The Biography of Albrecht – Chapter 4

Translator: Nezu
Editor: Daed

The morning breeze of late autumn swept across one’s cheeks. The people in the territory were busy preparing for winter. Women wove and prepared winter clothes while they looked after pigs, chickens, cattle and other livestock. Men went to work in the lumberyard and gathered firewood.

After they finished logging, they began to prepare and cut the collected timbers into usable lumber to be sent to the river. From there, the lumber was transported to the closest town from the portage station.

His father was most concerned about patrolling the road along the river because timber was an important resource to finance the estate.

As he ambled around, Albrecht encountered a group of five adults on the right side of the road.

They carried axes on their shoulders and seemed to be heading to the lumberyard. They had broad shoulders and well-toned muscles; their physique looked very sturdy. As they approached Albrecht, they bowed their heads to greet him. Albrecht did the same and greeted them.

But one of them looked at him and spoke hesitantly.

“Well um…Young master.”

“Yes?”

“Well, you see…The thing about Eric…”

“Eric? Who’s that?”

Albrecht genuinely didn’t know who that was. However, the man seemed to have taken his answer differently. He answered in shock, looking very afraid.

“N-, nothing, young master. Please go on ahead.”

He stepped away from their path and started walking past them back to the woods.

Eric? He wondered where he’d heard this name before but he couldn’t remember. In front of him, Jurgen was waiting absentmindedly with his eyes wide open.

“Captain. Uhh, well, did the adults ask you about Eric?”

“Yep. Do you know who he is?”

“Uh… Captain?”

“What?”

“Well, didn’t you say that you wanted revenge.”

He suddenly remembered everything when he heard the word ‘revenge’. It brought goosebumps all over his body. 

Eric was the owner of the cow he killed.

***

He received a sword from his father on the day of his coming-of-age ceremony. It gave him the feeling of being a real knight. Albrecht, who was still a child at heart by then, was as happy as he could be.

It was a hand-and-a-half sword[1] that could either be held with one hand or both hands. Its blade resembled a long arming sword. Nevertheless, it tapered (changing or reducing the blade’s thickness) beautifully. Its pommel was round and had a cross engraved in the middle. The sword was 119 cm in length, with its blade being 90 cm long. 

The sleek, flawless blade of the sword fascinated Albrecht’s heart.

His father repeatedly emphasized that it shouldn’t be used recklessly but his words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. When his father went out, Albrecht immediately pulled it out and swung it inside the castle.

A feeling came to him after he did a couple of swings with his one hand.

When he held the sword with two hands and swung it as hard as he could, he’d hear the sharp sound coming from the sword as it cut through the air.

The blade of the sword vibrated slightly, as if trying to ask him to handle it gently. It put a smile on Albrecht’s face.

He immediately ran out of the castle and went straight down the mountain. He gathered all the children and showed off his sword. They all looked on with envy. It was a real sword, one that they’d never dreamt of having.

He pulled out the sword, allowing the other children to look at it and touch it. The children squeezed in to take turns. When the older children gathered around the sword, Jurgen tried to force himself into the space between them and spoke.

“Me too, me too.”

“Hey. Let Jurgen touch it too.”

When Albrecht’s words fell, the child holding the sword immediately handed it over to Jurgen.

Jurgen staggered when he lifted the sword. The children backed away in surprise. Even so, he quickly found his balance as he swung the sword clumsily. The children moved back even further.

“Hey, you’ll get hurt holding the sword like that. Give it to me.”

Jurgen was unwilling to give it back but he still reluctantly returned it to Albrecht.

“Hey, I also want to be a knight. A knight!”

The children laughed loudly at his words.

“Hey, if you become a knight, then I’ll be a king. Hahaha.”

“You do talk like a knight, but do you know how to cut firewood properly?”

“Try to gain weight first, you idiot.”

The children made fun of Jurgen. It made him feel dejected. He thought of something and asked Albrecht.

“Captain, captain. Will you kill people when you become a knight?”

Albrecht couldn’t give an immediate answer. He thought that it was good to learn martial arts, and to be good at it. He also liked showing off his strength. He wanted to be a knight as soon as possible but he had never thought of killing someone.

“You’ll need to kill once you fight.”

[1] Hand-and-a-half sword – aka bastard sword, it’s a sword with a moderate-length blade that can be used with one hand or two, but not technically one and a half hands……ok bai bai

For any errors and issues contact me through discord:- https://discord.gg/Q3dStgu