Childhood Friend(AN: It was hard to find a stopping point, so the chapter is a little short. Sorry.)
“Huh? Leti?”
Wynn lowered the practice sword he was about to use in the duel, and called out to Leti.
“Good morning, Onii-chan.”
“Good morning. Why did you come here so early in the morning?”
“I just happened to wake up now…”
Leticia looked around the backyard of the Wandering Bird’s Mistletoe with faint nostalgia in her eyes.
“In this place, four years ago, I beat Onii-chan for the first time… It has been a long time.[1]”
There was a barrel used to hold water.
Everyday, she would fill that barrel with Wynn, going back and forth between the barrel and the well.
There was a bucket and cart used to dry the laundry, and also bring firewood and charcoal for the stove and fireplace.
Beside it, was a small, shabby shed.
That was where Wynn lived before he entered school.[2]
Overcome by nostalgia, Leticia moved towards the shed.
She could see that that the wooden shed walls had received tremendous damage.
Leticia touched it with her right hand.
As she ran her hand along it, the grime on it crumbled and fell off.
She could see traces of repairs all over the wall.
The young Wynn had made thos repairs himself using sc.r.a.ps of wood.
The storage shed would not have been able to endure the wind and rain if he hadn’t repaired it.
However, his repairs did not completely prevent water from leaking through when it rained.
During her younger days, Leticia would often sneak away from home, enter this storage shed, and slip into Wynn’s bed.
Though the sc.r.a.ps of wood could not completely block out the cold wind, it was warm under the crude blanket.[3]
Under the thin sheet was a mattress that he borrowed from a stable. That was the makeshift bed Wynn made to avoid the feeling of the cold wooden floor.
It truly was a shabby bed.
However, Leticia felt that it was warmer than the bed in her own room.
There was a soft and warm bed in her room at Duke Mavis’s estate.
It should have been better, since it was softer than Wynn’s bed.
However, Leticia was treated as a nuisance by her family, and was treated rudely by the servants.
In this storage shed, she could sleep more peacefully than she ever could in that estate.
It gave the lonely Leticia warmth.
There were many times where the movements she made as she slept would wake Wynn up.
Wynn would be troubled, but that delighted face was so loveable—
“Umm…”
Leticia’s face grew hot from thinking about that time, as the boy that was with Wynn addressed her.
“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
More than Leticia’s flushed face, Abel, blushing vigorously, stood in front of her.
“How many years has it been? I heard you went somewhere far away, but you came back to the capital.”
Leticia tilted her head in confusion.
She glanced at Wynn with a troubled look.
“It’s Abel. He is the youngest son of the innkeeper.”
Upon seeing Leticia becoming troubled from being unable to remember the boy, Wynn sent her a lifeline.
“Ah! Umm, it has been a while…”
“Did you remember me?”
Though his smile cramped up upon the unexpected reality that he was forgotten, Abel tried to maintain his smile.
Meanwhile, Leticia eyed him with caution.
In her memory, the two boys from the Wandering Bird’s Mistletoe were a nuisance to her playtime with Wynn, hiding her books and teasing her to the point of tears.
She instinctively raised her guard.
Abel, delighted that he had reunited with his first love after four years, didn’t notice Leticia’s demeanor.
As a child, she was already an unmatched beauty. After four years, she became comparable to a G.o.ddess.[4]
Especially her emerald green eyes.[?1?]
He gazed at Leticia —who was on her guard— and his spirits soared.
“After you left on your journey, I became an adventurer,” said Abel pa.s.sionately.
“Speaking of, Leti also worked as an adventurer, right? With Wynn.”
“Yes.”
“Will you also do that today?”
“We didn’t plan to today… but we might.”
She looked at Wynn with a questioning expression.
If Wynn was still doing requests as an adventurer, then Leticia would definitely follow.
“Then, this time, won’t you come with me?”
Blind to Leticia’s expression, he once again drew his sword to show her.
The brand-new blade glistened in the sunlight as he raised it.
“Whether it be escorting a merchant, or exterminating bandits, it will be fine. I learned how to use the sword from a senior adventurer at the guild, so it will be fine, even if we’re attacked. It’s not like the fencing they teach in the knight school. It is a swordsmanship tempered by live combat.”
Abel swung the sword as he was taught at the Adventurer’s Guild.
“This will allow me to cut down as many monsters as I can, so you don’t have to worry. I will show you that I can protect you.”[5]
“…Just before, didn’t you say that it could cut down only three monsters?”
Wynn reflexively interjected in a small voice.
Abel looked over at Wynn, who was standing idly behind him.
“Well, I also invited Wynn. Money is important, right? Watch me fight the monsters. When they charge, I’ll just dodge, then slash them. The tension is unbearable!”[?2?]
Ignoring Wynn’s interjection, Abel once again swung his sword with large motions.
This time, he held a shield.
Bewildered by the elated Abel mimicking the movements of defeating a monster, Leticia looked towards Wynn, pleading for help.
On the other hand, Wynn was thinking about what to do.
They were about to have a mock battle, but upon Leticia’s appearance, Wynn was forgotten, and now, Abel was pa.s.sionately miming a battle against a demonic beast.
There was nothing but bewilderment.
