Chapter 335
Chapter 335
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.70 – Why the Knight's Loathing is Right (4)
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A succubus had newly joined Lee Han's project to round up the fanatics.
According to the Status Window, with 'Flower Laden with Poison' Judia on board, the quality of the information they gathered skyrocketed.
True to her moniker 'Dream Demon', Judia's method of acquiring information was unique.
Every night, Judia went out to collect information.
In other words, she gathered it in dreams. Without needing to seek out specific individuals, she simply found dreams matching her desired [keywords] and slipped into the dreamers' minds, extracting the information she wanted in an instant.
It was all too easy to obtain such secrets, and even Luna Bridget, who was watching, couldn't hide her admiration mixed with unease.
It was truly a case of having one's nose cut off while wide awake.
It was only natural to feel threatened by an ability that could expose not just enemy secrets, but allied ones as well.
Well, for now, she was on their side, so they had to trust and rely on her.
Lee Han had no interest in what happened to the wily dream demon down the line; only the present mattered.
Just like that, after about four days of gathering information...
The dream demon's expression shifted subtly, and for a moment, they wondered if it was bad news.
"Knew it!"
Screeech!
The moment the dream demon confirmed it, Galahad's shadow prepared to launch an all-out assault.
But as the saying goes, you should hear people out to the end?
"?"
Judia casually held up ten fingers, and they recoiled in shock.
No matter how you sliced it, the idea of ten or more factions aiding them was shocking enough...
"......"
"......"
There was no response to Judia's continued words.
It was that shocking...
"Wait, let me verify this for a bit."
It was so unbelievable that they needed to check.
Soon, Galahad's side focused their efforts on uncovering the truth and began investigating the hundred factions Judia mentioned.
If it had been other forces, it might have taken a month or even half a year to verify, but Galahad was different.
Two weeks was plenty.
And with the guild's help on top of that...
"Insane..."
In just five days, Galahad confirmed the truth of Judia's words and lost his cool for the first time.
...The betrayal was real.
"-After that, Roengrin stopped being the issue. Well, Roengrin is still a problem, but now we can't focus just on them."
"......"
"Right? With this many traitors, how are we supposed to handle it ourselves?"
"...Even striking Roengrin would be problematic. If we do, the traitors will think their existence is exposed and go into hiding even faster."
"Exactly."
"......"
"Why?"
"...No reason. You just don't seem that angry, surprisingly."
Derek tilted his head, seeing the person he expected to be the angriest remaining calm.
The instructor was among the top ten most aggrieved by the fanatics, having endured every hardship alone in recent weeks.
If anything, the situation had shifted from targeting just Roengrin to a hundred traitors, yet the instructor wasn't raging—in fact, he was eerily composed, which raised questions.
"Hmm, why I'm not angry... Probably because there's someone even more pissed off than me."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, someone who'd be way angrier than me. Thinking of her makes it feel like, 'Eh, whatever.' She'll handle it herself anyway."
"??"
Derek could only tilt his head at the vague answer.
Meanwhile, Lee Han thought:
'...Around now, is she throwing stuff or something?'
He smirked, imagining the princess who must be fuming over the news he'd sent her.
Not that he should think this way.
'Serves her right, heh heh.'
He'd always known her as someone who made her subordinates suffer, but seeing her with a headache for once felt satisfying.
"-What an insolent bastard. Stuff like this should be delivered in person. Who sends such crude news by letter?"
"...Sis, why are you in my yard?"
"Hmph! After seeing this, how could I stay away? Think about it a little."
"So... why come to me of all people?"
Damn...
Lee Han was dumbfounded.
He'd just been savoring the schadenfreude of her suffering alone, and now here she was out of nowhere, leaving him stunned.
What the...
'...Filling it with a hundred traitors was her summoning spell?'
Lee Han grumbled about the annoying auntie showing up.
Smack!
The princess, now versed in mind-reading, swung her fan at the knight's forehead, spewing fire.
...Though it only hurt her own wrist.
"Sir Knight, here's your black tea!"
"Ah, thank you, maid."
"Hehe, oh, I baked scones too—want some?"
"Sure, if you're offering."
"Got it! Coming right up!"
The innocent smile of the charming maid Leira Winter beamed as she scurried off to fetch the scones.
She tripped and smashed into a rock on the way, but no one worried.
If anything...
"Whoa! This is the rock you use for training, Sir Knight! It's broken!"
Her yelling that showed she was healthy—no, sturdy beyond belief.
"Not her forehead getting hurt, but the rock breaking..."
As he marveled at her smooth, unblemished, moist forehead without a single bruise, the ruthless princess—who couldn't care less if Leira Winter fell—spoke up.
"This is only the second time in my life I've been this furious. The first was when my father declared the Britannia conquest."
"...That mad?"
"How could I not be? Part of me wants to raise an army and crush them all in one go."
"Then do it. You have the authority."
"Can't."
"?"
She stated it so firmly, and as Lee Han blinked at her, Isis gave a wry smile.
"My little brother seems to have no idea how important this banquet is."
"Just your sis's kid's first birthday party... no, birthday, right?"
"You really don't know."
"...Sorry, I'm ignorant."
Lee Han grumbled again, and Isis's gaze softened noticeably.
She found his blatant griping annoying, yet it felt good to have someone she could vent to without political considerations.
Without showing that sentiment, she continued.
"I mentioned it earlier. The first time I was that furious."
"The Britannia conquest?"
"Precisely, the unification of the southern continent. Anyway, I'm still vehemently against it."
"Why?"
"The losses outweigh the gains. Enough to shake the kingdom..."
"......"
Isis's face paled further, as if recalling it made her dizzy with fatigue; her already pale complexion looked ghostly.
She murmured lowly.
"War is a monster that devours money. No, if it only ate money, that'd be lucky. It's a beast that upends the economy and the people's daily lives. Conquest wars are on another level. The economic damage and casualties were beyond anything you can imagine."
"......"
"Yet the current king, my incompetent father, let his greed to surpass even one of the War God's feats lead to disaster."
"...But we won, didn't we?"
"Of course we had to win. No, we could only win. Fighting a war carrying the War God's era of glory—how could we lose? Pendragons can't lose. But conversely, why didn't we conquer those nations even in the War God's time? Do you know why?"
"Uh, no clue?"
"Because even if we did, it'd be a net loss."
"?"
"Culture, history, language, politics, economy, values. Taking over a nation so different isn't wise. Force them into submission, and rebellion brews eventually. Even conquest requires long-term effort—not just force, but cultural assimilation over nearly 60 years. That's true conquest. But we did it by force, so problems were inevitable."
"......"
"I didn't say it, but Britannia, which we conquered, sees riots and backlash dozens of times a day. After a lifetime as enemies, who can predict their resentment at being absorbed by Pendragon? ...If Britannians suddenly conquered Pendragon and demanded we bow, I'd bite my sword and die first."
"Isn't that extreme on your part?"
"Hmm? Don't you know? Right after Pendragon succeeded, most Britannian royals bit their swords and committed suicide."
"......"
"We're like water and oil. We'd choose death over kneeling."
"Geez..."
...So it's not just blind mutual hatred?
Lee Han shook his head, wondering if this was how a mustachioed dictator viewed Jews.
'Better me than that.'
His hatred for spellcasters or nobles had righteous justification.
'I'm the normal one.'
It was a moment of reaffirming his own normalcy.