Chapter 18: A Certain Moonlit Night (1)

If one were to only talk about the result, the situation between Lee Han and Count Rodan ended in a vague manner. After all, it was a situation where it was hard to determine which side should shoulder all the blame. Not only that, there was also a matter of honoring the result of the duel between the vice-commander and the arrogant knight—in which, the former should die, but of course the count didn’t let that happen.

While Lee Han had the option to just go wild there, there was a line he had to keep due to his position as an instructor. In the end, he decided that he couldn’t really do anything else and leave it at that—which meant, nothing was actually resolved between them.

However, this vague ending made someone extremely displeased.

And that someone was none other than…

“—Look at you, pulling some flash stunt like that.”

Isis put the newspaper in her hands down before quenching her thirst with a lightly chilled drink.

To describe her appearance in a single word, it was picturesque. If someone were to see her, they’d think that she was in the middle of a photoshoot or something. However, she was just doing her things normally. That was how beautiful she was, even the slightest thing that she did was picturesque enough to be put in a magazine.

However, those who knew her well would know that she was hiding something beneath that picturesque appearance.

“…Stop that. The dean already chewed me hard enough.”

Meanwhile, the man who was sitting across from her, Lee Han, turned his head slightly as he made that excuse.

He, who took up the front page of today’s newspaper, drank his beverage hastily, as if trying to put out a fire in his stomach.

“Hehehe, but you have to agree that they captured your figures quite well, Sir Lee Han.”

“That’s right!”

Meanwhile, oblivious to how Lee Han was feeling, Albert and Leila stared at the photos in the newspaper with sparkling eyes, worsening Lee Han’s already bitter smile.

Yes, while this world was a medieval world, its technological level was quite advanced for some reason.

The camera was the prime example for that.

When the hell did they even take this picture?

Seriously though, those barbaric medieval journalists really had no respect for someone’s privacy.

…I swear, I’m going to destroy them all.

[Shocking incident! Violence at the Royal Academy?!]

[Is the count trying to turn his back on the royal family?]

[A message from a discarded lion to the Silver Lion—]

Whack-!

“These fuckers—!”

About half of the newspaper articles were written to put Lee Han down. Among them, there were a lot of things that shouldn’t be said out loud at all. It was as if all those reporters had come to an agreement to paint him in a bad picture because they were afraid of retaliation from the count.

…Those gnoll-like bastards—!

“Hehehe, if only you were a little more famous, Sir Lee Han, this wouldn’t have happened. What a pity.”

“What? It isn’t like I intentionally hid everything about myself you know? Also, if they wanted to believe what they wanted to believe instead of the fact, what can I do?”

“Indeed.”

The situation was indeed strange. Though Lee Han hailed from the lowest class of citizen, he was still a war veteran and someone who managed to get into the Knight Order despite his humble origin.

Not only that, he was also someone who was personally picked by THE Baltar Grace. That fact alone should speak volume about how talented he was and that he wasn’t someone who should be treated lightly.

However, the reporters—no, it wasn’t only them. Quite literally everyone was looking down on him, putting the situation into an even bigger mess than it should be.

The reason for this was because they didn’t know about those ‘achievements’ in the first place.

Because…

“They just don’t believe it because most of them deny your very existence.”

Surprisingly, this country refused to believe in all the things he had done.

No, actually, denying it would be the most appropriate words to describe it.

The fact that he was a war veteran?

They just dismissed it as him being a soldier who participated and survived by coincidence.

The fact that he was personally selected by Baltar Grace?

Well, the royal family themselves prevented that information from spreading.

Why?

It was simple.

The higher-ups of the kingdom didn’t want a ‘second’ Baltar Grace, another superhuman that they couldn’t control, to be born.

Because of that, barely anyone knew that Lee Han possessed such extraordinary power. Of course, some people had bragged about it while they were drunk or as a joke, but…

-He beat knights without learning any Combat Technique? What kind of bullshit is that?

-Is he someone from a fallen noble family? Or a descendant of a fallen kingdom? What? He’s just a commoner? Well, he must’ve become a knight through some cowardly means!

