Chapter 143: The Knight Hates Love Triangles (2)

In both his previous and current life, Lee Han had never gone fishing before.

It was an expensive hobby.

Because fishing was a more expensive hobby than one would expect.

Not only were the fishing rods expensive, the other equipment was also quite expensive. Renting a boat would also cost money, and the cost of gas wouldn’t be cheap.

So, in his eyes, fishing was a luxury hobby, and that thought didn’t change even after he came to this world.

If anything, he thought it would be more expensive to fish here than in his previous world.

Because…

“…So, this is a private fishing ground… No, a private fish farm?”

“Yes. Fishing in a regular river or lake would risk one getting attacked or eaten by aquatic monsters. That’s why nobles make their own fish farms. Even so, only the wealthy can make one. The management, upkeep costs, as well as the cost of creating one, are astronomical.”

“…”

“Is fishing even that fun? I don’t understand why people built a fish farm.”

“…I know, right?”

…Lee Han answered, feeling dumbfounded.

He was enlightened. This was the real crazy way to spend one’s money.

Is this seawater?

One wouldn’t need to have Lee Han’s super smell to be able to tell the salty smell of the sea the farm exuded.

Moreover…

“…Is that a real sea bream…?”

The fishes that he saw were the ones that could only live in the sea.

Red sea bream and black sea bream, even squid and octopus were there.

Aside from them, there was also…

Splash-!

“Wow, it’s a shark!”

“…”

…They’re even raising sharks.

He gradually realized that this huge lake was actually an artificial ‘sea’.

There’s no fucking way that there are more of these artificial seas around.

Even if the other nobles built their own fish farms, they wouldn’t be able to build something even remotely close to the one he saw right now. The artificial sea was one thing, but the fish species living here were also unusual.

Some of them were probably airlifted directly from the sea before they got released here.

They’re melting gold in real time…

The thought of how much gold they were melting per second just to maintain this fish farm was enough to make Lee Han about to vomit.

However, that wasn’t the end of it.

“Are you here, Young Miss?”

“Oh, Elsa.”

At the fish farm, or rather, its surrounding ground, countless servants were waiting in line. There seemed to be at least a hundred maids and servants. There were even knights and soldiers mixed in there.

Their number was equal to the number of crew members of a luxury cruise he had seen in his past life. But the catch here was that they weren’t here to tend to a cruise, but to greet a single person.

“Hmm, the number of servants today is lower than usual?”

“His Excellency dislikes having so many people moving around unnecessarily.”

“Well… It is a little too much to move two or three hundred people at a time…”

“However, considering His Excellency’s status, I think we should move twice as much.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Haha, if you say so.”

“…”

…What is this crazy conversation?

Suddenly, Lee Han felt that the Chick was a stranger.

It was like seeing your neighbor suddenly called in a private jet and said that it was hers.

Seriously, the world is just unfair…

Lee Han shook his head.

After passing dozens of servants like that.

“You’re finally here.”

“…”

…He was able to see a familiar face..

This man maintained a youthful and handsome appearance that made it hard to imagine that he was in his 50s. At the same time, he was also someone that Lee Han didn’t want to see.

Despite his appearance, he was a seasoned politician who must have raised hundreds of snakes, and a powerful man who should be second to none in the kingdom.

And the man…

“It’s been half a year since I’ve seen you last time, Knight Lee Han.”

“…Why are you coming out in person? It’s burdensome.”

“As someone who has invited you here, I should show this much sincerity at least.”

“…Because of that sincerity, they are staring daggers at me.”

“They did that because of their excessive loyalty. Please understand.”

“…”

…Greeted Lee Han kindly, but Lee Han, who rarely broke out in a cold sweat, felt it trickling down his body.

I want to understand, but my whole body refuses to…

From the moment the duke greeted him, Lee Han was greeted by the intense aura of hundred soldiers and knights.

…Wouldn’t it be better if I just…run now?

Duke Blake Vivienne de Galahad.

The only duke in the kingdom, the best swordsman in the kingdom, the greatest successor of the evil sword, and the strongest Galahad.

He was a man with a lot of fancy modifiers.

