Chapter 362
Chapter 362
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.76 – The Knight Leaves the Stage (2)
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It had been a full fortnight since the incident that people had named "The Day King Edmund Fell," or something like "The Pendragon Humiliation and Tragedy of Despair."
The kingdom was...
"Execute King Edmund!"
[Execute him! Execute him!]
"Hand over the neck of the traitor who betrayed the kingdom!"
[Hand over the traitor's neck!!!]
...far from calming down. The chaos was only growing more intense.
Overwhelmingly so.
At some point, the kingdom's citizens had begun staging protests.
Soldiers had been dispatched several times to stop them, but whenever the troops showed up, the protesters scattered quickly. They wore black clothes and masks throughout the demonstrations, making it nearly impossible to identify and arrest specific individuals.
On top of that, other citizens subtly aided the protesters, stalling the soldiers' investigations completely.
In other words, this whole series of disturbances made one thing clear.
"It means the people already know the full truth. I suspected the Information Guild had spread it all. The old fogeys in parliament just ended up looking foolish. All that pressure on the newspapers, the incitement and fabrications—it was all for nothing."
"Yeah..."
"And your reputation is spreading alongside it. Some are even calling you the noble 'Knight in White' or 'Fist Saint' for fearlessly clenching your fists and charging at unchecked power. Heh."
"So childish."
"Childish or not, it's popular."
"...Don't tell me that chibi doll is official merch of me?"
"I invested in it myself. It's selling pretty well, heh."
"'The bear performs, but the trainer takes the applause,' huh..."
Lee Han's eyes twitched as he stared at the doll, perfectly crafted to piss him off in just the right way.
The quality was impressive.
Whoever designed it... it was spot-on.
"By the way, Lady Tristan made it. Talented girl."
"...So it was my girl's work."
In any case, as one could tell from this alone, the noble parliament's schemes had ended in utter failure.
It must have been utterly baffling for them.
They'd mobilized all their capital, power, and information networks to bury King Edmund's crimes, only for it all to unravel in less than a month—a mere fortnight.
But this was only natural.
"Those incompetents are still stuck in the past. It's been over a century since the commoners were ignorant."
One of the War God's greatest achievements was none other than 'education.'
He'd built schools so even the lowest classes could read and do basic math, extending learning to everyone.
He'd even created public libraries anyone could use, allowing all who sought knowledge to read books freely.
Thanks to these benefits, Pendragon's illiteracy rate was worlds apart from a century ago—no exaggeration.
The fact that even commoners could pass the Royal Academy's grueling exams showed the gap between nobles and commoners wasn't as vast as it once was.
Sure, nobles still dominated certain fields, but the key point now was that the people weren't ignorant anymore. They couldn't be fooled as easily as in the old days.
Especially...
"The recent string of incidents hit the powerless commoners hardest."
The nobles faced no real issues, but the commoners had suffered massive property losses from the Blood Crusaders' uprising.
Especially when merchant houses and nobles colluded to jack up prices to murderous levels—it left them clutching their necks in despair.
Even in years of bountiful harvests, the wealthy hoarded everything, leading to the ironic tragedy of starvation.
"And the temple, which they thought was on their side, stabbed them in the back. Now even the royal family has done the same... Honestly, punching the king seems minor by comparison. What matters to them now is getting revenge for that sense of betrayal, no matter what."
So this uprising wasn't strange at all.
If anything, it was overdue. They'd held back until this royal scandal became the breaking point.
"Hmm, yeah."
"That's how it is."
"...But why do I need to know all that? Especially..."
Crunch.
"...while I'm eating."
"......"
"I want to eat in peace, so could you leave now?"
"...Hmm."
Isis shot him a subtle look from behind the bars, watching him slice into a steak while devouring five lobsters.
...Dessert yogurt ice cream was waiting in the wings, for the record.
"So, first visit in a fortnight, and you suddenly start briefing me on the national situation? Why?"
Only after polishing off dessert did Lee Han finally chat with her. Isis clicked her tongue at the sight.
"Insolent brat."
"If you're done, feel free to go. It's bodyweight workout time."
"......"
"I'll do my thing, and you do yours—say whatever."
"...Sigh."
Sure enough, Lee Han started doing push-ups with utmost seriousness.
It might seem like a trivial exercise to him, but why so intense?
Crack!
Lee Han was currently performing bodyweight exercises while operating [Indestructible].
With his intent activated in real-time, the strain was immense—far beyond standard weight training.
He breezed through over a hundred push-ups, constantly adjusting hand spacing to target different muscles, then went inverted, or one-armed, or even fingertip-only, cycling through poses like some circus act.
"......"
Isis, reduced to a spectator in this one-mat cell, watched intently as he trained.
After observing quietly for a while, she spoke up again.
"Edmund has woken up."
"Hoo! Haah!"
"He's not in his right mind. They're trying holy magic treatments, but he still can't speak properly. His ears and eyes are impaired, making it hard to even stand. He gets dizzy and passes out the moment he tries."
"'Cause I shoved that power right in there, haah!"
"Yes, so he's unfit for any official capacity now."
"What a shame, that is, huh!"
"...You don't look ashamed at all."
But Lee Han seemed utterly uninterested in Isis's words.
Even though it was about Edmund, no different from an arch-enemy to him.
Had he fully settled the old grudge with this incident?
"Nah."
Drip, drip.
Sweat beading down his face, he stated firmly.
Without stopping his workout.
"I'll never forgive that bastard. I might forget other stuff, but I hold grudges forever. I'll torment him as long as he lives. Somehow."
"...I see."
"But wasting time obsessing over him would be a shame. He's small fry anyway."
Yeah, wasting time on a guy like that was pointless.
Training like this was far more rewarding and efficient. Why burn energy on hatred?
He could just drop by and mess with him whenever the mood struck.
"...What bizarre logic."
"Call it efficient. So, is that all you had to say?"
Haah.
Lee Han wrapped up roughly three thousand push-ups and switched to squats.
Varying his form again.
"If that's it, why come at all?"
"Are you picking on me?"
"Not picking—just surprised you'd waste time like this."
"......"
Did she really come just to say that?
Her?
Her response mixed suspicion and confusion, drawing a wry smile from Isis.
"Do you think I'm that heartless?"
"You are. I know you."
A woman who never wasted time on frivolities.
Someone who nurtured countless agents to advance her goals, even a little.
That was Princess Isis, as Lee Han knew her.
So he was certain she had some objective for coming here.
His rough guess:
"Did your father figure it out? That his own daughter exposed all his crimes?"
"......"
"Or did he threaten you? Vowing to drag out your 'weakness' no matter what?"
"...No threats yet. Fortunately, he knows. If he exposes my weakness, he'll lose his last shield."
"Hmm."
"I'm grateful for that. For not killing him. If you had, my weakness would've gone public somehow."
"Yeah."
He took her thanks in stride.
Instead...
"...So, is that it?"
"......"
"I doubt that petty, inferiority-complex-ridden guy would stop there."
"......"
"Knew it."
"...Sigh. Why are you so perceptive?"
"Hear that a lot."
Lee Han smirked, but Isis didn't smile.
She couldn't.
What she was about to say wasn't something she wanted to utter.
Even so...
"Lee Han, my sworn brother."
"Spit it out."
"...The noble parliament, King Edmund, the Merchant Union, and countless other groups have decided your punishment."
"Oh?"
"They will..."
─banish you from the kingdom.
The princess's face as she spoke those words was one of utter devastation.
As if it went against her own will.
But on the contrary...
"......They finally did it, those sons of bitches."
The retirement hopeful shed tears of joy.