Chapter 326
Chapter 326
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.69 – The Knight Cheers on the Youths (5)
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Thud! Boom!
"I've climbed the ranks too. Even lined up some dates with women."
Boom! Boooom!
"Well, half of those dates are just work talk anyway, and the only serious one is with Bear Cub."
Lee Han wasn't an idiot or some dense fool pretending to be oblivious.
He'd known about Bear Cub's feelings for a long time now, but as he'd told her the day before, those emotions felt all too complicated to him.
"In a way, it could just be gratitude and trust..."
They were pure feelings born of her youth.
Considering her age made it hard to distinguish between affection and admiration, Lee Han couldn't just accept it as romantic love outright.
He figured it was closer to admiration, really.
That's why Lee Han refrained from judging those feelings rashly or reciprocating them.
He didn't want to carelessly accept such delicate emotions and end up hurting her.
"Who knows when she grows up. Not yet, though."
Only when his precious disciple matured, shedding her youthful idolization and gaining true independence, would she likely find the real answer herself.
So even knowing her feelings, Lee Han acted oblivious and never took them seriously.
Because brushing them off lightly once he'd caught on...
"The kid's just too good and patient for that."
It wasn't dismissing her as childish or immature; she was a woman so remarkably patient it felt like a waste for her sake. That was why Lee Han had pondered it seriously and made his choice. Thanks to that, he wasn't overly excited about his upcoming meetings with women.
He simply resolved to approach everything with sincerity.
Kaboom!
"Hoo..."
His mind had been elsewhere during the workout, leaving him unsatisfied with how his body felt. Lee Han let out a heavy breath.
"This doesn't even count as a warm-up."
"Hoho, Brother is as diligent as ever. Out here thinning the woods, are we?"
"...Just exercise and pocket money. But why's 'His Holiness the Pontiff' out here? You're a big shot and all."
"Oh ho ho! Call me like you always do, Brother. Titles like that make us feel distant all of a sudden."
"Mercy me, how could a lowly knight like me be so casual with someone of your station."
"Hoho, well now..."
It was Lee Han's teasing remark, and Raphael, the newly appointed Pontiff, let out a hearty laugh.
The vast eastern forest of the capital was immense beyond measure.
This forest, famed for its dense trees, was also called the "Black Forest" due to the excessively tall and thick trunks that kept it shrouded in perpetual gloom, even during the day.
The soil was unnaturally rich in mana, causing the trees to grow at an astonishing rate. To prevent collisions sparking fires or mana depletion, selective thinning was constant. Yet new trees sprouted faster than they could be cleared by hand.
But right now, Lee Han and Raphael were in this Black Forest—yet far from dark, they conversed in bright surroundings.
The reason this was possible...
"Still a monster."
Judia Pierre, Raphael's secretary and guard priestess who had accompanied him.
Even she, usually stone-faced, couldn't help but marvel at the scene before them.
"At least 1,200 trees."
Trees had been uprooted.
Mostly ones rotted or dead from lack of sunlight—yet even in death, their weight and solidity were overwhelming, roots buried deep. Uprooting even one was no small feat.
And now, 1,200 such trees lay fully uprooted, roots and all.
Yet the man who'd done it showed no fatigue, merely a light sheen of sweat. Watching him made her stomach turn.
Average 450kg trees yanked out like weeds.
But the perpetrator dismissed it casually, continuing their chat nonchalantly.
"How've you been?"
"Not well. Suddenly swamped at my age—it's too much. I'd love to retire right now, hoho."
"Why not? The temple won't collapse just 'cause you step down, old timer."
"Hoho! That would be a disaster. That's why I'm playing Pontiff, ill-suited as I am. If the temple falls, that's catastrophe enough."
"So you're suffering for nothing."
"Spot on."
Krunch!
Even mid-conversation, Lee Han snapped a tree trunk barehanded, fashioning an instant chair for Raphael.
Rough-hewn, but a courteous kindness all the same. Raphael nodded thanks.
Thud.
"Ho, quite the handiwork, Brother. Looks makeshift, yet so comfortable."
"I dabbled in woodworking back in the day. Could make a living at it post-retirement... Wait, no. Seriously, old timer, why're you really here?"
Lee Han asked from his own quick-made seat.
Coming all the way to this distant eastern forest was one thing, but the new Pontiff's packed schedule made it baffling.
"Bit far for a stroll."
He didn't buy the walk excuse either.
