WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ The Pushover Young Lord in a Romance Fantasy Won't Take It Anymore ◈
Chapter 31: Nightmare
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"Can I really become a knight?"
"You don't believe what the legitimate son of a grand ducal house says?"
Black-and-white logic, standards of guilt, whatever. I didn't know anything about that.
If I wanted to divide people's sins and judge them, I would have become a judge. My goal was to save the world.
Having taken on the responsibility of bearing the world's weight, shouldn't I at least have the right to choose between people?
Therefore, a person's usefulness mattered more to me than whether they were good or evil.
If someone could become a useful card in preventing the world's destruction, I would persuade them without hesitation.
That was why I took in Jenkinson.
"There's one condition."
A knight was someone who protected the weak.
Jenkinson, who had preyed upon the weak until now, would have to change completely.
Of course, Jenkinson's future had been foretold.
The Ember Knight, who protected his home amid the destruction.
I intended to draw out that true nature quickly.
"From now on, your life isn't yours. If I tell you to die, you die."
"..."
"Even if you die, I'll make sure you die with purpose. Your death will be remembered not as a gutter parasite's death, but as a knight's noble sacrifice."
A strange light filled Jenkinson's eyes. I could tell just by looking at them.
More than living as a back-alley boss, he longed to die as a knight.
"It won't be easy for someone from the bottom like you to become a knight. The wrongs you've piled up will follow you like a stigma. You know that better than anyone."
Though the scale of our wrongs differed, I had wrongs of my own as well.
I believed the destiny of saving humanity alone could cover them.
I still believed that.
I would make Jenkinson contribute to humanity without him even realizing it.
"I won't drag this out. Show me your worth beyond your life. Then you can become a knight."
I bent forward and held out my hand.
"If you're confident, take it."
"..."
Jenkinson stared at me blankly, then suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Y-Young Master!"
I pulled Jenkinson to his feet and turned around.
Merchant guild head Kelton was lying flat on his stomach before me.
Thud!
He slammed his forehead against the floor hard enough to crack it.
"Eldest Young Master! Please forgive me too! I will serve you with all my loyalty!"
"From what I can see, you look like the real culprit."
"Y-Yes?"
To make obscene profits from selling drugs, one needed exclusive distribution rights and connections to match.
If Jenkinson's people distributed even a bowlful of drugs, their heads would naturally roll.
Jenkinson had been an accomplice. The mastermind behind it all was Baron Kelton.
Like Jenkinson, there was room to take Kelton in if he proved useful.
I tapped his shaking shoulder with my dagger's guard.
"I won't kill you."
"T-Thank you!"
"Not with my own hands."
The merchant guild head froze.
His greasy face slowly creaked upward.
"...Pardon?"
"You had the nerve to sell drugs, didn't you? Anyone sucking the Empire's lifeblood dry needs to die. But I don't want my hands stained with filthy blood, so, Jenkinson."
"Yes, Eldest Young Master."
He had already changed his form of address into something much nicer to hear.
I handed him a longsword.
"From now on, if I tell you to die, you die. If I tell you to kill, you kill."
He had already passed the first test. He was the kind of man who would truly die if told to.
"We should test the killing part too, shouldn't we? Deal with this pig yourself."
"Y-Young Master! Please, spare my life! I-I'll give you everything I have!"
"I'll put your money to good use."
Enormous capital was essential to form the Ashen Forest Expedition.
Seizing every asset used to distribute drugs and putting it toward a greater cause.
This was the ideal virtuous cycle of wealth, or rather, body parts.
Stab!
"Guhk!"
Jenkinson's sword pierced through Kelton's chest from behind.
Bright red blood soaked the floor, forming a pool. Kelton's limbs went limp.
He had not spent all those years fighting for nothing. His technique was clean.
* * *
I brought Kyle, his three apprentices, and Jenkinson into House Cardenos.
Before that, I asked Kyle whether he would be uncomfortable living alongside Jenkinson.
"I won't say I have no complaints, but this was your decision, Eldest Young Master. I should trust it."
"Don't worry about what I think. Do whatever you want. If you tell me to kill him, I can kill him."
"!?"
Jenkinson, who had been listening, opened his eyes wide.
No matter how useful he was, Kyle took far higher priority.
If Jenkinson had a negative effect on Kyle, I could cast him aside anytime.
"That won't be necessary. I've never even seen this person before. If there was someone I wanted dead, it would have been Kelton, the merchant guild head, and he's already dead, isn't he?"
"You're a very kind man."
