WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Genius Knight of a Fallen Race ◈
Chapter 54: If You Run, I Will Spare Your Life
──────
After laying Serin down, Shan first lifted his skirt and untied the bundle fastened to his inner thigh.
He put salt and sugar into a leather waterskin, shook it a few times to mix them, then dripped the water into Serin’s mouth.
“Ugh...”
Her dry, cracked lips were forced open, and blood gathered at the corners of her mouth.
Even as the torn skin hurt, Serin drank the water Shan gave her like a chick taking food from its mother.
After wetting her throat several times, Serin split the bread Shan had brought in half, scooped out only the soft inside, and chewed it thoroughly.
Her stomach had gone too long without food, so it took tremendous patience to mash it almost into porridge before swallowing.
“Ah, I feel like I can live again... I really thought I was going to die.”
Once her thirst and hunger had eased somewhat, Serin spoke with tears in her eyes.
He had not realized it while they communicated through the spider, but she must have been pushed to her limit mentally as well.
Even if she acted mature, she was still a girl in her mid-to-late teens.
Not that Shan, who was two or three years younger, had any room to talk.
“What happened to Sir Aran?”
Shan looked deeper into the tower but saw no one other than Serin, so he asked.
He had avoided asking after hearing that Kagon had died, but he had thought Aran would be with her.
“I sent Aran to my maternal uncle first. We needed someone to contact for help while escaping...”
Serin spoke self-mockingly, saying it looked foolish now that her escape had failed.
Shan nodded, then frowned slightly.
“It’d be best to get out of here first.”
A foul smell from inside the tower stung his nose.
She had been locked in an enclosed space for over a week. It could not be helped.
Serin, whose dulled sense of smell had kept her from noticing it, flushed a little.
“Let’s go into the palace. We have to go there to escape anyway.”
Supporting Serin under her knees and back, Shan carried her from the tower.
The chilly air of early winter swept over them, and he felt her trembling against him.
“I’m cold...”
Serin shifted and burrowed into Shan’s warm embrace.
Come to think of it, the hand Shan had clasped earlier had been as cold as ice.
She had spent days confined in a small tower without even a fireplace in early winter. Of course she was cold.
At least she had dressed warmly enough for an escape before being caught. If she had been wearing a dress, she would have frozen to death already.
“Can we escape like this?”
Serin had also disguised herself in clothes resembling a maid’s uniform, but anyone who saw her being supported would find it suspicious.
There were likely many people who knew her distinctive face as well.
Serin gave a faint smile at Shan’s concern.
“It’s fine. I have a way... First, take me inside.”
For a palace that had gone unoccupied for over a decade, the Blue Palace was fairly well maintained.
It was still largely empty of furniture, since no one lived there.
Soon, following Serin’s directions, Shan entered an empty basement that appeared to have been used for storage.
In one corner stood a large full-length mirror, big enough to reflect an entire person with room to spare.
Serin told him it was the entrance to a secret passage.
“I was caught while trying to leave through here.”
When Serin recited a few words of a spell, a blue vortex rippled within the mirror, forming a passage.
The path stretching inward was pitch-black, without a single light.
“Wow...”
“That’s why I had you enter through another passage. You can’t open this one unless you can use magic.”
Perhaps worried Shan would complain about being made to take the other route for nothing, Serin quickly added the explanation.
Shan nodded and entered the cramped secret passage while carrying her.
The moment they passed through, the entrance instantly became a wall, as though it had sensed them.
“Mm...”
They had walked roughly a hundred and fifty meters through the passage.
After turning left and right several times, Shan let out a quiet groan.
A foul odor similar to the smell from the tower had begun wafting toward him from ahead.
Several holes above let in light, while water ran along the side of the passage.
It seemed to connect to the sewers beneath the toilets.
At one point during the journey, a heavy lump dropped from above, and Shan barely avoided it in alarm.
The exit they soon reached was likewise blocked by a mirror on the other side.
“Princess, it’s the exit.”
He lightly patted her and called out.
Serin groaned and reached toward the mirror. As before, she recited a spell, and the mirror opened just as it had at the entrance, revealing the way out.
* * *
“Whew...”
After coming out the other side, Shan let out a sigh of relief.
