The Art of Breaking a Knight

"Wh-when did I ever say that?"

"What are you talking about? I clearly said it! Do knights not listen to orders?"

Tae-hyun said this and looked over at the rest of the group.

"Did you or did you not hear me tell everyone to get out?"

Rufo nodded with a sheepish expression at Tae-hyun's question.

"I… heard it……."

Pelmas and Ed-an, by contrast, answered with their chests puffed out.

"Heard it."

"Me too. Lord Tae-hyun shouted it loud and clear — 'Everyone charge forward! Let's get out of here!'"

Pelmas and Ed-an — two men who ranked among the most shameless souls in the entire kingdom. Naturally, the honorable and righteous knights never even considered that the two might be lying.

"I-is that so?"

"Why didn't we hear it?"

As the knights grew confused, Tae-hyun pressed harder.

"To think you'd ignore my orders in a critical moment. I'm honestly disappointed. I had such high expectations of you, being knights and all."

The knights began to protest at that.

"But — showing the enemy your back and running is a disgrace to knighthood!"

"Exactly!"

"Right! Fleeing like that is shameful!"

Tae-hyun grinned. He was getting exactly the reaction he wanted.

"So what you're saying is — whenever an enemy appears, you fight? No exceptions?"

"That's right!"

"Retreating first is simply not done!"

"Good. I hear you loud and clear. Your honorable, indomitable will! I respect it! Haha!"

But the knights' suffering was only just beginning.

"Hah… hah, hah……"

A knight doubled over, gasping for breath after cutting down another monster.

"Wow. Great fighting."

"As expected of a knight of the Atali Kingdom — living up to the name! Haha!"

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun and Pelmas were taking a comfortable rest high up on a ledge, well away from the action. It was an almost supernatural talent for making people want to throttle them.

They had even left behind the horses to climb the mountain range, which made the ascent twice as grueling.

"Could you not at least help them a little?" one of the knights called up to Tae-hyun, his voice desperate.

Tae-hyun looked down at him with an expression of genuine shock.

"What? How could I possibly intrude upon a knight's honorable battle? That would be sullying your honor, wouldn't it?"

"He's absolutely right, absolutely right! Haha!" Pelmas chimed in from beside him, perfectly in sync.

From the outside, they looked every bit the villains.

"Mnngh……"

The knights had already committed themselves with their own words, so they couldn't say a thing — they could only groan. The wounds weren't serious, but the relentless, back-to-back fighting was beginning to wear them down.

"Let's take a short break."

"Good idea. Everyone, rest!"

At Tae-hyun's call, the blacksmiths also dismounted their horses. Kim Ji-sahn's face lit up with anticipation.

"Will you be cooking for us yourself, Lord Taesan?"

Tae-hyun's cooking was already a proven commodity. It always looked like he was throwing things together carelessly — yet somehow the end result was inexplicably delicious.

In truth, it all came down to the environment in which Tae-hyun had leveled his cooking skill. Most other players learned cooking from NPCs in cities. Without some instruction, cooking with a low skill level produced things that were simply inedible. The standard approach was to start with the easiest recipes and gradually unlock new ones as the skill rose.

Tae-hyun, however, was different. With his absurdly high Luck, even winging it without a recipe produced something that at least resembled food. Chop the ingredients haphazardly, throw them in a pot, and boil — and out came something strangely, inexplicably good.

Tae-hyun nodded at the expectant faces around him.

"Yeah. I'll make it myself."

"Ohhh!"

"I can't wait!"

Even Woo Jeong-sik, who had been pretending to be indifferent while banging on his hammer nearby, crept over bit by bit. Eating was essential if you wanted to stay on your feet. The cheapest option — hard, stale bread — did technically fill the hunger bar, but only a little, and it tasted terrible with no stat bonuses whatsoever. If you were going to eat, you might as well eat something good.

"While I'm cooking…"

"…?"

"Go take care of the knights over there."

"Sorry?"

The blacksmiths tilted their heads in confusion. Take care of the knights?

"Look at their gear. Start with repairs, then apply every buff you can."

"Um… Lord Tae-hyun…"

"Those knights don't like us."

There was a reason the blacksmiths were hesitating. They wanted to get their hands on those items, of course — all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the knights were high-level, and so was their equipment. Just repairing and buffing gear at that tier was enough to send a blacksmith's skill rocketing upward. But still…

Knights had high standards. Ordinary NPCs already sized up a blacksmith before handing over their gear — knights, with their oversized pride, were ten times worse about it.

But Tae-hyun didn't care.

"Go back and try again."

"…??"

The blacksmiths didn't understand the logic, but they did what Tae-hyun said. Whose orders were they going to refuse? And of course, the result was exactly the same.

"……"

Sure, their skills might be lacking — but getting berated this badly still stung. The blacksmiths trudged back, visibly deflated.

