WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Sword Master of the Fallen Kingdom

Chapter 53

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At the Crossroads (5)

For a split second, time slowed. In the rush of his thoughts and the stretched-out moment around him, Kyle saw golden eyes staring straight at him.

A woman?

Long blond hair whipped through the air, blurring his vision. Dyed gold by the sunset, it shone with a brilliant glow. The afterimage of the lightning she had just fired shattered into fragments of light and scattered in every direction. At the familiar flow of mana, Kyle forced his confused mind back under control.

She was a woman. He knew that. Her build and fingers alone told him as much.

But that yellow hair and those eyes. Those familiar fragments of golden mana scattering through the air. That color, like molten gold itself...

Thud!

His thoughts broke off. The mage hit the ground and let out a short groan. Kyle climbed on top of her, pinning her down as if to shield her with his back. The silver blade in his right hand came to rest beside her pale neck.

“You... You’re imperial blood.”

With his ringed left hand, Kyle seized the mage by the throat. The impact that had rattled her spine and the cold blade against her neck twisted the mage’s face in pain.

“Answer me if you don’t want to die. Who are you?”

Kyle’s voice was cold and full of killing intent. When he loosened his grip slightly, the gasping mage barely managed to speak.

“Elysia Lucent Archandia...”

“Lucent?”

“The first daughter of Emperor Leonis... the First Princess of the Empire.”

The First Princess of the Empire.

For a moment, Kyle’s shoulders trembled. His head filled with a flood of thoughts. The First Princess’s voice kept echoing like an auditory hallucination.

Princess Elysia.

He had heard of her. There was no way he could not have. During the Northern War, Kyle had memorized every powerful family in the Empire. From the great houses counted on one hand to nobles with a respectable amount of history behind them. Among them, he had made a point of remembering every child of the Emperor. Naturally, that included Elysia, the First Princess.

A genius mage affiliated with the Arven Mage Tower.

Unlike the other members of the imperial family, she was said to have no interest in the throne. The only thing that drew her attention was magical research. He had heard that she was gentle on the surface, yet somehow had a wall around her that made her hard to approach. He knew nothing more than that.

Because she had never set foot on the battlefield. Because even during the Northern War, she had never left the capital, Archandia. The noblest woman in the Empire. A flower raised in a greenhouse, through and through.

And yet.

“Why are the wyvern knights chasing you?”

Kyle tightened his grip on his sword and asked again. The silver blade was still pressed beside the First Princess’s neck.

“You... You’re no ordinary mercenary.”

“Shut up. Answer the question. Why are the wyvern knights chasing you?”

Kyle slowly tightened the left hand around her throat. Pain twisted the First Princess’s face. Even so, she smiled. When Kyle loosened his grip, the princess gave a sorrowful smile and answered with a quiet laugh.

“Because I stole the Empire’s treasure.”

“Treasure?”

“Information on everything about the wyverns. And the imperial family’s one and only Dragon Heart.”

Kyle’s thoughts stopped. The wyvern-rearing information that was among the imperial family’s most closely guarded secrets. And Progenitor Dragon Prisia’s Dragon Heart, which existed only in rumor.

“Why?”

“You look as if you don’t understand.”

Elysia laughed softly, as if she found it amusing. Her golden eyes stared up at him. The fear that had flashed through them when her mask broke was gone.

“Why did you assume my relationship with the Emperor had to be good?”

Elysia’s clear voice reached his ears again.

“It is common for those blinded by power to kill their own flesh and blood. Even without that, families can fall apart over the smallest things.”

“So you threw away your status as a princess and made yourself an exile?”

“The Empire is a nation that deserves to fall.”

Elysia said it with absolute clarity.

“Wishing for that is hardly strange. And from the look of you, you’re not a mercenary. You’re a knight.”

Kyle did not answer. It was not so much that she had hit the mark, but that he did not know whether he could trust the information coming from the princess in front of him. Seeing his silence, Elysia continued.

“Then you must know better than most. What the Emperor has done. What the Empire truly looks like. How the Emperor’s wars of conquest ended for the people who died writhing in agony.”

He knew. He knew all too well. Because he had been one of them.

