WeTried Translations
Translator: Dawn
Editor: Dawn
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race
Chapter 20
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I’m Telling You I’m Serious!
"Absolutely not!"
It was only natural that Kalion reacted as if he were about to have a fit when the talk of taking Roden into the Demon Realm came up. Even the facade he always wore in front of his subordinates, acting like a grand figure, completely fell apart.
However, no parent can win against their child. Especially since Roden had already once forced his will through the extreme method of running away from home, there was no choice but to give in this time as well.
After several intense arguments, Kalion finally said, “Do as you wish,” in a sulky tone and shut himself in. Then, while Roden was busily preparing for departure, he secretly called Shan over and whispered quietly.
“Take good care of Roden. As you know, he’s quite soft-hearted, despite his size.”
Even though Shan was the one to put ideas into his son’s head, Kalion didn’t show any resentment at all. He knew as well that Roden had not completely given up his desire to succeed as a warrior. Shan reassured Kalion repeatedly that he would always prioritize Roden’s safety above all else. Meanwhile, Roden, true to being an excellent squire, quickly yet thoroughly finished preparing for the expedition into the Demon Realm.
Since it was winter and they would often travel through cold, rugged regions, he packed plenty of thick, durable cloth garments rather than soft, luxurious ones. He organized money separately, from gold and silver coins to portable valuables like gemstones useful for larger transactions. He prepared rations mainly of high-quality jerky made from well-preserved, good meat. He even repaired Shan’s chainmail, which had become a bit tight as his body had grown lately. Shan, who was far from being meticulous by nature, was impressed at the sight.
“There’s really a lot to bring. I was just thinking of grabbing a spear or sword and running out.”
“That’s exactly why you need me.”
Seeing this, even Kalion acknowledged that Shan needed someone like Roden. Though he had consistently instilled knightly discipline in him, such attention to detail was a combination of innate nature and habits, not something that could be easily changed. As the end of winter approached, the two finally finished all preparations and set out through the eastern gate of the capital, Hasra.
“It feels strange, walking out proudly instead of sneaking away. Makes me feel like we might not come back alive…”
“You told me before not to say unlucky things like that.”
“I’m just saying how I feel right now.”
The cold winter sun shone upon the path ahead of the two young men setting out with dreams.
***
Their first destination was the great eastern city of Sedil in Pendia. As a trade city connecting the capital, Hasra, with small territories adjacent to the Demon Realm, it was like a base for adventurers diving into it. It was the perfect place to gather information about the Demon Realm or recruit companions.
“Do we really need more companions?”
“Of course. Two rookies charging straight into the Demon Realm is suicide.”
Roden rattled off all the dangers of the Demon Realm he had learned about. There were all kinds of bizarre monsters that were difficult to drive away by physical means, twisted natural phenomena, and dangerous ruins from the ancient Alto era. There was no way one powerful warrior and a youth skilled in various tricks could overcome all that.
“We need at least a guide familiar with the terrain, a mage or scholar who can read the ancient Alto language, and a priest skilled in purification and healing.”
“That makes at least five people.”
“Honestly, we’d need more combatants too. No matter how strong you are, you can’t be a swordsman, lancer, and archer all at once. But if there are too many, then there are issues with distributing spoils and supplies… It’s best to pick people who can fight while also fulfilling their roles.”
Naturally, such people were rare resources near the Demon Realm and would demand enormous fees. Shan groaned at the topic, inducing a headache.
“I’ll leave all the recruiting and managing to you!”
“I’ll try to pick decent ones. But for that, you might need to show your skills a bit.”
“That’s fine.”
Fortunately, they encountered no major difficulties during the journey, thanks to Roden’s meticulous planning. Sometimes they were refused lodging because Shan was an Alto, but at other times they were warmly treated after subjugating a wandering group of ghouls, or even stayed overnight with hidden Alto villagers.
However, one thing became clear: the closer they got to the Demon Realm, the more frequently monsters appeared. Ordinary animals were rarely seen, and the occasional traveling merchants always moved in groups of dozens, hiring heavily armed mercenaries.
