Chapter 351
Chapter 351
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.74 – The Knight Talks with the Butler (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
3 years ago...
It must have been around the time when his fighting spirit toward Baltar Grace was in full bloom.
At that time, Lee Han had been frantically training to escape the knight order somehow, picking fights with the guys in the White Silver Lion Knights on purpose, building his strength day in and day out.
And right on cue, with the Crown Princess's investiture confirmed, Isis—who was throwing herself into state affairs with royal vigor—introduced him to one person.
Her butler, she said.
And so...
- I'm John Ray Albert, Sir Lee Han.
Lee Han and Albert's first meeting took place, and not long after, Lee Han learned something.
- An Aura User? That butler?
The old man was a superhuman, just like Baltar Grace.
He had thought the old man was extraordinary, but he never imagined he was a superhuman.
- So that's how it is...
To reiterate, Lee Han at the time was full of youthful vigor...
No. Yeah, let me correct that. He was a clueless punk who didn't even know his place.
A pathetic rookie who couldn't even gauge the gap in skill between himself and his opponent.
That's what he had been three years ago, deluding himself that the difference between a superhuman and himself wasn't that vast.
And so...
- Butler, would you spar with me just once?
He provocatively challenged the butler.
He figured the butler wouldn't accept at first, so he'd pester him persistently...
- Haha, very well.
Unexpectedly, Albert accepted the challenge readily, and he must have grinned.
Excited at the thought of learning how to tackle a superhuman through this match.
- Then, since time is precious, let's do it right now.
- Pardon?
...It was a delusion.
That day, Lee Han came to understand the feelings of a gutter rat.
More precisely, the terror of a gutter rat that couldn't even struggle once it was clutched in a human hand and died instantly...
- Haha, your potential isn't bad. So don't slack on your efforts.
- ....
...He thrashed about like that and survived.
But Albert saw his struggles as mere antics and remained kind to the end.
- He's fucking strong...
Only despair and helplessness washed over him, and he had to lie in bed for a fortnight to recover, but he shook off the negative mood quickly enough and got back up.
However, for Lee Han, that day was an unforgettable, humiliating defeat—and undoubtedly a precious turning point.
Because he had learned something by ruminating on the loss.
- If even a rat bites a finger to survive, what do I have to fear...!
The mindset that even without talent or power, he had to thrash until the end.
That must have been when it started.
Instead of challenging Baltar once a week, he only challenged him when he saw definite progress, seeking new possibilities that surpassed the old.
It wasn't about wanting something new or flashy.
- What I've learned so far isn't enough. I need something to anchor it.
What he had learned up to then.
The stealth of the [Assassin] lacked power.
The roughness of the [Mercenary] was too raw, lacking balance.
The valor and bravery of the [Soldier] were mighty, but utterly powerless before a true master.
So he needed a central axis to harmonize those three and fill the gaps—and something to solidify the ideas he harbored...!
- Let's call it 'Vigor'.
The possibility, embodying his vow to be resilient and unyielding, was born that way.
And now, three years later—
'Come to think of it, he's like a benefactor...'
A deep reminiscence was unfolding.
Why so deep?
Obviously, because this was the man who had turned around his pathetic, lax mindset from back then.
Not that he was grateful for the fortnight of agony...
And as if his thoughts had struck a chord,
"Haha, three years since then? Just three years, yet it feels so long ago. Now it's a memory."
Albert brought up the past as well.
"...For me, it's a nightmare."
"Haha, you're exaggerating."
"......Does it sound like an exaggeration?"
Unlike Albert, who laughed lightly as if reminiscing fondly, Lee Han couldn't smile at all when it came to three years ago.
It was nothing but an embarrassing past.
"Are you challenging me like back then? To beat Baltar, or to land one on me?"
"...That's my dark history, so don't dig it up. And it's not revenge."
Just...
"A conversation, like I said."
It might sound a bit like an excuse, but conversation isn't always conveyed through words alone.
Even on a trip abroad, when languages don't match, don't people use gestures to express themselves?
Beyond that, sometimes music, paintings, dance, or song can communicate.
Even mathematical formulas.
In that sense,
"This counts too."
That was the end of his long-winded excuse that conversation doesn't have just one form.
Well, for a rather special kind of conversation...
'I'm probably the only idiot charging at an Aura User.'
"Haha, I get it. I'll take your word for it."
"...I'm serious."
"Haha."
Snap.
He took off his coat for the first time.
Three years ago, he hadn't even removed the coat while toying with him.
But taking off the coat...
'He only took off the damn coat.'
Still in spotless white tie and gloves, the formal waistcoat beneath seemed to mock him.
As if noticing Lee Han's gaze on the coat,
Albert said,
"This coat is made of a material that's hard to clean. Dust or blood is a hassle."
"...Whose blood are you referring to, for reference?"
"No comment."
"......I think I already know the answer."
It revealed his intent to toy with him fully.
Who was worse at hiding expressions...?
The difference was that he at least tried to hide it but got caught anyway, while this guy didn't even bother hiding.
It was a big difference—a provocation, even.
'See, we've already had a conversation.'
The primary process of proving that conversation was possible through actions alone.
And to his opponent's provocation...
'I need to counter.'
A counter that would wipe that leisure away...!
Boom!
There was no agreed signal.
