Chapter 26: The Knight Obtained an Assistant (2)

Squireship was considered a notorious tradition.

How so?

The answer was simple. Because it was an unreasonable tradition.

At first, squire was a title given to disciples taken in by roaming knights. The problem here was that, in this day and age, there was no one in their right minds would even think of becoming a disciple of a roaming knight. After all, even though they had the word knight in their name, they were essentially just criminals who were no different than thugs.

However, there were still naive and oblivious boys who hailed from rural villages who didn’t know about that fact. That was why they were easily fooled by the words of those roaming knights as they promised those poor boys to take them as disciples and teach them the way of knight, not knowing what awaited them instead was a life of slavery. Thus was the true nature of the sugarcoated title of ‘squire’.

Cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking were the obvious part of their duties, that was for sure. In addition to that, they had to earn money for the knight’s entertainment. Sometimes they even had to borrow money using their own names instead of the knight’s. This was the reason why most of those who became squires ended up as debtors.

Of course, most of them managed to run away before that could happen, but there were those who failed to do so. After all, even though they were just roaming knights, they were still knights. Add their nature as thugs to their strength, they had no qualm whatsoever about killing people.

And so, those guys became the most vile of villains in the whole world. That was why the roaming knight system was abolished completely.

Just that one system though, not the entire knight system, strangely enough.

The reason for this was because the nobles argued that the only ones who were acting like that were those roaming knights, while their knights weren’t like that at all.

…Of course, that’s a lot of bullshit.

Lee Han could say that confidently because all the knights of the noble families that he had seen treated their squires even worse than the roaming knights ever did. He even saw those who were treated like slaves by those guys. This was why Lee Han was more than willing to tell any ignorant lamb who wanted to become a squire that the whole process wasn’t worth all the trouble at all.

But…

Surely this guy knows about it already, but he still wants to become one? Why?

1. Was he crazy?

2. Was he a pervert who enjoyed being in constant pain and suffering?

3. All of the above.

…Hmm… I don’t know…

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find the answer.

And so, he decided.

“…Which part of your body do I need to hit?””

“P-Pardon me…?”

“Which part of your body do I need to hit? I think you’re broken somewhere, I’ll fix it for you. Think about which part of you is broken and tell me.”

“…”

Crack-! Crack-!

Lee Han loosened his fist lightly by cracking his bones, making a gesture as if he was about to hit the back or the front of Damien’s head. He thought that since throwing a desk at him caused a problem last time, he should try throwing something else this time.

Say that the desk was a curveball, which means I should throw a slider for variation!

While he had an ill-fated relationship with Damien, the boy was still a cadet of the Swordsmanship Department. Even if he was only an instructor in name, it was still his duty to help a cadet to come to their senses.

Of course if I can’t do it, I’m not gonna push it.

Lee Han then went around, looking for a suitable rock to throw at Damien. Still kneeling, the latter opened his mouth.

“N-No, Sir, wait! I’m not out of my mind yet!”

“Isn’t that even worse then?”

“T-That…”

Finding out that his excuse was worse than he expected, Damien was left speechless.

After a moment, he…

“I-I made a slip of the tongue!”

Since it was him who hastily asked to become Lee Han’s squire without explaining circumstances, he had nothing to say about being treated like this.

He acknowledged his mistake before he started to explain.

“M-My father—a-ah, n-no, I mean, the lord of the house… H-He ordered me to assist you, Sir Lee Han…”

“?”

…But why?

Lee Han tilted his head, asking that question with his eyes.

…Now that I think of it, I did hear a lot of rumors about that count…

He heard a rumor about how the count had changed overnight, making both the Knight’s Order who had raised their voices at the count as well as the count’s own eldest son tread on thin ice.

Not only that, he also heard that the elders of the family themselves were stepping in to reestablish the family’s discipline. Meanwhile, their youngest son, the one who had damaged their prestige, was removed from the family register, and stripped of his status as the member of the family. It was said that if he wanted to return to the family, he had to get forgiveness from the knight he had offended first.

Lee Han heard such rumors before, more than enough of them, in fact. But, the conclusion he came up with was…

“Well, if you want my forgiveness, you need to do one of the two. Cut off that arrogant tongue of yours or bring me the head of the knight who attacked me.”

“…”

“Choose.”

“…”

“What? You don’t like either? Then, get lost. I’m sick of seeing your face.”

Lee Han spat out such a contemptuous sneer mercilessly.

As if he was sure that Damien wouldn’t be able to do either.

But…

“I-I’ll cut it.”

“…What?”

“I-I’ll cut off my tongue. W-Will you take me as your squire then?”

“…”

“I-I’ll take that as a yes.”

Rustle!

At that moment, Damien took out a pair of scissors from his pocket. It seemed that he brought such a thing with him.

Since the blades seemed to be sharp enough, he…

Slap!

“Keheuk!”

“Dumbass, if you cut it like that, you’ll die from bleeding out. Are you trying to turn me into a murderer?”

“Keheuk! Heuk!”

Damien, whose face was kicked by Lee Han, barely managed to stand up again because of the pain. However, Lee Han continued speaking without showing any sign of apology.

“Tch, did you not learn such an obvious thing from your family?”

“…No one would teach anyone that kind of thing, Sir…”

Damien answered with a slurred voice. There was blood in his mouth because his tongue was slightly cut off.

Lee Han then threw one of the low-grade potions he carried around for emergencies to Damien.

“M-May I drink it?”

He grabbed the bottle without thinking and asked that question. Hearing that Lee Han just nodded his head.

“…Thank you.”

Of course, since it was a low-grade potion, his tongue wouldn’t heal right away. It just served as first aid, nothing less. But, Damien was someone who had learned Combat Techniques. He would fully recover in a week.

