WeTried Translations

Translator: Dawn

Editor: Dawn

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race

Chapter 15

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I’m Still Hungry

When Shan borrowed the dead knight’s warhorse, the animal clearly didn’t like him climbing onto its back. It might have had a strong bond with its previous master or perhaps it simply didn’t trust the unfamiliar, lighter weight. So Shan asked the others for a moment and took time to tame it.

Following what he had learned from Roden, he forcefully pulled the reins and kicked its sides, provoking it into resistance, then endured as it tried to throw him off. By the end of it, the warhorse was somewhat exhausted, but Shan was satisfied. It now obediently followed his commands, and its speed exceeded his expectations.

“It’s so fast…!”

Even the black horse he had ridden here, or the gray one before that, couldn’t compare to this. Despite the humid summer air, the wind from its gallop felt refreshing against his face. On top of that, it was also intelligent and responsive. Even without holding the reins, subtle pressure from his legs controlled its speed and direction. It felt like he had gained four new limbs.

I want an even better horse!

A desire he hadn’t felt before now grew within him. Thinking back, the horse ridden by Fional Aldan had been even faster. Perhaps it had been one of those famed warhorses of Horais. Just imagining charging at incredible speed and thrusting a spear from its back. 

His thoughts snapped back to reality. Right now, he was charging head-on toward a troll. This was a life-and-death moment—he needed to focus. But of course, Shan felt no fear. In the briefest instant, he could see and think far more than others. First, he assessed the troll’s condition. In daylight, its form was clearly visible.

It’s lost a lot of weight.

Unlike its earlier bloated form, its waist was now lean, its muscles pronounced. It hadn’t replenished the mass it lost in the previous battle. Even Soros’s corpse had been left untouched. Perhaps it was meant as intimidation, but it also meant the troll didn’t feel the need to eat. Judging from its agility, it had gained much more dexterity after sacrificing a bit of strength, defense, endurance, and regeneration.

Still doesn’t matter.

At the moment of impact, Shan raised the knight’s spear and thrust downward. It was a perfect thrust, wasting no motion—just like the technique Fional had once shown. Though it lacked the overwhelming force of Spirit, proper form alone carried immense power. Combined with the speed and mass of the warhorse, the attack was far stronger than before.

As the spear pierced in, the horse veered slightly, following its master’s order to avoid the troll’s club. If it had struck the eye again, it might have reached the brain, but the troll shielded its face. So Shan adjusted and stabbed its neck instead. The troll coughed, pulling out the spear as blood gushed before slowly healing.

“That’s one hit…”

The spear had served its purpose by stopping the troll’s charge. Next, Shan drew a harpoon he had bought earlier. Just as he had shown before to the merchant Poirve in front of the city, Shan rode around the area, gained momentum, and thrust his harpoon straight in. This time, he targeted the tendon area of ​​the heel, which was relatively hairless and had thin fibers, making it vulnerable to defense and capable of depriving the opponent of their mobility.

“Good! That’s it!”

“Support is coming! Hold on!” From a distance, Kob and the squire shouted encouragement.

It might have looked like they were doing something pointless, but it was surprisingly helpful. Because as the mounted humans shouted incomprehensible things, the troll seemed bothered and kept glancing back. Whenever it lost focus, Shan continued attacking to draw its attention. 

The troll, having just blocked an arrow that nearly pierced its eye with the back of its hand, charged fiercely and swung its club, but following Shan’s command, the warhorse moved skillfully and widened the distance. It was truly a display of unity between man and horse.

“Look at me. I’m your opponent.”

As he muttered quietly, the troll let out a furious roar. Unlike when it had faced two knights before and showed fear, now it only seemed enraged. It couldn’t sense Spirit from Shan’s attacks. He had no power that could take its life in a single blow. 

To the troll, he wasn’t a threatening enemy, just an annoying insect that wouldn’t be caught. Considering Shan’s role was to lure it, that was fortunate, but it still left a bitter taste.

I wish I could use Spirit already.

