Chapter 74: You’d Better Keep This in Mind (2)
Chapter 74: You’d Better Keep This in Mind (2)
It felt as if their feet were glued to the ground; they could hardly even breathe. As they stood frozen, Patrick approached them and spoke.
“If you’re going to pick a fight, you should see it through to the end. Starting a fight and then trying to call it quits is the thirty-second thing I hate most in this world.”
“No… No, that’s not it…”
“That’s exactly what it is, you bastards!”
Transforming into the incarnation of merciless violence, Patrick lunged at the first-year students.
And amidst the agonizing pain, one thought crossed their minds:
Why the hell does this guy hate so many things?
The scene was reminiscent of a battlefield.
“Ugh… Argh…”
“My arm… My aaarm…”
“Aaaaaagh!”
No, a battlefield wasn't quite right, as no one had died.
Yes. It was a scene more reminiscent of a field hospital after a brutal engagement.
No one was dead, but no one was unscathed either.
The dozen or so first-year students from the Knight Department all had broken bones, shattered teeth, or faces swollen beyond recognition.
If someone were to capture this moment in a painting, the most fitting title would be ‘Atrocity.’
Blood dripped steadily from the knuckles of the man who had created this gruesome sight.
It was all someone else’s blood.
In that state, Patrick scanned his surroundings and spoke.
“Did I get everyone? Anyone who hasn't been hit yet, raise your hand.”
“……”
“None, I see.”
That lunatic…
He’s not human.
He’s a demon. He must be a descendant of the Demon Clan.
More than the physical agony of their broken and battered bodies, what terrified them more was the sight of Patrick looking around as if he were disappointed he couldn't do more.
If he catches me moving, I’m dead.
Don’t even twitch.
If I get hit again, I’ll actually die.
They did their absolute best to remain as still as corpses.
However, there was one person for whom such efforts were meaningless.
“You, come here. You need more.”
It was Royist, the instigator of the entire incident.
Patrick grabbed a section of Royist’s armor and hoisted him up with a single hand.
Creeeak.
As the metal around his neck crumpled and he was hauled upward, Royist was struck with pure terror.
“Hieeeek… Wai—Wait!”
“Wait? There’s no ‘waiting’ when you’re getting a beating.”
“If… If you hit me more, I’ll die…”
“You won’t die, you bastard. I won’t let you die.”
Then, Patrick’s fist began to relentlessly hammer into Royist’s face.
“Do you.”
Crack!
“Think I’ve.”
Thwack!
“Only beaten a person or two?”
Crunch!
“I’m someone who has researched extensively how to inflict maximum pain while staying just within the limits of survival, you son of a bitch!”
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
Was this something a human was capable of?
Those lying on the ground trembled in fear as Royist’s face turned into a bloody pulp.
If someone knowledgeable had witnessed this, they would have been astonished.
Though his nose was flattened and his eyes and lips were swollen to bursting, Patrick was controlling his strikes with exquisite precision to ensure no shock reached the brain.
This was violence made manifest for the sole purpose of ‘pain.’
He wouldn't die from this.
Forget dying—he wouldn't even lose consciousness.
His life wasn't in danger, but he had to vividly experience the sensation of his face, where so many nerves were concentrated, being slowly crushed and shattered.
“St… Stop… Ugh… Argh…”
Royist was now weeping and pleading.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He had only intended to teach a country bumpkin from the East a lesson.
If he had known Patrick was such a monster, he never would have touched him.
Above all, wasn't this just a fight between students? Did it really have to go this far?
Looking at Royist, who was streaming tears of resentment, Patrick spoke coldly.
“I suppose you thought this was just a bit of posturing that happens between students?”
“Ugh… Uuuuh…”
Royist reflexively nodded.
Patrick continued.
“That’s your perspective. But you shouldn't force your perspective on others, should you?”
“My fath… My father…”
“Ah, your father? Marquis Panola, was it?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Want me to tell you something good? The sixth thing I hate most is bastards like you who act tough because of their background.”
“Ugh…”
“And once we get into the single digits, I stop playing around, you piece of shit!”
With that, Patrick instantly crushed both of Royist’s shoulders.
Crunch! Snap!
“AAAAAAAAGH!”
Both shoulders—the very lifeblood of a swordsman—were completely destroyed.
In that moment, Royist screamed, feeling a despair even more piercing than the pain.
After the shoulders came the elbows, then the wrists, and finally the fingers…
Crack, snap!
“AAAAAAAGH! ARGH!”
Amidst the wretched screams, Patrick completely stripped his opponent of the use of both arms, which were essential to a swordsman.
If left like this, he would struggle to even hold a fork, let alone a sword.
“Ugh… Uuuuh…”
Looking at his mangled, dangling arms, Royist wept in despair and agony. Patrick looked down at him and spoke.
“Keep this in mind, brat. This is what happens when you pick a fight with me.”
“Ugh… Uuuuaaaaaagh!”
