The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons - Chapter 40

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

◈ The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons ◈

Chapter 40: Puppet (1)

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“Everyone, you worked hard throughout the first semester! Get yourselves in order during break and be ready for the second semester! Understood!?”

“Yes!!”

“That’s all! Dismissed!”

Summer break had begun at Griffin Knight School.

‘It feels strange with how quiet it is.’

With so many cadets returning to their families, the campus had become sparse.

Most of the cadets who remained at the knight school had applied for vacation guard duty. It lets them earn bonus points, after all.

The knights from the school’s knight orders filled the remaining guard-duty positions.

I was preparing to leave the dormitory when Instructor Rachel’s words came to mind.

‘Elise Lorendia, Lara Twislope, and Ron Hazely. The three of you have been selected as candidates for Special Training Cadet status.’

Instructor Rachel explained that the instructors highly valued my rapid mastery of swordsmanship, steep growth, magical insight, and more.

It felt surreal.

I had never expected to become a Special Training Cadet myself.

‘Ah... The Ron Hazely coin really did go to the moon.’

‘Nice.’

As I basked in the moment and acted ridiculous by myself, I remembered the magic tool Violet had given me a few days earlier.

‘Mr. Hazely. I brought this in during the last holiday because I thought it might help....’

What Violet had taken out then was a case.

She opened it to reveal two bracelets, then handed one to me.

‘I should bring this too.’

The bracelet allowed communication and location-sharing within a certain range.

When I put it on, it slowly turned into mana and seeped into my wrist.

‘It works properly.’

I knew because Violet and I had tested it together. Its functions were similar to those of a high-grade artifact.

Magic tools that could turn into mana were normally extremely expensive. Yet she had readily given me something like this....

‘I already want to see Violet again.’

A smile formed on my lips.

Maybe I should hug her the next time we met.

No, that might make Violet uncomfortable.

Before long, I changed into my black apprentice-knight uniform and packed my things.

‘Shall I go?’

I left the dormitory.

My task this time was the same as before.

Prevent tragedies and stop bad endings.

......

Eastern Eskrad.

Elise Lorendia, Lara Twislope, and I arrived by train at the station in the city of Rosburn.

Three Blue Wing Knights greeted us when we got off the train. One man and two women, all dressed in navy knight uniforms.

“For the Empire.”

We exchanged salutes.

After confirming our identities, we boarded the Blue Wing Knight Order’s magic carriage and crossed the city. Rosburn was quite lively.

Elise asked a messy-haired female Blue Wing Knight.

“Senior, are we heading to the Blue Wing Rosburn Branch?”

“Nooo. We’re going to the eastern border overseen by the Rosburn Branch. The front line.”

The messy-haired knight answered in a drawn-out tone, smiling lazily.

“There’d be nothing to do at the Rosburn Branch besides looking after knights in some quiet place. Pfft. What would be the point?”

‘The front line....’

Maybe it was the wording, but it naturally reminded me of my military service in my previous life.

My expression twisted on its own. Ugh, the PTSD was kicking in.

“Hazely, what’s with that expression all of a sudden?”

“Some unpleasant memories came back. You could say there’s a very deep story behind my past....”

“?”

Lara looked at me in confusion, then seemed to decide, ‘Ah, this guy’s spouting nonsense again,’ and let it go.

The carriage left Rosburn and headed for the eastern border.

A wall stretched across the eastern front. At its center stood a vast military base.

‘Desolate.’

Well, it was the front line.

“For the Empire!”

The soldiers on guard duty gave crisp salutes toward the Blue Wing Knight Order’s carriage.

We entered the eastern base and immediately arrived at the commander’s office.

“Reporting in. Elise Lorendia, Lara Twislope, and Ron Hazely, three individuals in total, have been assigned Special Training Cadet duties with the Blue Wing Knight Order as of today. Reporting complete.”

Elise reported to the commander on our behalf.

“Welcome, fresh little squires.”

The commander, dressed in a Blue Wing Knight uniform, greeted us with a hearty chuckle.

He was a middle-aged man wearing a black eyepatch over one eye.

“So you’re the promising cadets? Those two are famous enough already, but....”

The commander’s gaze turned to me.

“This one is unfamiliar. Ron Hazely, was it?”

“Cadet Ron Hazely!”

“Well, if you were selected alongside these two, your aptitude must be sufficient.”

Since he did not know me, news that I had been chosen by the White Wing Knight Order’s commander had apparently not spread this far.

“I look forward to working with you.”

“Yes! I look forward to working with you!”

“Kahah! Good, good.”

The commander laughed boisterously.

After the brief reporting ceremony, we left the commander’s office.

As if she had been waiting for it, the messy-haired female knight let out a groan and stretched deeply.

