WeTried Translations
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Sword Master of the Fallen Kingdom
Chapter 95
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How to Cross the Waves (1)
The two leaders who had led the barbarian tribes and the rebels were gone. The deaths of Great Chieftain Zakan and Count Barkan left an enormous impact.
The first to move were the barbarian tribes. With the Great Chieftain, their central pillar, gone, they naturally broke apart. During Shurak, the Proof of Blood, the condition had already been set that they would retreat if Zakan died.
They had no reason to keep fighting.
A few who had followed Zakan blindly tried to resist and met meaningless deaths. With the chieftains of all three tribes gone, those who now held the highest positions each led their own tribes away.
The convoy soldiers, their morale high, tried to chase them, but the knights desperately stopped them. They lacked both the time and the numbers to defeat the scattered forces one by one. More than anything, there was something more important right now.
“No, no!”
“Those cowardly barbarian bastards!”
“We need to run too...”
The count’s remaining soldiers fell into confusion. Their numbers were similar to the convoy soldiers’, but from the moment the count’s head was cut off, their morale had already crashed into the dirt.
Every one of them looked at Kyle with terror-filled eyes. Kyle tossed aside the count’s head skewered on his sword as if shaking filth from the blade.
Then he looked back. Fortunately, the convoy had not suffered any real damage. Elysia had knocked away every arrow that flew in, and Jade and the other knights had dealt with the charging cavalry.
No deaths, then.
In truth, it had barely been a battle at all. By the time the two sides were about to clash in earnest, Kyle had already cut off the count’s head. Everything had gone according to his plan.
Only one thing remained.
Kyle turned his head again and looked at the count’s remaining soldiers. They were slowly backing away, ready to retreat at any moment. But they could not openly withdraw. They had just seen Kyle climb the ridge alone and take the heads of both the Magic Tower mage and the count.
They were not even sure they could escape. If a blade came flying at them right away, they might be the one to die. On top of that, Kyle had scattered the mage’s flames in a single stroke and shredded the area around him with blade winds. That overwhelming sight, carved deep into their minds, made them hesitate.
Fear was eating away at their feet.
“This is a great victory. To think we truly drove the barbarians out...”
“Did you see that earlier? In all my life, I’ve never seen such precise swordsmanship.”
“Sir Kellan was right. I heard he was a silver-rank mercenary...”
The knights below muttered in tones close to awe.
They came up the slope with the ranger captain and the soldiers. Jade and Elysia were among them.
“You all right?”
The dark brown-haired mercenary asked as he looked at Kyle.
“Yes.”
“For someone called the Great Chieftain who united the three tribes faster than expected, he was weaker than I thought.”
“He was below you.”
“Thought so.”
Jade gave a small laugh and looked between Great Chieftain Zakan’s corpse below the ridge and the count’s headless body above it. For the final moments of the men who had thrown the duchy into chaos and blocked the trade route between Brendel and Sarmaren, they looked terribly pathetic.
“Ellie, what about you? Are you hurt?”
“I am fine.”
Kyle checked Elysia’s complexion. Just as she said, aside from using large-scale spells a few times, she did not seem to have any real injuries.
“I left the convoy to Merchant Head Silas for now. Some of the wagons were damaged, but there should be no problem moving right away.”
Kellan, who came up last, spoke while glancing down. Around the convoy’s baggage wagons, the trade company members who had not joined the battle and the mercenaries hired for the trading convoy were resting with a small number of soldiers.
“There is a great deal I want to say, but...”
Kyle’s identity. The uncertainty about what came next. Setting all of that aside, Kellan chose his words for a moment, then asked again.
“What will you do now?”
Kellan was currently the overall commander of the soldiers, but in practice, Kyle held greater authority. It could not be helped. He had killed Great Chieftain Zakan and the count by himself.
Everyone looked at Kyle’s closed mouth. The checkpoint and fortress soldiers. The knights commanding them. Even the rebels waiting endlessly for judgment like prisoners on the execution platform. All of them waited for Kyle’s answer as one. Before they knew it, the count’s soldiers had been surrounded in a wide ring.
