Ch.268EP.60 – How a Knight Deals with Beasts (4)

…Knights are troublesome people to deal with.

They nitpick about that thing called honor at every turn, and they’re so stubborn they make steel wires look flexible.

Yet, paradoxically, without that stubbornness, they wouldn’t be knights.

They possess unwavering mental strength and determination, and for the sake of their master’s honor and commands, they truly jump into anything without hesitation.

Therefore, knights may be troublesome to deal with, but they cannot be ignored.

Even if their physical strength is lacking, their “stubbornness” and “loyalty,” stronger than steel wires, never break no matter how much violence overwhelms them.

Rather, they view pain and hardship as trials that have come to prove their knighthood.

That’s why Ihan doesn’t particularly like arrogant knights, but he neither despises nor looks down on them.

[True knights] were, in themselves, worthy of respect.

…Therefore.

‘This one is not a knight.’

It was only natural that there was no respect to be given to a mere [fake].

“I, I was just following orders from above! To ignore the young lady, to neglect her… As a knight, isn’t it only natural to follow orders from superiors…?”

Perhaps seeing Ihan’s increasingly cold expression, the man’s words became more hesitant as he spoke, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

He must know it too.

The contemptuous gaze directed at the gardener who called himself a knight.

‘This guy probably became a knight through connections, or maybe he was knighted by some idiot noble.’

You occasionally see such people.

They call themselves knights, but they know less about honor than mercenaries and care more about profit than merchants.

‘Mercenary knights,’ or ‘wanderers,’ as they’re called.

Ihan was certain this man was of that ilk.

After all, what kind of knight follows orders from uncertain superiors rather than his own master? What knight ignores his master’s flesh and blood? What knight succumbs to violence and spills information so readily…?

Even those who dismissed him as a white cat, despite their rudeness, weren’t stupid enough or completely cowardly enough to bite their own masters.

He hadn’t even tortured the man—merely subdued him a bit—yet the man complained about being in pain, which confirmed he was a fake.

‘…But why am I so irritated?’

Though he had no attachment to knighthood, perhaps because he was still in this line of work, seeing someone pretending to be a fellow professional filled him with disgust.

Ihan desperately wanted to mince this man like hamburger patty, but he decided to hold back.

In a situation like this, rather…

‘This kind of guy might be better.’

He was spilling information like a fountain at the slightest touch.

For Ihan, who valued every piece of information, meeting this self-proclaimed knight who was lower than a third-rate thug might actually be fortunate.

Of course…

‘That doesn’t mean I’m letting him off.’

The self-proclaimed knight, or rather third-rate thug, Richard, not noticing Ihan’s ominous gaze, opened his mouth again.

“…The young lady was born without the [Mystery] of Modred. I’m just a knight temporarily employed from outside three years ago, so I don’t know much, but they say she’s been like that since birth.”

“So you really are a wanderer.”

“Th-that’s not important right now… Ahem!”

“Roll your eyes like that again and I might impulsively pluck them out.”

“……”

The man had shown visible discomfort at being called a wanderer, a term that grated on mercenary knights, but when Ihan half-opened his eyes, the man shrank back as if he’d never shown any discomfort and opened his mouth again.

“A-anyway, without the Mystery of Modred, it’s undeniable that the young lady is half-witted. …I heard rumors that even the late lady had an affair.”

“……”

“I-I only heard rumors elsewhere! In-in fact, the Margrave himself declared there was no affair, and the young lady’s hair color alone proves she’s of Modred blood. It-it was just a baseless rumor circulating among the servants.”

“……”

“?”

Ihan remained silent, and Richard, who had been talking, began to wonder why this person was acting this way. Then Ihan frowned and said:

“I didn’t even ask, but I’m wondering why you’re mentioning the kid’s birth.”

“……”

“Why are you making that wronged expression?”

“Urgh….”

“Ah, I am curious about one thing. Why would someone half-witted like you be employed by Modred? I wouldn’t think a great family would employ someone like you.”

“……”

“Not going to answer?”

“…garden.”

“?”

