WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ Sword Master of the Fallen Kingdom

Chapter 93

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Proof of Blood (2)

After Kyle killed every scout from the barbarian unit, Kellan and the duchy knights sent out several quick-footed scouts under the ranger captain's direction.

Before long, the column encountered a ranger unit. They were not the scouts who had just been sent out. These were soldiers who had gone ahead a week earlier to scout the barbarian force blocking the supply route between Baron Daren's fortress and the capital.

After hearing the situation from Kellan, they joined the column. Later, before sunset, the rangers sent out to search returned after finding traces of the barbarian force. By then, the column had swelled to nearly three hundred people. The barbarian force blocking the supply route was not far now.

Kyle wiped out another wandering scout group.

It was not especially difficult. There were not that many of them.

One day passed, then two. From the third day on, they used the rangers who went out to search as bait. The barbarians scattered across the main trade route paid dearly for mistaking the column for a large trade convoy. Each time, Kyle used as little mana as possible and inflicted damage close to total annihilation.

He did not chase down the few barbarians who survived. There was no reason to waste time leaving the route for that.

Letting them live and report back as messengers was exactly what Kyle wanted. What mattered was reducing their numbers as much as possible before reaching Count Barkan's fortress and drawing the enemy outside.

A week passed that way.

"We camp here tonight! Everyone down!"

At the head of the column, Kellan shouted from the middle of an open field. The sun was setting. Troops, including the rangers, poured out of the stopped wagons.

They set up camp using the wagons as shields, ready to respond to an ambush at any time. Campfires were lit and dinner preparations began. Perhaps because the days had grown shorter in autumn, dim twilight began settling over the ground in the blink of an eye.

"Fortunately, there have been no deaths yet."

Kyle said it while looking over the whole column. Kellan, standing beside him, nodded.

"That's right. It's all thanks to you."

Near a small stream close by, the company members had released the horses to water and feed them. Silas, the merchant head who had somehow ended up traveling with them to the very end, checked the goods inside the wagons and the remaining provisions. At first, he had been flustered by the repeated barbarian attacks, but he soon adapted and showed his usual skill. From Kyle's perspective, that was a good thing.

"We're right in front of it now."

Kellan answered as if Kyle was right.

"We should reach the area near Count Barkan's fortress sometime tomorrow."

"The scouts?"

"They should return soon, so don't worry. I told them to come back before sunset... Ah, there they are."

Kellan, who had been looking east, raised his hand. Riders from the ranger unit were approaching from that direction.

"How was it?"

Kellan asked the rangers who stopped nearby. The veteran ranger commanding the temporary scout team lightly hopped down from his horse and answered.

"About the same as last time. There were only traces of a few barbarians out scouting, like our side. Nothing else stood out."

"Did you see them directly?"

"We ran into them from a distance."

"Did you engage?"

"No. They withdrew first. They didn't seem interested in fighting."

"Then you didn't see the main force either."

"No. It felt like they were avoiding us completely..."

"That's what they say. What do you think?"

"We continue as planned, just as I said before. No need to let the enemy pull us around. They probably decided gathering their forces all at once was better than sending small units and getting defeated one by one. Unless they're idiots."

The number of barbarians Kyle had killed over the week while moving toward Count Barkan's fortress had reached nearly five hundred. On the other hand, not a single person in the column had died. There were only a few wounded.

Even those injuries were not severe enough to need potions. Thanks to that, the soldiers could receive simple treatment and continue marching. Most of all, Kyle had intentionally spared a small number of barbarians, so there was a high chance the enemy leadership had already learned their route and was taking direct action.

"What do you plan to do if they don't come out and hole up in the fortress?"

After the rangers who had gone scouting left, Kellan asked again in a worried voice.

"I'll have to sneak into the fortress alone under cover of night."

"That joke isn't funny."

"It isn't a joke. If I kill the count and the Great Chieftain, the fight is over. But that won't happen in the first place. The enemy has already read our route too. There's a high chance they'll set an ambush instead."

"...An ambush?"

"If they stay shut inside the fortress, that also means their movements are limited while ours are free. They won't let us slip away after we've killed nearly a thousand of their troops so far. The enemy still has an overwhelming advantage in remaining forces. They'll definitely set a trap and wait."

Kyle spoke with certainty. Since Kellan had already heard the operation plan in advance, his expression stiffened, but he said nothing more.

