WeTried Translations
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 134: The Crumbling Boundary (2)
──────
The Grandecia Federation consisted of five kingdoms. The Chevaliers were the knight order directly under the Council, the Federation's highest governing body.
Only those born to the Federation's high nobility could join the Chevaliers, and there was no one who did not know their name. Alongside the Empire's Celestial Knights and Hailen's now-fallen Knights of Ash, they were always counted among the three strongest knight orders on Velia.
In sheer size alone, they were larger than the knight orders of the five royal houses. Just as the Empire's Celestial Knights were made up of talents drawn from the Imperial Household knight order, the Chevaliers too were composed of the most outstanding scions of noble houses. The order's prestige was clear from the fact that even those who failed to join the Chevaliers ended up entering the royal knight orders instead. Council knights were, by default, people counted among the Federation's finest not only in status but in skill.
“......”
The inside of the inn, noisy until only a moment ago, fell utterly silent. No one dared open their mouth carelessly. They only stared blankly at the two people beyond the open door.
“No way...”
“It is the Chevaliers.”
“For real?”
“Using the Chevaliers' emblem without permission is a grave crime that can go as far as execution. Who would dare impersonate a Council knight?”
“Why would they come all the way out to a place this remote...?”
The silence did not last long. The moment people saw the emblem embroidered on the man's cloak and engraved on his breastplate, murmurs broke out here and there. Unless someone was a hermit living deep in the mountains, no one in the Federation failed to recognize the Chevaliers' emblem. Mercenaries and merchants, especially those sensitive to the political climate of the continent, knew it even better.
“Uh, uh...?”
The man who had been accusing Kyle and Elysia of being Imperial spies only stammered foolishly. His face was still red from drink, but the sight of the man's cloak had left him frozen stiff.
A knight and a squire.
Kyle calmly examined the pair. The man, around thirty, wore a deep navy cloak and a breastplate marked with the Chevaliers' emblem. He had vivid blond hair and clear emerald eyes. The young man beside him, who seemed to be the squire, was different. He had light brown hair and eyes.
The youth looked to be around twenty, and perhaps because he had not yet been formally dubbed, he wore a dark brown coat rather than a navy cloak. Even so, neither the air about him nor the way he stood was ordinary. Kyle could tell instinctively. The two really were a Chevaliers knight and squire.
“It looks like something happened. It was overly noisy even before we came in.”
“Seems that way. Troublesome.”
After sweeping a glance around the first-floor dining hall, the young man and the knight muttered to each other. The knight shut the open door, then spoke to the bartender, who had gone stiff like everyone else.
“Could we stay the night here?”
“Uh, well...”
“Sir Knight! Over here, over here, there is an Imperial spy here! This whole mess happened because of those bastards!”
Just as the bartender trailed off, the man abruptly came to his senses and started bellowing. He pointed at Kyle and Elysia with his finger. The people who had been whispering in low voices looked at him as if he were insane, but he paid them no mind.
“Imperial spies?”
“Yes! Those two right there. I saw them speaking with Imperial accents. And not just ordinary Imperials either. Anyone could tell they were nobles...”
The man eagerly rattled off what he had seen and heard. Most of it was grossly exaggerated, but he ignored the glares raining down on him and pleaded as if he were proclaiming absolute truth.
While only the man's voice rang noisily through the inn, the knight and the young squire turned to look at the two seated at the bar. Kyle and Elysia also watched the knight and squire standing by the entrance. Naturally, the four of them met each other's gaze in midair. For an instant, Kyle's eyes and the man's stopped on the swords hanging at each other's waists.
“And?”
The man took his eyes off Kyle and asked the drunk.
“Imperial spies are executed the moment they are caught, are they not?”
“That is right.”
“Then...!”
“Do you have clear evidence?”
The man's expression, which had just started to brighten, darkened again. Choked by the knight's question, he reflexively asked back,
“...Pardon?”
“By principle, Imperial spies are put to death. It is also true that Council knights hold the authority of summary judgment. But you have no evidence, do you?”
“I saw them speaking with Imperial accents...”
“Having an Imperial accent does not mean someone is Imperial. And even if they are Imperial, that does not automatically make them the enemy.”
“But my son crossed into the Empire last year and vanished. Because of those damned Imperials, my only son...!”
As if he simply could not accept it, the man started rambling again. The other guests watching the scene cautiously glanced at the knight. The Chevaliers knight stared straight at the man with tired eyes. The young squire beside him let out a small sigh.
“Would something that proves our identities be enough?”
That was when Kyle, who had stayed silent the whole time, finally opened his mouth. In an instant, every eye in the inn turned toward him. Kyle pulled out Grand Duke Rivelius's insignia, which he had carefully kept inside his clothes.
He had hoped not to use it, but now that even a Council knight had appeared, it seemed better to show it. It would have been one thing if they were dealing with ordinary mercenaries, but making an enemy of the Chevaliers on Federation soil would be foolish. For the sake of future relations as well, it was better to wipe away the misunderstanding completely.
