Ch.405 EP.83 – The Compass of a Knight’s Compass Has No Needle (4) Compass of a Knight’s Compass Has No Compass Needle (4)

Ihan remembered No. 3 as a truly unpleasant woman.

While he disliked No. 1 and No. 2 as well, his aversion to them stemmed from sensing they had lost their humanity. But No. 3 was different—her disgusting psychology went beyond unpleasant to the point of making him nauseous.

From the moment she joined the Dark Moon, she had mingled with other executives and led countless experiments. A psychopath who viewed people not as humans but as test subjects. A pervert who satisfied her numerous desires under the name of experimentation.

That’s why he personally considered her more dangerous than No. 1 and No. 2, and he had always thought she would eventually cause some major incident.

…And sure enough.

‘Worse than a greedy villain.’

Looking at [them], he was certain.

That terrible monster wearing only a human skin had finally crossed the line.

…She had conducted experiments on innocent humans.

-Now that I’m this close, I can see clearly.

‘The youngest one looks about twelve?’

That they were truly young.

He hadn’t been certain at the circus.

After all, detecting their energy had been difficult among the countless people.

But now that he was this close, it was different.

His sense—what Taechang had even named “hyper-perception”—was telling him.

An energy unlike the tar-like energy felt from monsters—a pure, clear energy.

The kind of energy that could only come from children, and Ihan trusted his senses.

[…..]

They were human.

Only transformed into monsters for some reason…

Ihan approached them with undisguised devastation.

Completely defenseless.

[Ka, kaaah!]

Yet despite this, they still threatened him warily.

Distrust of humans.

Their eyes revealed hatred and betrayal not just toward Ihan, but toward all people, and Ihan recognized these as the eyes of those who had been wounded.

He had seen them many times before.

“…When I was younger than you, I lived as a magician’s test subject.”

[…..]

His fellow slave test subjects had eyes exactly like theirs.

“I was just like you. I didn’t trust people and was suspicious of adults. But that distrust is justified. You must have been deceived many times. They probably told you that if you just endured one more day, you’d be free. That if you just endured one more day, they’d send you back to your families… but they never kept those promises.”

[!!]

“I know, it’s filthy and disgusting, right? Most adults you know are probably that kind of people.”

Their pupils dilated.

Expressions that seemed to ask if he was reading their thoughts.

But this wasn’t mind reading.

It was simply empathy from someone who had once gone through the exact same hardships they were experiencing.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that adults have failed you. I’m sorry we couldn’t save you.”

[…..]

“I’m sorry…”

Ihan apologized.

Because he couldn’t think of any other way to comfort their sorrow.

Ihan was disappointed in himself for lacking the eloquence needed in this moment.

…But then.

Drip, drip…

The children who heard his humble yet sincere apology—the first apology they’d ever received from an adult—were shedding tears.

Their bodies trembled, and they grew more distressed as Ihan continued speaking.

Because everything was a first for them…

No matter who they asked for help, no one had understood.

No one had recognized their sincerity or their struggles.

No one had comforted or apologized to them.

So they had given up.

They believed this painful life would never end.

But for the first time-

[Grrrr…!]

For the first time, someone was treating them as “people.”

Someone understood their [truth] without them even having to speak it.

Though they didn’t want to admit it and it hurt their pride, his words gradually dissolved their resentment and brought forth their sorrow.

No matter how much they tried to maintain their pride and killing intent, what opened the hearts of these “immature children” was simply a small kindness and warm sincerity.

Just as it’s the warm sunshine, not the cold north wind, that makes the traveler remove his coat.

“I won’t ask you to trust me unconditionally. That would be arrogant and might give you false hope.”

[Grrrr.]

“So I won’t make uncertain promises or commitments—I’ll only promise what I can keep.”

Snap.

He didn’t promise to save them or return them to their original forms.

He would try to help them regain their original forms, but that would be an uncertain, irresponsible promise.

The world isn’t easy enough that everything can be resolved just by trying hard.

So the only promise Ihan could make was:

“I swear by the dragon, the fairy, and my soul that I will eliminate those who did this to you from this world.”

[…..]

…They wanted to believe those words that might be lies.

* * *

Huff, huff!

The children soon dropped their hostility, but their bodies still showed no signs of calming down.

The clowns must have done something to make the children attack others against their will.

It was a disgusting method.

Forcing them to attack humans no matter what.

But Ihan:

“…You’re just going to sleep lightly.”

Whoosh.

He had no intention of playing along with their vile methods.

[…K…rr….]

In an instant, the children lost consciousness.

In a single moment, they fell asleep like patients under anesthesia, their eyes closing instantly.

Of course, it wasn’t anesthesia.

He had simply knocked them out by applying the Gyeoksanta technique.

But very gently…

Thud!

Even the large wyvern fainted, and Ihan felt relieved.

If nothing else, at least they weren’t injured.

“Phew…”

It looked easy but was actually quite difficult.

Making someone lose consciousness without hurting them required intense concentration.

“…Good thing they’re good kids.”

If they had trusted him even slightly less, such a technique wouldn’t have worked.

It was a method that worked solely because of those children’s innocent trust, which made him all the more angry.

To do this to such good kids…!