The two people’s perplexed gazes met.
Suddenly, Leticia’s gaze fixed onto one part of his body.
“Onii-chan, is that mud in your hair?”
It must have stuck on while he was laying on the ground.
Leticia stepped towards Wynn, while giving a sidelong glance at Abel, who continued his skit.
“—and then, I slashed like this! My battle form must have been so excellent. I’m in high demand at the adventurer guild. So please, by all means, come with me as I join the par…ty…”
After he finished slaying the imaginary monster, Abel slowly returned his sword to its scabbard.
Then, he triumphantly turned towards Leticia, and— was at a loss for words.
“Onii-chan, let me do it.”
“It’s okay, I can do it.”
“It’s fine. Don’t move.”
Wynn was backing away from the approaching Leticia; however, Leticia stepped even closer as her hands reached for his head.
The brisk wind picked up Leticia’s soft, long hair, tickling Wynn’s right arm.
It smelled somewhat sweet.
Since Leticia was brushing off the dirt on the back of his head from the front, Wynn felt Leticia’s soft bulges on his body.[6]
Leticia either didn’t notice, or didn’t mind it, as she brushed the dirt off his head.
“Yep, I got it.”
“Th- thanks.”
Wynn scratched his cheek with his right index finger to hide his embarra.s.sment.
Leticia smiled, looking up at Wynn.
Wynn blushed slightly and averted his eyes from Leticia as her smile became illuminated by the rising sun.
“Hey. Wynn.”
Abel came back to his senses after that pa.s.sionate scene of ignoring him, and bellowed at Wynn.
“You. Me. Duel.”[7]
“Wait a minute, Abel, your eyes are scary!? Didn’t you say it wasn’t a duel before?”
“Shut up! Quiet!” Abel shouted angrily.
Wynn reflexively pulled back.
The current Abel was being overbearing.
Even Leticia, the Brave, reflexively clung to Wynn’s right arm.[8]
“It’s fine, draw your sword! Duel me!”[9]
Ever since she was young, Leti always clung to Wynn.
Even his father, Randell, and the adventurers at the guild, would always support Wynn more.
Even now, he would hear the Guildmaster and the seasoned adventurers say:
—”Has that brat become a knight? Oh, not yet? But if it’s Wynn, he can do anything.”
Even the top-cla.s.s adventurers didn’t have the slightest doubt that Wynn would become a knight.
Though he was younger than Abel, he worked as an Adventurer, a few years ago.
Doubtlessly, Abel should have been valued more than him by now.
It was frustrating!
The girl he loved, the Adventurers he desired to be like, everyone acknowledged Wynn.
Why was Wynn, who hadn’t become a knight, more acknowledged than he was?
‘Then, I will show her my amazingness by killing a monster.’
“It can’t be helped.”
Wynn gently pushed Leticia’s shoulder back.
He slowly grasped the practice sword.
“Here I come, you jerk!”
Abel, shield in hand, leapt at Wynn.
In the end, he rushed towards Wynn, and when he realized it, the tip of Wynn’s blade was already pointed at his nose.
Without a doubt, Abel, was thoroughly defeated.[10]
Translator notes
I feel a sort of petty grudge over the fact that she used magic that final time (arguably not cheating), but since it was to force the sword into Wynn’s hands…–backIs Wynn like a male Cinderella?–backlewd… (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)–backRather liberal translation, literally: She had been pretty beautiful when she was young, but four years had enhanced her beauty.–backIt would be so much more fun to see Wynn and Leti spar in front of him, than to see Able get beaten down by one of them… but…–backnot lewd… not lewd at all… Double standards!–backThat’s the gist of it…–backUnintentional pun in English?–backDang it… no Leti vs. Wynn this time…–backFour lines to describe a battle… Compared to a normal fight scene, this is just how fast Wynn is… lol–back
Translator needs help
Sentence fragment–backmissing a ref of a shield–back
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Hi! Elephant No. 5 here! I forgot to announce last chapter some things that I announced in the KK21 post (it didn’t show up on NU, but that doesn’t matter anymore.) I will not have time to make an epub or pdf right now. Maybe winter break, if I can motivate myself, but as of right now, that plan is cancelled. Sorry. (*_ _)人 (these types of emojis(kaomojis) are so much more creative than the automated ones. They’re pretty much one line ASCII art…)
I am trying to translate Chapter 25 without Translation Aggregator, just to force myself to learn more of the kanji, so it may be delayed. You have been warned. As far as I can tell, the beginning does not directly continue with the ending to this chapter (see random question 1).
Random Questions
Is it still a cliffhanger if it’s the antagonist who is figuratively hanging off the cliff?The reason for an argument or conflict is a difference in perspective/opinion.Q: How many Psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but the bulb has got to really WANT to change.
So how does one convince somebody who doesn’t want to change? How can one negotiate rather than argue?
Ignore this unless you are the recipient:(Pregunta di tanyakin untuk elephantNo.6(弟弟))
I know I’m seeking advice from the internet… It’s kinda like writing a rigorous research paper solely using Wikipedia articles… But still, the internet may have answers, I just have to evaluate them. Also, this question is solved, we could bring world peace to the internet and end most non-troll-induced internet arguments. That would be utopia!