Ch.358EP.75 – The Cogwheel Declares (6)

In the past, or rather in his previous life, his superior Dokgo Gupae was someone who would watch anything as long as it was entertaining, regardless of genre, and even described himself as a “mongrel.”

Well, he wasn’t in a position to judge since he had associated with such a person.

However, there was one genre even that man avoided…

“Ah, this is a revenge story.”

“Don’t you like revenge stories?”

“I do like them, but I don’t particularly care for romance fantasy-style revenge. I don’t like their methods.”

“How could the great Dokgo hyung avoid those?”

“Hmm, to summarize, emperors, kings, empresses, and other high-status people often appear as villains, and these bastards torment the protagonist from childhood. They kill the protagonist’s parents, abuse them, and go further with torture, burning at the stake, dismemberment—inflicting unspeakable suffering.”

“Just hearing about it makes me sick…”

“Right? But you know what’s even more infuriating? In the end, the romance fantasy protagonist often ends their revenge by forgiving the villain or just imprisoning them.”

“That suddenly makes me feel frustrated.”

“Me too. But what’s even more frustrating is that they consider this revenge. From my perspective, it’s not revenge at all.”

“The philosophy major in our platoon, while watching makjang dramas, said that such strange endings happen because everyone has different subjective views and philosophies…”

“I guess my philosophy can’t accept that.”

“Hmm, then what do you consider revenge, hyung?”

“Hmm… first, you start by making them unable to even eat porridge.”

“?”

“You pull out all their teeth. Then you pull out all their hair to make them bald, and then you use them as a target for mortar practice! That rotten battalion commander bastard!”

“…The conversation seems to be taking a strange turn…”

Though he had argued against it, Ihan secretly sympathized with Dokgo Gupae’s words.

Yes, revenge should be satisfying.

Why should there be discrimination just because someone has a high position?

Therefore—

‘Dokgo hyung, are you watching?’

Ihan felt nostalgic.

To think that the conversation he had only imagined—

Thwack! Thwaaack! Thwack!!

‘I’d actually get to do it in reality.’

Plop, plop-plop.

As he watched the teeth being pulled out one by one, Ihan couldn’t help but smile warmly, feeling proud of fulfilling his previous life’s superior’s dream. Regardless of what the other person was mumbling, Ihan focused on his task.

Thwack!

‘Ah, this fellow had four wisdom teeth.’

Occasionally admiring his own tooth extraction skills.

* * *

Rumble!

Knights rushed into the banquet hall.

The Order of the Silver Lion knights.

All members of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd knight divisions, who normally didn’t get along, hurried in together, but they were too pale to even feel discomfort about mingling with each other.

They couldn’t help it because…

‘This is insane! What the hell is going on!?’

‘I-I must have heard wrong. There’s no way, how could anyone do such a thing in the middle of the royal palace, in the banquet hall!’

‘The servants must have seen wrong. Surely!’

The Silver Lion knights were in denial, but they finally saw it and realized that the servant’s urgent report was true.

Thwack! Thwaaack!!

…Someone was being assaulted.

Who?

“Nnnngh…!”

…King Edmund.

“…”

The already pale faces of the knights turned even whiter, as if all blood had drained from them.

It was such an unbelievable sight that they wanted to deny reality.

Understandably so. After all, the person currently assaulting the king was…

“Oh, it’s you guys? Wait a bit. I still have about twelve teeth left to pull out.”

A knight wearing the ceremonial attire of the Order of the Silver Lion.

The most famous and infamous knight of the Silver Lion Order, the commoner-born knight Ihan Turtle.

He was beating up the king.

…But isn’t it strange?

Not a single noble, knight, loyal soldier, or servant in the banquet hall was stopping him.

One might think he had threatened them, but…

“Hmm…”

“That must hurt…”

“Indeed it does.”

…Everyone seemed to be deliberately looking the other way.

It was as if they were watching someone do the dirty work they themselves couldn’t do.

While the Silver Lion knights were still trying to understand the situation and feeling somewhat dizzy…

“S-shouldn’t we s-save His Majesty…?”

“…”

“W-why is everyone j-just standing there?”

“…Then are you…”

“…”

“Suggesting we charge at that man? Not unless you’re insane.”

“…True.”

“Besides…”

Crack!!

“That person must have a valid reason for doing this.”

The Silver Lion knights, who had sworn loyalty to the king, knew they should be outraged and intervene when the king was being assaulted, but strangely, they felt only bewilderment and no particular desire to stop it.

