Ch.396EP.82 – Not a Knight-Errant. Not Even a Knight (5)

Ihan trembled with anger, but he wasn’t the type of person with such a flawed character that he would take out his frustrations on others.

“…Thanks for now. Thanks to you, I now know why misfortune has struck everywhere I’ve visited.”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I’m glad I could be of help.”

Looking at his appearance, he seemed no different from an idle playboy, yet he had the discerning eye to immediately recognize a holy relic and even the talent to correctly identify its name. Indeed, one should never judge a person by appearances alone.

“Hey, what’s wrong with how I look…?”

“Huh? Did I say that out loud?”

“You spoke quite clearly.”

“…Honestly, I think it’s already quite respectful to treat someone who seduced a married woman and destroyed a family as a human being…”

“No! I didn’t seduce her! She was the one who came onto me!? This is driving me crazy…!”

He looked genuinely wronged, but lies didn’t work on Ihan.

Of course, that didn’t mean his words were complete lies either.

‘He definitely had feelings for that married woman, he did.’

But they weren’t entirely sincere either.

Ihan took a step back, thinking this guy had unusual tastes, and changed the subject.

“Anyway. Is there any way to control this compass? I’d like to avoid getting entangled with demons everywhere I go.”

“…That’s difficult. To freely manipulate a holy relic, you need to know high priest-level holy magic, but neither I nor my master are particularly skilled in that area.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Still, my master might know another way. He’s at least ten times more knowledgeable than I am.”

“……”

“What’s with that expression?”

“Just surprised to see a playboy who knows how to show respect for others?”

“…Is that a compliment or an insult?”

He didn’t seem like the type to follow anyone, yet seeing him show such respect suggested that this master of his must truly be an extraordinary person.

Well, that must be why Giovanni brought him here.

“…At this point, I’d like to meet him.”

“Then I’ll put in the effort to find him, sir. The city is large, but if we use people, we should be able to find him quickly.”

“Don’t do that, Guild Master. If possible, it’s better to stay quiet, or rather, safe.”

“Pardon?”

Giovanni tilted his head at what sounded like advice.

Safety…? It seemed out of nowhere.

“You just heard what the Guild Master said. What kind of tool this compass is.”

“I understand it’s a compass that finds demons.”

“Then you’ve heard everything.”

“?”

“Well, you brought me to this city today, Guild Master, but I probably would have come here even if I hadn’t met you.”

“…Pardon?”

“The compass needle was pointing to this city.”

“…Huh?”

“You’re quite perceptive. A true merchant’s talent.”

Despite his compliment, Giovanni’s face grew pale…

“W-wait! The needle what?!”

Corin’s face was also turning pale.

It was a natural reaction since Corin was the one who had given the detailed explanation about what the Pilgrim’s Compass was, and Ihan nodded, confirming their ominous suspicions.

“It seems there’s a demon in this city.”

So run away.

—If you don’t want to die.

*

*

*

“……”

“…Is this the right place?”

A group of over thirty strong men entered a desolate alley filled with homeless people and vagrants.

They were all large in build, with a certain roughness that suggested they were no strangers to fighting.

Shing-.

In their hands were menacing blades.

Kitchen knives and metal skewers—though it was clear from the atmosphere that they weren’t carrying these for cooking.

“Eek…!”

“!!”

The vagrants lying around quickly fled after witnessing this.

The men, seemingly not wanting to cause unnecessary commotion or problems, didn’t chase after them.

Instead, they moved toward their destination with quicker steps.

“…This is the place, right?”

“I told you it is.”

A dilapidated abandoned house.

It was a building that could collapse at any moment, but this was the only remaining temple and church of the Light of Radiance in Florentia.

Once, or rather just last year, it was the largest religious group in the south. Seeing how quickly it had fallen made one realize how unpredictable the world could be.

However, the men weren’t interested in such trivial matters.

They were simply doing what they had to do.

And so.

Whoosh!

They poured oil around and lit it with flint.

It was the moment flames rose over the last remaining church in this city.

Whether the oil had soaked in better than expected, or the abandoned house was made of materials that burned well, the flames rose vigorously.

As if to reduce everything to ashes.

“…Get ready.”

Swish-.

The sharply honed blades emitted a cold gleam.

To stab anyone who might try to escape the heat of the flames…

“-You’re playing around.”

Crack-.

“??”

…The blade folded.

Folded by what?

“Bring something sturdier next time; this would break after cutting meat twice.”

By fingers…

More precisely, it was being casually folded between a thumb and index finger, creating a surreal scene.

What is this…?

Crunch!

“Aaaagh!”

…But before they could process reality, they had to scream in agony.

