Chapter 179
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: This Isn't What I Was Given This Ability For (3)
I just stood there, stunned.
My mind, struggling to process the unimaginable offer, scrambled to recall memories from my past life.
Had the Sucker Knight ever mentioned an Ascendant's Legacy in my past life?
Impossible.
This was an Ascendant's Legacy, of all things.
If he had mentioned it even once, I would have remembered it in some way.
The Sucker Knight was a gambling addict who had even wagered his own squire.
If he truly possessed an Ascendant's Legacy, he would have bet it several times over.
But no matter how hard I thought, I had no such memory.
That meant one of two things.
Either he had already lost the Ascendant's Legacy gambling before he met me, or his current offer was a blatant lie.
It wasn't the former.
The Sucker Knight would often ramble on about winning back the possessions he'd lost at the gambling tables.
When he did, he would list every single lost asset, and an Ascendant's Legacy was never among them.
It wasn't the latter, either.
He might have been a degenerate obsessed with gambling, but he hadn't fallen so far as a knight that he would resort to lies.
To sum it up, a man who would scurry off to a card table the moment he had a single coin to his name, who had clung to this item even in the throes of withdrawal—something so important he never even spoke of it—was now offering it up just to learn a few paltry tricks.
“...”
Did this situation make any sense?
“Just so you know, this isn't an offer I'm making lightly.”
As if he wasn't making it lightly.
The nerve of this guy, making such an offer to a kid he'd only met at a gambling den just to learn a few card tricks.
“Still can't decide? Don't you know what an Ascendant's Legacy is?”
“...I do.”
I didn't just *know* about it.
It was the very reason I'd been tortured and died a miserable death.
All because of the legacy left by Roman, a legacy whose very existence was uncertain.
Although there was no guarantee that what the Sucker Knight was talking about held the same value as something left by a 10-star Knight, it was still undeniably an absurdly generous offer.
At a time like this, in a place like this.
“An opportunity like this doesn't come around every day.”
Right. Which was why it was definitely not something you offer up like you're haggling over goods at a marketplace.
My head was spinning.
I knew from my past life that he was a lost cause, but I never realized he was this insane.
Getting involved with a madman always leads to trouble down the line.
It seemed best for everyone if I cut ties with him quickly, just as I'd intended when we first reunited.
“What exactly is...?”
Of course, I'd have to squeeze everything I could out of him before that.
“I can't tell you that now. You haven't even accepted my offer yet.”
The moment I showed interest, the Sucker Knight's expression became leisurely.
Just a moment ago, he was practically begging me.
“Oh, right. There are a few more conditions besides teaching me cards. That's only fair.”
The way he instantly started lording it over me and adding conditions was incredibly irritating.
“The first condition is that you'll teach me other ‘games,’ not just cards.”
The Sucker Knight laid out his additional conditions as he pleased.
“The second condition is that you'll help me settle down in the Empire.”
I hadn't even answered him yet.
He spoke with the conviction that I would obviously accept his offer.
“The third condition is...”
Unlike when he stated the first two conditions, he paused dramatically before saying in a supremely arrogant tone:
“You will become my squire, right here and now.”
As if he were granting me some great favor.
“You're a squire, aren't you.”
That walk and posture of yours. I knew it the moment I saw you.
The Sucker Knight was completely certain.
Finding a master and obtaining an Ascendant's Legacy.
For a squire, it was certainly an irresistible offer and opportunity.
“I'm sorry.”
Despite all that, I rejected his offer flat out.
“...What?”
“I cannot accept your offer, Sir Victor.”
The Sucker Knight's jaw dropped, clearly not having expected my answer.
“Why?”
After opening and closing his mouth several times, he finally asked, his face a mask of incomprehension.
Why on earth would anyone refuse such an incredible offer? Did this even make sense?
I had more than enough reasons.
A treasure is only valuable if you have the power to protect it.
It was a lesson I had learned countless times in my past life as my body was torn to shreds by brutal torture.
Right now, I lacked the strength to protect an Ascendant's Legacy.
Something else bothered me as well.
There had to be a good reason why the Sucker Knight never mentioned the Ascendant's Legacy in my past life.
And that reason was likely connected to his circumstances—why he had left his homeland to wander this distant foreign country.
The whole thing reeked of danger.
Having just recently been kidnapped by a Star-Eating Sorcerer and dragged around as a prisoner, I had no desire to court danger again.
Besides, serving the Sucker Knight Victor Lafayette once in my past life was more than enough.
I had no desire to be sold off like an object at a gambling table again.
My unique constitution, which prevented me from becoming a Starseeker, let alone a knight, was another problem.
There were countless other reasons I couldn't accept his offer.
But none of them were appropriate answers.
“I already have someone I've decided to serve.”
So I gave him a different excuse.
Like a certain knight who had unilaterally bid me farewell right before I entered the Cradle of Stars, saying he didn't want to stand in my way.
Or another certain knight who, at every opportunity, tried to make me his squire so I could inherit his sword.
To one, I owed a debt from my past life; the other was the greatest knight in the Empire.
Either one was a better choice than the Sucker Knight standing before me.
