Ch.97EP.25 – There Are No Secrets That Can Be Hidden (2)

“……Dark King?”

“Hm?”

“What’s wrong, Arno?”

“Ah, it’s nothing….”

“??”

“…….”

Arno, who had been dealing with the annoying guard dogs protecting the illegal gambling den, blinked with a dazed expression despite Kunta’s question.

For a moment, he thought he saw a black lion behind the black-haired boy.

‘The Dark King of the North? …According to my grandmother, as far as I know, one cannot inherit the Dark King unless the successor dies…. Was it my imagination?’

His grandmother, Sword Master Felinshia, once sat him on her knee and told him countless old stories.

Among them, one of the most impressive old tales was none other than the mystery of Lionel, the [Dark King].

It is said to be one of the supreme mysteries that only Lionel can possess, and its power is rumored to rival that of Aura users.

However, Arno knew that to inherit this mystery, one must either wait for the current successor to die or forcibly take it, which is why he considered what he saw to be an illusion.

Or perhaps, he carefully speculated while trying to dismiss his idle thoughts, it might be something special that Young Lord Roen possessed, like the sword energy merchant he had shown the day before.

After all, how could the Dark King, a mystery that should be unique, exist in two beings simultaneously….

* * *

……Roen reached the “answer” not because of his sense of parental duty like a knight with good intuition despite his appearance.

The process by which he reached the answer was closer to information provided by his excellent subordinate and “repetition of memories” through his past—that is, his first life cycle.

Marquis Tristan.

A great nobleman who sided with the people when all other nobles allied with the temple and oppressed the citizens.

One cannot underestimate how much strength the revolutionary army gained thanks to his participation.

And it was only natural that Roen, who was one of the revolutionary army’s executives and a representative figure, would develop a friendship with the Marquis.

In any case, he was a Lionel, and the Marquis was a Tristan.

Because they had a connection that went back a long time, they communicated well, and it wasn’t strange that they often conversed with each other.

What he learned from this was:

– “Marquis Jeminia. Please, I beg you, stop seducing the women in the revolutionary army.”

– “Haha, you misunderstand, Grand Duke. I simply don’t stop women who come to me, nor do I stop those who leave. I just live freely.”

– “…Sigh!”

That he was a respectable yet not-so-respectable adult.

Frustratingly, as Marquis Jeminia said, he didn’t actually seduce women first.

…Women just approached him first.

Despite being over 50, he looked like he was in his early to mid-30s, and with his androgynous appearance, he was someone who made women flutter just by standing still.

So unexpectedly, women frequently approached the Marquis first to seduce him, which gave Roen a headache.

What place was there for love triangles in a revolutionary army…

– “I see why you were called a playboy.”

– “Strangely, such misunderstandings arose.”

The reason Marquis Jeminia was called a playboy wasn’t because he called himself that.

It was a nickname that came from his nature of not stopping women who came to him and not stopping those who left.

Of course, to a third party, it certainly looked like the behavior of a womanizer or playboy.

– “Why not just get married instead of living like this… Could it be, as the rumors say, that you become impotent after having a child?”

Roen knew it was rude, but he asked anyway.

Whether the reason he didn’t date any woman steadily and lived so promiscuously was really because of the rumor that he would become impotent.

However:

– “Ah, that rumor? That’s false.”

– “?”

– “Of course it’s false. Becoming impotent after having a child… Then how would collateral lines like Lord Vale be born? Even rumors should make sense.”

– “T-Then….”

– “That rumor was just spread by those noble faction bastards trying to slander me. They spread it to the guilds too, and it became accepted as truth. I didn’t bother to correct it, but I didn’t expect so many people to believe it, heh heh.”

– “……”

– “And the reason I don’t date one person steadily or have children isn’t anything special. As you probably know, Grand Duke, when a knight reaches a high level, most women can’t withstand the knight’s energy. In other words, women can’t bear children because they can’t withstand my energy.”

– “T-Then when you were younger….”

– “It may sound like an excuse, but when I was young, I truly had no time for women. Always moving from one battlefield to another with the late king, where would I find time for women? Well, even after the war ended, I was busy managing my family for a while. No joke, Tristan was split in half because of those noble faction bastards, heh heh.”

– “……”

– “Well, anyway, it’s a pity. I’m sorry to those who even considered marriage with me. But I’m prepared to take responsibility for any woman. Even if she couldn’t bear children, I would have spent a hundred years with her if she wanted to… but every woman left as soon as she learned she couldn’t bear an heir. In the end, they didn’t want or love me; they just wanted to become the true lady of the marquis family, heh heh.”

– “……”

Roen nodded as he listened to his story, yet he couldn’t fully agree.

Should he say it was pitiful yet not pitiful?

– “So don’t become like me. Get married young and have children.”

– “…Ha, don’t worry. The Grand Duke’s bloodline is already plentiful enough.”

– “That’s not what I meant… Ah, but I can give you one piece of advice. If you’re going to get married, that is. Check whether your partner is deceiving you.”