Because their comrade’s leg had suddenly snapped like a cookie with a “crack” sound, and he was screaming in pain.

“Jack!”

“You bastard!”

Crunch!

“My apprentice has the same name? I’ll give you special treatment for that.”

“Aaaaargh!”

Another comrade’s leg broke.

This time, it wasn’t just broken—it was completely bent.

It broke like a branch folding completely, and even with treatment, it would leave a permanent disability.

The men trembled in fear, but they still couldn’t see what was attacking their comrades.

Truly an invisible attack.

Could it be!

“A, a mage…”

Was someone using magic?

“Don’t call me a spellcaster.”

His tone carried a mocking laugh.

Irritated, he shook his head and said:

“I’ll show you slowly because I feel wronged. Watch carefully.”

Step.

He slowly took his stance.

The men wanted to use this opportunity to attack, but unfortunately…

Crunch!

Their movements couldn’t keep up with his, even though he was moving deliberately slowly and kindly.

“Urgh…”

Shattered to pieces.

The slower he struck, the more care he seemed to put into his blows, creating a chilling effect that made the men tremble.

“…A, a kick?”

And then they saw it.

The attacks that had been breaking their legs weren’t magic, but simply kicks.

“Not just any kick, call it a ‘low kick’.”

He kindly provided the proper name for the technique.

Low kick. Though it looked simple, it was a technique difficult to use unless one had thoroughly trained their shin.

But if mastered properly.

“I saw somewhere that a proper low kick breaks not only the opponent’s body but also their spirit.”

Whump-.

Crack!

“But I’m just breaking your legs.”

The slow, continuous low kicks kept breaking the men’s legs.

The attacks continued with a gentle smile, and those with broken legs…

“P-please spare…”

Crunch!

…had their spirits broken long ago, not just their bodies.

* * *

Needless to say, Ihan knew that suspicious men were approaching the church.

How could anyone miss such blatant killing intent…

So he wasn’t surprised by the attack itself, nor did he feel much about crippling them.

Just the scent of blood in his nostrils told him what kind of activities these men engaged in.

‘These guys are thugs.’

So-called knife-wielding gangsters.

They were the type who wouldn’t hesitate to kill, and one of the groups Ihan despised.

Therefore.

“So, who are these guys?”

Ihan asked who they were.

“I-I don’t really…”

“……”

“D-don’t look at me like that! I’m really innocent!!”

Corin, who was questioned, frantically waved his hands.

He knew the man was strong just by looking at him, but the power that had instantly crippled thirty strong men was astonishing.

‘He was really going easy on me.’

He suddenly recalled his own behavior during their first meeting and realized it was like provoking a bear.

Imagining how he could have been torn apart, Corin quickly examined the men’s faces.

And then…

“That’s Knife Jack, isn’t it?”

The face of the man whose leg Ihan had broken just once looked somewhat familiar.

“If it’s Knife Jack, isn’t he someone who works for a major loan shark?”

“…What era are you talking about?”

“?”

“Well, Giovanni, you might not know since you’ve been away on business trips for quite some time. Recently, the underground organizations in Florentia have been unified. During that process, most of the underground figures died, and the remaining forces were all absorbed by the newly formed organization.”

“!?”

“Well, it happened just two months ago.”

“In just two months?!”

Giovanni was shocked.

Florentia’s underworld had such power that even the lord’s soldiers were reluctant to interfere with them.

The fact that such organizations had collapsed and been unified in just two months was hard to believe…

“…Anyway, forget about the underworld talk. What’s the reason these guys suddenly started arson and tried to kill you?”

“Ah, that’s…”

“I think I have a rough idea now.”

“…Master.”

“?”

When asked for a reason, Corin unexpectedly murmured about his master, and Ihan tilted his head.

Corin muttered to himself for a moment, organizing his thoughts, then looked at Ihan.

“…Y-you said earlier that there might be a demon in this city.”

“That wasn’t my thought, but what this compass indicated.”

“That’s the same thing. A-anyway. From what I can see, if we assume there’s a demon in this city, the only place it could emerge from is ‘there’.”

“The place that took over the city’s underworld?”

“Yes, that’s it. And this is also a guess, but perhaps my master has already died at their hands.”

“……”

“T-to explain in detail, the organization currently controlling the underworld hates those who serve the Light of Radiance. They probably think we deny the ‘god’ they serve.”

“…God?”

Every topic he mentioned gave off an ominous feeling.

It seemed like a cult organization similar to a fake blood church.

…However,

“The assassination organization [Black Moon] that appeared one day and took control of Florentia’s underworld. They’re terrible people who serve an unknown god.”

“……”

…When the name of his former workplace was mentioned, Ihan’s pupils naturally dilated.