Chapter 157: The Knight Won’t Forgive the Golden Sun (6)

Funnily enough, even though Lee Han had fought against the spear knight, they never exchanged names.

Then again, they fought each other like they were going to kill each other from the first time they met. There just wasn’t a good occasion for them to exchange names.

That was why…

“Lake de Duran, so you’re here?”

When the battle ended and one of the Tristan knights called the spear knight with that name, that was when Lee Han learned his name for the first time.

Lake… That’s his name, huh?

Although he had learned the knight’s name, neither he or the other had the time to become cozy with each other.

Not that he wanted to, anyway.

Thud-!

“Sir Lee Han?”

“Where are you going?”

He turned his body around, prompting the other knights of Galahad and Tristan to blink in confusion.

Since all the enemies had been defeated, they wondered where he wanted to go after this.

To this question…

“Where am I going? Of course I’m gonna finish off the guy who brought in these assassins.”

He confidently said so, as if asking them ‘Why are you asking such an obvious question?’. The two knights were dumbfounded for a moment before immediately panicking.

They realized that the man was about to go and interrogate the sultan.

“Sir Lee Han… About that…”

“Calm down. Although he’s definitely suspicious, we have no evidence. Also, if we were to touch the sultan, this would turn into a diplomatic problem.”

That advice was extremely reasonable. Indeed, no matter how crazy he might be towards a certain girl now, he was still the sultan.

There was a high chance that he had been handling this matter thoroughly, and didn’t leave any trace that would paint him as the suspect who hired the assassins.

“But I’m sure it’s him, though?”

“…We think so too, but the thing is, even if we capture him, if he denies our accusations, that’ll be it.”

“Hmm.”

“Attacking him now won’t do any good, save for our self-satisfaction.”

What the knight was trying to say was, if Lee Han were to attack the sultan now, it wouldn’t result in anything other than him successfully venting his anger due to lack of evidence.

Nevertheless…

“It’ll be fine if I leave no trace. Give me an hour or two, I will get the information we want to hear from his mouth. Don’t worry.”

Lee Han had no intention of leaving him alone.

All they had was suspicion, no evidence?

That wasn’t a problem, he’d make sure the evidence came out of the punk’s mouth.

It wouldn’t be bad to test how much the punk could endure while I’m at it.

But, at that moment…

Clang-!

“…What the?”

“Don’t act rashly.”

“…”

Someone blocked Lee Han from advancing further on his path.

It was none other than the spear knight. Without missing a beat, Lee Han stared right through his eyes, warning him.

“I’ve never let anyone who makes a mess in my territory go without a scratch, and I have no intention to start doing it now.”

While yes, to a knight who valued principle, his actions would seem like a foolish man venting his anger…

A man with such a criminal mindset will definitely cause trouble down in the future. I have to do this before it’s too late.

He knew how terrifying those guys with a criminal mindset were.

Especially when those guys had power. They would turn into the most shameless motherfucker around.

Those guys would definitely make sure that they wouldn’t be punished.

Lee Han could never stand by and watch that.

I have no intention of waiting until he causes another trouble!

The common solution to a problem in rofan was ‘You have to endure until you find evidence, and even if someone was a criminal, if they were handsome and rich, the punishment would be lenient’ —a stupid, asinine logic, but Lee Han had no such ‘rofan-style logic’ in his dictionary.

In his eyes, anyone who had committed a crime and did something bad should be punished accordingly.

“Get out of the way, you punk.”

“You insolent thug…!”

The spear knight glared at him indignantly.

“You idiot! Just how did you become a knight?”

“You fucker have no right to argue about knighthood with me.”

He’s trying to stop me by bringing up chivalry?

Tsk, this is why old-fashioned knights were problematic.

If knighthood could solve everything, how come the world–

“Get in line! I’m going in first!”

“??”

…Lee Han blinked at the sudden declaration. He thought he had heard wrong.

However, as if he hadn’t heard wrong, the spear knight shouted again.

“Didn’t you hear what I say? I told you to stand in line! That bastard dared to ruin the young lady’s first party! One or two hours? Are you crazy? He has to suffer for his entire life!”

