RotTS 19

Happy Valentine's day!

It's actually just over where I am.

I have no life, so I can do stuff like this today! (unfortunately, this is not true, I have been very busy lately. I can only guarantee one more chapter for the time being, in the foreseeable future)


Rondo of the Transient Sword: Part 19

"Fuu~n," said Argo.


"Its not what you think," I said.


If we were to expand the words each of us omitted, it would be like this.


――Fuu~n. The original beta tester Kirito and solo Asuna has joined forces. I wonder how much this information is worth.


――It's not what you think. It so happened that she and I are just temporarily accompanying each other, we're not planning on being a combination.


However, the fact that I was together with her did not change. Furthermore, we were together since we met at Ulbas eastern square in the afternoon yesterday, so we should be approaching the twenty seventh hour mark.


This wasn't odd enough to be suspicious ―― although that should be the case, I had my own standards that greatly differentiated the simple «Two-people party» and a «Combi». A party is what happens when you organise yourselves, disbanding at the end of a battle, while a combination requires us to fine-tuning ourselves to each other first. More precisely, it requires rearranging the equipment and skillset so that the partner's weaknesses should be compensated and advantages should be complemented, not just fighting the same mob on your own (like yesterday's challenge between Asuna and I against the bees), but using the two people's sword skills combo to defeat a tough mob class that is difficult to beat on your own.


I believe that, while up to that point, Asuna and I have been in a group for a since we first met, we probably have yet to achieve the point we can be called a combi with that meaning. Even taking aside the fact that I was a beater, the rapier user embraced the strength of her sword skills, so I don't think she was willing to change her current, well-honed style just to prioritise co-operating with me.


―― as I couldn't think of an excuse at a moment's notice after introduction, I sat down facing Argo and feigned innocence, and ordered a black ale after the temporary party member beside me sat. Asuna followed suit, ordering cider soda, the NPC waiter retreated for a moment, and in ten seconds the drinks arrived. The creator had probably thought it would probably have been a waste of the clerk if they used a system where the glasses had just appeared on the table. Well, at the very least, NPC's are not paid labour anyway.


As Asuna and I were holding a glass each, Argo raised her own cup in front of her and prompted me with her gaze. Reluctantly coughing, I said.


"Well then…… for reaching the second floor's dungeon, Cheers!"


"Cheers!"


"……Cheers"


Despite the difference in mood, half the jug was emptied in that moment in response to the call for now. This beer (It's called ale here,but there is no difference) tastes like the carbonated bitter and sour evening drink my mother prepared in the real world, but it was weird that it tasted good after a day of running around in the field and dungeon. Then again, even for players aged twenty and above, there was sake that won't get them drunk no matter how much they drank! That was how it seemed.


Coming from that point of view, the person sitting opposite me with a gulping down golden foamed liquid in a shot,went "Puwaaa~!" Although the information dealer said teenagers should not seek for alcohol in Sake, I don't know about this guy. Three lines permanently painted across her cheeks surrounded by golden brown hair, I felt her age could not be told based on how she looked.


That Argo, vigorously returned her emptied jug to the table, and immediately requested a second helping.


"It's been five days since the opening of the dungeon, huh. That's really fast."


"Well, don't compare it to the first floor. While we were down there, players were probably ten times higher than the required level. When we cleared the second level we were probably at 7 or 8, right?"


"Well……maths-wise that's true. However, that story is only regarding the possiblity of clearing.""


At these words, while Argo brought the second cup of ale to her mouth, Asuna, unlike her usual self, nonchalantly asked me a question.


"During the beta test, how many times did you challenge the second floor boss before beating it?"


"mm……well, in our first fights, of the ten fights I joined we were all wiped out……. Well, I guess it was because we challenged it early, at level 5."


To take the LA Bonus. Of course, this words did not come out of my mouth.


"If I recall correctly, when it was defeated, the average level of the raid was greater than 7."


"Fuuuun……. ―― The current raid teams are on average 10 now."


At Asuna's question, I glanced quickly at the values displayed beside the party's HP gauge. Thanks to hunting down Mino- no, Taurus in the labyrinth, my level had increased by 1, to 14. Asuna had achieved 12 too. The leaders in the raid, Lind's and Kibaou's groups is expected to be at this level as well ――


"……aah, It's probably exceeded 10. The numbers show that the status is safe here, but…… It's well known that the small fry mob cannot compare to the Floor Boss"


Although it felt as though it was a long time ago, the raid group's average levels were higher than the average during beta when raiding the first floor's boss «Illfang the Cobold Lord». In fact, the leader of the acting leader of the raid, the Knight Diavel achieved level 12, similar to me who went solo.


Even so, the continuous strikes of the Kobold King's Katana Skills caused Diavel's HP to be thoroughly whittled down to a critical condition. In other words, the superficial «Safety Zone» had no meaning against the current boss's firepower.