Jenkinson nodded with a slightly moved expression.
"That too, but I have another use for him. May I use him whenever necessary?"
"Sure. Let Jenkinson handle the heavy labor and all the trivial chores. You can work him to death if you want."
"That too, but I was thinking of using him as a test subject."
"!?"
"Clinical trials are dangerous, after all. It is better to use a living person than rats. If he's already prepared himself for death, shouldn't he be used for something meaningful?"
This one did not seem normal either.
Still, when I thought about it, he had a point.
"Fine. You have my permission."
"Thank you."
"!?"
Jenkinson stared at me from the side with his eyes bulging.
Crack!
One hit to the head made him bow right away. If he did not like it, he could gut himself.
I fixed my gaze on Kyle.
"Later, I intend to establish a pharmaceutical merchant guild under my name. I'll be the figurehead, and I'll delegate all authority to you, Kyle. You can do it, right?"
"Of course!"
"You're too fired up. Relax a little. There's an unused annex in the house, so use it for your workshop."
"Yes, sir!"
A few days later, after arriving at the house, Kyle and the other three hurried toward the annex, pulling carts piled high with luggage.
It was right to guarantee their freedom without interference. Demanding anything during this transitional period would only make them impatient.
Then there was Jenkinson.
He did not need any particular title. I only had to work him to death, then take him with me into dangerous places.
There was someone here more qualified than I was.
"A new recruit?"
"Yes. He's back-alley scum, so please straighten him out. He's a drug peddler."
"You're quite the rare piece of shit."
Hendrickson clicked his tongue, spraying spit.
Jenkinson frowned at him.
"Are you a knight?"
"He's a Swordmaster."
"!?"
Hendrickson dragged away Jenkinson, who looked as if his soul had left his body.
Seeing them head toward the training ground, it looked like hellish training would begin immediately.
Recruiting Jenkinson was only the start.
Within a few weeks, word would reach the Imperial Capital Gazette.
When that happened, men like Jenkinson, and men worse than him, would come flocking in like sheep.
"Ah, I almost forgot, brat."
Hendrickson, dragging Jenkinson away, stopped abruptly.
"That bastard was looking for you."
"That bastard?"
"You know. That rigid, insolent bastard."
"Why is my father looking for me?"
"He told you to come to his office as soon as you returned. Said you're dead meat."
Hendrickson casually tossed a sheet of paper onto the floor.
A newspaper fluttered down through the air. I picked it up.
[An Upset at the Founding Festival! Lucia, the Star of Society, Rejects the Courtship of Powerful Figures and Chooses Astin of Cardenos!]
[Enraged Crown Prince Zenon, the Patrian Merchant Guild head, and the Winterhardt Young Lord. Where Will These Three Men Go?]
[Astin Spends 50 Million Shillings on an Old General's Sword! Money Laundering Through Collusion With the Military, or Romance?]
"Ah."
* * *
It was a quiet night in a silent bedroom.
Lucia was someone who dreamed often.
Still, she had never once had a lucid dream.
'...A dream?'
An unfamiliar floating sensation. Her vision was hazy, as though she were surrounded by mist.
It was a first-person dream where she could not see herself.
The left side of her vision was swallowed by darkness, as if someone had poured in thick black ink. Only her right eye could see the distorted surroundings.
The landscape within her limited field of vision was cold and desolate.
Sharp ice formations jutted from the rock wall. White frost densely covered the surface of the stone.
―Whoooooosh!
A blizzard raged.
The air she inhaled felt like shards of glass cutting into her lungs.
It was clearly a dream, yet the sensations were vivid.
A cave in the dead of winter? Had she been stranded in freezing cold?
Despite her confused thoughts, Lucia's body moved.
One person filled her limited field of vision.
A bloodied man lay collapsed before her.
His entire body was covered in plate armor, so she could not tell who he was.
"Astin."
Lucia flinched at the words that came from her own mouth.
This man was Astin?
Her hands moved regardless of her will.
Her thoughts in reality remained only thoughts. She and the Lucia in the dream were separate beings.
Lucia's hand caressed his ice-cold cheek.
Astin's condition was terrible.
Dark red blood soaked his armor, and the steel frozen by the blizzard had chilled his body.
His blue lips did not let out even the faintest breath.
He would die if she left him like this.
There was nothing nearby to start a fire with. For some reason, her mana was completely depleted too.
There was only one way to save him from dying of hypothermia.
Lucia hesitated.
Astin's armor and clothes were completely frozen.
To share their body heat in this situation...
Rustle.
