Ch.288EP.62 – What Is a Knight’s Cause to Fight? (11)

“……Ahem.”

Everyone here was simply dumbfounded and cleared their throats.

-[The Secret History of Modred.]

The only one who knew about this situation was Guinevere, who had a long-standing alliance with Modred, and those who might have guessed their circumstances would only be the Pendragon royal family and Galahad.

It meant that only a very small number in the kingdom were aware of this, and the fact that a complete stranger they had just met today knew all these secrets left them momentarily stunned.

In contrast.

“What’s so difficult about this? I know at least five people around me who could figure this out.”

“That would mean those around you are just as extraordinary as you are….”

“Extraordinary? That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Anyway, you nobles are so dramatic.”

“…Did you perhaps get swindled by nobles? You seem to breathe out hatred toward nobility.”

“Enough idle talk. I’ll take it that my guess was correct.”

“……”

The person who had stunned them appeared completely unfazed.

He remained indifferent, as if he had solved an extremely simple problem.

“Huh….”

He was incredibly bold, and no one could say anything as they watched him arrogantly sip his tea.

Kain wondered where on earth this kind of character had suddenly appeared from.

‘What exactly happened outside during the five years we were gone?’

He was a knight they had never seen or heard of when they were outside.

Honestly, at first, Kain suspected he might be from Heungrang or the Black Lion, but after conversing with him, he realized this man had a completely different character. What Kain discovered was that this man was an extremely powerful warrior and intelligent.

Though they had met and talked for less than two hours combined, Kain was certain.

This man was by no means inferior to himself or his father.

Neither in strength, nor in anything else.

Therefore.

‘Why?’

He couldn’t understand why this man was going out of his way to help Modred.

‘What benefit does he get?’

There’s always a justification when a powerful person takes action.

Kain couldn’t help but be concerned about his motives.

At that moment.

“…I understand your intention. You’re targeting the Archfiend King, that cursed ‘pest.'”

The old knight, or rather the captain of the White Ghost Shield Knights and Modred’s strongest knight, spoke with a solemn expression.

“But that cannot be. This is our war, Modred’s war, and a task left by our ancestors. We cannot pass this on to others.”

With each statement, a heavy aura emanated layer by layer, reminiscent of a solid tower.

At a glance, one could glimpse a knight’s stubbornness, an old man’s obstinacy, or even the arrogance of nobility that the man despised, but everyone present immediately realized.

That this was consideration….

‘Father seems to like him.’

It was clear what his father was thinking.

He was worried that someone who was neither of Modred’s bloodline nor even Welsh-born was rushing into a “hell pit” out of youthful impulse.

He didn’t want a promising young man to be ruined by mere impulse, which was an understandable sentiment.

Those who noticed this simultaneously turned their gaze toward him.

Grateful as they were, they couldn’t allow him to be afflicted with the same ‘curse’ as them, so ignoring him now would be the right thing to—.

“—If you tell me where that rotten god is, I’ll give you the cookies made by little Louise. For your information, they’re the first cookies she’s ever made.”

“……”

“As a bonus, I also have photos of her making the cookies.”

Thwack.

“……”

“…What are you doing, Father?”

“Ahem, well, it’s the heart of a grandfather who wants to see the face of his eight-year-old granddaughter.”

“…I am her father.”

“So what?”

“……”

“Then I’ll give up the photos, but please put down the cookies.”

“Hoho, show some consideration to an old man who might die any year now.”

“Ha! Stop talking nonsense. You’ll live longer than me.”

“……”

“……”

…It was the backlash of a father-son quarrel.

* * *

“That little thing has grown this much?”

“Grown? What growth? She’s still tiny.”

“My goodness….”

“Look at those chubby cheeks.”

“…She takes after her mother.”

“She’ll grow up to be a beauty. Well, of course, she takes after the most beautiful woman in Modred.”

Unlike the immature adults still in a cold war, others’ eyes sparkled as they looked at the photo Ihan had handed over.

A late-born sister.

With an age gap of more than ten years, the siblings looked at Louise as if she were their own child.

‘She’s never going to get married.’

Nine brothers-in-law, plus a powerful father-in-law and grandfather-in-law.

This is just pitiful for whoever tries to take her.

“If anyone makes this child sad, I, Felix, will surely tear them limb from limb!!”

…And there’s also a cousin as big as a bear.

‘You’d need to bring an Aura user to get permission to marry her.’

To survive those people, that is.

While thinking these not-so-funny thoughts, the winner of the father-son fight was finally decided.

“You still have a long way to go, boy.”

“…Do you really want to beat your son that badly?”

“Heh heh.”

The knight who claimed the cookies stroked the pouch containing them very carefully, as if afraid they might get damaged, showing no interest in the loser.

“That little one has grown so much, so much….”

