WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression

Chapter 78

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It was a two-horse carriage, with one more rider following behind. Ethan figured that if there were two more people inside, that would make six, enough to pass the pathway. Just as he expected, there were two people in the carriage. The soldiers made everyone step down to fill out the roster, which gave them a chance to introduce themselves.

The owner of the carriage was a woman in her late twenties named Robita Bisneri. She had dark brown hair and simple traveling clothes, but the crest pin on her outfit alone made it obvious she was a noble. Robita was the eldest child of the Bisneri family, and since eldest-child inheritance was standard outside mage families, she was the one set to inherit the house. The Viscounty of Bisneri was part of the Kingdom of Sodel, along with Yurmus and Calon. Since it lay south of Yurmus, Ethan could tell Robita was in the middle of a journey. Her upright posture and insistence on formal honorific speech were exactly the kind of noble manners Ethan knew well, so he judged that she had almost no travel experience.

Bisneri City was a commercial city that traded with Charasen, so Ethan roughly knew where it was. Robita was traveling with her coachman, who also served as a knight, and one maid. Their destination was the Viscounty of Lupla in Darun, which Ethan and Boen would also pass through. North of Lupla was the County of Byutlas, where Wica Byutlas, whom Ethan had met before, came from. But if they stuck to their own plan, Ethan and Boen would continue west.

The rider behind Robita was a man in his early twenties named Renzo. Ethan found himself paying more attention to Renzo than to the noblewoman Robita. His soft, pale blond hair was long enough to cover the nape of his neck, and part of his bangs was white, a clear trace of mage blood. That did not necessarily mean he had magical talent. He was tall and broad, with visible muscle on his bare forearms. Two swords hung at his right side, so Ethan guessed he fought either left-handed or with dual blades. Ethan had assumed he was an adventurer or a wandering knight, and he was right.

Renzo introduced himself as an adventurer and said he was also headed to Lupla. He had recently finished a job and was going to report to the adventurers' guild there before taking a new request.

Ethan introduced himself and Boen as Magic Academy students, then said that because of the war, the school would likely close, so they were planning to return to Charasen by land.

Renzo said, "Ah, then how about we travel together to Lupla? We'd need to ask Miss Robita too, of course."

Robita nodded, seeming pleased.

"I'd like that too. My mother was worried there were too few people traveling with me to Lupla."

Ethan leaned toward Boen and whispered.

"What do you think?"

"We have to consider the possibility that they could get dragged into our fight."

"What about the chance that the Imperial Inquisition avoids a fight because of them?"

"...Not zero. And with a noble there, especially the eldest, even the Empire would find that troublesome."

"And even if looks can be deceiving, this Renzo guy seems pretty strong."

"I agree, but he's an adventurer. We should not trust him too much."

Ethan said, "All right, then shall we go together?"

But trouble started before they even left Calon, let alone reached Lupla.

∞

If they had gone toward Calon, they could have avoided camping, but for some reason everyone preferred heading to Lupla. Going to Calon would have effectively wasted about half a day, so Ethan and Boen welcomed this, but it was still surprising that a noble heir like Robita chose to camp.

Even so, there were not many chances to talk with Robita. She spoke to her coachman and mostly to her maid, and even then she only gave brief instructions, never real conversation. Because of that, Ethan never learned why she was heading to Lupla.

Renzo sounded used to this kind of thing when he said, "Why would a noble lady bother chatting with people she meets on the roadside?"

Without saying a word, Ethan pointed back and forth between himself and Boen with one finger.

Renzo laughed.

"There are three kinds of nobles. First, the head of the house. That's a real noble. Second, the one who'll become head, usually the eldest, or in a mage family, the most promising one. Third, everyone else. Scraps who are none of those."

Ethan almost spoke up for his sister's honor, but Boen looked intrigued instead.

The sun had gone down, but they had just finished dinner, so it was not yet deep night. With the maid's help, Robita set up a small tent big enough for people to lie down and sleep in, then went inside. Light leaked out, probably from a magical tool lamp, so she did not seem asleep yet. As expected, Robita was exempt from night watch, and the coachman and maid took her share.

Boen held his hands near the campfire and asked, "Mr. Renzo, do you have no intention of becoming a noble?"

"What? Why would I?"

Renzo straightened and spoke in a theatrical tone.

"'To rule is to be bound. The shape of my soul is mine to decide. I fear nothing.'"

Ethan stared blankly, and Boen said, "Count Grandorf."

"Who is that?"

"A man from around eight hundred years ago. He's famous for giving up a vast territory and immense wealth to go adventuring after he contracted an incurable disease. That quote was his reply when his fiancee asked, 'What are you so afraid of that you'd abandon all this?' He meant that leaving was true courage."