“You filthy bastards, does your food go down well after ruining the lives of such innocent children? Mine wouldn’t.”

Ihan turned around with a murderous gaze.

Slash!

Unlike the peacefully sleeping children, the clowns lay bleeding profusely, cut down by Ihan’s Plum Blossom Sword.

They had been completely annihilated, with only a few still alive.

It wouldn’t be strange if they died at any moment.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Kuhehe!

One of the surviving clowns heard Ihan’s muttering and sneered with a smirk.

“Children? All we see are monsters. Calling them children—I think it’s your head that’s gone crazy.”

The dying clown looked at Ihan with contempt.

Yes, who would believe it?

Who would look at those monsters and consider them human?

Click, click.

“Hehe, people ultimately judge everything by appearance.”

Ihan could see people gradually approaching.

Citizens who had confirmed the monsters and seen what happened to the clowns were slowly approaching, each holding axes or kitchen knives.

“M-monsters!”

“The clowns were attacked by monsters!?”

“Such abominable creatures…!”

“That knight is one of them! Kill him, kill him!”

[Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!]

Agitators mixed in with the crowd expressed their anger at what had happened to the Dark Moon.

It was a skillful move by those who had secretly infiltrated and ruled the city for four years—a scheme to kill the children and Ihan through incitement.

But even as a scheme, it was intelligent and had a high success rate.

After all, the children’s appearance was that of monsters, and Ihan was just someone who had brought chaos to the city by attacking the clowns.

Unless he killed all the territory’s residents, this was truly a crisis…

“All of you SHUT UP──!”

BOOOOOM!!

…A lion’s roar shook the city.

Crack!!

No joke—his roar created cracks in buildings throughout the area, and the crowd’s legs gave out, causing them to collapse as their weapons fell to the ground.

Thud, thud…

“……..”

Silence fell.

The crowd that had been making noise just moments ago was gone, replaced by cowards trembling like frightened puppies.

And Ihan felt no remorse looking at them.

After all:

“I heard you already knew. That the Dark Moon was a suspicious group of assassins.”

Florentia wasn’t that big a city.

Therefore, they couldn’t have been unaware of the Dark Moon that controlled the underworld, nor could they have been ignorant of their identity.

“You already knew. That the lord was up to something suspicious.”

They couldn’t have been unaware of the strangeness of criminals being captured and innocent vagrants disappearing from the streets.

Because they were the ones living in this city.

It made no sense that they wouldn’t know about the strange occurrences in their territory.

“You must have known. That the priests of Light were persecuted and captured.”

Corin had said it.

Diogen had saved them numerous times.

But on the day his whereabouts became unknown, no one could answer where he had disappeared to.

They had remained silent, no…

-They had turned a blind eye.

“You turned a blind eye. You ignored all the truth and pursued only your own benefit. Yes, you must have had your circumstances—being incited by others, or feeling pressured to ignore everything. But…”

Yes, they had chosen.

They had turned their eyes away from all truth and pursued their own convenience.

The food distributed by the Dark Moon.

The spectacular performances shown by the Dark Moon.

The benefits gained by following them.

Pursuing benefits.

It was something anyone would be tempted by.

However:

“I have no obligation to understand you.”

Yes, even knowing all this, he had no obligation to empathize with them.

Therefore:

“Don’t interfere with me. Don’t make me angry. Don’t dare show hostility and get out of my sight. This is the only mercy I can offer.”

Ihan issued both a warning and mercy.

“It’s what you’re good at, isn’t it? Turning a blind eye.”

…He couldn’t help adding a bit of spite.

“……”

Despite his taunting words, the people couldn’t get angry.

Not just out of fear, but because his warning somehow pierced their hearts.

While some were truly ignorant and being incited, others understood what his words meant, and some had cooperated with the Dark Moon.

Such people couldn’t deny his words, which made their hearts ache.

Well, those without conscience wouldn’t feel guilt, but they certainly couldn’t confront Ihan’s aura head-on, and so…

[-That won’t do.]

Squelch-

“…Huh?”

Slash!

…A person collapsed with a thud.

With a huge tentacle piercing their chest.

Slurp, slurp!

The tentacle was absorbing the person.

It was a scene devoid of reality, and the people were too stunned to even scream.

But regardless:

[What is this city? Are you planning to serve me a full course? Why are there so many corrupted humans here? Kuhehe!]

The ‘voice’ laughed with pleasure.

As if truly satisfied.

For a being from hell, humans heading toward corruption were delicious food, and this city was overflowing with them.

This was just:

[Is this what humans call a ‘farm’?]

Just pick and choose.

The voice, excited about such a convenient dining table, once again…

Slash!

“-What kind of nonsense is this, you disgusting creature.”

[…Oh my.]

The tentacle that was about to extend again was cut off.

The voice made a disappointed sound and clicked its tongue.

[Right, there was an annoying human. A human with a remarkably strong soul. Are you even human? You’re strong. …But.]

Whoooosh!

[─I’m not easy either.]

Rumble!

With the sneering voice, the city gradually began to collapse, and something was revealing itself.

Something enormous, too enormous…

Hissssss━!

…A serpent that could only be described as a giant dragon revealed itself.