“…I don’t have the right to argue with you, but are you even allowed to do that?”

“Of course. Whoever dares to mess with Galahad, even if he’s the emperor, they deserve death!”

“…This guy is even crazier than I thought.”

Lee Han felt it in his bones.

That the guy in front of him was worse than him.

Maybe… Just maybe…

W-We can become friends?

And also, Lee Han felt a strange sense of kinship with the crazy bastard in front of him.

But rather than feeling happy about it, he felt disgusted instead.

“The connection with the crows has been lost, Sultan.”

“…Ha, I see. I knew I shouldn’t expect anything from those crows. Useless bunch.”

Inside his carriage, the sultan sneered bitterly. It really as if he didn’t expect anything from those flocks of crows.

“Sultan…”

However, the escorting warrior who gave him that report knew just how much effort Salah had put into this project, and how much money and damage he had incurred. Even if Salah was the wealthiest sultan, hiring a large number of Hassassins would bound to make him suffer for some time.

They’re famous for not paying any compensation when their missions failed…

However, the Hassassin was a group with a high success rate for their commissions, which was the reason why they could maintain such a shameless attitude.

They aren’t called [The Nightmare of the West] for nothing.

In any case, they still failed.

“Even if they had regressed, Pendragon is still Pendragon, huh?”

It meant that Pendragon had stopped them without making any commotion.

How many people in the sultanate can capture the Hassassin without causing commotion?

The first thing that came to mind was the warriors under Sultan Maham who couldn’t be fought with military power alone. But even they said that they suffered significant damage when fighting the Hassassin in the past.

Of course, considering the environmental factors and the fact that they were from another country, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that they’d lose to the Pendragon.

“…No, those are all excuses. The Hassassin failed, which means, they’re incompetent. Isn’t that right, Salman?”

“…That’s right, Sultan.”

“Then let’s prepare for the second stage.”

“B-But Sultan, if we do that, we might get caught…”

Since their attempt to use the Hassassin failed, the sultan decided to move for the next attempt immediately.

But this declaration terrified Salman.

After all, even though they didn’t leave any traces of their involvement, the Pendragon’s side must’ve already suspected the sultan. If they were to try and make another scene in this situation, it’d be hard for them to run away scot-free again, and they’d actually send a royal dispatch to investigate them.

Of course, they still wouldn’t dare punish the sultan even if that was the case. After all, the sultan was like the king of a country.

However…

If they deemed us as an uninvited guest, we would be kicked out of this kingdom.

And if that were to happen…

Will the Sultan be able to return safely?

Flinch-!

[An unfortunate accident, the ship the sultan boarded suddenly sank…]

[The sultanate engulfed in flames, the beginning of a power struggle due to Sultan Salah’s absence!]

[A suspicious accident?! Was the sultan assassinated by another sultan?]

Gulp…

Salman sweated profusely as if he had been hit by a storm.

He could imagine the scary articles that would become the headlines of the future newspaper. Not a single one of them would lead towards their good future.

However, Salah was still full of confidence, so he just ignored his subordinate’s worries. He had not given up yet, and he was hell-bent on achieving his goal.

“The sails have already been unfurled. How can we stop a ship that is about to set sail?”

“Sultan…”

“If we drop the anchor now, we will only sink. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“…”

“Salman, trust me. I have never been defeated!”

Sultan Salah. He was just one of the countless children of the previous sultan, but after a fierce power struggle, he rose to the great position in his twenties. Of course, his journey hadn’t been smooth, but thanks to his subordinates, luck, and outstanding ability, he was where he was right now.

Even when he failed, he didn’t despair or get scared. Because he had the confidence that he could do it no matter what.

“If we succeed, the reward will be much more valuable than the risk we took.”

Since ancient times, investment had always been a success in which someone got a bigger amount of money than they lost. As long as they were paid in dividends, it would be fine.

‘Mystic’. As long as I could get my hands on that brilliant power…

“My losses will be dwarfed by my gain.”

In the sultan’s dictionary, there was only a path forward.

…Oh, come to think of it, there is one more thing I could gain.

