Chapter 7: I Am Knight Lee Han (5)

“A lot of time has passed, huh?”

Just like the comparison Lee Han made before about how knights were similar to Major League Players, when there was no game (battle), the players (knights) were pretty much free. It would be different if a war, a rebellion or if an allied kingdom needed their support, but if not, they didn’t really have anything to do. Well, they were required to improve their skills so that they could prepare for any emergency, but aside from that, there was really nothing for them to do.

Basically, for them, the act of going to work itself was nothing more than a show, a performance to show their loyalty to the King.

In other words…

“I’m leaving.”

“Already?”

“I need to do something.”

“…Ah… The construction site?”

“Yeah. Unlike you nobles who always have money and time, commoners like me who barely have enough money need to work two jobs for a living.”

“Haha…”

But, if there was a difference between the knights and the Major League Players, it was that, unlike the Major League Players, whose salaries were leagues above the Minor League Players, the knights barely had higher salaries than ordinary soldiers.

In the first place, if a strong person really wanted to make some money, becoming a mercenary was a better career choice. After all, those who chose to become knights were people who wished to seek ‘honor’ and ‘authority’, not money.

The knights’ monthly salary was just enough to keep up a certain standard of appearance. It definitely wasn’t enough for a commoner to live by.

But…

“I know you’re not going to the construction site for the money.”

“Wrong.”

Lee Han turned around and walked away before waving his hand roughly. That was his way of saying goodbye.

“…I know you can get a lot of money anytime if you want to…”

As he muttered the thoughts he couldn’t bring himself to say to Lee Han’s face, Jake shrugged his shoulders.

At that moment…

“-Where’s Senior Lee Han going?”

“Huh?”

The new knight who had just been defeated by Lee Han, Yord, approached him and greeted him.

“Greetings, Sir Farman. Please forgive me for asking that question before greeting you first.”

“Mm.”

Maybe because he had become accustomed to people speaking informally to him thanks to Lee Han, Jake felt that it had been a while since he met someone who actually knew etiquette. Of course, he also couldn’t expect this sort of thing from the Third Order members as a whole, since most of them came from humble backgrounds.

“…Can you please just talk to me casually. It feels awkward when someone talks formally to me like that…”

“But…”

“Really, it’s okay. Rather than calling me ‘Sir’, you can just call me ‘Senior’ like you did to Lee Han. It would suit me better.”

“Ah, I understand, Senior Jake.”

“Good, that sounds much more comfortable to hear.”

“…”

“Haha, don’t think too much about it. This is just because I hung out a lot with Lee Han.”

Hearing Jake Farman made an excuse that didn’t really sound like an excuse, Yord just let out an awkward laugh while agreeing with him. Even so, he still seemed to be unable to get Lee Han out of his mind as he was still looking in the direction he disappeared to. On top of it, Jake noticed how his hands were twitching slightly.

Seeing this, Jake’s eyes lit up.

“Wow, your competitive spirit hasn’t died at all.”

“…Even if I can’t overcome him now, I think it’s fine for me to stay determined so that I can overcome him later. Of course I won’t just blindly ask him for a spar. Earlier, I couldn’t even do anything against him, after all. I just want to have a conversation with him.”

“…Wow, people like you exist in this world, huh?”

This was a rare case among the rarest cases where a noble showed interest in Lee Han.

Did today’s spar leave that much impression on him?

Not bad.

Personally, Jake always felt bad over the fact that a guy he considered a friend always made enemies here and there. That was why he felt happy when he finally found a junior who didn’t feel that way toward the poor guy. And so, he decided to  treat this junior who was trying to get close to his friend kindly.

“He went to work on his side job. In his words, he has two jobs at the same time.”

“S-Side job? He doesn’t have a sponsor?”

Yord tilted his head, as if he had just heard a very outrageous thing.

Even if he was born a commoner, Lee Han was a real knight. On top of that, he was a member of the Order of Silver Lion, the strongest Knight Order in the kingdom that was working directly under the royal family.

Someone with such a stature would definitely be a high-priority investment target for merchants, or whoever wanted to start a relationship with him. Even Yord, who came from a humble family who had no real assets, had signed a sponsorship contract with a certain merchant company.

It wasn’t like they’d ask the knights for help just because they signed a contract with them either. The sponsorship process was more like a formality that would allow the merchant to sell their name. To the knights, this would seem like nothing, but this was something important for the merchants.

In any case, a lot of people would line up to sponsor someone who was affiliated with the Silver Lion. That was why, for a knight from the Silver Lion to have a side job because he had no money…

…Calling the situation strange couldn’t even cut it.

“Right? That’s a normal reaction, as expected.”

Jake nodded his head, completely understanding Yord’s reaction. Since he was a good senior, he decided to satisfy his junior’s curiosity.

“Well, there are many merchants who want to sign a contract with him, but that guy just refused them all.”

“H-He did what?”

“What did he say again…? Something like, ‘If I sign a sponsorship contract right now, I’ll feel bad if I retire later’.”