-A knight who defeats knights from noble families, huh? Haha, that’s an interesting story. Sell that to a bard or something, they’ll buy it from you.

No matter how many times stories about him were being spread around, no one believed it.

Then again, in people’s eyes, there was no way that someone who wasn’t of noble blood and didn’t know any Combat Techniques would be strong enough to fight an Aura User.

This was why there were very few people who believed of his feats, no matter who told them. As a result, every rumor about him was deemed to be false and that made his fame to be pretty much non-existent.

Now, if Lee Han was someone who was trying to gain fame and was trying to be successful as a knight, the story might have been different. Like, he could have gone to the best swordsmen in the kingdom by now and challenged them for a duel, proving his prowess to the people—just like how martial artists gained their fame through horseback riding and swordsmanship competition.

However…

Why the fuck should I do that?

Lee Han had no desire to be an attraction, nor did he have a desire for success to gain fame and authority. The only desire he had was to be strong enough to the point that no one could force him to kneel. To put it simply, he thought that it was more efficient to spend his time becoming ‘the real deal’ rather than trying to gain fame.

But, that was just his personal value, not something that was forced on him by anyone.

That was why…

“That kind of set of values fits a beggar more than anything.”

“…I’d rather call it romanticism.”

“Does that feed you?”

“…Ngh…”

Some people might not agree with that.

Lee Han, who had turned speechless after hearing that, let out a bitter laugh. Meanwhile, Isis simply furrowed her brows in displeasure.

Lee Han knew that he had made a big mistake. Not only that, he even made it bigger than it should be out of anger.

But…

“If I hadn’t done that, people would really look down on me. You know, if I looked like an easy target wouldn’t it be hard for me to approach our targets…?”

“…”

“I admit that I went a little too far, so please stop being so angry!”

Currently, he was trying to pacify Isis’ anger.

He wouldn’t do something like this normally, but at the moment, she was his patron…

…She even brought ambrosia with 2% efficiency for him.

In any case, even though his logic was sound, Isis’ anger didn’t go away so easily.

Seriously, I’m the one who was getting cursed at! Why is this old woman acting like this?!

He tried to take a closer look at her and only then did he feel that there was something strange about her. Suddenly, she hit her chest, as if she was frustrated.

“Do you think this lady is angry because of that?”

“…Pardon?”

Suddenly, the tone of her voice turned cold.

That threw Lee Han off as he wondered what was she on about so suddenly.

“There are two reasons why this lady is angry. First is that how a mere second son of a count—not even a count—dares to insult this lady’s younger brother! The other one is because this lady resents the dirty media that drives this lady’s younger brother into a corner without even doing a proper investigation—! Those worthless—!”

“…U-Uh…”

Even though she was saying all those words in a very aristocratic tone which could make someone like Lee Han who came from a lowly background felt uncomfortable, it didn’t sound all that bad because it was clear that she was on his side.

But, why is she like this?

“An insult to this lady’s underling is also an insult to this lady! If this lady were to just sit still while watching it happen, she would be a disgrace to the royal family!”

“…Ah, so it’s about that?”

I see. She isn’t angry because someone insulted me, but because someone is challenging her dignity.

…What else should I say? As expected of her…

Thinking that this wasn’t a strange thing for her to do, Lee Han just shook his head before opening his mouth to correct her.

“There are two things that are wrong in your words, Big Sister. First, people don’t know that we know each other. Second, I am not your underling, which means they weren’t insulting you, so please don’t get angry anymore. I’m scared.”

“…How arrogant…”

“Arrogant? You can’t find someone as humble as me anywhere else in this world!”

“…”

“Please stop staring at me like that…”

If it was possible to conceal a weapon in the eye and send it flying by stare alone, she would have sent dozens of it towards Lee Han. That was how intense and murderous her gaze was.

After staying like that for a while, she suddenly opened her mouth.

“Tell this lady, what do you want her to do to that count?”

“…?”

“If you want it, this lady will kill him. Or this lady can strip him of his position. Tell this lady, what do you want?”

