episode_0008

Trying to teach someone is the most difficult thing of all.

There is a reason why teachers at academies and professors at universities are respected.

In order to impart teachings, one’s own mind must be upright.

And you should be ready to answer students’ questions at any time.

At any time, you must have the ability to correct the course of a student who is going astray.

Keep this in mind.

To teach others,

That it is possible only if you govern yourself better than anyone else.

If you don’t keep this in mind,

Your teaching will cause students to drop out.

-Preface to “The Essentials of Teaching”. Author unknown-

Operspiel de Bronkhorst had been in a bad mood since the morning. It was not because of the enormous tasks assigned to him as the successor to the family. The cause was the series of depressing news that had been coming since the previous night.

Apparently, he was feeling fine until a week ago. The prey had fallen into the trap he had dug so meticulously. It was a golden opportunity, as even the hunter who tried to interfere with his trap had disappeared from his sight. All that was left was to wait patiently, and if he could maintain that one thing, there would be no problem. Just in case, he had taken out several insurance policies, and as expected, everything went smoothly.

If I just wait two months, two months, I can have that beautiful body in my hands.

Operschuppel was sinking into a state of happiness as he slowly recalled vague old memories from yesterday.

He was the eldest son of a count and was clearly destined to inherit his father’s business. So he had a daughter from a famous noble family as his wife, but she was not someone who could satisfy his greedy heart. So he paid no attention to her and their marital life was minimal.

Rather, bringing in those who were of much lower birth than himself and had not seen the light, such as female slaves or the daughters of commoners, to enjoy nightlife played a large role in satisfying his desires.

So, one day, while he was living his ordinary, ordinary life, he witnessed something.

The birth of the group of warriors, and the appearance of the saint of the Airgrants Church who appeared to help them. The appearance of the beautiful jewel that the Airgrants Church kept hidden to support the group of warriors.

The moment he first saw it, he couldn’t breathe. No, not only that, any greedy noble would have felt the same.

In this world, there exists a beauty that is not strange to dismiss as a fantasy in this reality. Even if it were said that she was a descendant of ancient elves, her beauty would not be questioned. Many people, including Opperspelle, were enchanted. However, those who were by her side tried hard to maintain a solemn expression, and those who were not, bowed their heads in despair at the special nature of the title of ‘Saint’.

However, despite being included in both, Opperspelle did not quell his greed.

For over 20 years, I have met and embraced many women. However, I have never found a jewel as great as her. I have never seen a woman with such a sweet fragrance. In an instant, all the beauties I have met up until now disappeared from my mind, and only she remained. So, Operschpel took action.

Whenever he had the chance, he would invite the warriors, or more precisely the saint, to his house under the pretext of making a large donation to the church. He would appear as the patron saint at numerous banquets and balls, trying to catch her eye.

However, because she was more of a saint than anyone else, and because her heart was somewhat inclined towards the hero who would save the world, it seemed that his greed would never be satisfied.

Then one day, the Demon King was defeated by the party of warriors, and the world regained stability. People enjoyed peace, and everything seemed to be going well. The party of warriors dispersed after completing their respective roles. And the saint returned to her home base, the church. Opperspelle, who had made numerous donations to the church, thought that now was the opportunity and tried to approach more actively.

However, there were two huge walls blocking him.

A warrior. A detestable brat. A tall, clean-faced, innocent bastard who seduced the heart of a saint.

Of course, it is nothing compared to the twisted desires of Operspelle, but he was blocking men who approached the saintess despite having several beauties by his side who would make his eyes dazzle. Even if the appearances of these women were not as good as the saintess, they would be recognized as national treasures. You are like a child whose head is filled with greed.

Opperspelle wanted to spit out curses at the warrior, not knowing who was speaking to whom. But that wasn’t all.

The conservative Bishop of Ergrand and the old monks were very uncomfortable with the married Opperspelle’s approach to the saint. Naturally, according to doctrine, it was a grave sin for a married man to lust after another woman.

The Church of Air Grant was tolerant of divorce and remarriage, but it did judge those who committed adultery while still married. No matter how much support the person had given to the church, there were few people in the church who would look favorably on an approach to a very noble saint.

Even though such a huge wall tried to thwart Opperspelle time and time again, he did not give up. No, when he felt like giving up, he disappeared. Whenever he happened to approach and meet her, whenever he saw the saint’s beautiful smile, his desire would stir again. Whenever she thanked him for his enormous donation, his twisted desire would only grow bigger.

