Chapter 245: The Knight Didn’t Utter Lies (1)

Lee Han had so many questions.

What had happened in the five hours since he left the mansion?

And why was his barbarian disciple…

“…Why are you so beaten like this?”

“Teacher, please treat Kunta gently. He is in pain.”

“Stop being such a crybaby.”

After Lee Han roughly wrapped bandages around his body and soaking him with potion, Kunta’s face looked much more relaxed. The wounds he suffered wasn’t a type of wound that would get better with first-aid treatment alone, but as expected of someone from the mystical race of Barbarian, he recovered quickly.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. But we have to return to Arno and the Female Bear quickly, Instructor! Those two are in danger.”

“… First, can you tell me about what happened in detail?”

“They are in danger right now. They’re being held captive, Instructor. And the bad guys said that If I don’t bring you, they’ll do something terrible to the two!”

“The bad guys?”

“They were strange people. Their pupils and skin were strange. Above all, they were incredibly strong!”

“…”

For some reason, after hearing what Kunta said, Lee Han seemed to know who those guys were.

Half Demonic-human?’

The characteristics Kunta had pointed out were similar to the characteristics of the Half Demonic-human. It was those who had obtained the power of ‘Demon’ through a special elixir made from the flesh of a monster.

Lee Han’s face hardened, but he still felt something was amiss.

It was none other than,

“What about the Sword Duchess?”

“Kunta don’t know. When Kunta was threatened by those guys, he couldn’t see the Sword Duchess.”

“Just what is that auntie doing…”

Lee Han still couldn’t believe that there were Half Demonic-Humans running around capturing Arno and threatening Kunta when there was the presence of the Sword Duchess looming around them.

Even though she lacked humanity, he strength did not go anywhere.

“…”

At that moment,

“What happened to Illiad?”

“Hmm? Arno’s father? Kunta doesn’t know. Kunta didn’t see him?”

“…”

Thud-!

Lee Han unconsciously slapped his forehead as an ominous thought flashed through his mind.

They touched that auntie’s only weakness?

What if, just in case, those guys were holding the Great Yokai’s bloodline hostage?

Then…

“Those crazy bastards… Were they doing all of that because they are bored of the land of the living?”

Lee Han felt that the Half Demonic-Humans, or rather the cultist bastard behind them were crazy people.

To think the first thing they did after being quite for a while is doing such a crazy things…

After being quiet for a while, they started making such crazy remarks… .

“They are really worse than Gnoll.”

Lee Han was furious.

Offen was attacked? It didn’t really matter to him. It’s only been a little over two weeks since they met, so what does it matter if they were attacked or not?

However, it wasn’t the case when he heard about who those bastards held captive.

Levy, who was training at Offen’s house for a while as well as Arno and Kunta, who were helping her. Those three were his disciples, his people. So when he heard that his disciples were being attacked, Lee Han’s brows furrowed with irritation and displeasure.

“I-Instructor….”

“…You are scarier than them, Instructor.”

The surrounding air, which had become heavy due to Lee Han’s spirit, eventually pressed them to the ground.

“What are they? The ones who hurt you like this.”

“…”

“I will kill those bastards.”

“Instructor…”

Lee Han remembered the appearance of Kunta a few moments ago, he was injured and bleeding. In the meantime, seemingly touched by his words, Kunta opened his mouth.

“Th-this wound was caused by me falling off the cliff while taking a shortcut in a hurry. K-Kunta has never been attacked.”

“…”

“Th-thank you, Instructor, for getting angry on Kunta’s behalf. Will you still teach them a lesson?”

“…”

“Instructor?”

“…Head on the ground!”

“??”

“Head on the ground, you punk!”

“But Kunta is hurt?”

“So?”

“Head on the ground, Sir!”

Even though the Barbarian normally didn’t had a sharp wit, he was quick to change his stance.

Quite far away from the Barbarian who smashed his head into the ground, the Offen mansion was quiet. Even though it should not have been strange for a battle to break out at any moment judging from Kunta’s words, it was strangely quiet and eerie.

It was like the calm before a storm.

And in that silence.

“Sir Alli, Sir Mohan. I never thought you were already corrupted.”

With a ferocious gaze that truly resembled a wolf’s, Arno glared at the enemies who surrounded them.

“Hehe, are you still calling us Sirs?”

“That is proof that you are calm even in this situation. Hehe, commendable. When I was your age, I was just a fool who didn’t care about anything else. In other words, you control your emotions well, Young Master. You really have the qualities of a great swordsman, you are truly a blessing for the Offen family.”

