WeTried Translations
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 167: The Red Banquet (6)
──────
The falling Magic Stones collided with one another in a loud clatter. Kyle looked down at the table before him with an unreadable expression.
Pungent cigarette smoke hung in the air. The sharp smell of alcohol assaulted him from every direction. And then there was the absurd number of top-grade Magic Stones that had suddenly been dumped before him.
There were so many Magic Stones the servant had poured out before Kyle that they covered the table and spilled onto the floor. Each one was vivid in color and contained mana pure enough to be classified as top-grade. Considering that top-grade Magic Stones served as an alternative currency, worth far more and easier to exchange than several Large Gold Coins, it was an unbelievable sum.
Tell him what I wanted?
After lowering his head for some time, Kyle slowly raised his gaze. In the center of the room, still steeped in silence, Philip stared directly at him alongside the nobles of the Kingdoms of Russel and Selaine.
“Are you trying to buy me off with money?”
Kyle was the first to break the silence. There was not a trace of fear or hesitation in his voice.
“Money?”
Interest gleamed in Philip’s eyes.
“I don’t understand why you’re suddenly saying this.”
“Do you truly mean that?”
“I…”
“First, I need to correct something you said. Buying you off with money?”
“…”
“This isn’t merely money. It’s a great deal of money, and this is only the beginning. If you wish, I can grant you not only the top-grade Magic Stones piled before you, but a suitable title and territory as well. There are still several good lands in the rear. Wouldn’t honor and power naturally follow after that?”
Of the five kingdoms within the Grandecia Federation, the Kingdom of Russel was the wealthiest. It might not have much military power, but it had money to spare.
And then there was land.
A noble’s power came not from an empty title, but from land and military strength. That was why lower-ranking nobles sometimes held more influence than even high-ranking nobles. The Empire had taken half of Russel’s territory, but several fertile royal domains still remained in its rear. That was what Philip was offering.
Philip would grant him a hereditary title and fertile land.
So cooperate with him. It was an opportunity that even high nobles would covet greedily. Honor and power would follow on their own.
At least, on the surface.
“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t understand it. We haven’t even introduced ourselves.”
“Introduced ourselves?”
Philip chuckled softly, his smile suggesting that he could see straight through Kyle.
“That doesn’t matter. You already know who I am, don’t you?”
“But you don’t know my identity.”
“That doesn’t matter either. What matters is that you’re a knight important enough to that imperial royal that you can freely enter and leave the Grand Duke’s estate. Whether you were born a commoner or a bastard, such trivial matters mean nothing. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wish to. Only one thing matters.”
That a key aide of the Grand Duke would betray him.
Philip fell silent. Even so, his gaze remained sharp through the cigarette smoke as it fixed on Kyle.
“What will you do?”
He pressed him for an answer. The gazes around the room grew more blatant. The two knights standing behind Kyle flexed their gauntleted fingers. Kyle’s five senses, enhanced by Prisia’s mana, caught every last detail clearly.
What should he do?
He had expected something like this from the moment he learned the King of Russel would be here. When one only vaguely knew the enemy’s goals and lacked information about their movements, the quickest and surest method was to win over a key figure in the opposing camp.
Hailen and the Empire had often used the same tactic during the Northern War. They alternated between the carrot and the stick, trying to pry even one more piece of information from the other side.
Fortunately, they don’t seem to know who I really am.
Kyle concluded that the moderates had not yet learned his identity or that of the Ash Knights. If they had, they would not be sitting here so defenselessly before him. Their attitude would have been different as well. Rather than acting so arrogantly, they would have used every sweet word and humble gesture they could to draw him in. The title of final Commander of the Knights of Ash carried that much weight.
Kyle spread out his senses, taking in every presence within the estate.
The forces immediately in sight consisted of the two knights behind him, a green-robed mage standing guard over Philip, and several knights and mages belonging to the other nobles waiting in the rooms on either side.
Can I kill them all?
His calculation was swift. Kyle shook his head inwardly. If he fought here, he would survive at the very least. But he could not be certain of wiping them out without leaving any survivors. His control of mana was not yet perfect.
He also could not accurately judge the green-robed mage’s skill. The mage had used Hallucination, an Illusion Magic spell, and the fact that the King of Russel kept the mage so close meant there had to be another hidden trump card. If even one escaped, things would go wrong. The Grand Duke’s long-laid plans would all come to nothing.
There was no need to spill blood here.
There were plenty more people who needed to be killed or captured besides the nobles in this room. It was better to gather them in one place and deal with them all at once, slowly drawing in the net they had cast. There was no need to take a risk here when he could make certain of it on the day of the banquet.
“Is that a refusal?”
When no answer came for some time, Philip narrowed his eyes at Kyle. Kyle did not deny it and readily nodded.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can share your cause.”
“You won’t regret it? Truly?”
He gestured toward the pile of top-grade Magic Stones before Kyle. Behind him came the metallic sound of the knights shifting their gauntlets. At some point, everyone seated in the room had begun glaring at Kyle as one. Philip spoke one last time.
“Money, honor, power. Once this is over, I’ll give you as much as you want. I have never broken a promise I’ve made in my life.”
“None of that means anything to me.”
“No, it will. At least here.”
Philip continued in a confident tone.
“Do you know? Sometimes, you need to set aside even convictions that seem unbreakable. All the more when your life is at stake. Are you still saying you won’t change your mind?”
“Yes.”
“…Is that so. What a shame.”
Kyle rose from his seat. The two knights behind him reflexively moved their hands to the swords at their waists.