“Gooood. That tedious, stuffy, boring-to-death procedure is finally over....”

It had not seemed that tedious, stuffy, or boring to me.

“Senior, where are we going now?”

“Hm? Obviously....”

The messy-haired knight answered my question casually.

“We’re putting you into real combat.”

Just as expected.

‘No time to rest, huh.’

......

Slash!!

Elise’s elegant mana-infused sword strike split a boar monster in one blow.

“Ohh, you’re quite good, just as I heard.”

“Thank you.”

Elise answered with a formal smile when the messy-haired female knight praised her.

Outside the eastern front, we were patrolling with the Blue Wing Knights.

“By the way, isn’t it troublesome for you seniors to have us with you?”

“Hm? Not at all. It’s actually niceee. It’s easier, and it feels like we’re all taking a lively walk together.”

The messy-haired knight grinned and waved off my question.

Patrolling the eastern front felt like taking a walk to this person. What even were front-line knights?

“Ahh, it would be nice if things were always this relaxed. Training is such a pain. Standing guard is such a pain.”

“Try to restrain yourself in front of the juniors, Mary.”

“So what? If they’d slack off because I said that, they wouldn’t have made it here.”

The messy-haired knight, Mary, did not care even when her fellow knight scolded her.

“Good job, good job. You’re wonderful, junior. Keep helping me lounge around comfortably from now on~”

Mary grinned as she gently stroked Elise’s magenta hair.

There was absolutely no sense of personal boundaries in that touch.

Perhaps because Mary was her senior, Elise remained still with a formal smile.

‘Mary.’

According to the original story, Mary had repeatedly approached Elise with her characteristic friendliness.

However, Elise never opened her heart to Mary. She only considered her a good person.

And then....

‘She killed her.’

In the Third Playthrough’s story, Elise killed Mary. It was because of a Demonkin.

Personally harming an innocent senior knight who had looked after her took a considerable toll on Elise’s mental state.

Of course, I did not like that situation at all. Wasn’t it just fucked up?

‘That Demonkin will definitely appear this time.’

There was no guarantee events would unfold as I expected, but this time, I was certain.

This Special Training Cadet assignment was the perfect opportunity for that Demonkin to target Elise.

“Hazely.”

“Hm?”

Lara, standing beside me, suddenly looked at me suspiciously and asked.

“What are you staring at so blankly? Are you jealous because that senior is petting her? Or do you want to pet Elise too?”

What was she talking about?

“As if....”

Clap.

Mary suddenly clapped her hands.

“Now thennn, cute little squires? Today is the last day you’ll all be huddling together. It’s a waste of manpower, right? Starting tomorrow, each of you will form a team with one knight and patrol separately. So, who wants to come with me from now on?”

Mary asked in her drawn-out tone, raising her right hand.

Good. This was the moment I had been waiting for.

Whoosh!

I immediately raised my right hand.

“Cadet Ron Hazely!”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward me.

Mary snickered.

“Oh, the handsome cutie!”

“Just give me any order! I’ll work hard!”

Mary would be targeted by the Demonkin this time. She would become bait to lure Elise in, as well as a sacrificial victim of tragedy.

So, I planned to stay with Mary to prevent that tragedy.

‘Huh?’

But for some reason....

The air around us settled into an unnaturally cold chill.

“Hm....”

“You like every pretty woman you see, don’t you? Pervert Hazely....”

“......?”

Elise stared at me with only her lips smiling, while Lara looked at me coldly and let out a quiet scoff.

Only then did I realize.

‘No, you guys....’

No.

It was not what they thought.

......

The eastern base’s main duty was patrol.

Elise, Lara, and I patrolled near the border under the protection of the Blue Wing Knights, killing monsters.

Usually, soldiers patrolled there, but we were assigned some shifts for practical training.

During patrols, I listened attentively and reacted enthusiastically to Mary’s stories about the knight order.

Maybe she liked that about me, because Mary often vigorously ruffled my hair.

We also trained at the base’s training facilities and enjoyed decent meals every day.

A week passed like that at the eastern base.

“For the Empire.”

“Thank you for your work today as well, Sir Hazely.”

The soldiers saluted me respectfully and always used an honorific. It was because I was an apprentice knight.

‘Sir Hazely....’

Hm. It had a nice ring to it.

I had been scraping along the bottom at knight school, but now that I could feel my status in society, my shoulders naturally rose.

“Lara, I have a favor to ask.”

“What?”

“Would you please call me ‘the successful Sir Hazely’?”

“What are you so smug about...?”

Lara half-lidded her eyes as if I were ridiculous.

I was the fool for expecting Lara to play along.... Elise would have responded well.

‘More importantly, will it happen today?’

In the Third Playthrough’s original story, Act 10 of Chapter 1 began one week after the Special Training Cadet assignment started.

