WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Pushover Young Lord in a Romance Fantasy Won't Take It Anymore ◈
Chapter 44: Honor and Glory
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Valdemar had been losing more sleep than usual lately.
It was because Astin had started running wild like a madman.
This was nothing like the days when he simply acted like a wastrel.
What Astin had been doing lately was practically a gamble that could ruin the entire house.
He had put up the mines, the house's core assets, as collateral so he could buy up promissory notes from the massive Patrian Merchant Guild.
Even so, Valdemar had stamped his seal on it.
Buying promissory notes meant they could at least recover the principal, and he wanted to trust the child who had changed so much until the very end.
Most of all, there was Mermaid’s Tears, the cosmetic that had recently turned high society upside down.
To his surprise, it had been developed at a Cardenos workshop.
Valdemar had expected Astin to swallow up a merchant guild or two and bring in a reasonable profit.
That was as far as his imagination went.
“...Is this true?”
“Yes...”
Valdemar held a report on the distribution of Mermaid’s Tears.
He couldn't hide the trembling in his hands.
He had only hoped it would leave them with a decent margin...
Yet the final settlement flowing into Cardenos, combining goods and promissory notes, was enormous.
‘At this level...’
It surpassed the quarterly tax revenue of all Cardenos territory.
And this was the revenue earned after only two weeks on the market.
Before the shock had even faded, the head butler continued his report.
“That is not all. They have secured all the military supplies, preserved provisions, and mana stones needed for the expedition. The western supply routes are also completely under control.”
“...Huh.”
The more he heard, the harder it was to believe his ears.
No matter how much money they had, securing supplies in such a short time was no easy task.
It would have been impossible without perfectly coordinating the Empire’s logistics network.
And Astin had accomplished that alone?
Strictly speaking, he had only laid out the board. He had most likely left the practical work to his own people.
For example, Irina, the newly appointed merchant guild head of Patrian.
“...”
Valdemar lowered his gaze to the broad desk.
The morning edition of the Imperial Capital Gazette, distributed throughout the imperial capital that morning, lay open before him.
The front-page headline. The bold print beneath it.
[ Ashen Forest Expedition Recruitment ]
[Freezing cold, magical beasts, dense demonic energy, endless darkness, constant danger, survival uncertain]
[Pay Undecided]
[Unlimited Honor and Glory Upon Success]
[Organizer | Grand Ducal House Cardenos]
[Commander-in-Chief | Astin von Cardenos]
He had secured funding through cosmetics, gained complete control of supplies and supply routes, then released the expedition notice once every preparation was in place.
The process fit together with the precision of interlocking gears.
Especially this absurd notice.
Honor and glory. Valdemar’s gaze lingered on those words for a long time.
“...I thought it was impossible.”
Why was that?
The outline of the expedition slowly began to take shape in his mind.
* * *
A shabby mercenary guild on the outskirts of the imperial capital.
The air reeked of thick cigarette smoke and sour beer.
“Puhahaha! Cardenos has finally lost its mind!”
Laughter erupted around a newspaper at the central table.
Starting today, the imperial capital and the entire Empire had been thrown into an uproar.
There was only one reason. The bizarre notice issued by Cardenos.
“Crazy bastards. Survival uncertain? Pay undecided? Are they kidding?”
“They should just buy slaves. Maybe if they paid enough...”
“Fuck that. You have to be alive to spend money. What, are we supposed to use it as funeral money? I wouldn't go even for a hundred million shillings.”
Even mercenaries hardened by rough lives spat in disgust.
“Not even if I had two lives, no, ten. Go in there and you’ll come back out as magical beast shit.”
“Why do you think the pay is undecided? Because everyone going is going to die, so they don't need to pay anyone.”
“And what’s with this honor and glory bullshit? What good is honor when you’re dead?”
“Nobles are all the same. They just slap gold plating on appearances. You can practically see what they’re thinking. ‘Die for us! Then your death will be honorable!’”
People responded with nothing but cynicism and mockery.
