WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons ◈
Chapter 5: Preemptive Subjugation (2)
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Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak was covered in muddy water, giving off ominous purple demonic energy like smoke.
[Why, human, why, did you come here, why, did you kill my pet, why...!!]
Maslo screamed.
Without a word, I lowered my sword diagonally and took a stance, ready to swing at any moment.
[Why!!!]
Fwoooosh!!
When Maslo roared through several mouths, a fierce wind carrying demonic energy swept through the area.
A nauseating, sticky feeling came off the demon.
[I will kill you! I will offer your blood to this swamp! I will honor my pet with your blood! That hateful blood, your blood!!]
“Then come at me.”
I answered with a sneer.
Maslo’s eyes flashed, and veins bulged across the demon’s face.
Boom!!
The swamp exploded. Maslo shot through the flying mud.
A straightforward leap.
Strictly speaking, it was fast. The usual me would have been struck down in the blink of an eye.
But to me now, it was enough to make me yawn.
To exaggerate a little, I felt like I could take a nap and still dodge it.
Maslo thrust a sword toward my waist. A horizontal sword path cut through the air. The movement resembled a wild beast.
I sighed inwardly.
‘The center of gravity is leaning too far forward.’
That was how much emotion had gone into the attack.
It was a crude sword strike, driven by the single-minded desire to kill an enemy in one blow.
Suddenly, I remembered one of the instructor’s swordsmanship classes.
“This is Wing Unfurling! It is both the bridge that connects every Lightwing Sword technique and the greatest counterattack of the Lightwing Sword! It is still too difficult for the likes of you! But if you uncover the mysteries of the Lightwing Sword, you may reach this realm someday!”
I replayed the instructor’s demonstration in my mind, frame by frame.
Just as the instructor had done, I raised silver mana along my blade. Then I swung upward.
‘Wing Unfurling.’
Screech!
[!]
The two blades locked and scraped against each other. Maslo’s sword path twisted for an instant, scattering sparks.
Clang!!
At the end of that exchange, Maslo’s sword let out a shriek and was knocked away.
The recoil sent both blades shuddering. Our swords shot out to either side, scattering demonic energy and mud.
One of the knightly sword arts of Eskrad, the empire protected by the griffin’s five vast pairs of wings.
Lightwing Sword.
A sword art that effectively deflected or knocked aside an opponent’s strike, overextending their movement before exploiting the resulting opening with a follow-up attack.
The whole sequence resembled a griffin spreading its wings wide as it swooped in with steel claws raised.
The usual Ron Hazely could not have even poorly imitated this swordsmanship. But now, having reached Swordmaster’s Realm, I could perform it with ease.
Between our outstretched swords, Maslo’s side was completely exposed.
Before Maslo could recover, my sword unleashed silver mana like a storm and split the demonkin in two.
Slash!!
Fwoooosh!!
The silver slash did not stop at cutting through Maslo. It surged onward like a storm, cleaving through the swamp.
The muddy water carved up by the slash rose into high waves and spread outward, covering the area.
Shhhhhh!
For a brief moment, a brown rain poured down.
[Ah... my blood... Ah... my swamp...]
Maslo was struck by the muddy rain, then slowly crumbled into ash and vanished.
Farewell.
I picked up Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak, the sword of the wandering knight Sylvia. It had been dirtied by the swamp.
The demonic energy clinging to it had dispersed when Maslo died.
‘This sword is mine now.’
I could use it however I wanted.
‘So I got it like this.’
In For Elise, Maslo swallowed the Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak just before being subjugated and entered the second phase.
That meant players had no way to obtain the sword intact.
This was an unexpected reward.
‘Damn, look at that shine.’
It was sturdy and heavy. I liked it a lot. It was a seriously sleek sword.
Was this my first personal sword?
Ding!
A notification window suddenly appeared.
“Huh?”
[The wish of “Sylvia, the Wandering Star” has been fulfilled.]
[Wish: To rescue “Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak” from the hands of demonkind.]
[The reward prepared by the star will be granted.]
[The path to awaken “Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak” has been unlocked for you alone.]
[“Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak” welcomes you as its new master.]
[You have acquired the trait “Iron Wolf.”]
[When using “Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak,” you can wield “Iron Wolf’s Mana.”]
[Requirements]
- [Fourth Tier]
- [Sword Expert realm]
‘There was something like this?’
What? This sword’s original abilities were locked?
Of course I had no idea.
Still, ‘the Wandering Star,’ huh? It seemed Sylvia had become something incredible.
So it had almost turned into an accidental case of sword NTR. I supposed it was good that it did not happen.
Once I became Kalzak’s master, a new sensation was engraved into my instincts. I reached for that feeling.
Swoosh.
The sword turned into silver-gray mana, seeped into me, and disappeared.
‘Is it stored now? It doesn’t feel strange at all.’
In For Elise, special famed swords capable of choosing a master could turn into mana and be stored deep inside their owner’s body.
That mana remained dormant in secret.
In that state, the sword’s mana could not be used separately, nor could it be detected from outside as the owner’s mana. That was how the setting worked in the story.
It meant that even if Griffin Knight School inspected me, they would not discover Ravenous Wolf Sword Kalzak.
How fascinating. I patted my chest a few times, then stopped.
‘Should I head back now?’
I thought of a spot outside the cave near the gate through which I had entered, then turned the Exit Gate Key in the air.
Whoooosh!
A green gate formed around the turned key.
When I left through the green gate, I arrived at the place I had imagined.
“Whew, it’s over... Urgh...”
My body suddenly became heavy, and exhaustion crashed over me.
It felt as though my whole body were melting like ice cream in summer.
I had felt it before, but it seemed it would take quite some time to get used to the Swordmaster state wearing off.
As I rested for a while in that state...