Kyle slowly looked around and opened his mouth.
“Come out.”
The count’s soldiers’ gazes gathered in one place for only a moment, then a knight walked steadily toward Kyle. Murmurs rose here and there. The knights reacted especially strongly.
“Do you know him?”
“...Yes. He was famous for being honorable.”
Kellan answered with a troubled expression. The knight stopped near Kyle. The mercenary in the black cloak and the defeated count’s knight stared at each other.
“Name?”
“Bran.”
“I see.”
The knight who called himself Bran answered with a calm face. His eyes held complicated emotions as he looked down at his lord’s corpse.
“Will you surrender?”
Kyle spoke while looking at the soldiers behind him. They had lost their will to fight, but many of them still remained. In terms of sheer numbers, they were about even. The balance had broken purely because of a single variable named Kyle.
“I have no choice.”
Because of that, there was no need to shed more blood. Bran also nodded without resistance.
“But shameless as it is, I have one request.”
“A request?”
“Please spare the soldiers. They are not guilty. They were only swept into this to survive.”
He knelt. The eyes of the soldiers behind him widened.
Kellan and the other knights reacted much the same way.
“Spare only the soldiers, you say...”
Kyle let out a dry laugh. Perhaps interpreting that laugh in his own way, Bran bowed deeply while still on his knees.
“Until recently, these men were ordinary soldiers carrying out their duties to the duchy.”
“But they plundered trading convoys. They looked rather happy doing it.”
“I will not deny that such men exist among them. But far more were caught up in this before they knew what was happening and committed treason without realizing it. You may take this old man’s head as you please. I am a coward and a craven man who chose to close his eyes even after seeing his lord go astray.”
But.
Bran paused for a beat, then continued.
“I beg you to show mercy for the soldiers’ lives, at least. Though they are rebels, they are also someone’s fathers and sons. If these men die, countless more victims will be created. Please...”
Bran’s voice was desperate. By the end, it had nearly turned into begging.
“What do you think?”
Kyle turned to the side. Kellan stood there, looking down at Bran with pitying eyes.
“Normally, we should wait for His Grace the Duke’s judgment, but...”
“But?”
“Since the matter is urgent, a temporary pardon should be possible. Execute the knights, and punish the soldiers without killing them.”
Kellan offered a fairly lenient solution. Kyle’s judgment happened to be the same.
The knights, who were no different from commanders, could not avoid execution for the crime of treason. The soldiers, though, were different. As the old knight had said, more of them had been forced into this than not. Killing all of the count’s soldiers, nearly three hundred men, was not a good choice either. The moment that happened, the count’s fortress, now without its lord, would be left empty. In the long run, that would also bring heavy losses to the duchy.
Kyle exchanged looks with Kellan and the other knights. They seemed to share the same opinion, and none of them raised any objections.
“Fine. I accept your request.”
“Then...”
“The soldiers will be spared.”
“I thank you for your mercy...”
“But all the knights will be executed.”
“That is what I wished for. I will pay for my sins with this head.”
Bran lowered his head deeply. The other surviving knights went pale as they looked at Kyle.
“I, I...”
“This cannot be! How dare a lowly mercenary do this to me, a knight...!”
Kyle did not listen any further. One by one, he cut off the heads of every knight except Bran.
They could not put up much resistance. They had already seen Kyle’s strength. Only when death stood right before them did they hesitate and raise their swords.
Of course, they could not withstand Kyle’s blade. Their heads were cleanly severed in one strike, spraying fountains of blood.
The knights who had struggled all fell silent.
“Do you have any final words?”
Kyle stood behind the kneeling old knight. Instead of opening his mouth, Bran slowly shook his head.
“...I see.”
Kyle cut off the old knight’s head in a single stroke. Orange sword light, dyed by the sunset, flashed, and Bran’s severed head rolled across the ground with his blood. The soldiers who had survived through his sacrifice moved their soundless lips with gloomy eyes.
