Ch.52EP.15 – The Knight Hosts a Banquet (3)

# Hans Schmidt, instructor of the Metallurgy Department.

Dorothy, lecturer of the Art Department.

Kam of the Statistics Department.

Den of the Architecture Department.

Professor Alain de Wagner of the History Department.

Distinguished faculty members within the academy, exceptional talents.

Some even ranked among the masters in their fields.

Yet these individuals were in the [Parasite Abyss], of all places—an area beyond legal jurisdiction.

Even elite soldiers hesitated to enter such a district, yet these prominent figures walked in boldly?

And such influential people at that?

This was clear proof that something suspicious was happening.

However.

“W-wait a moment! Oh, this is a misunderstanding! There seems to be a misunderstanding, so let’s talk…!”

“Y-yes, Sir Turtle! L-let’s resolve this through conversation! Th-there’s a big misunderstanding between us!”

“Ahem, this man is quite hasty. We have our reasons for—”

Thwack!

“Uh…”

Thud.

Den, the master architect.

A throwing needle pierced his chest.

An assassination weapon commonly used among assassins.

The needle struck Den’s chest precisely, and he fell to his knees, coughing blood.

“I coated it with goblin mixed poison. You know how their poisons are notoriously difficult to neutralize because of all the random things mixed in? It must be quite painful.”

“W-what are you doing…!”

To throw a weapon without any discussion—how could anyone be so barbaric!

They were genuinely outraged and…

“Ha, how did you figure it out?”

Woong.

With a sneering laugh, they manifested “mana.”

Unlike Irene Windler’s beautiful wave-like light, this was a murky, sewage-like color.

But he knew it was still mana.

…It was also the color displayed by “illegal mages” who had abandoned human ethics.

Whoosh!

The throwing needle melted away without a trace.

Den had already burned away the poison with mana.

“Kugh, how vicious!”

But the goblin’s mixed poison was severe.

Though he neutralized it, the poison contained countless filthy substances, making it difficult to even maintain his balance.

Without mana, it would have been unbearable.

“You lowly knight, how dare you…!”

Gone was the friendly smile, replaced by contemptuous glares from all five.

Despite their angry stares, Ihan remained impassive.

No, rather, he was so cold it was terrifying.

Flinch!

Hans felt the ominous aura and flinched, but tried not to show it as he gritted his teeth.

“You, how did you know?”

“Know what?”

“How did you discover our true identities?!”

“Is that what you’re curious about in this situation?”

“It’s a mage’s scholarly curiosity.”

“Scholarly curiosity my ass. You’re just parasites spreading plagues.”

“……”

Still without a hint of a smile, but with eyes somehow burning with intensity, Ihan shot back incredulously.

“You brainless parasites, did you think you wouldn’t be caught when you were so obviously trying to use people?”

“……”

“Was it fun manipulating Odwal, that fool, to do your bidding? You morons, you think you’re smart but you’re just imbeciles. Oh, is that rude? Even people with mental disabilities would be smarter and kinder than you. You’re less useful than maggots and filthier than rapists. I suppose no comparison would be appropriate for you.”

“…We will never let you live.”

“You’re neither trolls nor kobolds, so why do you keep barking like dogs?”

“!!”

Whoosh!

Further dialogue was meaningless, and they pulled out staffs from their robes.

To punish this insolent “insect” who had insulted them!

However.

Snap!

“Who are you pointing at, you bastard.”

Crack!

“Aaaaargh!”

Hans, a spellcaster with no basic manners, had his wrist severed by an axe.

* * *

If asked when he noticed their awkwardness, he would answer:

‘I knew from the beginning.’

That’s how foolish these people were.

“[Blow, bloody wind of the north!]”

Dorothy, or rather, this woman who had merely stolen Dorothy’s “skin,” had no trace of a painter’s unique smell of paint or graphite on her fingertips.

Instead of the atelier scent that a famous painter should have, she only emitted the stench of decay.

And she expected him to believe she was a painter?

Pathetic.

Whoosh!

A wind sharp as a blade rushed toward Ihan, but he charged forward, unconcerned.

It was a wind spell capable of slicing human flesh, but.

Slash!

“Ugh!”

“Brush your teeth. Your breath stinks.”

Crack!

As if mere blades could wound his body.

Without a scratch, he grabbed the mage’s jaw and immediately crushed it.

She would be eating only porridge from now on.

Assuming she survived, that is.

“R-Reni!”

“So that was her name? Then where’s the real Dorothy?”

“You bastard! Release her this instant!”

“Fine, here you go.”

With a whoosh, the mage’s body was thrown toward her companions.

They tried to catch her with telekinesis, but unfortunately…

Thwack!

“!!?”

“Y-you madman!”

Ihan’s sword pierced through her stomach and continued through to accurately impale another mage’s throat.

“Kugh…!?”

Splatter!

Den of the Architecture Department.

For a renowned master, he lacked the dignity of a craftsman.

His hands were too delicate for an artisan.

If you’re going to disguise yourself, at least do it properly.

“[Pierce! Sharper, more cruelly!]”

“[Spread, fire! Hotter, blaze! Like lava…!]”

Incantations that were practically screams.

But these fools were idiots.

What kind of knight would use magic when a knight was this close?

Whoosh!

Crack!

Ihan’s hand axe pierced the center of Kam’s chest.

For a talent from the Statistics Department who supposedly coveted even the royal family, his eyes were empty and reeked of drugs.

Meaning there was nothing in his head.

“[Fire-]”

The remaining one tried desperately to complete his incantation, but.

“—SILENCE—!”

A roar greater than a lion’s, no, a great tiger’s, poured forth, immediately canceling the spell.