Crack-!

Arno clenched his teeth involuntarily when he heard them praising the Offen family.

Alli and Mohan. They were the commander and vice-commander of the Offen family’s hunting party, who were normally always out of the mansion to fight against monsters in the dangerous areas of the forest.

Their skills were at the level of Masters in the Offen family, in the broader world, they should be around high-ranking knights. Moreover, they were also descendants of vassal families that had been with the family for a long time.

They were loyal and Arno also thought they were great swordsmen, so how could they…

“Why did you get involved in such a treacherous thing? Why are you joining hands with that heretic…”

Alli and Mohan looked bizarre. The eyes were as white as if they were albino while their body had bumps everywhere. It was as if they had lost their human form and looked like monsters, and it was clear that they had actually accepted the power of monsters.

It was definitely [Demonic-human Transformation], and Arno knew that once Demonic-human transformation took place, it could never be reversed, so he expressed not only anger but also regret.

They, swordsmen who dedicated their lives to the sword, had fallen from grace, crossing a river of no return.

“…Do you pity us, Young Master? Even in this situation?”

“You are still as sloppy as before, Young Master. Well, the lord also wasn’t the strictest.”

“…”

“Young Master?”

Arno remained silent at that moment. It seemed as if he had no intention of engaging in conversation with them any longer. Instead,

“I apologize for the incompetent showing that my family showed you, Young Miss.”

“It’s fine, Young Master. I came here because I wanted to experience the Offen Family, so don’t mind me. Rather, are you okay, Young Master? It seems like the swordsmen of your family have betrayed you…”

“Are you still worried about others in this situation?”

“It wasn’t a dangerous situation, we are just imprisoned, aren’t we? This much is nothing. I suffered more when I was still a member of the Fault family, haha.”

“…M-My bad, Young Miss.”

Arno quickly apologized for needlessly touching on her dark past, but the girl who received the apology just laughed softly.

“It’s something that happened in the past. I won’t see them again in my lifetime. More importantly, do you know who was behind this? Judging from the situation, it seems like the cult that had been the centre of the rumour lately was one of the perpetrators. But no matter how I look at it, they don’t seem to be the only ones.”

“I think so too, Young Miss. It seems like the upper echelons of the family have joined hands with the cult and are plotting to take over the family.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Yes.”

“Um, Young Master? Do you know that we’re here too…?”

The two Half Demonic-Humans were right in front of them, but the man and woman treated them like they were nothing but air and Arno immediately blurted out their guesses.

It wasn’t because they were fearless. On the contrary, they could act so shamelessly because they only imprisoned them and didn’t seem to have any intention of threatening or harming them.

“As long as Grandmother is here, they can’t attack us. They probably want to avoid the wrath of the Sword Duchess.”

“Isn’t she angry already?”

“That’s why it’s something they are risking their lives for. Moreover, if it’s really that person, he wouldn’t hesitate to put his life on the line. After all, he’s just a senile ‘cockroach’ with not much time left.”

“Oh…”

Levy pursed her lips involuntarily. It was the first time Levy had seen Arno’s diction become so harsh.

Of course…

“Who is that cockroach?”

Levy had the kindness to sympathize with his comrade’s anger, and willingly agreed with his words.

Then, Arno snickered and answered.

“There is someone like that. It’s only right for a swordsman to practice swordsmanship, but he’s a dirty person who wants to play with power… Isn’t that right, great uncle?”

Boom-!

Arno asked a question toward the closed door as if provoking someone, and the door opened roughly in response.

What came entered from it was,

“……You arrogant brat. A young guy who was still wet behind his ears dare to provoke me?”

The stubborn old man slowly walked, but Arno just sneered at him.

As expected, he knew it’d be that old man.

“Let me introduce you to him, Young Miss. He is the adopted son of my great-grandfather, who was supposed to lead the Offen family in place of my grandmother, his name is Gardin. You can think of him as our family…”

Undead.

Arno’s assessment about him was extremely harsh.

Knock-!

The old man roughly banged his cane on the floor.

A bravery unimaginable from his bare-bones appearance suddenly burst out as he glared at Arno.

“Stop talking so cheekily, you young brat who is still wet behind the ears.”

“When the blood dries from your head, you should die, great uncle. Please stop talking nonsense.”

“Your mouth has become sharp. In the past, you were a boy who knew manners.”