Kyle lightly shook the blood from his sword and slid it into its sheath.
The highland field beneath the setting sun was cold. The stench of blood spread between the cooling corpses and pools of blood.
Under everyone’s gaze, Kyle looked down at the convoy below the ridge and said,
“We move immediately.”
“...”
“To the count’s fortress.”
***
After roughly handling the aftermath of the battle, the convoy, including Kyle, headed for the count’s fortress on the main trade route, their original destination.
Their numbers had nearly doubled from three hundred to almost six hundred, but there was no problem controlling them. To begin with, most of the count’s soldiers had been forced into battle. However things had turned out, they were greatly relieved that their lives had been spared. Thanks to that, even the small number of knights had no trouble keeping them under control. Above all, Kyle was there.
By the time the sun had fully set, the convoy of nearly six hundred reached the count’s fortress.
As soon as the remaining fortress troops heard that the count was dead, they opened the gate at once. It was only natural, since there were fewer than a hundred soldiers inside. After entering the fortress, Kellan and the other knights busied themselves handling the aftermath.
They discussed the punishment of the soldiers who had taken part in the treason.
They checked the fortress’s remaining supplies and assessed the damage.
They sent a letter to the duchy’s capital by messenger hawk.
Even right after fighting a battle, they looked exhausted from work.
They would likely be quite busy for a while.
Kyle was not too worried, though. With Great Chieftain Zakan dead, the barbarian tribes no longer had a single remaining chieftain. The barbarians Kyle had killed until now were not few in number either. Their central pillar was gone, and their strength had been greatly weakened, so they should remain quiet for the time being.
The rebellion had also been stopped. With the count dead and the barbarian tribes in retreat, the trade route opened again. Before long, the blocked trading convoys would come and go, and trade between Brendel and Sarmaren would resume. In other words, it also meant it was time for Kyle’s group to leave.
Early morning, before dawn had broken.
“You are leaving right away?”
Kyle had spent one night at the fortress that had belonged to Count Barkan.
The treatment had been very good. Before leaving, he also received supplies, including food. That was possible because the fortress had plenty stored away.
“I should. There’s no reason to stay any longer.”
Kyle took his eyes off Kellan and looked back. Though it was still an hour when they would normally be asleep, Jade and Elysia were awake and sitting in the wagon. The horses, well rested and fed plenty of fodder, were the same. Their condition was not bad either.
“...I see.”
Kellan, who had dragged his tired body out from dawn to see him off, muttered with a regretful expression. His gaze kept flicking between Kyle and the wagon behind him.
“I will make one last suggestion, just in case. Will you not come to the capital with us?”
“The capital?”
“The place where the duke resides. You have accomplished great deeds, so you will certainly receive a reward worthy of them. Of course, it will take some time, but it should be worth it. So...”
Kyle silently shook his head. With an expression that said he had expected it, yet still could not hide his regret, Kellan let out a sigh.
“You are like a passing wind. It almost feels as if I dreamed it all.”
“It probably isn’t much different. These were things that happened because coincidence piled upon coincidence.”
No matter how much he pushed them away, bonds tied by fate were bound to appear.
Kyle thought of the many connections that had passed through his life. Among them were some who had been especially kind to him. A small number of noble houses, including House Valerian, had been that way. So had the young mage from the Magic Tower he had recently left, and the old, wise man.
Life was long, and many memories piled up.
This, too, would become a part of me that I carried until the moment before my death. Even if I denied those things myself.
“Go safely. I pray your path ahead is filled with good fortune.”
“You too.”
Kellan, who had seemed half resigned, suddenly spoke in a relieved voice. Kyle gave a small smile, nodded, and climbed into the back of the baggage wagon.
“Yeah.”
“Then we’re leaving. Young lady, sit properly so you do not fall.”
A moment later, a single baggage wagon rattled away through the opened fortress gate. Kellan watched the back of the vanishing wagon for a long time. Above the fortress wall, between the distant mountain peaks, the red sun slowly rose as if announcing morning.
