WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons ◈
Chapter 11: Two-Person Team Training (1)
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A small female cadet with pale blue hair tied into low twin tails, decorated with a cross-shaped star hairpin and a beret.
Lara Twislope was staring intently at Elise.
‘I saw it.’
When the Subjugation Test ended, she had seen Elise staring intently at Ron Hazely.
More recently, she had seen Elise staring intently at Ron while he trained.
And when asked whether she had someone she liked, Elise had played dumb and said, “Who knows?”
With suspicions like that, she was staring at a guy? Someone she did not even know?
‘This is suspicious.’
There was even a reason Lara could accept.
‘Ron Hazely does have a decent face.’
Maybe he had simply happened to be Elise’s type.
Even if he was weak and frail enough to be called the weakest, looks were a separate matter.
“Why did you think that?”
Elise sensed that Lara had come up with an amusing misunderstanding. She kept her expression under control and asked with a bright smile.
“When you stare at Ron Hazely that intently, huh? Should I be suspicious or not?”
“Ah.”
So that was what she meant.
Of course, Elise was interested in Ron.
How could she not be? A last-place cadet had performed an advanced sword technique that even she, the top student, could not yet use.
Still, it was not something she needed to bring up to Lara, so she had simply let it pass.
Naturally, it had nothing to do with romantic feelings. Lara was clearly speaking from that perspective.
A playful look entered Elise’s eyes. She narrowed them and smiled slyly, holding her lightly clenched fist beneath her lips as she gently tilted her head to the side.
Her elegant magenta hair fell softly with the motion.
“What would Lara like it to be?”
“Huh...? Why aren’t you denying it!?”
Lara panicked.
“Tell me. What would you like it to be? What would you do if I had feelings for Ron Hazely?”
Cold sweat ran down Lara’s face.
I-Is it true?
‘Elise is dating someone...?’
She had never even imagined it.
This was Elise, who had never cared about the countless advances of men with good status and looks.
It was not that Lara opposed Elise dating. But...
‘There’s something off about him...’
Lara’s eyes turned as lifeless as a dead fish’s.
Ron Hazely had survived the long-distance mountain run by relying on someone else instead of his own ability.
His stamina was the worst, and his talent was the worst.
She did not know how he had survived the Subjugation Test, but he had probably managed it through some stroke of luck. That was all he was capable of.
In other words, he was obviously a cadet who would soon be expelled.
‘It’s not like I hate him, but for Elise to give her heart to someone like that...’
Ugh.
Just imagining it made Lara’s head hurt. The bad ending was obvious.
Elise watched Lara seriously agonize over it, then let out a quiet laugh.
“I’m kidding~ I only looked at him because he was pretty good with a sword during the Subjugation Test.”
“Huh? Ron Hazely was?”
“Yep. Ron Hazely.”
If she told Lara that she had seen Ron use Lightwing Sword, Wing Unfurling, Lara would probably accuse her of messing with her. So Elise stopped there.
Even she would not have believed it if she had merely heard about it.
Meanwhile, Lara remained suspicious.
‘Elise wouldn’t misjudge someone over something like that...’
Lara was sharp. She knew Elise often hid her true thoughts.
That was why she could not simply take Elise’s smooth answer at face value.
Lara did not realize that her perceptiveness did not always lead her to the right answer, but still...
“Hmm...”
Lara looked at Elise doubtfully, while Elise merely chuckled at how cute Lara was.
As she spoke with Elise, Lara made a decision.
She would keep an eye on the relationship between Elise and Ron Hazely.
* * *
“Morning, everyone. What a humid and unpleasant morning.”
Short red hair swayed beneath a pointed hat as Instructor Rachel arrived at the training grounds.
Rachel was the instructor responsible for teaching magic studies and training cadets in Magic Weapon Arts.
Magic Weapon Arts referred to weapon techniques that used both mana and magic.
“As announced, Magic Weapon Arts training will be done in two-person teams for a while. You’ll practice the techniques you’ve learned so far by exchanging them with a partner.”
‘It’s finally time.’
Act 4 of Chapter 1 in For Elise was a daily-life segment, but it was also where the sparring match with a third-rate villain took place.
There was a third-rate villain who had spread nasty rumors behind Elise and Lara’s backs. She had been jealous because Elise shone too brightly.
Elise would be paired with that third-rate villain. Then, under the excuse of training, she would cheerfully beat the living daylights out of her.
Driven completely mad with rage, the third-rate villain would challenge Elise to a spar, and Elise would destroy her for real.
It was a tired, overused cliché.
But...
‘This is going to be so fun.’
Actually seeing it was another matter.
This was a chance to watch something exciting unfold right in front of me. I desperately needed popcorn and 3D glasses.
“As I told you beforehand, the cadets who placed first through tenth in the last Subjugation Test will receive priority in choosing their partners. First place, Cadet Number 8, Elise Lorendia. Come forward.”
Elise Lorendia walked toward Instructor Rachel.
She was radiant. It felt as though warm sunlight had fallen over these dreary training grounds.
Even her magenta hair, swaying with every step, seemed to gleam with a shala-la sound effect.
She was first in grades. She was popular, too. She had probably already received stacks of love letters.
“Wow...”
Many cadets watched Elise with lovestruck eyes.
For a while now, Elise must have been constantly asked to team up with them. That was how it had gone in the original story.
“Number 8. Choose the person you want to train with.”
“Yes~”
Elise turned toward the cadets with her usual smile, like a flower in full bloom.
I turned my gaze toward the third-rate villain Elise was supposed to pick.
I wanted to see what expression she would make when Elise chose her.
“Hm?”
But why?
