Chapter 195: The Knight Rides the Autumn (1)

The leaves had begun turning into beautiful colors, a sign that the long summer had finally come to an end.

It was also the sign that the pride of the South, autumn, had arrived.

One might wonder, ‘How could a mere season be considered the pride of a part of the continent?’. Well, it was because autumn was among the longest seasons in Pendragon.

While winter could last as short as two weeks or as long as a month, autumn could last for three to four months.

There was a theory that it was because the northern territory ruled by Lionel was hoarding the winter, but nothing concrete had been confirmed on the matter in the academic world.

In any case, thanks to that, Pendragon’s autumn was particularly long; many places in the entire city also benefit from it because of the spectacular view it brought.

With clear and clean skies above, trees with red leaves everywhere, and well maintained lakes and rivers, how could people not enjoy its beauty?

In particular, with how cheap maple syrup was, and how people considered it as the best, there were many foods and desserts that were made with it.

As a side note, maple syrup was made in different ways in the South continent. To be more specific, each household had their own secret period of aging and storing them, so different stores could have different degrees of sweetness.

Thanks to that, sweets became more popular in the autumn, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to gain weight rapidly because of it.

It befitted the other name of autumn: the season where the sky was high and the horses were fat.

Well, this could happen partially because the South was currently at peace, but regardless…

“This pancake is good. Hm, no, it’s not the pancake, it’s the maple syrup that’s good! Just what is this subtle sweetness…?”

Currently, Lee Han was eating at a certain restaurant. As if he was possessed by a gourmet, he poured out his praises towards the sweets that he ate. He ordered it without having any expectations for it, so he didn’t expect it to be this good.

In front of his eyes were crispy bacon, three half-boiled fried eggs, two juicy sausages, and five-layered pancakes with nuts and maple syrup sprinkled on each of its layers.

There was also a coffee, which was okay at best, but it still had a nice aroma and it perfectly served its purpose to neutralize the sweet maple syrup.

It was a breakfast that reminded him of the famed Lumberjack Breakfast, and needless to say, he liked it a lot.

When one ate something without holding any expectations, and it turned out to be really good, they’d tend to think that it was their lucky day, and Lee Han was no exception. Thanks to this, he had a positive outlook towards the remainder of the day.

“Give me three more plates.”

“…You’ve already eaten more than ten, no?”

“Yea, but I’m still hungry.”

“…Please wait a minute. I’ll also bring our specials to you!”

“Huh? You don’t have to do that.”

“This is a matter of pride! Our restaurant has never sent away our customers with hungry stomachs for generations! You don’t have to pay for it, so don’t worry!”

“?”

He just had a bigger appetite than the average person, so he didn’t think they should take it as him trying to hurt their pride, but Lee Han stopped himself from saying anything.

After all, who wouldn’t want free food?

Meatballs, huh? Moreover, they’re bigger than my fist.

The smell of juicy meatballs wafted from the kitchen’s oven. Since spaghetti with tomato sauce would also be added into it, it really fit its title of being a ‘special’.

“Nice.”

“…Aren’t you eating too much? It’s still the morning.”

“The food they serve in the Academy’s restaurants are all cheap and tasty, you know? Once you start eating, you just can’t stop.”

“…Still, people don’t normally eat more than 10 servings in the morning.”

“Morning is when I’m the most hungry, though.”

“Umm…”

…Hearing his instructor’s confident statement, Derrick could only swallow his words back.

After entering the restaurant—which also had an inn—Derrick just ordered a simple cup of coffee instead of food. When asked why he didn’t order any food, he said that watching Lee Han eat made him feel sick.

On the other hand, Lee Han liked the meatball spaghetti so much and only stopped eating after ordering five more plates.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yeah. Moderation is best. It’s bad to overeat, you know?”

“I-I don’t think 20 servings could be called ‘moderate’ at all…”

“My fuel efficiency is different from normal people. Anyway, why do you eat so little?”

“Hmm, I think it’s a habit.”

Derrick looked back and forth between his own skinny body and Lee Han’s body and let out a bitter smile. No matter what the context, it was just a little too much to compare his body to his instructor’s.

Still, his body was thin for a Swordsmanship Department’s student. Thanks to his Skills, he could be considered as strong, but he couldn’t help to feel that he’d lose to a woman in a ‘normal’ fight.