In the moment of silence Asuna and I looked at each other, the second cup from the 70% full jug was emptied by Argo, before she gave the finishing strike.


"In addition to that, to fight the second floor's boss strengthening equipment is more important than leveeels"


"That's true……"


I gave a nod while sighing. The boss's exclusive «Numbing Detonation» sword skill main purpose was not damage. Therefore, it could not be covered by the amount of HP. The weapon's and armor's enhancement bonus was needed as it increased the resistance to debuffs.


The weird information regarding this was obviously, by the information broker before my eyes, going to be published it in the raid strategy guide, making it common knowledge. The front-line groups of the raid will strive hard to improve their equipment, so stores like the recently-moved-to-this-town Nezuha the Blacksmith's Smithy would prosper……


"…………u……"


When I thought up to that point, I subconsciously let out that sound.


The reason Nezuha moved from Taran to Ulbus, was probably not to let the situation cool down…… Was it because he had anticipated the front line players' demand from the start? Disregarding his credibility as a blacksmith, he could continue his rare strengthening weapon scam here…… and as a result, the «Legend Braves» could reach top guilds like Lind's group and Kibaou's group, and as for the Blacksmith Nezuha――――


"……Argo"


Rubbing off the light chill which crawled up my upper arm, I opened my window on the table.


"Firstly, this is the Labyrinth's first and second floor's map data."


Quickly objectifying the small scroll, I placed it in front of Argo. The information broker picked it up, and made it disappear with a sleight of her hand then said.


"Sorry for the trouble as always, Ki-Bou. Like I said earlier, if there is any particular piece of information you want……"


"Nah…… I won't be trading anything for the map data. The death of the players who did not buy the map would be on my conscience…… However, for this case, I would like to request a condition."


"Hmm? Well, tell everything to onee-san?"


Directing a coquettish glance at me, some sort of wave seemed to be generated by Asuna who was beside me, and I replied while remaining in her line of sight, which seemed scary for some reason.


"Argo should already know this, but……"


Here, I reduced my volume, and checked around the interior of the tavern once more. I was checking because there was a narrow alley behind the store, but there were no other players about.


"……I want information regarding the team taking part in the raid to defeat the «Bullbous Bow» this morning, the «Legend Braves». The names of all the members, when they were formed."


"Fum. ……What is the condition?"


"I don't want anyone to know that I'm looking for their information. Especially not the targets themselves."


The information broker «Argo the Rat» was scary to deal with, as the rule of client confidentiality was non-existent, with her motto of «The name of the client is also part of the business tale». Which was why, under normal conditions I could not attempt to buy information regarding the «Legend Braves» from Argo secretly. Following her own rules, even the guys from the Braves would definitely be asked, 'Are you interested in buying the name of the person who wants your information?'. Of course, I could still hide my name as they needed to pay an amount higher than the one I paid for her silence, but the knowledge of «Someone is trying to look up information on the Braves» would still definitely have come up. At present, that was a situation I wanted to avoid.


In other words, My condition was that I wanted to dig up information on the braves, without them knowing about it ―― That was all. My request explicitly violated Argo's motto.


"N~……Nnn~~~~"


The information broker looked troubled as she tugged on her forelock with her fingers while thinking it over, then said, "Well, I guess it's fine." In that moment of my relief, she grinned as she continued.


"But, please remember this. Onee-san regards her emotional feelings to Ki-bou to have priority over the rules of business."


Suddenly, a raging feeling could be felt from my right shoulder once again. Her eyes moved away from my stiff body, while maintained her grin, she calmly said.

"So, What does A-Chan want from me?"

31 comments:

  1. Thank you so much, don't stop now please!!

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  2. Thank you so much for this :) would love to see this continue but I understand if your to busy. Just thank you for doing as much as you have

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  3. and here i fought you were lost!
    shame on me...

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  4. and such a shame that we won't be able to finish this lovely story.
    but of course your private life is (and should be) your highest priority. i am thankfull of what you have done for us until now!

