WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ Sword Master of the Fallen Kingdom

Chapter 76

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Seeking the Road Ahead (4)

Kyle opened his eyes late in the evening.

The first thing he saw was the dim ceiling above the bed. Faint moonlight spilled in through the window. Kyle stared at it for a while, then slowly sat up. He took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was already past ten at night.

He had come into the room before six, so he must have slept fairly deeply.

Yesterday, near the border, he had only slept in short bursts while taking care of Elysia. Fatigue had built up because of that, but now he was in fairly good condition. Kyle shook out his stiff body a couple of times, then finished getting ready to leave, including taking the sword he had left by the head of the bed.

When he stepped into the hallway, moonlight from the window blurred the surroundings, just as it had in the dark room.

Knock, knock.

Kyle knocked on Elysia’s door beside his.

"...Kyle?"

Not long after, Elysia appeared with her eyes half-lidded. She seemed to have just woken up, and her clothes were slightly disheveled. Kyle placed his hand on Elysia’s forehead. This was the fourth time. Elysia flinched a little more than before, then looked up at Kyle with golden eyes that had grown slightly clearer.

"You’re better than earlier."

"Is it already time to leave?"

Instead of answering, Kyle nodded. He pulled the hood of the black cloak Elysia wore low over her head.

"Your body?"

"I’m fine. Nothing major."

"We’ll be moving right away. Will that be all right?"

"Of course."

"Then let’s go. Don’t push yourself too hard."

The two went down to the first floor. Maybe because it was late, the inn was quieter than it had been when the sun had just started to set.

Far fewer people remained in the dining area than before.

Every one of them was drinking, chewing on snacks, and making idle conversation. Among them was a familiar face.

It was Jade, the Gold-rank Mercenary and Kyle’s old acquaintance. Friendly and silver-tongued as ever, he had somehow already made friends and was laughing as he chatted with them.

Sensing someone coming down the stairs, Jade looked back toward Kyle and Elysia. Kyle signaled with his eyes at Jade, who was chewing on an egg.

Come out.

Jade groaned softly as he got up and apologized to the people he had been sitting with. Kyle did not watch any longer and stepped outside with Elysia. Almost at the same time, Jade followed them out of the inn.

The egg he had been eating was nowhere to be seen. He must have already shoved the whole thing into his mouth.

"You didn’t drink, did you?"

Kyle turned back and asked. Jade swallowed the rest of the egg and answered.

"I didn’t. We’re going to a Serentia branch, of all places. You think I’d drink before that?"

"Your record says otherwise."

"Still, I’ve never caused trouble when it mattered. Anyway, I was going to ask earlier. What the hell happened to your armor?"

Jade glanced at the leather armor Kyle was wearing. The scorched and torn patches were bad enough, but the long slash across the shoulder especially drew the eye. It stood out even more because the black cloak Kyle usually wore was now on Elysia.

"...Something happened."

"Yeah? Don’t have any other clothes?"

Money was not a problem anyway. Quick-witted as he was, Jade did not ask any further.

"You’ll be busy tomorrow. Need to get horses. Need to buy clothes too."

"......."

"All right, then let’s go, friends. Since I got a meal out of you, I’ll guide you nice and easy."

After briefly looking around the center of Nibelmund, he took the lead in a cheerful voice. Kyle and Elysia glanced at each other once, then silently followed Jade.

It did not take long to leave the main avenue of the city center, where light leaked out here and there. Jade, walking in front, advanced without hesitation, as if he had already checked the branch’s location in advance. Before long, the three of them had entered an alley near the outskirts of the city. When Kyle looked up, he saw an oval moon, closer to full than half. The alley they walked through was soaked in pale moonlight.

"Miss. Have you ever been to an information guild?"

Jade’s pace had slowed compared to before. He turned his head slightly and asked while looking back.

"No. This is my first time."

"Really?"

"Are there any precautions I should know?"

"None. Well, there’s no need to be that nervous either. As long as you follow the rules, they’re the most gentlemanly bastards in the world. That only applies to information guilds with some real scale, though."

Serentia was the greatest information guild in the southern part of the continent. Unlike other information guilds, which generally operated as loosely connected cells, it had a partially hierarchical structure. That made it harder to cut off tails, but communication between branches was fast and smooth. They had taken on greater risk in exchange for prioritizing the quality of their information.

