Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.26 – The Girl Gained a Family...? (2)
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"The Polt family? They're completely ruined. Wait, are you the one behind it?"
"?"
"Hm, guess it's not you."
"I haven't even said anything yet..."
"I can tell just by looking at your face. Such straightforward knightly innocence, heh heh."
"...Hey, old man, that's not a compliment."
"Heh heh."
Polt.
More precisely, the family consisting of Reynold Polt, his wife, and their one daughter.
They were a clan so pathetic that even calling them nobles felt embarrassing, and humanly speaking, utterly contemptible.
"I looked everywhere for them, but they were nowhere to be found. Got any leads?"
Over the past week, Lee Han had been searching for the Polt family.
Specifically, the beastly scum named Reynold Polt.
But for some reason, he was nowhere to be seen, and Lee Han was starting to get heated about it. So when a hint came from the marquis's mouth, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
In response to that suspicious gaze, the marquis shrugged lightly.
"I was just curious and looked into it. From what my house investigated, Reynold Polt only had one daughter. So why did she suddenly become two...? That's what puzzled me."
"......"
"Starting five years ago, he suddenly had another daughter. Quite the mystery. Not just the sudden appearance of a daughter who didn't exist before, but trying to marry her off into my marquisate? Heh heh! How much of a pushover did he think Tristan was? The nerve..."
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"What else? Teach him why the Tristan family has remained the kingdom's marquisate through its long history. Heh heh."
"...Hmm."
His mouth smiled, but his eyes did not.
They were the eyes of a bird of prey.
Sharp and intense, with an air of overwhelming arrogance.
A civilian meeting those eyes might have trembled in fear.
However.
"What, wanna have a staring contest?"
"......"
"If not, ease up a bit. I don't want you swinging an axe at a guest."
"Just joking around. Heh heh."
The marquis's eyes softened as if the intensity had never been there, a faint smile playing on his lips.
As if he'd just been teasing a young man he liked.
"Keep liking me once or twice and someone might end up dead."
Lee Han snorted and clicked his tongue.
These damn high nobles.
Testing people was practically their passive skill.
'Is this the butterfly effect too?'
Lee Han was inwardly surprised that the marquis had uncovered the Polt affair.
Wondering if this was what they called the butterfly effect.
'...In the original story, this shouldn't have come to light so quickly.'
From what Taechang and Derek had told him about the original plot, in the original history, his disciple got married and endured in the marquisate for three years before the scam was exposed.
Meaning, in the original timeline, the scam against the marquisate would only be discovered after the marriage.
But now, things had changed.
Was it because he had clashed with the marquisate, altering the marquis's mindset? Or was the marquisate always this competent...?
The scam seemed to have been exposed in mere days, and moreover.
"Our girl has nothing to do with it. She's just an innocent kid who got used. Don't touch her."
The marquis had likely figured out Levi's true identity as well.
Realizing this, Lee Han's expression hardened.
A desperate resolve that if they touched his girl, he wouldn't settle for just a doorframe or a house...
"I know."
"?"
"An honorable knight like you stepped up to rescue her personally. Such a girl couldn't possibly be a wicked deceiver using others. So she must have been the one used."
"...You're basing it on that? ...Just that?"
"It's not 'just' that. I trust you."
"......"
"So I believe it."
"...Hmm."
He'd thought this before.
'Among the nobles I've met, he's the most gentlemanly?'
...This old man seemed like a better guy than expected.
"Well, to cut to the chase on the results: Reynold Polt is currently hospitalized in a temple. His body is covered in burns, his left arm and both ankles are severed, and even his tongue was cut out... They found him too late, missed the treatment window, and now he's barely clinging to life. Heh heh."
The burns were bad enough, but the other injuries were far worse.
Thanks to the temple, he was still alive, but that also meant he now owed the temple a debt.
The temple's healing was reliable, but it was infamous for ruthlessly collecting payment in return.
Rumors said that if you couldn't pay, they'd ship you off to brutal mines or salt flats to work it off.
"The wife and daughter are in dire straits too. The wife's on the brink of death from temple treatment fees, gambling debts, and more loans. The daughter who attended the mid-tier academy was outright expelled. Tsk."
The mother and daughter's futures didn't look bright either.
Whether they had bullied the girl like Reynold Polt did was unknown, but ultimately, the bond between Polt and Levi was one of irreconcilable enmity.
They could not live under the same sky.
"The mother and daughter don't have many options left. Whether they join a convent or make the worst choice, nothing positive awaits. Of course, I'll make sure of that."
"Ho, I thought you'd go easy on women."
