WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ Sword Master of the Fallen Kingdom

Chapter 29

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The Forgotten City (9)

Light shot toward him. The pure white blade that streaked forward in a straight line was so fast it was nearly impossible to react. It felt like an overwhelming death no one could resist.

Fast. I can't see it. Can I block it?

No. I can't. That white light is definitely Sword Aura. Even with rune daggers, I can't block a knight's sword technique wrapped in Sword Aura. The moment they meet, they'll shatter. I can't even be sure I can knock it aside or redirect it. So I have to dodge.

Lean back, turn my feet sideways.

Twist my waist as far as it can go...

Thrust!

"Ughk!"

The white light pierced between the green daggers. A white blade burst out through the man's back.

Clang!

The rune daggers in both his hands lost their green glow and dropped uselessly to the floor. The two daggers, each a different length, rolled across the ground miserably. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the man lowered his gaze and opened his eyes wide. Kyle's sword had pierced straight through his solar plexus.

"This is... impossible... in one sword technique..."

"..."

"Me... Nyx Varkein..."

Cough!

The man spat blood again. The smug look on his face from moments ago turned pale in an instant.

"That's not House Filein swordsmanship. You're not one of the marquis's knights either. Who... who the hell are you?"

The man looked up at Kyle with trembling eyes. Kyle, now standing over him, wore the same indifferent expression as before.

"I've killed more than a few knights. Plenty of them used Sword Aura and sword techniques. But..."

"I've never seen a sword technique like this. Never even heard of one. A sword technique faster than my reaction speed, more precise than my attack, one I can't even dodge...!"

Still raging as blood streamed down him, the man suddenly faltered. His heaving shoulders slumped. He looked at Kyle weakly.

"Don't tell me... Night Crow?"

His voice shook. Kyle did not answer.

"Hah, haha, hahahaha!"

That alone was enough for the man. He had been furious just moments ago, but now he burst into wild laughter like a madman. He could not help it.

"Night Crow. Not one of Marquis Filein's knights, but Kirian's Night Crow..."

The man muttered in a fading voice. Blood rose up his throat and ran in a long line beneath his lips.

Kirian's Night Crow. He had heard of him. There was no way he had not. Among mercenaries operating in the south, the name was already famous. As someone who once belonged to Serentia, he had received reports on Night Crow several times.

A rising mercenary who appeared like a comet. He reached Silver Rank in the shortest span of one year, then deliberately refused promotion to Gold Rank.

Commission success rate: 100%. He mainly used a sword, and his speech and bearing did not match a commoner, so people assumed he had once been a noble knight. Yet rumors said he used magic too.

No one knew where he came from. No one knew his real name. No one even knew what family he belonged to. A wandering mercenary whose path was always lined with corpses and black crows.

So at first, he dismissed it as nonsense. Just another story exaggerated by gossips. But it was not. Only now, at this very moment, did he realize that.

"So it was all true. Damn..."

That he had knightly roots. That he used magic. All of it was true. Realizations that came far too late, with death right in front of him.

"Any last words?"

Kyle asked as he tightened his grip on the hilt. The gray fur coat draped over the man's shoulders slowly soaked red with blood. His breathing was ragged. Anyone could see it was a fatal wound, and left like this, he would die soon anyway.

"Heh..."

The man grinned weakly.

"You really are an ex-knight. Giving me a chance for last words. If it were me, I'd toy with you first, then kill you."

"I won't ask twice. Last words?"

"I'll make you an offer. Not a bad one for you either."

"If you're begging for your life, I'm not interested."

Kyle gently twisted the hilt. The man contorted in pain and coughed up blood again. But only for a moment. He barely lifted his drooping head and spoke between gasps.

"Haha... begging for my life? You're not wrong. But if you kill me like this, you'll regret it. Like you said, I've been in this dungeon for quite a while. Of course I have information. For example... about the boss room."

Kyle had been twisting the hilt without expression, but his hand stopped. Seeing his words land exactly as planned, the man smiled.

"Right. A high-ranked mercenary like you should have one or two emergency potions, yeah? Let me live. It's not too late. I have a hemostatic agent... one mid-grade potion will do. After that, I'll guide you there myself."

"So that's what you were getting at."

Kyle stared at him coldly.

"You still don't understand the situation. This is a ruin. More precisely, an underground city of the Kingdom of Alenos. Do you really think there'd be a dungeon-style boss room here?"

"You're rigid as ever, like a textbook knight..."

