WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons ◈
Chapter 54: Founding Anniversary Festival - Interlude
──────
“Did we get them!?”
“W-We brought them down...!!”
“Ahh...!!”
“Heroes!”
“Waaaaah!!”
The citizens’ cheers for Elise Lorendia and Lara Twisloff filled the city of Oldern.
The knights, guards, and knight academy cadets who had fought the monsters all raised their weapons and shouted, savoring their victory together.
But their joy at victory was short-lived. Elise and Lara split up and flew over the buildings, searching the city.
They were looking for Ron Hazely.
They had missed their chance to seek out the unidentified Swordmaster while fighting the Demonkin Golus. For now, they had decided to focus on Ron.
Before long.
“Ron...?”
Elise spotted a light-brown-haired man sitting against the fountain in the empty plaza.
It was Ron.
Whoosh!
Elise sent a gust of petals into the sky to signal Lara of Ron’s location.
Then, the moment her feet touched the ground, she released her Fairy Transformation and approached Ron.
“...!”
Elise’s eyes widened, her turquoise eyes shaking.
Ron did not look all right by any stretch of the imagination.
His body was covered in ragged wounds. He seemed to have wiped away some of the blood, but he could do nothing about the stains dried into his clothes.
“Oh, the city’s hero is here?”
Ron lifted his head with sleepy eyes to greet Elise.
The calm smile on his face, as though telling her not to worry, pierced Elise’s heart like a blade.
“Ron.”
Elise crouched on one knee before Ron and looked at him anxiously.
“Are you all right...?”
“Ah. Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not hurt that badly. I’m just tired, so I was going to rest a bit before moving.”
Not hurt that badly? It sounded like Ron’s usual bluff.
The bleeding had stopped, but his condition did not look good. Besides, he could have suffered internal injuries as well.
“Get on my back. We’re going to the Healing Division.”
“Huh?”
Filled with concern, Elise carried Ron on her back.
* * *
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
Griffin Knight Academy had dispatched its knight order and was working with Oldern’s knights to deal with the aftermath.
Since the incident had been so large in scale, the Healing Division had come along as well.
I was handed over to the Healing Division, with Elise and Lara following behind. Then I was examined in the infirmary of the Magic Knight Order’s Oldern branch.
But Elise and Lara looked doubtful at the healer’s words.
“There are no issues with his internal organs. Most of his wounds were shallow, and even those few wounds have already healed well. We simply disinfected them and finished treatment.”
“But he looks...”
“He only looks like that. He’s fine.”
“And he has no strength...”
“That’s simply because he’s exhausted.”
“...”
Elise gave me a meaningful look, while Lara stared at me as I sat on the bed, her eyes half-lidded.
“What? Why?”
Why were they looking at me like that?
“I was just thinking that you’re way less hurt than I expected. Why are you so healthy?”
“I told you I was fine... What, were you hoping I’d be hurt worse?”
I protested at Lara’s question. What nonsense.
The healer also examined Elise and Lara by running mana through them.
They had no injuries and only had little mana left, so the healer told them they simply needed plenty of rest.
After that, the healer left.
“Then I guess I should nurse Ron now~”
Elise pulled a chair to my bedside and sat down.
“I feel bad about this...”
I was supposed to be the one escorting her today.
“Now, now~ Ron needs absolute rest today.”
Elise playfully scolded me, then gently pushed me back onto the bed. She pulled the blanket up to my neck.
“Get plenty of rest for now, Ron.”
A calm smile filled Elise’s face.
‘She’s really taking care of me...’
What was she, my mom?
[Mr. Hazely, I have arrived at the infirmary too.]
Violet’s voice echoed in my head at just the right moment.
That was a relief. Well, I didn’t need to fight off sleep any longer.
“Then, I guess...”
Only then did I close my eyes and fall soundly asleep.
...
“Mmm...”
When I woke up, the infirmary lights were off.
Only lanterns lit by the faint glow of luminescent stones illuminated the room.