***
After leaving the fortress, the wagon continued east.
Once they left the duchy’s lands, the full autumn they had left behind finally arrived.
After coming down from the highlands, Kyle’s group moved across flat fields for the first time in a while. Everything around them was dyed in vivid colors. Yellow, green, red, and even the blue of streams and the high sky. The wind that blew from time to time carried the familiar mood of autumn.
Taking all of it in, Kyle spent his time leisurely inside the wagon. Normally, he would have quietly closed his eyes to meditate or sink into thought, but this time he could not, because Jade and Elysia were there. More precisely, simply listening to them made it hard to lose himself in his own thoughts. His ears kept ringing.
“The weather is incredible. Completely different from those damned highlands.”
“Is it?”
“I like autumn the most, you know. Spring is too sluggish, summer is too hot, and winter is too cold. What about you, young lady?”
“I like winter best.”
“Tsk. I hate winter as much as summer because the weather is awful... Any special reason?”
“Because the white snow is pretty.”
“Hmm. If that’s the reason, I’ve got nothing to say.”
As always, Jade poured out idle chatter without stopping, and Elysia answered him as if she enjoyed these small conversations. The two of them seemed to get along quite well. Or perhaps Kyle was simply too quiet.
“We’re here. I’ll be going my own way from here.”
After they entered Sarmaren’s territory, Jade got down from the driver’s seat in a small city. Kyle looked at Jade stretching his stiff body and asked,
“You’re leaving now?”
“Yeah. My original destination was Sarmaren anyway. I don’t think there’s any need to travel together any longer.”
“I see.”
“What, now that we’re parting, you feel sad?”
Jade smirked. Kyle clicked his tongue softly.
“Stop talking nonsense and get lost already.”
“You bastard, acting embarrassed.”
Jade’s lips curved into a wide grin. His expression, as if he understood everything, irritated Kyle to no end.
“You still have not chosen a clear destination?”
Regardless of that, perhaps feeling a little regret now that the time for farewell had come, Elysia asked what she was curious about. Jade nodded.
“Right? I’m not the type to live with careful plans.”
“To me, that sounds like you live however you please.”
“Haha! That’s not wrong either. Honestly, if I wanted to settle down somewhere, I would have done it long ago.”
“Then will you wander without a set destination?”
“Probably. For the time being, I’ll travel around like usual. Take profitable commissions when I find them, eat good food, drink good liquor, and enjoy the scenery. If I meet good people along the way, that would be fine too.”
Everyone had their own way of living. If Jade the mercenary’s life had to be described in one phrase, it was freedom itself. The fact that he wandered the continent even after leaving behind a daughter of a noble house who served as a maid to House Valerian proved that much.
“I’ll get going. If I stay any longer, I’ll just get attached.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
“You and the young lady too. See you later.”
And so Jade left. He did not look back until the end.
“That is unexpected.”
“What is?”
“I thought you would feel a little more regret. He is a rather old acquaintance, is he not?”
“That’s not a reason to be sad. If he’s alive, we’ll meet again someday.”
With only the two of them finally remaining, Kyle and Elysia continued east as planned. They stopped by cities along the way to rest.
Starting from the third city, they sold the wagon outright. Jade was no longer there to act as driver, and there were only two of them, so there was no reason to keep traveling in a large baggage wagon.
Thanks to that, Kyle and Elysia each rode a horse.
It was not uncomfortable. After losing Sieg, Kyle had instinctively avoided riding, but this was not the time to worry about such things.
At some point, the damp wind began to carry salt. It was proof that they were drawing close to the sea.
Two weeks.
That was how long they had traveled east after leaving the duchy. When the salt in the wind grew stronger, Kyle finally saw the place he had chosen as their destination.
“That place is...”
“Yes.”
When they climbed the hill, a magnificent scene unfolded before their eyes. Countless buildings stood along the curving coastline. At the docks, innumerable sailing ships came and went without pause. People moved busily among them.
The key stopover for Kyle and Elysia to cross over to the Federation.
It was the port city of Cadis.
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