I had no intention of forsaking them to serve the man who had sold me.
“If that's all, I'll be on my way.”
I turned away.
After walking for a while, I glanced back.
The Sucker Knight remained, dumbfounded, as if he'd turned to stone.
“A bit anticlimactic.”
Considering our ill-fated connection from my past life, it was a rather bland ending, but at any rate, our ties were now severed.
Or so I thought.
“To think we were staying at the same inn. This must be more than mere coincidence.”
It was a hasty judgment.
“By the way, what's your name?”
“Still, our connection must be something special. Mind if I sit here? I was just about to eat myself.”
“Do you have a particular destination in mind?”
“So, when are you planning to visit that place from yesterday again?”
“Those guys looked like a bad lot. Should I escort you, just in case?”
The next day, when I went to the dining hall for a late breakfast, I ran into the Sucker Knight, who clung to me as if he'd completely forgotten being rejected yesterday.
“...My name is Yan. You've already sat down. I don't have a destination. I plan to visit that place from yesterday after sunset. And I don't need an escort.”
Watching him act so friendly despite my cold attitude, as if he'd forgotten all about a knight's dignity, a memory from my past life surfaced.
Come to think of it, this man never cared about dignity or appearances.
If he were the type to care about such things, he would never have frequented gambling dens out of concern for public opinion, nor would he, a knight, have sat at the same table as low-life gamblers.
“Hey. You don't even have money for a meal, so why are you ordering so much food? You expect me to pay for all of it, don't you?”
“But all my money went into your pocket.”
“...Don't tell me you're planning to stick me with your lodging bill too.”
“...”
“Why aren't you answering?”
I never thought a so-called knight would stoop to mooching off a kid so much younger than him.
“Wow. Have you no shame?”
“I don't know about the Empire, but we knights of Orléans don't usually pay for our own meals.”
The thickness of his skin was truly astonishing; my blatant criticism didn't even make him flinch.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Only after devouring a mountain of food and washing it down with wine did the Sucker Knight look satisfied.
“This is the last time.”
Still, I felt sorry for him, having lost everything but the sword on his back, so I decided to let it slide this once.
“Ugh.”
At this rate, I was starting to wonder which one of us was the real sucker.
“Have you made any enemies? Is someone after you?”
As I was stewing in my own frustration, the Sucker Knight asked in a casual tone.
“Two men at the second table to the left of the entrance. And one man diagonal from them.”
Instead of turning to look where he indicated, I focused on the presences I felt behind me.
“One group seems to be from that place we went to yesterday, but I can't get a read on the other. They're too different in skill to be allies. Their fundamental auras are different, too.”
Just as he said, the gazes fixed on my back were extraordinarily stealthy.
Even I, who was confident my senses were sharper than any mediocre knight's, only noticed after the Sucker Knight pointed it out.
“Any idea who they might be?”
I didn't answer him.
It wasn't because I had no idea.
Quite the opposite.
There were too many guilty parties to name just one.
The Blue Tower had a whole floor destroyed because of me. Likewise, the Haime family's entire scheme at the Cradle was ruined thanks to me.
Then there was the Imperial Family, thrown into an uproar by the Apocalypse I wrote.
Any one of them had more than enough reason to be searching for me.
“From the look on your face, it seems there's more than one or two possibilities.”
What have you been doing? Who in the world are you?
The Sucker Knight's eyes seemed to ask.
I found his gaze rather unfair.
All I had done were a few small things for the peace and tranquility of this world.
“As you might have guessed, I've made quite a few enemies here and there.”
Since it had come to this, I spoke in a suggestive tone.
The implication was that sticking with me would only lead to trouble, so it was best we parted ways here.
I couldn't tell if my meaning got across.
“Hmm.”
As the sun set and I left the inn, the Sucker Knight was nowhere to be seen.
It seemed he had understood my meaning after all.
After a quick glance behind me, I headed straight for the illegal gambling den.
The gambling den was the same as yesterday.
Joy and sorrow mingled, shouts filled the air.
The only thing different was the people who greeted me.
“This way.”
Instead of the brutish thugs, a rather well-dressed man led me to a room separate from the main hall.
“You're late. I've been waiting for you.”
The Sucker Knight waved at me cheerfully.
No wonder I hadn't seen him. It seems he couldn't wait and had come to the gambling den ahead of me.
He wasn't the only one in the room.
My gaze swept across the room.
Three others were seated around the table.
I could tell just by their inscrutable expressions and gazes.
Unlike the clumsy fools from yesterday, these were the real deal.
They were clearly professional players specially invited by the house.
“Shall we begin right away?”
The moment I sat at the table, the dealer began to shuffle the cards.
Watching his dazzling handiwork, I spoke to the Sucker Knight.
“From now on, stay behind me.”
Don't let me see you in my line of sight.
The Sucker Knight, though confused, readily moved behind me.
Waiting for him to get into position, I quietly reached up.
My fingers slid under the cloth.
And I removed the eyepatch covering my right eye.
In that instant.
A flicker.
The Eye of Truth, which sees the other side of the world, activated.