“...”
I suddenly remembered the feeling of knocking away Maslo’s sword strike.
The essence of the Lightwing Sword still lingered in my hands.
‘Maybe, surely...’
I closed my eyes, gripped my sword tightly, and took my stance.
I pictured Maslo shooting toward me.
‘Wing Unfurling.’
Shing.
I swung my sword upward to match the imagined demon’s sword path.
However, my body failed to block the strike and was helplessly sent flying. In my imagination, of course.
My current body could not reproduce the sword angle that had naturally fallen into place while I was a Swordmaster, the sufficient amount of mana, or the distribution of strength.
I understood it in my head, but my body could not keep up.
‘It might work against some other weak opponent, but not someone on Maslo’s level.’
I opened my eyes and smacked my lips.
I sheathed my sword and returned to the knight school.
......
Shhhhhhh.
After arriving at the dormitory, I washed myself beneath the pouring water.
‘It was a productive day.’
I had already begun to take my current special circumstances for granted.
Perhaps the way my thoughts and emotions had rapidly settled during the train incident in Chapter 1, Act 1, while I was in the Swordmaster state, had helped a lot.
Otherwise, I might still have been lost in confusion, fumbling around without knowing what to do.
‘Things would probably become easier if I worked with the protagonist here, but...’
I shook my head.
‘Not just yet.’
I knew the protagonist well.
She was suspicious by nature and decisive. As an exceptionally gifted genius, she was powerful and extremely proactive.
Behind her smile, bright as sunlight, was a cold obsession with the happiness of those around her.
Which meant...
‘There’s a good chance she’d use me instead.’
Not only that, but if I suddenly revealed my future knowledge and unique ability to Elise, she would naturally suspect me and make me her top surveillance target.
I could not blindly trust someone like that with my secrets.
Even if things worked out, that would only be clear in hindsight. For now, the risk was too great.
So I decided not to take unnecessary risks yet.
At least until I had grown strong enough that Elise could not seize the initiative even if she discovered who I was.
‘Oh, come to think of it... It must have been updated this time too.’
There was a peculiar record belonging to the protagonist, one that updated whenever an event directly leading to a bad ending was resolved.
Thanks to that, the protagonist must have realized that a dangerous demon had been dealt with.
* * *
A few hours earlier.
Ding!
‘Huh?’
At Griffin Knight School, magenta half-up hair swayed in the wind.
Elise Lorendia, the protagonist of For Elise, paused when she saw a translucent notification window appear before her.
“What’s wrong, Elise?”
“Hehe, it’s nothing.”
With a smile bright enough to call sunlight to mind, Elise answered her friend and continued walking.
As they continued their idle chatter, Elise checked the notification window in the corner of her vision.
[“Scenario Note” has been updated.]
[Would you like to view it?]
‘Yes.’
[Oh, Elise. The demon who was supposed to drive you and your friends into tragedy has had its head lopped off! A page of bad endings has disappeared. Congratulations, Elise!]
“...”
Elise’s eyes narrowed.
Perhaps because Elise had fallen deep into thought, Lara, a small friend with sleeves hanging over her hands, covered her mouth and watched Elise suspiciously through half-lidded eyes.
“Hey, Elise.”
“Huh? Yeah?”
“Something’s going on with you, right? You’ve been acting suspicious lately.”
Elise narrowed her eyes mischievously and smiled.
“What if there is?”
“What...? Um, just in case, you haven’t found someone you like... have you?”
“Mm, who knows?”
“Really!? You really don’t, right!?”
Elise casually answered, diverting Lara’s attention.
And now.
Even late at night, Elise was training by swinging her sword.
The indoor training hall had already closed, so Elise was alone in the outdoor training ground, relying on lamplight.
“Whew, whew...”
Elise caught her breath and wiped the sweat covering her face.
After drinking cool water from a canteen, Elise habitually opened the Scenario Note.
The latest entry still said that the demon’s head had been cut off.
“Who was it...?”
Elise’s quiet voice seeped into the night air.
The Scenario Note.
One day, after waking up, a translucent window like this had begun appearing before Elise.
The Scenario Note foretold tragedies that would soon befall Elise or the people around her. When Elise resolved those problems, it updated to say that the tragic fate had disappeared.
As if a narrator were telling a fairy tale.
Thanks to it, Elise had prevented several incidents before they could happen.
She caught the assassin targeting her uncle in advance.
She killed the underground beast targeting her father before it could act.
She prevented the accident that would have cost her friend an arm.
She stopped the maid’s plan to poison her.
The Scenario Note described these outcomes as “preventing bad endings.”
Until now, Elise had resolved the incidents herself, and then the entries had appeared in the Scenario Note...
‘Just like the train incident, this time too...’
During the train incident, the demon whose appearance had been foretold as soon as the train fell into the dungeon was dealt with before Elise could do anything.
This time, no warning had appeared at all, yet a tragedy had suddenly been resolved.
Judging by the scale of the tragedies mentioned in the Scenario Note, neither demon could have been an easy opponent.
Yet both demons had been subjugated one after another without Elise even knowing.
‘There’s no way this is a coincidence.’
Could the person who defeated both demons be the same person?
It would have been nice if the Scenario Note gave more specific details. Aside from the important results, everything else was vaguely glossed over...
Whether they intended it or not, Elise could not even guess who had secretly prevented her tragedy from the shadows.
She waved a hand once and closed the notification window.
‘...How strange.’
Elise looked up at the crescent moon hanging in the night sky.
She did not know who had helped her, and countless questions troubled her mind...
But for someone who had always saved others, being saved by someone else felt surprisingly fresh.
Footnotes:
NTR is Korean internet shorthand for a romantic partner being taken away. Here, it is used jokingly about a sword changing hands.
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