The man sighed and added,

"It's just a way of saying it. Ruin or dungeon, everyone knows the center is where the real jackpot is. And... even if it's not a dungeon boss room, that's definitely where the massive treasure is, and where we'll find a way out. Save me and treat me, and I'll guide you there myself. I know every route... so what do you say?"

He made the offer like he was doing Kyle a favor. Kyle remained motionless, gripping the hilt of the sword still lodged in the man's solar plexus.

"...Even if you kill me here, it won't end. Marquis Filein is still out there. No matter how strong you are, one extra hand doesn't hurt, does it?"

"So?"

"Make the smart choice. That place in the center, the one likely to be the boss room... it won't be easy. But if we clear it together, it'll be much easier. Same goes for when you run into Marquis Filein later."

"The location?"

Kyle asked. As the conversation seemed to turn in his favor, the man kept smiling as he answered.

"Three days north from here. If it's just you and me, without those two women behind you... we'd get there in a day."

"Is that so."

"Yeah. The route is hell. You can't imagine how many have died near it. So..."

"That's enough."

Crunch!

Kyle twisted the embedded sword half a turn. Blood that had been blocked up burst out in a gush. The white light on the blade slowly faded. The man's eyes widened so far they looked ready to split.

Ghk!

Blood burst from his mouth.

"Why...?"

"I've heard enough. Thanks for the information. I'll put it to good use. Rest now."

"You bastard..."

The twisted blade churned his insides. He had already lost too much blood, and his vision flickered with chaotic colors.

"You'll regret this! You have no idea how complicated the route is...!"

"Doesn't matter. Knowing it's north is enough. You said three days, right? If I follow the flow of mana, the route won't be a problem."

"What...?"

Eyes wide with agony, the man glared at Kyle. Kyle pulled the sword free without hesitation. With a wet slash, bright red blood sprayed up along the blade.

"You treated murder like a game, but you were afraid of dying yourself."

The man could not answer. The focus had already left his eyes. Kyle looked down at him for a moment, no different now from his dead subordinates, then crouched and gathered anything useful. For the guild master of a famous assassination guild, the quality of his gear was not bad.

I should take the rune daggers too.

They were relics, so they'd sell for a good price. After a rough cleanup, Kyle took out a potion and applied it to the cut on his cheek.

Once the wound had mostly closed, he turned his back on the man. Not far away, Lena was holding Hanna and shaking her.

"Hanna-ssi! Please wake up, okay?"

"..."

"You can't close your eyes. I'm sure you can survive, so..."

Kyle stopped in front of Lena. Sensing him, she raised her head.

Ah.

The moment she saw Kyle, she let out a sigh of relief. But only for a second. Then she looked back and forth between Kyle and the dead man's body, her expression turning complicated with mixed emotions.

"Kyle-ssi..."

Her lips moved a few times before she finally spoke.

"Yeah."

"R-right! I knew it. There's no way Kyle-ssi would lose. But..."

Lena's bright expression quickly darkened. Kyle crouched in front of her and checked Hanna's face as she breathed in rough, shallow gasps.

"How is she?"

"Not good. Her breathing was rough from the start, and now she barely seems conscious at all..."

"Can she manage even a simple conversation?"

"No. I kept calling her, but she won't answer. She doesn't react even when I shake her... what do we do now?"

Lena asked in a worried voice. Kyle carefully laid Hanna down and placed his fingers at her neck.

"Her pulse is weak. She lost too much blood."

"I-I did basic first aid! I used the bandages and Baekilcho potion you gave me earlier on her wounds..."

Kyle shook his head slightly. Lena's face went rigid.

"It's already too late."

"...What?"

"Blood loss isn't the only problem. The poisoning is too severe. It seems to be a simple paralysis toxin, but the dose is too high. In a weakened state like this, paralysis poison is extremely deadly."

Her heart could stop, or her breathing could stop.

Either way, it was too late. She could not be saved now. It had been that way from the moment Hanna first entered the archive.

She had lost too much blood while running, and the paralysis poison had spread too far. Even if that man, the guild master of Twin Fangs of Silence, had done nothing else, she would have died on her own.

"K-Kyle-ssi."

Lena pleaded in a desperate voice.

"Is there really no way? If it's because of money, deduct it from my relic share. If it helps you, I'll do anything. So please, just watching Hanna-ssi die like this..."

After a moment of thought, Kyle pulled another potion from his Inventory Pouch. It was a high-grade potion, better than the Baekilcho potion from the old man's shop.

