The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

Albrecht got up early the next morning. He wore an expensive-looking tunic, pants, and boots and brought the sword his father gave to him. The morning air was chilly yet refreshing.

The scenery around him was dazzlingly beautiful. As he quietly stared at the lake, Randolph followed him, rubbing his eyes.

Wow, he’s persistent.

Albrecht stared blankly at Randolph. Randolph stared back in silence.

Albrecht went back to the house to get two shields and swords. Then he visited his horse to see how it was doing. He also saw Ludwig’s horse next to his. Now he had two war horses. He stroked the horses’ heads and fed them some grass.

“Hey, where do I take a bath?” Albrecht asked as he checked the condition of Ludwig’s horse.

“You can take a bath in the lake.”

“No, everyone will see me then.”

“Then we should go to the valley. Please follow me.”

Randolph led him around the hills and showed him a small waterfall. There were some deep parts below the waterfall. Albrecht loosened his sword belt, undressed, and threw his clothes. Randolph’s eyes widened as he saw Albrecht’s muscles and battle scars. He unconsciously sighed.

“Wow—”

Albrecht didn’t hesitate to take a bath in the cold water that was almost freezing. He washed his face, his hair, and his body for a long time. Then he emerged from the water. He became flustered when he realized he had no towel.

“Hey. You don’t have a towel with you, do you?”

Randolph took off his coat without any hesitation and offered it to him.

“You can use this.”

“No thanks,” Albrecht answered, feeling somewhat sorry.

“I won’t run away, so could you bring me back a towel?”

Before he could finish speaking, Randolph was already sprinting back to the house.

“I’ll be right back!”

It took them a long time to get to the waterfall, but Randolph really came back fast while gasping for air.

Albrecht wiped himself with the towel, dressed up, then threw Ludwig’s sword at Randolph.

The pommel of Michael’s sword was inlaid with finely crafted, lily-shaped rubies while Ludwig’s sword’s iron pommel was carved with a lily pattern.

“Pick one.”

Randolph picked up a sword with trembling hands and stared at it as if bewitched.

“How does it feel? Heavy?”

Randolph held it with both hands, swung it awkwardly a few times, and repeated the action while using one hand.

“It’s too heavy when I only use one hand.”

“It’s a single-handed sword so you should only use one hand.”

Randolph nodded with a determined expression on his face.

Just as he had taught Diego, Albrecht emphasized to practice repeatedly and to not get stuck on one posture. He taught him various stances and fighting techniques and told him the concepts behind it. He taught him how to use a shield, and never forgot to tell him to constantly train.

Albrecht sat on a nearby rock as he watched Randolph, a little surprised by his improvement. He had only demonstrated everything to him once. Though his posture was a bit awkward, it was accurate. Compared to Diego who needed to be corrected many times, he was doing great.

Look at him go.

Even more surprising was that after a few more swings, the clumsiness of a beginner completely disappeared and a truly correct posture emerged. The sword seemed to have helped as well.

Randolph was slender, but he had broad shoulders and—just like the village chief had said—was stronger than his peers. However, his muscles weren’t defined yet so he got tired easily.

Albrecht felt overwhelmed and excited as he watched Randolph. He remembered that saying that said there was no greater joy for a teacher than teaching an intelligent student.

“Hey. Take a break.”

“I’m fine. I can still do a bit more.”

Hoho, this little bastard.

Albrecht found Randolph commendable.

“Take a break. Are you going to disobey your master?”

Randolph put his sword back into its scabbard reluctantly and sat down while panting.

Albrecht asked, “Hey. How old are you?”

“I’m fifteen.”

“…”

“How about Master…?”

“Oho! How dare you ask your master’s age?!”

Randolph was startled.

Albrecht thought of leaving the village before they could discover his age. Age didn’t really matter but he felt nervous about hiding it. He was only going to stay here for a short while so he didn’t think he needed to say anything to them.