He kicked off the ground recklessly, shattering the floor with such force that shockwaves erupted behind him like a bomb blast, radiating outward.
The charge of Divine Arrow Flight, filled solely with the will to smash into the opponent!
What about his usual probing?
Screw that—he wanted to counter, not put on a show like three years ago.
'Directly!'
Pure power.
Lee Han unleashed his full might, his body engulfing Albert's.
Kaboom!!!
An even greater shockwave than when he kicked off shook the earth, massive dust clouds spreading in concentric circles, slicing trees and rocks like a razor wind.
It wasn't the power a human charge could produce—overwhelming in itself...
Crack...
"Hm, do you eat well? You seem lighter than before."
"...!"
"Haha, but that's good. Three years ago, just colliding broke your bones, but now they're sturdy."
"Tch, doesn't sound like a compliment..."
"Ahaha! I mean it."
Grind!
Lee Han gritted his teeth.
Veins bulging on his forehead from the strain, but Albert's body...
'Not even 1mm of movement!'
Groan...!
Even gripping his waist with both hands, Albert didn't budge.
Instead, only his own feet dug craters into the ground, while the opponent remained at ease.
Lee Han immediately gave up the contest of strength, and the moment he decided,
Bang!!
He thrust a fist forward.
Straight punch stance.
A One Hundred Paces Divine Fist executed at 1cm range, unleashing force enough to topple a mountain.
Thud!
"Your reaction is 0.02 seconds slow. You're too focused on setting your stance."
"......"
"That's why it's blocked so easily. What's the use of a strong technique if you don't get the chance to unleash it?"
"Ha..."
The One Hundred Paces Divine Fist was blocked.
Parried so thoroughly he didn't even get the opening to extend his fist.
Humiliating—normally, you'd just counter...
Swish.
"Try again. Make the motions smaller, only the necessary movements."
"......"
Even giving him another chance.
...So kindly.
"......"
Whoosh!
But he didn't decline.
Right then...
Bam-!
"Haha, I said extend your fist, not your leg all of a sudden."
Whirling Kick. Like a roundhouse, but a technique he prided himself on surpassing the One Hundred Paces Divine Fist in power and speed—yet blocked again.
Though a bit satisfying.
Swish...
"Oh dear, my hair's disheveled."
Three years ago, not even a hair out of place—finally messing it up.
That's why—
"Butler, over a hundred years old and such lush hair—what's the secret?"
"Diet management and low stress."
"That's... tough."
Boom!!!
-He wanted to show a bit more.
He changed in real time.
Bang!
Not like he learned in an instant.
Boom!!
The knight simply struck heavily.
He didn't give up even when blocked, merely showing himself as he was.
All he had achieved as a knight thus far.
Each time, he aptly disrupted the flow, but his eyes widened inwardly as he did.
If an ordinary person pushed like that, tendons would snap or bones shatter—no surprise...
"Tendons tougher than iron chains, more elastic than rubber. I can't even imagine the training... Haha, impressive."
"Haaaa!!!"
Splatter!!
This much in just three years.
'I couldn't have dreamed of this at his age...'
Thud.
Admiring, yet he severed the flow again with a hand chop.
Using only his right hand, no less.
The knight knew this but wasn't frustrated at all.
His eyes gleaming as he poured out his full power.
As if worries or helplessness were mere distractions, devoting everything to the now.
His strikes...
Imbued with unwavering 'willpower', without exception.
And that will...
Twinge...
'...It hurts?'
John Ray Albert was 'hit' for the first time.
"...Hm."
How long had it been since he felt this sensation?
His 'wrist' tingled.
He had preemptively deflected every attack and halved the power, yet the [Strength] seeped in from his fingertips.
A stinging like being bitten by a venomous ant or spider—and he found the sting novel.
'Years—no, decades since I felt pain like this.'
Yet the pain wasn't unpleasant.
Rather, like reuniting with a welcoming, familiar 'friend'.
Naturally—he was too accustomed to pain.
He had lived with it.
'I hurt a lot when I was young.'
Tortured for a month straight.
Endured half a year trapped in a jar.
Survived inside a red-hot Iron Maiden.
Of course, he endured it all by the grace of the light, but back then...
'I was such a whiner.'
Embarrassing in hindsight.
Crying and losing his mind over mere pain...
Probably youthful folly?
'The young ones these days call that romance? Haha, I lived a romantic life too...'
Albert felt nostalgia.
And he understood why Baltar joyfully accepted that knight's sparring requests.
'Hoarding this thrill all to himself...'
Lucky for him, then.
That he could feel this joy now.
Experience this stimulation after decades.
A truly valuable gift.
'Shall we share the fun?'
What good was enjoying it alone?
That wouldn't do.
Vmmm!
Albert used his aura for the first time in ages, pulling out one of his old 'specialties'.
His best weapon was the awl, but strangely, what others feared most was...
Whish-
-[Iron Chains].
The aura-formed chains wrapped around his neck, wrists, and ankles in the next instant, and then...
"It'll sting a bit."
Rattle rattle rattle!!
Quartering.
Normally a [execution technique] requiring four horses and ropes, but Albert could do it solo—and additionally,
Crunch!
Crunch!
Craunch!
"I preferred pulling the head too."
Penta-Section.
He favored five-way dismemberment over four.