Lion’s roar.

Ihan’s massive shout filled with spirit echoed throughout the entire street.

It caused cracks in the old buildings.

It was a roar incomparable to the one he had shown the students the day before.

And such a roar mixed with killing intent and spirit was by itself a powerful…

“My, my ears!? I can’t hear…!”

“Aaaagh…!”

…attack.

The mages’ spells tangled mid-incantation, causing them excruciating pain.

But the greatest damage and pain came from Ihan’s roar.

Blood flowed from their ears, eyes, and noses, and some immediately lost consciousness.

Alain.

More suited to be called a “necromancer” reeking of women’s perfume and blood than a legendary historian.

“No intention of hiding, you fucking bastards.”

Parasite Abyss.

They say this district is called the kingdom’s cancer and parasite?

Wrong.

The true useless parasites are those creatures.

Creatures that wear others’ skins and parasitize others’ lives.

That was Ihan’s sincere assessment.

“H-how…”

Hans, the only unharmed mage, trembled.

In an instant, four of his comrades were spitting blood, unconscious or dead.

Overwhelming.

Yes, overwhelming.

He was truly crushing the mage race like insects.

“S-Sir Turtle…”

“How convenient. Earlier you were insulting me, and now you’re using honorifics? Pick one, will you?”

Thud, thud.

His footsteps were getting closer.

Hans was terrified out of his mind.

How could such a monster exist?

They said he was just a demoted knight, but that skill was far from someone who deserved demotion.

“Y-you, what exactly are you! W-why did you come to the academy?!”

“……”

“Y-you’re after it too, aren’t you!? D-did you infiltrate to get the ‘musket’ design left by the Great Alchemist! I-I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it to you, so please spare my life—”

“You’re disgusting, so please shut up.”

Crack!

“Aaaaargh!”

He stomped on his ankle.

A merciless action.

Taking another step forward, he roughly grabbed the man’s jaw and…

Crunch!

“!!!”

Crushed it completely.

Shattered it with pure strength.

Then…

Thwack.

…he stabbed a throwing needle into his heart.

“Mages don’t die easily even when their hearts are pierced. Maybe because it’s the core organ for mana, it’s definitely tougher than normal people’s. But when the heart is suppressed like this, they can’t use mana either.”

“!!”

With his jaw shattered and mana sealed, Hans, or rather the parasite using Hans’s name, writhed in pain and struggled desperately, but it was meaningless.

Escaping from Ihan’s grasp was like a monkey with its hand in an alligator’s mouth deluding itself that it could escape.

“Huff.”

Ihan stepped on him and looked up at the sky.

Really.

“Why do these mosquitoes keep coming no matter how many I kill?”

Ihan grumbled like someone who had just swatted a mosquito in late summer.

As if what he had caught were not people at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, proving that the Parasite Abyss had unusually many visitors today, there were those secretly watching the battle between the mages and Ihan.

“Amazing. They weren’t ordinary individuals, yet he defeated them so easily.”

“Not just strong, but experienced too? He keeps revealing more and more.”

Jack was right.

These weren’t amateur mages like the ones the students had defeated earlier.

They were all Class 2 illegal mages who wouldn’t hesitate to commit murder and crimes.

And Class 2 meant that each one required a senior knight, or even a high knight, to handle.

From Class 2 upward, their power and lethality were not to be taken lightly.

Yet it took less than a minute to neutralize them.

It looked like he was playing with children, but anyone with battle experience would know.

His combat style was specialized for subduing and killing mages, and it was an extremely intelligent and experienced tactic.

“He’s properly mastered the art of fighting, no, ‘killing’ mages. Honed through countless real battles.”

“Did he make a career of killing mages?”

“He might have.”

“……”

He truly might have spent his life killing only mages.

Nothing else could explain such proficiency.

Did he have some personal grudge?

At that moment.

“—How long are you going to just watch?”

“……”

“Come out, you insolent young master.”

“……”

The youngest lord of the North, Roen, smiled bitterly.

‘So he noticed after all.’

He had suspected that he couldn’t fool those eyes, but it seemed he was discovered quite easily.

“My lord…”

“Let’s go.”

“If we go, I think we’ll get beaten up.”

“Today, I deserve it.”

Roen readily admitted it, and decided to accept it even if he got beaten up today.

After all…

“So you’ve come, you insolent bastard.”

“…I apologize.”

“You should be sorry. I deliberately kept them alive because of you.”

Toss.

“……”

A crumpled paper hit Roen’s chest and fell.

The paper Ihan had found inside the scarecrow the day before.

Though he couldn’t tell who had given it to him, Ihan knew the moment Roen appeared before him.

“Yes, as you said, I didn’t kill them.”

That this man had seen through him.

Roen calmly nodded in acknowledgment and looked around.

“Three of them seem dead.”

“I killed exactly two. I pierced the woman’s stomach avoiding vital organs. So she’s still breathing. Though she could die from blood loss at any moment. Not my concern.”

“…I see.”

Yet he had spared those who shouldn’t die easily.

Did he have some ability to discern the severity of crimes?

…Well, ability or not.

“You did excellently.”

It was an outcome he had hoped for.

To such praise, Ihan replied:

“Excellent, right? Then—let me hit you just once.”

“…Ah.”

Roen broke into a cold sweat as his prediction became reality.

He had prepared himself for this, but looking around now, he realized:

A street splattered with blood.

Strength capable of crushing a human jaw like jelly.

If he took “just one hit,” he wasn’t sure he would live to see tomorrow’s sun.

‘Should I have left a more polite message?’

The time traveler belatedly realized that regret, no matter how swift, always comes too late.