The cookies were generally unimpressive.

Since they were clearly made by a child for the first time in her life, the clumsiness was unavoidable.

But it was certain that even if these cookies grew mold or contained poison, they would all eat them up.

As if eating the most delicious cookies in the world.

“Thank you for the wonderful gift.”

“I didn’t just give it to you. Now you need to pay up.”

“……”

“If you received something, you should pay for it.”

“…I know. But I’m sorry, because I received such a valuable gift, I all the more don’t want you to go to the ‘pest.'”

“……”

“You’re still young, with a bright future ahead. You’re not even Welsh-born.”

So you shouldn’t go.

This war is theirs, not a war for others to bleed in.

“That’s discrimination based on birthplace.”

“Hoho, that’s not it. That’s not it at all….”

Ganok’s murmur grew quieter.

As if swallowing his emotions.

As if hiding the surge of feelings.

“It’s because you’re too good a person. That’s why I’m trying to stop you.”

“……”

“You are our benefactor, a good person. So how can I not try to stop you? You might even die if something goes wrong-!”

Other people with undeveloped spiritual vision might not know, but Ganok had heard through ghosts about what he had done for Modred.

And it was a debt that couldn’t be repaid even if he devoted what little remained of his life.

“You saved our poor granddaughter in place of this unworthy old man.”

He had heard from the ghosts.

How his granddaughter had been treated.

How she had survived.

How lonely and painful it had been.

…How much hardship that young child had endured.

“Why are you exaggerating so much about that? Any normal adult would have done the same.”

“But it was only you. The only adult who reached out to that child.”

“…It wasn’t just me.”

Ihan vaguely trailed off, turning his gaze outside the tent.

“Do you really think that kid survived alone for 5 years?”

“…?”

“There were quite a few normal adults, that’s what I’m saying.”

Ihan glanced outside.

The knights, soldiers, and servants still working outside.

“The families of those people working outside secretly helped a lot, that’s how the child survived.”

“……”

* * *

It’s a simple story.

How could a suddenly abandoned three-year-old child survive for five years?

Because of the child’s survival skills?

Because she was more intelligent than her peers?

Well, those aspects can’t be denied, but they don’t account for much.

So what is the answer to how the child survived?

– You know, Santa, there’s a fairy who brings firewood when winter comes!

A knight’s wife who brought firewood or blankets on cold days.

– And there’s also a grandma fairy who secretly brings bread or dried fruit when there’s nothing to eat!

An elderly mother with a soldier son.

– There’s also a mister fairy who gave me a fishing rod!

A fisherman who remembered the lord’s grace.

For five years, there were hands that secretly helped whenever the child was truly in danger.

Thanks to them, the child was able to grow up healthy.

Though it seemed everyone was ignoring and neglecting her, there were people who stepped up whenever the child was truly in danger, which is why she could still smile.

“You said you wanted to repay the debt? Don’t repay it to me, repay it to those people. I only helped for about ten days, but those people took care of your family for five years.”

“……”

“It’s fortunate. There are many bad people, but there are also many good ones.”

“…That’s right, truly… That’s right.”

Ganok and the other Modred bloodline members’ eyes reddened.

An indescribable gratitude made their hearts swell.

Ihan quietly looked at them, then slowly turned his gaze to the Margrave, whose expression was contorted as if he was about to burst into tears.

“Honestly, I wanted to hit you. I thought, how could you be so irresponsible as to leave a child like that?”

“……”

“…But after a while, I understood. People who became close to that kid often ‘suddenly died.’ Like the steward you left as acting lord dying of a sudden illness, or the elderly retired knight of your family who looked after her closely passing away from heart disease.”

“…Sir Bain.”

“Yes, Bain was his name. The old man who protected the kid for three whole years.”

…This was also something he learned during his investigation, that people who took care of or became close to the child frequently met with sudden accidents.

They would fall ill, or get injured from seemingly trivial matters.

It was by no means a coincidence, and perhaps the reason the Margrave couldn’t assign many people was…

“A [curse], I suppose. Attached to that kid.”

“……”

“So you assigned fewer people. To minimize casualties.”

“……”

“…A certain dark-skinned friend told me. Only those with special constitutions can accept gods. And probably the kid is….”

“A ‘vessel’…”

“……”

He gritted his teeth.

As if he was about to shed tears of blood.

“Yes, my daughter is a vessel arbitrarily chosen by the land god. A ‘vessel’ to be used for the god’s descent, and the lord’s people are forced to become the ‘materials’ for the vessel’s foundation.”

Crunch…!

“Do you know what’s even worse? We can’t escape this fate. No, even if we try to escape, as long as we were born in Wales, we cannot defy this fate. In other words….”

─We cannot escape even if we want to.

“…All our family, friends, and lovers are hostages.”