WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Curse Knight of Oblivion ◈

Vol. 1 Ch. 1: The Boy Who Aspires to Be a Knight

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On a hill overlooking the sea west of the coal-mining town of Worg, a blond boy and a brown-haired young man were training with swords.

The blond boy was small, with sharp, upturned eyes and a fierce-looking face. One lock of his hair had been grown out and braided into a thin plait.

The brown-haired young man had a gentle face, with drooping eyes and eyebrows. He was tall, but not particularly intimidating.

They both wore dirty shirts and trousers with suspenders, with simple vests thrown over them. It was an ordinary outfit, commonly seen in this town.

“Yah!”

The blond boy lowered his stance and tried to rush into the brown-haired young man’s guard.

The young man calmly evaded him and put some distance between them.

The two swung wooden swords, but their movements differed from those of the town’s roughnecks. They had proper form. Even their grips were the sort used for longswords.

When the blond boy charged again, the brown-haired young man precisely knocked his sword upward, then pointed out in a mild tone,

“Theo, your return stroke is weak. Your blade tip is up too.”

“My hands were a little sweaty, so it slipped.”

Theo, the blond boy, protested with pursed lips, then suddenly looked startled.

“...No, Allen is right, and yet I tried to excuse my own weakness. That is dishonesty unbecoming of a knight. I will reflect on it.”

“Isn’t that taking it a little too seriously?”

Allen looked exasperated, but Theo was serious.

Elbert, the Paladin and hero Theo admired, would never make such a pathetic excuse.

“You should understand, Allen. You are the son of a holy knight. Termea prey on weakness in the heart. That is why knights must always keep their hearts strong.”

Theo spoke of what a knight ought to be, but neither he nor Allen was actually a knight.

Both were coal miners in this town, though fourteen-year-old Theo was still treated as an apprentice. Rather than swinging a pickaxe, his main work was polishing lamps, gathering scraps, and other odd jobs.

Even so, Theo had resolved to become a knight someday.

That was why Allen, whose father had been a holy knight, gave him sword lessons like this.

Theo raised his sword again, but Allen did not seem eager to continue.

“Theo. Let’s take a break.”

“I can still fight.”

“You don’t want this to interfere with work, do you? Are you planning to fall asleep behind the coal crates again, like last time?”

“Urk.”

Remembering what had happened the previous week, Theo fell silent.

Theo was a serious boy. He swore he never slacked off at work.

It was just that he had trained until the last possible moment that day, and then a mountain of chores had piled up. The instant work ended, he had leaned against a coal crate and drifted off.

If Allen had not woken him, he might have slept straight through until the next shift.

Compared with Allen, who was big and strong, Theo was much scrawnier and tired easily. Allen was concerned about Theo’s lack of stamina.

Unable to argue back, Theo received a stern warning from Allen, who arranged his face into a severe expression.

“Theo is small, so you’re hard to find.”

“Grr... What do you mean, just because you’re big...?”

Allen’s severe face suddenly turned very gentle.

His smile even seemed merciful.

“Theo, it’s time to face reality. It’s not that I’m big. You’re small.”

He was merciless despite that merciful expression.

“Gnnnn...!”

Theo raised his eyebrows in anger, but swallowed any further protest.

It was frustrating to have an old failure brought up, but back then, he had also felt relieved that Allen had properly found him.

Theo somehow tended to fade into the background, and people often forgot about him. Surely it was because he was short. He often thought that if he grew as tall as Allen, he would stay in people’s memories better.

Just then, a young boy’s voice called from the direction of town.

“Hey!”

Running toward them were a black-haired sister and brother. Marina, the older sister, was fifteen, and Pino, the younger brother, was ten. Both were Theo and Allen’s neighbors in the mining town.

Leaving behind Marina, who was a little clumsy, Pino raced up the hill and reached them.

Out of breath, Pino said,

“Allen! And, um... Seo?”

Theo’s cheek twitched as Pino got his name wrong. “Te. O,” he insisted.

But Pino did not seem to have Theo in his sight at all. Looking up at Allen, he raised his voice.

“They say a Termea appeared in the mine!”

Marina caught up shortly afterward. Adjusting her crooked glasses, she added to her brother’s words.

“East Thirteenth Tunnel. Dad is down there too...!”

At the words of the black-haired siblings, Theo swallowed hard.

（At last...）

The muscles around his back tightened with tension, and it seemed to spread all the way to his fingertips. Cold sweat made his hand slip on the sword hilt.

Allen spoke to him.

“Theo, can you do this?”

Allen was always gentle, but at times like this, his voice was steady and firm. It gave Theo courage.

（I’m going to become a knight like Paladin Elbert.）

Theo drew a deep breath and raised his voice as if encouraging himself.

“Yeah!”

The two nodded to each other and raced down the hill.

The hill was far from gentle, strewn everywhere with jagged rocks.

Tall Allen did not let his long legs get in his way as he ran down the uneven hill. Allen was always easygoing, but he was exceptionally good at using his body.

Small Theo followed him, sometimes hopping from foothold to foothold.

（If Allen is a swift horse, I’m a ball rolling down a slope.）

The important thing was to understand one’s own body.