Anyone with common sense, no, anyone with even a little survival instinct left, wouldn't give it a second glance.
[ Commander-in-Chief | Astin von Cardenos ]
Their attention moved from the Ashen Forest, to Cardenos, and finally to Astin’s name.
They held their tongues because insulting nobles was a crime, but most of them thought the same thing.
‘That little brat. He isn't even the head of the house, so why is he acting so big?’
‘The Grand Duke who approved this is an idiot too. Cardenos is finished.’
‘Astin, that was the playboy from the Founding Festival, right? Did he spread that bait at the festival on purpose? Feels like he's doing all this just to get attention.’
The Ashen Forest was an inhuman hellscape where even ten lives wouldn't be enough.
And the commander was a brat who had only just come of age.
The person they would entrust their lives to was not even the Grand Duke, but some greenhorn. Only corpses in need of funeral expenses would flock there.
That was how ordinary people viewed the Ashen Forest.
Yet the world was vast, and there were always those who walked beyond the bounds of common sense.
“...”
At a table in the corner of the noisy mercenary guild, one man sat silently.
He wore a worn, threadbare robe with its hood pulled low.
A black iron greatsword as large as a grown man hung from his back.
His rough, calloused fingers slowly traced the newspaper article.
They passed over Cardenos and Astin before stopping at one line.
[Unlimited Honor and Glory]
A strange light flickered in his clouded eyes.
Bagot was a wandering knight who had drifted across the continent without purpose.
He had been growing weary of false peace and rotting daily life.
To him, “survival uncertain” was not frightening. It was welcome.
The threat of death was only an adornment that made honor and glory shine brighter.
Bagot silently rose from his seat.
An untouched beer and a single silver coin were left on the table.
“Hey, brother! Where are you going?”
One of the mercenaries who had been laughing at the notice called out to him.
Without looking back, Bagot kicked open the door and walked out.
He would arrange a carriage to the west at once.
There was not a hint of hesitation in his steps.
He was a five-ring knight, one who walked the path of hardship.
* * *
This strange phenomenon was not limited to mercenary guilds.
‘I don't want to enter a monastery, and I don't want to start a merchant guild. All I have is this body and my sword, so what is there to think about?’
Second and third sons of noble houses who had to leave home and make their own way.
To them, the Ashen Forest was both a gamble that put their lives on the line and an opportunity that would never come again.
If they returned alive, their reputations would change overnight.
Who would they be then? The conquerors of the Ashen Forest.
They might receive knighthoods at once, or even be granted proper baronial titles and fertile territory by the imperial family.
And the undecided pay might actually be beyond their imagination.
After all, this was House Cardenos, which had reportedly been raking in money lately.
Among the nobility, Mermaid’s Tears had become an open topic of discussion.
“We’ll find out about the pay once we get there.”
They threw themselves onto carriages bound for the west.
...The fallen nobility who had lost their houses felt much the same.
“If I come back alive from there, I can rebuild my house.”
A miserable life ahead with neither compromise nor hope.
If they could succeed by staking their lives, they would stake two lives if they had them.
Most boarded carriages bound for the west to carve out their own futures.
Not all of them did.
“An unexplored demonic realm! Magical beasts worse than those in the eternal icefields! What a fine burial ground!”
The gathering of the Bone-Raking Hand Tribe, condemned as barbarians.
They could not blend into their unfamiliar surroundings and had remained on the margins.
But life did not matter to them. Life was only the process.
The result was what mattered.
In other words, how they died was all they cared about.
“Honor and glory call to us! Bellutak! My brother! What do you think?”
“I feel the same, Buraltak! At last, the time has come for us to die!”
“Hwahahaha! It shall be an excellent grave! Warriors! Valhalla calls to us!”
“Waaaah!!”
Their hearts pounded as their feet sprang into motion.
The spark Astin had thrown was enough to move the warriors.
* * *
Around the same time.
Crown Prince Zenon leaned deeply into a luxurious velvet sofa. He had already received the report.
“Cardenos’s Astin has declared an expedition to the Ashen Forest.”