Then one day, his wife died of illness. Although he had maintained a minimal level of marital relations, he was not completely heartless, so Opperspelle held a grand funeral. He was not without sorrow. So, he often went to church under the pretext of it. On the surface, it was to appease his sorrow through prayer and honor his wife.

Of course, internally, I wanted to fill my empty heart by keeping my eyes on the saint who might appear.

So, it was really a coincidence that he overheard the monks’ secret gossip.

Of course, as soon as he heard, he was delighted and made a plan and put it into action. As the warrior was absent, his plan, blinded by lust and stubborn, proceeded smoothly. The church was embarrassed by the absurd demands and threats. The saint, who valued the members of the church, expressed her unprecedented anger.

The wrath of the saint, which he had never seen before, did not damage her beauty at all, and Operspelle smiled sinisterly while admiring her. The pumpkin rolled in on a vine. What good luck.

After that, all plans went smoothly. The duel two months later. The agent. The blackmail. The blocking. The surveillance. Everything was within his grasp. The saint was cornered and he was euphoric. Everything was going well. Until last night.

When the saintess approached an adventurer, he was a little nervous. Obviously, he had already taken action against adventurers who knew how to use their powers. However, among them, there was one man he could not reach.

No, it had to be that way. That man was an adventurer who had been a major cause of the downfall of Duke Arklight, who was close to Count Bronkhorst, a year and three months ago, and since then, he had been saving himself and had hardly done any adventure work. He had not accomplished a single notable feat in over a year, so there was no reason for him to fall into his information network.

However, after looking at the montage drawn by directly unraveling the source, Opperspelle was puzzled. Was this man really this shabby, shabby-looking, and untidy guy?

In fact, when I saw him once in the past, he was quite small in stature, but in the montage that Sejak drew himself, the man looked even more serious. Let alone fighting, he looked like he would die immediately if he was hit once. At the same time, the informant revealed that he had hardly done anything important for a year and three months and had only been absorbed in reading, and Operspelle burst into laughter.

Even a saint would reach out to such a scumbag.

Feeling cheerful, Operschpel let go of a few guards just in case. Then he heard some unpleasant news. The haggard squatter had been invited by the saintess and had entered her mansion. He had barged his filthy form into her mansion?

Operschpel, who was more displeased than happy, sent two assassins. It was a murder not out of a sense of crisis, but purely out of jealousy and envy. He had not originally intended to kill her, but it was quite serious that he had offended her. He dared to enter the mansion of a saint without even being invited. The crime was serious.

And at dawn, in his room in the count’s mansion, he was trying to relieve his lust by bringing in a half-and-half maid again and fall asleep when a vassal came in and told him shocking news. The two assassins had failed and were handed over to the guards? He lost sleep. And he couldn’t sleep a wink until morning, waiting for follow-up information to come in.

Fortunately, the two people who were handed over to the guards committed suicide on the spot as soon as they realized they had been caught. That was the first news they received in the morning. Since the information could not be leaked out carelessly, Operspelle breathed a sigh of relief.

What the heck, I thought it was trash. Wasn’t it?

Opperspelle was getting irritated at the thought of having to change his plans. Everything was going well, and now this big variable had come up. But what should he do? Should he send in more assassins? Two had already failed and died? Or should he hire adventurers to fight him? Should he stage a backroom operation to make sure he never leaves the location again in two months?

His thoughts were instantly broken by a servant who opened the door quickly and came in.

“Your Excellency the Opersephael!”

“What? Is there any news about that guy!”

Operschpel got up from his chair in the office and shouted at his vassal, who had come in hurriedly. The vassal looked quite pale. Now that I looked at him, he was breathing heavily.

“That’s it, that’s it…gasp gasp…”

“Tell me quickly. If you have any news about that guy!”

“No, that’s not true. But…the visit…”

“What?”

What is that all of a sudden? It seemed that the news that the servant had brought was completely different from what he had been waiting for. After taking a moment to catch his breath, the servant slowly blurted out the shocking news.

“The saintess…has come to the mansion to tell you something.”

It was shocking news. What, the saint? Suddenly visiting our mansion? No, wait. This was not an unexpected variable. For one thing, he had prepared a script for the saint’s visit to the mansion. So, Operspelle did not stay still.

.

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.

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.