A noble among nobles. There were even rumors that if someone had a conversation with him, their life would change…

I heard that some people even spent their family fortune just to have a conversation with him.

Recalling a rumor he had unintentionally heard, Lee Han scratched his cheek.

Whether the rumor was true or not, encountering such a big shot made him uncomfortable all the same.

While people might envy him, he…

Ha… I want to go home… And eat… And sleep…

Just found it really annoying.

“Hmm, you’re having impious thoughts.”

“…I don’t know what you are talking about, Your Excellency.”

“Don’t lie to me. It’s apparent in your face what you’re thinking.”

“…”

“You’re having strange thoughts again. I don’t have the ability to read minds.”

“…Do you really not?”

“Ahaha! I wish I do. Unfortunately, it’s just your facial expressions that are too easy to read.”

“…Ugh.”

For some reason, everyone he met said it was easy to read his facial expressions.

…Maybe I should start wearing a mask.

As he was about to continue that line of thought, the duke personally guided him in.

“Alright, let’s sit down.”

“…?”

Before he could even wonder why the duke was doing that, Lee Han blinked his eyes as he witnessed what went on in the luxurious fishing farm.

Whoosh-!

The female divers, or rather, the male divers, were catching seafood.

Crustaceans such as sea squirts, clams, and shrimp were carried out of the water. Then there were the other guys holding the fishing rods…

“Crazy…”

With a golden fishing rod—probably made of real gold—one of the guys caught a huge tuna, creating an absurd sight.

…Old Man Santiago¹ would weep if he saw this.

Lee Han, who was once impressed by the tale of the old man’s struggle to catch a tuna² in the sea, found it absurd that one could catch one at a fish farm.

It’s like finding a tuna on a river randomly…

“Have you ever eaten tuna?”

“Maybe once? Or twice.”

“Huh? It’s hard to get tuna inland, but it’s fortunate you have some experience eating it. That means you won’t mind eating it, right? Butler.”

“Yes.”

“Gut it and bring it in.”

“Understood, Your Excellency.”

The duke then handed over the tuna, which easily weighed over 300 kg, with one hand, and the old man, who seemed to be his butler, also caught it with one hand.

He didn’t seem like an ordinary butler, but rather a former knight who had mastered Combat Technique to a considerable degree.

However, the butler’s skills weren’t really surprising to Lee Han. After all…

Everyone here knows Combat Technique.

…All of the duke’s servants were no pushovers.

He could sense considerable spirit from the maids, servants, even those who were doing menial tasks.

The worst of them are at the level of a squire.

In the case of soldiers, they each were strong enough to deal with multiple people’s worth of workload at once. They were easily at the level of knights of a decent noble’s knight order.

As for the knights…

They are as powerful as the stronger guys of the Red Eagles.

Among the Tristan’s Eagles, there were only a few people who could be on par with those who occupied the top ones. In other words, these people here could just become either a vice-commander or even straight up knight commander of a regular knight order.

They make those Silver Lion punks look like white cats.

The people in this place were simply on a different level.

To put it in the status window guy’s terms, the average power of the royal family’s soldiers, including the Silver Lion, barely reached Lv. 4. Meanwhile, Galahad’s average power was Lv. 6.

The status window guy said that a single level difference was as big as the difference between a sparrow and an eagle. If what he said was accurate, then…

If Old Man Baltar hadn’t been there, the royal family would have been devoured long ago.

The name of this country could change from Pendragon to Galahad at any moment, and Lee Han understood why his older sister had been so wary of Galahad.

With such a powerful force, it was only right that the royal family was worried about them.

In the midst of such unexpectedly surprising experiences…

“Our food has arrived. Let’s eat.”

“…”

“It’s hard to find this delicacy inland. Don’t be shy, eat it.”

“…The food looks appetizing, but this place…is quite burdensome.”

Even though there were plenty of delicious tuna as well as seafood carpaccio and ceviche, Lee Han just didn’t have the appetite to eat.

Then again, it was understandable, after all…

“Please don’t mind them. They’re just being excessively loyal to me.”

The duke’s servants bared their hostility towards him whenever the duke showed kindness to him. It was just hard for him to eat well in this kind of situation.