“Check it.”
Kyle tossed the insignia to the man. The knight caught it by reflex, and his eyes went wide.
“G-Grand Duke Rivelius's insignia?”
The squire was no different. The young man opened and closed his mouth in disbelief and muttered under his breath. At the mention of Grand Duke Rivelius, the inn once again filled with murmurs. Only the drunken man looked around anxiously.
The knight narrowed his eyes and turned the insignia over in his hands.
“It is genuine.”
“......”
“I will vouch for their identities. I swear it on my name and honor. Do not cause any more trouble. Go upstairs and rest.”
At the knight's firm voice, the man glanced toward Kyle with a vacant expression. A moment later, he looked back at the knight and spoke in a trembling voice.
“So... you mean they are not spies?”
“......”
“That cannot be! What is that thing in your hand that means you cannot arrest those spies?”
“Ha...”
“You are all in league with them! You hear me? Chevaliers or not, you are all on the same side. Those damned Imperials...!”
The instant the man's words crossed the line, even the bartender turned pale. Then the knight suddenly closed the distance in a flash and lightly swung his arm. A short thud rang out, and the man, struck in the head, crumpled to the floor at once. The inn fell silent again.
“You there.”
“Y-Yes!”
A mercenary seated near the knight sprang to his feet.
“Could you take this person to the second floor?”
“The second floor... you mean?”
“Just put him back in the room he was staying in. I did not kill him. He will wake up perfectly fine tomorrow. Though he will probably suffer from the hangover.”
The knight flicked out a silver coin. The mercenary snatched it from the air in a hurry, looked back and forth between the money in his hand and the knight, then quickly slung the unconscious man over his back and headed upstairs.
“Sir Matis, you are still too soft.”
“I cannot just kill him outright. One way or another, he is still a citizen of the Federation. All the more so for someone who has lost family.”
“If it had been Sir Aaron, he would have taken an arm or a leg.”
“That bastard... I suppose he would. He is the sort who thinks highly enough of himself to do it.”
Once the troublemaker was gone, the excitement in the first-floor dining hall quickly died away. While people at tables here and there began discussing what had just happened, the knight strode over to the bar and stopped in front of Kyle.
“My apologies for interrupting your meal. Here, your insignia.”
The knight carefully offered the insignia back. Kyle took it and tucked it into his clothes, answering as if it were nothing.
“I got caught up in something troublesome too, so do not worry about it.”
“That is a relief. To think I would see Grand Duke Rivelius's insignia here. I nearly committed a discourtesy.”
The knight looked down at Kyle and Elysia with interested eyes. The squire beside him did the same. Strong goodwill now showed in both their gazes. It was the complete opposite of the thoroughly annoyed look they had worn before receiving the insignia.
Grand Duke Rivelius's name was branded traitorous in the Empire under Adrian Archandia, but in the Federation things were different. He was an Imperial royal who held one of the Federation Supreme Council's six seats. When he went into exile, many nobles opposed to the Empire crossed over with him, along with all kinds of confidential information.
The Chevaliers themselves were under the Council's command, and the Grand Duke could exercise a vote on decisions that would determine the order's future. That meant his influence was strong enough that most Federation nobles would have wanted a connection to him. Given that, their curiosity and goodwill were hardly strange. If anything, they were natural.
“Um, about the lodging...?”
The bartender, who had been hovering nervously and watching for an opening, finally asked. The knight let out a small sound of realization.
“One night will be enough. Two people. One room.”
“And the meal...?”
“We will eat now. A reasonable amount. Nothing too greasy.”
“Would you like alcohol?”
“No.”
The knight set down several silver coins on the bar. Like Kyle, he paid without even asking the price and added a tip on top of it, so he seemed to be quite well-off.
The bartender promptly snatched up the silver and hurried toward the kitchen. Once the attention on them had faded somewhat, the knight and the squire sat in the empty seats beside Kyle and Elysia.
“Now that I think of it, my introduction is overdue. I am...”
The knight spoke first. He gave both his own name and that of his squire.
He was Matis Breil, a knight of the Chevaliers, and his squire was Noel Serier, who had not yet received formal investiture.
“House Breil?”
Elysia asked back in a slightly surprised tone. Matis gave a silent nod.
“House Breil is one of the foremost marquis houses in the Kingdom of Valone...”
“It is not that impressive. The order is full of nobles with illustrious names. It is not something worth boasting about.”
Matis did not seem to be posturing. House Breil was famous enough that even Kyle, who had been in the Federation for only a little over a month, knew of it, but there certainly were houses above it.
More than anything, the Chevaliers were filled with high-ranking nobles of every kind. Depending on the person, becoming modest about one's lineage was hardly strange. Noel Serier, the squire, also seemed to come from high nobility, but Kyle did not get the sense that he was arrogant.
“How old are you this year?”
“I am thirty-one.”
“I am eighteen. I will probably be formally dubbed next year or the year after.”
Matis aside, Noel was a little younger than he looked. He seemed to have matured quickly.