“N-not as a knight, but as a garden caretaker. B-but I have been knighted. So I am indeed a knight….”

SMACK!!

“ARGH!!”

“…You’re calling that kid half-witted when you’re the real half-wit, you bastard.”

Ihan could no longer contain his anger and raised his fist.

Information be damned, first…

‘I need to beat this bastard.’

Ihan valued his mental health.

* * *

‘So that’s it. When the tiger’s away, the foxes will play.’

Ihan wiped the filthy blood from his hands and dusted them off.

There was a human writhing like a worm on the side, but Ihan felt more sorry about stepping on the grass than stepping on this creature worse than a beast.

Rather, organizing the information he’d extracted during 40 minutes of beating was more meaningful.

‘So five years ago, the Modred family and most of their elite knights went to a place called the [Underground Chamber] for some reason.’

The family had entered Modred’s chamber, leaving only their youngest daughter, Louise, behind. As a result, the Modred family had become a limited no-man’s-land without a master.

Of course, Margrave Modred wasn’t a fool and had temporarily given authority to manage the family to the head butler, but unfortunately…

‘The problem was that the head butler died of a sudden heart attack not long after he started acting as regent.’

It was an extremely sudden death, and with no successor to take over the territory in place of the head butler, the branch families and vassal houses of Modred began fighting like rabid dogs, suddenly engaging in political struggles over control of the main house like petty warlords.

In reality, it was an utterly foolish fight.

After all, when the head of the family returned, all this fighting would be meaningless…

‘Well, I suppose it’s not strange for this to happen when the homeowner has been absent for five years.’

However, the problem was the existence of Louise, the only remaining direct bloodline.

No matter how much fuss they made, the royal family would only recognize Louise, the direct descendant, as the next successor.

So, Louise’s existence was extremely bothersome to the branch families, but since they were wary of taking direct action against her…

‘…They neglected her instead.’

They judged that a girl child left without adult help would quickly die.

In other words, from the branch families’ perspective, it would be a perfectly satisfactory outcome if she were neglected and then died in an accident one day.

Truly…

“Sigh, why are there so many creatures worse than beasts?”

There seem to be an abundance of disgusting trash.

How utterly despicable.

Wishing for a child to die on her own…

Even the demons of hell would admire such character.

‘Ghosts are indeed better than humans.’

At least they wouldn’t be this disgusting, would they?

Ihan sighed, feeling bitter, and then…

“Wait a minute? So there’s no one here to be wary of right now, is there?”

While muttering, Ihan realized one critical fact.

There are no tigers at home.

No direct descendants with the [Mystery], and not even the elite knights.

It seems they had been hiding this well thanks to the closed environment, but now that he had entered the main base, he knew all the truth, and what this meant was…

“I’ve been doing something stupid, haven’t I?”

Ihan sensed that he had been taking unnecessary detours while ignoring the shortcut, and he felt a slight headache coming on.

It was like wandering through a maze when he could have just gone straight ahead.

How foolish could he be?

‘What have I been doing all this time?’

He felt incredibly wasteful for disguising himself and wasting time with all this nonsense.

However.

“…If I’ve realized I’ve been acting foolishly, I should correct it now.”

Regret shouldn’t be prolonged; it’s wiser to end it quickly and take action to avoid further foolishness.

Ihan muttered meaningfully and strode forward with vigor.

“P-potion, please…”

There was a thug mumbling something, but Ihan didn’t hear him.

* * *

Louise had a truly enjoyable day today.

“Hehe, I made a friend.”

Her first friend in life!

A friend who not only saved her but even carried her on their back.

For Louise, apart from her grandfather who was temporarily away, she had never received such kindness, which made the existence of this friend all the more precious.

“N-next time they come, I’ll give them this too-!”

Jingle.

Louise looked at the money she had saved with a big smile on her face.

Hoping that giving this might make them stay friends for a longer time.

Just then.

“Young lady, I’m coming in.”

Click!

“!!?”

Louise was startled by the woman who suddenly opened the door and entered, and reflexively hid her money.

