WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Northern Grand Duke’s Mad Son-in-Law ◈
Chapter 33: Direct Hit
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Gulp. Gulp.
He did not seem to care about hiding it.
A glance around told Robert that everyone had noticed to some extent.
Everyone except Adrianna, who was notoriously oblivious. It was simply her nature. Unless it involved Demonkin, she paid little attention to anything else.
Even so...
‘Isn’t it too much not to notice when he’s drinking it so openly right behind her?’
Robert turned his head out of habit and met Galahad’s eyes.
“I heard there’s a tradition in the north of drinking Demonkin blood. Shouldn’t one follow northern traditions while in the north?”
Galahad said it as he casually wiped his mouth. For some reason, his lips looked redder than before.
The tradition of drinking Demonkin blood...
It was not entirely made up.
It had begun with the Grand Duke.
Though he had ceased his activities after Adrianna was born, the Grand Duke was considered the strongest figure in northern history.
Tales of him tearing off Demonkin heads with nothing but his own strength, without using aura, had been passed down like legends.
There were many theories about the Grand Duke’s strength, which was closer to that of a Monster than a human.
The most famous was that he was a Demon Eater.
People said the Grand Duke filled his stomach with the flesh of Demonkin and Monsters, then quenched his thirst with their blood. That was how he became stronger.
It gave rise to the belief that anyone wishing to become the greatest warrior had to eat Demonkin instead.
The First Battalion was an elite force. Its members were said to be closest to becoming the greatest warriors.
The First Battalion had an initiation ritual where newcomers were made to drink Demonkin blood. Robert had drunk it himself because of that.
Demonkin blood tasted truly disgusting. It went beyond merely tasting bad.
Even Robert, who had grown up eating raw meat, had been unable to eat anything for days after drinking it.
The taste was not the only problem.
Drinking Demonkin blood brought a burning pain from deep within the body. It was not something one could endure.
That was why the tradition had fallen out of use.
A few people still drank Demonkin blood on occasion to prove they were true northern warriors.
Even those people only took one or two sips.
But...
Gulp. Gulp.
Robert shuddered at the chilling sound that continued beside him.
“I heard it’s done to become the greatest warrior. What a wonderful tradition.”
Robert turned at Galahad’s amused voice.
Yes, there was such a tradition.
A tradition that said one had to drink Demonkin blood to become a true northern warrior...
But...
‘You’re not even from the north.’
No, he was not even a warrior. Robert swallowed the words that rose to his lips.
As long as Galahad killed Demonkin well, nothing else mattered.
‘His Grace will like him.’
For some reason, Galahad reminded Robert of the Grand Duke.
When they headed in the direction Galahad had indicated, they found a cluster of Demonkin.
“They are mid-ranking Demonkin. Stay alert, everyone.”
Demonkin became stronger in the Demonkin Territory. That made even mid-ranking Demonkin difficult opponents.
Tension filled the air.
Sweat gathered inside Robert’s gauntlets.
“Oh, mid-ranking.”
Robert pretended not to hear Galahad smack his lips.
Despite the presence of mid-ranking Demonkin, the battle was strangely easy.
Once again, Galahad was the reason.
The Demonkin could not ambush them because Galahad had cleared away the smoke.
A mid-ranking Demonkin could not stand against Adrianna in a direct fight with nowhere to hide.
The battle ended so easily that their tension felt pointless.
“Didn’t you fill that earlier?”
Adrianna asked as she watched Galahad refill his canteen. She still did not seem to realize he was drinking the blood.
“Ah, I used it for magic.”
“I’ll help.”
Watching Galahad and Adrianna sit side by side, filling their canteens with Demonkin blood, made Robert wonder whether they were truly fighting Demonkin.
“I’m getting hungry. How about we eat before moving on?”
“Understood.”
They even ate.
If someone had suggested lunch in the Demonkin Territory before, people would naturally have protested, “Are you insane? Did you come here for a picnic?”
Yet everyone was quiet now.
They had already killed more Demonkin than usual.
And nobody had been injured.
If they told anyone about it after returning, they would surely be cursed at and accused of spouting nonsense.
The reason was obvious.
Galahad. That one man had changed everything.
They had gone from fending off attacks under constant tension to actively seeking out prey.
That was no small difference.
Who could complain when a man like Galahad wanted to rest?
“This is really delicious.”
“Right? Our Tom is quite a good cook. Sir Gilbert, move over. Can’t you see we’re having a cozy date?”
“It’s not a date.”
“Fine. Still, Sir Gilbert, move over. You’re quite oblivious.”
“I’m hungry too.”
“You complained earlier about why we were packing food. Have you no shame?”
It was the first time they had rested in the Demonkin Territory.
Everyone sat awkwardly, exchanging glances.
‘Is this really right...?’
They took their break with a strange sense of unease.
* * *
‘It just keeps eating.’
Galahad muttered as he pressed at the heavy feeling in his chest.