It was as if this human territory was dotted sparsely across a land filled with monsters, connected by thin lines. After exactly ten days of traveling from village to city like stepping stones, the two arrived at Sedil, the largest city in eastern Pendia.
“It’s not as big as Hasra, but still pretty large.”
“You’re already acting like someone used to the capital. If you’d seen this place first, you’d have been amazed at how big it is.”
At Roden’s words, Shan chuckled awkwardly. As he said, Sedil was a metropolis that would have made the old Shan stare wide-eyed in awe. Farmland was scarce because monsters were so rampant. The city sustained its population by importing large quantities of grain in exchange for locally produced monster spoils.
Being close to the Demon Realm, the walls were higher and larger. Surprisingly, not only the gates but the walls themselves were embedded with magic stones and inscribed with magic circles, clearly enchanted.
“Won’t someone try to steal those at night?”
“They’re probably made so you can’t. I mean, surely…”
Chatting idly, they entered the city, found an inn, dropped their belongings, and collapsed onto the beds. After resting for a full day to reKovr from the journey, they left the inn at dawn and headed straight to Sedil’s famous Adventurers Guild.
“The Adventurers Guild… it only exists here, right?”
“Yeah. It’s a bit different from mercenaries. I heard they appraise and buy items from the Demon Realm, arrange meetings for explorers, and even manage their achievements.”
Since gatherings of armed warriors were always a risk to rulers, such specialized guilds would never be tolerated except in cities near the Demon Realm. Accordingly, the guild’s leadership was directly appointed by Sedil’s lord, making it closer in nature to a public institution.
As they walked and talked, Shan could clearly feel that there were more Alto people in the east than in the west. Unlike the capital, where most Altos were part of the lower class, here many were better dressed. There were also people like Kov who looked like mercenaries, and surprisingly, even guards. Shan’s eyes widened at the sight of a guard with a horn protruding from one side of his helmet.
“Wow… Alto guards. That’s really something. Even the capital didn’t have that.”
“The lord here must not mind employing Alto. He might be worth considering for future service.”
The ruler of this city, Count Sedil, was renowned both as a noble and a skilled knight. Though now quite old, he had reportedly wrestled monsters in his youth and even torn off their horns.
“Of course, considering Sedil’s position, moving into the central government would be out of the question. But it’s not something to worry about right now.”
Asking for directions, the two eventually found and entered the Adventurers Guild. Their first impression was how loud and chaotic it was. People in all kinds of outfits shouted loudly, making it difficult to tell a customer from a staff member. After looking around like country bumpkins for a while, they finally found a guild worker.
“I don’t recognize your faces. What brings you here?”
A middle-aged man with a prominent scar on one side of his face spoke as he picked his nose with his pinky. Roden, returning to his “knight mode,” spoke in a solemn tone. Since people in the Eastern Pendia were already used to seeing many heavily armed warriors, not many would mistake him for a knight based solely on his attire. Nevertheless, a warrior with a dignified appearance was always respected.
“We’ve come to find companions to explore the Demon Realm.”
“Brats from a rich family? With conditions like that, it’ll be hard to match you with good companions. Why not just go home?”
At the word “brats,” both Roden and Shan flinched. Few could accurately guess Roden’s age just by looking at his large, muscular, bearded appearance.
“What are you staring at? You tried, but your smooth skin makes it too obvious. Anyway, got any specialties? You look like you can only fight. And that kid over there is your squire?”
“I can hold on my own. And this one here is extremely skilled. Even a knight wouldn’t be his match.”
At Roden’s words, the guild worker looked at Shan with disbelief. Compared to Roden beside him, Shan looked even smaller—just over 160 cm tall. Even his well-trained physique was somewhat slender.
“That kid? You mocking knights?”
“I’ve never mocked them. I once tried to become one myself.”
“He’s not a mage, is he?”
“No.”
Shan stood quietly, watching the exchange between Roden and the guild worker. After a few seconds of eye contact, the guild worker spoke first.
“Fine. I’ll record it like that. We don’t verify applicants’ abilities anyway. A big, boastful brat and a kid who claims to be stronger than a knight…”
“For reference, he’s an Alto. Preferably, we’d like people who aren’t prejudiced against Alto. They don’t have to be New Faith believers.”
