WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race ◈

Chapter 41: It Is Human Nature to Want What You Are Forbidden

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Unfortunately for the villagers, even if Shan wanted to, he could not simply settle down and become the lord of the castle.

If that were possible, the lords of rural villages and territories everywhere would have long since been “subjugated” and replaced by bandit knights pouring in from all directions.

When a territory’s lordship became vacant due to some accident, with no family left to inherit it, the usual practice was for that territory’s higher lord to reclaim the title.

Kastaman Castle was royal territory, so either the king currently bedridden with illness or the next king to ascend the throne would grant the title of castle lord to someone.

Three days after the battle with the vampires, once the cleanup was finished, Shan’s army returned to the city where it had first been recruited.

There, Roden ended the mercenaries’ contracts and paid them their promised wages.

“Eh?”

“Um, sir...”

“What is it?”

“This is more money than we were told before.”

When one mercenary said that, the others shot him looks, wondering why he had bothered mentioning it.

Still, he had his reasons. What if they cheated a knight out of money and something went wrong afterward?

It was not even enough money for them to keep their mouths shut and flee somewhere else.

“That’s because you fought harder than expected. Spread the word far and wide that Sir Shan isn’t stingy when rewarding his men!”

At Roden’s words, Shan nodded with a quiet hum.

In truth, he did not know exactly how much they had been paid, but he trusted Roden to have judged it well.

“Ooh...”

“Thank you, Sir Knight!”

The mercenaries, holding more money than they had expected, bowed repeatedly before leaving.

Watching them go, Shan asked Roden, “Did you give them a lot of money?”

“To be honest, I lowballed them quite a bit during the first negotiation. It’s easier to make yourself look generous this way than to promise a high wage from the start and pay exactly that.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, when you consider the vampire remains we got this time, the Magic stones, and the other income, it’s not much of a loss. If those guys have enough money in their pockets and spread good rumors about us, we come out ahead.”

The ability to weigh uncertain gains and losses while managing people’s feelings was far too difficult for Shan.

If he kept watching Roden from the side, would the day come when he could handle such matters naturally, just like him?

Maybe becoming an adult meant learning things like that, Shan thought to himself.

* * *

“Bwahaha! Drink as much as you want! I’m paying for everything today!”

“Whoa, looks like you made some money.”

“Of course! Let me tell you what I did-”

Just as Roden expected, the mercenaries who had unexpectedly come into a large sum bragged about it everywhere.

Wasn’t it human nature to spend wildly and show off when one had money?

“Is that true?”

“I’m telling you, it is! When he waved his hand, the blue sky suddenly turned pitch-black and the sun disappeared. It was like the end of the world itself!”

As their tales grew more exaggerated, they became heroes who had fought hundreds of vampires pouring out of some castle. Shan turned into a legendary warrior who faced a powerful vampire king that commanded those monsters and changed even day into night.

Though none of them had actually seen Shan fight the high vampire Kudrak.

That was usually how legends were born.

* * *

The two returned to the capital after several days on the road, their packs loaded with spoils.

When they entered through the northern gate, people who saw Awin recognized Shan and began whispering.

“It’s Sir Shan!”

“The cockatrice slayer!”

“The Sword of the Altos!”

Shan gave an awkward smile and lightly waved as embarrassing nicknames rained down on him.

He thought the rumors might have faded a little while he was away hunting vampires, but they seemed to have grown rather than shrunk.

“If I take Awin around with me from now on, it’ll be hard to come and go quietly like before.”

“Try to see it positively. More than one or two knights would risk their lives to gain the fame you have, Sir Shan.”

Roden comforted him in a polite tone because others were watching.

“It’s not that I dislike it...”

Shan said quietly that he simply missed the days when he could blend naturally among people as though he were invisible.

He knew it was nothing more than childish complaining. He also knew that to achieve his goal, he had to become far more famous and greater than he was now.

After waving to the cheering people and returning to Weavers Estate, Shan finally relaxed his shoulders and let out a sigh.

“Whew.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry too much. They may be like that now, but if you wear ordinary clothes and walk around, there’ll barely be anyone who recognizes you.”

“That’s true, but still.”

While the two removed their armor and sorted their belongings with the servants’ help, one servant respectfully spoke to Shan.

“Young Master, the barding you ordered arrived just yesterday.”

“Oh, where is it?”

“We placed it beside the stable. If you say the word, we can immediately...”

Before the servant could finish saying they would put it on her, Shan ran straight to the stable.

“Awin! Let’s try on your barding!”

