Ch.347EP.73 – Is Hitting the King a Crime? (1)

As expected, the kingdom was in an uproar the very next day.

If any other district had been invaded, it might have been different, but of all places, the upper-class area…

The streets where nobles resided had been violated, so it would have been strange if there wasn’t a commotion.

If it had been the lower-class district, they would have ignored it, but ironically, when the powerful were affected, there was an uproar—perhaps proof that a certain knight’s disdain for nobles wasn’t entirely unfounded.

“Chase them! They couldn’t have gone far!”

Though the intruders had vanished with a pillar of fire, even with magic or mystical means, there was a limit to how far they could flee.

Pursuit teams were organized as the noble council sought to inflict severe punishment on those who dared to touch the nobility.

…It was also a quick measure to hide the fact that the noble council had knowingly allowed the Brass Knights to infiltrate the royal capital and even blocked the deployment of troops.

‘If this gets out, my political career is over!’

‘I don’t care what happens to the commoners, but touching nobles? These bastards have crossed the line.’

‘Sigh, such trouble in my later years.’

Thus, the noble council had no choice but to do their utmost to protect their political lives and produce results.

So now they were pursuing the Brass Knights, even mobilizing their personal troops, and the council had no doubt they would apprehend them soon.

…However.

“Incompetence at this level is practically magical.”

Slurp.

The man clicked his tongue as he drank his black tea.

Remarking on what a pathetic display it was.

“How can people with so little thought engage in politics… Ah, no. What politician actually thinks? Haha. I’m spitting in my own face.”

The man quickly corrected his statement.

Though he mocked the nobles’ incompetence, he realized that the officials in his homeland were all quite similar, which made him laugh.

“Isn’t that right?”

Whoosh!

As if seeking agreement, people gradually appeared with a burst of flames when he asked.

“…Greetings, Commander.”

“That’s enough, go rest now.”

The Brass Knights, looking exactly the same as when they had fled the previous day, revealed themselves, and the man nodded.

“The combination of mystery and magic is fascinating. Using spatial mystery and magic to hide while stopping time within space… Well now. I couldn’t have imagined such a thing in my youth.”

The man grinned as he looked at them, and the Brass Knights, realizing their escape had been successful from his casual attitude, bowed their heads.

“Farhan, you’ve worked hard too. I was right to trust and send you.”

“……”

“Hey, are you ignoring me? Are you upset I didn’t help?”

“……”

“Didn’t I tell you I had business to attend to? So don’t be too disappointed—”

“Ugh…!”

Splatter…

“……”

Before he could answer the man’s question, Farhan suddenly vomited blood.

He spewed so much that even the man was rendered speechless, and after coughing up a considerable amount of clotted blood, Farhan looked up at the man with a much paler expression.

“I’ve shown an unsightly appearance, Commander.”

“…You must have had a difficult time.”

“Haha… I can’t deny it. That was the strongest knight I’ve faced since you, Commander.”

Urgh…

The internal injuries Farhan had sustained were so severe that even his half-demon recovery abilities couldn’t heal them completely.

He had endured dozens of sword clashes with that knight, and the accumulated internal damage was slowly killing him.

“I try to recover, but I can’t. A knight who freely manipulates mental energy is truly formidable, haha…”

“Stop laughing and drink a potion. You’ll really die at this rate.”

Though he scolded him, the man was inwardly surprised.

It was the first time he had seen Farhan appear so powerless.

“Did you sell your mental energy somewhere? You should have responded in kind.”

“…That’s why I got off this lightly.”

“What?”

“If my mental energy is like a sharpened saw blade, his is a hammer. A large hammer at that.”

“……”

“I’m currently admiring myself for surviving a collision with something like that.”

“…Heh heh.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

“I’ve lived long enough to hear such boasting.”

“I’m currently feeling quite proud of myself, so please save the scolding for later.”

“…Then let me ask you this. That knight, could you ‘kill’ him?”

“……”

“Why no answer?”

“…7 to 3.”

“Hmm, 7, that’s a fairly good probability—”

“For reference, we’re the 3.”

“……”

“If you joined in, Commander, I could raise it to 4.”

“…What on earth were you fighting against?”

“I don’t know either, haha.”

Farhan laughed, and the man could only wear an exasperated expression.

After their banter ended, Farhan wiped the blood from his mouth and asked.

“So, did your business go well?”

“Who do you think you’re asking?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“…Sigh.”

The man looked frustrated despite Farhan’s comment.

He clearly showed disappointment and even fatigue.

“Did you fail, perhaps?”

“I may be old, but I’m not incompetent enough to fail at something like this.”

“Then why do you look like that…?”