I turned my head to the side. Lara was asleep in a chair, leaning against the wall.
‘Was she nursing me this whole time?’
She was probably only here because Elise had been here too... Still, I’d have to tease Lara later and tell her I was touched.
I sat up and rolled my shoulders.
‘I’ve got some strength back now.’
Rustle.
I got out of bed and carefully lifted Lara in a princess carry. True to her small build, she was light.
I laid Lara on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
Looking around, I saw that several cadets had settled into beds and fallen into deep sleep.
Some cadets who had apparently received treatment were wrapped in bandages.
‘Ah.’
Violet was among the cadets lying in bed. It seemed she had been treated and was sleeping soundly.
A strong sense of relief and happiness welled up inside me.
I approached Violet, stroked her hair, and pulled her blanket up a little higher.
Rustle.
[...]
Beneath Violet’s bed, a tiny skeletal puppy undead servant clad in pink mana poked its head out and looked up at me.
It was Scally.
My aura sense had picked up an undead servant. So it was you. I met Scally’s gaze and nodded. I’ll leave Violet in your care.
Scally nodded as well.
I left the infirmary.
“For the Empire.”
“For the Empire.”
Knights were guarding the infirmary. After exchanging salutes with them, I stepped outside into the cool night air.
Despite it being midnight, the knight order was busy. They seemed to be handling the aftermath and investigating the Gate Break incident that had occurred in the city.
Then, near a bench beneath a streetlamp.
‘There she is.’
Elise was sitting quietly, lost in thought.
Perhaps she noticed my gaze. Elise turned toward me and smiled without a word.
I gave a light wave, approached Elise, and sat beside her.
“Hi, Ron. You seem all right now?”
“Thanks to you. But that thing you used when fighting the Demonkin, that was a fairy’s power, right?”
“Yep. As you saw?”
“Wow, it was terrifying...”
“Is that all you have to say? It was my secret trump card that I’d been hiding, you know~”
“It also made me think I shouldn’t pick a fight with you for no reason again.”
“Pfft. What kind of comment is that?”
Elise laughed lightly.
The night breeze drifted past without a sound. Only the chirping of insects blended into the quiet atmosphere.
Soon, Elise stretched and spoke.
“Ugh... In the morning, we’ll have to cooperate with the investigation too~ We went through something huge, but somehow it doesn’t feel real. Maybe I’m getting used to this kind of thing...”
“I really don’t want to get used to this...”
I probably wouldn’t be able to avoid this in the future either.
Elise was the protagonist who would stand at the center of every incident, and I was in the position of protecting her.
“Exactly~ And the festival, um... We didn’t get to enjoy it until the end. And...”
“And?”
“...I’m just disappointed. That the festival ended like this.”
‘Come to think of it...’
I had promised to accommodate Elise during the festival, but I hadn’t said what she wanted to hear after all.
I turned to Elise. She was looking down at the ground, winding her magenta hair around her finger.
Stray hairs stuck out from the elegant, beautiful hairstyle she had worn earlier. Part of her hair had also been singed in her fight against the Demonkin Golus.
Her lovely reddish-brown dress was a ruined mess as well, scorched and cut apart.
The long skirt had been cut away too, leaving Elise’s bare legs fully exposed.
“Elise.”
“Hm? What is it, Ron?”
Elise smiled sweetly at me and tilted her head.
“I was thinking I should say it now...”
Honestly, it wasn’t difficult to say.
The way I saw her had always been...
“You’re really beautiful today.”
“...?”
Silence followed for a while.
For some reason, Elise only stared at me with wide eyes, without saying anything.
The longer Elise remained silent, the more heat rushed up my back.
Ah... Now that I’d said it, it felt embarrassingly awkward.
‘What does it matter...’
She had asked me to say it, and it was how I truly felt.
I tried to ignore my embarrassment.
Then Elise burst out laughing.
“Pfft! Puhahaha...! Ah...! Right, I did ask you to say that...!”
“You forgot?”
“There was so much going on...! Pfft...!”