He had worried terribly that she might be caught by the vampire’s magic last time.

Even Shan would find it difficult to protect Awin while deflecting every arrow flying at them from all directions.

Awin looked unenthused as the servants brought out the long, hanging plate armor, but she did not resist while they put it on her.

Once they finished, everyone could not help exclaiming.

“Ooh...”

“A fine horse with fine barding looks twice as fine. It’s a shame such a beautiful coat is covered up, though.”

The barding fully covered nearly every part of her body except for small openings for her eyes and nostrils, as well as her legs.

Even her exposed legs looked as if they were made entirely of metal because of the distinctive metallic sheen of her coat.

Shan mounted the armored Awin and took a light lap around the garden as he spoke to her.

“How is it? Is it uncomfortable? If anything gets in the way when you run, I’ll have them fix it.”

Awin could not understand human speech, but she gave a light neigh and leaped once, showing that she had no great difficulty moving.

Because she was larger than other horses, the barding alone weighed nearly thirty-five kilograms. Yet her movements remained graceful and smooth enough to draw admiration.

“Hmm, should I have this barding enchanted with the vampire Magic stone we got this time...”

“No matter what, you should enchant your armor first. And don’t casually talk about using Magic stones for enchantment out here. Not that anyone is likely to hear us.”

Roden looked dumbfounded at Shan’s absent-minded attitude and stopped him, glancing toward the servants standing a short distance away.

The servants of Weavers Estate had all worked there for a long time and proven their loyalty, but there was no need to put their loyalty to the test.

“More importantly, let’s think about how we’ll visit the princess. From what I’ve seen, unless you go alone at night, it won’t be easy to avoid other people’s attention.”

The fact that Shan’s earlier midnight visit under Kagon’s guidance had come to Prince Elvin’s attention showed how difficult it truly was to act in secret.

Going once was one thing, but it was naturally not good to let others see them visiting repeatedly.

Of course, it would be fine if Shan went alone, as he had just done, but Roden was uneasy about letting Shan meet the princess by himself.

It felt like sending a child out alone near the water.

‘Hmm, no... Maybe I don’t need to worry as much as I thought?’

Shan might be innocent, but he was relatively sensitive when it came to detecting hostility toward himself, or emotions of that sort.

Perhaps he simply had strong instincts.

Of course, Roden was better suited for negotiations, but the princess was being friendly for now because she wanted to draw Shan in.

Shan interrupted Roden’s thoughts with a careless remark.

“Couldn’t we ask Professor Maya?”

“Huh?”

“She was the one who helped us meet the princess in the first place, wasn’t she? We could contact her and visit after arranging it. I needed another physical examination anyway.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

Unlike Shan, Roden did not interact with her often, so he had not thought of it right away.

Since the subject had come up, Roden immediately had a servant send word to Maya’s workshop.

They wanted to schedule a physical examination for the following day.

That evening, Kalion returned from work drunk and wearing an uncharacteristically unguarded grin.

“Things have been going so well lately!”

“Is it really that good?”

“Of course! In the past, those knights would’ve acted all high and mighty, but now they even bow their heads! Their heads!”

“To the health of the great Sir Shan!”

Roden shook his head at Kalion as he raised his glass and shouted.

After flattering Shan like that, Kalion conveyed the proposal from several wandering knights, who wanted a casual exchange. Shan answered that he would be happy to do so whenever he had time.

Compared to all the support he had received, it was nothing.

* * *

The following afternoon, Shan and Roden headed to Maya’s workshop in comfortable, inconspicuous clothes.

As expected, Aran and Kagon were looking around the area near the workshop as they had before.

“Hello.”

“You came.”

“I’ve been thinking this for a while, but aren’t you two too noticeable for secret guards?”

“Is, is that so?”

Kagon looked flustered by Shan’s observation.

Judging by that reaction, they seemed to believe they had been guarding her secretly all this time.

When the two asked what they should do instead, Shan and Roden left them behind and knocked on Maya’s workshop door.

Before long, a middle-aged woman with a plain appearance opened it.

“You’re here? I heard you won the last jousting tournament. Congratulations!”

This was the first time Shan had met Professor Maya since Princess Serin helped arrange his examination last time.

Although Shan had become a knight and won the jousting tournament in the meantime, Maya still treated him like an ordinary boy.

That attitude felt strangely comforting to Shan now.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“You came for an examination, right? Come in and sit down.”

As they followed her inside, Princess Serin was waiting as expected.

She wore the same clothes she had worn when they first met.