‘Ah, I can feel it. You’re here, Violet.’

The bracelet equipped as mana within my wrist suddenly sent a sensation from a certain direction.

As we had discussed beforehand, it meant Violet had reached the eastern border.

Violet would observe the situation through incorporeal undead servants invisible to others. Her response would vary according to the situation.

‘Ugh, I’m nervous....’

Well, the reason I had thrown that stupid joke at Lara was to ease my nerves, even a little.

All I could do was pray things went well.

“Cuties, shall we get going?”

Mary, the messy-haired knight, appeared with her fellow knights.

The sun was beginning to set. Elise, Lara, and I split up with our assigned knights and began patrolling the eastern forest.

“Hey, cutie. How is it after a week?”

“I think I’m managing so far.”

I answered Mary’s question. Mary smirked.

“What a shameee. You should’ve come when the monsters were really running wild. Then you would’ve had a hell of a time. You’re lucky. It’s normally really busy and dangerous around here.”

I held back a laugh. It could not be luck.

The forest being quiet was likely the Demonkin’s influence.

“Look at meee. I’ve rested so much lately that my skin is looking so good...?”

Creeeak.

Mary’s words abruptly stopped as a strange sound drifted through the wind.

Click.

Mary reflexively grabbed her sword hilt, and I immediately prepared to draw my sword.

In the silence, we turned toward the sound. The forest air had already become heavy.

Creak, creak.

Crack.

It sounded like bones and joints were twisting.

Then, a dead monkey monster emerged from the brush in the direction of the sound.

Its neck was grotesquely bent, its limbs broken.

The monster corpse moved unnaturally, like a puppet suspended from strings.

And then....

Creak, creak, creak, creak, creak, creak.

Squish, crack, snap, crunch.

Monster corpses of every kind began forcing their way through the grass from all directions, approaching with bizarre movements.

Stepping on the ground with broken legs, dragging their torn bodies....

They surrounded Mary and me.

Shing.

We drew our swords.

“Ha, another dangerous thing has shown up.... I was wondering why it had been so quiet lately.”

Mary abandoned her usual lazy tone and clicked her tongue in complaint.

I took a sword stance and thought.

‘Just as expected.’

That bastard was here.

Creak, creak, creak.

A bizarre creature with abnormally long legs approached us. It looked to be roughly three meters tall.

Gray skin, seductively curved eyes, mouths on both cheeks, and eight arms.

Purple strings tangled around every finger. Every string stretched far into empty space before vanishing seamlessly midway.

Sssss.

Purple demonic energy rippled along each bundle of threads.

Purple demonic energy also flowed from the puppet-like monster corpses. It was easy to tell they had each been strengthened by demonic energy.

The bizarre monster stopped in front of Mary and me, then tilted its head like a puppet.

‘Demonkin, Kilohr the Puppeteer.’

A Demonkin belonging to the Exchange Realm Society and the villain of Chapter 1, Act 10.

She was after the fairy’s power Elise possessed.

‘She really looks fucking terrifying.’

Cold sweat ran down my cheek.

My survival instincts constantly sounded alarms, telling me she was an existence I could never defeat.

In the original story, Demonkin Kilohr kidnapped Mary through a Gate and controlled her like a puppet.

Then she used Lara, who should originally have been Mary’s assigned cadet, as a messenger to lure Elise into her Dungeon.

For their own reasons, Elise and Lara could not be controlled immediately.

Mary, meanwhile, was a capable fighter and easy to control, making her an ideal target.

I recalled my plan.

‘If that Demonkin bastard kidnaps Senior Mary and uses me as a messenger, I’ll contact Violet through the bracelet and have her send me the magic disguise outfit.’

I had asked Violet to prepare a magic disguise outfit that could conceal my identity.

She would deliver it through an undead servant.

Afterward, I would go directly to the Dungeon, kill Demonkin Kilohr, and get out.

Then, with the undead servant’s help, I would quickly find Elise and seriously make a fuss that Senior Mary had been kidnapped while pretending I knew nothing.

That was how I planned to get through this scenario.

“That’s a Demonkin...? Ah, seriously, my life...!”

Fwoosh!!

Mary sighed and poured aura into her sword. Aura wrapped around the blade and burned like flame.

[Hello?]

Demonkin Kilohr greeted us in a voice unnervingly refined.

Her three mouths smiled at once.

[There is no need to wield your swords. I do not wish to fight you.]

“You brought this many monsters and still have the nerve to say that.”

Mary let out a scoff.

“Fine, let’s hear it. If you don’t want to fight us, what is your goal?”

[It is nothing much. I would like to make one of you my precious puppet. And I would like the other to bring the fairy’s contractor to my Dungeon.]