“…What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

“I’m not talking nonsense.”

A cold aura that felt like ice radiated from her eyes.

“You are carrying out the ‘request’ of this lady. It’s undesirable for someone to already cause you trouble at this stage. This lady is very uncomfortable with this situation right now and wishes to resolve this quickly.”

“…”

It was clear that Isis was extremely upset and she wished to resolve this matter quickly. She was able to say something like that because she was someone sitting at the top, whether it came to power, strength, fame or authority.

And if Lee Han wished for her help, she’d fulfill everything that he wanted. The current him was at least worth that much.

However…

“Drink some water or something and come to your senses, Big Sister. Your eyes are all whites right now.”

“…This lady is not in the mood to joke around.”

“So am I. Okay, I’ll tell you this. Just stay still, please. Don’t disturb the current flow for no reason, okay?”

“…Are you saying that this lady is disturbing you?”

“Yes.”

“…You evil brat.”

His sharp words showed his determination clearly. And it was because of that determination that Isis felt her anger dissipating.

This arrogant younger brother…!

“Didn’t you say that you’d leave everything to me? That’s why, please just trust me. Let’s think about it for a second, say that I ended up becoming the count’s enemy for real here. Then, so be it. If he wants to pick out another fight with me, then I’ll fight him back. But, if my strength isn’t enough to beat him, I’ll just run away.”

“…Will you really?”

“Well, I’ll probably get rid of everything that’s related to his family while on the run.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…How could this lady not? You just boldly declared that you’ll wipe out a family who’s loyal to the royal family…”

“Huh, that man is on your side? I guess what they said about all knights’ families being loyal to the royal family is true, huh?”

As he said that, Lee Han recalled the time when he noticed how skilled that count he met just the other day.

“…You didn’t know that?”

“Because I wasn’t interested in that. Anyway, I think I’ve made my stance clear enough. So please, just stay still.”

“…Haaa.”

For some reason, whenever Isis talked to him, she always felt like he was stopping her from doing something.

Was it because she had taken him as her step-brother, or was it because she was strangely soft on him?

Whatever it was, one fact remained the same.

He’s interesting.

This guy had somehow become a highlight in her boring life.

Isis snickered, secretly liking the way he was doing something that was out of her control.

“—Fine. Since you’ve spoken so arrogantly to stop this lady from interfering, this lady won’t interfere in this matter anymore.”

However…

“If you think of them as an enemy, you should thoroughly trample them. Indeed, this lady has never spared her enemy, not even once. That’s why, if you’re really this lady’s younger brother, you need to at least be that bold.”

“In my point of view, that’s what I call being forceful.”

“It’s the right of a monarch to be forceful.”

“…This is why I always think that you’re the most dangerous person I know.”

“Ohoho, finally! Pleasant words came out of your mouth.”

Thwack-!

The moment she hit his head with her fan…

Woosh-!

“See you next time.”

Isis disappeared like snow melting under the sunlight. The only proof of her presence was the puddle that had soaked the floor.

“…Guess that’s what they call behind the curtain meetings or something…”

“I’ll clean it up!”

“…Just stay still, Maid. You’ll be more of a help to me that way…”

“Sorry?”

“…You know what, just do whatever.”

“Okay!!”

To make someone with such a pure mind understand what he was trying to say was such an enormous task.

But, how did he know that?

…It isn’t like I want to know. This is just something I got to know whether I like it or not after hanging out with this maid…

“…Won’t you disappear like that too, old man?”

“Hehehe, surely you jest. How could an old man like me waste my remaining life on something as mysterious as magic?”

“Just say that you don’t need something like that…”

“Hehehe.”

…I knew it.

Lee Han shook his head as he watched the maid’s tearful face after she fell over when cleaning the puddle, and the butler, who disappeared into the shadows, as if he was melting into them.

He knew he shouldn’t be saying this, but the more he looked at it…

If I was someone from the unorthodox faction, those people are the demonic cult.

In his eyes, the royal family looked like a place filled with people who were even weirder than him; someone who had been subjected to human experiments.