“Hello.”

“It has been a while, Prin...”

“Why are you suddenly speaking so formally?”

“Pardon?”

Roden was so taken aback by Serin’s question that he dared question her in return.

Professor Maya surely knew Serin’s identity as well. Was Serin seriously trying to maintain the pretense that she was an ordinary young mage even when everyone knew the truth?

That seemed like far too much to ask.

Serin saw the conflict plainly written on Roden’s face and chuckled.

“Ah, right. Forget it! In any case, there’s no need to be overly formal. I came as a mage today, after all.”

“I’m in your hands.”

At Shan’s answer, Roden’s gaze darted toward him.

His tone was far less formal than before, as if they had become close during their last meeting.

Then Serin looked at Shan and playfully scolded him.

“Ahem. I told you, only when it’s just us.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t mean you need to become so stiff, either.”

Only when it was just them. The words sounded not only improper, but almost disrespectful.

If strangers heard them, they might have assumed the two were lovers.

Roden looked between Serin and Maya, then subtly signaled Shan with his eyes.

What exactly had happened when he met the princess alone last time?

‘Was there something you didn’t tell me before?’

‘A little.’

‘Tell me when we get back.’

After that, the same ordinary examination as last time continued.

They drew some blood, cut strands of his hair, and shone light from an unknown magical tool over various parts of his body.

The only difference was that Serin no longer needed to hide her identity, so she and Maya treated each other according to their proper status.

When the examination ended, the two mages watched several reagents react and gave quiet groans.

“Hmm.”

“Ah...”

“How is it?”

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like anything has changed in particular.”

Maya already knew through a letter that Shan had hunted a high vampire this time.

That was why Serin had come to examine him with her.

Shan did not show it, but he was a little disappointed by her answer.

He did not know much about it, but according to Serin’s theory, he should have absorbed some of the vampire’s power.

Had that one simply been too weak a vampire? Or was it because they were not in the Demon Realm?

As Shan considered the matter, Serin spoke with Maya.

“What do you think, Professor Maya?”

“Don’t we first need to know exactly how strong the vampire was? There are great individual differences even within the same species...”

“We’ll need remains worth analyzing. Did you bring anything?”

Roden, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, took out two pouches from his belt.

“As it happens, we brought some. We wanted to ask you to appraise them anyway.”

“That saves us the trouble of going back and forth. We have the necessary equipment here, so shall we do it now? Just a moment.”

The ashes of the high vampire they had burned with silver were proof that they had subjugated it, as well as high-grade magical material.

Serin measured out a small amount of the ashes with a scale, mixed it with other powders, and rubbed them together. Then she let out a surprised cry.

“Ah...!?”

“What is it, Princess?”

“Ah, no. It was stronger than I expected. It’s truly impressive that you caught it without suffering a single injury.”

She glossed it over as though offering an excuse, then abruptly looked at Maya.

“Professor Maya, I know it’s impolite, but could you bring some dark tea from the guards outside? I’d like just one cup.”

“Of course, Princess. Shall I add some milk?”

“Please.”

What kind of absurd request was this? They were in the middle of an examination and discussion, and she suddenly wanted dark tea badly enough to send Maya away.

Once Maya left the workshop, Serin played with her tightly tied hair as she spoke.

“The professor won’t come back in for a while. It was a signal that we had matters we wanted to discuss privately.”

“Ah...”

“We should talk about the spear you used this time, the relationship between the vampire and Elvin, and various other things. It’ll be more comfortable if it’s just us.”

“Professor Maya knows nothing about your plan?”

When Roden mentioned the ambitions Princess Serin had once held, she nodded.

“Hmm. It’s not that I don’t trust Professor Maya, but I prefer to make sure only those who need information know it. To draw Sir Shan in, I had to tell him. And once Sir Shan knew, you would know as well, so there was no reason to keep it secret from only one of you.”

It was a cold thing to say, but Maya was not worth bringing into her confidence to the point of revealing such secrets.

She was an excellent mage, but Serin had already recruited the Head of the Magic Society, Pendia’s greatest mage, for the sake of her dream.

Roden nodded as if he understood and presented the second item from his pouch.

“Here it is, Princess. These are all the useful documents we took from that creature’s castle.”

What Roden presented were the letters and the vampire’s diary they had found in the castle lord’s residence.

Serin lightly scanned several letters, then flipped through the diary with a rustle before letting out a hollow laugh.

“It’s Elvin’s handwriting. He doesn’t seem very interested in hiding it. Thank you. This will be useful.”

