KR Translators:
・StarrySkySailor
・KawaiiKage
・ImmortalInk
・KingPotato
・SugoiSenpai
Chapter 6: Why Take the Long Way When You Know the Short Cut? (1)
Imperial Year 372, June 1st.
“Good work today.”
“Thank you.”
As if releasing a knot in her chest, my swordsmanship teacher, Sword King Levidian, turned around briskly and walked away. And I collapsed right there on the spot.
Thud.
Dust rises and the sun-baked ground tries to scorch my back. But I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger. Ugh. Oh well, whatever. Just turn me into a steak. Rare, if possible.
“Please, I beg you, take your frustrations out somewhere else.”
She would get angry if I said it in front of her, claiming I’m treating her based on her gender, but our Sword King teacher is a woman. With this premise attached, the conclusion is that she’s a creature I, as a man, will never understand in my entire life. Ah. How logical.
I don’t know who or what upset her today. But judging from the fact that she abruptly declared today’s lesson to be ‘sparring with a touch of reality’ from beginning to end, something definitely happened.
Who is it?!
The man with the audacity to upset a woman completely smitten with that sword, so early in the morning……!
Because of it, I’m the only one being treated like a punching bag!
“Ugh, I should just marry her off quickly. Oh, my aching body……”
Baked front and back by the sun’s heat and the heat stored in the ground, I became a well-done steak with all the juices drained out. Let’s drink some water and take a shower before I become a dry, flaky mummy.
A teacher who relieves stress by beating up her student when she’s in a bad mood is truly the worst. Ugh.
It’s been six days since Levidian started teaching me.
Seven days, counting today.
Before today arrived, I was able to grasp the general outline of her personality.
At least, when she has someone to deal with personally, she acts incredibly foxy. In other words, the cold, aloof demeanor she’s known for, the one that radiates chilliness, is an act!
Ugh! Women are demons!
Sometimes, the way she easily flares up at the slightest teasing looks cute, but imagine a skilled swordsman like the Sword King getting embarrassed and hitting you with all her might. You’d be signing your death certificate right then and there.
“Ugh, she really pounded me until my muscles were nice and tender.”
Ignoring the inappropriate choice of onomatopoeia, once we start sparring, she really tries to cut me down without mercy. If she wasn’t holding a wooden sword, I would have already been minced meat for hamburger patties.
Well, thanks to that, I’ve gotten used to being hit.
I stopped closing my eyes when a sword comes flying at me when I was thirteen, but the fact that a weapon is flying towards you naturally evokes primal fear.
However, in the past few days, thanks to being diligently beaten to the point where my joints feel loose, even if an unavoidable blow comes flying, I’ve learned the skill (?) of taking it head-on without panicking.
I take off my training armor and all my clothes before heading to the shower. Every step I take, the muscles in my entire body scream in protest, but living like this every day, I feel like I could become sworn brothers with muscle pain.
“Sword King-nim must be having a hard time too. Having a student who only listens after being beaten.”
My older brother, who seemed to have just finished showering with a towel around his neck, saw me and scoffed. However, his facial expression betrayed an undeniable envy.
I chuckled and retorted lightly.
“It’s okay. I don’t faint after two hits.”
“You……!”
My brother immediately turned into a demon, ready to explode in anger, but he’s the type who enjoys the very fact that he’s a noble.
He looks like he wants to grab me by the collar right now……Oh, I’m stark naked. He looks like he wants to strangle me right now, but he would never do that. It’s undignified.
Instead, he perfectly depicted contempt on his face. Not many people could portray contempt as well as him at the age of nineteen. Just how many hours a day does he practice?
“Now that you’ve become Sword King-nim’s student, you don’t even see your brother anymore, do you?”
“I’m tired, that’s why. You can see it, can’t you? How I’ve been beaten up for three hours straight. You wouldn’t be like this, would you?”
“Hmph.”
Truly a noble attitude. A haughty attitude of choosing silence over lying out of pride.
