Chapter 348
Chapter 348
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.73 – Is Punching the King a Crime? (1)
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Of course, the kingdom was in an uproar the very next day.
If it had been some other district that was invaded, it might have been different, but it just had to be the upper-class area...
The street where the nobles resided had been breached, so it would have been stranger if there hadn't been chaos.
They would have ignored it if it had been the lower-class district, but the fact that the powers-that-be had been targeted made the uproar all the more ironic—and proof that a certain knight's disdain for nobles wasn't entirely off-base.
"Chase them! They couldn't have gotten far!"
Though they had vanished amid pillars of flame, even with magic or mysteries at play, the distance they could flee was limited.
Pursuit teams were formed, and the Noble Council was dead set on delivering brutal punishment to those who dared touch the nobles.
...It was also a hasty measure to cover up the fact that they had turned a blind eye to the Brass Knights infiltrating the capital and even blocked troop deployments—the very same incompetent lot that was the Noble Council.
'If this gets out, my political career is over!'
'Who cares what happens to the lowly commoners, but touching the nobles? They've crossed the line.'
'Hah, what a pain in my old age.'
In this way, to protect their own political lives if nothing else, the Noble Council had no choice but to give it their all—and they had to produce results.
That was the current situation, with even private soldiers mobilized to chase the Brass Knights. The Council had no doubt they would capture them soon.
...However.
"Their incompetence has reached magical levels."
He slurped his tea and clicked his tongue.
As if their pathetic display was beyond belief.
"To think so utterly brainless and still claim to run the country... Ah, no. Where are the thoughtful ones among politicians anyway? Hah, spitting in my own face."
The man quickly corrected himself.
He had mocked the nobles' incompetence, but upon reflection, the politicians back home were all the same, which only made him laugh wryly.
"Right?"
Whoosh!
As if seeking agreement, he tossed out the question, and people slowly emerged amid flames.
"...We greet the Captain."
"Enough. Go rest up."
It was the Brass Knights, looking no different from when they had fled the day before. The man nodded in approval.
"The combination of mysteries and magic is wondrous. Blending spatial mysteries with magic to halt time within space and hide... This takes the cake. Back in my youth, I couldn't have dreamed of it."
The man grinned at them, and the Brass Knights, sensing from his casual demeanor that their escape had succeeded, bowed their heads.
"Parhan, you did well too. Good call trusting you with this."
"......"
"Don't ignore me. Feeling slighted? Because I didn't help?"
"......"
"I told you, I had my own business. Don't take it too hard—"
"Urk...!"
Splat...
"......"
Before he could finish, Parhan retched and vomited blood without warning.
It poured out so violently that even the man fell silent, and once Parhan had expelled a fair amount of dead blood, he looked up at the man with a paler face.
"I've shown you an unsightly side, Captain."
"...Must have been rough."
"Haha... Can't deny it. That was the strongest knight I've faced since you."
Urk...
Even his half-demon recovery couldn't fully mend the internal injuries Parhan had sustained.
He had withstood dozens of clashes with that knight's sword strikes, and the accumulated damage was killing him.
"Can't heal even if I try. A knight with free control over his intent is something else, haha..."
"Stop laughing and drink a potion. You'll really die."
Though he scolded him, the man was inwardly surprised.
It was the first time he'd seen Parhan so helpless.
"Where'd you sell your intent? You should've countered in kind."
"...That's why I survived this long."
"What?"
"If my intent is a sharpened saw blade, his is a sledgehammer. A massive one."
"......"
"I'm impressed with myself for surviving a clash with that."
"...Heh."
He couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
"Live long enough, and you hear all kinds of boasts."
"Save the scolding—I'm feeling proud of myself right now."
"...Fine, then answer this: Could you have 'killed' that knight?"
"......"
"Why no answer?"
"...7 to 3."
"Hm, 7's decent odds—"
"We're the 3, for reference."
"......"
"If you step in, Captain, we might push it to 4."
"...What the hell did you fight, you fool?"
"No idea, haha."
Parhan laughed, and the man could only grimace.
Once the banter laced with jokes ended, Parhan wiped the blood from his mouth and asked.
"So, how'd your errand go?"
"Who the hell are you talking to like that?"
"Means it went well."
"...Sigh."
The man looked exasperated even at Parhan's words.
There was clear disappointment, even fatigue.
"Did it... fail, by any chance?"