How far it could reach, how far it could bend, how much it could endure, how much it could lift, how far it could jump.

Allen often said this while teaching Theo the sword.

（My legs, my jump, can reach that rock.）

Theo leaped toward the rocks down to his left and landed. This was the distance Theo could jump. Allen could still reach much farther.

That frustrated Theo.

＊　＊　＊

This was not Theo’s first attempt at hunting a Termea. He had taken part three times before, but the first time, fear had frozen his legs and he had accomplished nothing but standing there.

The second time, he had forced himself to take at least one step, fallen flat, and accomplished nothing.

The third time, his legs had moved a little more, but he had not known what to do. He had only scurried around the adults and accomplished nothing.

（Today, I will...）

Theo and Allen ran down the cliffside toward the mine entrance.

It seemed some of those inside had evacuated after the Termea appeared. Allen called to one of them.

“I heard a Termea appeared. How big is it?”

“It absorbed a horse. Probably Second Grade. It showed up deep in East Thirteenth Tunnel.”

As he listened, Theo unfolded a map of the tunnels in his mind.

Theo might be inferior to Allen in size and strength, but he was good at studying. He knew roughly everything, from the mine maps and miner assignments to excavation schedules and supply consumption rates.

（That’s unusual. It’s awfully deep for a Termea to appear...）

While Theo was thinking, Allen picked up a sword and shield that had been tossed carelessly into a wooden box.

The shield was wooden, but the sword was a slightly better one made of Red Steel, unlike their wooden practice swords. Its silver blade sometimes appeared reddish depending on the light.

Theo took only a sword, then grabbed a lantern as well and jumped into the lift.

They sheathed their swords, secured the lanterns to their belts, and gripped the lift’s railing tightly with both hands. Allen tucked his shield under his arm and held it firmly in place. An evacuated miner called out, “Be careful!”

Allen put his hand on the lift lever and looked at Theo.

“Theo, don’t get thrown off.”

“I know!”

When Allen pulled the lever, the cage carrying them dropped at tremendous speed. It was closer to falling than descending.

Falling from the height of about five stories was thrilling no matter how often Theo experienced it. Especially for someone as small as Theo, who could easily be flung away without a firm grip on the railing.

At last, the descent stopped with a loud thud.

Each holding a sword and lantern, they stepped out of the lift and entered the horizontal tunnel. Theo took the lead at times like this.

East Thirteenth Tunnel was not where Allen normally worked. Theo, on the other hand, ran errands all over the mine, and he remembered every side passage in the tunnels, even those not marked on maps.

As they went on, Theo muttered,

“East Thirteenth Tunnel... I don’t like that place. It’s where spring water started coming up a little while ago.”

“Did they install the pumping machine already?”

“Yeah. The water has been draining, and excavation should have just started.”

The things miners least wanted to encounter in a tunnel were spring water, gas, and Termea.

Spring water could burst out with enough force to sweep people away. Gas could catch the lantern flame and cause a massive explosion. Termea attacked people and planted curses in them. All were terrible disasters for miners.

The two moved through the tunnel cautiously, listening closely. From farther in came the shouts of the miners who remained. There was also the neighing of a horse.

Horses were sometimes used to haul loads through the mine, but that sound was probably different.

（The Termea is ahead.）

First, check the distance to the enemy, hold the sword properly... Theo listed all the things he needed to do.

Seeing Theo’s tense expression, Allen said,

“It seems to have absorbed a horse. Watch out for its charge.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll be fine if you do it like we practiced.”

“Yeah.”

“Theo has no intention of becoming a knight.”

“Yeah... No!”

Theo had been replying absentmindedly. Now he raised his eyebrows and glared at Allen. Allen smiled in an infuriatingly pleased way.

Gathering every bit of his fighting spirit, Theo raised his sword and declared,

“I’m going to become a knight like the hero Elbert! I swear it on this sword!”

“That’s mine equipment...”

“Let’s go, Allen!”

Behind Theo’s brave advance, he heard a small, muffled pfft.

“There, you’re back to normal.”

Allen raised his shield and moved ahead of Theo.

In a slightly wider area deeper in the tunnel, several miners were running from a black horse monster.

The black horse monster, or rather, a Termea that had absorbed a horse.

Termea were shapeless red-black monsters that invaded the continent by crossing the Sea of Oblivion. They possessed the trait of imitating the creatures they absorbed.

Termea generally did not absorb humans. Humans were the vessels they needed to multiply.

Instead, they absorbed nonhuman creatures, animals, fish, birds, and the like, and imitated their movements.

The creature running about before them was a horse with red-black fur and red eyes. Looking closely, it had even reproduced the muscles and mane.

But looking like a horse did not mean it would calm down with a carrot. In fact, the black horse was chasing the miners.

One of the fleeing miners, the mine foreman Gatto, noticed them and called out.

“Allen! Shorty! Did you bring Red Steel?”

“Only these two!”

When Allen answered, Gatto waved from behind cover.

“Good, hand them over! Throw them here!”

“Throwing them would be dangerous.”