Lee Han threw him a stare.

“If just now, you were just trying to arouse my sympathy, I would have separated your body and your head right there and then, even if it means that I’ll be fighting the count. I won’t take any more disrespect from you.”

“…I understand.”

What he was trying to say was, the only reason why he saved him was because he was genuinely trying to cut off his tongue.

“So, why the hell did you carry a scissor with you?”

“I expected that you’d demand some kind of price from me, Sir. So, I was prepared to give you either a finger or an ear…”

“You are willing to do that much?”

“As long as I can return to the family, I am willing to do anything, Sir.”

“…Huh, look at you.”

“…Yes.”

…Funny guy.

Lee Han thought that he was just a rascal who was all talk, but it turned out that he had quite a bit of guts. He didn’t hate this type of guy at all.

However…

That doesn’t mean I like this fucker either.

After all, it was really hard to look at a person you once disliked in a positive light. Besides, at the end of the day, he did all this to protect his noble status, not because he wanted to sincerely ask for forgiveness.

So there really was no reason for Lee Han to look at him favorably.

Still, he didn’t detest him.

Even in a rural area where there was nothing around, people would still fight over the position of a village chief. Lee Han even heard of the cases where an old man ended up hanging himself after he stopped becoming a village chief, even though he had a lot of money saved up and he was practically set for the rest of his life.

To some people, authority meant that much.

That was how scary it was and for Lee Han, it was…

Something that I shouldn’t even get close to.

Lee Han stared blankly at Damien. On the other, Damien was staring back at him with trembling eyes. It was clear that the latter was still keeping his guard up.

At that moment, Lee Han opened his mouth.

“You can go. I don’t need you to be my servant or assistant, I’ll forgive you.”

“…”

“…Pfft, good job. If you really took my word seriously, I would’ve gone to the count and told him that I’d never forgive you.”

“…I understand.”

Judging by the punk’s pale complexion, it seemed that he was thinking about thanking him and scurrying off after. Thankfully, for him, he managed to suppress the temptation of such wishful thinking. That barely saved him.

Once again, Lee Han thought of how funny this guy in front of him was. It was to the point that he had to stop the corner of his mouth from rising. He then raised three fingers and showed them to Damien.

“Three years. I need you to be at my beck and call for three years. Whenever I need you, whether it’s inside or outside the Academy, I will call for you.”

“Y-You won’t be taking me as your squire, Sir?”

“I am not in a position to accept one. Instead, I will take you as my ‘assistant’, but that should be enough for you, no? It isn’t like you’re keen of the idea of becoming my squire anyway.”

“…I won’t deny it.”

“At least you’re honest. Alright, follow me, Assistant. Our class starts today.”

“Understood, Sir!”

“Refer to me by ‘Instructor’, not ‘Sir’. For the next three years, I will never refer to you by your name, just ‘Assistant’. Got it?”

“…Heuk.”

“I said, got it?”

“… Y-Yes, Instructor.”

“Good.”

Lee Han turned around after he said that. As for Damien, who managed to grab this lifeline, he let out a deep sigh, wearing a sad expression on his face.

He then started to think.

…If only I could go back to the entrance ceremony…

He was more than ready to beat up his stupid past self to pulp.

Damien Paulet, no, Lee Han’s Assistant’s eyes were getting wetter and wetter.

As if he could sense that his future was getting bleaker.

And as expected.

“Bring enough water and towels for eighty people. Also, bring any other necessary items as you see fit.”

“W-What about the money…?”

“Use my name and get support from the Academy. Or, if you want it, get them with your own money.”

“…”

“What? Wanna complain?”

“…No, damn it.”

“Then, stop yapping and start moving, Assistant.”

“…Sniff.”

That was the moment when Damien finally let out a weak sob.

There were some cadets who were momentarily dumbstruck the moment they saw Damien, but their interest quickly disappeared. This was because half of them already roughly figured out what was going on, while the others were just not interested as they were busy doing their own thing.

Their self-centered response pleased Lee Han, since this meant he didn’t need to give out useless explanations. After checking the faces of a few of them, he nodded his head.

All of them doesn’t seem that they’d listen to my words.

He heard someone once say that face reading was science, and Lee Han wholeheartedly agreed with that. Just by looking at their faces, he could already tell that those guys were like those rebellious soldiers he had seen back when he was still in the military. The punks who were determined to never listen to any words that their superior would say.

They probably dislike me.

He could understand that, of course.

After all, he was someone who had gotten demoted from the Knight’s Order and caused an accident at the entrance ceremony.

It was natural for them to not like him.

But…

“Before I introduce myself and greet you, I have a suggestion for all of you cadets.”

-…?

“Those who have doubts about my skills, draw your weapons now. I’ll fight you as much as you want. Also…”

-…

“If there’s a cadet who’s able to defeat me, I’ll give them the opportunity to learn from Baltar Grace. I swear this oath in the name of the Silver Lion.”

Shing-!

“Excellent.”

In the next moment, half of the cadets drew their weapons without hesitation and poured their spirit on Lee Han.

“Huuuu.”

It was a good response, however…

Just as they didn’t like him, he had no reason to like them either.

Besides, it wasn’t like he had any intention to spend time and get close to these guys.

On the contrary…

It feels nice that there are so many dolls.

Since he could just ‘use’ them like that, he decided that he wouldn’t hold himself back.

After confirming that there were indeed a lot of ‘dolls’ he could use to replace the handmade dolls that couldn’t be used for sparring, a smile appeared on his face. All of them seemed sturdier than those handmade dolls too.

That fact made him even more pleased than before.