Chapter 124: The Knights Called Themselves the Losers (1)

The heavy breathings of countless soldiers filled the forest path.

These soldiers had just experienced an unexpected march. It wasn’t just your average march either. They had to run thousands of meters while making sure they didn’t fall behind the pace for even a second.

Even when a war broke out, they wouldn’t make this kind of march. Because if they did, they’d all be spent before they could even fight.

But even so…

Rumble-!

“F-Faster! Run faster!”

“Incoming second earthquake!”

“E-Everyone, brace yourself for the shock!!”

They were all busy trying their best to follow through with the march without complaining or groaning. Then again, no human would dare to stand up against an earthquake—the wrath of nature itself.

Rumble-! Rumble-!

The already weak ground—thanks to the worms digging their tunnels below it—became even more prone to collapsing like a sand castle due to the earthquake. This turned the area hundreds meters around the soldiers to turn into a battlefield. If they got caught up in that place, it wouldn’t just end with them getting buried alive—they’d burst out like a tomato being squashed.

Since they didn’t want to meet that kind of ending, the soldiers did their best to escape from the earthquake zone.

Thud-!

A few dozen minutes passed since then. Finally, the soldiers miraculously escaped from the earthquake zone. This was a moment that proved humans could do anything as long as they put their minds into it.

“I-I’m alive…”

“I-I can’t walk any longer…”

“…I’m going to fall.”

Thud! They started to fall down or collapse one after another.

Since their line had turned disorderly, normally this would be the time for the officers to step forward and shout something to maintain order, but unfortunately, even the officers were in the same situation as them: gasping for breath, collapsing one after another.

But, even though they were completely spent, they were all relieved.

Unfortunately, that feeling only lasted for a moment.

Rumble-!

“Ah…”

…Because the tunnel—the largest fertilizer production site in the Southern Continent, as well as the hell where they kept sinners in, which had a history that went back over a hundred of years—had collapsed.

Rumble-!

Witnessing that scene of destruction happening in real time, there was no way they’d have the leniency to feel relief of being able to survive. Instead, they’d feel awe and amazement as they saw the sight of the ground hundreds of meters in front of them collapsing in real time.

Not many people could witness such a sight, and not all of them lived to tell the tale. In that sense, they were extremely lucky.

“This is all thanks to the prince— Ah, no, Sir Arren!”

“That’s right! If it weren’t for Sir Arren, we would have—!!”

“Oh the noble and wise White Lion of Pendragon! You are our hero!”

[Waaaaaaah!]

The soldiers did not spare their praise for the knight of royal blood who saved them. If it wasn’t for his quick judgment, not many of them would’ve survived this ordeal. This was an achievement that would let him be admired by people if rumors about it were to spread.

It was a moment that promised future fame and honor for him. A moment where Arren—someone with a great ego—would feel endless satisfaction and get ahead of himself.

“…Please stop that! Please…!”

However, instead of feeling that way, Arren just covered his face in shame.

There were those who’d shamelessly laugh at the achievements of others as they treated them as if they were their own, but there were also those who couldn’t stand such a thing.

Arren was clearly one of the latter.

Although he was arrogant by nature, due to the strong mental education he had recently received, he had grown a little more mature. This was why the now-matured prince couldn’t help but shudder at the praise directed at him.

Because he was too embarrassed to receive those praises.

However…

“Not only are you a noble man, you’re humble too…!”

“As expected of royalty!”

“The descendant of the great Knight King!!”

People said if someone did good things once, everything they did afterwards would always look good in the eyes of others. This was why the soldiers’ excitement wasn’t something which could be stopped easily.

“Shut up!!”

“Hahaha, Lord Arren must be embarrassed.”

“Hahaha!”

“What a humble man…”

“Ahhhhh!!”

And that became the source of the Iron-Faced Troublemaker’s suffering.

“He deserves all those praises, why is he acting like that?”

“I know, right?”

The two knights, Jake and Yord, tilted their heads as they watched Arren suffering from his success.

At the end of the day, it was Arren who saved the lives of most of the soldiers.

“I mean, who else but a royal could pull off something like that?”

Why did the soldiers cooperate so actively and follow the evacuation order while even taking care of the prisoners? It was because a ‘royal’ came forward and did the work himself.