“Why are you so surprised? It’s nothing new.”

“……”

Louise gave her a sullen look.

She knew how mean that woman, the head maid, was.

“W-why did you come…”

“My goodness, I’m the only one you can talk to, and you treat me like this? I feel hurt.”

“G-get out! Th-this is my room!”

“…You’re so ill-mannered. Is that how you speak to an adult?”

“!!?”

“Yes, yes, don’t get angry. I’ll leave after I finish my business. Please stamp your seal here.”

“What is that…?”

“It’s just something. Anyway, stamp it quickly. Preferably with blood.”

“Blood?”

“Yes, stamping it with your blood. With the young lady’s blood.”

“B-blood!?”

“Yes, it’s really easy, isn’t it?”

The head maid smiled sweetly.

As if stamping with blood was something that could be done easily.

Louise was frightened by such a statement and hid her hands, clearly unwilling to do it.

But.

“It’s nothing, really! It won’t hurt, it won’t hurt.”

“N-no! D-don’t do it!”

“I said, just listen…”

Jingle.

“Oh my? What’s this?”

“Ah…!”

Louise screamed.

She had been caught with the money pouch she hadn’t hidden deeply enough.

“Wow, our young lady is rich, how much is this?”

“D-don’t take it!”

The head maid took her money pouch, and Louise reached out for it, whimpering.

But a child couldn’t overpower an adult, and the head maid easily ignored the whimpering Louise.

“I heard rumors that you were earning money somewhere, but this is substantial? I thought you’d only earned enough for snacks, but you have quite the money-making ability, young lady. Thank you, I’ll put it to good use.”

“It’s not yours!!”

“No, young lady, it is mine.”

“!!”

“Young lady, remember this well. People, you see, if they have no power, everything gets taken from them.”

She smiled contentedly as if she had imparted an excellent lesson, and Louise shed tears.

But the head maid found this situation entirely amusing.

The superiority she felt from tormenting the daughter of the formidable Margrave like this.

This pleasure, as if she had become a being above nobility, was truly…!

-Thud.

“?”

“Listen carefully, you beast of a woman. Unlike you, I’m not a beast, so I’m explaining this kindly. Pay attention. From now on, it’s going to hurt quite a lot. Let’s start with a taste of about four hours, shall we?”

The head maid didn’t understand what he was saying, and she couldn’t even tell him to remove the hand that had suddenly appeared on her shoulder.

That was because.

CRACK!

In an instant, she had become a ‘hunchback.’

“Aah! Aaaagh…!”

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

She screamed in agony.

But he didn’t care whether the head maid was in pain or not.

She was making quite a racket, so he stuffed a rag used for cleaning the floor into her mouth. He simply picked up the money pouch, having no intention of wasting time on such vermin.

“…Santa?”

“You shouldn’t let such important things be taken away, young lady. Here you go.”

“……”

“What’s wrong, young lady?”

“S-Santaaa…!”

Louise threw aside the money pouch that had been returned to her and flung herself into his arms, crying bitterly.

Simply because seeing his face made her feel safe.

So Louise just cried.

“Oh my, don’t cry, young lady. Santa Claus doesn’t visit crying children.”

“Sniff! S-Santa isn’t an o-old man!”

“…There’s another Santa besides me. Ah, I shouldn’t have chosen such a casual alias.”

“?”

“More importantly, young lady. I think I can give you a gift, but I need your permission. Would you kindly grant it?”

“Yes, I’ll give permission!”

“J-just like that?”

“Yes! Because Santa is my friend!”

“…Well, permission should be given more carefully…”

“It’s still okay! Oh, I’ll even vouch for you!”

“……”

“What?”

“…Let me ask just one thing, has anyone asked you to vouch for them?”

“Yes!”

“…I’m going to need quite a few axes.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Anyway, thank you for giving permission, young lady.”

“Hehe!”

Louise smiled innocently.

Not knowing that the permission she had granted would overturn Modred, no, the entire Wales.

But even if she had known that fact…

“Santa, thank you…”

“…We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Hehe!!”

The child would have gladly given permission.