“Isn’t manners something we should only show to those who are worthy? The person who taught me said, ‘You should only show manners to those who are worthy.’ He said that I can be a little harsh to those who are not worthy of being treated kindly.’

“Ha! You should know that there are times when you have to bow down and live.”

“That’s not the logic of a swordsman, but the logic of a politician. How long are you going to keep playing politics, great uncle?”

It was clear that they were just arguing verbally, but for someone else, they might have seen an illusion of parks flying between the two of them. Moreover, someone who saw them would also wonder whether their relationship could become that bad when they both came from the same family.

“If it’s Gardin, maybe he was the one who once rose to the rank of the Great Hundred Swordsman of the Kingdom…?”

Gardin, someone from the collateral line who was adopted into the Offen family in place of Felicia, who was found to have no talent as a child, was a swordsman with a reputation for being a genius to the point that the word ‘collateral’ was meaningless.

He was only thirty when he was promoted to the highest position in the Offen family, the Great Swordsman, and if Felicia had not returned to the kingdom, he would definitely have been the head of the Offen family.

“It’s all just a story of the past, Young Miss. Right now, he’s just a cockroach that’s not dead yet.”

“Do you want to experience for yourself whether that fame is in the past or not?”

Whoosh-!

The aura emanating from Gardin’s body was unusual. Even though they were imprisoned in a closed room, it felt like a cold wind was blowing into them. Not only that, it was also fierce, to the point their skin started to sting.

It was an act that proved that his fame as the Hundred Swordsman representing the kingdom was definitely not in vain.

“Ha, compared to the spirit of the instructor, yours is just a breeze, great uncle.

But Arno didn’t flinch even a bit. The opponent was indeed far stronger than him, but he had felt a much more ferocious and strong spirit than this kind of incompetent pressure every day since he entered the academy.

Because of that,

“Since grandmother had spared you, you should have just quietly lived. Why did you crawl out again and cause trouble?”

Arno said it bluntly, and Gardin’s eyes lit up.

“You are pretty good. Felicia’s bloodline is really outstanding. She really was a woman with a lot of luck.”

Gardin clenched his teeth as he uttered Felicia’s name. It was hatred that was revealed without being hidden, and there was even a hint of contempt and disgust.

“…Why did I crawl out into the world when I could have just rotted away in the back room? Isn’t it natural? After all, the chance to reclaim my place has come, and there is nothing more foolish than missing it.”

“Your place? Do you even have a place in the Offen Family?”

“Nonsense!”

Thud-!

“This place was originally mine.”

“…”

He was so stubborn.

Who would have thought that even at the age of ninety, he would still be so consumed by his lust for power…

They say power is a drug that you can’t give up until you die. Seems like that’s right.

Arno was sick and tired of it. The old man couldn’t give up power even after decades passed, and he even joined hands with heretics and turned his family members into cultist, which was sickening.

How could someone give off such a foul rotten smell?

“…You messed with the wrong person, great uncle.”

“Ha! Are you talking about Felicia? Yes, she’s scary. There’s no one in this world who isn’t scared of an Aura User. But that girl can’t move right now. How can that girl, who’s trapped in a prison of her own making, move!”

“…”

“Of course, that girl will make a choice someday, but I know just how indecisive that old woman is when it comes to anything but the sword. It’ll probably take years for her just to make a choice. And years are the time when I can change a lot of things.”

Gardin was overflowing with confidence. His tone indicated that he was sure that a disaster called Aura User would never move for the time being, and he even sneered. Just thinking about the despair on that foolish woman’s face made him feel like he’s happy.

“-The person I was talking about isn’t my grandmother.”

“…What?”

“My grandmother is a person who knows not to cross the line nowadays. But you shouldn’t expect things like that from him.”

“?”

“What should I say about him, rather than a warrior…”

Rumble-!

“……Yes, that’s the kind of person he is.”

“???”

Suddenly, the whole place shook, as if an earthquake had occurred.

And in the next moment…

Boom-!

…A sound like a meteorite hitting the mansion and destroying it echoed.

Everyone kept flipping over and falling, only a very small number of people were able to keep their balance. And even if they did, they were far from safe.

And then…

[Where are our kids──!!]

A deafening roar echoed through the mansion, no, the entire estate.

“…”

“Told you, you messed with the wrong person.”

“…”

“Since it has reached this point, we don’t think we can stop him either. So…”

Sigh…

May you rest in peace.

Arno offered his condolences to the undead of the Offen Family in advance.

Not with sadness but with a refreshing smile on his face.