Ch.87EP.23 – The Knight Conducts an Interview (6)

This guy moves fast.

‘So that’s why he rose through the ranks quickly despite looking young.’

Though submissive, he’s a man who knows when to stand firm and when to bow properly.

Normally, I might have thought highly of him.

Some might call it servility, but I would have considered it an intelligent survival strategy.

But right now, I don’t feel even a hint of goodwill toward him.

Usually, when first impressions are bad, they tend to stay that way until the end, and that’s how Ihan felt now.

‘If he was so perceptive, he shouldn’t have sent those thugs after my kid.’

Whoosh.

A savage aura rises along with his displeasure.

Having consumed the [Immeasurable Grade] enhancement, he was still unskilled at controlling his aura.

Besides, he didn’t feel the need to control it in front of these people, so he deliberately let it loose.

Crash! Cracks appeared in nearby glasses and windows.

A menacing aura naturally becomes a powerful force on its own.

Glass items with relatively weak durability screamed in protest, while Simon and his secretary had to scream even louder inside.

* * *

Simon desperately wanted to flee, but he didn’t dare.

If he ran from this axe-wielding monster, he’d surely end up with a gaping hole somewhere in his body.

Simon, 29 years old, didn’t want to depart from this world in the prime of his youth.

“D-do you know anything about the Tristan Marquis family?”

He began spilling everything he knew.

“…Hmm, I don’t know.”

“They’re an extremely famous family…”

A knight who doesn’t know about the Tristan family?

That seemed problematic.

“So, is that an issue right now?”

“…Of course not, you might not know them, yes.”

Right, he might not know!

Although the Tristan family is one of the founding noble houses and one of only three marquis families remaining in the royal capital, why should that matter?

If this person doesn’t know them, that’s Tristan’s fault, certainly!

Showing his extremely sycophantic side, Simon continued.

“Ahem, w-well, the Tristan family is a great house. Though not comparable to Lionel or Galahad, they’re quite substantial and command one hundred knights. Besides the Order of the Silver Lion, few houses command so many knights.”

“A hundred knights…”

Knights, though varying individually, were like raw gems filtered through a sieve when considered one by one.

While many swordsmen learned combat techniques, only one in thirty might truly become a knight.

Rural nobles might have lower standards, but knight orders belonging to major nobles in the royal capital were on a different level.

The elite of the elite.

One could handle dozens of experienced soldiers alone.

And they had a hundred such knights?

The economic power required to maintain a hundred knights, each worth as much as a warhorse, and the fact that the royal palace permitted them to command such a force, spoke volumes about their authority.

“And the current head of the family, Marquis Jeminia, still has no children. From the family’s perspective, their lineage is about to end, so the Tristan house is working day and night to arrange the Marquis’s marriage as soon as possible.”

The Tristan Marquis family failing to continue their lineage had many implications.

They were one of the royalist elders, with close ties to the royal family.

It meant they were a major force supporting the royal family.

If the head of such a force couldn’t continue his lineage, it would mean the royalist nobles would lose about 30% of their power.

For the royalist faction, this was an absolutely undesirable situation.

“Why hasn’t this marquis guy gotten married and had kids yet if he’s in such an important position?”

“G-guy…?”

He’s still a Marquis, after all.

“Your answer is slow-?”

“Ah, yes!”

Ahem.

As he said, it might seem strange.

Why hasn’t the head of a marquis family, with all the noble status, power, and authority, had children yet?

The reason is…!

“To show his loyalty and integrity to the kingdom…”

“If you spout nonsense, I’ll cut your tongue off first.”

“Loyalty my ass! Men of the Tristan family lose their male function the moment they have a child. In other words, their sexual desire is castrated. And Marquis Jeminia is still vigorous and known for enjoying women and wine. With such a personality, he has many lovers but no children.”

“That’s messed up. How old is he?”

“He’s 53 this year.”

“……”

“Ahem.”

Simon lowered his eyes in embarrassment even as he spoke.

And Ihan…

“That old man’s got spirit.”

He felt admiration rather than contempt.

It was impressive that someone of that age was still so vigorous.

However.

“But what does this Tristan guy have to do with my kid?”

The important part hadn’t come up yet, and Ihan urged him to answer.

After such a build-up, the main point should follow.

He sent this warning, and Simon hesitated briefly before…

“M-Marquis Jeminia sent a matchmaker to the Pollet family. Saying he’s finally ready to get married…”

“…Who was the matchmaker sent to, by the way?”

“……”

“No way?”

“Ahem.”

“…What the fuck?”

Ihan let out a crude curse for the first time in a while.

Even without hearing the answer, he could guess who the matchmaker was sent to.

Ihan was dumbfounded.

“-L-let me emphasize again that we’re merely matchmakers. The Marquis wanted a meeting, and the guild only provided the connection, yes.”

“Why would he want you to arrange such a match?”

“Surprisingly, nobles often use us for matchmaking. While families arrange marriages through engagements… don’t you know? Even nobles have problems and desires. Engagements break for various unspeakable reasons, and cases where children can’t be born due to affairs or violence are commonplace.”

Nobles must not reveal their flaws.

So when something unsavory happens, they hide it thoroughly and prefer to resolve everything discreetly.

In other words, even if the preparation process is expensive, all is well if the result is good.

“The Marquis is the same—he needs to marry and have an heir soon, so while looking for a suitable woman, he set his sights on Lady Levi Pollet. However, due to social appearances, he needs to hide the fact that he sent a matchmaker to such a young lady. And the guild is doing its best to make this marriage happen.”

“……”

“…While it might be uncomfortable from your perspective, Lady Levi Pollet is already a desirable prospect for many nobles. She’s beautiful and shows excellent swordsmanship potential despite her young age. For knight families, a child born with such a woman would likely become an outstanding heir, so many desire her.”

