WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 141: The Crumbling Boundary (9)

──────

The rushing blade passed smoothly through flesh and sliced into empty air. A beat later, the corpse's upper and lower halves separated and sprawled across the ground.

Thud!

Entrails spilled out. Bright red blood streamed from the severed cross-section. The man who had once commanded the Imperial cavalry could not even let out a final cry. His unseeing eyes were simply wide open.

Is that the last of them?

The pure white Sword Light rising from the blade faded. Kyle steadied his slightly heated breath and looked around.

Corpses with severed limbs and heads littered the area. A few soldiers who had survived by chance groaned in pain, but their breathing soon stopped. Kyle personally stabbed the still-living horses through the neck, allowing them to close their eyes.

At least the horses were innocent.

"Is it already over?"

Matis, who had been on the opposite side, approached while looking around. The blond knight had slaughtered just as many veteran Imperial cavalrymen as Kyle, yet his expression had not changed in the slightest.

"I've mostly cleared the outskirts. If this was their main force, then probably."

"...Impressive. Honestly, when you said you'd handle the outskirts alone, I had some doubts."

Matis spoke with quiet admiration. Even when they split up for efficiency's sake, he had prepared for the worst. He instinctively knew Kyle was no ordinary swordsman, but covering a village of this size was no easy task.

He had never actually seen Kyle fight before, either.

Reality had surpassed his expectations. Kyle's skill was far greater than he had imagined. He had even been the first to identify the enemies scattered around the outskirts of the village, hundreds of meters away. Matis quietly revised his assessment of Kyle and Ely, whom Kyle was escorting.

They aren't simply a high-ranking noble and a guard knight.

If they're close to Grand Duke Rivelius, they might be far more important figures than I thought.

"You said speed wasn't a problem, but I didn't expect this much. Is it magic?"

Matis asked as he looked down at the Imperial cavalry captain, who could not close his eyes even in death. The captain had been killed by Sword Aura, but the subordinates following him had been torn apart by invisible blades. Their horses had suffered the same fate.

"Something like that. The line between them is blurred because they both use mana."

"...The people I've heard say that before were all mediocre at both."

"That makes sense. They probably couldn't properly master either one."

Kyle did not deny it. No one had ever reached the absolute end of either swordsmanship or magic, even after devoting their entire life to one. Focusing on a single discipline was an extremely efficient choice.

If not for Cecilia, Kyle would have kept using only the swordsmanship Rowen taught him.

Rowen, Cecilia, Yurian...

Kyle's black eyes darkened as he looked down at the dead cavalrymen. It lasted only a moment. He quickly suppressed his emotions, flicked the blood from his sword, and sheathed it.

"If the Imperial Army has advanced this far, the front line must have been pushed back quite a bit."

"That... must be true."

Matis swallowed a sigh and looked beyond the street. Bodies lay scattered there, people the Imperial Army had killed as it passed through.

The villagers who had originally lived here. The soldiers who had served under Gren, captain of the Federation cavalry. The precious warhorses they had tied up.

The horrific sight made Matis twist his mouth. On the way to the village's central road, they had killed Imperial soldiers massacring civilians. Still, he could not help wondering if casualties might have been lower if they had ignored them and headed straight for the central cavalry unit.

It was a pointless thought now.

"There are many wounded people left. We need to take care of all of them."

Kyle spoke while searching the dead Imperial cavalry captain's clothes. As expected, he found several lower-grade potions meant for emergencies.

"Even so, we stopped them fairly well."

Matis started to say something, then closed his mouth.

Kyle was right. For a surprise attack by over a hundred elite Imperial cavalrymen, the casualties were remarkably low. More people had survived or been wounded than killed.

Without Kyle, the losses would have been at least twice as high.

"What should I do?"

Having gathered himself, Matis sheathed the sword in his hand and asked. If he moved on his own, their areas might overlap. For now, it seemed better to follow Kyle's instructions.

"Search the bodies around here and see if they have anything useful. Potions, ointments to stop bleeding, things like that."

"And then?"

"I'll go right, so you go left. Gather the survivors and wounded at the village chief's house."

Matis nodded silently. After searching the Imperial cavalrymen's corpses, the two split up in different directions.

In the middle of the village, where all signs of life had vanished, only a desolate silence remained. A place that had been peaceful until yesterday was now filled with blood and corpses.

* * *

"Is it over...?"

At the entrance to the village chief's house, surrounded by a wall, a Federation soldier muttered with an exhausted face. After they repelled a second attack following the first eight cavalrymen, no more screams could be heard.

Neither was there any more trembling from approaching hoofbeats.

"It seems like it."

"Haah... I thought I was going to die."

"Did anyone's wounds reopen?"

"Come here. I'll tie them up again."

It was already past midnight. Once their concentration slipped, the fatigue they had held back came rushing in. They had moved violently despite their injuries and faced the threat of death, so it was only natural.

"Just in case, I'll take a look outside."

Gren, the cavalry captain, understood that well and did not scold his subordinates. While the soldiers bound each other's wounds, he volunteered to go himself.

"There's no need. You look exhausted, so please rest first."

Noel stopped Gren.

"But my subordinates and the villagers..."

"They'll be here soon. Isn't that right, Ely?"

Elysia silently nodded in agreement. As Gren let out a strained groan, she narrowed her eyes and took in the Imperial soldiers' corpses scattered in every direction.

There had been two attacks in total.