They had nearly been discovered several times, but they had somehow succeeded in escaping the royal palace with Serin.
Of course, it was too soon to relax.
Once the corpse of the knight abandoned in the Blue Palace garden was discovered, an investigation would begin, and people would learn that someone imprisoned there had escaped.
They had to get out of the capital before that happened, if possible.
“Where are we?”
“The basement of the Magic Society.”
The society’s basement was completely empty. All the mages had fled, and riots had broken out amid the lack of security.
The magic mirror seemed to have remained only because it was attached to the wall like part of the building and could not be removed.
As they left the basement, Shan let Serin walk on her own while supporting her at the side instead of carrying her.
A woman carrying another woman would be more likely to draw attention.
Fortunately, Serin could walk on her own, though her legs trembled like those of a newborn fawn.
People clicked their tongues when they saw Serin walking with Shan’s support, apparently assuming she had been harmed by thugs.
Avoiding the narrow alleys and moving along the main roads, they soon came within sight of Weavers Estate.
The kitchen assistant was guarding the entrance, apparently having relieved the stable hand who had watched over the estate through the night.
“Who’s there... Huh? Young master?”
When Shan entered and removed his wig, the kitchen assistant finally recognized him and hurriedly lowered the club.
Wide eyes swept over Shan from head to toe.
“What in the world are those clothes...?”
The kitchen assistant had no idea where Shan had been, but why was a knight wearing a maid’s uniform?
The fact that it suited Shan fairly well only made it more absurd.
Compared to that shocking sight, the identity of the girl Shan was supporting did not seem very important.
Ignoring the kitchen assistant’s disbelief, Shan calmly stated what he needed.
“Call the maids.”
“Y-Yes!”
The kitchen assistant rushed inside, then soon returned with the head maid and another maid.
“Oh my, it’s Miss Rin?”
“She doesn’t look well.”
“She’s probably cold.”
“Oh dear! I’ll have hot water prepared for the bath right away.”
Both women recognized Serin’s face.
Not as Princess Serin, of course, but as Rin, the young mage who had visited several times before.
After leaving Serin with them, Shan washed himself in another bathroom and changed clothes.
Then he greeted the male servants, including Tata the butler.
The stable hand had already informed them, so they knew Shan had secretly entered the capital the previous night.
“Is young master Roden all right?”
“Yes. He’ll return soon.”
“Haa...”
Tata sighed in relief at Shan’s answer.
Ever since Roden had deceived Tata and run away from home in the past, Tata had treated him coldly. Even so, he could not hide his concern in a situation like this.
Their conversation naturally turned to how the recent ogre subjugation had gone.
“Oh!”
“That’s incredible. An ogre slayer...”
Not only the others, but even Tata, who was normally calm and showed little emotion, displayed restrained excitement.
Their circumstances were that difficult.
They needed some hope to cling to, whatever it might be.
After lifting their spirits with a few pleasant stories, Shan finally got to the point.
“Tata.”
“Yes.”
“Once he recovers, do you think the old man can continue working in the capital?”
Tata closed his eyes and considered the question for a moment before shaking his head.
“I don’t believe that will be possible.”
As the stable hand had said earlier, the gap in security during the civil war had dealt merchants a heavy blow.
Naturally, Kalion’s influence as the head of the Merchants’ Guild would diminish as well.
Moreover, most of Kalion’s main clients had been New Faith nobles, since Kalion himself had originally followed the New Faith. Through this conflict, they had all either been executed or driven from the capital.
A merchant’s greatest asset was their connections, so even if not immediately, Kalion would likely be pushed aside by rising Old Faith jewelers.
“Then leaving the capital would be best after all.”
“Yes. The question is how we can leave...”
After securing control over the capital, Conrad had tightly sealed every gate of Hasra for days.
He intended to purge the nobles on Prince Elvin’s side who had failed to escape.
Tata and the other servants had already requested permission several times to call a priest from outside to examine Kalion, but they had been ignored.
Shan’s answer was simple.
“Well, we’ll just have to break through.”
Shan had moved discreetly until now not because he feared a handful of night watchmen or several dozen soldiers guarding the gates.
He had been wary of them alerting Conrad’s army.
Once they broke through the encirclement and escaped the city, Conrad could not mobilize a large force to pursue them.