Because he had experienced what it was like to kneel before overwhelming national power.

“Indiscriminate slaughter and plunder in occupied lands. Everything outside the Empire was a beast wearing human skin. At least, that was how the Emperor saw it.”

The Empire was already the most powerful single nation on the continent. Even so, the Emperor was not satisfied. He built up his military at every opportunity and invaded other countries whenever he found an opening. The slaughter and plunder that followed were borne entirely by the people of those nations.

“So?”

Kyle forced down the emotions surging inside him and asked again.

“Is that all? You were born into the highest status in the Empire, raised while feeding on the blood of its subjects, then got drunk on some flimsy sense of justice, committed treason, and ran?”

“Not everyone in the Empire supports the Emperor unconditionally. Until a few years ago, there was a faction that opposed him. Most of them died or went into exile after the Northern War began.”

“Are you saying you were part of that opposition?”

“My mother died.”

For a moment, all expression vanished from Elysia’s face.

“To be exact, the Emperor killed her. My mother’s family, House Lucent, was one of the leading anti-Emperor factions. Since the Empire happened to be at war with Hailen at the time, it reached for a taboo. It abandoned the last of its humanity.”

Human experimentation. A horrific curse called a holy spell.

“Izra’s Thorn...”

Kyle’s eyes shook violently. As Elysia recalled the past, she muttered bitterly.

“The Commander of the Knights of Ash at the time was too strong. So they revived a spell that had been forbidden by the Sacred Treaty hundreds of years ago.”

“...”

“What they needed was the lives of hundreds of mages and priests. There happened to be a perfect sacrifice. My mother was one of the finest mages in the imperial family, and she was an Empress from House Lucent, a thorn in the Emperor’s side. The Thorn made that way was certainly effective.”

Rowen’s death. His mentor, a man who had been no different from an older brother. We had been powerless before that terrible Thorn.

“After that, they drove a second Thorn, made the same way, into the next Commander after he was chosen. I was supposed to be sacrificed to create it... but I was lucky. Someone died in my place. After that, House Lucent was completely driven out of central politics, and the opposition vanished. That is all.”

Elysia’s calm voice scattered on the wind. The shouting from all around them drew closer and closer.

“Will you kill me?”

Elysia spoke. Her golden eyes stared straight through Kyle.

“If you will, then do it. I would rather die here than be dragged off by the wyvern knights and tortured.”

Kyle clenched the sword hilt so hard it creaked. Countless thoughts rose and vanished inside his head. His heart pounded like a drum.

The woman in front of him was the daughter of the man he hated most. The bloodline of his enemy. The princess of the Empire he despised. The First Princess of the Emperor who had taken everything from him.

Kill her now.

Every impulse in his mind urged the hand gripping his sword forward.

But he could not bring it down. Kyle’s mouth twisted upward.

Smiling as if he were crying, he slowly stood.

The blade slipped away from Elysia’s neck. She had closed her eyes, prepared for death, but now she slowly opened them. After confirming that her head was still attached, Elysia was about to say something. Then, from just below the building, he sensed several excited presences.

“Here! This way!”

“They’re right above us! Go up!”

The voices reached them in moments, and soon several people climbed onto the flat plaster roof. They looked like well-armed mercenaries.

“...So you were here?”

The mercenary who climbed up last looked surprised to see Kyle. Silver-rank mercenary Hugo. The scarred mercenary who had offered to work with Kyle. Hugo narrowed his eyes as he looked between Kyle, who held his sword, and Elysia, who was staggering to her feet.

The other mercenaries he led, all Bronze Rank or lower, whispered among themselves while looking back and forth between the two of them. On the rooftop of a building under the sunset, a swordsman and a mage faced six mercenaries. Each of them held or wore a weapon.

“Hey, that’s...”

“I think that’s her.”

“Wasn’t it a gray robe, not a white one?”

“But there’s the mask. That thing split in half on the ground. Isn’t that the black mask?”

“So it was real. Then that bitch is the traitor?”

The mercenaries’ gazes turned to one place. Elysia stood there with both her hood and mask removed.

