Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.25 – No Secrets Can Be Hidden (2)
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"...Black King?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you doing that, Arno?"
"Ah, no. It's nothing..."
"??"
"......"
While dealing with the annoying guard dogs protecting the illegal gambling den, Arno blinked in a daze at Kunta's question.
For a moment, he thought he saw a black lion behind the black-haired boy.
'The Black King of the North? ...According to Grandmother's words, you can't inherit the Black King unless the current successor dies.... Was it my imagination?'
His grandmother, Sword Sage Felicia, had once sat the young him on her knee and told him countless old tales.
Among them, the one that left the deepest impression was none other than the mystery of Lionel, the [Black King].
It was said to be one of the supreme mysteries that only Lionel could possess, with power rivaling that of an Aura User.
However, Arno knew that to inherit that mystery, the current successor had to die or it had to be stolen by force. So he dismissed it as an illusion.
Or perhaps, cautiously guessing, it was something special like the sword aura young master Roan had shown the day before. Arno pushed away his idle thoughts.
How could the Black King, a mystery that should be unique, exist in two places at once...?
...Roan, the moment he reached the 'answer' was not because he was a knight with good instincts who properly fulfilled his parental duties, despite appearances.
The process by which he arrived at the answer was closer to information handed over by his excellent subordinate and 'recalling memories' from his first life in the past.
Marquis Tristan.
When all the nobles sided with the temple and oppressed the people, he was the great noble who stood with the people.
No one knew how much strength the revolutionary army gained thanks to his joining.
And it was only natural for Roan, one of the revolutionary army's executives and representatives, to become close with the marquis.
After all, he was Lionel, and the marquis was Tristan.
With the deep connection they had shared long ago, their conversations flowed easily, and it was no wonder they talked frequently.
And that's how he learned it.
- Duke Jenimia. Please, I beg you, stop seducing the women in the revolutionary army.
- Haha, it's a misunderstanding, Grand Duke. I simply don't stop women who come, nor do I hold back those who leave. I just live freely.
- ...Haa!
He was a respectable adult, but not entirely respectable.
As Marquis Jenimia said, annoyingly enough, he didn't actively seduce women first.
...Women just approached him first.
Even past his fifties, he looked to be in his early to mid-thirties, and with his androgynous features, just standing there was enough to make women's hearts flutter.
Surprisingly, women frequently sought out the marquis and tempted him first, which gave Roan a constant headache.
What kind of romantic squabbles were these in a revolutionary army...?
- Now I understand why you're called a philanderer.
- Such misunderstandings keep arising strangely.
The reason Marquis Jenimia was called a philanderer wasn't a nickname he sought himself.
As he said, it came from his nature of not stopping women who came or leaving.
Of course, to a third party, it fully qualified him as a playboy or philanderer.
- You should just get married if you're going to live like that.... Or is it, as the rumors say, that you become impotent after having a child?
Roan knew it was rude, but he asked.
Whether the reason he didn't stick with one woman and lived so promiscuously was truly because of the rumor that he became impotent after fathering a child.
However.
- Ah, that rumor? It's nonsense.
- ?
- Of course it's nonsense. Becoming impotent after having a child.... Then how were collaterals like Lord Veil born? Rumors need to make sense.
- Th-then...
- That rumor was just spread by the noble faction to slander me. They even spread it to the guilds, so it became treated as truth. I didn't bother correcting it, but I didn't expect so many people to believe it, heh heh.
- ......
- And the reason I don't stick with one person or have children isn't anything special. You probably know this as well, Grand Duke, but when a knight reaches a high realm, ordinary women can't withstand the knight's energy. In other words, women can't bear children because they can't endure my energy.
- Th-then when you were young...
- It might sound like an excuse, but when I was young, I really had no time to meet women. I was always on the battlefield with the previous king. Where would I find time for women? And even after the war ended, I was busy managing the family for a while. No joke, the Tristan family was split in half because of the noble faction, haha.
- ......
- Anyway, it's regrettable. I'm sorry to those who even thought of marriage with me. But I'm prepared to take responsibility for any woman. Even if she couldn't bear children, if she wanted to spend a lifetime with me, I would have gladly done so... But as soon as they learned they couldn't have an heir, they left. In the end, they wanted to be the true mistress of the marquis family, not me or out of love, haha.
- ......
Roan nodded as he listened but couldn't fully accept it.
Pitiable, yet not entirely pitiable?
- So don't end up like me. Get married young and have children soon.
- ...Haha, don't worry. The Grand Duke's bloodline is already plentiful enough.