“You should eat more. I can give you some diet plans.”

“…Ahaha.”

Derrick brushed away his instructor’s bullying that wasn’t actually bullying by letting out an awkward laugh. On the other hand, Lee Han also didn’t force him to follow his advice.

After all, even though he looked frail, the guy was strong. His Skills and ability to see Status Windows alone already put him leagues above normal people.

Then, before his eyes could turn red with unnecessary envy, Lee Han opened his mouth.

“So, did you find out what I asked you to find out?”

“Yes, a little.”

Derrick nodded his head with a bitter expression. Though he was the one who investigated it himself, he couldn’t help but feel miffed about this.

“First… Um… It feels like they are trying to ‘scam’ the kingdom?”

“?”

“They’re saying that a prophecy has come down. That kind of scam.”

“S-Sorry?”

“…‘Prophecy’.”

“…”

“You heard correctly, Instructor, you don’t need to doubt me.”

“…Fuck.”

After letting out that curse in a nearly inaudible tone, Lee Han went silent for a moment.

And then…

“Another serving of large 5-layer pancakes please! With triple the amount of maple syrup!”

As if he suddenly craved for sugar—no, for a bunch of sugar, he placed another order.

What Lee Han asked Derrick to investigate was simple.

‘What’s going on in the temple right now?’

Back then, Derrick nodded his head without hesitation.

It was a rather quick reaction from someone who wasn’t usually the type to accept things so easily.

The reason?

It was simple.

-Because I’m curious too.

He also wanted to know what was happening in the temple, so he hid in the temple for about a week to figure that out.

Since he was the only ‘character’ in this world armed with Thief Skills, infiltrating the temple was a simple matter to him.

Lee Han was also sure that he’d come back with something, and he was right.

“In other words, to regain their old authority that was lost due to the God of War, they issued a fake prophecy. Then, they declared that they’d directly search for the Saintess?”

“You summarized it perfectly.”

He stumbled upon a tremendous amount of information.

“Are you being serious right now?”

It was the umpteenth time he asked that.

But, it was understandable that he’d ask that again.

After all, that news really was hard to believe.

“I also doubted what I heard hundreds of times… But unfortunately, it was real, Instructor.”

“What in the…?”

To explain in more detail, it was like this.

When the God of War reigned as king, the temple wasn’t able to spread their wings and had to bow down to the royal family in submission.

The Pope at the time—the guy who created the cheap knock off of the Blood Cult, called the [Blood Cross] or whatever, the same guys that currently threatened the kingdom—was said to have knelt in front of the God of War and crawled to the throne where the he was sitting to ask for his forgiveness.

‘Please spare me, please forgive me, please show mercy…’ Something like that.

Then, things happened, and they had to hand over more than 80% of their influence in the South to the royal family, or rather, to the God of War.

Not only that, the Pope title was revoked from the temple, demoting it to a mere ‘Temple Leader’. Moreover, the authority of the Pope, who was the representative of Light, was also greatly reduced, becoming like something akin to a puppet.

This incident occurred approximately 40 years ago, and it was an incident that could not have been anything other than a humiliating moment for the temple. Some even called it their downfall.

Forty years.

It might be a short time to some, but 40 years was an incredibly long time. Using a celebrity as an example, even the most successful celebrity would be forgotten if they went inactive for a year. With the temple losing control for 40 years, the power and advantage that they could have gained within that time would surely be insurmountable.

…If converted into gold, the value of things they lost would be incalculable.

The only reason they still stood until today was because they were at times where people needed religion. If it was a noble family who was suffering from that calamitous disaster, they would have disappeared long ago.

Even so, the temple still shed hundreds of tears of blood. After all, if it wasn’t due to the previous king, they’d still be ruling over the nobles.

And now…

“The king is out of the picture.”

“That’s right, it’s already been 17 years since he was gone…”

Seventeen years had passed since the king passed away.

There was a saying that habit was something hard to fix, and that saying was proven right. Finally, the vicious bastard was preparing a [Kingdom-Level scam] to regain their standing once again.

“So they’re trying to create a trusted ‘puppet’ to solidify their power…”

“I peeked at the list of candidates, and most of them were noble ladies or young ladies in the royal family’s collateral line.”

