Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.23 – The Knight's Private Talk (8)
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Lee Han brought Levi back to his house.
Rather than taking her anywhere else, his own base was the safest spot.
And the biggest reason for bringing her along was...
"Please have some black tea and chat!"
"Th-thank you, maid."
"You're welcome! Make yourself at home!!"
"...Yes."
"Hehe."
The maid Leira Winter was a sight that invigorated anyone who saw her.
Lee Han figured that just having her around would put Levi at ease.
Leira backed away with her signature human-vitamin energy, radiating vitality.
As she retreated, she mouthed, 'Knight, you got this!' and even threw in a wink.
Emitting that kind of positive energy was a talent even an Aura User couldn't match.
And sure enough...
"L-Leira the maid seems amazing. She's always so positive whenever I see her, like she can read people's hearts."
"That's high praise. My take is she's just innocently cheerful without a thought in her head."
"That might be... y-yeah..."
Levi soaked up Leira's positive vibes like photosynthesis and regained some spark.
That was as positive a sign as it got.
Well.
"Eek!"
...She didn't need to absorb that part, though.
Leira tripped while backing up, letting out an "ouch" as she fell with a crash, wrecking one of the tables Lee Han had recently taken a hobby to making.
Anyone else might worry more about her getting hurt than the furniture, but Lee Han wasn't too concerned.
"H-how?! K-Knight! This is broken, waaah..."
"Nothing new there, so just leave it. Any injuries?"
"?"
"...No awareness that her sturdy body's the reason she doesn't get hurt."
"Ehehe."
"...Just stay healthy like that forever. That's all I could ask for now."
"Hehe, yees!"
Lee Han offered his now-familiar deadpan concern, while the maid beamed back like a golden retriever wagging its tail. Watching this, the girl...
Kuh!
"......"
"S-sorry! I wasn't laughing on purpose..."
"No, it's good to see. Laugh. People should laugh when they feel like it—keeps the stress from building up."
"B-but..."
"You done crying it out now?"
"!!?"
"Haha, fun teasing you."
"Y-you're awful..."
Levi's face flushed red, her voice dropping to a whisper, but Lee Han kept urging her to laugh.
Freely, heartily.
'She's finally perking up.'
People really needed to cry it all out when times got tough.
Otherwise, the stress festered.
'Good.'
Lee Han sighed in relief.
Back when he first found her, she'd worn a tear-streaked face—no, a deathly pallor.
Seeing her like that stirred pity and worry; he couldn't just leave her be.
What if she made a bad choice?
Her condition had been that dire today.
'Can't let her go home now.'
Back in his past life as a non-commissioned officer, one of the most painful memories was suicide attempts.
Bullying or beatings among soldiers.
Depression from failing to adjust to military life.
The sense of deprivation after two years stripped of freedom.
Stress piled up from all that, pushing people to extreme choices.
Lee Han had once cared for those folks.
It was an unfair assignment, but for the first time in the military, he tackled it with real passion.
He didn't want to see anyone die in front of him and hoped they'd hang on just a bit longer to return to society.
Thanks to that, such incidents dropped in his unit.
...And now.
'Been a while since I did some mental care.'
A girl showing severe symptoms.
Precarious.
Like a candle flame that could flicker out any second.
And he didn't want to watch a prized disciple give up helplessly.
"Levi."
"Y-yes? Oh, yes!"
"Why so startled?"
"I-It just feels rare for Master to call my name..."
"Feels awkward, huh? Then I'll call you Gomsoon."
"N-no, Levi is fine..."
"Alright, then casually it is."
"Yes..."
Was it because he rarely called her by name—and so kindly?
Levi looked flustered yet shyly blushed.
Probably not just the name; it was likely her first time having someone say it so up close.
Truly a rare pure soul.
Just an adult in age—an innocent 'girl' through and through?
...Which made her all the more fragile.
Not fully grown, needing society's protection—like a glass cup ready to shatter.
So Lee Han approached carefully, but with firm resolve.
"If it's hard to respond to what I say from now on, just say 'yes' or 'no.' Or nod lightly—I'll interpret it right."
"N-no need for that..."
"Is dropping out of the Academy your true wish? Or is someone forcing you?"
"!!!"
"See? Already tough to answer."
"......"
"Fine, no need to nod. Just listen."
Lee Han wet his throat with the black tea Leira had brought.
As if gearing up for the real talk.
"I can't claim to know everything about you. But this much I do: you're not the type to abandon your studies lightly without reason."
"......"
"I know there's circumstances. I know you agonized alone and concluded to quit the Academy. But here's the thing: bearing unbearable pain solo is just self-torture."
"...I-I..."
"I'll say it again: if talking's hard, don't. I just want to know your true feelings because it seems like you're suffering alone."
"......"