He didn’t seem to have fought a fierce battle, nor did the task appear to have been difficult.

Puzzled by his deflated appearance, Farhan listened as the man said:

“I’m disappointed. That our former ‘enemies’ have declined so much… I’m so disappointed and frustrated that I’m beyond anger and now just feel drained.”

“……”

He expressed his disappointment like a lament, and Farhan looked at him and said:

“…You said you were from Britain, right?”

“What does Britain matter? I never pledged loyalty to such a lowly, foolish kingdom. I was simply affiliated with Britain because it was the homeland of the lord I followed and respected.”

“……”

“So I’m disappointed. That the kingdom of knights my lord once called so great has amounted to only this—it’s pathetic and devastating.”

The man took a breath.

And then…

“Hannibal, my most respected lord. Our old adversaries are dead, and all that remains are creatures worse than vermin. How unjust this is…”

“……”

Farhan slightly shook his head as he watched his commander mutter to himself as if appealing to the dead.

After all.

‘As expected, no one from Britain is in their right mind.’

He was reminded once again that there were many strange people among those born in the south.

…Still.

‘Strange or not, as long as he gets the job done, there’s no problem.’

Results were everything.

Suddenly, Farhan thought of the knight he had fought.

What would he be thinking as he saw the scars they had left on the kingdom?

Would he be laughing, or…

-Would he be angry?

*

*

*

Splash!

“This is you, instructor, isn’t it!?”

“??”

…Ihan wore a dumbfounded expression.

He had been in the middle of lunch—the maid’s special shrimp-flavored bisque pasta—when unexpected visitors arrived, leaving him utterly perplexed.

One might wonder why visitors would be perplexing, but…

“There’s quite… q-quite a lot of you?”

Though the only advantage of his neighborhood was its quiet, secluded nature, that advantage was now meaningless as many people visited his house at once, making Ihan tilt his head in confusion.

Wondering what this was all about.

But his visitors—or rather, his disciples—continued to thrust the newspaper at him, and Ihan reluctantly read its contents.

“‘A large man in a black suit saved the nobles. According to one rescued noble’s testimony, [He looked really scary, but his back was warm, and his muscles were harder than stone yet smooth to touch]’… What is this? Why the sudden sexual harassment?”

“I knew it was you!”

Despite his unenthusiastic response, everyone nodded as if they had expected it, and Ihan frowned in protest.

“…I wasn’t planning to deny it anyway.”

He had no intention of denying something he had done, but they weren’t listening.

Instead:

“Thank you, Instructor. You saved my aunt.”

“?”

“Thank you, thank you, Instructor! My uncle and grandfather were saved thanks to you!”

“??”

“My little sister says you were cool. This is a gift.”

“…?”

Suddenly, a gift parade began, and Ihan’s yard quickly filled with presents stacked like a tower.

Fine liquor and snacks, gold and silver ornaments, expensive-looking watches, and even what appeared to be a high-quality horse.

Neigh!

“……”

Ihan was bewildered by the sudden accumulation of gifts, but soon realized something.

“Ah, right, you’re all from wealthy families, aren’t you?”

Ihan finally remembered that the people he had saved might have connections to his disciples.

Though they always looked like beggars because of his harsh training, the boys and girls he called “young master” or “chicks” were all nobles.

And quite wealthy ones at that…

So it wasn’t strange that they would have connections to people living in the upper-class district, and he finally understood why they had brought so many gifts, but:

“Th-thanks, but take all this back. Where would I even put all this in my house?”

“We anticipated that and brought craftsmen to build a storage facility. If you wish, we can also make your house larger and more spacious.”

“It’s plenty big enough already…”

“As for the horse, we can send a stable and caretakers if you wish. Or, if it’s inconvenient, we can keep it at my family’s racetrack. You would receive additional income whenever the horse competes, which wouldn’t be bad.”

“……”

“Instructor, expressing gratitude with money might make you uncomfortable, but please accept it. Unfortunately, this is the only way nobles know how to express their thanks.”

“……”

“Even if you refuse or donate these gifts elsewhere, if you don’t accept them personally, even more extravagant presents will arrive tomorrow. And they’ll keep coming.”

“…You people live such exhausting lives.”

Ihan clicked his tongue.

He was grateful, but their lifestyle seemed tiresome just to look at.

…Still.

Clink.

“……”

He caught a glimpse of a bracelet made of platinum and green diamonds that particularly shone in the pile of gifts, and with a fake cough…

“…That bracelet. Do you have a smaller one?”

He asked in a whisper.

“Pardon?”

“A size suitable for a woman.”

“??”

“Ahem.”

…He thought it would look good on the maid.