Elise laughed until tears formed at the corners of her eyes.
“But Ron, I look like a complete mess right now, you know? Really, totally awful. And you still think I’m beautiful?”
“Do I need some complicated reason to call something beautiful when it is beautiful?”
“What I mean is, why are you calling me beautiful at a time like this...! Ah, that’s funny... Do you know that was the most absurd time anyone has ever told me I was beautiful?”
For a while, Elise continued giggling in a voice full of laughter, even wiping tears from her eyes.
‘What is this...?’
Had I said something that funny?
No matter how I thought about it, I didn’t think this was the kind of compliment Elise had asked for because she wanted to laugh this much...
As I awkwardly fidgeted, Elise giggled and spoke.
“Thank you, Ron.”
“Sorry, but wasn’t my timing for that compliment kind of strange...?”
Elise shook her head with a soft “Mm-mm,” then smiled brightly with a faint blush on her cheeks.
“It was perfect.”
“?”
Was it really worthy of such a high evaluation...?
I thought I knew Elise fairly well, but it wasn’t easy to understand her standards.
Then again, how could I? The original story had never featured a character Elise treated the way she treated me.
‘Anyway, as long as she’s happy.’
It was too embarrassing, so I decided to quickly change the subject.
“Ahem. So, was there anything else you wanted to do at the festival?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m soooo disappointed. That’s why I can’t sleep.”
The reason she couldn’t sleep was probably something else, whether it was the Demonkin’s attack or whatever else, but I decided not to press her.
“Then we can go again next time.”
“Next time? With you, Ron?”
“Yeah.”
Elise narrowed her eyes and smiled mischievously.
“Is that so~? Ron wants to go to the festival with me again next year?”
“Huh? Of course.”
“...”
“...Isn’t that obvious?”
I thought there was no reason to joke about it, so I simply said it. Elise stopped speaking.
I knew she had been trying to tease me, but had I said something wrong?
‘Aren’t we close enough for that?’
“You’re right... I suppose we are.”
Elise lowered her head and smiled softly, then held out her pinky toward me.
What was this?
“What is it?”
“A promise. That we’ll come to next year’s festival together.”
Elise gave me a radiant smile.
A laugh escaped me without thinking.
I thought the last time I had made a promise like this was when I was a child in my previous life. It felt needlessly cheesy.
Still, something tingled in my chest, filling me with a strange sense of satisfaction.
I hooked pinkies with Elise.
“If you break the promise, you pay a fine.”
“Wow, that’s childish.”
I resolved to survive with Elise next year too.
After that, we spoke quietly together.
Mostly about the things we had been disappointed not to enjoy at this festival.
And so, we spent the time deciding one by one what we wanted to do together next year.
‘Next year...’
Would my identity have been exposed by then? I didn’t know.
I couldn’t be sure how things would unfold, so I also didn’t know how much the Scenario Note would have grown stronger by then.
‘One thing is certain. Sooner or later, she’ll find out about everything I’ve done.’
Once the Scenario Note accumulated enough experience points and reached a certain level, it would allow someone to view the moments when tragedies had been resolved, as though recalling them.
When that time came, Elise would learn everything I had done for her.
‘That already sounds embarrassing.’
It was like letting someone find your computer hard drive.
I had better not resolve any scenarios in an uncool way. I didn’t want to be embarrassed in the future.
The stars were scattered across the sky like salt. As I watched the night sky, I spoke with Elise about many things.
The night deepened toward dawn.
* * *
[“Scenario Note” has been updated.]
[Would you like to view it?]
[Oh, Elise. Elise Lorendia.]
[Originally, the Demonkin, magical beasts, and hordes of monsters were supposed to freeze, burn, and crush you and the people staying in the city, taking their lives.]
[But fortunately, you defeated every enemy! Someone outside fate intervened as well and protected you and the citizens. Everyone, that was truly splendid work!]
[You have struggled successfully once again! Another page of bad endings has disappeared. Congratulations, Elise!]
[“Scenario Note” has gained experience points.]
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