Elvin was still lurking to the south with his fangs bared. Conrad would not dare.
Fortunately, no one said they wanted to remain in the capital.
Anyone with family to care for or insufficient loyalty had already left the estate long ago.
They still needed to ask the maids, but Tata answered that they would likely follow as well.
Everyone here had received great kindness from Kalion. They were practically his retainers.
As they discussed what belongings to take from the estate and how to reunite with Roden after leaving, the door opened.
Serin peered inside and asked, “Are you busy?”
“No, it’s fine. We can’t reach a conclusion right away anyway.”
After washing and warming herself with hot water and filling her stomach with soup, Serin had regained far more strength than before.
Color had returned to her pale face, and her unfocused, hazy eyes had become clear.
“The situation was so urgent that I couldn’t thank you. Thank you, truly. You saved my life.”
Serin’s hands wrapped around Shan’s.
They were still cool, but warmer than before.
Shan nodded, then took Serin by the hand.
“You must still be tired, but could you examine the old man?”
“Of course.”
He had already told her about Kalion while they communicated through the spider, so Serin immediately headed with him to Kalion’s bedroom.
She examined the old man, who still had not regained consciousness, then placed a hand on his forehead and quietly recited a spell.
“What magic is that?”
“A clairvoyance spell. Just as I thought... There’s blood inside his skull. It has to be drained through surgery. We’ll need a skilled priest too.”
That meant they had no choice but to leave the capital.
Every skilled priest in the capital was currently under Conrad’s control.
Both the Old Faith and New Faith strictly forbade the use of a goddess’s blessing in conflicts between humans. Still, treating those injured in such fighting did not violate doctrine.
It was only natural to gather priests and conserve their strength for a future clash.
“When are you planning to escape?”
“Tonight.”
“Good. I was thinking the same thing.”
It had already been three days since Kalion had been struck in the head and collapsed.
His aged body could only endure so much, so they needed to leave as soon as possible.
* * *
That night, the broken main gate of Weavers Estate opened, and nine people came out.
Shan and Serin, Tata the butler, the kitchen assistant, the stable hand, the manservant, the head maid, a maid, and Kalion.
First, the kitchen assistant and stable hand carried Kalion on a makeshift stretcher.
Tata and the manservant each carried a large bundle.
They had packed every valuable item they could bring, items they had protected despite facing repeated attacks from robbers.
The two maids carried smaller bundles in one hand and lanterns in the other, lighting the way from the front and rear.
Finally, Shan stood a little apart from the group at the very front, carrying only a short sword and a dagger.
He was the one who would have to run ahead to secure their escape.
“Whew...”
In the dead of night, only the sound of footsteps echoed.
Before long, lights flickered ahead.
They were the night watchmen who guarded the capital at night as always.
If Shan had been alone, he could have closed his eyes and avoided the light.
This time, that was not an option.
“Everyone, stop.”
After giving the order, Shan closed his eyes and moved forward until he was barely within range of the torchlight.
Then he opened his eyes just a sliver and threw his dagger at the throat of one of the joking watchmen.
“Ghk!”
“Eek!”
The watchman with a dagger embedded in the throat died before properly screaming.
The other watchman fell backward in horror as the companion they had been chatting with moments ago collapsed.
“Th-There’s...!”
Before the second watchman could finish the warning, Shan’s sword pierced the throat.
Shan had closed the distance in an instant and stabbed them.
After making two corpses in the blink of an eye, Shan prayed for the dead watchmen, then clicked his tongue to call the people waiting behind him.
“Eek!”
“Oh my goodness...”
The Weavers servants swallowed their screams at the sight of the corpses in the light.
They had already fought robbers, but seeing bodies with blood openly spraying from their throats was a different kind of shock.
As the group’s scout, Shan led the way, eliminating three groups totaling six night watchmen and clearing their path.
Once, he failed to deal with someone quickly enough, and a scream rang out.
Fortunately, not a single door opened in the surrounding houses.
Who would risk going out in the middle of the night, not knowing what might happen to them?
They traveled smoothly for dozens of minutes.
At last, Hasra’s eastern gate came into view.
‘This is where it really begins.’
Because a large force could pour in the moment the gates opened, the gate was heavily guarded.
