Chapter 87: The Knight Gives a Counseling (6)

This fucker’s sharp.

Guess that’s why his position is so high even though he’s so young.

He might be begging right now, but I can sense his dignity. Also, he knows how to bend when he has to.

If this was a normal situation, Lee Han would’ve thought highly of the person in front of him.

Others might’ve judged him as a lowly person for doing so, but in Lee Han’s eyes, that was just a clever strategy. Sadly, right now he didn’t feel even a hint of favor towards him. Once someone made a bad first impression on another, it would usually last for the rest of their life, and that was exactly what was going on right now.

But, if you’re really that sharp, why the fuck did you send that punk to our kid, huh?

Swoosh-!

Holding that unpleasant feeling, his fighting spirit rose.

After taking the elixir of [Immeasurable Grade], Lee Han still couldn’t control his tempo well. However, since he didn’t need to do that in front of these fuckers, he just let his spirit out without caring.

The ominous air itself became a fuel for his powerful fighting spirit. Then, with a bang, cracks appeared on the nearby glass and window.

All objects made of glass—which had relatively weak durability—screamed. Meanwhile, Simon and his secretary let out an even louder scream inwardly.

Simon wanted nothing but to run away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t, and he didn’t dare to. If he were to try to do that right now, this hatchet-wielding monster would definitely rip open a hole somewhere in his body.

He was still young—merely 29 years old—he didn’t want to leave this world yet.

“W-What do you know about Marquis Tristan’s House?”

So, he started to tell everything he knew.

“…Who?”

“…They are a famous family, you know…?”

H-How could a knight not know about the Tristan Family?!

I-Isn’t that a little problematic?!

“So what if I don’t know, huh?”

“…N-No, i-it’s okay if you don’t know, n-not everyone has to know…”

R-Right! Not everyone has to know about the Tristan Family!

Sure they are a founding member of the kingdom, and they are one of the only three marquises left in the capital, but what was the big deal?

He said he doesn’t know about them, then it’s the Tristans’ fault for not being famous enough!

Simon continued, somehow he looked like a treacherous retainer now.

“A-Ahem. Anyway, the Tristan Family is a major noble family. Although they aren’t comparable to the Lionels or Galahads, they are still quite large and they have a hundred knights under them. Excluding the Silver Lion, there are only a few nobles who possess this large of a force.”

“A hundred, huh…”

A knight’s power varied, depending on the person itself, but when one took a look at each and every one of them, they were generally like raw diamonds filtered through a sieve. After all, among many swordsmen who had mastered Combat Technique, only one out of thirty of them could become a real knight.

If the knights belonged to rural nobles, their level would be a little lower, but when it came to knights who belonged to the great nobles who had taken root in the capital, they were in a completely different level entirely.

Elite of the elite.

It would be safe to think that each of them was capable enough to handle dozens of experienced soldiers.

And Marquis Tristan had a hundred of such knights.

Not only did this prove that their wealth was enormous—after all, they were employing a hundred knights whose salary was comparable to the prices of a warehouse—it also proved how strong the family’s authority was. There was no way the palace would just grant them the permission to rear a hundred knights if they were a noble from the boondocks.

“The current head of that family, His Excellency Marquis Jeminia, is still without an heir. Of course the family treated this as an emergency, and they had been working day and night to get His Excellency the Marquis to get married as soon as possible.”

And they were right to treat this as an emergency. Marquis Tristan’s inability to continue his lineage could breed trouble for the kingdom. The family was one of the elders of the Royal Faction. In other words, they had deep ties to the royal family, and were also a large force that supported the royal family. If the head of that force couldn’t continue the lineage, it meant that about 30% of the power of the nobles supporting the royal family would disappear into thin air.

This was a situation that the royalists absolutely wanted to avoid.

“Why the fuck hasn’t that marquis bastard gotten married then? He should know that he holds that important of a position, no?”

“M-Marquis b-bastard…?!”

H-He’s still a marquis, you know?!

“Where’s my answer?”

“S-Sorry!”

A-Ahem!

As Lee Han had stated, the matter was surprising. Why hadn’t the patriarch of a marquis family, who had noble status, power, and authority, had children yet?

The reason for that was…

“To show loyalty and nobility to the kingdom…”

“Speak another nonsense, I’m really going to cut off your tongue.”

