With this, chapter 1 is now complete. Episode 61 will be the start of chapter 2.
There’s a seasonal word [Yukibare] (1)
Today is such a day.
The earth sparkles with white while the sky is a never-ending blue.
It’s so dazzling it’s hard to keep my eyes open.
I was digging Chasers grave on such a beautiful morning.
The frozen ground was obviously hard but my friends helped me without saying anything.
I turned towards my friends on the gently sloping hill I had buried Chaser on.
“Again, thank you all. You came looking for me and helped me bury Chaser. Thank you.”
Everyone just shakes their heads silently and Patty placers her hand on my arm.
“Let’s return to Nepia Ippei.”
That might be nice.
My trip has ended here, in this place.
You should always move forward as long as you live but sometimes a little rest is necessary. Though if you can, try to put those rests near the end.
“Yeah, however, before I return there’s somewhere I need to go first. It’s a small town called Chipham……..”
My voice chokes up.
Just thinking of Alma and Casey makes my hands shake.
How weak am I?
Patty’s hand strongly grasped my arm.
“Let’s go to Chipham.”
Thank you Patty.
I’m scared. I’ve explored the labyrinth but here I am frozen in fear from the thought of meeting a mother and daughter.
Then something strange happened. It was like I heard a voice from heaven.
“Please finish Chaser’s story.”
It’s a strict voice but tender at the same time. I was told not to run away.
Alma welcomed me with a smile at her house.
“Hello priest-sama. Are you alone today?”
“Yeah. Casey?”
“She’s at school today.”
I felt a little relieved at her words.
Alma started to look uneasy at my expression and her smile clouded over.
“Something’s happened.”
“Yes……..Chaser died.”
“………I see.”
Tears fall from Alma’s eyes.
“When you came alone I had a feeling somehow. He never came out and said it but he had wanted to die for a long time.”
“I guessed as much. He seemed to expect his fall but I don’t know why.”
“Do you know why he quit being a knight?”
“Over tax collection though Chaser called it looting. I heard he let some people escape and went against his superior officer so he was cast out.”
“So it goes and that’s the official facts but Chaser wasn’t fired. He quit himself.”
“What happened to him then?”
“Chaser started letting the villagers escape but not all of them would leave. They were desperate. If they gave up their crops and money a lot of them would not survive the winter so naturally there was resistance.”
“So in other words…….”
“Yeah. Chaser had to kill the people he was trying to save. Even if the women and children escaped, their husbands, fathers and brothers had died. Perhaps the women and children were hurt by the horse’s hooves while trying to escape in the panic? Chaser never talked about it though. This is what I heard from various people later on.”
It might have been legitimate self-defence.
The tax collection may have been legitimate.
None of those things would have mattered to Chaser.
Individual ethics are ignored in an organisation because the benefit of the person at the top or the organisation itself will always be given priority.
Usually the latter.
Even if the person at the top has a good moral code there are many cases where this threatens the organisation so they have to throw them away.
The state will always sacrifice people for the good of the state.
A common story.
Is that a good or bad policy?
Whatever the case may be Chaser could obviously not bear it.
“That person lived proudly as a knight so for him, it was extra painful.”
What would I do?
Would I follow orders or would I help the villagers?
It’s not a simple answer. Even a soldier who’s part of an unprovoked invasion would not easily betray his army.
Would I murder someone in silence?
Who knows.
I then realised something.
It’s a terrible thing to be near power.
What if I become a noble?
I don’t want such a thing.
I was aiming at becoming a noble.
I thought it would be possible if I made full use of my production capabilities.
I have no love for the aristocracy but I thought it was necessary so I could be with Patty, however, the thought of becoming a noble now fills me with hate.
I love Patty and that hasn’t changed but becoming a noble and being part of the national authority doesn’t sit well with me.
I feel bad for Patty but I can’t suppress this feeling.
Like Chaser could not be a knight I cannot be a noble.
“Here’s Chasers spear Alma-san.”
“Why don’t you keep it priest-sama. It’s too heavy for me to use. I am……..not strong enough to live with this spear.”
I understand. It’s probably too cruel to leave the spear with her.
“I understand. What about Casey?”
“That is my duty as her mother.”
“I see…..do you want to hear about his final moments?”
I talk about Chaser’s death without any feeling. I explain his actions and last words.
After that, it is up to Alma-san and Casey to judge the man named Chaser.
I talk to Patty while being shaken around by the horse.