They cut through alleys like that for about thirty minutes.

"We’re here. This is it."

Jade stopped. Kyle and Elysia, behind him, stopped as well.

On one side of a shabby alley, where even the moonlight was faint, stood a small building. From the outside, it looked like a pub or tavern, and even in the dark corner of the alley, it glowed softly with amber light. Jade checked one last time to see if anyone was around, then gently pushed open the stained wooden door.

Ding.

A clear bell rang. The three entered the tavern one after another.

Warm air rushed over them.

Unlike its exterior, the inside was quite clean and orderly. Amber Magic Stone lamps lit every corner. At the tables scattered around, several people were playing dice or cards. After briefly taking in the scene, the three slowly approached the bar.

"I heard this place is pretty famous... Can I get a drink?"

Jade spoke first. The bartender, who had been wiping a wine glass with an indifferent expression, glanced at Jade, then looked back down at the glass in his hand.

"Do you have anything in mind?"

The bartender spoke in a low voice. Jade looked at Kyle.

"The bitterest one possible. Can you do that?"

Kyle placed one Gold coin on the bar. At the same time, he tapped the table with his fingers at fixed intervals.

Tap, tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap.

"One glass of the bitterest liquor possible. Anything else?"

"No."

"How much are you willing to pay?"

"As much as you want. The price doesn’t matter."

Kyle added two more coins to the one he had already placed down. It was an absurdly excessive amount for a single drink, but the bartender quietly looked between the three of them and took the Gold coins from the table.

"Go inside. I will assume you already know the rules."

The bartender set down the glass he had been cleaning and stepped aside politely, pointing toward the inside of the bar.

"I’ll keep them in mind."

Kyle gave a small nod and opened the door inside the bar. Jade stepped in without hesitation. Elysia paused for a moment, then entered second. Kyle, standing at the back, gave the tavern one last look before closing the door.

"What did you just do?"

A separate corridor continued inside. Jade started walking first. Elysia, following right behind him, asked the question.

"We handed over an advance payment."

"Advance payment? You mean those three Gold coins?"

"That’s right. You said this is your first time in a place like this, right? From Kyle ordering liquor, to tapping the table, to placing the Gold coins down, all of it is part of the process. Like a password."

"Is that why he paid three whole Gold coins?"

"Normally, one coin would be enough. But we care more about quality information than money. Saying there’s no limit to the price means we want very expensive information. Usually, it’s rare to come this far inside at the bartender’s level."

"Why?"

Elysia seemed curious, because she asked again. This time, Kyle answered in Jade’s place.

"Because it’s expensive. Serentia charges more than other places. And if you want to enter this place, you need to pay three times the usual advance. The people who looked like customers inside the tavern earlier were all assassins. Skilled ones at that."

"...Really?"

"Yes. It’s a form of disguise. That’s also one of the rules."

Even so, Kyle was not particularly worried. Even if he did not lift a finger, Jade alone would be enough to wipe out this Serentia Nibelmund Branch. The gap between Silver-rank and Gold-rank mercenaries was that large. Larger than the gap between Bronze-rank and Silver-rank mercenaries. On top of that, Jade was one of the handful of true experts among the very few Gold-rank Mercenaries.

"Let’s go in and talk first. Our Kyle here will pay for everything anyway."

Jade turned his head and grinned, then stopped. When he opened the short second door, the room inside came into view. Just like the tavern they had seen a moment ago, the room was softly lit here and there by Magic Stone light. Pale smoke drifted faintly through it. Several large bookshelves stood against one wall. Papers were spread thickly across a large desk in front of them.

"Our first guests have arrived. Three of them, too."

The woman sitting at the desk spoke. She had the same black hair and black eyes as Kyle, and her hair was long and straight. Holding a long pipe in one hand, she lifted her eyes from the pile of documents and looked beyond the open door.

Pipe tobacco. Judging by the smell, it wasn’t poisonous herbs, but a blend of medicinal herbs.

The woman’s hand, holding the pipe, twitched. Her black eyes swept over the three guests who had entered. Starting with Jade, her gaze moved past Kyle and stopped on Elysia. She tilted her head slightly. From all of her movements, Kyle could tell that the woman before him was a mage of considerable skill.