He uncorked the potion filled with golden liquid and poured it over the large wounds on Hanna's body. The outer wounds began to close, but Hanna's pale complexion and fading breath did not change.

"No. Too late."

When there was still no improvement after he had used almost all of it, Kyle said flatly. To save Hanna in this state, a potion was not enough. A high priest would need to intervene directly. For Kyle, saving Hanna was impossible.

Kyle had more confidence than anyone in handling mana, but holy power was the one exception. He did not believe in gods, and holy power was completely separate from mana. In this situation, even Kyle had no way.

"The only thing we can do now... is help her close her eyes in peace."

"Ah..."

"I have a few herbs that help with sleep. That might at least..."

Just as he reached into his coat again, Hanna's closed eyelids lifted slightly. Her brown eyes took in Kyle and Lena.

"Kyle-ssi... and... Lena-ssi..."

Hanna barely forced the words out.

"What... happened? Twin Fangs of Silence..."

"I killed them all."

"Ah... then what about Erik and Bruno...?"

Erik and Bruno. Hanna's childhood friends and fellow Bronze Rank mercenaries in her party. Lena, watching from beside her, turned pale. Kyle, by contrast, calmly met Hanna's half-open eyes.

"They're dead too."

"They're... dead..."

"If what that bastard said was true, then yes. You heard him earlier, and he didn't look like he was lying. I haven't confirmed it myself, but it's highly likely. Even if they somehow survived..."

Kyle trailed off. Just like Hanna, they were poisoned and suffering massive blood loss. There was no way they could survive for long.

By now, or maybe long before now, the odds were very high that they were already dead.

The rune dagger now inside Kyle's Inventory Pouch was proof enough. The bastard said he had stabbed the backs of their necks himself, so it was likely certain. It might even have been better for them. At least they would not have suffered longer.

"I'm sorry."

Kyle lowered his gaze.

"Your condition isn't good either. You'll die soon. If you want, I'll give you herbs that help with sleep. Chew them a few times and you'll feel at ease."

Kyle took out herbs with painkilling effects. Hanna looked at them through blurred eyes. She gave no response. She only stared blankly at Kyle's hand, then barely whispered,

"Erik..."

"..."

"Bruno..."

Hanna called her dead friends' names one last time. Her eyes slowly closed.

Soon the strength drained from her body, and the head that had been facing Kyle fell limply to the side. Her ragged breathing stopped completely. Kyle watched Hanna for a moment, then slowly stood. Inside the archive, where only Kyle and Lena remained, silence settled once more.

***

When evening came, Kyle and Lena prepared to sleep. There was no sunrise in the underground ruins, so they checked the time with a pocket watch.

They searched the dead assassins for anything useful. They moved the cold bodies into a corner. Then Kyle and Lena made a bed between bookshelves where the lamplight barely reached. They could have looked for another place to spend the night, but it was late and the fatigue from battle weighed on them, so they did not move. There were few places safer than this anyway.

"Even if you have no appetite, force yourself to chew."

Kyle spoke. Lena, leaning against the opposite bookshelf, had looked gloomy for a while now.

"Can you not eat at all?"

"N-no..."

"Then skip the jerky and biscuits. At least eat dried fruit or nuts. Considering today's activity and the fatigue from using magic, you need at least one handful of nuts. Otherwise tomorrow's exploration will be much harder."

"Okay..."

"The dead are dead. The living still have to live."

Lena chewed mechanically. She forced down the dried fruit and nuts Kyle handed her, then swallowed with water.

Kyle watched her for a moment, then returned to his own meal.

Salty jerky. Hard biscuits. They tasted bad, but that was not a big issue. He had been eating for calories from the start.

This was not about enjoying food. It was about surviving. After walking through the ruins all day and fighting on top of that, he had to force food down even if he had no appetite so he could explore again tomorrow. Managing condition was one mark of a skilled mercenary.

"Um, Kyle-ssi..."

As they were finishing the meal, Lena, who had been hesitating, finally spoke.

"I'm sorry. About everything."

She apologized abruptly. Kyle frowned and asked,

"Out of nowhere?"

"It's not out of nowhere. I've been thinking this ever since we came in here."

"..."

"I mean, I don't help in combat, and I don't help in scouting. It's basically you clearing these ruins alone, Kyle-ssi. I just trail behind and watch."

Lena poured out her words in self-reproach. She lowered her head.

"I'm basically baggage. Even if I did hire you as my escort. I didn't think I'd be this useless. I thought I'd be useful at least a little..."