“You’re asking for a lot! What kind of companions do you want?”
“A guide familiar with the Demon Realm’s terrain, a mage or scholar who can appraise Alto relics, and a priest who can protect themselves.”
“That’s insane. People like that are rarer than one in a hundred around the Demon Realm!”
“Then a warrior stronger than a knight must be just as rare.”
As the guild worker gave a condescending look of disbelief, Roden grinned and suddenly climbed onto a nearby barrel.
“Everyone, attention—!”
His voice was so loud that it briefly silenced the noisy Adventurers Guild hall. Several nearby explorers covered their ears and glared over, but Roden paid no mind and continued speaking.
“Here, this boy beside me and I are recruiting companions to explore the Demon Realm! My companion is an invincible warrior so powerful that even knights would not dare to oppose him!”
“Stop talking nonsense and get lost, you idiot!”
“What is this loud pig doing?”
“Shut up! You almost made me deaf!”
“Get off my barrel right now!”
As expected of people in rough trades, crude curses poured out instantly. However, Roden ignored them and pulled out a pouch of gold coins, shaking it. At the clinking sound and heavy weight, those who had been hurling insults fell silent in an instant.
“To prove it, I will stake this bag of gold coins! We will hold one-on-one duels with wooden swords in the plaza outside, and anyone who succeeds in landing even a single hit on this boy will take all this money!”
“Ohhh!”
“I’ll do it!”
“I’ll beat him to a pulp!”
The explorers who had just been cursing now gleamed with interest and greed. Though Shan wore chainmail and carried a sword, the boy looked smaller than an average man. Furthermore, they didn’t even have to win. All they needed was to land a single strike on the boy to earn the gold coins. At this point, it was practically free money! Even those not confident in swordsmanship cheered at the situation, but one relatively rational person asked about the conditions.
“Wait, what happens if we lose?”
“If you lose, you just lose! It’s only natural if you lose to a genius swordsman stronger than a knight. Just remember that if your head gets cracked or a bone or two breaks in the process, that’s your responsibility!”
For explorers who risked their lives fighting monsters and roaming the Demon Realm, that was essentially the same as having no conditions at all. As everyone shouted that they wanted a chance, the guild worker frowned.
“Damn it, it’s too noisy! What the hell were you thinking, causing this commotion—”
“What I do outside is my business.”
“Well… you’re not wrong.”
Snorting, the guild worker shook his head as if he wanted nothing to do with it.
***
The plaza near the guild was usually fairly quiet. But as armed people flooded in, city guards naturally arrived to control the disturbance. Roden slipped them a few silver coins as a bribe and explained that this wasn’t a real sword fight, just a light sparring match with wooden swords. After hearing the details, a few higher-ranking guards looked intrigued and asked,
“Sounds fun. Can we join too?”
“Uh… well, I suppose that’s fine…”
And just like that, even some guards joined in, leaving no one to stop it. As explorers gathered in a circle to form an arena, Shan and Roden spoke quietly to each other.
“You’re really doing this.”
“Well, you said you were confident.”
“It’s fine if I get hit once by mistake, right?”
“Hey.”
“Don’t worry. In a one-on-one, even Fional wouldn’t hit me.”
At the mention of that name, Roden chuckled and patted Shan on the back. Amid the commotion, the first challenger stepped forward.
“Hmm, do we say ‘ready, start’ and then fight?”
The man muttering this was even taller than Roden, so large that the wooden sword in his hand looked small. At least two meters tall, perhaps more. Judging by the whispers around, he seemed fairly well-known in the area. Some guards, apparently former explorers, even showed him respect and stepped back.
“It’s started when you think it’s started—”
Before the reply even finished, the man swung his wooden sword at Shan’s head in a surprise attack. It was powerful enough that it could smash someone’s head open. Some weak-hearted spectators gasped or screamed.
Of course, to Shan, it was nothing more than a slow attack, like a crawling worm. No matter how big and strong someone was, if they didn’t know how to move properly, they were no different from a toy or stuffed doll to him.