"Even in my old age, I'm not so incompetent as to fail something this simple."
"Then why...?"
It didn't seem like he'd fought a brutal battle, nor had things gone awry.
Wondering at his drained demeanor, he explained.
"I'm disappointed. Our old 'enemies' have fallen this low... It's so pathetic, I'm beyond anger—now just exhausted."
"......"
Parhan stared at him as he voiced his lament like a grumble.
"...You said you were from Britannia?"
"Britannia means nothing to me. I never swore loyalty to that lowly, foolish kingdom. I was merely part of it because it was the homeland of the lord I followed and revered."
"......"
"That's why it's disappointing. The kingdom of knights my lord once praised so highly amounts to this? Pathetic doesn't cover it—it's tragic."
The man took a breath.
And then...
"Hannibal, my revered lord whom I respect without end. Your old rivals are dead, and all that's left are vermin worse than bugs. How unjust is this...?"
"......"
Parhan shook his head slightly at his captain muttering to the deceased like a plea.
Anyway.
'Britannians are all mad, as expected.'
He was reminded anew that southern-born folk had more than their share of oddballs.
...Still.
'Mad or not, he gets results, so no issue.'
Results were everything.
Suddenly, Parhan thought of the knight he'd fought.
What would he make of the scars they'd left on the kingdom?
Would he laugh... or...
Splash!
"This is you, Instructor, right!?"
"??"
...Lee Han wore a bewildered expression.
He had been enjoying lunch—shrimp bisque pasta brimming with umami, courtesy of the maid—when these unexpected guests showed up, leaving him utterly flustered.
One might wonder why guests were flustering, but.
"They're coming one after another... kinda... a lot?"
This neighborhood's only merit was its quiet emptiness, yet that advantage was now meaningless as a crowd descended on his house at once. Lee Han tilted his head.
Wondering what this was all about.
But the visitors—no, his disciples—kept shoving the front page of the newspaper in his face, so he read it aloud in a daze.
"'A burly man in a black suit saved the nobles. According to one rescued noble: [He looked scary, but his back was warm, and though his muscles were rock-hard, they were smooth to the touch—so nice to grab].' ...What is this? Why the sudden sexual harassment?"
"Knew it was you!"
They nodded as if they'd expected his half-hearted reaction, but Lee Han furrowed his brow and retorted.
"...Wasn't planning to deny it anyway."
He had no intention of denying it since it was his doing, so why grill him like this? But they ignored him.
Instead.
"Thank you, Instructor. For saving my aunt."
"?"
"Thank you so much, Instructor! My uncle and grandfather owe you their lives!"
"??"
"My little sister said you were awesome—here's a gift."
"...?"
Suddenly, the gift parade began, and Lee Han's yard quickly piled up with gifts towering like a mountain.
Fine liquors and sweets, gold and silver ornaments, clocks that screamed luxury, even a fine-looking horse.
Neigh!
"......"
Lee Han stared blankly at the sudden pile, then realized.
"Ah, right—you guys are from noble houses too, huh?"
Only now did it hit him that the people he'd saved might be connected to his disciples.
He worked them so hard they looked like beggars every day, but the boys and girls he called young masters or chicks were all nobles.
And quite well-off ones at that...
So it wasn't strange if they had ties to upper-class residents, and now he understood why they'd come loaded down like this.
"Th-Thanks, but take this all back. Where am I supposed to put it in my house?"
"We figured, so we brought craftsmen to build a storage shed. If you want, we can expand the house bigger and better."
"It's plenty big already..."
"For the horse, we can send stablehands and such if you like. Or, if it's a hassle, leave it at my family's racetrack. You'd get a cut of the winnings from races—can't hurt."
"......"
"Instructor, we know money might feel uncomfortable as thanks, but please accept. This is just how nobles show gratitude."
"......"
"If you refuse or donate elsewhere without taking it directly, even bigger gifts will show up tomorrow. And keep coming."
"...You guys live such exhausting lives."
Lee Han shook his head in amazement.
Grateful, sure, but their lifestyle was so tedious it tired him just watching.
...Still.
Clink.
"......"
His eye caught a particularly shiny bracelet atop the gift tower—platinum and green diamonds. Clearing his throat awkwardly...
"...That bracelet. Got a smaller size?"
He whispered.
"Pardon?"
"One a woman could wear."
"??"
"Ahem."
...It'd suit the maid perfectly.