Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Indefinite Contractor Returns (4)
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“Knighthood, huh. I have no idea how many years it's been.”
“As far as I recall, the last one was forty years ago in the south.”
“Even so, it's a fitting reward for Sir Daniel. He accomplished feats no one could object to, didn't he?”
“That's true.”
“Now you're truly Magic Knight Sir Daniel!”
Congratulations, applause, and cheers showed no sign of stopping.
Under the dazzling lights, Daniel just stood there in a daze.
People thought he was overwhelmed with emotion, but the reality was a bit different.
Knighted? Me?
He knew what it meant from his knowledge.
But knowing something and actually experiencing it were entirely different things.
Honors? He'd heard of them.
From now on, you're an honor recipient.
Pardon? So, what's in it for me?
That was exactly how Daniel felt right now.
“Your expression is strange, Daniel.”
“Ah.”
Daniel snapped out of it at Elena's whisper as she approached with a wine glass in hand.
“Elena, just one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“How big a deal is this? I can tell from people's reactions that it's impressive, but...”
As expected.
She had worried he might show excitement or a sense of superiority.
It was needless concern.
What showed on Daniel's face was bewilderment and burden.
A reaction no mage thirsty for promotion could ever have. Elena smiled.
I believed in you, Daniel.
Elena glanced sideways.
Rainer was laughing and clinking glasses with the nobles.
She could see the calculated composure in his eyes.
He was probably celebrating having captured Daniel's heart with this knighting.
Sorry to disappoint you, young lord.
He had no clue it was a ridiculous delusion.
“Don't worry too much about it, Daniel. Knighthood is usually an honorary title given to outsiders who've made great contributions. It comes with respect but no duties or rights. You can just act as usual; there won't be any issues.”
“Ah, I see.”
Daniel let out a sigh of relief.
In my past life terms, it's like getting knighted by the British royals? Oh. So now I'm on the same level as Beckham, Conan Doyle, or J.K. Rowling?
The thought made him burst out laughing.
A truly silly notion.
If a Briton heard it, they'd shout:
“A knighthood's meaning and weight aren't just that! You fool!”
And they'd have no qualms about smacking him hard afterward for such a flippant idea.
But it couldn't be helped.
Daniel wasn't a past-life Briton; he was Korean.
The 'knighthood' system was just something from news or history books.
For someone raised in a culture without it, his perception was limited to 'honorary title for celebrities.'
And the timing was bad too.
If knighthoods were as common as the British handing them out, even a political dunce like Daniel would grasp the political and social weight.
But knighthoods weren't commonplace.
The most recent case was forty years ago.
Daniel, at 32, hadn't even been born yet.
Daniel. The man with zero experience to truly feel the meaning and weight of knighthood.
So Daniel laughed.
Elena laughed.
Rainer laughed.
Three different smiles crossed paths as the banquet reached its peak.
“Sir Daniel, congratulations! I'll send your gift later. Is there anything specific you'd like?”
“Sir Daniel saved my son's life. You're our family's benefactor. Please visit our home next time; we'll treat you with utmost hospitality.”
“If you're looking to buy a house in Kazan, just let me know anytime. I own quite a few buildings.”
The nobles in the banquet hall swarmed Daniel and lined up.
They put their all into leaving their mark on [Kazan’s Hero], whom Rainer was interested in.
Praise, congratulations, and subtle requests poured endlessly.
Whoa, what's this chaos?
Daniel responded to the nobles in a flurry.
The clinking of glasses and laughter never ceased.
Elena watched from the side.
She knew this was part of the effort to win him over, but she did nothing.
It's about my turn now.
Confirming Rainer's cheerleaders—and the timed bomb mixed among them—Elena elegantly tilted her wine glass.
Ugh, I'm exhausted. Worn out. When does this end?
“Haha. We meet again in less than a day.”
“You are...?”
As even maintaining his business smile grew tiring, a familiar face greeted him.
Viscount Karon. His smile held genuine warmth at the visit from the good man who'd bought him a midnight snack yesterday dawn.
“Sir Daniel, belated congratulations on your honorable bestowal.”
“Thank you, Viscount. And thanks for yesterday. That was the most delicious midnight snack I've had since growing hair.”
“Haha. For a hero to say that is our family's honor.”
“Haha, I wouldn't go that far.”
“I mean it.”
The surrounding nobles whispered at their conversation.
And rightly so—Viscount Karon wasn't from Kazan.
Just an outsider stopping by briefly on business.
Normally, he and Daniel shouldn't even know each other.
Yet they chatted so amicably?
But it was too early to be surprised.
“Sir Daniel.”
Viscount Karon's expression turned serious.
“I know it's shameless, but may I make a request right here?”
“Of course. Anything.”
Daniel replied lightly.
“Sir Daniel!!!”
-Thud!
The response that came back was anything but light.
Viscount Karon suddenly dropped to his knees on the floor.
The sound of marble meeting flesh echoed through the banquet hall.
“I beg you! Please, save our territory! You are our only hope!”
Viscount Karon prostrated himself.
His voice trembled with desperation.
“...Huh???”
Daniel panicked.
And he wasn't alone.
The noisy banquet hall fell silent in an instant.
Glasses halted mid-air, laughter cut off.
It felt as if the entire hall had frozen.
The confused nobles' gazes, Rainer's shocked eyes, all turned to Daniel and the viscount.
It exploded.
Elena savored her wine.
The sweet taste mingled with the silence, delighting her palate and ears.
Elena turned her head.