If he could, he would have ended it in the first clash by piercing its hand and head and tearing through its brain. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that would come out just because he wanted it.

After several more exchanges, Shan drove the last two remaining harpoons into its tendons, sealing its mobility, and glanced down. He could feel the horse beneath him breathing heavily, its heart pounding.

It’s exhausted.

Facing a terrifying troll took a toll, but more than that, the earlier incident of seizing the initiative had likely worn it down. Without that, he wouldn’t have been able to control the horse this perfectly, so it was something he had to accept. Just as he was considering dismounting to fight, the sound of hooves pounding the ground came from afar.

“I’m here!”

Sir Katra, who had moved far enough away to barely remain in sight to lure the troll, charged back with a loud roar, spear in hand. The troll, having recognized his appearance and voice from their previous battle, showed fear in its eyes for the first time. It tried to flee, but it couldn’t move as nimbly as before with harpoons stuck into its heels.

Driven at full speed, Sir Katra’s spear pierced deep into its back. Unlike Shan’s earlier strike that had only made a small hole in its neck, his attack created a wound larger than a human head. Even a troll, a monster like an immortal, couldn’t stand with its spine blown apart. As it collapsed, Sir Katra immediately drew his sword and leapt off his horse. Having sprinted over a kilometer at full speed, his horse was already foaming at the mouth.

“Let’s finish this!”

After a brief hesitation, Shan also jumped down, taking up the knight’s longsword. It was his first time using a two-handed sword, but it wasn’t difficult since he’d seen the knights fight the day before. Though handling a club with a sword like they did might be another matter.

Sir Katra struggled with the troll, which resisted with only its upper body. In the meantime, Shan moved behind it and stabbed into its slowly regenerating spine,  twisting and tearing it apart. With a sharp, sturdy knight’s blade, it was easy to dig into the wounded area not protected by fur and hide. 

Seeing this, Sir Katra laughed heartily and shouted,

“Good! Keep it up!”

From the troll’s perspective, it was about to go crazy. In front, there was someone who could take its head the moment it let its guard down, threatening it with a sword, and behind, a weaker but far more agile nuisance tearing into its wounds like a burrowing insect.

Its regenerative ability tried to restore its damaged spine, but it had already consumed its fat reserves. Soon it would start consuming even its strong muscles, and then it would be finished.  The troll squeezed out its brain and made a final decision.

First, it ignored the knight and swung its club wildly at the boy, luring him closer. Then, at the moment Sir Katra tried to finish it from behind by cutting its neck, it pinpointed his position by shadow, threw away its club, collapsed, and rolled its body sideways. In other words, it made a desperate, all-in body charge.

“…!?”

This was an unprecedented situation—a creature that couldn’t use its legs attacking by rolling its body with its arms. Caught off guard in a favorable position, Sir Katra was swept up and rolled on the ground with the troll. At the last moment, he managed to cut off one arm reaching for him.

Though its fat was gone, even bones and muscles alone weighed several hundred kilograms. The crushing pain of broken arms and shattered ribs forced a groan from him. If the troll still had its full fat like during their first encounter, this impact alone might have killed him.

“Ugh! Cough…!”

As he struggled to breathe, Sir Katra realized the troll had climbed on top of him, drool dripping from its mouth. Driven into extreme hunger, it grabbed his helmet with its remaining hand and opened its jaws wide, as if to devour him whole.

No!

The black void inside its sharp teeth loomed closer. He had just been knighted, his life about to take flight. But now it would end here, in such a place, with a disgraceful record of two knights being slain by a troll.

As his past flashed before his eyes, something gleaming in the sunlight shot past and plunged straight into the troll’s mouth. With a tearing sound, the troll’s jaws froze just before closing on him.

“…Ah…”

Only then did Sir Katra realize Shan had come around behind and thrust his arm into the troll’s open mouth. In his hand was the longsword that had pierced through the roof of its mouth and shredded its brain.

“Are you okay?”