Even if it were the knights of the Silver Lion who did that, they still wouldn’t follow their order so easily. It would be fortunate if they were just grumbling a little and hid their disobedience.

However, the one who gave them the orders was none other than the descendant of the Knight King who had been blessed by the noble Silver Dragon. The silver hair that symbolized that and the name Pendragon had the power to make them follow even unreasonable orders.

Hence why he deserved all the praises he could get today.

“Maybe it’s because he came to his senses way too late in his life? He isn’t good at seeing himself objectively.”

Or maybe it’s because he’s been hearing false praises in his entire life, and this is the first time he received sincere praises from others…

Whichever it was, both of them didn’t think that his reaction was bad. Also, they decided not to praise him with their own mouths.

After all, they couldn’t risk the Troublemaker going back to his old ways right after coming to his senses just because they unnecessarily praised him. That would defeat the whole purpose of them dragging him here for mental education.

Lee Han had said before.

There were no animals that were as hard-headed as humans. No matter how much someone tried to reform a human, they would always return to how they were before.

Hence why they’d need to be hit by a club every so often.

“Phew. Well, time to find the guy who could hold the club for him.”

“You could try to be honest and say that you’re worried for that person, though…”

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

Jake and Yord quickly approached the collapsed tunnel in order to find a certain guy who hadn’t come up from the underground yet.

They believed that he was safe, but they couldn’t help but worry. No matter how monstrous he was, he wasn’t an immortal or anything.

And as if agreeing with their sentiment…

“H-He is not dead, is he? …Did he die fighting against that guy?”

They could see someone who seemed to have started searching for that guy before them.

A gray-haired boy with a familiar face.

“The helper.”

He was the helper who helped them in the tunnel.

If I recall correctly, his name is…

“Sir Derrick, are you looking for Senior Lee Han?”

“Sir Yord…”

“So… Did Senior Lee Han not come out after all?”

“…It’s complicated.”

“… Hmm.”

Since the matter was a little bit hard for him to explain, Derrick could only make a strange face. This prompted Jake and Yord to let their minds wonder as to why that guy hadn’t come out even until now.

‘That guy…!’

‘Even if it’s Senior, if he’s trapped underground…!’

Serious expressions appeared on their faces. In reality, they knew that it was a mission that required them to be prepared for someone’s death, but they never thought that the victim would be him.

As shadows fell over their faces…

“Ah! There he is!”

“?”

“…But, what’s going on? Why can I [detect] him there?”

“??”

Derrick suddenly blurted out something incomprehensible to the two knights, and they tilted their heads at the same time.

…What did he detect?

The answer to that question was…

Thump-!

“!!!?”

A pile of dirt that was shaking gently. They knew what it was right away.

“D-Don’t tell me!”

“L-Let’s start digging for now! Quick!”

The two knights immediately began to dig the pile of dirt.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have shovels with them, so they had to dig with their swords instead. In a way, this was something they shouldn’t have done as a knight, but what was a sword compared to their comrade’s life?

Besides, doing it this way made them have to put in more effort.

As the knights were using their eternal companion—their swords—as shovels, digging through the dirt with all their might…

Thump-! Thump-!

The dirt began to shake even faster. Eventually…

Bang-!

An arm stretched out from the ground.

“… Wow. You really survived that…”

Derrick exclaimed in admiration as he looked at that arm, and as if reinforcing that statement,

Bang-!

He appeared.

“Cough cough cough!”

As soon as he came out, he spat out a large handful of dirt and coughed repeatedly while looking like a mess.

From head to toe, his body was covered in dirt. His body was also riddled with wounds. If it was anyone else, they’d have left this world a long time ago. Luckily, his vitality was so strong that the moment he breathed in fresh oxygen…

“Haaaaah! Fuck, I almost died…! But now, I’m alive again!”

He showed signs of recovery.

At that moment, the three people who looked at him…

“This guy, did he come to the surface by digging the ground upwards?”

“…An earthquake is one thing, just how did he survive in that huge pile of dirt?”

“I-It’s not like he’s a worm or anything…”

Though Derrick said that, not even a Sand Worm would be able to survive when buried under this much dirt, and yet…

…Is it my common sense that’s wrong?

He could just give the guy who had not only survived, but also managed to escape from the pile of dirt while bringing a giant with him, a blank stare.

But soon after…

“…Haha.”

