Ch.398EP.82 – Not a Knight-Errant. Not Even a Knight (7)

You’ve seen animals performing tricks before.

Lions jumping through rings of fire, bears and elephants doing stunts, or dolphins showing off their flashy movements in a show.

…However.

[Kaaaaa!!!]

No one could have ever imagined the sight of magical beasts, monsters, performing tricks.

Why? Because it’s that absurd.

Goblins, magical beasts obsessed with attacking humans and devouring human flesh, are jumping through rings of fire.

[Krrr!]

A pack of gnolls runs on all fours like real dogs, performing acrobatics.

These creatures, known for being intelligent enough to be called dog-men and incredibly arrogant, are doing such things.

And the main attraction—

[Screeeech!]

A wyvern.

A magical beast with such a nasty and fierce temperament that it earned the nickname “flying zebra.”

Once, some knights aspired to become Wyvern Knights and made bloody efforts to tame wyverns, but no one could ever tame them.

Some wyverns even tricked knights into believing they were tamed, only to drop them from the sky to their instant death.

They are truly not only cunning but also wicked magical beasts.

Whoosh!

“Wooow!”

“That’s amazing.”

“Take me for a ride too!”

…Yet here is a wyvern carrying people while flying and performing tricks.

It was showcasing various techniques including aerial somersaults.

It was an unbelievable sight that couldn’t help but stimulate the dopamine of the audience.

Clap clap clap clap!!

Thunderous applause erupted every time the magical beasts performed their show.

And soon.

“So magical beasts can be tamed!”

“Yeah.”

“I wonder if we could become friends with them?”

People showed affection toward the magical beasts.

Though still frightening, they embraced positive thoughts about possibly developing a mutual understanding.

…It was enough to make one sigh.

“Haah…”

“M-my lord?”

“…This is the worst performance I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“……”

Ihan’s expression showed fatigue.

As the magical beasts’ performance continued, his expression only hardened, and now he was just pressing his brow as if he’d seen something terrible.

Then he.

“…Hey, you.”

“D-did you call me?”

Karin, who unconsciously tensed up, perceptively opened his mouth, and Ihan nodded and asked.

“Has your master ever seen this performance?”

“…Yes. Just once.”

“How did he react afterward?”

“…Similar to you.”

Karin’s pupils suddenly dilated.

As if remembering something he had forgotten.

And then…

“It must have been about a year ago. After seeing this performance, my master suddenly started going out frequently. He was investigating something, but he never told me why he was so busy.”

“I see.”

“…I wanted to help, but that man just said, ‘I don’t need help from an incompetent fellow like you yet.’ I wasn’t sure if he meant he didn’t need my help at all…”

“I doubt it.”

“…Pardon?”

“Rather, he probably didn’t say anything because he was worried about you. He instinctively knew that what he was doing was dangerous.”

“What…?”

Instead of answering his question, Ihan abruptly stood up.

Maintaining his coldly hardened expression, he decided to leave this “nauseating circus.”

“Don’t follow me. It would be dangerous for you to get involved.”

“…What are you talking about? What exactly did you see, my lord?”

Giovanni was completely bewildered as he heard the quiet advice. He had clearly been in the same space and seen the same things, yet strangely, their conversations didn’t align.

As if they had witnessed completely different scenes.

To this question, all Ihan could answer was:

“…You know, magical beasts can never be tamed.”

“What?”

“If you’ve ever been threatened by a magical beast, you’d understand what I mean. Magical beasts and humans can never coexist; they’re merely competitors for survival.”

“……”

“Unless they’re ambiguous beings on the boundary between spirit beasts and magical beasts, like Orthros or Griffons, magical beasts are just magical beasts. It’s an unchanging truth. …In that sense.”

“…Gulp.”

Those listening to Ihan unconsciously swallowed.

They felt as if they were hearing a hidden secret of the world.

What exactly had he seen, and what had he realized…

A small clue to that was about to be revealed.

“A magical beast that can be tamed ‘is not a magical beast.’ That’s probably…”

*Flap!*

“Surround the priests!”

“Move aside! The criminals are over there…!”

The lord’s soldiers rushed in, pointing their swords and spears at Ihan and his companions with an ominous aura.

“……”

Even in this sudden situation, Ihan calmly raised both hands.

As if surrendering.

And then…

“I’ll give you the rest of my answer later. For now, I need to confirm something else.”

“…I might not be able to sleep wondering about your answer.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Ihan shrugged his shoulders and allowed the soldiers to put handcuffs on him.

Click-.

* * *

The soldiers captured Ihan, Karin, and Giovanni as well.

The reason for capturing them?

“What did we do wrong?!”

“Shut up, Briton!”

Thwack!

When Karin showed defiance and asked why they were being arrested, he was met with racial discrimination and a kick to his shin.

Though Karin teared up saying it hurt like hell, the soldiers merely laughed at him.

“A Briton daring to…!”

A voice filled with prevalent contempt for Britons.

It also implied that unprovoked violence was acceptable.

“You damn bastards…!”

Karin gritted his teeth with rage, and the soldiers were about to beat him with clubs to make him behave.

