Chapter 267
Chapter 267
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.60 – The Way a Knight Deals with Beasts (2)
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At first glance, Modred's mansion seemed perfectly fine, nothing like the sinister rumors surrounding it.
Unlike the grim tales of ghosts appearing even in broad daylight or constant screams echoing through the halls...
A faint fog made the castle look a bit dim, but it was just like any other lord's residence. Contrary to the ghost stories, the servants were going about their duties without issue.
However, there was one peculiar thing...
"Sis, I've got a question."
"What is it?"
"Well, I've been working here for about three months now, but for some reason, I haven't seen the lord or his family at all. Have they left the territory for a trip or something?"
The lord's family.
Not even the servants had laid eyes on their supposed employers.
The newest maid posed the question with genuine curiosity, but the veteran maid responded only with silence.
Her eyes half-lidded.
"......"
"Sis?"
"...Don't be curious about that sort of thing."
"Huh...?"
"I said don't be curious. No, don't show even a hint of interest. Don't care where they are or what they're doing."
"S-Sis...?"
The veteran maid had always been kind.
She answered any question cheerfully and never skimped on her warmth.
But now, for the first time, her icy gaze made the young maid flinch.
"I'm saying this for your own good. Don't talk carelessly about them. You might... attract 'attention'."
"Huh?"
"Curiosity isn't a good thing, dear."
"Sis...?"
The young maid wore a puzzled expression to the end, but the veteran only gave a bitter smile and offered no further explanation.
And the next morning...
"—I told you not to be curious."
The veteran maid sighed, her face full of pity.
Drip. Drip.
"Hee, hee hee..."
The woman was laughing.
Her eyes twitched incessantly, her body convulsing like she had epilepsy.
When questioned, she gave no answer—just eerie laughter. It was clear she was beyond reach.
The youngest maid had lost her mind, laughing madly. Watching her, the veteran looked exhausted.
"Haah, how many is this now...?"
66.
The number of 'victims' driven mad this year alone.
Well, fortunately...
"Fewer than last year."
Fewer victims than the previous year felt somewhat 'positive'.
Appearance isn't everything.
It's a common adult saying, profound in teaching that a person's true charm lies within, not on the surface.
But...
"Um, Mister Santa. You don't have to push yourself so hard."
"H-Have some of this first before you continue."
"If you're free, want to have dinner together tonight? At my place, if possible..."
...watching this makes you think looks really are everything.
'Is life in this world really this easy?'
He found the situation utterly unfamiliar—everyone being so kind to him.
Everyone scrambling to shower him with kindness, as if they couldn't stand not to. It was...
'The world is so unfair.'
What kind of lives did handsome guys live?
The man using the hastily made alias Santa Ri Han chuckled hollowly while clenching his fist inwardly.
He was barely holding back the urge to resort to violence.
Why the anger issues and violent impulses?
'Damn it, that's not my thing!'
...The last one who invited him to dinner was a man, not a woman.
Getting into Modred's territory of Wales wasn't hard at all.
Unlike what that fake Hao Moon Lord guy had warned—claiming it was closed-off and dangerous—the locals were weirdly friendly to outsiders.
- Whoa, you came all this way looking for work? ...Well, with that face on a commoner, life must've been tough.
- Poor guy...
- It might be hard labor, but try the lord's castle. They should have openings.
'Looks basically create plausibility, huh?'
His carefully prepared alibis and documents felt pointless; the locals accepted him with surprising ease.
Too easy, even after days of preparation...
'My prime look still works pretty well, huh?'
Though he'd called it Bone Compression and Reverse Youthening Technique, it was simply applying the Bone Shrinking principle.
Forcibly compressing bones and flesh.
In other words, Lee Han hadn't transformed or disguised himself—he'd just made his body slimmer and smaller, reverting to before his muscles and frame bulked up. But it seemed to fool others effectively.
In fact...
- T-Teach me that! Please! I don't care what pain follows!
- Mister...? Oh, no, bro?
- Tina!?
Simon had reacted that way, and the twins too—they'd all been shocked.
"...I did it because he asked, but has that guy woken up yet?"
Lee Han shook his head, recalling Simon who'd passed out right after experiencing Bone Compression.
Couldn't even handle that level of pain.
'Some of us endure it in real time.'
Crunch! Cruuunch!
A sound only Lee Han could hear from inside his body.
Forcing compression meant his body screamed to revert, and it hurt like hell.
It was self-torture. Without the Fairy's Blessing (Shedding Mortality) pain he'd endured, it would've been unbearable.
Still, enduring the pain was one thing—how long he could maintain it was the issue.
'If my focus slips even a little, it'll snap back instantly.'
It felt like cradling a fuse that could burn out anytime.
However...
"How do you chop firewood so perfectly? And the finishing work is amazing too!"
"...Just picked up the skill doing all sorts of odd jobs. It's nothing special."
"Nothing special? It's incredibly impressive...!"
...watching these people fawn over him oblivious to his anxiety made Lee Han sweat bullets.
Why were they so interested in him?
'I wish they'd all just scram.'
It wasn't just anxiety over his identity being exposed.
Simply...
'Don't these people have work to do?'
They kept interrupting his work, which was annoying.
To maintain his newbie servant persona, Lee Han had to work diligently.
New hires everywhere get favored by seeking out tasks themselves.
So he volunteered for jobs, working from dawn: cleaning, helping maids with laundry, fixing broken items using his carpentry hobby from part-time gigs.
Working early like this, in less than four days, he was recognized as a diligent, capable servant.
...The problem? People tagged along no matter what he did.
Even today.
"How's a guy's skin this smooth?"
"Oh my, but he has some muscles too, like a real man."
"Have some of this while you work."
"......"
With people shadowing him like guards while he worked, he couldn't help but want to sigh.
Even worse, he couldn't actually sigh...
'Should I have gone with special prosthetics or something?'
Lee Han felt a strong urge to revert to his true form.
'Ugh, this pretty boy—no, parasite-level face is the problem...'
Looks had their perks, sure, but the constant attention was suffocating and stressful.
Especially since some admirers were men, stirring murderous impulses.
'Damn barbaric medieval era...'
The era's abundance of No. 2 types was a real headache in times like this.
Amid the frustration and irritation, Lee Han kept working silently.
Vowing to smash the jaws of these creeps once his business was done.
...Then.
"Uh..."
"Ahem."
"L-Let's get back to work, everyone."
Sensing someone's presence, the servants scattered quickly.
Pretending to be busy out of nowhere, despite slacking off moments ago. It was baffling, but Lee Han had felt the presence too, so he knew why.
In this mansion, over nearly four days, only one thing made people react so awkwardly.
He glanced over casually.
Twitch!
"......"
...She might think she was hidden, but anyone could tell.
A girl hiding behind a tree, with distinctive pink-bronze hair that only a few in the mansion had.
Lee Han considered ignoring her, but he wasn't the type to treat a child like she was invisible.
"Is there something you need, miss?"
"!!?"
"Any orders? Or something you'd like to say?"
The gentlest expression he could muster.
He wasn't particularly fond of kids, but he could show basic kindness.
"......"
"Miss?"
"......"
"...?"
His kindness went unanswered...
'Kids really aren't my thing.'
He realized anew.