Albrecht set his uneasiness aside and asked another question.

“What are you going to do with the sword and fighting techniques you’ll learn?”

“I’ll use it to protect the village.”

“Why, are there people bothering you?”

“That’s not what I meant. My grandfather told me that I was strong for a reason. Though he wasn’t sure about the reason why, he said that it would be good if I used my strength to protect the village.”

No matter how shitty this world is, I guess there are still people who have their own beliefs.

“But no matter how strong I am, I’m no match for soldiers. Even more so for knights. That’s why I’m going to learn how to use a sword.”

In Albrecht’s opinion, Randolph was an individual worthy of being a hero. Even if he didn’t teach him, he thought it was possible for him to become a hero who could help other people. Or he could also die in vain.

After a short break, Randolph stood up and practiced again. Albrecht had nothing more to point out. The boy got better and better with each swing. He was talented.

Albrecht spent his time imagining that if he didn’t have his memories from modern Earth, he might have possibly met this young hero one day as a murderous conqueror.

Dawn was slowly replaced by the blue sky of the morning. Randolph finally stopped practicing and they returned to the village. The villagers were distributing the supplies. There weren’t any conflicts since there were only a few people.

The men surveyed the mountains to see if they could make a barn while the women began to take and move the supplies. When they saw Albrecht, everyone expressed their gratitude to him.

He went back to the village chief’s house, had breakfast, and stated that he wanted to continue teaching Randolph if the kid had nothing else to do. The village chief happily agreed.

Randolph was already gifted so he just needed to take a crash course to match his talent.

“Randolph. Stop focusing on your posture for now. Let’s practice for real.”

Randolph gulped and suddenly looked nervous. Albrecht intentionally restrained his monster-like strength and dealt with him with pure swordsmanship.

“I told you not to be bound by one posture. Why are you using your sword like that?” Albrecht asked, hitting Randolph with one side of his sword. This kind of training was too harsh for someone learning swordsmanship for the first time, but he thought Randolph had the talent and determination to undergo it.

Albrecht continued to deliberately strike Randolph with techniques that were out of the norm.

“If this was a real battle, you would already be dead.”

Despite Albrecht’s harsh words, Randolph’s eyes looked more determined.

Their sparring continued and only stopped after a few hours. Randolph crouched down in pain, panting.

“Don’t forget that those techniques I taught you are used for killing people. The more people you kill, the stronger you get. I learned that way too. Always stick to the basics. Watch this closely.”

Albrecht went near the bushes and approached a tree with a thin stem. Though it was thin, a dozen hits were needed to bring it down by an axe.

Albrecht held his sword with both hands, took a few deep breaths, and enhanced his concentration. Then he drew his sword horizontally with enormous strength. Randolph didn’t see his quick action. He only felt like something happened then the tree suddenly fell down. It was cut neatly. Randolph stood with his mouth agape.

“You have to reach a certain level to be able to wield your sword efficiently like this. It’s never easy to cut flesh and bones along with armor. If you only rely on your strength, you’ll break your sword and you won’t be able to deal much damage to your opponent.”

Randolph nodded eagerly, his mouth still open.

Albrecht let him continue his posture exercises after making him rest.

Randolph continued to practice with a sore body, carving Albrecht’s words into his head. He swung his sword a few times, cocked his head to the side, then swung it again. His moves were now deft. They were fast, accurate, and powerful. He was definitely a genius. Albrecht couldn’t help but smile.

Noon approached after the repeated resting and practicing. Before going back to the house to eat, Albrecht fastened a sword belt around Randolph’s waist.

“This is yours now. Take good care of it.”

Randolph felt a pleasant heaviness around his waist. There was a huge grin on his face. He looked up at Albrecht, his face expressing how extremely grateful he was.

In modern Earth, sword fighting was only a sport so it wouldn’t be good to give a real sword to an amateur. However, it was needed here in this world to survive. Albrecht gave it to him, thinking that he wouldn’t use it recklessly and would give him a sense of responsibility.

