Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 2: Their Families Hear the News Too
The nameless village in Clausel territory—the frontier land entrusted to Roy Ashton—had changed. It had once deserved to be called remote, but development in the surrounding region had made that description a thing of the past.
The nearby roads were now well maintained, and the village was gradually becoming known as a secluded but useful relay point for travelers heading to various destinations, including the former territory of Viscount Given.
People had even begun saying that it was time to give the village a name. Such petitions were no longer uncommon among travelers, merchants, and the villagers themselves.
Even in winter, the village was wrapped in a bustle that grew livelier with every passing year.
“Hah… hah…!”
A young knight galloped into the village along the highway.
He had ridden hard from Clausel, the administrative center of the territory.
Many of the people who saw him race along the village’s central street wondered whether something had happened. When he stopped before the Ashton estate, the knights stationed in the village hurried over.
“What happened?”
They crowded around him and called out.
“Was there an incident?”
“You look as though you rode here in quite a hurry.”
A smile spread across the face of the newly arrived knight.
“I did! But there was no incident, so you need not worry!”
He took the bag secured to his horse, entrusted the animal to another knight, and hurried onto the estate grounds.
In the garden, Roy was inspecting the game he had brought back from a hunt begun before sunrise.
The village’s continued growth had kept him busy with its administration, but he still made a daily habit of checking the forest with his own eyes.
“You seem to be in quite a rush.”
Roy asked in a calm voice.
He no longer looked quite as he once had.
As the man responsible for a settlement that grew by the day and was rapidly approaching the scale of a town, Roy Ashton had begun to change as well.
In some ways, he now resembled the son living far away in the city.
“Forgive me. There is something I must tell you at once.”
The knight stopped before Roy, opened his bag, and took out a newspaper dated several days earlier.
It was not the sort of paper normally circulated in Clausel, but one sold in great cities such as the Imperial Capital and Elendil.
“A newspaper? I have begun seeing them from time to time myself…”
Only a few years earlier, there had been no opportunity to see newspapers in this village. As the settlement developed, however, merchants had begun bringing them in.
Even so, most of the information they contained had nothing to do with the village.
“Why have you brought a newspaper?”
“There is an article I would like you to read.”
The knight opened it to the relevant page. Roy said, “All right,” and began reading—only to stiffen almost immediately.
After receiving permission to keep the newspaper, he exclaimed, “I am going inside!” and hurried toward the manor.
Mireille Ashton, Ren’s mother, looked up in surprise when her husband entered with unusual excitement and haste.
“What is it?”
“Look at this!”
Roy spread the newspaper across a table in the still-new entrance hall. A particular article caught the couple’s attention.
The more they read, the more every detail seemed to point to Ren.
『The monsters that appeared in the territories of House Ignat and House Leonaal have been confirmed as the work of the Demon King cult. The military has announced that all have already been destroyed. The Director of the Lion’s Holy Office was dispatched during the recent disturbances and is said to have personally slain the monsters, but many witnesses also saw a boy standing at her side. Rumor holds that he regularly visits the Lion’s Holy Office, and that he is a knight serving House Clausel as well as—』
They were delighted that their only son was well, though their smiles turned wry at the realization that he had apparently done something conspicuous yet again. A knight working inside the manor watched the couple with a pleased smile.
Then Roy and Mireille exchanged troubled looks and folded their arms.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, you see…”
“It is just that…”
They seemed reluctant to say it, but Roy finally spoke.
“Look at what it says here.”
Several phrases stood out: a knight serving House Clausel, and a Sword Saint.
“How strong is a Sword Saint, exactly?”
Mireille nodded vigorously beside him. The question was so sudden and unexpected that the knight stared at them in disbelief.
“Y-you did not know!?”
“How would I? Mireille did not know either, did you?”
“No. We have spent our whole lives in this village, so we do not know much about the wider world.”
“But it means he is extraordinarily strong, does it not?”
“O-of course! A Sword Saint of the Mighty Sword Style is so powerful that even if every one of us attacked together, we could not so much as scratch Lord Ren… No, that still does not properly convey it…”
In the end, the knight settled on, “He is one of only a handful of warriors of that caliber in the great nation of Leomel.”
“That is incredible! He has risen so far!”
“Yes… without question.”
The knight was not exasperated. More than anything, he was relieved that the Ashton couple finally understood.