“That was the official reason! W-Well, the truth is, the men of the Tristan Family would lose their male functions the moment they have children. Their sexual desire would emasculate! His Excellency Marquis Jeminia is famous for his womanizer tendencies, you should be able to connect the dots now! Anyway, that’s why he has so many lovers but doesn’t have any children yet.”

“Crazy. How old is that bastard again?”

“He’s turning 53 this year.”

“…”

“Ahem.”

Simon looked down as if he was embarrassed as he said those words.

Meanwhile, Lee Han…

“Huh, that guy’s pretty cool then.”

Felt admiration rather than contempt. He was genuinely amazed that the old man was still so energetic despite his age.

However…

“But what does that Tristan guy or whatever have to do with our child?”

The core of the matter hadn’t been touched yet. So, Lee Han urged him to answer.

They had built up the tension enough, so it was time to get to the main point.

Even after being given a warning, Simon hesitated for a moment. But then, he…

“N-Not too long ago, M-Marquis Jeminia sent a hawk to the Fault family, expressing his desire to get married…”

“With who?”

“…”

“No way…”

“Ahem.”

“Fuck.”

Lee Han let out a curse for the first time in a while. He could already tell who the recipient of that marriage offer was without even hearing the answer.

That was why, he was left dumbfounded for a moment there.

“I-I’ll reiterate! We’re just matchmakers! The marquis wanted to meet her, and the guild only acted as a bridge.”

“Why does he want you guys to matchmake for him?”

“It’s just part of our job. While it may not look like it, we often do matchmaking for nobles. While yes, nobles generally marry through engagements or promises between families and stuff… Well, those nobles sometimes have problems with sexual desires. It’s common for engagements to break off for various unspeakable reasons, and it’s also common for people to not be able to have children due to infidelity or violence.”

Nobles must not reveal their flaws. So if they have done something bad, they tend to hide such a thing thoroughly and try to resolve everything secretly.

As long as the result was good, even if they had to spend a lot, everything would work out.

“His Excellency the Marquis is the same. Since he needs to get married soon to have a successor, he’s been looking for a suitable woman. In the end, he chose Miss Levy Fault. However, because of his social status, the fact that he sent a hawk to such a young noble lady must be hidden. The guild is just doing its best to make this marriage happen.”

“…”

“…You might hate it, Sir, but Miss Levy Fault is a highly sought target for a lot of nobles. Not only is she pretty, she also shows great potential as a swordsman despite her young age. From the perspective of a knight family, a child born from such a woman is likely to be an excellent successor. All those things combined, it isn’t hard to see why so many people want her.”

“…”

“Whew…”

Simon let out a long sigh. His sunken eyes made it seem like he had become several years older. It wasn’t a wonder. After all, he had just revealed not only the guild’s flaws, but also the great nobles’ flaws.

One might wonder if a marriage really was something worth hiding, but the ones who were asking that question were only those who knew one thing but not two.

If Marquis Jeminia did it openly, it’d give off the impression that he was using his authority to force the young lady to marry him. His family risked being criticized as a family that knew no honor.

In other words, if the matter was to be revealed to the world, they wouldn’t be able to avoid such criticisms. For nobles who valued honor and authority as their lifeblood, they would do anything to avoid this from happening.

There’s no way for us to deal with this monster by force! So I need to trick him in some other ways!

To a powerless person, having a treasure would bring out bad luck, but when a powerful person had the same treasure, they’d consider it as good luck instead.

Simon didn’t want this monster’s trust in the guild to be broken, that was why he told him the weakness of the great nobles, thinking that it  would be enough to repay the knight for the mistake his members made.

That gnoll-like fucker— No, he’s worse that a gnoll! I swear I’m going to kill that fucker!

Simon ground his teeth. He had told his members to just protect Levy Fault from afar, not to stay around by her side. It was to prevent this kind of stupid disaster from happening.

In other words, someone in the guild disobeyed his orders and attached someone to Levy Fault. On top of that, they sent a dumbass who could only think with his dick.

Surprisingly, the guild was full of people who loved to disobey Simon’s orders. What had transpired was obvious to him. Some noble family who also wanted Levy Fault had bribed one of his members to make it so that the ‘value’ of the girl would be reduced.

…Fucking morons!

I swear, I’m going to kill him!

Simon made up his mind.

As long as he survived this encounter, he’d definitely find the guy who caused this trouble and tear him to pieces. He’d make that guy regret being born.

Meanwhile, the knight who was holding his life in his hands…

“You’ll make a good bard. You are pretty good at telling stories.”