Two soldiers stood near the pulley, four by the gate, and six atop the wall...
According to Serin’s investigation through the spider, sixteen more soldiers were sleeping inside the tower beside the gate as the next shift.
If any disturbance occurred, they would all rush out.
Even after surveying the area, Shan could see no way to sneak in, avoid their notice, and open the gates.
That was why he had climbed the wall to enter secretly in the first place.
The same method would be most effective here.
Shan left the gate and climbed the wall where no light reached.
Then he approached the six guards standing above the gate.
“So I grabbed that bitch Mary’s ass from behind and gave it a good squeeze, and would you believe it? She said her name wasn’t Mary, it was Silla-”
The guard, passing the cold winter night with dirty talk, froze when the guard across from them staggered with a dull thud.
They quickly turned their head.
Far away, a green light approached, leaving a long afterimage as if it were stretching.
An animal? No, up on the wall?
When the figure reached the torchlight, they finally saw that it was a young boy in his early-to-mid teens.
A boy with glowing green eyes. Surely no one in the capital could fail to recognize that Alto knight-
While Shan swiftly cut down the two closest soldiers, one of the remaining three struck the nearby bell with all their strength.
The other two desperately shouted to their comrades below the wall.
“E-Enemy!”
“Everyone wake up! Get up!”
The soldiers below, by the pulley and gate, understood the situation and immediately pounded on the barracks door.
Shan clicked his tongue when he realized he had failed to kill them all in the surprise attack.
With so many people spread across the area, even he could not eliminate them silently.
‘Good. From here, it’s a race against time...’
Once the bell’s ringing was relayed by the night watchmen, Conrad’s army would arrive before long.
Shan had to break through the gates and flee far from Hasra before then.
After killing the remaining three guards atop the wall, Shan immediately took the stairs down.
The first thing that flew at him was a long spearhead.
Shan tilted his head just enough for it to graze his cheek, then drove the sword in his right hand into its wielder’s throat.
He knocked aside the sword flying in from the side with the mace in his left hand, then kicked its wielder squarely in the groin.
“Guh!”
The guard doubled over in terrible pain.
Shan drove his sword into the guard’s chest, released the hilt, then spun halfway around and used the momentum to smash another soldier’s head with the mace.
As a bonus, he pulled the one-handed sword from the dead soldier’s waist and gained a new weapon.
Three remained.
“Argh!”
“Surround him! Even a knight dies if you stab him!”
Unlike cheap mercenaries, the guards were well trained, as befitted those responsible for protecting the capital’s walls.
They spread out as widely as possible around Shan and attacked from every direction, making injury unavoidable.
If an ordinary knight had to fight without a single piece of armor like Shan, they would have been seriously injured or killed.
Shan, though, deflected every attack with his monstrous reflexes and physical ability, counterattacking each time to end their lives one by one.
He was always half a beat faster than his opponents, ending their lives in the simplest and most efficient way.
It looked like a rehearsed performance.
In a direct battle rather than an ambush, five of the six guards who attacked him lost their lives in an instant.
The last guard sank to the ground.
“W-What kind of monster...?”
The guard knew knights were strong, but how could there be such a difference when Shan had no proper equipment and wielded only a sword and mace he had picked up somewhere?
As Shan slowly approached, the last soldier sprang up, tears and snot flying, and ran.
Shan did not bother chasing down and killing someone fleeing.
He would have had to if the soldier had run toward where the group was hiding, but that was not the case.
Just then, as if changing shifts, the door of the tower inside the wall opened and soldiers poured out.
They stared blankly at Shan standing with a sword and mace, and at the corpses scattered around him.
“W-What is this...?”
“Was this your doing?”
“Wait, isn’t that Sir Shan?”
“The Green-Eyed Knight?”
As people living in the capital, they could not fail to recognize his distinctive features.
Shan pointed his sword at the sixteen guards emerging one by one.
“There isn’t much time, so I’ll only say this once. Run. Then I’ll spare your lives.”
It was hard to believe that one person, a young boy without a single piece of armor, could threaten sixteen soldiers like that.
Yet not one of them dared laugh or show hostility.
That was the power of Shan’s reputation, and of the bloody scene he had created.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