Hair and eyes like gold. Her robe, soaked in the sunset, was tinged red. Drops of blood fell one by one from the shallow cut on her right forearm. Even so, the mercenaries could not take their eyes off Elysia’s face. Her sculpted features and silent presence held them in place.

“That woman is a traitor...?”

Someone muttered in a trembling voice. To them, the female mage in front of them looked barely over twenty. Though her clothes were torn and filthy from rolling across the ground, her golden eyes were clear. She did not look at all like a criminal fleeing after committing first-class treason.

“I didn’t expect someone to beat us to her like this...”

At the voice from behind them, the other mercenaries flinched and stepped back.

A sword hung at his waist. Hugo, his left hand resting on the pommel, slowly walked forward.

“So there was a reason you were so confident. That woman, is she the first-class traitor the Branch Director mentioned?”

Hugo asked in a relaxed tone. Kyle paused for a moment, then asked back.

“How did you find us?”

“Ah, nothing special. Just got lucky. We split up the search area, and there were a lot of battle traces left in this direction. What made me certain was the yellow lightning I saw at the end.”

“You followed that?”

“I’ve got pretty good instincts. I’ve done my share of search work too, so I’m used to it. So hand her over.”

“Hand her over?”

“We need to pick up some scraps too, don’t we? The mercenaries running all over the city right now have their pride.”

“...”

“Let’s not get too greedy, friend. Money aside, you look damn tired, so go back and rest. We’ll handle the cleanup. Of course, I won’t steal your achievement. I’ll make sure the Branch Director hears exactly what you did.”

As he spoke, Hugo approached Kyle with an easy smile.

Kyle stood still and watched the scarred mercenary close the distance.

The traitor had been caught. The commission would end if he restrained Elysia, took her to the mercenary guild, and handed her over. The gate would reopen. All that remained was to cross the border and head to the Federation, just as Kyle had originally planned. There was no need to get involved with the wyvern knights already. From the beginning, he had moved out of simple curiosity, just wanting to see the traitor’s face.

Was that really true?

Kyle looked back on what he had just done. He had chased the traitor, removed her mask, and confirmed her face. After that, he had heard secrets about the Empire. He had seen circumstances he had never known. He had tried to kill her, but could not. He had given up. He had stepped back.

Why could he not kill her?

Because she was a woman? Or because he had belatedly felt pity for those eyes looking up at him after giving up on everything? If not that, had he grown afraid again, even now? Even with the bloodline of his enemy right in front of him? What expectation had brought him all the way here in the first place?

I...

Crack!

The moment Kyle raised his lowered head, red sparks burst beneath Hugo’s approaching feet. Incantationless wind magic. The plaster floor was carved deep in a spiral.

“You...”

Startled, Hugo stepped back. Before Kyle knew it, Elysia behind him had raised her blood-soaked right arm. Hugo looked between Elysia and Kyle, betrayal filling his eyes. Open hostility and killing intent turned toward Kyle.

“Come to think of it, I still haven’t heard your name.”

Her voice was softer than before. Kyle looked back. In the same place as before, golden eyes stared at him.

“What is your name?”

Elysia asked. Kyle hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“Kyle.”

“Are you a knight?”

“No.”

“Then are you a mercenary?”

“...Yes, for now.”

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

Kyle could not answer the simple question. Elysia did not seem to have asked because she expected an answer.

“At this point, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

She simply slipped her hand inside her clothes. Then she spoke.

“I, Elysia Lucent Archandia, will entrust a commission to the mercenary Kyle. The mission is to escort me to the Grandecia Federation. The payment is...”

“The last remaining fragment of Prisia’s Dragon Heart.”

For a moment, silence fell over the rooftop. The white gem shining beneath the sunset gave off an incredibly clear light.

“If you accept the commission, I will give it to you. There are a few nobles in the Federation who opposed the Emperor and went into exile. One of them has known me for a long time. They will surely help.”

Elysia looked straight at Kyle. Her golden eyes no longer wavered.

“What will you do? Will you accept the commission?”

Her unwavering gaze rested on Kyle. Kyle did not look away. More precisely, he looked at the gem in her hand.