He had kept feeding it Demonkin blood because he wanted to see how much it could take, but the Egg of Pain continued devouring it.
It even clamored for more.
The quality of mana it released was improving as well. It seemed to be growing by drinking Demonkin blood.
There was a limit to the mana a mage could store.
To make room for the denser mana provided by the Egg of Pain, Galahad kept venting his own mana.
The amount of mana one could store inside the body was limited, and replenishing it took considerable time.
That was one reason mages favored staffs.
By replacing the Magic Stone attached to a staff, they could use magic immediately. The drawback was the enormous cost.
Galahad had used up all his mana every day since he began learning magic, so his recovery rate was fast. Even so, it still took time.
Thanks to the Egg of Pain, though, that process was almost unnecessary.
“Mm, the taste is richer.”
“...Pardon?”
“Ah, I mean the Demonkin seem stronger here than outside.”
“Yes, Demonkin and Monsters become one level stronger in the Demonkin Territory.”
“Is that because of the mana concentration?”
“Concentration? I’ve never heard that word before.”
Galahad clicked his tongue at Gilbert. He had been about to explain, but then shook his head.
“There is such a thing.”
“...Why are you giving up?”
Ignoring him, Galahad continued thinking.
As mana concentration increased, Demonkin became stronger...
It was likely similar to how magic was harder to use in such dense conditions, but became more powerful if one could cast it.
In a way, it was obvious. Yet something about it bothered him.
‘Is that why the Demonkin failed to win the Jema War?’
The mana concentration in the central regions was truly miserable compared to this place.
If mana concentration was truly related to the strength of Demonkin, then they would undoubtedly be incomparably weaker in the central regions.
It was a fairly reasonable theory.
‘Then does the Demon King have the ability to reverse that?’
For example, an ability to raise mana concentration...
Considering Adrianna’s nature of burning mana, it was not impossible.
“I know.”
Adrianna, who had met his eyes, suddenly spoke. Her expression was as blank as ever, but she somehow looked proud.
“Know what?”
“Concentration. If the fog is thick, the concentration is high. If it is thin, the concentration is low. Is that not correct?”
Galahad considered Adrianna’s confident answer for a moment, then nodded.
The knights around them applauded and praised Adrianna’s brilliance. They praised her as someone accomplished in both academics and martial arts.
Adrianna shook her head as if it were nothing. Her brows had lifted slightly.
‘It really is nothing.’
Galahad shook his head and spread out mana threads.
It was a spell adapted from Mana Arrow. He scattered mana as thin as threads, using the principle that low-concentration mana disappeared when it touched a Demonkin or Monster.
It was an improvised spell, but it worked surprisingly well. The method was only possible because low-concentration magic did not affect Demonkin.
Then signals came back.
Several of them.
There were more than before.
“Hmm.”
Galahad let out a low groan.
“What is it?”
“The Demonkin are gathered together. There are quite a lot of them.”
The groups of Demonkin they had encountered on the way here had numbered no more than six, with only Monsters mixed in among them.
The ones he had just detected numbered at least ten.
“How many?”
“At least ten. Did they get scared after we killed so many?”
Adrianna shook her head at Galahad’s question.
“Demonkin cannot feel fear.”
“I see. In any case, there are far more than before.”
The mood around them heated up. The knights adjusted their grips on their swords and exhaled sharply, their fighting spirit rising.
“Isn’t it good that those filthy Demonkin are gathered in one place?”
“We can wipe them out all at once.”
Strangely, they seemed pleased.
‘Brutes.’
Galahad clicked his tongue at the northerners, who were burning with enthusiasm.
They set their course and advanced.
Since he needed to use mana anyway, Galahad kept raising strong winds with one hand. The motion was becoming familiar.
Then he saw the gathered Demonkin in the distance.
“There are many enemies. Do not lower your guard.”
Adrianna ignited her usual white aura and rushed forward.
At that moment, an unusual-looking Demonkin emerged from among the cluster. Their numbers rose in an instant.
Then the ground beneath Adrianna split apart, and a massive Monster emerged.
‘A trap.’
They had been stirring things up all over the place since entering the Demonkin Territory. It would have been stranger if the Demonkin had not noticed.
It was not as though he had failed to expect a reaction like this.
He simply had not cared. Adrianna, the natural enemy of Demonkin, was with them.
“I’ll enter first. Everyone else, wait.”
Without hesitation, Adrianna dropped into the midst of the Monsters.
White aura blazed around her. The massive Monster turned to ash and scattered in the wind.
The Demonkin rushed Adrianna with fierce hostility.
Ash scattered again, and Adrianna vanished within it.
The other knights moved into position, their movements smooth. They seemed quite used to situations like this.
All the Demonkin and Monsters appeared to be focused on Adrianna.
Adrianna burned mana. Enemies of that level would not pose a danger to her.
Still, if he left her alone, Adrianna would turn them all to ash.
Which meant there would be nothing left.