Shan casually tilted his body aside and lightly raised his wooden sword. The two wooden blades crossed with a dull sound. The giant, struck squarely, rolled his eyes back and collapsed as his legs gave out.
“P-Pakan the Bear Killer went down in one hit!”
“With a wooden stick?”
“I didn’t even see the kid swing!”
The nickname “Bear Killer” came from hunting an owlbear—a creature far stronger than a normal bear. For such a warrior to be defeated in one blow was a major event. Only then did the spectators realize that this boy was far stronger than they had thought. Of course, if he had truly been an ordinary boy, Roden wouldn’t have proposed such a bet in the first place.
“So… it wasn’t a bluff…?”
As someone muttered in a trembling voice, the second challenger stepped forward—a guard in his forties, formerly an explorer.
“Best of luck, kid.”
“My name’s Shan.”
“Right, Shan. Go easy on me. At my age, broken bones don’t heal well.”
Despite speaking lightly, the guard was quite skilled. Though unfamiliar with the weapon, his spacing and strikes were sharp. Of course, only by ordinary standards. Shan calmly received and deflected the attacks, then lightly tapped the guard’s armored hand with his wooden sword three times. Realizing the skill gap, the guard retreated, sweating.
“Sigh... I can’t match you at all.”
“What the...? It looks like he can still fight!”
“No guts.”
Unlike with the explorers, Shan deliberately held back against the guards to avoid offending authority. Beating up explorers was just a scuffle among rough men, but knocking out guards would damage their dignity. The guards might even order the crowd to disperse.
After that, Shan continued knocking out or disabling explorers by striking their jaw, temple, crown, or neck, while merely demonstrating the skill gap against guards. One man stubbornly kept charging despite clearly being outmatched, but after Shan threatened him by pointing the wooden sword at his eyes a few times, he backed off.
As the matches continued, Shan could feel the strength he had gained from Darkal’s training. Even before, warriors of this level were no match for him, but that had been achieved by exploiting weak points and utilizing his agility. Now, he could properly block, deflect, and even overpower opponents like a true swordsman.
Though his lighter body made endurance slightly lacking, that could be overcome with Spirit, so it wasn’t a major issue. If the old Shan was merely a skilled killer, now he could truly call himself a warrior. After defeating over ten opponents, the next challenger came up fully armored in chainmail and a helmet that covered his face.
Since it was just a wooden sword, it couldn’t pierce armor, so the idea was to endure hits and land one somehow. Though the crowd booed, there was no rule against armor, so it wasn’t cheating.
“Uoooo!”
Charging forward with arms wide open instead of even trying to fight properly, Shan burst out laughing. It was obvious he planned to take a hit, grab him, and land one strike. Standing still, Shan waited and then lightly thrust his wooden sword into the opponent’s helmet, imbuing it with Spirit. If he had intended penetration, the man would have been skewered. Instead, he only amplified the impact just enough.
The opponent froze from the shock. Shan then raised his sword high and brought it down. This time, clearly with the intent to cut. From helmet to chainmail shirt and pants, the armor split cleanly apart, revealing the flesh beneath without harming it. At this point, no one could fail to realize what it was.
“...Spirit?”
“Of course, idiot.”
“With a wooden sword, he can cut chainmail that easily?”
While rare, some soldiers and mercenaries awakened to Spirit after enduring countless life-and-death battles. Relentlessly training the body to the point of melting away and repeatedly recovering was merely a certain method of awakening; after decades of fighting again and again on the brink of death, some among those with the right talent and luck would come to grasp a way to transcend the body through the mind.
However, the aura displayed by the boy before them was, at a glance, on a completely different level from the crude standard shown by such people. Above all, the fact that he had toyed with over ten warriors without being hit even once, and cutting only the armor while avoiding clothes and flesh, proved enough.
Realizing that the boy before them was truly on par with a knight or perhaps even a monster far beyond, the spectators wore expressions of shock. Even after that, Roden shouted several times loudly, asking if anyone else would participate, but no one stepped forward. It was the moment when Shan’s name was deeply etched into the minds of those who had gathered to explore the Demon Realm.