Derrick let out a chuckle as a sense of relief washed over him.

Also, he found the situation rather amusing.

Anyway…

He really makes life fun.

Nothing ever gets dull whenever he’s around.

…I almost died…

Seriously, how did I survive that…?

Lee Han coughed, spitting up dirt from his mouth.

That was the moment he realized how sweet the oxygen tasted and how precious sunlight was.

As if he really was someone who had come back from the dead, he indulged himself in such emotions.

However, he still couldn’t believe that he had come back alive.

Seems like there are occasions when a monster could be helpful.

What he was talking about was none other than the giant Sand Worm that he hacked at, and Maximus eventually killed. He barely managed to survive after using its corpse as a shelter of some sort. Due to its size, and the fact that soil was its natural habitat, the worm’s shell was able to withstand the pressure of the dirt to some extent.

What he did after that was rather simple.

After the earthquake calmed down a little, he dug the ground with his bare hands and crawled through it with his whole body as if he was swimming. Just like a mole or an earthworm, he swam through the soil for so long.

There was a good chance that he’d be crushed by the soil and die trying, but in the end, he did it.

A literal victory for humanity!

It made him want to praise himself.

“Hehehe, you should have just come out alone. Why did you bring me out and put yourself in danger?”

“Finally you came to your senses.”

“The air is so sweet.”

“Be grateful to me for once. Stop spouting those gnoll-like words.”

“…Of course. Thank you for saving my life.”

“I didn’t mean you should bow down. That’s even worse than you not thanking me, you dumbass.”

“H-Hey, that’s just unfair. I’m really grateful here…”

Maximus made an awkward expression. He often saved other people’s lives, but the reverse wasn’t true. This made him not used to receiving help from others, let alone owing his life to others, so he couldn’t help but feel awkward when thanking Lee Han.

Of course he wasn’t a bad guy who didn’t even know gratitude. He just wanted to get to his feet to relieve the unfairness he felt.

“…I want to bow to you right now, but I can’t move my body.”

“That’s because you used Martial Power in that way.”

“I know, but I didn’t think my body would become this messed up… Ah, is this what muscle pain feels like? It’s the first time I’ve felt this.”

“…Are you bragging to me?”

The way Maximus use Martial Power was so ignorant that it was almost suicidal. Especially the way he used it for that one last attack.

Lee Han was secretly terrified when he saw the guy used [Smashing the Sky]. He himself had never stacked more than five times of his normal strength when using Overlapping Martial Power, but this guy stacked more than twelve times at once. If it was anyone else, their body would have exploded before they could even unleash their attack.

He was able to hold out because he was Maximus, someone who possessed the [Heavenly Martial Body] Trait, but even he would need some time to recover.

But, that fact…

“…What a shame.”

“?”

“Anyway, we should decide which one of us is the winner.”

“Haa…”

Made Maximus extremely regretful.

They had to postpone their match because of his muscle pain.

“Hm… When I think about it carefully, I guess I lost. You were the one who was left standing until the end. Unless I remember it wrong.”

“…”

“So, I’ll admit it, you’ve won.”

“…”

“Next time, I will challenge you again, haha!”

“…You said that, but you were just playing around—”

Lee Han tried to say something more to refute his statement, but…

That made him fail to notice something.

Whoosh-!

“Excuse me, Sir. I swear that we will repay the favor of saving the deputy commander at a later date, since this doesn’t seem to be the appropriate time. Please forgive our rudeness!”

A woman appeared out of nowhere, bowed her head to him and turned her body around urgently.

The woman, who seemed to be a northerner seeing how pale her skin was, and how tall her height was—she was 180 cm tall—quickly disappeared while carrying the 230 cm giant that was much bigger than her.

It all happened in an instant.

Meanwhile, Lee Han…

“Wow, that woman’s pretty strong.”

Didn’t even think about stopping her from taking that guy away and just scratched his cheek in a daze.

And then…

“…That guy tricked me and ran away like that, huh?”

He let out a frown. The ‘victory’ that the guy had given him felt like it was just a charity, and receiving such a thing felt unpleasant. Then, he looked at the hilt of the sword on his waist.

This was the remains of the gladius, which blade had completely disappeared.

Seriously…

“Does this look like the appearance of a victor to you?”

Somehow, this result felt more frustrating than defeat.