The third-rate villain, that female cadet, was hanging her head and trembling with a terrified expression.
Her face was pale, and her lips were dry.
‘She shouldn’t be reacting like that already...?’
Looking more closely, I caught sight of bruises on her neck and wrists.
I immediately realized she had been beaten up by someone.
If she had gone to the infirmary or church, she could have been treated by a healer or priest.
The fact that she had not done even that suggested she might have been injured over something she could not openly admit, then threatened.
If I had to guess...
‘Don’t tell me... Elise already beat her up?’
Of course, I did not think the story would unfold exactly as I knew it.
The moment I killed Orankel of the Red Eyes, the demonkin, no, the moment I awakened my memories of my past life, the story had already gone far off course.
Still, was this not far too different from what I expected?
Step. Step.
Elise walked with both hands held behind her back.
The cadets whispered among themselves. They were clearly wondering whom Elise would choose.
Then Elise’s feet...
Stopped.
...Right in front of me.
“You’re Ron Hazely, right?”
“...”
Elise leaned toward me.
Up close. Clear turquoise eyes.
As she offered me a sparkling smile from so near, I was once again struck by how beautiful she was. Beautiful enough to instinctively steal my breath away.
Elise’s excited voice came right up to me.
“Want to team up with me?”
...Me?
Why?
“What? Why did she choose him?”
“Why Ron Hazely?”
“The top student chose the last-place cadet?”
“It can’t be because she wants to bully him...”
Pure curiosity, envy, jealousy, and inferiority all focused on me at once. It was burdensome.
The top student and the last-place student.
The strong and the weak.
A popular cadet and a cadet at the bottom of the popularity rankings.
The gap between us was too extreme.
There was no reason to hide my wariness, so I did not bother controlling my expression.
“Why me?”
“Um... Just because? I wanted to train with you.”
Elise smiled innocently and played dumb.
She could not have found proof yet that I was the person helping her.
Then there was only one likely reason.
‘Was what I showed during the Subjugation Test that impressive?’
I, the last-place cadet, had performed a technique that even she, a genius among geniuses, had not yet mastered.
Elise was the kind of protagonist with a fierce drive to improve. She was not the type who could ignore something like that.
‘Or does she suspect me?’
...Even so, it did not really matter.
The current me was still nowhere close to the state of a Swordmaster.
No matter how hard I tried, it would be nearly impossible for Elise to conclude, ‘The strong person helping me is Ron Hazely?’
Also, Elise had a special magic called Fairy’s Eye that could read mana, but it would not let her discover Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak within me.
Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak was hidden with its mana deactivated.
‘Anyway, if I had to guess what happened...’
Originally, Elise was supposed to team up with the third-rate villain and beat her up.
But she had changed her plans to team up with me, and had already beaten up the third-rate villain beforehand.
I had no proof, but that was what the circumstances suggested.
“Don’t you want to? You don’t? This is a chance to practice with me, you know?”
Elise tilted her head with a smile as she urged me to answer.
It was the typical behavior of someone who knew very well how pretty she was.
The male cadets around us glared fiercely. It felt like they were burning with rage. I could feel the heat from here.
They seemed envious that I was taking Elise’s cute behavior head-on from so close.
Whatever the case...
‘Maybe I should welcome this.’
According to the epilogue after the ending credits, the person before me would become the strongest person in the world, just as one would expect from the protagonist.
A swordswoman who would one day be called the Fairy Knight, reaching the ranks of Swordmaster and hero.
And a genius unlike any other.
It was not a real battle, but I would have the chance to cross swords with such a talented protagonist.
There would be plenty I could learn from her. She was not the only one who wanted to improve.
“Like I have the right to refuse... Fine. Let’s do it.”
The corners of Elise’s lips rose even further.
The expressions of many cadets soured, including the main characters who had crushes on Elise.
I deliberately ignored their stares.
...Because they scared me.
Then...
‘What’s with her?’
Lara Twislope, Elise’s friend and one of the main characters, was staring at me with a startled expression, saying, “Eek...?”
Knowing Lara, it was surely for some silly reason. I roughly ignored her.
* * *
Elise Lorendia had been trying to find the person who had been preventing the tragedies in the Scenario Note in her place.
The first time she noticed an anomaly was during the train incident.
That day, the tragedy the Scenario Note had predicted was resolved even though Elise had done nothing.
There had been no sign that the mysterious strong person who killed the demonkin during the train incident had escaped.
So she assumed that person had been among the train’s passengers.
‘But no one stood out.’
Fairy’s Eye, which Elise possessed, allowed her to perceive the amount of mana held by anyone within her sight.
But even after examining every passenger on the train with that ability, she had not found anyone strong enough to have killed the demonkin.
She had considered the possibility of mana-concealment magic, but that could not evade Fairy’s Eye.
Still, Elise did not rule out the possibility that the mysterious strong person had been among the train’s passengers. She did not possess all magical knowledge in this world.
So after the train incident ended, she obtained a list of over a hundred passengers and escort knights, then used her family’s information network to investigate their identities and backgrounds in detail.
Ron Hazely was among them.
‘His mana is only First Tier, and he’s last among the cadets, yet... he used Wing Unfurling.’
The fact that a last-place cadet had used Wing Unfurling, a sword technique even she had not mastered, made Ron a person of interest.
She had already planned to involve herself with Ron.
And since Ron was also one of the people she was investigating, she intended to observe him directly while she was at it.
Perhaps Ron could use Wing Unfurling because he had been hiding his true ability.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Elise smiled and held out her hand.
“Same here.”
Ron took Elise’s hand.
Even as they shook hands, Elise stared straight into Ron’s eyes like a hawk watching its prey.
Footnotes:
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