"Still, as a life senior, one bit of advice: sometimes spilling it to others brings relief."
"......Master."
"Hm?"
"...Your words flow so elegantly, doesn't suit you."
"......Praise?"
"Yes."
Perfectly so.
The Polt family had produced many renowned knights just a few generations ago...
But tragically, decades back in the war with Britannia, the great-grandfather and most knights died, losing nearly all Fighting Techniques and swordsmanship.
They passed down orally via tradition, not records—a flaw that severed the knightly lineage.
Thus, the Polt family became too ashamed to claim the knight house name.
Knight houses proved themselves through might and honor.
Without that might, how could they claim it?
Without war hero titles and a tiny manor, the Polts might not have survived as a house.
Clinging to remaining honor and rank, the previous head...
- We'll rise again! I'll make it happen!!
...Poured everything into reclaiming knightly fame, or so the tales went.
...Blind to reality, a futile effort.
Had they accepted it was over for knights, another path might've opened.
Civil service or otherwise—less glory, but stable.
But no.
"Fighting Techniques evolve over generations into secret arts. Swordsmanship is a treasure honed ideally into swordsmen's bodies from ancient times. Restore that? If Grandfather were a genius like young Lionel, maybe. But his talent was average. Average talent can't restore them."
They scraped every coin to revive them, but it wasn't easy.
Even using scraps of records, without experts to consult? Impossible.
In the end.
"-They went bankrupt."
Yes, the Polt family bankrupted.
From barony to honorary nobles barely listing in the peerage after selling the title.
Fortune squandered, living off in-laws in a small house.
Impossible to rebound as nobles.
- Th-this can't be, it can't-!
Grandfather denied reality—or his own incompetence—aging rapidly and passing.
...At that point, despair was apt. Right move: surrender the title.
But people are like that.
Think they're different, smarter. Mostly wrong.
- Father failed, but I'm different. I'll revive the house!
Repeating mistakes.
Levi's father.
Current Polt head—or whatever was left of it—dreamed of knighthood.
Thus, Reynold Polt...
- Business! Make money through business first!
- Once we have money...!
- Look, Levi! Legendary knight's Fighting Technique! Bought it for a fortune!
...Reynold was hopeless.
Business brought debt, not profit.
Investments? He got scammed out of his clothes.
That 'technique'? Worse than third-rate...
Maddening man.
An immature adult ignorant of the world.
Spot-on evaluation.
And so, inevitable.
- Pay up, you bastard!
- Hey, noble! You messing with us?
- How long we gotta wait?!
Maddening man's mistakes burdened the family.
True in any world.
"Mother collapsed long ago. Brother's lucky—staying at Academy dorms thanks to in-laws. Not ideal, though."
"Why not fully rely on them?"
"Couldn't. In-laws aren't flush either. Can't burden them because of Father."
"......"
"Sigh, so-."
At this point, any normal person would snap out of it.
Didn't he have kids to feed?
Not even thinking of earning.
Just stay put.
- L-Levi, wh-why not marry?
He proposed an arranged marriage.
And Levi saw it.
The gold bracelet on his wrist, the ornate sword.
- Ah.
She'd been sold.
"-If it didn't hurt, I'd be lying. But I decided to think positive. Jewelry means the family gets a slightly better life."
"......"
"And it's a good match. Marquis is older, but it's that Tristan. Not bad at all. Noble ladies claw for such offers, while I..."
"......"
"I... um, why can't I say it's fine, Master?"
"......"
"Right? Why can't I say these simple words, Master?"
......He met Levi's quiet question with silence.
She already knew the answer, so he withheld it.
Explaining the agony of clipped wings and bound ankles...
...Too cruel.
"......"
Lee Han left Levi with Leira for a bit and headed to the backyard cliff.
A secluded, quiet spot.
Feeling stuffy?
No.
Building rage?
No.
Reason he came somewhere deserted:
"Got some questions."
"-Yes."
Step.
To meet the guy.
As soon as Lee Han spoke to thin air, whoosh—a gray-haired boy appeared.
Lee Han knew he was nearby; Derrick had anticipated the call if he waited here.
He could guess the curiosity.
And sure enough, the question:
"'In the original story,' what happens to her?"
"......"
"Eh, play dumb if you want. Not pressing. Just suddenly wondered."
"Haha..."
Given up hiding entirely, huh.
Derrick chuckled along with the mutter.
No complaints, though.
His curiosities were deeply 'human.'
So he...
"Th-this is, purely muttering, you understand. I'm just talking to myself."
"...Sure, let's call it that."
"Ahem."
Muttering—[spoiler] time.
"......"
"K-keep listening?"
"Ugh......!"
Lee Han suddenly craved hometown food.
The spicy kick made him yearn for cool dongchimi broth, even more refreshing than soda.