Renzo spoke again.

"'Bandits in the mountains, robbers on the roads, tax collectors in the cities.'"

"An unnamed Eastern swordsman. A man from almost two thousand years ago. They say he came from the far eastern edge of Yumaha, wandered from place to place, and did good deeds. Eastern swordsmen were usually on the side of commoners oppressed by nobles."

"'That throne exists because we permitted it.'"

"Olson. An ancient hunter of Ruure. They say he shouted that when a king tried to oppress hunters. His achievements were so great that even now, Olson is still a common name in Ruure."

"I think I've heard of Olson too."

Renzo pointed at Boen.

"This guy's sharp."

"He is, right? He's top of our year."

"Why are you the one acting proud?"

Renzo grinned.

"So? Did it make you mad when I called you scraps?"

Through those quotes, Ethan understood Renzo's attitude toward nobility, so he did not dislike him outright. Ethan himself was not particularly noble in temperament anyway.

Ethan said reluctantly, "Well, some nobles are good people."

"There'd better be. Being born a noble is karma. You have to spend your whole life paying it off. If not, you'll be born as a bug in your next life. Lucky for me, I wasn't born noble."

Boen said with interest, "So you believe in reincarnation?"

"Uh, I wouldn't go that far. An old teammate of mine from Yumaha talked about it all the time. Still, that version is more fun, isn't it?"

Ethan asked, "What's reincarnation?"

"It's the concept that after death, the soul is reborn as another living being."

"That's strange. Don't you go to the Lower Realm?"

"That's the Yurmus system."

In Damarth Yumaha, different worldviews were common, and it was bad manners to nitpick whether another worldview held the true meaning of reality. Ethan let it pass.

Ethan asked Renzo, "By the way, you're pretty sharp too. Where did you study?"

"Ah, I was born this way. I'm naturally smart. ...But are you trying to smooth-talk your way up to my level?"

"Aren't scraps all the same?"

Renzo burst into hearty laughter.

Nothing happened during the night they had worried about. Since several people could split the watch, they were not too tired despite camping. After breakfast, the group set out again.

But before the sun even reached the middle of the sky, trouble hit. As they rounded the bend, a fallen tree blocked the road. The coachman stopped the carriage, and the rest of the group also reined in and started to dismount.

Then Renzo shouted, "Ambush!"

Arrows flew toward the carriage in uneven volleys. One lodged in the coachman's thigh, and armed men with swords and axes poured out of the forest. About fifteen of them, more than Ethan had expected.

Seeing the coachman draw his sword and block attacks, Ethan ran toward the carriage. Boen moved farther away instead, but Ethan understood. In a chaotic fight like this, it was better for a mage like Boen to get under a thick tree trunk where he could avoid arrows and focus on casting.

The attackers did not seem highly trained, but they had proper leather armor and moved like they were under someone's command.

'Are they really bandits?'

Whoever they were, Ethan's swordsmanship, now around lower-knight level, was not enough to completely control an engagement like this.

'I cannot pull out the gun. What do I do?'

Until now, he had been lucky with the people he met. Rivielton, Aincher, and Osmal all had their own reasons not to be hostile to dark magic. But as far as Ethan knew, people in Damarth generally did not welcome dark mages. Some regions still punished dark mages under old laws, and others hated them for historical reasons. For now, he had to handle this with swordsmanship so there would be no misunderstanding.

If there was one fortunate thing, it was this: even if he was only lower-knight class, Ethan's blade had reached a high level through time and experience. Someone else at the same rank who had only repeated training drills could not match him. As Rivielton had once said, swordsmanship needed sharpness, and that sharpness only came after stripping away all hesitation and flinching when one person cuts another. Ethan had a sharpness no one his age should have possessed.

'But swordsmanship isn't everything. There are even more things in this world you cannot solve with a blade alone.'

Attackers surged in from both sides. Ethan could guard the left side of the carriage, but covering the right as well was impossible. He saw one rushing in to strike the coachman from behind.

'Damn!'

But what happened was not what Ethan feared.

Renzo, one sword in each hand, cut down the attacker aiming for the coachman's back. He had already killed two others and reached the side of the carriage. Boen's crystal was only just being discharged.

'Did he run over the top of the carriage? ...No, that's not it.'

Renzo slipped through the attackers like he was dancing with blades. By the time Ethan dropped a third attacker and Boen dropped the two charging at him, Renzo had already cut down all the rest.

Covered in blood, Renzo turned and grinned at Ethan.

"Hey, scrap. You okay?"

"...Looks like my swordsmanship wasn't enough."

"What?"

"...Nothing."

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