kscans

5

The innkeeper came with a new sake bottle and cup. He filled Bard’s cup to the brim with sake. He wondered if it was a gesture of gratitude for the profit he had earned, or a form of apology for causing any discomfort. The innkeeper sat down with a thud, poured himself some sake, and gulped it down in one shot. He began to speak in short, sporadic sentences.

“This town is made up of rock salt quarries. After the well-respected mayor died, a man named Brando arrived and took charge of the business.
While Brando himself was a skilled manager with good judgement, his five sons who supervised the work site were reputed to dominate the workers through violence, force the townspeople into debt, and behave in a tyrannical way. The Brando’s family employed around dozen skilled men, but they seems no better than the sons.”

“I gave up on the future of this town and decided to entrust my adopted daughter to my cousin who lives in the city of Mithra in the kingdom of Parzam.”

Mithra has a school. He spent his life-savings to pay the tuition fees and obtained an admission letter.　The girl is said to be the daughter of his deceased sister. She will leave for the riverside town of Linz in a horse-drawn carriage tomorrow at noon. It is said that the driver is an old acquaintance. She will cross the Ova River on the trading ship of the lord of Linz and then be taken to Mithra by a trading wagons.

He had asked his acquaintance, an official in the Linz territory for help. After the contract period in Gantz is over, the innkeeper also wants to go to Mithra and run a diner.

“Thanks to your Koll Rooster, we can afford to give her some allowance,” said the innkeeper as he refilled Bard’s glass with sake.

Feeling the loneliness of sending off his cute niece, Bard filled the owner’s bowl with sake.

6

Returning to his room, Bard drew the sword from its sheath and inspected the blade. He lit a lamp and used it to inspect his sword, wiping away any slight smudges with a cloth. Despite his weariness, he made it a habit to perform this ritual at the end of each day. After finishing maintenance on his sword, he swung it wide with upward motion to the right with his right hand but felt pain in his elbow and shoulder.

His old wounds are starting to tingle again. He knew that attacking from above was not his strong point, and so he tested a new technique – swinging from bottom left to top right. This resulted in less pain as long as he don’t overextend his right elbow and would prove useful when he needed to use his sword in actual combat.　If the need arises, the pain can be ignored, but there is no need to hurt himself.

Satisfied with his practice, Bard sheathed his sword and retired for the night. He planned to sleep in late the next day, taking his time leisurely to inspect and prepare his horse and gear. He would purchase any necessary supplies before departing early on the third day.

7

There was a commotion happening downstairs at the inn. Bard rose from his bed and opened the chamber door ajar. He could hear exchanges downstairs.

“Don’t say such things, innkeeper. It’s disgraceful to send the barmaid to the city without our knowledge. The owner of this establishment is my father, you know? Show some respect.” t/n: change term “the owner” to “innkeeper” here.

Although the innkeeper spoke with anger, it was clear that his words fell on deaf ears.　The departure of the carriage had been kept a secret from the people of the town, so as not to be discovered by the ruffians, but it seemed that the owner of the coach had inadvertently let it slip.

Bard had been prepared for this confrontation and quickly began preparing himself. His movements were swift and graceful, illuminated by a strong light in his eyes. He had trained for years to enter battle in an instant. He no longer felt tiredness or pain.

“Hear me out. Send the girl to my lord’s service for half a year. I will overlook your past misdeeds. We will even pay her a fair wage and teach her a few things, yeah? How’s that sound? Not bad, isn’t it?”

His companions nodded and chuckled with vulgar laughter.

While listening to the conversation downstairs, Bard put on his boots, leather armor, hung his sword at his waist, draped a cloak over his shoulders, put on gloves, and donned a hat. He could hear a young girl bravely shouting “Let go! Stop it! Don’t touch me!”. Bard calmly adjusted his equipment with skillful hands, then opened the door with a BANG.

Everyone downstairs looked up at Bard. In the tense atmosphere, Bard walked slowly, making the sound of his boots echo on the floor. There was a man with a battle axe near the counter, probably the eldest of the Brando siblings, Machias. Sitting on the table in the far back was the third brother, Jeronimus, who was rumored to be skilled in throwing knives. The one holding the girl at the entrance must be Keinen, the fifth son. He is holding a bow in his left hand and carrying a quiver of arrows on his back.

Bard descended to the first floor, making the stairs creak. He observed the behavior of these rogues. It seemed that they had anticipated Bard’s arrival. If Bard continued down, he would be flanked by enemies from three sides. However, Bard did not slow down and calmly descended to the first floor.

Sending a gaze to the third son on the left side, Bard has his right hand tucked into his left pocket. A glimpse of a throwing knife inserted in his hanging belt can be seen. It’s quite a large knife for throwing.

On the right side near the counter, the eldest son draws his battle-axe to his hand. The fifth son, standing at the entrance, takes an arrow from his quiver after releasing the girl’s hand.

The freed girl runs towards the innkeeper and hugs him by the counter. The attention of the three ruffians is directed solely on Bard.

At that moment, a mischievous thought came to Bard’s mind. He wondered if he could show off and take away their fighting spirit with a flashy approach. Even if he fails and gets seriously injured, it wouldn’t matter much. After all, he’s traveling in search of a place to die, so what better way than to help innocent people and die doing it?

If he sustains major injuries, he’ll just have to kill these three before dying. However, if possible, repelling them with minimal force would be the best course of action.