"What happened?"

"They told us to get lost."

"Can't be helped, I suppose. Trying to do them a favor by fixing their weapons… Here."

Tae-hyun pointed to the pot. It was empty.

"???"

"What's this?"

The blacksmiths stared at the pot, unable to make sense of what he was pointing at.

"It's a pot. What do you think?"

The blacksmiths huddled together and murmured among themselves.

"Um… should we repair it?"

"What good does making it sturdier do?"

"Is he making some incredible dish or something?"

But Tae-hyun's answer had nothing to do with any of that.

"Cook. You idiots."

"……??"

Cook? They were blacksmiths. Not cooks. And besides — what had happened to the food Tae-hyun had been making just a moment ago?

"You want us to cook?"

"Yeah. Food for the knights over there."

"?!?!"

Tae-hyun set aside the dish he had made separately. He wasn't giving that to the knights — it was for his own group. The knights' food? He was going to have the blacksmiths make it.

"They won't eat it!"

"He's right! Even we wouldn't eat something we cooked!"

"Your food is already set aside separately. Eat that, then get to cooking. I picked out the simplest ingredients, so it shouldn't end up actually poisonous."

Dealing poison damage from cooking wasn't something just anyone could manage accidentally. Still, the blacksmiths remained baffled.

"Fine, we'll do it, but…"

"Why exactly?"

Shaking their heads in bewilderment, they began dropping ingredients into the pot. Naturally, the easiest thing a beginner cook could do was throw things in and let them boil.

Tae-hyun watched them with a satisfied nod.

"You're doing great."

'???'

'Has he lost his mind?'

'You ask him.'

That's what the blacksmiths thought — but not a single one said it out loud. Say something like that and Tae-hyun looked like the type who would grab your head and dunk it straight into the pot.

Tae-hyun was playing a very long game.

A grand scheme to get the knights completely under his thumb.

There were two ways to effectively command subordinates. The first was to get close to them — raise their Affinity, and they'd follow almost any order. But this method had its limits, and knights were exactly the type it didn't work on. Because of their obsession with honor and their oversized pride, even high Affinity didn't guarantee obedience.

For situations like that, there was a second method.

Lower their Affinity, crush their Morale, and raise their Obedience.

Command not through goodwill and personal charm, but through fear. It was primarily a method used by players who had stacked high Infamy — making subordinates so terrified they had no choice but to obey.

Warriors and necromancers who had maxed out their Infamy had an easy time with this approach.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

And this second method was exactly what Tae-hyun intended to use.

For it to work, he first had to grind the knights down. Keep them fighting monsters one after another until they were exhausted. Deny them proper repairs on their gear. No recovery, no food, no rest.

Keep that up long enough, and their Morale would collapse — and Obedience would rise to take its place. The bonus gains to Tae-hyun's Tactics skill were just a perk on top.

The Beginner-tier Tactics skill had already hit level 7. Commanding high-level knights was accelerating the growth enormously.

A warning message had popped up, as if trying to caution him. But Tae-hyun had no intention of stopping.

There's one nice thing about knights, even with all their difficult personalities.

No matter how hard you worked them, they would never mutiny.

Ordinary soldiers or mercenaries could snap after enough abuse and stage a rebellion or desert. Knights, though, simply didn't do that.

Clang, clang, clang —

Tae-hyun banged the side of the pot with a ladle.

"Come eat!"

"……!"

The knights who had been resting by their horses bolted upright. Exhausted and now starving, they scrambled over.

"Food!"

"Let us eat something!"

The knights came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rushing over in a mob — then stopped dead. The smell wafting from the pot wasn't so much appetizing as it was suspicious. And standing awkwardly in front of it were the blacksmiths, smiling strained smiles.

"Wh-what kind of food is this?"

"You want us to eat this?"

Tae-hyun simply shrugged.

"We're eating just fine."

Of course, what he was eating was the food he had made. Watching this exchange, the blacksmiths internally shook their heads in awe.

How does he lie like that without breaking a sweat?!

The knights hesitantly ladled out a small serving of the soup and tasted it. And immediately spat it out.

"Blech! Keh — keh!"

"Th-this is not fit for human consumption!"

"How do you expect us to eat this?!"

"This is slop for pigs!"

At that, Tae-hyun's expression shifted to one of outrage.

"Pig slop?! Our food is pig slop?! Do you have any idea how much effort these chefs put into making this?!"

"Huh?"

"Chefs?"

The blacksmiths stared at Tae-hyun in confusion as he gestured at them and used the word chefs.

"Those who show such contempt for another person's hard work deserve no food at all. You don't want it? Fine. Don't eat it."

Tae-hyun said it coldly and swept the pot away. The knights sputtered in protest, but they couldn't stop him.

In the end, the knights had to go to bed hungry.

And with every drop in morale, those other numbers kept climbing.