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Opershpel quickly finished his preparations and strode toward the mansion. Behind him, several vassals and servants followed him, hurriedly preparing. The vassal closest to him was constantly talking to Opershpel.

“The saintess came to visit and stood in front of the door, asking to meet in person because she had something to tell His Majesty. I told her that I would tell her if she told me what it was about, but she insisted that it was meaningless if she didn’t hear it, and asked me to make time for her if she was in the mansion. What on earth could it be about?”

“Hmm…”

No, no way… Opperspelle thought that if the saint came to his mansion before the deadline, there could only be one reason.

An apology. And a request to hand over the duel.

He couldn’t think of anything else. Yes, she had given in. He cheered inwardly again. No, not just inwardly.

“Hehehe…”

A sinister smile flowed from her lips. God is showing affection for me. Surely I didn’t have to wait two months! The death of the two assassins had just disappeared from her mind. Yes. She had failed to win over even that trashy adventurer. That must be why she came to bow to Han Geul-eun as soon as morning came.

In the distance, the fence gate of her mansion was visible. Her heart pounded. Gradually, the figure of the saint came into view. Beyond the fence gate, she stood with her only servant, Douglas. Her beauty never faded no matter when she saw her. Although her title as a saint affected her beauty, it was certain that there would be no man who would not be captivated by her.

Here it comes! The day has finally come! Warriors, bishops, and old monks! I have taken a precious jewel from you!

Just as I was about to sink into a state of utmost bliss, a voice was heard.

“I hope you are well. I apologize for taking up your time so early in the morning. Mr. Operspelle.”

It was a beautiful voice that was dignified and close to the melody of the instrument. Dignified? She still has elegance. Although she was born a commoner, the saintess, whose elegance and manners were extraordinary, did not lose herself even in this desperate situation. This made Opperspelle admire her and made her look at the saintess with even more loving and greedy eyes.

“No, my lady. How are you? I am surprised that you came early in the morning, but I do not feel like I wasted your time. But what is it? Is it about the duel in two months?”

When I met her a week ago, I dug into her slip of the tongue and expressed my anger, but it was already a made-up anger. Now, even if I tried to force myself to feel that way, it was impossible. Of course, how could I be angry when such a national treasure-level beauty was in my hands?

And in the next words, Opperspelle felt as if she were flying into the sky.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s about the duel.”

I did it! No, calm down. Calm down, Bronkhorst’s successor! Opperspelle had not forgotten the successor training of the past. So he spoke calmly without letting his face cloud his face.

“Oh, you hired a proxy?”

“No, we couldn’t find a representative.”

Done!

Operschuppel’s heart was filled with joy. Now, peace had taken over him. There was no more need to show off or be patient. He had become a more relaxed person than anyone else. From now on, only formal conversations would take place.

He misunderstood that.

“Is that so? Then you are thinking of withdrawing the duel and giving in to my demands?”

“No. There will be no withdrawal from the duel, and there will be no giving in to demands.”

…Huh? What did I just hear?

There was a slight crack in Operschuppel’s peaceful mind. Did he hear wrong? No, that couldn’t be true. He was still in his prime at 29 years old. He had often been told that he had a keen ear. In particular, he could not misread the sentences that the saint’s beautiful voice, which seemed to make beads flow, uttered.

“Hmm? What are you talking about? Didn’t you say you couldn’t find a representative? ”

“Yes. I haven’t found a proxy to fight. However, I have no intention of withdrawing from the duel.”

What? Opershpel was surprised. Not only that. The guards guarding the mansion, as well as several of his own retainers and servants, were also slightly murmured. What does he mean? He had not asked for a proxy to fight, but he had said that he would not withdraw from the duel, which could only lead to one result.

And then the saint moved her right arm. She extended her index finger from her clenched fist and raised it forward.

The object the finger was pointing at was clear: Opperspelle.

What is this rude, yet confident behavior? Before Opperspelle could even ask, the saint’s voice rang out first. It rang clearly in the hearts of everyone present.

“Operspiel de Bronkhorst, I consider it an honor to personally participate in the duel two months from now.”

“I will not run away or hide. Rather than relying on others to achieve my victory, I will take it into my own hands.”

“Even if the title of saint disappears, the name Milicia Airgrants will not disappear.”

“I declare again. In the duel two months from now, I will personally participate.”

“And prepare for the defeat of the agent you put forward.”

“I will definitely win.”