“So, I think we have covered our side well enough... You are Kyle and Ely, correct? Since you carry Grand Duke Rivelius's insignia, would it be fair to assume you are Imperial nobles in exile?”
His tone held certainty rather than probing curiosity. Kyle and Elysia did not deny it.
“The young lady there is an Imperial noble, and Sir Kyle is her escort knight... Hmm.”
“......”
“The timing is curious. Are you heading to Rier?”
“That is right. What about you?”
“We are returning to the order's headquarters.”
The headquarters of the Chevaliers was located in the Kingdom of Valone, known as the nation of knights. The headquarters of the Council knight order, Rier where Grand Duke Rivelius was staying, and Renavik where the Federation parliament stood were all within a week's travel of one another. If one looked at the Federation as a single state, they all lay somewhat to the northeast.
“Were you on a mission?”
“To be precise, we received orders to withdraw in the middle of one and are now returning.”
“Orders to withdraw?”
Something serious enough to halt a Council knight's mission midway through. Kyle and Elysia's eyes narrowed on their own.
“That is...”
Matis could not finish the sentence. He glanced back and forth between the kitchen the bartender had vanished into and the other guests, who were talking among themselves while still sneaking peeks in their direction. Kyle caught on at once and tapped the bar once with his finger, setting up a soundproof barrier.
“This is...?”
“A soundproof barrier. For a while, none of our conversation will leak outside.”
It felt as though every surrounding noise had been pushed far into the distance. The two quietly marveled at Kyle's magic for only a moment before their expressions returned to their former gravity. Even after the soundproof barrier was in place, Matis still could not open his mouth right away.
“There is intelligence that wyvern knights are gathering near the border.”
Then, as if he had finally made up his mind, he spoke words shocking enough to stun them.
“They say Cassius Mortein himself, the Commander of the Celestial Knights, has set out. Did you know?”
* * *
At a fortress city on the border where the Empire and the Federation met, two soldiers keeping watch atop the walls yawned.
“Ha... I am so sleepy I could die. When does this shift end?”
“About two hours from now.”
“Still that long?”
“What can you do? They tightened the watch, but the number of men stayed the same.”
“They work us like dogs without even giving us extra pay. And of all times, it has to be in the middle of winter. Damn it.”
The two soldiers' grumbling was swallowed by the stillness of the night. It was already past midnight, and the city inside the fortress had sunk into deep sleep.
There was nothing there but the torches hanging here and there along the walls and the bleak winter wind. Wrapped in heavy furs, they kept rubbing at their hands and faces, gone stiff from the cold air. The moon was close to full, so everything around them was bright, but the sight stirred no particular feeling in them. They only stared blankly out at the borderlands beyond the walls, a view so familiar they had long since grown sick of it.
“It is already hard enough managing the hired mercenaries. They are not going to keep this up all winter, are they?”
“Who knows. I would not know.”
“Hey. At this rate, I might as well just cross the border and defect to the Empire. Is this any way to live like a human?”
“Where did that come from?”
At the word defect, the soldier on the right startled and turned to look behind them. Fortunately, there was no one else nearby besides the two of them. Only the burning flames stretched away at even intervals.
“Yes, damn it. Commoners like us get worked by nobles no matter what side we are on. At least the Empire would probably pay better.”
“Have you ever even been to the Empire?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know that?”
“It is just a feeling. It has not even been five years since Hailen fell, and they are already getting ready for war. They must be overflowing with money. And they have wyvern knights too. It probably will not happen, but if war does break out, the Empire would have a much bigger advantage.”
“You...”
As the soldier on the left snickered, the soldier on the right let out a sigh as if the whole thing were absurd. Seeing that reaction, the soldier on the left leaned the spear in his hand against the battlement and raised both hands.
“It is a joke, a joke.”
“What kind of joke is that? Do you say things like that in front of the captain of the guard too?”
“Are you crazy? Do I want my limbs broken?”
“Then that is a relief...”
“I was only saying it. No matter how strong the Empire is, would they really invade the Federation in a situation like this?”
“......”
“What is it? Do you see something?”
Suddenly, the soldier on the right clamped his mouth shut and his face hardened. Sensing that something was wrong, the soldier on the left lost the smile from his face and looked up into the night sky where the other was staring.
Beneath the brilliant moonlight, something was coming across the borderlands.
“Could that be...?”
“It is flying this way.”
The two narrowed their eyes. Whatever it was, it rapidly closed the distance to the fortress. Once it came close enough to make out with the naked eye, the two could see it clearly. A black shape beating its wings high in the night sky. Scarlet eyes looking down at the land with cold indifference.
“A Dragon...?”
The instant the soldier on the left muttered those words, the pitch-black Wyvern opened its jaws wide.
A blood-red flame was churning inside its throat. Ominous at a glance, the fire kept compressing into a single point. Then the crimson blaze fired forth, and in an instant the black night sky lit up in a brilliant burn. A massive wave of fire spread outward and engulfed the fortress walls.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried