The Weakest Knight Became a Swordmaster, But Only in Dungeons - Chapter 9

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Oblivious

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 9: Request (1)

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Evening, at the outdoor training grounds.

I blocked the sword strike of Turak, the grayish-brown-haired Barbarian, and fell over.

Turak was helping me train in swordsmanship.

‘He’s freakishly strong...!’

And that was with him holding back. Unbelievable.

“Failed again.”

“Ugh, yeah...”

After succeeding with Wing Unfurling, a Lightwing Sword technique, during the Subjugation Test, I told Turak that I wanted to practice it. He had looked doubtful and asked, “Is that something impressive...?”

Whatever the case, when I gave him five pieces of jerky...

“I must naturally help with a comrade’s training. That is the way of a warrior.”

With an exceptionally solemn, grave, serious expression, Turak accepted my request.

We repeatedly practiced after deciding the direction of his attacks in advance, and my success rate had reached around fifty percent.

Turak had been surprised after experiencing my technique firsthand, and he had been seriously practicing with me ever since.

Swish.

I gripped my sword tightly again, rose to my feet, and took my stance.

“Again.”

“Understood.”

I was fired up.

Because...

‘I’m sure of it. The senses I had in the Swordmaster state are still helping me now.’

This had confirmed it for me.

To compare it to a game, it was like directly experiencing a veteran player’s difficult control-heavy play, then trying to recreate it yourself.

Even if I was not skilled enough to pull it off as smoothly as an expert, I could still understand what those controls felt like.

It would be good to learn various sword techniques while in the Swordmaster state whenever I entered a Dungeon from now on.

‘If Gates were common, that is...’

Unfortunately, Gates did not appear often.

I could not predict when, where, or how one would appear. Even if one did appear, there was a high chance I would not find out about it.

‘In the end, this is the only place.’

There had been plenty of sudden Gates in the story of Elwi, and I knew that information.

In other words, staying involved with the story was also the quickest way for me to grow stronger.

“Jerky... no, Comrade.”

“What?”

Turak suddenly jerked his chin toward somewhere behind me. I turned around.

A female cadet with half-tied magenta hair swaying behind her walked with her small friend.

Elise Lorendia. The protagonist of For Elise.

“That cadet was watching you just now.”

“?”

Elise?

I narrowed my eyes and turned back to Turak.

“No way... Why would the top cadet be watching me?”

“It is true.”

“She probably just happened to notice me while passing by.”

“If it had only been a passing glance, I would not have mentioned it.”

“...Really?”

Turak nodded.

Turak would not lie about something like this, and I trusted his eyes.

‘Obviously, it’s not because Elise sees me as a man.’

We had not formed any sort of connection.

The chances of her seeing my face and feeling romantic interest were also close to zero. Elise currently had no interest in romance whatsoever.

Those supposedly impressive male leads who had fallen for her were almost pitiful. They failed to win her over until the very end of the story.

It was also impossible for her to have found any clue that I was the one protecting her from behind the scenes yet.

Then maybe...

‘Is she still bothered by what she saw during the Subjugation Test?’

I remembered Elise looking at me suspiciously after the test ended.

It made sense. I had shown something that did not suit a last-place cadet.

‘I should be careful for now.’

This was not the time to lose myself in thoughts about Elise.

I focused on training again.

......

“Ugh, I’m dying...”

After finishing my training with Turak’s help, I returned to the dormitory.

I had been the one to ask for help, but Turak must have gotten motivated. He kept urging me on, shouting, “Burn with fighting spirit, Comrade!” and drove me to my limit.

Every joint ached, and my muscles screamed.

I barely made it to my bed and sprawled out flat on my back. I couldn’t move my arms...

As I lay still and breathed, my next plan came to mind.

‘Chapter 1, Act 4 is next. I’ll skip that.’

Chapter 1, Act 4 of Elwi’s third playthrough was a daily-life section where the protagonist became involved with another main character.

What mattered was Chapter 1, Act 5.

‘The monsters’ gigantification.’

Due to the power of a certain Demonkin, monsters would rapidly grow stronger and larger, causing major damage to the surrounding area.

At the time, the protagonist and her friends were carrying out a request together. Fancying themselves knights, they would end up fighting the enlarged monsters.

Nobody died in the first or second playthrough, but in the third, Lara Twislope, the protagonist’s closest friend, would lose her life while protecting people.

That would push the protagonist into a state of “depression,” greatly increase the difficulty of later story sections where Lara could have played an active role, and heighten the risk of bad endings.

Once Chapter 1, Act 5 began, there would be no way for me to protect Lara with my own strength.

Then?

‘I just need to deal with the monsters in advance during Chapter 1, Act 4.’

If I did that, the events of Chapter 1, Act 5 in Elwi would change into an encounter with Demonkin in a Gate Dungeon instead, and Lara would not die.

It was an absurdly easy solution, but it was also difficult to discover unless you knew the walkthrough information or had examined every piece of content in detail.

Still, I could not afford to take my time.

Once Chapter 1, Act 4 passed, the monsters destined to grow larger would disappear, and I would lose my chance to eliminate them beforehand.

‘Let’s do this.’

I tried to move to carry out my next plan.

Then...

“Uuugh...”

A groan worthy of an old man on his deathbed slipped out, and I collapsed back onto the bed.

Yeah, I would start tomorrow.

I had pushed myself too hard today...

