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Chapter 75
Translator: Yonnee
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11. Forbidden region
[ Not trash. ]
Radis stuck this memo on the rusty sword.
When Yves said that at the auction, she wondered what he was talking about when he said it’d look like trash.
But when she brought the sword back to the mansion and placed it on a white marble table, indeed, it looked like trash that had to be cleaned up right away.
It’s safer to just put a note on it.
Carefully sticking the memo on so that it wouldn’t fall, Radis examined the sword carefully.
The surface of the sword was covered with a thick layer of red rust with a tangy black glaze.
At a first glance, it definitely looked like a piece of garbage to anyone. It’s only after you look at it carefully that you’d realize it’s a rusty iron sword.
Radis touched the rough surface of the sword with her fingertips.
“I can’t believe it’s been so badly deformed.”
She knew what the true identity of this lump of rust was.
The craftsmen of Kelenocross had their own secret way of forging iron bars and refining them.
In the process that they used, the magic stone contained in the iron would be rearranged, and they were able to create a different kind of mana-reinforced sword that had completely different properties compared to how it was previously when it was just an iron bar.
As it was made this way, the mana sword would keep developing as it continued to accept its owner’s mana.
After being tamed by the owner’s mana, it would become an excellent sword, but there were also some cases where the sword would be broken.
Getting the sword broken also could result from something going wrong in the process, and there were times when black substances flowed out like this as well.
‘My old sword was like this, too.’
Radis sighed.
The sword she had before, the one that Robert gave her, was a good one.
But when she received the sword, she had already been poisoned by miasma.
After accepting her mana, the sword would shed black matter as though it was crying.
It was a small amount, so if she just sharpened the blade, the black spots would disappear.
So, as soon as Radis saw this sword at the auction, she knew exactly what it was.
The rust covering this sword was similar to the one that flowed out of her sword before.
‘What do I have to do to get all this off? Should I grind it? But it’ll take a long time to grind everything off through a whetstone.’
Radis asked herself as she placed a hand over the sword’s rough surface.
“What happened to you, hm?”
Mage knights who wielded mana swords would often say that their swords were alive.
Radis agreed with them.
This sword was covered in a great deal of rust, but it was definitely still alive.
It was fast asleep, but deep inside, she felt a certain throbbing sensation.
It was a very faint echo, like a small seed that had endured over time beneath the hardened mud ground.
* * *
After the meeting, the captain of House Russell’s subjugation squad, Lux, had a smile on his face.
It’s because, this winter, the subjugation squad and the Black Lion Knights would be splitting up to cover the territory during this year’s monster subjugation.
“Ardon, let’s work hard together!”
On the other hand, Ardon’s expression was not so good. He was thinking about just how to balance the scheduled training and this subjugation.
However, in the name of protecting the territory, it’s not possible for the knight order to reject the command of going on a monster subjugation expedition.
In the end, it was something that must be done.
But just as expected, it was like a punch to the gut seeing Lux have a sh*t-eating smile that said, ‘Thank you for cleaning up this mess!’
Ardon spoke.
“You’ll have to pay off this debt.”
“No way, what do you mean debt! Aren’t we a family that eats together? What kind of debt is there between family?”
“I don’t recall having any brother like you.”
“Bwahahahaha!”
When he heard Ardon’s clearly displeased tone, Lux laughed it off as if he just heard a good joke.
With a clap on Ardon’s shoulder.
With one eye closed because of his mirth, Lux said,
“Don’t be scared. I don’t know why, but this year’s monsters are exceptionally slow. If you patrol properly, nothing will happen to the territory.”
“The monsters are slow?”
“Yeah. Maybe because this winter is cozy.”
“What the, how careless
”
At that moment, as though Lux had cast a magic spell, a squire from the subjugation squad came running from the other side of the corridor and shouted.
“Captain! A village at the border has just been attacked!”
With an extremely annoyed look, Ardon glared at Lux.
Turning to the squire, Lux’s neck became tucked in like a turtle.
“Tell me the details.”
“The village is near Monsterwood, and it’s said that there was a light-scale attack.”
Lux’s neck straightened up again.
“It’s not our area of responsibility then.”
Ardon glared at Lux with even more anger in his eyes.
Nevertheless, Lux grinned widely.
“But still, it’s an area of our land’s territory. So, what’s the extent of the damage?”
“Ah, we hadn’t received an immediate request for subjugation. The monsters appeared and then ruined the land. Since it’s common during the start of winter, I believe they handled it well by asking the mercenaries in the area to do the subjugation.”
“Mercenaries? Which group?”
“I’ve heard that it’s the Kingsnake Mercenary Guild.”