Was it because they feared Ihan Turtle’s power?

No, that wasn’t it.

Although they might have pride and arrogance about their status, their pride wasn’t so shallow as to submit to force.

They would stand up for their pride even if it meant death.

The reason they didn’t intervene was because they had already “seen” it.

—The knight who had fought proudly against the Great Archfiend, who was acknowledged by the holy relic, and who was favored by the Grand Saint.

Therefore.

‘There must be a reason?’

Hadn’t he shown through his actions and results what it meant to be a true knight?

“…Ahem.”

The knights chose to temporarily ignore the situation.

For now.

‘He won’t kill him, he won’t kill him…’

The knights chose to stand by and watch.

* * *

‘W-why aren’t you saving your king!!’

Through the pain striking his entire body and the terrible agony of having his teeth pulled out, Edmund looked at the knights with blurry eyes and resented them.

It would be natural for ordinary people to lose consciousness under such pain, but Edmund was somewhat strong-willed, just as the knight had assessed—though he might not have the caliber to be king.

Perhaps it was the sturdiness that came with the Pendragon bloodline.

However, Edmund currently felt no gratitude or respect for his lineage, only utter loathing for this situation, the knights, and the ministers who were merely watching!

‘Detestable traitors!!’

Just as King Edmund was about to curse them inwardly with hatred…

“You’re quite tough. Most knights would have fainted or passed out, but your eyes are still full of venom.”

“!?!”

“Isn’t it ironic? You’re safe right now thanks to the Pendragon mystery that you called ‘damned.'”

“Y-you bastard…”

The number of remaining teeth was five.

It was difficult to pronounce words properly, but Edmund glared at the knight with eyes full of venom and hatred.

A gaze without a trace of remorse.

Only resentment remained.

The knight didn’t avoid that gaze.

Was he accepting the resentment?

…The knight wasn’t kind enough to accept the resentment of someone he despised.

“What are you glaring at?”

Thud!

“Nnnnngh!”

King Edmund’s eyes suddenly felt a searing pain as if they had been burned.

He hadn’t been stabbed in the eyes.

Rather, there was no mark on his eyes; the knight had merely manipulated the facial muscles around the eyes.

Well, that would cause pain as if the eyes were about to burst.

“Here’s a bonus.”

Zzzzing!!

After his eyes, his ears began to fill with noise.

It felt as if dozens of insects had crawled into his ears, and he could barely breathe through his nose.

Crack! Crack-crack!!

This was truly the pinnacle of physical manipulation, and without expertise in the minute muscles that make up the face, even holy magic couldn’t fix it.

Why?

‘Because I’m using this man’s blinking and swallowing to apply pressure.’

It was manipulation using only complex micro-muscles, not magic, martial arts, sorcery, or holy techniques.

It was no exaggeration to call it a curse that could only be broken by a master who had mastered techniques like Bungeunchakgol, Chukgongong, and Yeokyongsul to their limits.

“You know what, you pathetic excuse for a human being? There were slaves who were kidnapped by the Blood Crusader forces you revived 30 years ago and subjected to human experimentation. Most of those slaves died at the hands of illegal mages, and the number of children who died among them exceeds tens of thousands.”

“Nnnngh!!?”

“Later investigation revealed that if three out of a hundred children survived the human experiments, it was considered fortunate. And I am one of those survivors.”

“!!!!”

Edmund tried to widen his eyes.

Or rather, he wanted to, but his eye muscles wouldn’t obey, and he could barely open his eyes into slits while convulsing.

“Ridiculous, isn’t it? I find it ridiculous too. I never expected the culprit to be so close.”

Plop.

Finally, the last tooth was extracted, and Edmund felt like he was about to die.

Just a little more pressure and he might die of cardiac arrest.

“That won’t do.”

Thump-!

“Uuuuugh?!!”

The knight kindly protected his heart and vital organs.

Using his own “power.”

“Don’t die. You can’t die. You need to live a long time. You need to scream more.”

The knight’s tone was incredibly gentle.

He even blessed Edmund, wishing for his good health.

“There’s still much to do. Last year our kids almost died too, and I need to pay you back for that as well, so how could this end now?”

As if begging him to live long, making it clear he had no intention of giving him an easy death.

And so…

“Ah, let’s try pulling out your hair next. It’s too lush, you bastard.”

…Edmund thought about wanting to die for the first time.