Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.75 – The Cogwheel Declares (1)
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...A day had vanished.
He had somewhat regained his senses and heard the story, so Lee Han blinked.
“A day?”
“Yeah.”
“...I was asleep for that long?”
“No. You were dead?”
“Pardon?”
“Yeah?”
“??”
“???”
...Correction. He hadn't been asleep; he had been dead.
One might dismiss this as nonsense.
“A whole day with my heart stopped?”
“Precisely 14 hours!”
“...What.”
“The butler said it was technically a vegetative state.”
“......”
Now he understood why they said he had been dead.
Even so, if the heart hadn't beaten for over 10 hours, wouldn't death be the norm?
No, it wasn't dissatisfaction with being alive—it was a perfectly natural question for any person.
And fortunately...
Vmmm-.
“...This is?”
“The butler said it's a gift.”
“......Giving me poison—no, killing me and then medicine afterward...”
[Aura], the superhumans' exclusive domain and the pinnacle of pure vitality, now filled Lee Han's body.
And he knew whose energy it was.
'Like its owner, what a vicious thing.'
It was the aura of the butler, John Ray Albert.
A chilling sensation, as if some unidentified alien organism had coiled up inside his body.
Yet contrary to the chill, the aura was restoring his body.
Not only the battered organs, bones, and muscles, but especially the heart—it was astounding.
Thump, thump! Thump thump!
In impeccable condition.
Like a sprout in a drought struck by rain, bursting with freshness.
How should he describe this?
'Molting the hair and washing the marrow?'
A technique from the tales of supreme experts infusing qi to expel impurities, sometimes depicted in martial arts novels as a fateful encounter that strengthens one's meridians or bones.
Lee Han's current state was just like that.
“...The aura protected my still heart in my stead and handled the blood supply too?”
“That's how you can see it. Enviable, isn't it? A blessing of aura. He never does it when I ask...”
“Then try dying once. He might do it for you too, sis.”
“...You cheeky brat.”
“The one envying someone who's brushed the gates of the afterlife is the real cheeky one.”
“......You're right.”
“...What's this? Honest agreement for once?”
Isis's visit—the beautiful woman with striking silver-white hair—didn't surprise Lee Han much.
He had caught her scent long ago, and after all, she was the homeowner who had provided the room in the first place. What was there to be startled about?
However.
“It's a message from the butler. 'Next time we meet, let's have even more fun.' What a presumptuous fool.”
“Tell him I'll pass for the foreseeable future... no, for the next ten years.”
“...You're the most presumptuous of all.”
Smack!
Isis's fan struck his head as if spewing fire, but naturally, it was she who winced in pain. Lee Han thanked her for the scalp massage, only to feel a hollow emptiness midway through.
'Fun, huh. So my level is still at that point.'
His body felt endlessly hale, but realizing even that perfect condition stemmed from the opponent's consideration brought a strange sense of deflation.
And furthermore.
'He could have finished me off anytime.'
He even felt anger toward himself for his heart stopping so pathetically.
He had trained diligently without missing a single day, thought he had grown by clashing with powerhouses...
'I thought the summit was just within reach, only to realize it was merely the starting line.'
Lee Han felt anew just how immense the peak he aimed for truly was.
It was different from when Baltar had crushed him.
Baltar had, in a way, stooped to his clumsy 'level' to play along, but Albert had overwhelmed him utterly, as if demonstrating how utterly insignificant he was.
“So distant... and treacherous...”
“Hmph, of course. They've stood at the pinnacle for decades. How could someone not even thirty yet surpass them?”
“...I told you to stop with the mind reading.”
“It's not mind reading; it's obvious.”
“Sheesh.”
“How long do you plan to lie pathetically on a lady's lap, whining like a child? Get up!”
“...Is this encouragement or a scolding...”
As Lee Han smiled bitterly at her reprimand and slowly began to rise...
“?”
...An inexplicable awkwardness settled in.
'What is this?'
The moment he pondered the source of that awkwardness, he spotted it immediately.
“...My clothes—what the hell is this?”
Lee Han realized he was wearing a uniform unlike his usual attire.
Not just any uniform, but the one he despised most...
“Why am I wearing the White Cats' uniform!?”
A white uniform.
None other than the ceremonial dress uniform of the White Silver Lion Knights.
White base cloth with excessive frills and decorations, an absurd number of buttons, and even a cape attached—a ridiculously childish getup.