“?”

“Hmph. I’ve heard enough.”

After suddenly blurting out such vague words, the knight stood up without hesitation and turned around.

Looking at him, Simon blinked in confusion.

“A-Are you leaving now?”

“What? Do you want me to destroy everything here before I leave?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant—!”

There were so many things he wanted to say, the urge itched, like a cough tickling his throat. For example, now that he had explained about their circumstances, shouldn’t the knight try to reconcile with the guild, or at least come to an agreement?

Or maybe, ask the guild to do something for him as an apology?

…Doesn’t he want to hear more about Levy Fault’s circumstances…?

And many more.

Those questions were already in Simon’s Adam’s apple.

The knight had the justification, power, everything.

And yet, he decided to return empty-handed after hearing a few excuses and information from him.

Simon wouldn’t do such a thing.

Instead, he’d try to get anything he could put his hands on. He’d continue pressing on until the other person made a face that seemed like they were begging for their life.

While Simon was dealing with such complicated feelings…

“I’ll hear the rest of it from that kid’s mouth, no need to hear it for someone else. Even if she’s my disciple, I still respect her privacy.”

“You’ve already gone this far though…”

“This is this and that is that. You know, if you’ve really touched that kid, I’d have cut off all of your heads. All. Meaning, every single living being in this building. I’m not the kind of person who would forgive someone after they laid their hands on my people.”

“…”

“That’s why you guys are lucky. Nothing ended up happening in the end, so I just came here to negotiate. There were some fuckers who tried to block me, so I made it so that they’d get hospitalized for a while. That’s enough for me.”

“Keuk…!”

“Lastly, you. You hide things every time you talk, but you never lie. That’s why I’m letting you live.”

“…You…believe my words…?”

“For now, yes. Well, if I found out that you lied to me, I’d just come back and cut off your throat. I’m not the kind of person who’d let someone off the hook twice.”

“…Haha, the guild isn’t that easy.”

“For you, it might be. For me, hmph.”

The knight left through the wall he had destroyed while sporting a meaningful smile. As if he didn’t have any regrets.

Seeing that sight, Simon…

“Haa… Just what kind of person is he…?”

Was in a complete disarray.

The knight left so casually.

When he first appeared, he seemed like he would burn everything down, but now he was as calm as a calm lake.

Simon thought that he was a unique type of person that he had never met before, and he unconsciously headed towards the path he took to leave. He felt uneasy sending him off just like this.

However…

Crack-!

Whoosh-!

“━━”

He was struck speechless for another reason. Even the secretary, who followed him, fell on his butt out of shock.

“…W-Were we just hit by a large-scale monster raid…?”

The secretary muttered, and Simon agreed with his sentiment.

Everything fell apart. Only the steel bars and pillars supporting the 150-pyeong¹ building were safe. Everything else was on the verge of collapse or had already collapsed…

But, that wasn’t the scariest thing here.

A-All this destruction… I-Is caused by a single person…? In just ten minutes?!

It didn’t even take the knight ten minutes to get to Simon’s room after the first attack warning was announced, and yet the damage they suffered was this heavy. It was like seven large monsters had attacked at the same time. The sight was so scary that it made all the hair in his body stand up.

What’s even scarier was…

N-No one’s dead?

Even though basically everyone here was badly injured, none of them had died.

Subduing someone alive was harder than killing them, that was an established fact.

And yet, that knight did it in such a short time.

On top of that, there wasn’t even a scratch in his body.

Simon felt like he was going to wet his pants.

They said that all the rumors about his skills are just exaggerations? Those idiots!!

Few days ago, there were some guild’s higher-ups who expressed their doubt about the ability of the knight who stopped the terror attack. They said everything was just nonsense, nothing more than a lie, and was [probably an exaggeration].

Simon was curious to see if they still could say such nonsense after witnessing this disaster. He fell down with a thud.

“Ahaha… So that’s why he left just like that…”

The knight was confident. Confident that he could wipe them out again any time. Even if they were going all out to kill him.

Simon let out a bitter smile, wondering what exactly he could do if he were to go against such a guy.

And then, a thought crossed his mind.

“…Who will win between the two, I wonder?”

“Huh?”

“…I’m just talking to myself.”

“??”

A contest of strength between a mere knight and Marquis Tristan.

Simon shook his head. That stupid fantasy wasn’t something he should utter out loud.

But at the same time, he left a glimmer of possibility open for that future to come…