I tell her everything from the beginning of the trip right up to Chasers death.
I left nothing out. I told her every minute detail.
“I love you Patty but I don’t want to become a noble.”
“Un……..”
“Sorry.”
“I know that. It was probably impossible for Ippei to become a noble anyway. It’s impossible for me as well. That’s why I work as an adventurer. I can’t deal with all the showing off.”
Patty’s smile pierces my heart.
“Do you want to fight against the country with 2 people?”
It’s scary how serious Patty sounds.
“That’s a little……… I shouldn’t expect unrealistic things even if I have the passion. That way leads to unhappiness.”
“I guess……..I know. I’ll step down as a noble.”
“Is that even possible!?”
“It is. On the other hand, I have no doubt that the Cherrycoke family will be demoted.”
“That’s……..”
“So what we will do is raise my family up to Duke and when I step down the Cherrycokes will be demoted back down to viscount. It evens out and father won’t be too bothered.”
“All right. I’ll think about it in that direction.”
“Let’s be adventurers together Ippei. I want my freedom too.”
“I see………”
I didn’t want to say that freedom doesn’t really exist.
“Someday lets take the magic train down south. It’s warm and there’s a town down there with a beautiful ocean view.”
I doubt there’s freedom there but the suggestion is very nice.
“Honeymoon?”
“That’s a nice suggestion. Would we be free then?”
The winter sun sinks dying the dead tree’s red.
We reached out and grasped each other’s hand firmly.
Chapter 1 end.
(1) Yukibare means “clear weather after snowfall” and from what I can gather seasonal word are used in haiku a lot.
Thank you!!!!!!
Thanks for doing this chapter!
Done ? Ehhhhh?!
Umm, it said “Chapter 1 end” not “The End” so probably we have a long ways to go before this novel is over.
Correct. The novel actually has 229 chapters (and is complete). This is just the end of part 1. The author split his chapters up into 4 arcs/parts. Chapter 2 /part 2/arc 2 whatever you want to call it starts next at chapter 61.
.♪:*:・・:*:・♪・:*:・・:*:・♪・:*:・・:*:・♪.
┏…┓ ∧__∧ Merry
┃T├┓ (。・ω・。) X-Mas
┗┬N├┳━〇━〇━┓and a
┗┬X┃ NEPU! ┃ Happy
┗…┻………━………┛Nepu Year!
。:+* ゚ ゜゚ *+:。:+* ゚ ゜゚ *+:。:+* ゚ ゜゚ *+:。
I love the story so far but Ippei’s sudden turn AWAY from becoming a noble is really jarring to me, like yeah some shitty stuff happened with Chaser’s past and knighthood but that really came out of nowhere.
He loves Patty and wanted to become a noble so he could marry her, fine, well and good, he could just fabricate a steam engine and get peerage that way but he wanted to reach the dungeon depths, fine too. Then he gets arrested for a false crime, escapes from jail and books it to the capital, still well and fine, THEN Chaser dies and Ippei has to vaguely realize that as a part of nobility he’ll have to listen to the monarchy or whatever… and now he decides NOPE can’t be a noble…
Just doesn’t make much sense to me.
I think its more along the lines that he was new to the world. he just happened to meet a noble first, have a taste of the good life. then he met dog boy and realised that there was problems, but he was still new to the world so he was just going with the flow. not really caring with a single mindset of becoming and adventurer even when he didn’t have the stats. sure he liked Patty but it was more just window shopping to begin with it wasnt until he escaped from that raid party and she found him that he relised she felt that way too, after this he gets framed. he thought that Patty could clear his name and all he would need to do was tough it out, so now he lived like a prisoner I think the real turning point you are looking for might not just be chaser but the whole arc of him living like a priest him holding masses and reading scripture on his down time, hell he even said a prayer, that was a turning point. that selfish guy sacrificed himself for ippo and his last words where live priest even though he knew at that point he wasn’t a priest. something snapped in him. who was the voice in his head saying please finish chasers story? and why did he spend so long contemplating everything. not just what happened to him and chaser but what led to chaser leaving the knight hood, how he didn’t know what “side of history” he would take. and diciding to take the third position, It totally fits.
now then thank you for translating I don’t often comment so please take this for thanks for all your translation works, I am uptodate with alvos also 😉
on small thing, your next previous on this story started messing up around ch56 and are currently pointing to the other LN.
thank you for all your hard work and yes I am a necromancer. so bringing back dead threads is something I do.