It was also the exact style Lee Han absolutely refused to wear.
Not just the overload of accessories, but the cape was especially spine-chillingly repulsive.
Thus loathing it, Lee Han immediately turned to the 'culprit' who had dressed him in it.
“Why the hell did you put this on me!”
“Such excessive suspicion. Accusing people without evidence?”
“Who else could it be!”
“...It's a rather precious ceremonial uniform. Even as dress attire, it has some durability.”
“You think I'm complaining about functionality right now?!”
Lee Han spoke in a haze of half-casual, half-respectful speech, but Isis remained composed.
On the contrary.
“It suits you well enough, so why be so embarrassed? Isn't that right, Leira?”
“Yes! You look dashing, sir knight!”
“...I'm losing my mind.”
Unable to even snap at the beaming maid, Lee Han calmed his agitation. Once somewhat composed...
“...So, who dressed me in this?”
“......”
He posed what he felt was an important question to her, but no answer came.
Instead, an ominous silence hung in the air.
“......”
“...It suits you.”
“Hey.”
“...It's not bad at all.”
“!?!!”
...Lee Han realized the wedding bells had tolled.
The royal court's final ball.
It was the event crowning the debutantes' finale, a time when countless lovers were born.
Well, 'born'...
“I don't want to hear the word debutante for a good while.”
“Not even beasts, and yet...”
“Haaa...”
The problem was that having witnessed every unsightly spectacle imaginable, there were swarms of such 'born' couples.
The girls who had dreamed of fairy-tale encounters during the debutante season learned, contrary to expectations, that this ball was nothing but a beasts' festival.
No, not even proper beasts...
“I can't fathom how they could commit such indecency right in the middle of the garden...”
“They're beasts. Probably just overcome with mating urges.”
“K-Karin!”
“What? It's not like we don't all know already.”
They say children grow up overnight after tasting life's bitterness, suddenly becoming adults.
Just like that, these girls had fully savored life's acrid taste during this debutante season.
What they had dreamed of was something akin to a fairy tale; the reality was merely a beastly orgy.
And while males had charged in to deliver that bitter reality, fortunately...
“Good thing I learned self-defense from the instructor.”
“But weren't the men kinda weak for guys? I really just tripped mine, and he went down like paper—I was the one who got flustered.”
“Our environment's special. That's the average for noble upbringing.”
The swordsmanship department freshmen had tasted bitterness aplenty, but none had fallen victim to their advances.
Drunken nobles with eyes rolled back in frenzy, desperate to topple even one girl—they overflowed. Yet each time, the girls had deftly handled them with force or cunning.
Through this, they understood why the kingdom's noble birthrates spiked after debutante season, why illegitimate children and broken engagements were commonplace.
As the girls grumbled ceaselessly, their every illusion about debutante shattered...
Sneak...
“She's still going strong.”
“Probably 'cause her spotlight's been too intense lately?”
“...Our bear lady's really pissed.”
The girls cast anxious glances toward their friend amid the bustling scene.
“Lady Joan of Arc. If you're amenable, would you consider meeting my dear boy?”
“No.”
“P-please, at least think it over a little...”
“Not my type.”
“Ah, we haven't even shown you the boy yet.”
“I've heard all the rumors already. The one who's gotten three maids pregnant, right?”
“Th-that's hardly a flaw...”
“It is to me. So no more strange talk, madam.”
“......Such impudence from...”
“Is that remark directed at me personally? Or calling the Tristan family impudent, madam?”
“!!”
“Mind your words. I'm neither your servant nor your friend.”
“...I'll take my leave then.”
“No. You apologize first before going anywhere.”
“!!?”
“Madam, you think the world is that easy?”
“Th-that's...”
...The seasoned noblewoman wore a tearful expression.
She was fairly renowned in high society, but she fell short against the girl's directness and overwhelming presence.
It could hardly end otherwise for a noblewoman who dared take on lightly a girl who swung her sword even before massive magical beasts.
“...Why's she gone dark mode?”
“Beats me?”
As the girls observed, Levi was in an utterly foul mood at present.
Normally, she would have brushed off even such rudeness with grace, but not this time.
...Partly due to the stage 1 noble phobia triggered the day before.
However, the main reason Levi was so downcast was something else entirely.
'Unpleasant.'
The palace air was unbearably foul.
Somehow...
'Like [that time].'
The magical beast terror incident from last year.
...The girl's eyes darkened as she sensed that same ominous aura from that day.