Even he, however, did not fully comprehend how strong Ren had become, and part of his explanation rested on imagination.
That was the nature of the Mighty Sword Style.
Its power lay beyond the knight’s experience.
Roy puffed out his chest with pride.
“Well—that sounds like Ren.”
Those few words summed up everything for him, and his happiness returned.
The clouds spread across the winter sky parted. Sunlight streamed through and illuminated the village.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
At around the same time—
A girl in a white coat was walking beneath the winter sky.
Her name was Fiona Ignat.
Her refined beauty and endearing charm grew more striking by the day, enough to captivate nearly any young man who saw her. Yet before one particular boy, the noble young lady smiled with the carefree brightness of a girl her age.
Her glossy black hair, smooth as silk, swayed in the cold wind. She had just left the Imperial Military Academy library beside that boy—Ren Ashton.
Soft snow drifted down over the quiet academy during winter break.
“I am glad you found the book you were looking for.”
Fiona spoke with a pleased smile.
“Kaito Leonaal recommended it before winter break. He said it was interesting.”
“Hee hee. So that is why you came to find it.”
“Exactly. Since Kaito recommended it, I thought I would read it before winter break ended.”
Kaito Leonaal reading a book sounded strange enough to surprise some people, but it was true. The volume was a collection of short accounts about several historical figures, so even Kaito—who tended to dislike dense text—had apparently enjoyed it. Several of its stories had even been adapted for the stage.
The two continued side by side toward the academy gate.
“This winter has been eventful again, has it not?”
Fiona smiled softly, and Ren met her gaze.
“It was still not as shocking as what happened in the Baldor Mountains.”
It was obviously a joke, and the two laughed together.
“But… Giant God’s Messenger Wadatsumi was extraordinarily powerful too, was it not?”
Ren hummed thoughtfully before answering.
“Even so, I would still choose the Baldor Mountains.”
“Even so?”
“Yes. Asval was far stronger, even in its incomplete state.”
The appearance of Giant God’s Messenger Wadatsumi in House Ignat’s territory remained fresh in their memories. It had been strengthened beyond an ordinary individual of its kind. The reason was still unknown, but Ren was certain the Demon King cult was involved.
After that battle, Ren had departed aboard Estelle’s magic ship. In another stretch of sea, he and Estelle encountered a second Giant God’s Messenger Wadatsumi.
“The one off Eupheim is stronger… What is going on?”
The Drake family’s magic ship had descended until its deck hovered close above the surface of the sea.
Estelle Osloes Drake—the Director of the Lion’s Holy Office and reputedly Leomel’s strongest knight—yawned with obvious boredom in the middle of the battle.
It was the enormous yawn of someone moments from taking a nap. Despite the powerful monster nearby, she was not merely relaxed; she behaved exactly as she always did.
Ren answered her earlier observation without taking his eyes off the battle.
“I would like to know that myself!”
He swung his Mithril Magic Sword at the rampaging sea monster, then glanced toward the great knight behind him.
“Estelle, please join the battle too!”
“What is wrong, Ren? Are you frightened unless I fight beside you?”
“Th-that is not it!”
“Then there is no problem. Stop looking away.”
Ren was not merely putting on a brave face. Having reached the rank of Sword Saint, he genuinely wanted to test his strength. The power did not feel as though it were slipping vaguely through his fingers; he wanted to engrave the sensation of wielding it firmly into his body.
With Estelle watching, he had nothing to fear. Naturally, she was not standing aside out of thoughtless complacency. She wanted Ren to absorb the feeling of his newly awakened power, and despite her casual manner, she was observing him carefully.
Because he did not need to worry about the worst possible outcome, Ren could swing his sword exactly as he wished.
“Haaaaah!”
He cut down the remaining Giant God’s Messenger Wadatsumi.
After the battle—
“It seems a monster of this level is no longer a worthy opponent for you, Ren.”
Estelle praised him with a smile.
That memory from the winter flashed through Ren’s mind. Afterward, Licia had hurried to Eupheim and spent several hectic days helping with the aftermath.
Fortunately, winter break had not yet ended. Ren intended to spend at least its final days enjoying something resembling a proper holiday.
“I will walk you back to the dormitory.”
“I would be delighted,” Fiona replied.
As they walked, she asked him another question.
“What was the medal ceremony like?”
It had taken place only a few days earlier.