Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.50 – The Knight Broods on Defeat (5)
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...It was a strange dream.
[You have confessed your sins! To think the Plum Blossom Swordsman would lose to some nobody from Mount Zhongnan! What a disgrace! You are the shame of Mount Hua Sect!]
An old man dressed like a Taoist priest was yelling at him. And it wasn't just one or two Taoists.
[We must sever his meridians and expel him from the sect!]
[Mount Hua weeps...]
[How can we face our ancestors now?!]
The Taoists treated him like a heinous criminal, and Lee Han just scratched his cheek nonchalantly.
[Look at that arrogant attitude!]
[He doesn't even recognize his own faults!]
[Uh, um...!]
The Taoists' blood pressure was skyrocketing, and to them, Lee Han said— "Hey, you ghost bastards. I don't know who you are, but let me correct one thing. First off, I'm not part of Mount Hua Sect, you idiots." [......?] He spat out a curse refreshingly, then continued in a leisurely tone.
"I used to be an assassin for some weird experimental group, then a mercenary after that. So my roots are more like a Demonic Cultist or a rogue wanderer—definitely not orthodox. Even if it were orthodox, my first technique was from Shaolin, so that fits better than Mount Hua. Besides, yeah, my technique names are borrowed from wuxia novels, but that doesn't make me a real martial artist, right? I made them all up myself, you morons. So I'm basically the founder. I'm the 'Sect Founding Patriarch,' you brainless ghosts." [......] "Expel me? Bullshit. Even if you tried, I'd expel myself." [B-but the Plum Blossom Sword...] "Do you have the patent on Plum Blossom Sword?" [......] "Pathetic ghosts. Making noise without even owning the patent." [Th-that's...] "Cut the crap and come here. Who do you think you are, disciples of some minor sect, sassing the Sect Founding Patriarch?" [W-wait...!] "Let me see that Plum Blossom Sword of yours!" [...!] ...The Mount Hua ghosts screamed in terror.
-He bolted upright!
"...Tch, guess they're ghosts for a reason? Their footwork's on another level."
Lee Han blinked blankly for a moment after waking, then looked at his palm.
He'd planned to smack them around 500 times, but only managed 300.
Ghosts were ghosts, after all—no feet, and they dodged like pros.
...Could that have been [Dark Fragrance Step]?
"Hm, maybe I should try making it."
Lee Han nodded, pleased at gaining a hint for a new footwork technique.
To him, then—
"...What nonsense are you spouting right after waking up?"
"There's a reason."
Baltar Grace approached and spoke. Lee Han, already sensing his presence, answered without looking.
"How long was I out?"
"Thirty minutes."
"...No wonder. I felt refreshed."
"Heh heh, your recovery is still top-notch. You really recovered after just that nap?"
"Eh, maybe 40% at best? Normal people recover this much after resting like that too..."
"Heh heh, say that in front of others and they'll beat you for jinxing it. Ah... no, they'd get beaten by you instead."
"......"
Instead of responding to Baltar's teasing, Lee Han glanced around.
Crackle...
Splat!
Crunch...!
"...Ahem."
He gave an awkward, bitter smile.
It was a disaster.
The vast training ground, spanning about 6,000㎡ (1,800 pyeong), lay in ruins.
The ground had caved in like sinkholes everywhere, and the surrounding walls had collapsed completely, exposing the outside.
And that wasn't all. The ultra-high heat from sword auras and sword rings had sparked fires, which were still burning in spots.
This was like the aftermath of a nuke.
...At least no radiation, so that was some consolation?
However.
"This is fucked..."
Lee Han broke out in cold sweat as he took in the destruction he'd caused.
When his eyes had gone red, he'd just fought indiscriminately. Now, sane again, he realized the mess he'd made.
'I lost my mind...'
The property damage alone was insane, and he'd wrecked part of the royal palace, no less.
Beating down the 1st and 2nd Knight Orders yesterday could pass as self-defense since they attacked first, but this time, he'd started it.
'Ugh, already in debt, and now I'll end up a criminal?'
He might even face the guillotine.
"Even if I fix this myself, I'll still get punished, right?"
"Hm? You can fix it?"
"I've got a lot of engineer experience. Give me two weeks? No, a week, and it'll be good as new."
"...You always have these unexpected talents."
"Haha..."
Back in his previous life, he'd been a foreman who'd built training grounds in the military!
Now his body could replace heavy machinery, so he was confident he could rebuild solo in a week.
Maybe that'd reduce his sentence a bit. As he pondered—
"I get what you're worried about. Very you-like worries, you fool."
"It's a legitimate concern."
"You're so honest and diligent in moments like this, but flip a switch and you're a madman. Sheesh."
"...Of course I have to clean up my own mess."
"Heh heh, madman with a strong work ethic."
"?"
Was that an insult or praise? As he puzzled, Baltar spoke again.
"Don't worry about it. 'Incidents like this' are common."
"...Like this?"
"Back when the previous king was pacifying the realm, it happened often. Knights dueling and wrecking the palace. Heh heh, it was practically an annual event."