“…I’ll try not to mind them… Oh? This is actually good.”

“…You are still so straightforward like before.”

Surprisingly, the meal the duke prepared was extremely tasty. It got Lee Han to eat the raw fish with great relish regardless of whether the servant showed hostility or not.

Damn, so this is what tuna tastes like, huh!

By the way, the only tuna he had ever eaten was those served in all-you-can eat restaurants. Since this was the first time he had eaten raw tuna like this, he ate it like crazy.

Although some might say that it was shameless of him to eat so greedily in front of the duke…

“Our instructor is really manly, isn’t he?”

[A man shouldn’t mind grace or whatever when eating! They should all eat like that!]

…The magic chick and the ghost girl, who was seeing him with tinted glass, simply enjoyed seeing him eating well.

“Please have some tea. It’ll help with your digestion.”

“No need, I’m already done with that. Can you just give me more cake, please? It’s tasty.”

“…If you want, I can pack it for you when you leave.”

“That would be even better. Thank you, Butler.”

“Hahaha…”

The old man, who was presumed to be the butler, nodded his head in embarrassment at Lee Han’s shameless remark.

Though he was shameless, he was polite, so he didn’t look unruly at all.

“…You must be popular with the old people.”

Duke Blake, who barely touched his food, said so in admiration.

It was really unusual to see someone devour about 20 servings of seafood by himself and still had room for cake and fruit.

“I’m a picky eater, so I don’t normally eat food prepared by others. But the duke’s food suits my taste very well. Please deliver my praises to the chef.”

“…He will be delighted to hear your praise.”

Lee Han casually lied through his teeth. He was never a picky eater.

Considering how he had lived as a slave, a merc, and a soldier, there was no way he’d be picky about food when he was struggling to survive.

However, he was sincere when he said it was delicious.

It was the best meal of my life.

Those words encompassed even his previous life.

As expected, no matter the era, as long as you have money and power, you can eat good food.

It was such an extravagant treatment, probably a luxurious lunch that he’d never be able to eat again due to his financial situation.

“So, what is it that you’re going to ask me, Your Excellency?”

“What do you mean?”

Since that was out of the way, Lee Han wished them to get to the main point.

“Your Excellency, there is no reason for you to treat me so kindly. We aren’t close enough for you to treat me to such a luxurious meal.”

“Hmm… Can’t I treat you to a meal just because I like you?”

“You can. But that isn’t it. In the first place, you won’t call me all the way here just for that.”

“Hoo… Why do you think so?”

“Because the people in power I know are similar to you, Duke.”

“…That’s a rather arrogant evaluation of me.”

“No, I think it’s just right.”

Lee Han shrugged. He wasn’t the kind of person who’d act rude to someone who had just treated him to a good meal, but he felt he could afford to be a little rude right now.

“People in power tend to show kindness whenever they want something. With that in mind, I could assume that you want something from me, Duke.”

“…”

From the way he acted, it was clear that the duke was in the position of ‘someone in power’ instead of ‘someone in need of help’.

“…You. You’re smarter than you look.”

“…Just what’s wrong with my looks…?”

“Hahaha.”

“That was a genuine question, you know…?”

“Indeed. I was definitely in a rush…”

Duke Blake seemed to reflect on his attitude.

He acknowledged that he had been so anxious to the point that the knight in front of him was able to notice it.

And so…

“Yes, you are right. I have three requests to ask of you. You don’t have to grant the other two, but I want you to grant the other one.”

“…?”

“…That young inquisitor girl you have with you. Her name is…Pierre, correct?”

“…”

“I want you to hand that girl over to me.”

“…”

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“…Duke, think about what you just said. Please.”

“Hmm? What’s strange about it?”

“…”

Didn’t he realize that he spoke like a criminal?

Lee Han was taken aback, but then he met his eyes and realized.

Now that I look at it…

This guy’s eyes are a little crazy too, huh?

Blackie was like this, and now this guy…

Seriously, how could they treat a human as if they are an object?

Haa…

“That Redhead sure is popular, huh?”

…Actually, could I even call it that?

Seriously though…

This love triangle would get someone killed.