“……”

“Sigh…”

Simon sighed deeply, looking years older with sunken eyes.

He had just revealed not only the guild’s flaws but also those of a great noble family.

One might ask what’s wrong with arranging a marriage, but that’s naive.

It could give the impression of someone using power to force marriage, risking public finger-pointing and disgrace.

If this information became public, it would face criticism, and nobles who value honor and authority like their lives would do anything to prevent such information from spreading.

‘Well, they can’t handle that monster with force, so they’ll try to persuade him some other way.’

A treasure in the hands of the powerless is misfortune, but a treasure in the hands of the powerful is indeed fortune.

So Simon gave him the weaknesses of the great nobles, accepting that the guild’s trust would be broken, and felt he had somewhat atoned for the guild member’s mistake.

‘That ungrateful bastard! I’ll kill him myself!’

Simon gritted his teeth.

He had ordered protection for Lady Levi from a distance, not to stick close to her.

It was to avoid any unsavory incidents.

In other words, someone in the guild disobeyed his orders and assigned someone to Lady Levi.

And a particularly nasty one at that.

And surprisingly, the guild is full of idiots who defy Simon’s orders.

It’s obvious. Probably some noble family wanting Levi Pollet bribed a guild member to lower the girl’s value.

And the guild member happily accepted the bribe.

…Like a fool.

‘I’ll definitely kill them!’

Simon resolved.

If he survived this situation, he would find whoever caused this trouble and tear them to pieces.

He vowed to make them regret being alive.

And the knight who held his life in his hands…

“You have the makings of a minstrel. You’re quite good at storytelling.”

“?”

“Hmm, well, I guess that’s enough.”

After suddenly uttering a few cryptic words, he stood up and turned around without hesitation, leaving Simon blinking in confusion.

“E-excuse me, are you just leaving?”

“What else? Should I finish destroying everything?”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant-!”

Words he wants to say tickle his throat like an impending cough.

Since he’s explained himself, shouldn’t they reconcile with the guild, or at least reach some agreement?

Or doesn’t he want more apologies or have other demands?

…Doesn’t he want to hear more about Levi Pollet’s situation?

-And so on.

Such questions almost reached his vocal cords.

The knight already had justification and power, everything.

Yet he’s just leaving after extracting a few explanations and pieces of information?

He wouldn’t do that.

He’d squeeze out everything he could.

Until the other party begged for mercy.

As he revealed these complex inner thoughts…

“The rest of the information would be about my kid’s family matters. I don’t intend to hear that from someone else’s mouth. I should respect my disciple’s privacy, even if they are my disciple.”

“…You’ve already invaded quite a bit…”

“This is different. If you had really harmed my kid, I would have taken the heads of everyone breathing here, including you. I’m not magnanimous enough to forgive when my people get hurt.”

“……”

“But you’re lucky. I prevented the incident beforehand, and I came to settle things. There were some annoying people blocking my way, but they’ll be hospitalized for a while, so I’ll let this slide.”

“Ahem…!”

“Lastly, you. You seem to hide something every time you speak, but there were no lies. That’s why I’m letting you live.”

“Y-you believe there were no lies in my words?”

“That’s what I felt. …If I’m wrong, I’ll come back and take your head. I’m not the type to give second chances.”

“…Haha, the guild isn’t such an easy target.”

“Well, it didn’t seem that way to me.”

Leaving behind a meaningful smile, he left through the wall he had destroyed.

As if without a trace of lingering attachment.

Watching him, Simon-

“Ha, what kind of person is he?”

His mind became incredibly complicated.

He leaves refreshingly, almost to the point of emptiness.

When he first appeared, he seemed ready to burn everything down, but now he’s as calm as a quiet lake.

Simon thought he was a unique type of person he had never met before and unconsciously headed toward where he had gone.

Feeling uneasy about letting him go like this.

-However.

Rustle…

Whoosh!

“━━.”

Simon was left speechless for a different reason when he checked the outside condition, and the secretary who followed him fell on his backside in shock.

“…T-this isn’t a horde of large-scale magical beasts attacking, is it?”

The secretary muttered, and Simon agreed.

Everything was completely destroyed.

Only the steel reinforcements and pillars supporting the 150-pyeong building remained intact; everything else was collapsed or on the verge of collapse…

But do you know what’s even more frightening?

‘H-he created this disaster alone… in just 10 minutes?’

It took less than 10 minutes from hearing the attack alert to reaching Simon’s room.

And it had become like this.

Roughly equivalent to seven large-scale magical beasts attacking simultaneously.

It’s chilling beyond belief.

What’s even more terrifying is…

‘N-no one died?’

There were people with serious injuries, but no dead colleagues.

Someone once said:

It’s harder to subdue someone alive than to kill them.

That knight accomplished this difficult feat in that short time.

…Without a scratch.

Simon felt like he might wet himself.

‘Exaggerated skills? Don’t make me laugh, you idiots!’

The day before, some executives had doubted the knight’s skills in stopping the terrorist attack.

They said it was all fabrication, nothing but lies.

That it was probably inflated…

Indeed, Simon wondered if they could still spout such nonsense after witnessing this disaster, and he slumped down.

“Haha, no wonder he left so confidently.”

He has confidence.

Confidence that even if they attacked out of grudge, he could sweep them away anytime.

Simon wore a bitter smile.

Wondering what he could possibly do against such a person.

And as the guild master, he thought:

“…I wonder who would win?”

“Pardon?”

“…Just talking to myself.”

“??”

A power struggle between a mere knight and the Tristan Marquis family.

Simon shook his head, thinking he had entertained a foolish fantasy that he couldn’t dare speak aloud.

…While leaving a sliver of possibility.