......

The knight school also gave cadets opportunities to carry out missions.

They were usually too small in scale to mobilize military forces, but suitable for apprentice knights to gain practical experience.

‘This is where those missions are gathered.’

The knight school’s Quest Office.

It was basically structured like an adventurers’ guild.

Fitting the knight school’s lofty status, the Quest Office building had a respectable exterior.

I entered the Quest Office. Its interior was clean, and several cadets were inside. Each was wearing equipment.

Brooches representing their year were attached to their clothes. Many were silver or gold, meaning they were second or third-years.

There were first-years here and there as well. They made eye contact with me, but since we were not close, we did not exchange greetings.

I headed straight for the reception desk. A female receptionist was there.

“You’re a first-year. Are you here to take on a request?”

My bronze brooch represented first-years.

She seemed to have realized I was a first-year after seeing it.

“Yes. Is that possible?”

“Of course. First, I’ll help you register.”

I filled out a contract following the receptionist’s instructions.

“Good, confirmed. Let me explain now. Your starting rank is E-rank. For now, you can only take E-rank requests. The more requests you successfully complete, the higher your rank can rise. Then you’ll be able to take more difficult requests with better rewards.”

“Yes.”

“Choose whichever request you want from the board. Oh, parties of at least three are the rule, so bring your friends too. Make sure you learn the other rules properly.”

One request per week, no requests during exam periods, deployments, or important training periods. She meant rules like those.

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind!”

“Mm, so fresh-faced.”

The receptionist smiled as if she were looking at a cute child.

I immediately headed toward the large bulletin board. Numerous request forms hung from it.

‘It would be easier if the protagonist took care of it on her own.’

Unfortunately, the protagonist seemed to be following the standard story route.

If she had been doing a veteran-player run, she would have shown up here long ago.

‘Oh, there it is.’

I took one request form.

[Subjugation Request Form]

Rank: E

Target: Blue Slimes

Location: Zephal Lake

Details: A group of Blue Slimes has recently appeared along the shores of Zephal Lake. If left unattended, they may cause water pollution and harm to people. Please subjugate the entire group.

Reward: 5 zeni per monster

Caution: Ordinary physical attacks do not work on slime species. Please use mana-infused attacks.

A request to subjugate Blue Slimes.

Five zeni per monster. They were weak monsters, considering it was barely enough pay to put food on the table.

Even I could handle them easily, which said it all.

‘But these ones are stronger than ordinary specimens.’

They possessed demonic energy, which enhanced their abilities.

In Chapter 1, Act 5, the Demonkin targeting Elise’s group would use its power to swell that demonic energy and enlarge the monsters.

That was why I needed to kill these Blue Slimes before the Demonkin made a move.

‘The problem is who to bring...’

There was no need to think about it.

I did not have any other options.

......

“I did not expect to be carrying out a request so soon.”

Turak, the large Barbarian with short grayish-brown hair, spoke in a deep voice.

He had a massive two-handed axe resting on his shoulder, large enough to match his body, and a long sword strapped to his back.

“You really don’t need any more jerky?”

“I received enough last time to accept this request as well. It would not be fitting for a warrior to shamelessly demand more.”

“Would you take it if I gave you more?”

“...It would also not be fitting for a warrior to refuse goodwill.”

This warrior mindset was like a reed swaying in the wind.

“Um...”

Violet, the necromancer and female cadet with deep-purple hair that covered one eye with her bangs, cautiously spoke up.

She held her staff tightly with both hands, and a sword hung at her waist.

Her purple eyes repeatedly looked at me, lowered, then looked at me again.

“Are you really sure it’s okay even with me...?”

“What do you mean, ‘even with me’?”

Violet looked embarrassed.

“I thought perhaps you were trying to make an excuse to show me kindness, and I wanted to say that you do not need to worry so much about that...”

This Black Mage was exceptionally skilled at imagining things.

Did she really think that? Had my intentions been twisted that badly?

“Did I make you feel that burdened?”

“No, no, no, no, no!!”

Violet violently shook her head so fast that it left afterimages.

“It’s just...! You may have heard from others, but I’m actually a Black Mage...! A necromancer who handles corpses, too. So...”

Violet looked at me with eyes filled with fear and faint expectation at the same time.

“I was wondering if you might feel uncomfortable around me...”

Perhaps because we were going on a subjugation request, she seemed uneasy about having to reveal her black magic to me.

Although people’s perception of Black Mages was gradually improving in this world, many still viewed them negatively.

Violet had endured those looks.

To compare it to my previous life, they had a worse reputation than someone covered in tattoos. There was nothing morally or legally wrong with them, but many people still found them uncomfortable.

Maybe before I regained my memories of my past life, but now I had even become friends with Violet.

It was harder for me to view her negatively.

“...I don’t really think anything of it. Isn’t it cool, if anything?”

“......!”

When I answered calmly as if it were nothing, Violet’s eyes widened.

I pointed at Violet with my thumb and turned to Turak.

“Hey, Turak. Does it bother you that she’s a Black Mage?”

“Whether they are Black Mages or not, they are all simply one kind of mage. In the Blue Mane Tribe, they are all treated the same as mages.”

“Then that’s good.”

“And to our tribe, all mages are scoundrels.”

“Yeah, well... Anyway, you don’t have any prejudice, right?”

Why did this guy want to become a Magic Knight when he avoided mages?