“I hope he doesn’t come to hold a grudge against Shan if possible.”

“You truly don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already finished arranging matters. He’ll mistakenly believe Conrad indirectly used Shan to ruin his plans. The Elvin I know won’t direct unfair anger at Shan. If anything, he may want Shan even more.”

Roden decided not to press the matter further in the face of her confidence.

It would not be too late to question her after a problem arose.

“Understood. More importantly, the diary mentions a group called the Council. I’m concerned that they may become a problem.”

He meant that they might resent Shan for destroying what amounted to one of their farms.

Serin frowned slightly at the question.

“Hmm, I haven’t heard of such a group either. If they’re people I don’t know, they probably don’t operate within the court at all. I’ll investigate separately, using this diary as a lead.”

If nothing else, Princess Serin’s intelligence-gathering abilities were trustworthy.

She was someone who knew everything despite traveling with only two bumbling knights as trusted retainers.

Serin turned her gaze to Shan.

“So, how was the spear?”

“It was good.”

It was truly extraordinary, to the point that it could not even be compared to the ordinary mass-produced spears Shan had used until now.

If it had been an ordinary spear, it might have broken while piercing the shields the creature conjured from blood. Even if it pierced the vampire’s body, the wound would have quickly healed.

As Shan enthusiastically listed the good qualities of his new spear, Princess Serin spoke with a slightly troubled expression.

“Y-yes. I’m glad you liked it. There’s something else I wanted to say, though...”

“Please tell me.”

“There was quite a difference when examining the remains of the two high vampires.”

“Yes. Kudrak was much stronger. He used many unusual forms of magic too.”

They said stronger vampires had greater value, so perhaps he could expect quite a high price.

The magic Kudrak used to crystallize and fire blood was especially amazing when Shan thought back on it.

If Shan had been unarmored and without a weapon, he would have had no way to block or evade such attacks.

It would have been like forcing his way through a barrage of arrows with nothing but his body.

“Can you use magic like that too, Princess?”

“If necessary, I could imitate it to some extent.”

“Ooh...”

Shan briefly thought he wanted to see it sometime later, but for some reason, the princess hesitated.

From experience, a major statement usually followed an expression like that.

Shan’s instinct proved accurate.

“But the remains of the stronger vampire were not burned with ordinary silver. It seems they were burned with true silver, and a great amount of highly pure true silver at that. Do you have anything to say about this?”

A brief silence fell over Maya’s workshop as Serin finished speaking.

Roden’s head snapped toward Shan.

‘Don’t tell me you burned the one you caught with Thousand Forms?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Then you should have said so!’

‘I didn’t know burning it with true silver would make a difference.’

‘Well, I didn’t know that either, but...’

They did not communicate every detail clearly, but they understood each other’s meaning through their eyes alone.

Roden swallowed hard. Disrespectfully, he answered the princess’s question with a question of his own.

“Could anyone discover that fact by examining the ashes?”

“Anyone well versed in alchemy could. There are high-level formulas that require ashes produced by burning a vampire with true silver rather than ordinary silver. Someone who has studied those would recognize it. There may be three to five people in this country.”

The workshop fell silent again after Serin’s explanation.

Shan and Roden looked at each other as they considered how to handle this matter.

They had hidden Thousand Forms’ true nature because it was such an absurdly amazing treasure.

Even the spear Shan had just praised so highly could be called first-rate as a magic device, but compared to Thousand Forms, it was nothing but junk.

The amount of true silver that made up that weapon alone was enough for two kingdoms to risk war over. The magic contained within was powerful ancient magic from the Alto Era, which no modern mage could ever reproduce.

They had hidden the item’s identity even from Kalion, Shan’s greatest supporter and Roden’s father.

“Um, Princess, that is...”

“Is it difficult for you to speak about? If so, I don’t intend to pry deeply. I simply didn’t wish to hide the fact that I know.”

Roden had been about to vaguely explain away its identity now that their possession of a large amount of true silver had been exposed, but he quickly closed his mouth at the unexpected answer.

Royalty aside, Serin was first and foremost a mage, so she would naturally desire true silver, a powerful magical medium. Yet she showed unexpected restraint.

It was likely because she did not want to damage her friendly relationship with Shan.

‘That’s a relief...’

Roden let out a quiet sigh of relief, only to see Shan reach for his collar.

He shouted in horror.

“Hey, wait...”

Before he could stop him, Thousand Forms smoothly unraveled and took the shape of a sword, pointing directly at Serin.

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