Lucia was already removing Astin's breastplate.
Her trembling fingertips felt as if they might tear apart. Strangely, her senses would not fade.
Her nails broke as she snapped the leather straps frozen together by blood and snow. Then she removed his cold, soaked shirt.
Astin's huge bare upper body was revealed. It was covered in scars.
Her mind had gone blank, but her actions still held no hesitation.
Lucia threw off her own cumbersome clothes.
"Please live..."
Lucia embraced Astin's chilled body.
Her curving bare breasts pressed against his broad, solid chest.
His scars and firm muscles touched her soft skin, their bodies pressed closely together.
Thump.
She felt the faint pulse of life.
Perhaps he had found a source of warmth. Astin's limp arms moved.
"!"
His arms fiercely wrapped around Lucia's waist. At such close range, the scent of bare skin rose between them.
It was an instinctive desire to survive, but she wanted to cry out loud. She wanted to push Astin away with all her strength.
"Ah..."
Yet Lucia did not push him away.
A relieved sound slipped through her parted lips. Instead of pulling away, she burrowed deeper into Astin's embrace.
His grip was strong enough to crush bone. Astin held Lucia so tightly that she could barely breathe.
Lucia's legs sensually tangled between his thick, firm thighs.
Neither of them wore anything below the waist either.
Though she knew it was for survival, the atmosphere grew strangely heated.
Hot breath escaped Astin's lips. His uneven breaths brushed against Lucia's ear and nape.
Astin's body scent, tinged with blood, washed over her.
A sharp sensation ran down Lucia's spine. Sticky warmth rose from where her skin pressed against Astin's.
"Astin."
Lucia carefully ran her hand across his broad back.
The touch beneath her fingers was rough. Astin's body was covered in scars.
She had not known at a glance. Only after touching them did she realize how deeply they had been carved into him.
"You must have suffered so much alone..."
The hand tracing his scars trembled not from the cold, but from pity.
She buried her face deeply in the nape of Astin's neck. Her hand moved to the corner of his lips.
Gently stroking lips that were slowly regaining color, she spoke.
"If I had been by your side..."
Lucia's eyes snapped open.
Instead of a cave ceiling, she saw a crystal chandelier.
"Gasp..."
Her breath caught in her throat.
Back in reality, Lucia first calmed her breathing.
Without thinking, she touched around her left eye. Thankfully, her vision was clear.
Her heart pounded as though it would burst.
Her whole body was soaked in sweat, and she was still breathing hard.
"Haa..."
As she caught her ragged breath, Lucia looked down at herself.
She was hugging a body pillow as large as a person.
Her arms were wrapped around it hard enough to crush it, and her legs were tangled around it suggestively. Exactly as they had been around Astin in the dream.
Thump!
She threw the body pillow straight onto the floor.
Lucia covered her cheeks with both hands. A furnace-like heat spread across them.
Her fingertips were still hypersensitive, as if they had been rubbing against scars.
"What kind of stupid dream was that..."
As far as Lucia knew, dreams came from emotions.
Which meant that having a dream like that meant she...
"No!?"
She let out a shrill cry without realizing it.
"Do I like him that much? No! That can't be!"
Lucia knew her own heart clearly.
It was true that she felt fondness toward Astin. Somewhere between fondness and curiosity.
It was only special because this was the first time she had ever come to feel fondness for someone who had only given to her. It absolutely could not have become love.
She had chosen him at the ball, danced with him, and received his help at the cafe.
But it definitely was not love.
Who was she?
She was Lucia, the star of society.
This dream had only been a stupid dream.
"A stupid dream. Yes, just a stupid dream."
Dreams could come from emotions, but there were also stupid dreams.
Dreams with no meaning at all.
Then why?
The sensations from the dream clung to her with vivid clarity.
The feel of Astin's broad, firm pectorals.
The sticky, hot breath against her ear.
The powerful arms around her waist and the blatant tangle of their thighs.
Even the body scent tinged with blood that had pierced her lungs.
"Nightmare!"
Thump! Thump!
Lucia repeatedly pounded her pillow with her fists.
Fluff and feathers burst out from two punches and scattered everywhere.
After stopping, she let out a heavy sigh.
"I won't be able to look at Young Master Astin's face for a while..."
She could not help feeling disappointed at the thought of not seeing his handsome face.
Thump!
The moment that thought crossed her mind, she hit the pillow again.
Author's Note (Author's Afterword)
I will change the release time to between midnight and 1 a.m. Unless something comes up, it will stay that way until the series ends. Good night!
Footnotes:
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