On their way down to the village, they ran across the villagers working near the hills or around the lake, and some on the field. Children were seen running around.

They all looked at Albrecht and Randolph who were coming down from the hills. They were all surprised to see Randolph with a sword on his waist. They knew that the knight was teaching him about swordsmanship, but it felt both strange and unfamiliar to see him with a sword.

The little kids came running over while shouting.

“Wow! Captain! Are you a knight now?”

“Can I touch your sword once?”

Randolph almost smiled but held himself back, putting on a serious expression.

“You can’t. You can’t just carelessly touch it.”

Albrecht smiled and felt nostalgic after hearing the kids call Randolph ‘Captain’. He remembered Jurgen’s shabby appearance.

He now realized that Jurgen was brave, brave enough to do the right things. Aside from telling his father the truth about what he did, he also remembered that he hit the hand of the child who was about to bring a knife over to him to hurt Eric. It was a simple action yet it was enough to indicate that he had good intentions.

I wonder how he’s doing.

Albrecht put his thoughts aside. He ate at the village chief’s house then taught Randolph how to ride a horse. They trained around the village so people were able to watch them.

The roads around the village were narrow so they couldn’t run as much as they wanted. Albrecht taught him how to control his running pace and how to stop his horse. Surprisingly, Randolph also had a talent for horseback riding, even more so than swordsmanship.

What in the world is up with this kid?

Albrecht, who had been called a monster all his life, thought that Randolph was no less of a monster than himself in terms of talent. There was just an overwhelming difference in their natural physical ability.

“Hey, is there an empty space around here?”

Randolph only glanced at him and continued to ride his horse away.

This little piece of…!

Albrecht rushed to follow him. They passed through the valley and the hills until they reached an open area.

Though the hills weren’t steep, it was still an incredible feat for a first timer to ride his horse fearlessly without a hitch.

“Hey, you left without a word.”

“I’m sorry. I got so excited.”

Randolph had a bright expression on his face. He had never felt this way before. He had never thought that this feeling of liberation would exist in this world. He felt an indescribable feeling of happiness while interacting with his horse, a feeling that could take him wherever he wanted.

Albrecht wanted to teach him about horse-mounted combat but Randolph seemed to be in such a good mood that he decided to let the kid ride the horse to his heart’s content for today.

“Master, does this horse have a name?”

“How would I know? I just took him after I killed Ludwig.”

“Then can I name him?”

Albrecht nodded.

“Blitz. I’m calling you ‘Blitz’ from now on. It’s nice to meet you!”

Blitz also seemed happy to meet Randolph.

Albrecht’s horse didn’t even have a name. Though he interacted with his horse, he only saw it as a means of transportation. It would have already been abandoned if he didn’t need it.

Seeing the way Randolph treated his horse, Albrecht felt sorry for his horse. The two of them were always together, sharing sorrow and happiness as they traveled, and surviving even after being stabbed by countless daggers back at the city of Roybeck.

Albrecht felt bad.

“I’m going to call you ‘Schwarz’ from now on.”

Schwarz was a black horse, and ‘Schwarz’ meant black. Schwarz snorted at Albrecht’s thoughtless naming.

Since then, Albrecht spent his days teaching Randolph. Randolph’s strength grew day by day, eventually requiring Albrecht to exert more effort to subdue him. Later, he taught some lessons to control his emotions so he would never waver in front of an enemy.

Randolph loved riding his horse more than practicing his swordsmanship.

Thanks to the supplies that they stole from Ludwig’s troops, they were able to eat good meals despite the winter. They had more than enough for everyone in the village. Since their village only had a few people, a few crayfishes, shrimps, and animals from the hills would keep them from starving. They even had livestock now.

A village with beautiful scenery and a bountiful supply of food. Albrecht thought of staying here.

Part 4: Journey of Atonement – End