“Yes, Your Highness. The notice has spread across the Empire.”
“So it was not empty boasting.”
He was pleased that Astin had kept his promise.
But it was an utterly foolish thing to do.
The Ashen Forest was the worst den of monsters, too dangerous even if they sent in the Empire’s elite knight orders.
It was obvious that this would become a funeral procession, not an expedition.
Zenon swirled the glass of red wine in his hand. A faint smile formed on his lips.
‘It was a good move to support their military expenses.’
He only cheered inwardly to preserve his dignity.
After word spread that the imperial family had supported the military expenses, Zenon had won over public sentiment throughout the Empire.
In truth, public sentiment did not matter to Zenon.
He was quite pleased that his rival for Lucia’s affections was going to die.
Of course, Astin could fail and still return alive.
Zenon had already made plans for that possibility.
“Send word to the Imperial Capital Gazette. Tell them to add more firewood so the flames don't go out. Make sure Astin’s conquest of the Ashen Forest is not forgotten.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The attention of the whole world would pour onto Astin, and it would never fade.
If Astin returned alive, he would only fall more miserably. He might even be better off dying from shame.
“Arrogance can kill people. This is why people should be humble.”
The Crown Prince smiled pleasantly and raised his wineglass.
As though he were toasting Astin’s certain death.
* * *
The headquarters of the Sun Order, located on the Empire’s frontier.
It had once been a sacred order that commanded the faith of the continent.
Now, it had fallen to the very bottom.
The stained-glass windows in the vast ceiling had long since shattered, while marble pillars stood cracked and collapsed in places.
The reverent hymns that praised Solari had gone completely silent.
Only a bleak wind lingered in the deserted chapel.
The sole light came from a ray of sunlight slanting through a gap in the roof.
“.......”
There, where the holy sanctuary barely continued to endure.
A woman knelt on one knee in prayer.
A greatsword was driven deep into the marble floor. With her eyes closed, the woman rested both hands atop its pommel.
She maintained that neat, motionless posture until the sun set.
How much time had passed?
The woman’s long eyelashes trembled. Her tightly shut eyes slowly opened.
Her red-gold eyes looked as if shards of sunlight had been set within them. Golden armor shone with holy power.
Red-gold hair flowed softly over her shoulders.
The woman pulled the greatsword from the floor in one motion.
As the blade was revealed, the radiance wrapped around it blazed brilliantly.
The Holy Sword, forged with the blessing of Solari, the Sun God.
For endless ages, the woman had lived guarding the Holy Sword, which had no master.
As she guarded it, she waited for the master who would appear one day.
As the Holy Sword Keeper.
With one hand, she drew the Holy Sword, then wrapped it in bandages. Its dazzling radiance was hidden.
She slung the sword diagonally across her back and rose to her feet.
Her hand, covered by a crude gauntlet, felt across the floor. Soon, her fingertips caught a rustling sheet of paper.
It was the notice that had thrown the entire Empire into turmoil.
Her subdued red-gold eyes scanned the letters again.
[Unlimited Honor and Glory Upon Success]
“Where there is honor and glory.”
The Holy Sword Keeper’s solemn voice rang low through the empty chapel.
Honor and glory.
Bloodstained words that could only be claimed by warriors who crossed the line between life and death.
They would never be granted to those who settled into peace and craved vanity.
“If it is there, then the master of the Holy Sword...”
The Holy Sword chose its master through its own will.
And that master was the one who shone brightest in the darkness.
The Ashen Forest, the worst and most fearsome den of monsters. Countless warriors were heading there to conquer it.
She had no doubt that someone worthy would appear there.
If someone worthy refused to bear the Holy Sword.
Most had done so, but if this time they refused again...
The Holy Sword Keeper clenched her fist.
She would beat that person soundly if she had to and force the Holy Sword into their hands.
That was how it had been for hundreds of years.
Her destination was Cardenos in the west.
The Holy Sword Keeper left the sanctuary, her golden cloak billowing behind her.
Footnotes:
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