– “What do you mean?”

– “There was once a girl I almost married, but would you believe it, that girl was deceiving me along with her family! If she had only deceived me, that would be one thing, but she insulted Tristan itself! What an outrageous child!”

– “What did she do to….”

– “I won’t speak of it. They say that girl already paid for her crimes when I was on the brink of death. …Sigh, I shouldn’t insult that girl anymore either.”

– “…?”

– “Anyway, if you’re going to get married, do it with someone you truly love. That’s the path to happiness.”

– “…If someone else had given that advice, I might have sympathized, but coming from you, Marquis Jeminia, it doesn’t touch my heart at all.”

– “What? Look at this impudent young man, hahaha!”

……Not long after this conversation, Marquis Jeminia “died in battle.”

He had single-handedly blocked a sudden invasion of monster troops to evacuate the revolutionary army, and after holding out alone for four days, he died in battle.

Shortly afterward, they filled the Marquis’s vacancy by meeting a woman who became the new mercenary leader, but at the time, Roen was emotionally very distressed.

Despite all the rumors, the Marquis was clearly a trustworthy elder.

…So when Roen first heard about Levi Pollet’s relationship with the Marquis, he doubted his ears, and as soon as he realized that Levi Pollet was his former comrade, the “Mercenary Queen,” he felt as if scattered puzzle pieces were coming together.

The connection.

He realized that everything was linked.

And the moment he learned through Jack’s information that “five years ago” the Pollet family had only one daughter, his mind created a story like a playwright.

A girl who hid everything about herself due to the mark of obedience and was sold to the marquis family.

But the marquis family would not be incompetent and would eventually discover the girl’s personal information and Reynold Pollet’s vileness.

They could have killed Reynold Pollet without consequences, but killing him openly wouldn’t suit a great noble’s methods.

Perhaps, slowly… they would have corrupted and killed him like draining blood.

But conversely, what happened to the girl?

The life of a poor girl who didn’t even know her identity had been exposed, who only obediently followed orders.

‘……It must have been hell.’

The anxiety and fear of not knowing when her identity would be discovered, yet the reality of not being able to disobey orders.

Crunch!

Roen gritted his teeth.

But unaware of Roen’s anger:

“D-Don’t make me laugh! W-What exactly did I do wrong! E-Even if I broke the law, I’m a noble! A noble! What crime is there in selling one slave girl!!!”

The disgusting man shouted as if screaming.

As if wondering what he had done so wrong.

Not knowing that those words further provoked his anger.

And so:

“You asked me to tell you your crimes-?”

Roen decided to personally inform the bastard of his crimes.

“…You have committed four crimes. One is breaking national law and daring to buy a slave, ruining a person’s life!”

Crack!!

“Aaaaargh!!”

His arm was crushed.

The bone was trampled to powder, beyond recovery even with holy power.

“Second is daring to ruin a girl’s life without remorse, and then using her as a betting chip for gambling again!”

Snip!

“…!!!?”

His tongue was cut off.

From now on, Reynold would not be able to make a sound with that filthy mouth.

“Third is daring to deceive the marquis family, no, even further, deceiving a noble who loyally serves this country!”

Slash!

…Reynold could no longer even scream.

Both ankles were gone, and he would never be able to stand on his own will again.

Thus, Reynold, unable to bear the pain engulfing his body, began to faint-

“And fourth… the crime of spreading lies! You said you wanted to become a knight? You dreamed of rebuilding as a knight family! Yet how could hands as clean as these belong to such a person-!!”

[Growl!]

Reynold’s hands were pristine.

Hands that had never cleaned anything in his life, hands that had probably only played card games.

Someone who wants to become a knight cannot be like that.

How could those hands without even calluses be called the hands of someone who works hard?

In the end:

“Your life and words contain nothing but lies. There is no truth in them!”

Deceiving others.

Manipulating them.

A person like a leech or parasite who only thinks about living comfortably.

If he knew his place, he should have avoided harming others, but instead, he desired more than what he had.

“…I want to kill you, but I won’t. That would be too merciful, and I don’t have the right to judge you.”

Therefore:

“I’ll end it with just this much.”

Whoosh!

“Mmmmph!!”

Crackle!

Reynold’s body, which had been on the verge of fainting, writhed madly in pain.

He was thrown into fire, and his entire body caught flame.

The agony of flames that wouldn’t even allow him to faint!

“!!?…!!!”

With a clear mind, in a physical state that didn’t allow him to escape, Reynold writhed, but Roen intended to leave him in the fire just until he was barely alive.

After all:

“Feel the same pain my comrade felt as she writhed in flames because of you.”

Crackle!

Karma.

The bastard was finally paying for his crimes.

“Jeanne, I can finally send you off…”

Though it might seem like he took too long a detour, Roen now realized he could finally mourn his old comrade.

—Looking up at the sky, he mourned for a comrade he would never see again.

With guilt for the delayed tribute.

Crackle!