WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Abood

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Saviour Embarks on a Nameless Journey

Chapter 43: Bloodline

Marius poured tea for Pya, indulging him.

“It seems there will be little chance of seeing Suirun fight in earnest, unless something truly dire lies ahead. Still, watching him wield his sword even casually would be more instructive.”

Without shifting his rear from my lap, Pya stretched his body out to sip the tea, while Marius held up the thin metal cup to make it easier for him to drink.

You there—if you mean to spoil him without training him, then why don’t you take him off my hands?

“That much, huh?”

Tain arched one eyebrow.

“Grandfather’s full-strength swordplay… would it be too difficult for me to learn from it?”

Alina glanced from Marius to me as she asked.

“Well now? At the very least, it was after seeing Suirun fight that I laid down my own sword.”

“That was only because there wasn’t anyone else to handle recovery.”

Marius gave a faint smile, but offered no reply to my words.

Meanwhile, Pya, indifferent to all else, stretched out from my lap to drink the tea.

Seems it doesn’t matter to the fellow who offers it,so long as something goes in his mouth, he’s satisfied.

“Grandfather…”

“......”

The gazes of Alina and Tain pierced into me, sharp enough to sting.

I have confidence in my own strength, but this is some dream-fed, excessive expectation. Marius! You may be covering your mouth, but I can tell you’re laughing!

For the sake of my precious granddaughter, I would like to be her ideal. Yet the ideals people hold are often unreasonable, riddled with contradictions.

—That day, when I told Alina that even a Hero suffers from stomachaches, and she wept! Enough. I want only to be Alina’s cool, down-to-earth grandfather!

“There is only one who may wield the ‘Sword of the Goddess Lānu.’ From each of the branching bloodlines, the goddess protects only one. Altogether, four, is that correct?”

Without changing her expression, Io posed the question to Marius. In contrast, Alina’s face shone with hope and expectation.

“Yes. The royal house, and by extension the ducal houses, carry all of those bloodlines. I could have been born into any of them, except as a Witch.”

Long ago, the blood branched. It mixed, thinned, was drawn out again, and branched once more, repeating through the ages.

Specifically, the nobles seek marriages between those whose traits are strong in the same aspect, trying to concentrate the blood and to strengthen those traits. And all in a rush, once the report of the Demon King’s appearance arrived.

But the Demon King vanishes, and then does not return for quite some time. In the world of men, six generations will pass.

As a result, the age that emphasizes bloodlines is ironically the most peaceful, while by the time the world grows turbulent, the blood has already mixed again.

A strange mismatch… though perhaps it is inevitable, given the goddess’s nature.

For common folk, bloodlines hold little meaning. Those skilled with the sword call themselves of the sword’s blood, those skilled at healing claim the blood of healers. Yet, every so often, traits stand out prominently in one person, like myself. A curious thing.

The only ones who truly bear all the bloodlines, drawing out their traits to the fullest, are the royal house and the ducal houses.

Just as a Hero strengthens the companions who fight at his side, so too does the direct bloodline of the Hero strongly draw forth the traits of the Sword, the Feather, and the Owl.

But as for the Witch, there is always only one. Unless Elaine herself were to yield her role, no matter how great another’s magic, no matter how much a Hero might desire it, no one else can become “the Witch protected by the goddess.”

Incidentally, even if it is a man, the term is not “wizard,” but still “Witch” under the goddess’s protection. Why that is, I do not know.

Io is regarded as being raised as the Witch’s special successor, or so people assume. It is true that Elaine favors her, teaching her many things, yet I have never once heard Elaine herself clearly state that Io would inherit the role.

That ageless Witch, I cannot help but suspect she still intends to remain active herself.

In any case, unless it comes to a Demon King subjugation, the goddess’s protection does not greatly affect one’s abilities. Io remains a marvelous wielder of magic regardless. Whether she bears the title or not may affect how others treat her, but that is all.

“Why is it only the Witch that is different?”

“Who knows? Perhaps it was the wish of a past Demon King slayer.”

Io tilted her head, and Marius answered.

Upon the defeat of the Demon King, the goddess grants one wish to each of the companions. I still do not know what Elaine’s wish was, and only recently did I learn what Marius had wished for.

“Most of the unreasonable and peculiar rules we have are probably the fault of past Hero’s parties.”

“And if any wish proved too conspicuous or inconvenient for those around them, the next party likely had it nullified.”

Marius and I traded words back and forth.

“Did the two of you have your wishes granted? —Not asking what they were, mind you.”

Tain asked the question, then added that last part, perhaps after reading the look on our faces.

“Mine was granted.”

“My wish is not yet… no, it is in the process of being granted.”

If Alina and the others were to learn that Marius’s wish had been ‘to never again hear the goddess’s voice,’ I wonder what faces they would make.

“I too pray that Grandfather’s wish will be granted soon!”

Alina beamed with an unclouded smile.

My granddaughter is truly precious!

“Pyaa—”

Pya, you’re not cute enough to stay here. Go sit on Marius’s lap. Just because you’ve eaten and drunk, don’t go crawling onto my back to sleep! Too slothful by half!

Before returning to the highway after our rest, I took care of the toilet.

Yes. Unlike in childhood, surely even a Hero, a living legend, and this old man himself all understand that people must relieve themselves.

—Alina, smiling… surely that doesn’t mean she’s disillusioned with me. Surely not.

“Marius, perhaps you should go as well?”

“…Ah, no need to concern yourself.”

Oi. Are you trying to keep up appearances in front of my granddaughter and your own niece? Stopping along the way for the toilet is more embarrassing than doing it here!

Footnotes:

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