"......"
"After the king passed, knight standards dropped, old comrades retired or went to Avalon, and these 'events' faded. But the royal law still stands: [Even if knights' duels damage the palace, no punishment if no lives are lost.] So quit fretting."
"...Oh."
Good news—no guillotine.
Plip, plop.
As if to reassure him further, rain began falling, extinguishing the smoldering ground. Lee Han chuckled in the downpour.
"...Rain's been coming more often lately."
Thankfully.
Pouring rain!
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Baltar silently watched the heavy autumn rain.
The training ground was obliterated by their duel, but they sat under the lone remaining roof of the break room like an umbrella.
Lee Han aside, an Aura User lounging in such a shabby spot was an odd sight.
"At your age, you could barge into any palace room and get a fancy suite. Why sit here? Have some hot tea somewhere warm."
"Fancy stuff isn't my taste. Cooling off in the rain after a fight feels right."
"Not a savage... Even our little barbarian kids don't go that far."
"Degenerate barbarians. Shaming your ancestors, tsk tsk."
"...Old man, that's racial discrimination."
Mindless banter.
Mindless atmosphere.
Hard to believe these were knights who'd just fought to the death.
Yet somehow, the two knights chatting under a rickety roof in the rain fit perfectly.
More natural than a mansion—smoking cigarettes amid a fresh battlefield suited them.
Funny thing: neither smoked, and they rarely drank.
Utterly different, yet somehow alike—the two men. And so.
"If you have something to say, say it now. I'll listen."
Reading Lee Han's mind was easy for Baltar.
"...What outta nowhere?"
"You've got something bottled up. That's why you came."
"Just came to fight."
"Don't lie like that. It's obvious, tsk tsk. Sigh, you take after me a lot. Keeping it all in and staying silent."
"......"
"Spit it out. No one's around, and I won't blab."
"......"
...Lee Han stayed silent, and Baltar didn't push, just watching the rain.
About ten minutes passed like that?
"...It's kinda weird."
"......"
Lee Han finally spoke.
Quietly.
"Yeah... it's just strange."
He grumbled disjointedly.
It might look like a grandson whining to his grandpa, but no affection showed between them—it wouldn't suit.
More like mischievous friends or comrades.
So Lee Han's grumbling was like opening up honestly to a friend.
"But isn't it weird? No direct harm to me, yet I feel unsettled. Like dancing on someone's palm, so a sense of defeat creeps in. ...Yeah, I feel shitty, super frustrated."
"Heh heh, rambling like that—how am I supposed to get it? Explain properly."
"...Ugh."
Aware his words were a mess even to himself, Lee Han nodded.
With a bitter smile, he slowly recounted recent events.
"So...—"
The temple ambush and dream demons, the cultists' saintess scheme.
Half-demons, hellish monsters, the enemy's schemer called the [Prophet], and this inexplicable defeat feeling.
Plus fights with the magic tower and its lord, forced to learn Fighting Technique (though still beginner-level), and minor stuff.
Big, small, unnecessary tales poured from Lee Han's mouth.
Anyone else might not open up so honestly, but with Baltar, he could say it all.
Because he was strong.
And wouldn't gossip.
That trust let Lee Han be frank, and Baltar nodded along, chiming in with "I see," "Hm...," "Oh!"
"...Honestly, it's weird. I didn't lose, the temple just got wrecked unilaterally, so why the defeat?"
"Heh heh, because you danced to the enemy's tune. Bound to feel defeat. Happened to me young too."
"To you?"
Baltar shrugged lightly.
"In my youth, about sixty years ago, there was Hannibal—Britannia's famed general and strategist. Not just military; genius in schemes, politics, economics, arts. Young me lost to him over a hundred times. Battles, plots—every way imaginable."
"...Hell of a guy."
"Some people are like that. Excel at everything but fighting, wielding scarier power than swords. Even the previous king had headaches from him."
"......"
"Scarier than all Britannia's fool king and nobles combined."
"So what happened to that monster?"
"Died by my hand."
"......"
"I was forty-five, freshly minted Aura User."
"......"
Gulp...
Lee Han swallowed dryly.
Baltar's eyes, recalling killing Hannibal, were murderously fierce—even Lee Han recoiled.
Impossible to defy.
"General Hannibal was great to the end. But once I became an Aura User, no one could stop me. No matter his strategies, schemes, diplomacy—I smashed through head-on and slit his throat. I won. ...Get what that means?"
"...What?"
Grin.
"Don't be mediocre strong. Before overwhelming power that renders all tricks meaningless, nothing works."
"......"
...Normally, Lee Han would've grumbled "Teasing me?" but he couldn't retort.
He instinctively knew Baltar spoke pure truth.
"Get stronger. Then no need for that defeat feeling. Don't stay 'mediocre.' Got it?"
"......"
"So, one question. Want to escape that mediocre state?"
"...What're you saying?"
"What else."
─
Do you want to become a [Superhuman]?
─
Baltar asked if Lee Han wanted to advance to the next stage.
Like tossing a pebble into a calm lake...