- That's not what I meant... Ah, but I can give you one piece of advice. If you're going to marry, make sure to check if your partner is deceiving you.
- What do you mean?
- There was once a girl I nearly married, but she and her family deceived me! If it were just me, it might be one thing, but she insulted the entire Tristan house!!
- What did she do...
- I won't speak of it. She's already paid for her crimes while I was between life and death. ...Sigh, I shouldn't insult her further.
- ...?
- Anyway, if you're marrying, do it with someone you truly love. That's the path to happiness.
- ...If anyone else gave that advice, I'd agree, but coming from you, Duke Jenimia, it doesn't touch my heart at all.
- What? Look at this impudent brat, haha!
...Not long after this conversation, Marquis Jenimia 'died in battle'.
He single-handedly blocked a sudden horde of monsters invading, allowing the revolutionary army to evacuate, and held out alone for four days before perishing.
Not long after, he met a woman who took over as the new Mercenary Union leader, filling the marquis's vacancy, but at the time, Roan was mentally exhausted.
Despite the various rumors, he was undoubtedly a reliable elder.
...So when Roan first heard of Levi Polt's connection to the marquis, he doubted his ears, and the moment he realized Levi Polt was his old comrade, the 'Mercenary Queen', it felt like the puzzle pieces clicked together.
The link.
He realized everything was connected.
And the moment he learned from Jack's information that five years ago, the Polt family had only one daughter, his mind spun a story like a playwright.
A girl sold to the marquis family, hiding everything due to the seal of obedience.
But the marquis family was never incompetent; they must have uncovered the girl's identity and Reynold Polt's sleaziness.
Killing Reynold outright wouldn't matter, but doing so openly wasn't the way of a great noble.
Probably, they slowly... corrupted and dried him out like blood until death.
But conversely, what about the girl?
The pitiful life of a girl who obeyed orders blindly, unaware her identity was exposed.
'...It must have been hell.'
The anxiety and fear of when her identity might be discovered, yet unable to defy orders.
Crunch!
Roan ground his teeth.
Unaware of Roan's rage.
"D-don't make me laugh! Wh-what the hell did I do wrong! Even if I broke the law, I'm a noble! A noble, I say! What's the crime in selling one slave bitch!!!"
The repulsive man screamed like he was in agony.
As if asking what he had done so wrong.
Unaware that those words only fueled his anger more.
And so.
"You want to know your crimes-?"
Roan decided to personally inform the scum of his sins.
"...You have committed four sins. The first is violating the national law by daring to buy a slave, toying with one person's life!"
Kwachik!!
"Kaaaak!!"
His arm was crushed.
Ground to powder, beyond recovery even with divine power.
"The second is toying with a girl's life and feeling no guilt, using her as gambling stakes once more!"
Snap!
"...!!!?"
His tongue was severed.
Reynold could no longer make a sound with that filthy mouth.
"The third is daring to deceive the marquis family—no, the noble houses loyal to this kingdom!"
Slash!
...Reynold could no longer even scream.
Both ankles gone, he would never stand on his own will again.
Thus, overwhelmed by the pain engulfing his body, Reynold was about to faint—
"And the fourth.... Daring to speak lies! You said you wanted to become a knight? Dreamed of reviving your knightly family! But how can the hands of such a man be this clean-!!"
[Grrr!]
Reynold's hands were scorched.
Hands that had never known a day's labor, pristine as if only used for card games.
No one aspiring to be a knight could have such hands.
How could hands without a single callus be those of someone who worked hard?
In the end.
"Your life and words are filled only with lies. No truth whatsoever!"
Deceiving others.
Toying with them.
A leech or parasite thinking only of living easily.
If he knew his place, he shouldn't harm others while desiring more than he deserved.
"...I want to kill you, but I won't. That would be too merciful, and I have no right to judge you."
Thus.
"This will be the end."
Whoosh!
"Eeeeup!!"
Roar!
Reynold, on the verge of unconsciousness, writhed madly in agony.
He was thrown into fire, his whole body engulfed in flames.
The torment of flames that denied even the mercy of fainting!
"!!?...!!!"
In full senses, unable to even flee in his state, Reynold thrashed, but Roan intended to let him burn only until he was on the brink of death.
For good reason.
"Feel the same pain my comrade endured, writhing in flames because of you."
Roar!
Retribution.
The scum was merely paying for his crimes now.
"Finally... I can send you off...."
Wondering if the detour was too long, Roan now offered a belated eulogy for his old comrade.
─A comrade he would never see again, gazing up at the sky.
Together with guilt over the too-late condolences.
Roar!