“C-could you, uh…”

At the request to remove the troll crushing him, Shan threw aside the sword and strained to push the corpse off, but it didn’t budge. Only after Kov and Sir Soros’s squire rushed over and helped did they manage to roll the massive body halfway and pull Sir Katra out. Soon after, the rest of the team arrived, panting, and cheered at the sight of the fallen troll.

“We got it!”

“Hooray for Sir Katra!”

“Wait, are you alright, Sir Knight? You are very injured...”

“You fought until it came to this…”

The squire of Sir Katra rushed over to tend to him. However, Sir Soros’s squire had already performed basic first aid, such as removing armor and setting bones, so there wasn’t much left to do. An experienced hunter examined him.

“Since he isn’t coughing up blood, it seems his internal organs are unharmed.”

“Haah…”

As Sir Katra’s squire sighed in relief, the others who had just arrived faced a question. There was no visible wound that should have killed the troll.

“Did it bleed out?”

“Maybe. Looks dried out. Almost as if someone squeezed it dry.”

“He stabbed through its palate and pierced its brain.”

All eyes turned to Kov, the Alto swordsman. With a proud expression, he pointed at Shan.

“That one over there, the Alto you all looked down on. He finished the troll. I saw it clearly.”

Shan paid no attention to their chatter and focused on his own task. Using all his weapons, he stabbed and cut different parts of the troll’s body to identify weaknesses. If he had to fight one again, this knowledge would help.

Piercing through the ear to reach the brain doesn’t work… there’s bone under the jaw too, protecting the head… why is there bone even in the nose? Is there no other way to reach its brain except to go through the mouth or eye?

The troll’s weak point was its head, but its skull protected the brain far more thoroughly than a human’s. Its neck bones were thick, making it hard to sever. Meanwhile, the argument among the team ended when Sir Soros’s squire confirmed the truth. If they hadn’t seen Shan take the troll’s eye the day before, they would never have believed it.

Next came collecting spoils. The main loot from a troll was its bones. They were highly valuable medicinal material—the same kind Roden had once used to treat Shan’s chest. While Shan and the heavily injured Sir Katra rested, the others used razors, saws, chisels, and hammers to strip the troll’s hide and flesh and extract its bones. Before long, only torn fur, skin, flesh, and organs remained where the giant had stood.

“Damn, it’s heavy.”

“Stop slacking and lift more.”

Even after dividing the load among several people, the bones had to be placed on saddles as well since they weighed over 200 kilograms. The squires carried Sir Katra on a makeshift stretcher, and Shan, insisting to help, got off his horse and carried as much bone as he could.

Fortunately, they weren’t attacked on the way back. Even after removing the flesh, the smell of the troll’s blood on the bones spread far and wide. By the time the sun was setting, the city guards were stunned at the sight of them returning with so many troll bones. Shan waved at Roden, who came running after hearing the news.

“I’m back!”

“You’re not hurt this time?”

“I’m fine!”

Though his arm had been scratched by the troll’s teeth when he shoved it into its mouth, to Shan, that wasn’t even worth calling an injury. Shortly after, Roden, acting as his representative, negotiated the division of spoils.

Apparently, since the troll had been unusually intelligent, he was arguing for a higher reward. Not interested in the complicated talk, Shan stepped back and cleaned his sword. Soon, Roden approached and handed him something.

“Here.”

“What’s this?”

“Your reward, obviously!”

Shan stared blankly at the heavy pouch of gold coins in his hands. He had been told he wouldn’t earn much as a scout.

“You lured the troll alone, fought it, and finished it off. Getting a scout’s share would be a scam. Half of the bounty and the money from selling the bones is yours.”

The other half was distributed among the fallen knight, hunters, and warriors. Listening quietly, Shan realized the surviving knight hadn’t taken a share.

“What about the knight?”

“Sir Katra? He gave his share to you. He said you saved his life. Otherwise, they’d have argued over the distribution for a week.”

“Ah…”

As if sensing his gaze, Sir Katra approached with a pale face and a faint smile.

“My thanks are late, young hero. Things were chaotic on the way back.”

Though he had been carried groaning earlier, he seemed somewhat recovered after receiving a priest’s healing miracle. Still, he didn’t look fully healthy.