Salah’s mind wandered to a certain woman he had met today, the jewel-like woman who was more mystical and beautiful than a mystic. Galahad’s adopted daughter; a mage with the most valuable mystic.

However, her splendid beauty was more enchanting than her fame, and Salah wanted to get his hands on the girl somehow.

Irene… Irene Windler…

It seemed that taking the mystic away from that beautiful jewel would have to wait until later since that jewel was something he had to keep for himself.

I will have everything…! I will have everything under my hands…!

Suddenly, Salah clenched his fist. He was a sultan, the embodiment of power who could get everything if he wanted to.

For him, there was no such thing as giving up—

Bang-!

“-?”

For a moment there, Salah’s mind went blank.

His mind couldn’t keep up with what had happened. He called out the name of his subordinate whose body was falling.

“…Salman?”

Salman, his warrior escort. In terms of power, he was on the same level as the average knight commanders in Pendragon. It was no exaggeration to say that he was the best warrior in the sultanate—after all, that was why the sultan appointed him as his guard.

But that same Salman…

Bang-!

“Ugh! S-Sultan, run away! Run away…”

“Salman!!”

Got his arm torn in two.

Just now, something broke through the carriage window.

“A-A stone?”

That was when Salah noticed.

The thing that tore his proud warrior’s arm in two wasn’t a weapon nor an arrow, but a simple stone.

But that stone…

Bang-!

“!!!?”

Pounded the carriage indiscriminately, showing an intensity that made countless protective magic that surrounded it pale in comparison. The protective magic that had been stacked ten times to the point that even an ogre couldn’t penetrate, was crumbling like a sand castle.

“S-Surprise attack! Protect the sultan!”

“Protect the sultan…K-keuk!”

Bang-!

The hundred warriors guarding the sultan were in a state of panic. As time passed, more people died or became disabled as they couldn’t stop a single flying stone. Salah had to tremble and ducked his head low to the ground.

“What is this…?”

Thud-!

“…?”

Trickle-!

And that was why he realised it too late.

A small stone had somehow grazed his ear.

Thud-!

Just like the arm of the guard that had been torn in two, his ear was instantly cut off.

“Kuaaaaak!”

And he started writhing in pain.

“…This is quite hard.”

“If it’s hard for you, then I’ll do it.”

“Stay still. A bet is a bet. The loser should just shut up.”

“…”

“Who told you to lose?”

Lee Han, who had won a simple game of rock-paper-scissors before coming here, laughed proudly and kicked the pebble again. It was like sniping from a radius of about 2 km with a pebble, but the knight’s extraordinary skills made this ridiculous sniping, or rather, stoning, possible.

The knight of Tristan, who was watching this, couldn’t help but ask about this strange technique that he had.

“What kind of technique is that?”

The other day, he walked on air, and this time, he’s using pebbles to snipe better than even experienced archers…

To that question…

“It’s not a technique, I’m just doing this normally.”

“???”

“That’s how it is.”

Since ancient times, the Koreans had always been experts in sniping. They were a clan of long-range dealers who enjoyed long-range weapons such as stone spears and archery. Even though that was his previous life, the feeling of seniority of one who once belonged to the clan of long-range dealers was not going anywhere.

“I’ll say it again, Sir Lee Han. Everything else is fine, but please…“

“I know, I won’t kill him, I won’t leave any trace. That’s why I’m doing it this way in the first place.”

Whoosh-!

This is a little annoying.

But, whatever…

“I still think it’ll be better if we just kill him.”

“…”

“Oh, why don’t we bring some corpses of the assassin and put it here. It’ll be more fun that way, right?”

“…Ha.”

At that moment, the two regular knights thought, ‘If possible, I don’t want to face him as an enemy…’

He’s vicious, and spiteful too…

“You are quite smart for a thug.”

“Of course I am.”

“But it’s still clumsy. It would be better if we plant the flag emblem of another sultan on them instead of just corpses.”

“…Actually, that sounds good.”

…The fact that there wasn’t just one villain seemed like the greatest misfortune for the sultan.

After that, the two crazy knights continue racking their brains, seriously considering how to harass the tanned punks.