I have to say this after starting over after death, but if my brother didn’t despise me, I would be willing to get along with him just because of that side of him. It’s rare to find someone who suits nobility so well.
I shrugged and said with a tired expression.
“As you can see, these days it’s all about physical training and ‘sparring with a touch of reality’ disguised as resilience training. Want to join me?”
“Trying to act nice, huh? I’ll earn my place myself. Just you wait. Hmph. You smell like sweat. It’s a waste of water, but go wash it off quickly.”
My brother turned his head haughtily and headed towards the changing room.
Really, he lives so nobly.
Back in my room, I drink tea and retrace my memories.
I summarize all the memories from when I was sixteen to twenty-six. How much could I possibly remember from ten years ago, but like unraveling a tangled thread or excavating ancient artifacts, if I pull them out one by one, even hazy memories can come back to life vividly.
I take out all the events that come to mind and organize them chronologically. I draw lines to the best of my ability to see if there are any connections between each event, and fill in the gaps with deductions.
Still, it’s only one person’s brain.
I wasn’t a genius, not even gifted, but I was considered bright. As that brain grew, one of the truths I came to realize was that all parents in the world think their children are at least bright.
In conclusion, it’s impossible for one person to remember all the events that happened on the continent for ten years.
“Phew, for now, I know what will happen to the Empire……but besides matters related to the Empire’s foreign affairs, the rest of the foreign countries are a blank, huh?”
Currently, the approximate range of my memories covers about five countries bordering the Empire.
I may look like this, but I’m the son of a Duke. Sometimes, even while receiving unpleasant looks from my father and brother, I attended meetings of nobles and learned roughly how the Empire works.
From the big and small events within the Empire that I learned about, to the diplomatic battles that would erupt into war. I have the general developments and conclusions all in my head. The most important thing among them is, of course, the war with the Azot Kingdom, but the Azot Kingdom’s princess marrying into the Empire is seven years from now.
Right now, the Azot Kingdom and the Empire, while not on good terms, are like awkward neighbors who greet each other when they see each other. They will completely turn against each other later, but that’s a problem for the future, isn’t it?
“Huh?”
Wait. A problem for the ‘future’?
Then, it’s something that hasn’t happened ‘yet’?
“Right. Why did the relationship between the two countries deteriorate?”
I straightened my posture from leaning back in the chair. And I carefully examined the vicinity of Imperial Year 372, where I had scribbled down notes.
“Azot. Diplomatic mission. Blasphemy. That idiotic High Priest.”
Right. I remember. In two weeks, a diplomatic mission will head to the Azot Kingdom for goodwill purposes. The reason that country is drawing a crooked line almost parallel to the Empire is because of religious issues, and this mission is meant to narrow that gap, even if just a little.
Azot’s national religion is the Lynin Religion, which worships the God of Light, Lynin, while the Empire’s national religion is the Achuni Religion, which worships the Sun God, Achuni.
Both are about shining brightly, but it seems there’s something about religious conflicts that neither side can compromise on. I wouldn’t know, since I’m not religious. Anyway, the two countries, who had been glaring at each other like chickens and dogs, attempted their first reconciliation, hoping to create a rosy future.
For the sake of exchange, for the sake of understanding each other better, they decided to send envoys to learn about each other little by little. A very hopeful and beautiful initiative for inter-country exchange.
Thus, the first diplomatic mission was formed in the Empire, and carefully selected individuals were included. Artists, writers, musicians, chefs, and so on, all prepared for cultural exchange.
A group of people gathered for peaceful exchange, anyone could see that. A gathering so harmless that you’d be afraid they might not even bring any benefits.
If this had gone smoothly, I wouldn’t have been thrown into war and died.
“The problem is……they included a fanatic of Achuni in the mission.”
If you read the scriptures of the gods worshipped by the two countries, you won’t find a phrase like ‘You shall have no other gods before me,’ no matter how hard you look. However, there’s always an idiot who thinks what they believe in is the best and everything else is beneath it.
And that ‘idiot’ is none other than High Priest ‘Damachi Ir.’
