think there's any problem."

"Exactly. I also see no problem. No! If there is a problem, it is that Master is not in the hot spring. This is unequal and unfair, and I believe it should be corrected."

Behind me came the loud sound of water as Jogamine stood.

"Master! I will wash your back! Surely this is an essential hot spring ritual."

"I see."

Yukine let out a voice of admiration, probably only understandable to us.

"Aki is amazing. Despite her useless huge boobs, she sometimes says good things."

"Indeed, indeed. However, Yukine, you must not wash his back. With your appearance and build, the scene would become rather criminal. If by any chance Master had such tastes hidden inside him, that would be troublesome."

"Stop it, Aki."

Sara cut in, sounding a little flustered.

"Don't say that to Yukine. Seriously, for real. Do you want your shoulder dislocated again? Yukine isn't, well, it's not like she's that, not enough to say that much... I mean, I don't think so."

"The second half of that follow-up was unnecessary. Now I want to dislocate Sara's shoulder too. I demand an apology from Aki."

"I am honest, so I spoke the truth. Forgive me, Yukine! I was foolish."

"Then it's fine. Even if, by some chance, Instructor has that kind of preference, I have no problem. None."

"Mm. We have reconciled. And so, Master! If you would, please come here at once. There are beautiful girls in the hot spring."

"Shut up. Just shut up and stay in the bath! This is your review meeting. What the hell is with that attitude?"

Without realizing it, I noticed my hand was on the hilt of my sword. Maybe I had used E3 too many times in a row lately. I felt my anger becoming harder to control. Slowly, I exhaled white breath.

"Hey. I'm begging you, don't make me too angry."

"Yes, understood! If we behave ourselves, will Master join us in the hot spring later?"

"That seriously annoyed me."

I tried to focus my mind on the good things in this world.

To begin with, why was I doing this? It started feeling horribly unfair. By now, in the inn's great hall, Maruta, Priest, and the mercenaries were probably eating delicious Hokkaido food, drinking alcohol, and playing card games. In that case, I should have been there crushing small fry in cards and basking in admiring gazes. That would definitely be fun. I envied them too much.

I controlled my shaking hand and pulled it away from the bastard sword's hilt.

"Indo. Listen."

While picturing the expressionless girl's face, I called her name.

"Your problem is that you're too stupid."

"...Really?"

"Really. I don't know what you're angry about or what you hate."

That was a lie. I did know.

It was probably the Nephilim. The stain on Indo Yukine's past. Or her trauma. The debt of being protected by someone she was supposed to protect. That bound Indo Yukine to fighting as a Brave. No. Ridiculous. Stop pretending to know things like a counselor.

In the end, I did not really understand Indo Yukine at all. I did not understand her, but Indo had Indo's own problems. That was all.

Besides, calling them Nephilim was not very accurate.

They were E4. That was what the Half Dragon people called them.

A new type of E3. Essentially, an Ether enhancement drug used on corpses. Ether Effect Enhancer Edit. A new generation of E3 called by that name. That was the selling point behind what had been circulating lately around Dark Lord circles. A new E3 that could heal even missing limbs.

But its side effects were severe. Lord Amber Thorn had confirmed that with his own body.

I learned that from the information Maruta had gathered. Maruta had fully done his job. The memory he had taken from a low-level staff member was nothing dramatic. A very short eight-character string of alphanumeric characters. In other words, the administrator password that could access the servers in Lord Morning Star Veil's castle.

This kind of use was the true strength of Unlicensed Maruta's Ether Perception. Using it, Maruta had stolen information.

"Indo, your attacks are too straightforward. No, I interpreted it too positively. Indo. You're way too stupid. Think when you fight. Going around behind someone like a one-trick idiot is stupid."

"Instructor. I..."

"You're not suited to being a Brave."

Indo was a good person. Sickeningly so. That was why I cut her off.

"Quit. Nothing good will come of it."

"Instructor."

From the presence behind me, I could tell Indo had stood.

"I'm the same as Sara. I want to become like Instructor. I think, for the first time, I found a goal."

"What a load of crap. A killer is your goal?"

"No. Instructor. This time, I..."

"And Jogamine."

I did not want to hear Indo's words. Instead, I stared hard into the steam flowing in front of me. I had to force myself to do that. When I thought about Jogamine, I became helplessly confused. Because of what Maruta had just told me. About Jogamine's father. In other words, about my master.

Maruta had obtained the entire membership list of Half Dragon.

That man's name was on it.

Takamiya Kiyoto the Nine-Fingered.

There was no doubt that man was an executive of Half Dragon.

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