No way he'd come this far without purpose.
And sure enough.
"I should apologize first, as is proper."
"...Don't. You're making it awkward."
Raphael bowed deeply.
His frail frame trembled, but when Lee Han approached to raise him, Raphael held firm.
He could force it, but that would dismiss the man's sincerity, so he held back.
"I get your heart's young, but your body's not. Let's not. You might hurt yourself."
"I just wanted to apologize somehow—or maybe ease my own conscience. The temple, no, we have sinned so gravely..."
"...Granny Maid's ordeal wasn't your sin."
Lee Han saw through why instantly and shook his head.
Over the past 50 years—or 300, by her account—Granny Maid had sought the temple's aid, only to be ignored.
Dismissed as trivial, overlooked because she was a lowly nun.
The temple had excuses, no doubt.
Didn't recognize the high devil's curse, or sending help on her word alone was risky...
"All pathetic excuses. Verification was easy, and the temple has ways to evade curses aplenty."
"......"
Yeah, just like that.
No excuses for the temple.
They simply didn't bother checking.
Ignored her. Denied their very purpose.
"You didn't know, old timer. Don't beat yourself up."
"Ignorance isn't an excuse. A high devil—high devil—and we let it fester 50, no, 300 years? Shameful even to lift my head..."
"Hm."
"Our sin runs too deep, too deep..."
Raphael murmured like a confessor, and while Lee Han understood, he said:
"Okay, I get it, but why dump this on me? I'm no confessor priest."
He shrugged playfully.
Not the remark for the heavy mood, but Lee Han didn't care.
And why would he?
"The more you grovel, the more Granny Maid'll hate it. So enough gloom, yeah?"
"......"
"Heard you dug up her real name and pushed hardest to canonize her as a saint? Thanks. Late for the temple's sake, but you bulldozed opposition."
"...Just duty. Praise embarrasses me."
"Told you not to. I know you suffered, that criminal knows too. Quit apologizing. The real culprits went to hell unrepentant. No point in innocents suffering."
"......"
"Learning her real name's enough for me. Pretty one, too."
"...Haha, Brother Lee Han always teaches me."
"Not teaching—just speaking my heart."
"...That's what's profound."
Raphael smiled and bowed again. Lee Han tried raising him once more.
...Reminded anew that excess sincerity could be stronger than anything.
Lee Han and Raphael chatted idly for a while.
No other chance for either to talk freely, so they unloaded backed-up stories.
Lee Han learned odds and ends.
Temple constitution reforms, new education systems, even adding a theology department to the academy.
Among other things,
"Why'd you bring that criminal—er, cuckoo red?"
"...Odd nickname?"
"Criminal fits. Betrayed you and hops nests like a cuckoo."
"......"
Pierre the cuckoo red restarting as a low priest after inquisitor days.
"The temple might need 10 years to fully normalize—at least. To prevent repeats, more laws and principles..."
"That'll take 50, not 10. Retirement when?"
"Hoho, must. I'll live long for it. 100 years if needed."
"...Sheesh."
"Which is why a righteous, valiant holy knight would be ideal. Any interest, Brother Lee Han...?"
"Pass."
"Pity. Door's open anytime. Holy knight captain spot's yours."
"Captain now...?"
He even got scouted.
"Oh, and the statue."
"......"
"Temple'll manage it. Priests'll infuse holy power daily for relic status. Soon untouchable national treasure. Hoho."
"Ahem, good, good. But why tell me? No skin off my back."
"Dunno? Wanted you to know."
"...Hm."
Even future plans for the saint statue.
Meaningful talk, and time flew—light faded to true dusk, signaling parting.
Glancing at the sky,
"...So, what's the real point?"
"Pardon?"
"Pontiff now, turning sly? Got a favor to ask. That's why you came way out here."
"......"
"Apology sincere, chat too. But there's more. True aim."
"...Nothing slips past Brother."
"Good ears, sharp nose."
Lee Han finished, and Raphael chuckled lowly, embarrassed.
Rare to be seen through so clearly.
A bit shy, even.
...But shame passed; hesitation gone, he asked,
"Brother, will you help me?"
Thick-skinned, to the man he trusted most.
"With what?"
"Got some intel."
"?"
"Know the Brass Knights?"
"...Details."
"Hoho!"
Sure enough...
"Coming to this brother was right."
The knight's eyes pierced the dark like a melting furnace, blazing fiercely.