The rank right below the Head Priest, an elderly priest dispatched from Achuni’s grand temple, ‘Grand Sunshine’.
This person participated in the diplomatic mission and bravely preached the gospel praising Achuni in front of Lynin’s grand temple, ‘Light of Origin’, demonstrating the epitome of a passionate religious person.
Well, that’s fine. Learning about other religions at a knowledge level is a kind of intellectual stimulation. But, why on earth would you go around saying that Lynin is a subordinate god to Achuni?!
“Right. It was chaos back then.”
With that happening, goodwill had already flown across the Sair River, and it took only three months for the issue to escalate from a diplomatic problem to a serious religious dispute between nations, and finally to animosity between nations.
To make a long story short,
Six years after that incident, Damachi is appointed as the Head Priest.
I sighed, thinking it was a sign of the country’s downfall.
“How can I solve this……Well, at least I can prevent the worst-case scenario. At least the goodwill exchange will continue.”
The first time is important.
If you button the first button correctly, even if you button the second button incorrectly, you can still button it up straight.
For now, if I can just get on the diplomatic mission, I should be able to prevent that incident somehow……
Knock, knock.
While I was lost in thought, someone knocked on the door. Ah, who is it at such an important time?
“Young Master, it’s Marlin.”
“What is it?”
“The Duke is calling for you.”
“Father? Alright.”
I tilted my head.
What could Father possibly want?
“This is a letter of recommendation for the diplomatic mission to the Azot Kingdom, departing in two weeks. One person can bring one companion besides family and one servant.”
I looked at the envelope Father handed me. A blue envelope sealed with white wax bearing the Emperor’s personal seal.
A letter of recommendation for the diplomatic mission.
Something I had completely forgotten about. Come to think of it, this item existed in my memory too. And surely, this is……
“Risel, I’ll give this to you.”
Something that was destined to come to me.
I looked back and forth between the letter of recommendation and Father once and asked.
“Is it alright for me to have this?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I was thinking that my brother would be more suitable for the diplomatic mission than me.”
I’m the second son, and my brother is the eldest. It’s obvious who is more important between the two of us without having to say it. If someone is being sent from the Duke’s family with the Emperor’s letter of recommendation, it should naturally be my elder brother, the firstborn.
However, this item, then and now, was given to me.
I already know the reason, but I’m trying to subtly probe. In the past, I just accepted it without a second thought, overjoyed.
Now, how will you respond, Father?
“Theron will be accompanying me on an inspection tour of the fief soon. It will take at least three months. As the next Duke, he needs to build connections with the vassals. And while the eldest son manages internal affairs, it’s customary for the second son to engage in external affairs, building connections and strengthening the family both internally and externally.”
Judging by his attitude, that must have been a prepared speech. If my past self had heard that, I would have been overjoyed, thinking that Father was acknowledging me, but now I’m just indifferent.
“I understand. I will take responsibility and fulfill my duties for the glory of His Majesty the Emperor, the Empire, and the Herduke family.”
I calmly accepted the letter of recommendation. As expected, but Father doesn’t reveal even a shred of his true intentions.
The reality is this.
My brother is the one who will succeed this family. Therefore, he would probably avoid being sent to a country that is most antagonistic towards the Empire and will later become the main pillar of the anti-Empire alliance. Azot has had quite a long history of bad blood with the Empire.
That’s why the right to participate in the diplomatic mission came to me.
Directly from Father.
In the past, I thought it was Father’s consideration, but perhaps he anticipated that Damachi would cause trouble.
Hmm, should I try probing this as well?
“If there’s anything I should be cautious about or anyone I should be wary of, please let me know. I will listen attentively, Father.”
“You’re quite cautious. With that much fear, how can you learn swordsmanship from the Sword King? If you conduct yourself properly, people will be wary of you, but there won’t be anyone you need to be wary of.”
As expected. Father doesn’t say anything. He just lightly scolds his timid son.
This confirms it. Father deliberately wants to put me on the diplomatic mission to make me suffer.
But you know, Father, there’s someone else who wants to go on the diplomatic mission besides me.
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