“It’s fine. But… are you okay giving up your share?”

“It’s a painful loss, but I accept it. To realize my shortcomings without giving my life—this is a low price.”

The arrogance he had shown before was completely gone. Perhaps by enduring countless hardships like this, he would become someone like Fional. Or perhaps he would die somewhere along the way.

“I do not believe the debt of saving my life ends with money. I swear that wherever honor is spoken, I will not hesitate to say that an Alto boy named Shan saved me.”

Even after speaking with Sir Katra, others came to talk to Shan. Kov was happy to earn a larger share for helping lure the troll, and several others hoped to fight alongside him again someday. On the way back to the mansion, Shan sighed unconsciously.

“What’s the matter?”

“That warhorse and weapon… I really liked them.”

The late Sir Soros’s warhorse and equipment were collected by his squire and returned to his family. Sir Katra, who wasn’t quite a friend but at least an acquaintance, decided to escort them. Roden patted Shan’s shoulder, who looked disappointed, and encouraged him.

“I’d give them to you if I could, but we can’t take a dead man’s belongings. We’ll go to the capital soon, so let’s get you better ones. You’ve got money now, right?”

“Money… right. My money.”

“Yeah. Yours. No one else’s.”

Shan lightly tossed the pouch of gold in his hands. Unlike the melted gold he had picked up before, this was real money—earned for the first time in his life.

“I want to keep it.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to buy good weapons or a horse?”

“…Ah.”

Hearing that this could satiate his desire, Shan finally understood why people were so obsessed with earning money. Though it was just metal, it could be exchanged for anything he needed. Having learned the desire for power and authority, the boy was now learning the desire for wealth. And desire, after all, was what drove people forward.

***

Three days had passed since returning from the troll hunt, and Shan experienced popularity for the first time in his life. A boy in his early teens carrying a sword like a mercenary wasn’t common. As he walked, people whispered that he was the Alto boy who had played the biggest role in killing the troll. He was used to being talked about, but never in a positive way. Embarrassed, he hid behind Roden.

“What’s there to be shy about?” Roden laughed.

“I don’t know… it just feels strange.”

“You’ll have to get used to it. To become a knight, you’ll need to be far more famous than this.”

Even by skill alone, it wouldn’t be strange for him to already be a knight, and considering his age, nobles would be lining up for him. However, Shan was, in the end, an Alto. He still had to build far more achievements than he currently had for nobles to hire him, despite the risk of taking an Alto boy in.  Until the day when the nobles would recognize him as a proper knight despite being an Alto.

“Remember this. For a knight, reputation is a resource just as important as money. In the end, the standard kings and nobles use to judge a knight’s ability is nothing but reputation.”

Nobles did not bother to personally verify how strong or fast a warrior was, how precisely they handled weapons, or how clever they were. What was needed to prove oneself to them was only how many powerful monsters and knights one had defeated and what achievements one had built.

Being introduced by Poirve and associating with the influential figures of this city of Ovilos over the past three days was itself proof of that. In truth, Shan had only stood off to the side blankly watching, while Roden stepped forward to build the connections.

Bringing this up, Roden added another round of nagging.

“For now, it’s fine since everyone here is a commoner and you’re still young, but you need to properly learn etiquette. I can’t keep doing it for you forever.”

“It’s too hard…”

Things like how to hold utensils and how to speak—learning things that were of no help in fighting at all made Shan sigh. Memorizing the names of people he had no interest in was tiring too. Even though Roden had been teaching him the entire time they traveled together, this matter had made little progress.

The kid seems smart, but the problem is that his concentration suffers when he has no interest.

While Roden was having thoughts typical of a child’s parent who couldn’t study, Poirve’s servant came to find them and spoke in a cautious tone.

“Um, young master.”

“What is it?”

“A letter has arrived from the main house.”

“Ah, it finally came.”

Three days had passed after sending a messenger by post, as soon as the hunting was finished. The men sent by Roden’s father to bring back his runaway son had finally arrived.