“Stop.”
“…”
“Let him go. That is an order.”
Philip spoke to the two knights in a firm voice. The knights, who had just gripped their sword hilts, exchanged glances before stepping back. The nobles looked dissatisfied, but none dared voice an objection. Kyle swept his gaze around the room, gave Philip a light bow, then disappeared through the door.
* * *
After rejecting Philip’s proposal, Kyle left the estate at once. The moment he stepped out of the warm estate, a cold wind swept across his face as though it had been waiting for him.
Is it already this late?
Kyle looked up and frowned without realizing it. It had still been morning when he left the Grand Duke’s estate, but the sun was already sinking. With winter’s chill not yet fully gone, dusk would soon fall. Winter days were much shorter than summer days. They would remain that way until spring truly arrived.
I should head back soon.
The trip wasn’t entirely fruitless.
Kyle had learned quite a lot. First, the moderate faction knew the Grand Duke was plotting something. Yet they did not know the identities of Kyle and the surviving Ash Knights, whom the Grand Duke had kept as his hidden blade.
They were probably just probing me, anyway.
Kyle gauged his current position and the direction of the city center, then lowered his gaze. Leaving behind the subtle stares he could feel from the estate windows, he retraced the alleyway he had taken.
Before he knew it, the deep glow of sunset had spread everywhere. It was certainly the same road he had walked in broad daylight, yet it felt different somehow. Taking into account how the mage who had guided him had deliberately led him in circles, Kyle cut through the unnecessary side streets and took the quickest shortcut toward the center. His pace gradually quickened.
Then.
“You acted as though you were going to let me go peacefully.”
“…”
“Your words and actions don’t match. Was this your own decision?”
Kyle abruptly stopped and slowly turned around. His voice echoed through the air for a moment. Then the green-robed mage emerged from the corner of the alley behind him.
“My apologies, Sir Knight. There was nothing I could do.”
The two knights who had stood behind Kyle earlier stood beside the mage. That was not all. Kyle glanced toward the path ahead, where he had been walking just moments before. In the middle of the alley, bathed in the sunset, knights blocked the road as though sealing it off from both ends. Mages occupied the rooftops of the shabby buildings as well.
“Your master acted like a generous, broad-minded man, but he’s actually as sly as a fox.”
“…”
“Was this your master’s order?”
Kyle curled his lips in a mocking smile. The green-robed mage sighed quietly.
“You already know the answer, don’t you?”
The mage shook his head.
“Once you sat at that table, refusal was never an option. Now that you know we are colluding with the Empire, there was no other way. Especially at a time like this.”
“You’re awfully scared for people with no evidence against them.”
“We can’t be sure of that. You seem exceptionally perceptive, Sir Knight.”
“So you sent people after me?”
Kyle asked as he drew up Prisia’s mana.
“One can never be too careful, can one? It truly is regrettable. I thought we would get along quite well…”
The mage looked at Kyle as if blaming him. Unconcealed confusion filled his narrowed eyes. Kyle could tell what he wanted to ask without hearing the words.
Why did you do this? If you had simply accepted the offer, none of this would have happened.
“His Majesty truly intended to take you in.”
Unable to hide his regret, the mage continued.
“He sincerely meant it when he offered you land and a title. Once this banquet and the Grand Assembly were over, and the ceasefire negotiations with the Empire concluded properly, everything would have worked out.”
“You say that after half your territory was taken from you?”
“There are still many Federation citizens on that land. And the Kingdom of Russel’s territory is far more vast than you think. Not even the Empire can hold onto it forever. The Celestial Knights being stationed on the front lines is merely a show of force.”
“So?”
“They have only occupied major cities and fortresses. With the burden of supplying them, they will soon return the land on their own…”
“In exchange, you’ll have to give up countless interests. The Federation itself may even collapse.”
Kyle spat the words with contempt. Everything the mage said was interpreted in a way favorable to his own side. In other words, it was built on excessive hope.
“You know nothing about the Empire. From the moment Hailen fell, they won’t stop until every last one of you is gone. The Emperor will not stop until he has swallowed the entire continent.”
“You speak as if you know the Empire very well. Is it because of your accent too? Are you an imperial noble in exile? But when it comes to the Empire, our Kingdom of Russel knows just as much as you do. We have traded with them and spent time among them for a long time…”
“No. You know nothing. You don’t understand a thing.”
Kyle cut the mage off.
“If you were going to kill me anyway, why not attack me back there? You wouldn’t have needed to go through all this trouble.”
Prisia’s mana raced through his body, sharpening Kyle’s senses. He felt the knights slowly tightening the encirclement. On the rooftops above, the mages were gathering mana.
“Ha…”
The green-robed mage sighed again.
“If we killed you there, traces would remain.”
“So you deliberately let me leave?”
“It would be difficult to clean up. That estate has been used for private talks for a long time, so it would be troublesome if it were damaged. This way is cleaner and more convenient.”
“I agree. Cramped interiors aren’t to my taste.”
Kyle spoke. The mage frowned in confusion.
“What did you just say…?”
“If we’re going to have a brawl, an alley is much more convenient.”
Kyle swept his empty left hand sideways, toward the rooftops above the alley.
Fwoosh!
Without warning, invisible blades shot out and tore through the mages preparing their spells. Bright red blood poured into the sunset-lit alley like torrential rain. By then, Kyle had drawn the sword at his waist with his right hand. Amid the mingling crimson rain and orange glow, a pure white blade rose like a beam of light.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