"Our supplies will hit their limit soon too. With the new ranger unit joining, we've gone over three hundred people. Even if the baron gave us a large share of supplies, he wasn't exactly swimming in them from the start either. Like it or not, we have to settle things here."

Kyle's original plan was simple. The barbarians worshiped strength and despised running away in fear. The authority of the Great Chieftain came from that too. Kyle intended to use that.

"So the result will come out around tomorrow in the end."

Kellan muttered quietly while looking up at the dusky sky. Around then, dinner was almost ready. The duchy knights not far away waved at Kellan. After signaling to them with his eyes, Kellan looked back at Kyle and said,

"I'll go first. For tomorrow's sake, I should eat early and sleep."

"I'll say this ahead of time. No alcohol. You know that already, of course."

"I'll keep it in mind. I'll give the soldiers a strict order too. The barbarians probably won't raid us in the middle of the night, but you never know what might happen."

Kellan gave a small laugh and left toward the knights. Kyle watched the middle-aged knight's back for a moment, then approached Jade and Elysia.

"Done talking?"

"Yeah."

Kyle sat in front of the campfire Jade had lit. Dinner tonight was grilled skewers. It was different from what the other soldiers and mercenaries nearby were eating.

They were eating meals made from the provisions Baron Daren had given them. Kyle's group was different. Before crossing the duchy in earnest, Kyle and the other two had bought various ingredients in Nibelmund and had been making their meals with those. The skewers now roasting over the fire were made from rabbits caught and prepared earlier that afternoon. Kyle had seasoned them with the salt and assorted spices he carried.

Elysia took a bite from a skewer. With the well-cooked meat skewer, leftover bread, and cheese, it made a fairly decent meal.

"Want help?"

Jade asked in a slightly swaggering voice.

"No."

"I'll say this ahead of time. Just this once, I'll do it for half price. You know my fee's expensive, right?"

"I don't need you."

"Really? You'll regret it."

"How much were you planning to charge?"

Elysia, who had been listening, cut in.

"Miss, you don't know the rates around here, do you? A Gold-rank mercenary like me starts at ten coins. Even that's cheap. Just because two people are both Gold-rank doesn't mean their skills are similar."

"Ten coins? Surely you mean gold coins?"

"That's right. The base fee is one Large Gold Coin."

"That is very expensive."

"Because I'm worth that much. Well, don't worry too much. If you die, I'll avenge you."

Jade looked at Kyle and chuckled.

Was it a joke, or was he serious?

Kyle thought about it. It was probably closer to a joke. Jade would not even assume Kyle might lose in the first place. Kyle himself was the same.

In the middle of eating, Kyle checked the mana in the ring on his left hand. He had used magic and Sword Aura a few times along the way, but the ring held a little more mana than when they had first arrived in Nibelmund. At this level, he could use sword forms and magic without strain. Striking the enemy leadership at a single point while outnumbered was a tactic he had often used three years ago too.

This time was the same as back then. The only thing that had changed was Kyle himself.

"I'm sleeping first."

"Huh? Already?"

Kyle quickly cleaned up after the meal and went inside the wagon. He would leave the night watch to Jade and Elysia, and just for tonight, he meant to sleep properly.

When he glanced outside the driver's seat, he saw countless stars set into the black night sky. The bright moon was there too. Between the burning campfires, the voices of people from here and there, and the soft moonlight settling down, Kyle hugged his sword and closed his eyes. His black hair stirred faintly in the blowing wind.

***

Once dawn broke, the column moved east again. They were headed toward Count Barkan's fortress, now almost within reach.

The situation around them was changing as well. The barbarian attacks had stopped entirely. Instead, more barbarians were scouting them from far away and then returning, as if testing their reaction.

"We found what looked like barbarian scout groups thirty minutes south and north of the main trade route."

"..."

"What should we do?"

As usual, the veteran ranger who had returned from searching made his report. While Kellan groaned softly, Kyle answered in his place.

"Ignore them. There's no need to go out searching anymore. Rejoin the formation."

"Pardon? Do you mean..."

"I mean there's no point anymore. Their main force won't show itself until the very end anyway."

Kellan, who had stayed silent, opened his mouth.

"We are going on like this?"

"Yes. Straight east, just like this."

At his words, the veteran ranger bowed slightly and naturally joined the steadily advancing column with the rangers under his command. The mood, which had seemed to ease a little after several days since leaving the fortress, was now pulled taut again.