"I'm kind to ladies. But complicity through inaction is still a crime. Did they truly not know? That their family head was openly mocking and deceiving the marquisate? ...No way they didn't. So they're no ladies. Criminals have no gender."
"Man, that's refreshing."
Clap clap.
Lee Han applauded.
It was as refreshing a statement as they come.
This was the model of a proper adult and wielder of power.
"...You're suddenly praising me so much, it feels weird."
The marquis scratched his cheek at Lee Han's reaction, who had been cheeky throughout but was now showering him with praise out of nowhere.
Still.
"Heh heh, can't say it feels bad!"
Unable to hide his delight, the marquis laughed heartily.
And so the two men conversed boisterously for a while.
Mostly about how to deal with Reynold, with most ideas being...
"There's this thing called bone-marrow separation—literally stripping flesh from bone without killing, just pure torment. Since he hasn't died yet, worth a shot?"
"Heh heh, what if he dies from shock? Better start with anesthetics and potions for torture. You can flay skin and drain blood daily, inject them straight into the veins, and he won't die! Used it on POWs in the war to make 'em recall what they ate on their third birthday. Heh heh!"
The discussion centered on torture methods that kept the victim alive, but the two men chatted enjoyably, feeling a growing camaraderie.
A friendship transcending age.
That faint spark ignited between them.
As their conversation bloomed, eventually.
"...So back to the main point: why do you want to take our girl as your daughter?"
"Ah, that. Got so caught up in the lively talk, I forgot."
Ahem.
The marquis chose his words carefully.
This needed a serious tone.
Adopting a girl he barely knew wasn't a joking matter; it required true sincerity.
With a grave tone, he said.
"To be clear, it's not because of you that I want to take her in. If anything, it's because it'd be a waste not to."
"A waste?"
"That talent— the potential to become a fine knight someday. It's too precious to lose."
The marquis spoke in utterly pragmatic terms.
"I heard the report, but she hasn't even trained properly with the sword for three months. Yet in just three months, she beat a rock troll and held her ground against a horde of monsters? My word. Never thought I'd hear heroic tales from my subordinates as 'intelligence reports.' But... cross-verified, and not a shred of falsehood."
"......"
"...Her talent is real. But for such talent to be buried due to her 'origins' and 'status'... I can't just leave alone a girl who might become the second Lady Felicia."
A second Sword Sage in the making.
Raising such a child properly in Tristan would honor the family name.
Weighing the pros and cons, the marquis...
"—Your real reason?"
"......"
"No weird excuses. Just tell me the truth."
"Hm, thought I'd hidden it well, but apparently not."
"You did hide it well. I just see through lies easily."
"Now that's an enviable skill..."
The marquis marveled as if beholding a rare beast, held five seconds of silence, then slowly.
"...Isn't she pitiable?"
"......"
"I know. How shallow such pity feels, how it humiliates. But if no one takes her in, she'll be a true orphan. Ignorance is one thing, but now that I know... shouldn't someone extend a hand? Ah, you could too, but I have more to offer than you. I can give her a comfortable life."
"......"
"Does that reason feel too shallow?"
"...No. It's better than the first one."
"Hm?"
"Only the well-fed scorn pity as insult. For the truly desperate, even pity is a heartfelt blessing."
He'd seen dramas and movies in his past life where prideful characters rejected help.
But as an orphan, watching them irritated him to no end.
It made him realize.
Ah, those characters have no idea what it's like to starve or face true humiliation.
"True humiliation isn't fretting over tomorrow—it's when you have no food or water today, tears flowing; when you catch a cold without blankets, but can't afford medicine."
When the landlord cut the electricity because you couldn't pay the bill.
When you couldn't pay gas or water, surviving winter without heat, drinking from public restroom taps.
That despair, pathos, and loneliness—those are true humiliation and shame.
To one who truly knows humiliation and shame, pity isn't pity.
It's called...
"If life's so pathetic and filthy you wanna die, ...and yet someone says 'no pity' out of pride? That guy's just talk—life's still livable for them. They can survive. But not our girl. She's in no position to be picky. She's living true desperation. If you offer, she'll be grateful."
'Salvation.'
Lee Han spoke flatly, yet with a tremor no shout could match.
...A tremor only one who has felt profound humiliation and solitude could possess.
"...Heh."
The marquis was genuinely impressed, unaware that Lee Han continued.
"I considered taking her in myself, like you said, but a poor knight scraping by alone can't provide as well as a richer environment. So take her if you can. Convincing her's on you, though."
"......"
"What? Why the look?"
"...The more I see, the more I want you."
"?"
"I was hesitating a bit already... but you—"
"—Ever thought of calling me Dad?"
"......"
...Lee Han barely suppressed a curse.