Prisia’s last Dragon Heart. Inside the gem, crafted into a pendant, swirled mana far purer than anything in Kyle’s ring. It looked as if it were still alive and breathing.

The wish stone said to grant anything. As if living up to its name.

Ah.

His tangled thoughts settled into stillness. Only then did Kyle understand why he was here and why he had come this far.

Revenge against the Empire.

Kyle quickly weighed her offer. The benefits were clear. No, they were more than enough. If she, the First Princess, defected to the Federation, that alone could shake the state of the continent. He would not even need to form a mercenary company. Her existence itself would become a cause.

An imperial family member who had turned her back on her homeland because she opposed the Empire’s system. Her political value was more than sufficient. Above all, she possessed secrets about the wyverns.

As the First Princess, she must know all sorts of secrets and weaknesses of the Empire. Even setting all of that aside, she was an extremely powerful mage.

And lastly, Progenitor Dragon Prisia’s Dragon Heart.

Kyle looked at the last remaining fragment of the dragon’s heart. The white gem, mingled with the glow of sunset, still shone beautifully.

What if he could have that stone? Was it true that it could really grant a wish? If it could revive the people who had died. If not that, if it could kill the Emperor. If so...

“Kyle-ssi, what about you? Do you have a wish you want granted?”

For an instant, Lena’s voice sounded in his head. It was from the conversation they had shared in the dawn library when he had been at the Magic Tower not long ago.

“What about living an ordinary life, even now?”

The old mage’s worried voice layered over it. At the time, Kyle had thought it over briefly, then refused politely. Because he did not have the right. Because he could not fall yet.

Kyle, Kyle, Kyle...

Memories of the past flashed before his eyes like a panorama. Forgotten recollections kept echoing in his ears.

Intermittently. Then continuously. Voices of people calling his name.

Kind, angry, and unbearably sorrowful.

“Live, Kyle. In my place. In our place. And... for no one but yourself.”

He remembered himself turning away while spitting out cowardly excuses because he had no other choice. Rowen’s face flickered before him, smiling until the very end. Kyle tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

Will you run away again? Just like you did in the past?

Kyle looked up. The sun was slowly setting. Red light and dim blue mixed beyond the far edge of the sky. Only then did Kyle realize that his mind was clearer than it had ever been.

I won’t run anymore.

Saaah.

The wind blew. The light breeze swept past Kyle’s hair and the hem of his black cloak. The area slowly darkened. Below the building where Kyle stood, the mercenaries and soldiers who had arrived late began to gather.

“Hey. I don’t know what you two are talking about, but why don’t you let us in on it? You really were on the same side from the start, weren’t you?”

Hugo glared at Kyle with gleaming eyes. His gaze flicked toward the Dragon Heart, wet with greed. Killing intent gathered in Hugo’s left hand as he toyed with the pommel. Kyle glanced down from the rooftop, then parted his dry lips.

“...Elysia.”

For the first time, he called the princess by name. She looked back at Kyle.

“Is that all for the commission?”

“Yes. Escort me to the Federation.”

“The Dragon Heart?”

“If you want, I’ll give it to you now. If you refuse the commission, I’m as good as dead anyway.”

“Good.”

Kyle gave a small nod, then added.

“I’ll kill the wyvern knights. Whether there’s one, two, or three of them. Anything else that blocks the road too.”

“...”

“I’ll get you to the Federation, even if I have to do that. But swear one thing.”

“What is it?”

“That no matter what happens, you’ll kill the Emperor. That even if your body crumbles, you’ll bring the Empire down.”

Kyle’s black eyes melted into the darkness of night. Before they knew it, dusk had fallen.

“Can you swear that?”

Elysia did not answer right away. But it did not take long.

With determined eyes, she brought the Dragon Heart in her hand to her chest.

“I swear it. On my name and my heart.”

“I accept the commission.”

Kyle took one step forward. Hugo and the other mercenaries flinched on reflex. Hugo, who had stepped back without realizing it, bit his lip.

“You...”

The rest never came. Kyle’s sword slowly rose. A silver line was drawn soundlessly through the air. Beneath the red sun disappearing beyond the mountain ridge, crimson blood burst from several places at once.

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