Toward the man at the center of this chaos.
“Uh, Viscount? Please don't do this; stand up first...”
“I beg you, Sir Daniel!!!”
“Hehe.”
Seeing the flustered treasure and the perfectly timed bomb go off, she couldn't hold back her laughter.
Elena set down her glass.
“Alright, time to make my move.”
The moment for counterattack had arrived.
A silence so deep the drop of a pin could be heard.
The servants carrying food, the musicians playing, everyone in the hall was speechless.
Viscount Karon's actions were shocking in themselves.
Has Viscount Karon lost his mind?
What kind of breach is that?
In the presence of Young Lord Rainer...
The nobles' murmurs spread.
Viscount Karon had committed a grave error.
Daniel had just been knighted by the Carta family.
Honorary or not, he was a knight of Carta.
To request aid, one must first approach Rainer—the family member and highest authority here—and get permission.
That was noble etiquette and protocol.
Yet the viscount ignored it.
In front of Rainer and the northern nobles, no less.
Viscount Karon's political life was effectively over.
Rainer's glaring eyes nailed that certainty.
“Hehehe.”
Unlike the nobles cowering and glancing at Rainer, Elena laughed.
She could see it in his eyes.
The anger in Rainer's pupils, and the other emotion buried within.
You must be anxious. In a bind. Yes, because the hero and knight you created has been asked for help by the weak.
Commoners can pee on the roadside.
But celebrities can't.
Bad optics. Too much to lose.
A person's actions carry different consequences based on position and fame.
If Daniel were just a Magic Tower mage, he could refuse with “What insolence!” and no one would complain.
But now Daniel was Carta's knight and Kazan's hero.
For such a man to refuse a plea from the desperate weak?
I can guess your dilemma, Young Lord Rainer. You're racking your brain to preserve the hero's image and resolve this in the best possible light. But alas.
Your hero is politically inept.
“Viscount Karon, please stand and talk.”
“I can't until I hear your answer!”
“No, I get it, so stand up.”
“...!”
The viscount's head shot up.
The nobles' eyes widened in unison.
“Sir Daniel! Wait...!”
Rainer reached out.
His voice didn't reach.
“Will you... help us?”
“Sigh... If it's something I can do, I'll help as much as possible. So please...”
“Thank you! Truly, thank you, Sir Daniel!”
“No, stop calling me that and stand up!”
“Hehehe.”
Elena looked at Viscount Karon, then Daniel, and finally Rainer, laughing.
Daniel had spoken.
In front of everyone, he'd promised to help.
This was as good as a public pledge.
In politics, promises were synonymous with contracts.
Once made, they must be honored.
This was no different.
She lifted her glass again.
The sweet taste of victory lingered in her mouth.
Two weeks after the wyvern attack, Kazan was still laughing and enjoying peace.
But the north beyond Kazan's walls was not.
Once Kazan became 'the city where the Black Mane Tribe was massacred,' the highland tribes' plundering plans flipped entirely.
“Touch that place and you're doomed. Aim elsewhere.”
The moment Kazan dropped from the highland tribes' hit list, hell gates opened for all other territories.
Until now, Kazan had shouldered over half the highland attacks as a shield.
With that shield gone, the results were immediate.
Highland raids nearly doubled compared to last year.
Fierce barbarian assaults beyond planned expectations.
Commoners groaned, soldiers tired, lords cried out.
“Aaaah! Someone, anyone, help!”
One name came to everyone's mind.
Daniel. The Magic Tower mage called Dragon Slayer for single-handedly crushing the Steel Scale Tribe.
Could he turn this crisis around?
Could he stop this hell?
With that faith and hope, envoys packed with gifts flooded Kazan.
Nominally 'military funds for Kazan,' but everyone knew.
They wanted Daniel dispatched.
“With all these funds coming in, it's reassuring. Thank you all.”
Rainer smiled as he accepted the envoys' gifts, but his true feelings differed.
Most requesters were neutral faction.
Those likely to hinder his grasp on northern power.
Rainer's political calculator yielded a cold answer.
'Send Daniel? No. I need him more. But don't worry; I'll send other aid aplenty.'
Chicken instead of pheasant.
Rainer planned to send adventurers and mercenaries as substitutes in exchange for gifts.
He could offload those who'd become burdens due to Daniel's brilliance and sell favors too—a win-win.
Meanwhile, he'd keep Daniel close and fully tame him.
That was Rainer's plan.
A grand scheme to turn the nominal [Knight of Carta] into a true one, Kazan's mage!
Everything was perfect.
It was going according to plan.
-Thud!
“I beg you, Sir Daniel!”
The viscount's sudden act,
“If it's something I can do, I'll help as much as possible.”
Daniel's one sentence,
Shattered the board he'd set up from the roots.
“Damn it! Bloody hell!”
“Y-Young master! Calm down!”
“Do I look calm right now?!”
The banquet hall's atmosphere shifted.
Rainer, knowing full well how unfavorable this was, couldn't hide his rage and anxiety.
His aides and retainers tried to stop him, but he couldn't hold back.
“Aaaargh!!!”
“Hehe.”
Elena quietly laughed from afar.
Your plan was perfect, young lord. But you missed one thing. The hero you covet knows nothing of politics. I knew that; you didn't. That makes all the difference.
She emptied her wine glass.
Once a counter succeeds, press the advantage.
This was no exception.
The hunter who'd laid traps using Titania's private intel unit's gathered info moved to gift the next one.
The night of schemes deepened further.