“This is a problem.”
Galahad hurriedly compressed his mana.
He had to save at least a few before Adrianna reduced them all to ash.
White aura rose, and another Monster turned to ash. Adrianna appeared through the cloud.
Impatience surged through him, and at the same time, his heart began pounding wildly.
It was the Egg of Pain. Perhaps because he had fed it so much Demonkin blood, it was making its presence known more strongly.
Its urging was more intense than before, enough to make his mind reel for a moment.
His heart pounded even harder.
‘There’s a side effect.’
The Egg of Pain felt too strong after consuming so much Demonkin blood.
Something had felt wrong ever since the mana concentration began increasing...
As though it had hidden itself until now, the Egg of Pain fully revealed its presence.
‘Cunning bastard.’
All Galahad could do was desperately hold on to his senses.
The Egg of Pain demanded Adrianna’s death, even vomiting up what it had consumed to force the issue.
It was becoming difficult to refuse.
Then Adrianna came into view. Seeing her struggle while surrounded by Monsters and Demonkin made the Egg of Pain shake him even harder.
Kill her now...
‘No, how am I supposed to kill Adrianna...?’
Galahad bit his lip, then suddenly had a good idea.
There was a limit to suppressing the Egg of Pain as its presence grew stronger.
What if he used it instead of suppressing it?
‘Yes, I’ll kill her.’
The moment he gave that brief answer, the Egg of Pain stopped.
His dizzy mind cleared at once. Galahad calculated again.
He reached the same conclusion.
The Egg of Pain, Adrianna, and the Demonkin...
It was a brilliant method that would deal with all three at once.
‘Good.’
Galahad smiled and moved his mana.
Because he had kept feeding it, he had an abundance of highly concentrated mana.
The mana released by the Egg of Pain moved even more easily than Galahad’s own mana. It was like mana that had passed through a purifier.
He compressed the already dense mana once more.
His chest tightened instantly. His body trembled as if it had been overloaded.
He endured it and forced the mana down.
Crack.
A horrible sound rang out, as though his bones had shifted out of place.
It was fine. He could set them again later.
Refusing to give up, he compressed the mana again.
Sparks popped from Galahad’s fingertips.
“She’ll be fine.”
Gilbert pointed at Adrianna as he spoke.
Galahad looked at him, wondering what nonsense he was talking about. Gilbert nodded as if telling him to relax.
“She is not someone who would be endangered in a place like this, so there’s no need to worry.”
Gilbert suddenly gave him serious advice.
After thinking for a moment, Galahad smiled.
“I agree.”
* * *
‘There’s no need to worry.’
Gilbert muttered as he watched Galahad, whose eyes were red with burst capillaries.
Adrianna looked to be in danger, surrounded by Demonkin and Monsters, but compared to the crises she had overcome, this was nothing.
Her direct unit and Gilbert were not panicking because they knew that.
Yet Galahad, who was usually so relaxed, looked anxious instead.
Galahad chanted with red-veined, bloodshot eyes, his body trembling.
Gilbert had told him there was no need to do this, but Galahad, being Galahad, had not listened at all.
It was an unusual sight. Galahad looked so desperate...
‘Could it be...?’
Gilbert entertained the possibility.
Galahad desperately chanting as soon as he saw Adrianna in danger...
The tension in his neck and the way he focused with bloodshot eyes made him seem truly earnest.
That could only mean...
‘Does he have feelings for Lady Adrianna after all?’
It was Adrianna, after all. It would have been stranger not to like her.
‘But Galahad? The circumstances make it obvious. No, but Galahad?’
As Gilbert sank into thought, Galahad opened his mouth.
“Chain Lightning.”
A small spark shot from Galahad’s fingertip into the sky.
It resembled the spell he had used on Hermun, but the pressure was different this time.
The sky, once filled with dark clouds and devoid of all light, tore open violently.
Intense lightning appeared through the gap.
It was thicker than before.
‘That is...’
Gilbert swallowed at the ominous atmosphere.
“Adrianna! Be careful!”
Galahad shouted.
‘Can someone be careful around that?’
Before Galahad had even finished speaking, the lightning struck.
Its target was somewhat strange.
No, very strange.
‘Why is it aimed at Adrianna...?’
The lightning struck Adrianna without the slightest error.
Boom!
Lightning slammed down around Adrianna one strike after another.
Naturally, Adrianna was unaffected.
The lightning that fell on her dispersed against her white aura.
Then fragments burst from the thick bolts, as if deflected, and devastated everything around her.
The Monsters and Demonkin caught in the blast exploded.
Gilbert knew that Adrianna burned mana. So magic would not affect her.
Even knowing that...
‘Still, his own fiancée...?’
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Everyone stared not at the Demonkin, but at Galahad.
Amid their deepening looks of shock...
“Whew. Direct hit.”
Galahad swept back his disheveled hair.
He looked utterly refreshed.
Footnotes:
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