“…?”

“Hahaha, don’t worry, that’s just how he is. Don’t bother trying to understand him.”

Though there were people who were dishonorably discharged in the honorable Order of Silver Lion, there had been no case of a retiree. But, all Lee Han wanted was to retire from the order and he refused to accept anything that was offered to him.

I’m always wondering about it…

Is he being sincere about it or is it just him being weird again?

Even though he had known Lee Han for quite some time, sometimes, Jake still failed to understand him.

Lee Han picked up the axe.

Crack-!

Cutting through the win, he hit the tree accurately, creating cracks on the thick log.

Normally, even skilled people needed to hammer several chisels into the tree to split the log cleanly, but Lee Han felled it with just a single swing of an axe.

“As expected from Soldier Lihan.”

“So clean.”

“Your skills are something else. You should just retire from being a soldier and work here!”

While he was working at this logging company, he changed his name to ‘Lihan’ and he introduced himself as a soldier instead of a knight. He didn’t want to be known as a knight here and possibly mess some things up, that was why he pulled this move up.

However, even though he basically conducted identity fraud here, he was working for real.

Because of that, he was considered an ace among the lumberjacks.

“Hell no, I won’t quit my main occupation. Also, stop yapping and do your work. Why the hell are you guys yapping so much, anyway?”

“You punk, it’s less tiring if we talk while doing this kind of work.”

“Seriously, young people, always talk like you know any better.”

“Here, you should have a drink too!”

“…No, I’m good.”

If there was one thing that was similar in all the workplaces in this world, it was that people would often work under the influence of alcohol. What if an accident were to happen because of that? Well, Lee Han couldn’t really care less. After all, if they got hurt, it would be just them reaping what they sowed and it had nothing to do with him.

He just did his work quietly while listening to the old guys saying that he lived a boring life, even though he was still young or something.

However…

Boring…?

If there was one thing that he wanted to rebuke from those guys’ words, it was the fact that he found this job to be quite appealing.

This work is pulling all my muscles.

Naturally, it was because he felt the benefit from it. That was the reason why he chose to work as a lumberjack instead of any other job. It provided him money while he could train at the same time.

In that sense, being a lumberjack was a really good job for him.

Whack!

Every time he chopped a tree, all the muscles in his body, starting from his back, were stimulated. From the latissimus dorsi to the erector spinae, even the fine muscle in his arms, fingers, and other muscles were not left unused.

He was having so much fun thinking about how his muscles trembled and how they absorbed and released the shock as he put some of his strength in. It was to the point that he didn’t even realize how much time had passed sometimes.

This is also a kind of skill.

Logging was not something he could do just by applying force without thinking. On the contrary, it required a high level of skill.

Just like when someone tried nailing for the first time in their life and realized that it was not easy, chopping wood was not any easier either. One would realize that it required a delicate, yet steadfast posture, skills, experience, and many kinds of other know-hows.

The complexity of logging sometimes made him think about what if he were to use his sword like an axe?

Is this what they call wisdom in life?

Through dismantling trees, he got good training. At the same time, he felt a mysterious feeling that was hard to describe. It felt as if he had become a master that he had only seen on TV in his previous life.

My current self and the me in my previous life are way too different.

In his previous life, he wasn’t passionate about anything, nor did he feel much joy in moving his body.

I guess it’s true that the environment influences how someone would turn out later in life.

Back in his previous life, Lee Han lost his parents at an early age, so he had to live with his grandfather. Since he was practically an orphan, he was often bullied by his peers. Thanks to that, he became a quiet and timid child. However, after his grandfather passed when he was in high school, he immediately decided to become a soldier so that he could become independent.

He embarked on the path of a non-commissioned officer, even though he had no particular reason for becoming a soldier. Then again, as someone with no money and skills, there were only a few things that he could do. Among everything that he could make do with persistence and effort, he thought that being a soldier seemed like a good option, so he became one.

Of course, he regretted it less than a year after living in the military and seeing all sorts of dirty things, but what could he do? If he wanted to live, he had to do all this. Then, while he was on vacation, he got involved in an accident and died. Though, he actually thought that even if he didn’t die from that accident, he’d die from being overworked eventually.

That was why, even though his current life was dirty at first, it had become a fulfilling one now. Although he still belonged to the Knight Order, he was still able to live sincerely without caring about what others think.

Maybe it was because his previous life ended while living a life of always trying to cater to what other people think, he ended up acquiring a somewhat twisted personality somewhere along the road.

Still, I was a soldier both in my previous life and now. What a strange fate I got here…

When he was about to let out a dry laugh while comparing his previous life and his current life…

Sniff sniff.

“Huh?”

He smelled the scent of a high-quality perfume that shouldn’t possibly be smelt in a place reeked with the sweat of middle-aged men like this.

And unfortunately, he knew the owner of this particular perfume.

“…She came again.”

It was one of his ‘rude friends’ that he didn’t want to meet as much as the commander. She had come to visit him.