The first had not been difficult to stop thanks to Elysia and Noel. The second had three more attackers than the first, but it had not been difficult either. Elysia's Wind Magic was swift and subtle, while anyone who reached them alive could not escape the sword of Noel, a high-ranking noble and the squire of a Council Knight.

Now only one thing remained...

Elysia reflexively touched the necklace inside her robes. Like Kyle, she had developed a habit of occasionally touching the gem around her neck.

"Ah, they're coming."

Just as Elysia sank into thought, Noel raised a finger and pointed toward the front of the house. Everyone, including the resting soldiers, turned to look.

A large group of people was approaching them.

Villagers with terror in their eyes. Refugees who had been fleeing bandits. Injured Federation soldiers.

And Kyle and Matis, leading them all.

"Big sister!"

The moment Elysia saw Kyle and felt the tension leave her chest, a young girl among the refugees spotted Elysia's white robe. She ran over first and threw herself into Elysia's arms.

"Are you hurt?"

The girl looked up at Elysia with innocent eyes. She did not seem bothered by the corpses scattered everywhere.

Or perhaps she had already been hardened by all she had endured at such a young age.

"...No. What about you?"

Elysia's lips moved for a moment before she barely managed to speak.

"I'm okay too. Your knight saved me."

"I see."

Elysia stroked the girl's hair.

A dirty commoner child.

In the past, she would not even have been allowed to touch her. In Archandia, she likely would never have met someone like this at such close range.

But things were different now. The nobles and knights of the Imperial Palace who had been monitoring her were gone.

Elysia was reminded of how much time had passed. Of how much she and the world had changed.

"You all... survived."

"We barely made it thanks to the knights."

"What about the others?"

"That..."

"I see. Not everyone could have survived. It's a miracle this many made it back alive."

While the soldiers reunited with one another, Kyle and Matis stopped in front of Noel and Gren. Unlike the others, they wore grim expressions.

"You're back."

"Yes. If not for Sir Kyle, half of these people would have died. We survived because of him."

"Are the people here all the survivors from this village?"

Gren asked with troubled eyes. Matis nodded in affirmation.

"...I see."

He could not hide his grief. His subordinates, embracing one another in relief at being alive, should originally have numbered three times as many. There had not even been half of them left when they first arrived in the village, and now their number had fallen to around forty.

No, that's wrong. Forty of us are still alive. If it had only been us, we would have been wiped out here.

"Any deaths?"

Kyle asked Gren, who forced the negative thoughts from his mind. Coming to his senses too late, Gren answered in a quiet voice.

"None. Fortunately..."

"Not one?"

"Yes. There were two attacks in total, but the squire and mage here stopped them all."

Kyle looked at Elysia, who was still with the young girl. Elysia raised her gaze and met his eyes. Thankfully, she did not seem to be injured.

"Are the rest inside the house?"

"Yes. The village chief too..."

Gren frowned and glanced toward the back of the house. At that moment, people inside who had noticed the disturbance outside came rushing out.

"W-what happened? We heard the Imperial Army attacked..."

The village chief had been watching Kyle and Matis cautiously, but he recoiled in horror when he saw the pieces of Imperial soldiers' bodies scattered nearby. The villagers who had been inside reacted the same way. Unlike those who had been on the outskirts, they still did not fully understand what had happened.

"It is exactly what it looks like. There was an enemy attack."

Kyle briefly explained what had happened to the village chief. After listening, the old man muttered with trembling eyes.

"No..."

"......."

"What are we supposed to do now? If the Imperial Army has come all the way to a remote village like this..."

"I don't know. You can flee or stay here. I'll respect either choice. I won't force you to choose."

At Kyle's words, the village chief looked around at the villagers again. Those outside and those inside alike.

Every one of them looked utterly worn down.

It was only natural. The Imperial Army had destroyed the place where they lived overnight. On top of that, they had watched family members and relatives die before their eyes. They looked as though they could collapse at any moment.

As the village chief opened and closed his mouth, unable to accept reality, Kyle spoke to him as though informing him of a decision.

"We are leaving immediately."

"......."

"You can keep the money we gave for lodging. It should at least cover your travel expenses."

Noel, Gren, and even Elysia widened their eyes. Noel, in particular, looked the most surprised.

"You're leaving right away?"

"We can't stay here any longer. Sir Kyle and I have already discussed it."

It was Matis who answered with a bitter smile. Their plan to stay in the village for one night had fallen apart long ago. There was no way they could properly rest in a place covered with corpses.

With the Imperial Army so close, they had to reach Marent as soon as possible. Even if it meant pushing themselves. Kyle and Matis had already agreed on that point.

They had to reach Marent by tomorrow somehow.

If additional Imperial forces caught up with them, they would not be able to fight properly while protecting injured soldiers and helpless refugees.

And if the Celestial Knights appeared...

Kyle pushed that worst possibility deep into his mind and brought out the horses tied in the backyard. Every minute and second mattered. He had no intention of wasting time on idle conversation.

"W-wait!"

The village chief, who had been watching, asked in a far more urgent voice than before.

"Where are you going?"

"Marent."

"Could we... come with you?"

The village chief pleaded desperately, his face set with determination. Kyle looked back at the group mounted on horseback. Matis, Noel, Elysia, and even Gren were looking at him.

As hundreds of people watched his mouth, Kyle slowly spoke.

"Do as you wish."

"Ah...!"

"But I won't protect you. I won't wait for anyone who falls behind either. We don't have that kind of time."

If necessary, he would abandon everyone except Elysia.

He would not hesitate for even a moment.

Just as he had cast aside everything but his own life in the past.

Even if it had not been by his own choice.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried