Chapter 376
Chapter 376
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.78 – The Knight's Skillful Rural Life (3)
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Vulcan's nights were beyond dark—they were an impenetrable blackness, like blackout curtains sealing off every last ray of light.
Even the moon and stars, the only reliable sources of illumination, were blocked by towering trees. If you were hiking here and night fell, it wouldn't be strange to get swallowed by the darkness and vanish without a trace.
Yet in a way, this profound, deathly quiet gloom brought a sense of peace.
In a word...
"Heh heh."
"Every time I see it, it's impressive. Really."
...sleep came incredibly easily.
Of course, the maid's slumber was on another level altogether.
How could anyone fall asleep the instant their head hit the pillow? One second flat. How?
"Sweet dreams."
Fuu-.
Lee Han confirmed she was asleep and quietly extinguished the candle.
She might wake up and trip in the pitch-black darkness without light...
'Our maid wouldn't get hurt that easily.'
She's the type who would shatter the rock if she bumped into one, never the other way around.
A woman as tough as Lee Han himself, perhaps. Shrugging, he quietly descended to the first floor.
Thud.
"Ah, so comfy."
The hammock she had made was plush beyond belief.
Thanks to her tanning the hides of the animals he brought back and washing them soft and fluffy, it even smelled faintly of sunlight.
'But seriously, how did she get that smell out?'
Wondering how she managed hand-washing without soaps or chemicals.
Anyway.
"You're so talented."
Shaking his head at her endless mysteries, Lee Han closed his eyes.
To sleep peacefully like this.
Then.
"Don't you sleep?"
Scritch scritch.
Orthos used its cute paws to scribble something on the sandbox Lee Han had made.
None other than...
'Writing'.
As expected of a beast with intelligence surpassing humans, Orthos had learned to write with ease—and after a mere fortnight of practice, it had mastered letters.
"Mm, good work. You're doing great."
Scritch scritch.
Thus, conversation was possible.
...Still absurd, though.
'Convenient, anyway.'
The ability to communicate was undeniably handy.
But with communication came clearer demands from Orthos, who now voiced its desires plainly.
"Didn't you eat the goblins' and trolls' magic stones?"
"Hmm, I'd love to give it to you if I could... Sorry, what can I do? I already buried that stone."
Common knowledge: magic stones dissolve into the soil as nutrients within a minute of burial.
Excited and about to bark loudly, Orthos froze at Lee Han's low warning.
"If you wake the maid with your noise, I might just rip off one of your heads."
"Want to test if I'm joking? Go ahead and bark."
...Scritch scritch.
"......"
Orthos bolted to its doghouse outside in an instant, and Lee Han clicked his tongue.
"...That mutt kinda reminds me of the assistant sometimes?"
A night where he oddly missed Assistant No. 1.
...Not that he actually wanted to see her.
"-Hoo."
Lee Han sat cross-legged in his hammock, quietly continuing his meditation.
Sleep?
'Does a person overflow with energy after just 30 minutes?'
A little shut-eye restored most fatigue.
No, his energy surged so much that limiting it to 30 minutes was the real feat.
He could probably stay sharp and alert for a full week without sleep if he willed it.
Proof he was steadily transcending human limits.
'Ever since I started training my intent.'
The sensation of breaking free from mortal boundaries.
Most knights who touched intent probably pulled all-nighters like this with ease.
But Lee Han had no desire to stay up staring into the dark, nor to train outside on purpose.
'To live like a proper human, you need solid routines.'
He had no intention of devoting his life solely to getting stronger.
Life was for joy and happiness—what was the point if it was miserable?
Lately, he'd focused on meditation.
"Hoo-."
Until dawn broke.
Someone might ask what good it did, but surprisingly, meditation was worthwhile.
It cleared the mind and brought mental peace.
Then.
"...That's sparkling for no reason."
Something glittery disrupted his focus, furrowing his brow.
Beautiful liquid, like molten gold, filled three potion vials, gleaming brightly.
Each held barely over 10g, yet the ingredients alone cost as much as ten warhorses.
But that was the bare minimum—the true value lay in the exquisite craftsmanship, beyond price.
- Ambrosia.
The legendary elixir Isis had given Leira when they left the kingdom.
If the one he'd consumed as a child was a crude prototype, these were near-perfect masterpieces.
Three vials of them—enough to make his skin crawl just looking.
Yet at the same time...
'Proof that the curse inside me is viciously potent.'
The curse poison he'd ingested young had spread like a virus, infiltrating his body over years into what was now incurable.
A true curse, impossible to eradicate.
Nothing short of Ambrosia or an elixir could cure it—practically untreatable.
'Now I've got three vials.'
His retirement bonus, the sole remedy for his hopeless affliction.
It also meant chugging three near-perfect Ambrosias for a full cure.
A chilling curse indeed.
...Still, now that he had the medicine, did it matter? But over the past three months, Lee Han hadn't touched a single vial.
Why?
'It just feels off.'
He strangely didn't want to drink it.
Despite knowing one sip would free him from the curse.
Even fully aware, he had no desire.
Was it because he suspected Isis had tampered with it?
'Nah, not her style.'
Sure, she had her ruthless side, but she kept her promises.
No cowardly tricks like poisoning him.
So it must be real, yet...
"Why...?"
"No need to rush. Take your time thinking it over."
"You think?"
"Of course! More importantly, Knight, you should trust your instincts. They've always protected you, right? So there must be a reason not to drink it."
"Mm, yeah, that makes sense."
"Think it through step by step. Unlike before, you've got time now."
"...Got it. You're right."
"Heh heh, glad I could help."
"Uh... but."
"Yes?"
"......Why'd you suddenly come down here in the middle of the night?"
"Just felt chilly tonight."
"......"
Swish.
Lee Han fell silent watching her climb into his hammock without hesitation.
No—stiffened.
Pat pat.
"Lie down, Knight."
"...Mm."
"Come on."
"Wait..."
"Oh, and Knight."
"?"
"...I can wait, hee hee."
"......"
Suddenly, a not-so-succubus-like succubus came to mind.
That utterly un-succubus-like girl.
Proof: back then, her seduction attempts stirred nothing in him.
Just annoyance and disgust.
...But now, seeing her sweetly urging him to lie beside her, he couldn't help thinking:
'Is this what a real succubus temptation feels like?'
Forget the Ambrosia unease—maybe he should just drink it now.
Unmanly thoughts?
'Lee Han, you're a troll's pride! Hold strong!'
'Isn't living as a beta actually better for the world?'
He could almost hear the troll angel and troll devil bickering, feeling like he'd mastered some shamanic yin-yang technique out of nowhere.
'Wait, why are both the angel and devil trolls?'
Lee Han figured heart demons had come calling.
In a happy way...
Those humans are at it again.
Orthos was a beast after all, its hypersensitive hearing picking up every word from the house.
A rage-inducing feeling for a monster.
About to click its tongue and spit in disgust, but unfortunately...
"-Never seen such an ill-mannered mutt. Spitting where?"
Smack!
The next instant, Orthos took a massive blow to the back of its head and blacked out.
One head lost consciousness, but the other was about to howl...
"Hey, I said no barking. Not at night."
Smack!
Thud...
Before it could, another smack to the head knocked out the remaining one.
Even weakened, Orthos had effortlessly dispatched goblins and trolls—yet this man subdued it with one palm. Clicking his tongue, he shook his head.
"Kids in love, and here you are trying to ruin it. Tsk tsk."
A young man speaking like an elder slowly turned away.
"Heh heh, guess I'll come back later."
A gentlemanly remark about not interrupting, and he leisurely departed.
But en route, he noted training traces across the yard, letting out a small exclamation.
"Baltar trained his successor well."
Heh heh-.
Chuckling heartily, the man entered the blackout forest, in high spirits.
Already looking forward to their meeting.