In this moment, Royist felt a terror more profound than anything he had ever experienced in his life.
He had messed with the wrong person.
Family? Power?
None of that mattered.
The man standing before him was someone who existed outside the logic of the world—someone who should never, under any circumstances, be provoked.
Should I destroy his Dantian too?
Just as Patrick was about to finish the job…
“Stop!”
A group of professors came rushing from one side of the training ground.
“Tsk. Did I take too long?”
As Patrick clicked his tongue in disappointment, a professor ran up to him.
It wasn't Professor Late, whom Patrick knew, but someone else.
“What… What on earth happened here?”
He couldn't believe the sight before his eyes.
The students of the Knight Department were all collapsed in a row, and not a single one was unharmed.
As for Royist, he was a broken mess, crawling on the ground like an insect and groaning in pain.
And the person who had created this carnage…
“Who are you?”
“Patrick Schneider.”
“…What?”
“I just transferred in yesterday.”
“You… You did this?”
He had heard that one more student had joined through special admission. But he hadn't expected that student to cause such a massive incident on his very first day.
“You… You are…!”
“What?”
“…For now, come with me. I need to hear the full story.”
“Lead the way.”
Patrick followed the professor without resistance.
*
Patrick Schneider, 1st Year, Knight Department.
Confinement.
It wasn't a formal punishment yet.
It was merely a temporary measure until a formal disciplinary action was decided, forbidding him from taking a single step out of his dormitory.
Meanwhile, the professors of the Knight Department gathered for a meeting to determine Patrick’s punishment.
“Expulsion! It must be expulsion!”
“A transfer student causing such an incident on his first day? This is unprecedented!”
“If we let this slide, we won't be able to maintain discipline in the Academy.”
The professors strongly advocated for Patrick’s expulsion.
However, there was one person who watched them with a cold gaze.
“You’re all full of shit.”
It was Professor Justin Late.
At his words, the other professors all flinched.
In truth, even among the professors of the Knight Department, Professor Late’s presence was on a different level.
He was a knight who had reached the 6-Star Realm—one of only five in the kingdom—and was a man of such renown that he was recognized in other kingdoms as the ‘Indomitable Knight.’
The weight of Professor Late’s words could not be compared to those of the others.
He looked at the professors demanding expulsion and said, “Did you all take money from Marquis Panola? To be spewing such nonsense when you clearly know the circumstances.”
“Professor Late, what do you mean by that?”
“That is going too far.”
“As professors of the Academy, we are—”
Slam!
Professor Late struck the table hard with his fist.
“Fifteen people tried to attack one person. And they did it out of a personal grudge.”
“No, that’s…”
“And these are the ones who claim they want to be knights? My temper is such that I feel like shattering every single one of their Aura Halls myself right now.”
“……”
“……”
“And yet, what? Expulsion? You want to expel the one who defended himself against a mob? Have you all lost your minds?”
Under Late’s interrogation, the other professors fell silent.
In truth, they also knew the general circumstances.
Unless they were complete idiots, there was no way they couldn't see the situation for what it was.
Patrick was alone, and his opponents were a group of more than ten.
Furthermore, Royist had been heavily armed with full plate armor and a real sword.
And Patrick had been empty-handed.
Strictly speaking, this was a case where all the conditions for self-defense were clearly met.
However, as long as they lived as knights in this kingdom, they couldn't ignore the influence of Marquis Panola, the Captain of the Royal Knight Order.
Except, not every professor felt that way.
“I won't even discuss the virtues of a knight. Before that, if you have a conscience as human beings, how can you say such things when you know exactly what happened?”
Justin Late.
The Indomitable Knight.
As one of only five 6-Star Knights in the kingdom, he was a man who didn't need to bow his head to Marquis Panola.
Furthermore, it was common knowledge that the two were on bad terms personally.
It was a well-known fact that Professor Late’s departure from the Royal Knight Order was due to friction with Marquis Panola.
Therefore, Professor Late had absolutely no reason to care about the Marquis’s name.
Moreover, though he hadn't revealed it to the world yet, Professor Late had recently reached the 7-Star Realm.
While it hadn't been publicly announced, the moment he declared he had reached the 7-Star Realm, even Marquis Panola wouldn't dare touch him.
Professor Late looked around coldly and spoke.
“As the Head Professor of the Knight Department, I oppose the expulsion of Patrick Schneider. If you truly want to expel him, then conduct a thorough investigation and reveal every single detail of the incident first.”
“Ahem… Professor Late, please calm down.”
“It’s not that we’re trying to make things difficult.”
When Professor Late took such a hardline stance, the others became reluctant to let the matter escalate.
If a full investigation were conducted, Royist’s past misdeeds would surely come to light, which would be far from beneficial.
If rumors spread that the third son of the Captain of the Royal Knight Order had committed such misconduct within the Academy, the responsibility would surely fall on them as well.
In the end, the result of the meeting was…