How much time passed like that?

"We seem to be almost there. Count Barkan's fortress is one or two hours ahead from here."

It was late afternoon. Orange light had started creeping over the blue sky. Only the cold, clear air unique to the highlands remained unchanged.

After climbing a large hill, they came upon terrain shaped like a wide basin. Gentle ridges surrounded it on all sides. Yellowing grass swayed this way and that in the occasional breeze. The twenty wagons crossed the hill in order and descended into the broad lower ground.

Then.

"Stop!"

"Everyone halt!"

Kyle raised his hand. Kellan, right beside him, immediately gave the order to stop. The other knights at the head and rear shouted in ringing voices.

Kellan turned to Kyle, wondering what had happened. Kyle, however, kept his mouth shut and scanned the ridges. His black eyes narrowed. He could tell without drawing up mana.

"What is it?"

"An ambush."

"What?"

Kellan's eyes widened in shock. At that moment, the barbarians they had seen several times before suddenly began appearing one by one on the surrounding ridges. As if they had been waiting. Some rode horses, and some held bows.

Among them were the count's soldiers, who had once belonged to the duchy's regular army. The traitorous duchy soldiers mixed among the barbarians looked strangely out of place. The soldiers, mercenaries, and company members who had been marching silently until just a moment ago all parted their lips and muttered in trembling voices. They could not help it.

"Barbarians?"

"Count Barkan's soldiers are there too."

"Since when?"

"Their numbers... there are too many..."

"Can we even win this?"

The quiet column filled with murmurs. The enemies surrounding the column that had descended below the hill in a semicircle far outnumbered them at a glance.

There were over five hundred in plain sight alone. Including the forces likely waiting farther back, there had to be at least a thousand. In truth, that was exactly the case. When Kyle lightly spread the ring's mana, he sensed more than a few cavalrymen ready to charge at any moment and archers with arrows nocked to their bowstrings.

Last came Count Barkan and Great Chieftain Zakan.

Under the slowly setting sunset sky, Kyle looked toward a flag and two commanders who had appeared on the ridge ahead.

They were quite far away, but he could clearly feel two pairs of eyes looking down at this side. With his mana-reinforced vision, Kyle saw them plainly. There was a middle-aged man who looked slightly older than Kellan, and beside him stood a mage wearing black robes similar in color to Kyle's. Then there was a giant, nearly two meters tall, with two curved swords at his waist unlike the other barbarians.

"So that man is Great Chieftain Zakan."

Kellan spoke in a voice that sounded almost bitter. Since he had spent most of his time at the checkpoint near the entrance of the auxiliary trade route, he could not hide his tension at seeing the chief of the barbarians for the first time.

"What now? No, is this truly possible? We did lure them outside the fortress as planned, but it's too late to retreat..."

As Kellan continued speaking, Kyle exchanged glances with Jade and Elysia at the very rear. It lasted only an instant, but that alone was enough to convey his meaning. Without listening to the rest of Kellan's words, Kyle suddenly pulled the reins and rode forward.

"Huh?"

"Wait, who is that?"

"Sir Kyle?"

Startled voices sounded from here and there. The enemies on the ridge were not much different. Every gaze turned to Kyle, who had ridden out alone. Great Chieftain Zakan and Count Barkan did the same.

A dim orange glow and yellow fields. The sound of a single horse's hooves faded into the murmuring noise. Kyle stopped his horse between the column behind him and the enemies who had surrounded the wagons in a semicircle on the ridge. After jumping down from the saddle, he patted the horse's body a couple of times and sent it back toward the wagons where the soldiers were.

Whoooosh...

A cold wind blew. The stream of wind swept down from the hilltop and over the ground with a clear sound like waves. Kyle's black cloak flapped for a moment like a flag.

"Great Chieftain Zakan."

In the silence, Kyle spoke.

"By the Warrior's Covenant, I request Proof of Blood from you."

His voice was quiet, but it rang clear enough to reach the hilltop. Zakan and Kyle's eyes met. Kyle gripped the hilt at his waist. Then he pulled it upward.

Claaang!

A clear metallic sound spread wide with Kyle at the center. Kyle reversed the sword in his hand and planted it vertically at his feet.

All around them, it was quiet enough to hear even breath. After looking down at the sword for a moment, Kyle raised his gaze and stared straight at Zakan.

"Come down."

"Or run away like a coward."

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