That’s when.

“-Stop.”

“…What?”

“I said stop.”

“……”

It was Ihan who had been allowing himself to be captured, and the soldiers were momentarily dumbfounded before snickering.

As if these fools didn’t understand their situation.

“Ha, these criminal bastards daring to tell a soldier…”

Crack!

“…………”

The soldiers’ mouths shut automatically.

Because the handcuffs were being torn apart like paper.

No, perhaps “torn apart” wasn’t the right expression for steel handcuffs, but there was no better way to describe the situation.

It was such an unrealistic scene that they felt their blood run cold.

And so.

“Let’s go quietly. Quietly.”

Slap, slap.

He tapped the soldier’s cheek exactly twice, and though the soldier felt humiliated and slightly hurt, he didn’t dare resist.

Ihan then took out a new pair of handcuffs from the soldier’s possession, discarded the broken ones, and put on the new ones.

“Let’s go.”

“……”

…At that moment, the soldiers realized.

They hadn’t captured this man; he had allowed himself to be captured.

But even knowing this fact.

“…L-let’s go.”

…The soldiers didn’t dare to resist.

* * *

The place they arrived at was an underground prison in the lord’s castle.

It was a place that reeked of mold and sewer waste, so unhygienic that one might lose two days’ worth of lifespan just by spending one day there.

“Ugh…”

“Urk!”

Sure enough, though their reactions differed slightly, both Karin and Giovanni were retching, and Ihan clicked his tongue.

“That’s why I told you to run away quickly. Why did you just stand there?”

“E-even though I’m a merchant, I have loyalty. I couldn’t let you go alone, my lord.”

“What good would it do for me to escape, *cough cough*! I-I would have been captured anyway as a priest.”

One claimed to choose loyalty, the other rationality.

But Ihan shook his head, calling them dishonest fellows.

“The merchant seems to be looking for an opportunity to benefit from this crisis. And you followed along obediently because you thought your master might be here.”

“……”

“……”

“You guys act contrary to how you look.”

“…Ahem.”

“Who’s worried about whom…”

While they couldn’t deny it and looked embarrassed, Giovanni cautiously asked a question.

“Excuse me… Did you know the soldiers would come to arrest us?”

“I didn’t know before watching the circus. But after seeing the circus, I realized. Alerting the lord about the demon’s existence was a mistake from the beginning.”

“…Wait, are you saying?!”

To Giovanni, those words sounded like:

“Are you saying the lord, Count Deniro, already knew ‘something’?”

Otherwise, there would be no reason to arrest them.

That’s how Giovanni interpreted Ihan’s words, and Ihan confirmed it.

“He probably knew. Maybe he already knew about the demon’s existence but was hiding it, or perhaps he’s been cooperating with that circus troupe, the Black Moon, from the beginning.”

“T-that can’t be…”

“I’m not certain. It’s just my guess. But seeing how they sent soldiers to capture us immediately after we delivered the news, I’d say my suspicion has risen to 80% accuracy.”

“…It looks like 100% to me.”

The timing was too convenient.

This situation was undeniable.

“My goodness, why would Count Deniro?”

“I don’t know. Well, I don’t care about noble affairs. I just need to find that person’s master.”

“…Why do you want to find my master?”

“Because your master probably has answers to questions I’m curious about.”

“B-but, how are you going to find him in this situation…”

Swish.

The prison cell where Ihan and the others were confined looked impossible to escape from.

The walls, which appeared to be at least 4 meters thick, and the thick iron door were clearly not designed for exit.

Therefore, even finding something seemed difficult…

“Step aside.”

“?”

“It would be easier to go through the iron door, but places like this might have hidden areas. Let’s break the wall first.”

“…What?”

Whoosh.

As they questioned him, Ihan clenched his fist.

Crack!

…Suddenly, a sound like thunder rang in their ears.

It was coming from his fist.

Boom-.

“…Huff.”

He gathers his strength to strike.

Everyone knows this concept, but when Ihan gathers strength, it’s different from anyone else.

Boom!

Vibrations occurring inside his body.

The quiet vibration sound from Ihan’s fist gradually created a massive resonance, and the two men watching felt their hair stand on end.

At this moment, the formidable compression of power felt from that man’s fist was so vivid it could be seen with the naked eye.

Bang! Boom!

-Layered Force.

Ihan’s martial art technique that compresses force and releases it.

It creates explosive impact through compression, but if the body’s durability is weak, it could cause the body to burst.

However, this no longer applied to Ihan.

Having perfected the state of Indestructible Diamond Body, Layered Force was no longer a technique Ihan had to worry about using due to body durability concerns.

So he could use it repeatedly without worry, but…

‘Three layers should be enough.’

Crack!

The previous day, he had used five layers to blow away a building, including the demon.

But now he was “modestly” using just three layers.

Yet modest as it may be, its power was-

Whoosh!

More than enough, even excessive, to penetrate the barrier holding him.

Boom boom boom boom…!

…That day, an unidentified earthquake occurred in the lord’s castle.

A mild but chilling earthquake.