The Amber Sword

Chapter 42 – New member

“S-sword arte……” Roen’s face paled immediately, and he stared at Brendel.

[Is this Brendel that young man that I know of? You might have gotten some recognition for your potential in the path of the sword, but possessing the power of an ‘Enlightened Element’ since our meeting half a year ago?!]

Amandina first grabbed the door frame tightly and released it. The sudden scene that happened before her eyes was beyond her imagination and she bit her lips due to her myriad feelings that stirred within her.

[The young man who brought my father’s news was at a rank of a ‘Swordsman of Flowers’… This young master swordsman, is it possible that he’s a ‘Blessed’ person and had the strength of an Iron-ranked fighter since his birth?]

(TL: The specific flower described in Chinese doesn’t really exist in the west, so I just took from Game of Thrones. I can’t think of a better term for 启示者 right now other than ‘Blessed’. Exalted, sacred, revelator all sounds weird to me because the level of these people aren’t powerful enough to use these words. Finally, the rank described by Amandina is the upper tier of the Golden-ranked fighter which is around level 60-70+ where they can use sword artes freely.)

Batum merely folded his arms together without changing his appearance. He took everyone’s reaction in his eyes and laughed inwardly. He had felt the same thing when he first saw his lord display that same skill, and even felt proud to serve someone like him, because Brendel’s abilities did not end there.

As for the ‘City Guards’, they were already weak in the knees. Their lack of imagination had limited their view of Brendel as a noble who had some strong backing behind him in his family, but they recognized the Sword Arte and changed their opinions about him.

Still, Brendel chose to bring this past up to force Roen to join his side. Roen had done something that was akin to treason in Aouine, and even Lord Tirste was not going to be able to protect Roen on this matter.

[With this secret it should be enough to control this cripple, but I should offer a carrot as well to calm him down.]

“Very well. Do not worry, cripple, I will not use that incident to blackmail you. I know what happened exactly and the fault does not lie with you. However, I need to protect myself. I can at least promise you that Tirste will not trouble you. This is a transaction that both of us can come out ahead without issues, and it’s not me or Tirste forcing you to submit to either side.”

Roen looked at Brendel with doubtful eyes.

“You don’t believe me? That paper that I gave to Tirste will determine everything.”

“What exactly is in that paper?” Batum interjected with curiosity.

“A small habit of mine. I believe Tirste will suspect a certain logical rival of his.” Brendel rubbed his forehead.

[Disregarding whether this Tirste have ties with the Unifying Guild, I’ll push the blame to the organization of the ‘Tree Shepherds’.]

When Brendel threw the paper to the leader, he had done so in a particular manner that resembled someone’s actions called ‘Turtledove’. That master swordsman, Lord ‘Turtledove’, was a core member of the ‘Tree Shepherds’ and the key political enemy of the Grinoires nobles. He was even someone who was rumored to be an admirer of Tirste’s fiancee. With such a wonderful scapegoat, Brendel believed that Tirste would have a headache trying to deal this situation.

[Maybe Tirste is able to get to the truth some time later, but that wouldn’t be a problem since there are no real disadvantages. It’s not as if I’m a paladin from the Holy Cathedral of Fire.]

The cripple seemed to have understood something from Brendel’s words, and he stared at Brendel. “I’m starting to wonder if a devil had impersonated you, Brendel. You’re not someone like that in the past.”

“This situation forced my hand.” Brendel shrugged, and finally looked at Amandina.

“What are your intentions, Miss Amandina.” He asked.

The young lady lowered her head and felt that her decision did not belong to her anymore. She started to wonder if her previous judgment was wrong. The young man before her did not seem to be as gentlemanly as she had thought, and after a while she could only reluctantly reply: “Have you not thought of a solution for me, Ser Brendel?”

Brendel smiled when he heard Amandina’s reply, and briefly wondered what kind of upbringing she had to be as perceptive as she is now. He patted the scroll in his arms and spoke.

“Miss Amandina, I am in awe of your talent and abilities, and I hope that you could work for me. In return, I am willing to sponsor you to continue researching on the creation of Magicite. Of course, as one who is under my employ, I will also protect you from the ruffians who wanted to harass you.”

Amandina coughed and looked at Brendel’s eyes, as if to determine if he was lying—

“You want me to create machines that uses Magicite? But my teachers said that I am not talented in that field.”

“The creation of Magicite and machines that use Magicite are two different things.” Brendel nodded: “Especially what you have in this scroll, you are the only person who is skilled enough to make this a reality.”

“This is only a half completed version.” Amandina became serious, but shrank backwards as she realized she was being rude in her confrontational attitude.

Brendel did not mind.

“Miss Amandina. You have enough faith in your half completed work to be used as compensation, why do you not allow me to put value into the creator? There is a certain phrase in my hometown, ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’.”

The girl’s eyes lit up: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step? … Ser Brendel, are you really willing to sponsor me to continue walking down this path?”

“I will be honest here. Currently I do not have the finances or my place, but I am certain that I will be able to get them very soon. Isn’t that right, Ser Roen?”

“Yes, yes!” The cripple nodded furiously.

Amandina thought for a while before speaking again with a determined look in her face: “Very well. I will accept your offer, Ser Brendel. But I do not wish to do nothing before you are able to gain the resources that you need. I would like to be your advisor until then, and I am confident I have the ability to do so—”

She looked straight at Brendel.