“It’s like a love call to the nobles…”

“More or less.”

Even if it was just a dummy (saint), it wasn’t a position anyone could sit in. Maybe that was why they needed a young lady from a good family for that position.”

“…Are they that hungry for more power?”

“That or they think this country is theirs and they’re just taking what’s theirs.”

“…”

“It’s been 40 years. They must’ve sharpened their sword of revenge for 40 years. That’s why they’ll do anything to gain the power they thought was ‘originally theirs,’ and why they messed with Miss Irene.”

“…Why her?”

“If they make her the Saintess, the temple will gain Galahad as a powerful ally.”

“Don’t they know that the duke is the son of the previous king?”

“In politics, there’s a saying, ‘There are no eternal allies nor eternal enemies’. Politics is all about conspiring and betraying others, depending on the situation, Instructor.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han nodded.

It was a convincing statement.

However, his gaze still lingered on Timid.

Because…

Why does this guy look so pissed off?

Lee Han could feel the cold anger in his tone. In fact, he hadn’t stuttered even once from the moment they started talking about this. He felt like he was looking at a bomb that could explode at any moment.

And so…

“What makes you so angry?”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

Lee Han decided to just ask him.

What made him so angry?

To this question…

Clench-!

Derek clenched his teeth.

As if that question served as a trigger, he finally revealed his true feelings.

“…Miss Karin is also included among the candidates.”

“…”

“I kept thinking that they’re gonna kidnap or threaten her…”

“My god…”

Lee Han groaned.

Those fucks actually touched this guy’s reverse scale.

The quiet ones are really the scariest ones when angered.

In fact, Lee Han always felt that way ever since he joined the military. He lived by a maxim that he should never push the quiet or weak ones too much just because they looked easy.

Why?

…Because you might get shot before you realize it.

Knowing very well how the quiet guys would change the most when angered, he clicked his tongue.

…If things go south, he might just destroy the whole world just to get back at the temple.

Kring-!

The table where Lee Han and Derrick sat was enveloped by a serious atmosphere, but fortunately, at that moment, someone they knew showed up and lightened the mood considerably.

“Master?”

“…Huh?”

“Are you here to eat too, Master? …Oh, you’ve already eaten a lot, I see…”

“Why are you here?”

“Hm? This is my go-to place! The food here is cheap, but they’re tasty!”

“For the young miss of a marquis family to go to such a place…”

“Hehehe, habits aren’t the easiest thing to fix, you know?”

The girl approached them with an embarrassed smile as she said so.

Just by her coming closer, the two guys felt like they could smell a bright flower scent, and even the atmosphere brightened up.

This girl originally had an even gloomier look than the status window guy, but after her curse disappeared, she could smile so naturally as if she was spreading happiness around.

Maybe it was because he had been talking about depressing things with Timid, but the moment he saw her, Lee Han’s expression brightened.

He felt that he could breathe a little easier now.

“Since you’re here to eat, come here, I’ll treat you.”

“N-No need to, I-I don’t want to intrude…”

“Don’t worry about that. Well, if you want to eat alone, you can.”

“-No, I’ll sit here if you insist.”

“O-Okay?

She sat down right next to him, prompting him to scratch his cheek.

Isn’t this a little too close?

Huh? Now that I think about it…

Suddenly, he paused. Something crossed his mind, and it was…

Didn’t Timid say that she became a Saintess in the original work?

…I think she became an ‘Unofficial Saintess’ who wasn’t recognized by the temple, right?

Levy.

If Lee Han hadn’t interfered, in the future, she’d grow to be the Mercenary Queen and the Saintess of the Battlefield.

…Well, that’s a future that won’t happen anymore.

As his thoughts reached that point, Lee Han decided to just ignore it.

I’m just needlessly worry—

“Oh, right! I wanted to tell you something, Master! I finally got a new name!”

“What?”

“Jeanne d’Arc, [Levy Jeanne d’Arc]. This is my new name, Master!”

“─Why?”

…Before he realized it, Lee Han already blurted that question out.

“Huh?”

“O-Of all people…”

Why did you name yourself after someone who got burned at a stake…?

Of course, he couldn’t bring himself to say such a thing out loud to her.