Even though Allen said so, the other miners began calling out, “Over here!” and “Give them here!”

They could hardly wait to kill the troublesome monster with their own hands. Worg’s miners were quick-tempered and eager for a fight.

Then the horse-shaped Termea charged straight at Allen. Since Allen was so large, he was easily targeted first at times like this.

Allen twisted his body and smoothly evaded the charge, then asked Gatto,

“Don’t you have swords, Foreman?”

“They got buried in a cave-in!”

Apparently, the swords they had brought as a precaution against Termea had been buried by a small cave-in that occurred at the worst possible moment.

That left them with no choice but to fight using pickaxes, but pickaxes were unsuited to killing Termea. A Termea could only be defeated by reducing its body to half its original volume or less.

The horse-absorbing Termea imitated a horse’s snort, then charged at Allen again.

At the same time, the horse’s tail, which had reproduced a fluffy texture until then, grew thin and long. The Blood Tail, resembling a snake, was faintly red, and a thick, sharp hook grew from its tip. This Blood Tail was the Termea’s weapon.

When its prey was not human, a Termea gouged it with the hook at the end of its Blood Tail, weakened it, and then absorbed it.

When its prey was human, it did not absorb them. It planted a curse through its Blood Tail instead.

The curse controlled a human from within, eventually consuming their entire body and turning them into a new Termea.

That was how Termea multiplied.

Theo’s hand trembled around his sword.

In his first battle, he had not been able to take a single step. In the second and third, he had been useless too.

（...My legs are moving.）

The soles of his boots scraped across the ground.

It was all right. He could do it. To convince himself, Theo opened his mouth.

“‘The noble hero, Paladin Elbert...’”

It was a tale of heroism he had heard many times.

He had repeated the words that followed again and again in his heart, gripping his sword. His body remembered them better than his head did.

Theo shouted.

“‘Never gives up, no matter how dire the situation!’”

As he told himself that, his scattered stance naturally settled into place: his grip on the sword, the angle of his arms, the spread of his legs, his center of gravity.

While Allen pinned down the charging Termea with his shield, Theo circled behind it.

Termea that imitated living creatures had red eyes, but almost their entire bodies were supposedly sensory organs. It was as though they had eyes all over them. An attack from any direction could not be a surprise.

Even so, if two people attacked from different directions at once, they could divide the Termea’s attention.

“Yah!”

Theo’s sword gouged the Termea’s hind leg.

As the horse’s body lost its balance, Allen lowered his shield and severed its neck with the sword in his right hand.

Allen drew the enemy’s attention, and Theo attacked in the opening, throwing the enemy off balance. Then Allen attacked the unbalanced enemy again. That was the fighting style they had practiced.

Termea had no clear weak point. To defeat one, they had no choice but to cut and cut and keep cutting until its volume was half or less.

Theo and Allen changed positions as they slashed at the Termea.

The sensation traveling through their swords resembled cutting living flesh. It was better without bones, but their hands gradually grew tired from swinging with force.

Theo gritted his teeth so that the sword would not slip from his hand.

（It’s all right. I can still fight. I’ve trained hard every day.）

The Termea extended the Blood Tail it had once withdrawn, this time from the cross-section of its severed neck.

Allen quickly blocked it with his shield.

“Theo!”

As if pushed forward by Allen’s voice, Theo raised his sword.

（Hero Elbert, give me strength...!）

He brought down his sword toward the cross-section where the Blood Tail emerged.

The powerful blow cleanly sliced off the Blood Tail.

The Termea remains that fell to the ground with a thud hardened one after another.

Termea were basically soft red-black masses, taking on a texture like the living creature when they absorbed one. Severed parts and corpses hardened like this.

Just to make sure, Theo poked the black remains at his feet with the tip of his sword. Even the largest piece had hardened completely.

“I... beat it...”

He had decided he would say something cool when he succeeded in killing a Termea for the first time. But when he actually defeated it, the words that came out were simple joy.

“I did it...!”

At once, the miners who had been hiding behind cover burst out with a roar.

They mobbed Theo and Allen.

Some slapped their backs in praise, while others whistled cheerfully.

Among them, Gatto vigorously rubbed Theo’s head with a thick hand.

“Honestly, you little brat, taking a risk like that!”

“Uh... Sorry.”

Theo shrank back without thinking, and Gatto raised thick eyebrows and shouted,

“What would happen to our work if we lost a helpful Shorty?”

Theo was so surprised that his mouth fell open.

After all, he was a weak miner’s apprentice. He was hardly ever allowed to use a pickaxe, and the work entrusted to him was nothing but odd jobs.

So he had never imagined that his absence would interfere with anything.

Gatto remembered how Theo worked and appreciated him. That made Theo’s heart leap with joy, but that was one thing and this was another.

Theo raised his voice and insisted,

“I’m not Shorty, I’m Theo! The-O! And Foreman, you left the excavation plan out on the office desk again, didn’t you? I put it away. The paperwork for replacing the Red Steel sword lost today is in the bundle with the light blue cover.”

“See? Our Theo is a helpful Shorty, right?”

At Allen’s words, all the miners burst out laughing.

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