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  5. A very rough translation by me from the Chinese version on lknovel.cn ...Is it readable?
    10 minutes later—
    Asuna and I left the bar and returned to the East Square of Talan Village.
    Being a village, the scale of its Inner Circle is much smaller than that of the main street of Urbus. However, the basic structure of “remainder of wall after digging out from a round plateau” still remains, so the depth of this floor can possibly accommodate two of these villages.
    The circular square also follows that design, and is surrounded by tall buildings, although those buildings are just inns or shops opened by NPCs. For now, because there are no players’ house yet, anybody could enter those buildings.
    Thus actually, in present conditions, there are almost no players who utilise “empty NPC house” as a sleeping place. Those “empty NPC house” are quite different from the inns, as they are not protected by the system.
    Even so, the possibility of anyone getting harmed by residing in the house is pretty low. But sleeping in such a place where I can’t lock the door, causes me to feel extremely insecure. I can be waken up by any insignificant noises from the surrounding streets or buildings. My body in the real world is probably lying on a tidy bed in a hospital, but despite my sight and hearing blocked, I could still be troubled by the tactile of the bed and the noises in this world. How inexplicable!
    Anyway those conditions forced me to break my habit of frugalness. Every night I will either stay in inns, or NPCs’ house for rent, instead of those empty houses.
    However, except for those inconvenience when used as a sleeping place, the empty houses are still very useful for other purposes—meeting up with players, distributing loots or—monitoring someone.
    *
    “This viewing angle is great!”
    Said Asuna, who is sitting in a chair next to the windows, and being mindful not to be too close to the windows, overlooked at the square below.
    “This is probably the best location. If it is directly behind that guy, we may not be able to see it clearly as the angle is too big….Let’s just have our dinner here.”
    The four buns of unknown content, bought on the way from the bar to here, is now placed atop the round table. It have a cream coloured skin, and is steaming hot. It doesn’t have any weird smell at all – should be normal. Its item name is “Steamed bun of Taran”.
    Asuna, whose sight drifted from the source of continual hammering sound, to the buns on the table, asked with a doubted expression,
    “What are those, after all?”
    “Who cares? But anyway, the theme of this floor is cow and ox, so maybe this bun have a beef filling? By the way in Kansai region meat refers to beef, but in Kanto region meat means pork.”
    “So is this street a Kanto one, or a Kansai one?”
    With an uninterested tone, Asuna interrupted unceremoniously the little knowledge that I have accumulated over years. I can only say sorry (as I can’t answer), and pushed the buns to Asuna.
    “Now, have one when it is still fresh and hot!”
    “…itadakimasu”

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    1. it's good. any link to future translations ?

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  6. Replies
    1. If my translation is Ok, I can get the official Chinese translation of the novel and translate it into English.

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    2. That is definitely readable and I would love to read your translations!

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    3. Is that part 20?

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    4. You can take it as part 20. But according to the book both part 19 and so called '20' are under chapter 9. I'll be buying the book this weekend then :D

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    5. That looks pretty good to me

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    6. Little memo: be careful about proper noun like name of sword skills in the book that you would probably want to check them out from raw on how they are written in kana before translating them..

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    7. Thank you for the tip, but unfortunately the original Japanese version of Progressive 1 is out of stock at Kinokuniya... :( But anyways the unofficial translation on lknovel.cn leaves the English name there. And the kana are actually just English transliterated into kana so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

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    8. On the site you mentioned, click into its forum, register, search with the book's japanese title, then raw would be pop up from somewhere....

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    9. Um, haha, thanks, but that's a Japanese owned bookshop in Singapore I'm talking about there :D

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    10. Ah but there is the comic book of progressive 1 with Asuna in swimsuit selling there.

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    11. The translation is readable, though there are a few mistakes that a proofreader could help correct.

      I advise not overly relying on the English used on the Chinese translations. There are some inaccuracies. For example, エクスキャリバー is usually romanised as "Excalibur" by Chinese translators, even though it should really be romanised as "Excaliber" (Excalibur + Caliber), as that was the meaning intended. In this excerpt, you used "Talan" as the village name, though, as "Steamed bun of Taran" was in English in the Japanese novel, I do believe that "Taran" was the intended spelling of the name.

      If you want, I could help you out with names/terms as well as proofreading. I do have a copy of the Japanese raws, and, although I'm still a beginner in Japanese, I can read kana well and know a bit about how Japanese write English words in katakana.

      P.S. I do believe that Pryun is translating from the web version of the story, which has 40 parts. The official release merged some parts, reducing the number to 14 chapters.

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    12. Oh I see. So this is the web novel. Thank you for the suggestions. Yep my mistake for the Taran buns part :P. Yes please help me to proofread my translation. Thank you. I guess I'll just create a blog on wordpress for this.

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    13. The problem with Chinese's translation is that they translate some terms with according to custom in Chinese society..like they translate nervegear as NERvGear..also they might not have very in-depth English and specific knowledge, like occasionally they translated QuBits as CuBits or QBits

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    14. Why dont you just post it on BT?

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    15. hmm Pyrun is almost done with translation of chapter 20, just wait for it to be uploaded. I have decided to join them instead of doing it myself.

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  7. ... Baka tsuki is right around the corner, on the sidebar to the right. They should be more qualified to judge. (I don't like to rate other people's work - Unless you're absolutely terrible)

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    1. Thank you for saying that it is not absolutely terrible :D

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    2. May I join you in translating this series?

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    3. Please contact us via email.

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  8. The boss's exclusive «Naming Detonation» sword skill <--please double check this name.....

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  9. Yes, it should be Numbing. (I'm sorry, I didn't have time to proofread. looking at it now, there seems to be a few spelling mistakes and typos as well.)

    Will update this when I have free time.

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  10. THANK YOU!!! KEEP GOING!!! :D

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