I should never have come into this dungeon. Lena muttered in a fading voice. Seeing her full of self-loathing, Kyle quietly kept listening.

A young mage fresh out of the Magic Tower. If not for her circumstances, she would probably be doing magical research in Lenore Magic Tower as usual. She had never seen someone die. She had never killed anyone. For someone raised like a flower in a greenhouse, it was not strange at all that Hanna's death hit this hard.

The death of someone you know and the death of someone you do not know are clearly different.

And when that person dies right in front of you, it hits even harder.

Even in that short time, the two of them had seemed to get along well.

"Do you resent me?"

After a pause, Kyle asked. He meant Erik's party being wiped out after he refused their proposal to join up.

"As if I could! How could I ever resent you, Kyle-ssi...?"

Lena, who had her head buried in her knees, jerked up in surprise.

"I don't resent you. I don't blame you either. It's just... I feel so pathetic. So stupid..."

"So that's why you're drowning in self-loathing?"

Lena did not deny it. She wrapped both arms around her knees and buried her face between them.

"You probably won't believe me, Kyle-ssi... but I was called a prodigy in the Magic Tower. I never thought I lacked talent."

"It shows. A mage your age with that level of skill is rare."

"But in here, I couldn't do anything. I just couldn't. Unlike you, I didn't even fight directly. I only watched from behind."

"..."

"I couldn't even save Hanna-ssi. Everything I learned at the tower was useless. I almost got taken hostage. Whenever something happens, I panic like an idiot. And then..."

"It's not your fault."

Kyle drank the last mouthful of water and said it casually. Lena kept her face buried in her knees and looked up only with her eyes.

"If you feel guilty about this, that's arrogance. No matter what you did, the result would not have changed."

"But..."

"I'm saying you don't need to torment yourself with pointless guilt. That's what a mercenary's life is like. Death is always there. Responsibility for choices belongs to the one who makes them."

Kyle remembered Hanna's eyes as she faced death just a little while ago.

The mage who refused his herbs, repeated her friends' names, and died.

It was unfortunate, but he felt nothing beyond that. Countless people had died that way in front of Kyle. Even if he went back in time, he would make the same choice. Even knowing they would die.

By Kyle's standards, Erik's party was too weak and not useful. They were strangers. Outsiders unrelated to him.

Lena was different. She had offered proper pay and hired him. Kyle was not a man who played babysitter for everyone. He could not survive by pitying each person one by one. Even now, countless mercenaries were dying in this place while chasing dreams of sudden wealth.

The information fee had already been fully paid with the Mana Compass. He had even avenged them.

That was the limit of the line Kyle set for himself.

Am I a broken person for thinking this way?

"Kyle-ssi... have you ever regretted things in your life?"

After a long silence, Lena asked. Kyle thought for a moment, then answered shortly.

"Many times. More than I can count."

"You too, Kyle-ssi?"

"Yeah. When you're standing at an important crossroads in life, you'll regret something no matter which path you choose."

Kyle looked down at his hand. After years of gripping a sword, his fingers were bent in places, and calluses had built up all over. At a glance, it looked ugly.

Like a curse carved into my body. A mark that will never disappear.

The mark of a coward who ran after failing to protect the people precious to him. He had done many things trying to break that curse. In the end, he had found no solution.

Will this time be different?

Normally, he would have given up on expecting anything. This time was different. This was no ordinary dungeon. It was the ruins of the Kingdom of Alenos, three hundred years old.

Hope always betrayed people, but maybe this time would be different. He did not want much. Completely lifting the curse was probably impossible. Honestly, even if he could not break it, that was fine.

Just mana.

If he could free himself from the restriction on mana, that alone would be enough. If he could escape this life where even one minor spell required Top-grade Magicite every time, he could do so much more. Find a way to bring precious people back. Or take revenge on those who had taken everything from him. Either way.

"We'll be out of this place soon."

Kyle said as he rubbed his right wrist.

"Out... you mean out of these ruins?"

"Yeah. We're not far from the center. Escape is close."

What that bastard had said earlier. A place likely to be the boss room, three days from here. Judging by the flow of mana he felt, it was probably true. On top of that, killing all those bastards had brought unexpected extra profit. Even taking the shortest route should be fine now.

"Get some sleep. We need to wake up early tomorrow."

Kyle quietly gazed toward the outside of the archive and pulled his sword into his arms.

"In three days, it'll all be over. By then, we won't have to see this damned place again."

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