Looking to the left, Bard glares at the third son with determination. The third son gulps and grips his knife tightly. Bard turned his gaze away and took three steps towards the entrance. The fifth son nervously strung an arrow onto his bow. Turning away from the fifth son, Bard stopped and faced the eldest son.

Now, the first, Bard and the third were now standing in a straight line. The third son was probably searching for an opening in Bard’s defense. With a rustling sound, Bard flipped up his cloak, revealing a sword hanging at his left hip since the cloak’s hem was draped over his left shoulder. Everyone thought he did this to draw his sword more easily, but as a result, his left side was exposed and vulnerable. Furthermore, Bard untied the clasp of the left side of his cloak, making his left flank visible even from behind.

There were limited places where throwing knives could be aimed: primarily either the abdomen, chest, or back. If the distance was close and conditions were right, they might also aim for the face or neck. Currently, Bard’s hat, cloak, armor, and boots covered everything except his left flank. The third son’s gaze should have been fixed on that exposed flank.

Unable to bear the weight of the silence any longer, the eldest son spoke. “Old man, what are you planning?”

Despite the hateful words he always spoke, his voice sounded hoarse. Maybe he felt a little uneasy about the unknown opponent, or did he sense some kind of strength from Bard?

Without breaking his silence, Bard stepped forward cautiously. Behind him, he detected movement from the third son who readied himself with a knife.

“No way, are you going to fuck with us?　All by yourself?” t/n : “You dare challenge us alone?” sounds better, but not so intimidating.

Taking another step forward, Bard refrained from acting recklessly. Timing was everything and the enemy would reveal when they were ready.

“Hmm, this could be amusing. Then-“

The eldest son exchanged a furtive glance with the third.

“Now is the time!”

“Charge!”

Bard had already started his move when Machias jumped to the side while shouting. He spun his lower body in a full right rotation and stomped on the floor with his booted right foot, making a powerful sound. His toes were pointing towards the third son. The third son had already begun his throwing motion. As the knife left his fingers, Bard turned around, surprising him with his expression.

Bard utilized the power of his waist rotation to draw his sword with his right hand while determining the trajectory of the knife. Since the knife was flying in the course as ordered, all he needed to do was measure the timing of the strike.

“Gahin!!” *insert metal clashing sound here*

Immediately after the loud clash of two chunks of metal colliding, the knocked-down knife pierced deeply into the floor. Bard made a flowing motion to sheathe his sword while doing another half turn. His cape fluttered up in the wind and enveloped him with a rustling sound.

Time froze.

The eldest son, still holding his battle axe in both hands, stared at Bard. His eyes widen, his mouth gapes open. Gradually, the rough man’s brain begins to understand what has happened. He saw Keinen dropped the arrow from his bow out of the corner of his eye. Eventually, a look of fear or awe appears on the eldest son’s face. Jeronimus behind him probably wears the same expression.

It’s no wonder. What Bard demonstrated was a feat of turning around and knocking down a knife that was flying towards him from behind. Moreover, it seemed to the ruffians that he sensed it and turned around after they started throwing knives. It might be possible in a story, but it’s hard to believe such a thing in real life even when you see it with your own eyes.

Bard turned his back on the third son, who held a weapon, without hesitation. After he parried the knife, he immediately sheathed his sword despite the eldest and fifth sons still holding their weapons. This was a sign of his confidence that he could handle any surprise attack from any direction. Despite his appearance, isn’t this old man not a famous knight? Knights are nobles who have vassals and territories. Perhaps he is traveling incognito for some reason. The three of them cannot possibly match this knight. Moreover, if they were to face his retainers, the whole family could be killed.

The ruffian brothers are probably thinking about the worst thing that could happen. Meanwhile, Bard put on a calm facade but was sweating profusely on the inside. The knife that flew towards him was much bigger and heavier than he expected. Judging from the sound, the material was also of high quality. In contrast, Bard’s weapon was just a light and short sword suitable for self-defense on a long journey. He left all his exceptional weapons behind at the mansion. If he had clashed directly with the knife, it would have probably broken. It was a close call.

After staring at the eldest son for a while with a calm gaze, Bard turned to the innkeeper and gestured towards the entrance with his facial expressions. He nodded and headed towards the entrance, taking the girl with him. When the innkeeper tried to take the luggage near the entrance, the fifth son twitched, but Bard stopped him with his glare. The innkeeper and the girl went out of Gants.

Bard took a step forward. The three men tensed up. Bard slowly walked towards the entrance. The fifth son stepped back and cleared the way. When he pushed open the door and stepped outside, the sunlight was dazzling. The innkeeper and the girl were rushing towards the horse-drawn carriage parked in the central square. As he squint his eyes and gaze upon them, he could see the girl’s face beaming with joy as she occasionally looked back at the innkeeper’s face.

Some of the residents must have been watching the situation from outside of Gants. They surround the girl and congratulated her, saying “Good for you, good for you.”

Eventually, when the carriage finished taking on passengers and departed, the people waved and bid farewell. The innkeeper also called out the girl’s name loudly. However, that was not enough, and he began to run after the departing carriage. The voice that cried out “Take care and live well, and be careful around water!” was almost like a sob.

“You can see her off to your heart’s content. You raised that girl well.” Bard muttered in his heart, took off his hat with his left hand, held it high, and watched the carriage disappear behind a cloud of dust.