"Very famous people, aren’t you? I didn’t expect Jade the Flash to visit our branch."

"Oh. How’d you know? Do names pop up over people’s heads once you see them or something?"

"Every information agent knows. And among them, you’re especially famous. Your appearance is widely known."

A Gold-rank mercenary with an incredibly fast sword. A powerhouse with direct ties to House Valerian, the most prestigious family in the Kingdom of Kirian. It had already been close to three years, but anyone in the know had heard the story that Jade had once worked on the same team as the Night Crow of Kirian, who had become the youngest Silver-rank.

"And beside you..."

The woman’s eyes narrowed. After staring for a while through the hoods over Kyle and Elysia, her expression tightened ever so slightly.

So she doesn’t know. Or she has a guess, but no certainty.

Unlike Jade, who moved around with his face exposed, Kyle wore his hood in most important situations. Because of that, his identifying traits amounted to a black cloak and a single sword at his waist. And that cloak was currently being worn by Elysia. It would not be easy to identify Kyle from one sword at his waist and torn leather armor. Mercenaries dressed like this were everywhere.

"...Sit down first. This may take a while."

The woman broke the silence first and jerked her chin toward the chairs in front of her. Kyle and the other two sat across from her as she suggested.

"I’m Nadia, branch chief of Serentia’s Nibelmund branch."

"......."

"So, what brings you here?"

Nadia carefully set the pipe in her hand at the corner of the table and spoke again. Jade and Elysia did not answer, instead turning toward Kyle, who sat in the middle.

"The most accurate information currently available on the Duchy of Tervan."

"So it’s that after all..."

At Kyle’s words, Nadia blinked tiredly and leaned back against her chair. The thin smoke rising from one side of the table slowly faded.

"You know about it?"

"Of course. We’ve been insanely busy because of it for almost a month."

"Sounds like you’ve had plenty of other guests besides us."

"We have. More than a few shipments pass through the duchy. Thanks to that, we’ve been swamped lately. Even ten hands wouldn’t be enough."

The Kingdom of Sarmaren was a trade kingdom where commerce flourished not only with the Velia continent, but with other continents as well. Naturally, the Duchy of Tervan, lying between them, had no choice but to become an important trade route.

"Let’s get to the point. How much do you want?"

"How far can you go?"

Kyle answered Nadia’s question with a probing question of his own. She gave a small laugh.

"Anything. As long as you have enough money, we can provide everything you want. The number of barbarian tribes currently occupying the Tervan highlands. The reason they suddenly started rampaging. Lists of the mercenaries killed so far and the merchants who were robbed. The current state of the highland routes. Even the interests tying Duke Tervan to Count Barkan, who committed treason."

The information was more detailed than Kyle had expected. Of course, they would have to pay a fitting price, but the three of them had no other way to learn the current situation in detail.

Whatever the case, it would be better than crossing the duchy blind. Nadia must have been confident, because ever since giving up on guessing Kyle’s identity earlier, she had maintained a relaxed attitude. Kyle, who had been listening, asked again.

"It’s information we can trust, I assume."

"You say funny things. Every piece of Serentia’s information is verified directly by our agents, with their own feet and eyes. We don’t sell anything uncertain. If you want that, we can give it to you, but we’ll tell you in advance."

"So?"

"If you need it right now, we can give you everything. At the very least, you won’t be disappointed. We even have information that came in before sunset earlier."

"Exactly what kind?"

"Not Tervan. Brendel. The half-overturned Ligrid Gate and fortress. For example..."

Nadia drew a breath, then added.

"The appearances of the traitor and collaborator being chased by two Imperial wyvern knights. The fact that both wyvern knights vanished overnight. The fact that a mercenary presumed to be the Night Crow of Kirian happened to be traveling with companions no one had seen before, and that the two of them matched the descriptions pursued by the Imperial side, right up to the moment they crossed the gate into Nibelmund."

Claaang!

A clear metallic sound rang out. Cold metal touched Nadia’s neck. Kyle had somehow risen from his seat. In his hand was a sword no one had seen him draw.

"Stop."

Kyle spoke in a deadly voice. The air sank heavily.

"Don’t say another word."

In the silence, their black eyes met in the air. The drawn silver blade caught the light of the Magic Stone lamps and rippled amber.

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