Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Reinhardt - 6
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My head's a mess today.
[Leonardo.]
So I'll train until it clears.
[Hey, eunuch win-freak.]
I focus so intensely that even those pathetic insults fail to reach me. Until my head clears...
[...Joke slayer.]
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
I keep slamming my sword down. A scream-like roar keeps bursting from my mouth.
[Secret technique of joke murder arts... Heh heh...!]
My face flushes red as the speed of my sword swings picks up.
"Shut up!! Shut your trap!!"
[Joke assassination technique surpassing dragon speech... Heh heh...!]
Anger surges toward everything. The article, the newspaper, the jokes—even that damn "heh heh" chuckle.
"I'll kill you!! You old bastard!!"
This fury-drenched tale of my black history rewinds to five minutes ago.
"I'm truly sorry, Head Butler Alfred."
Today, I'd come early to the head butler's office to offer the apology I'd missed yesterday.
No matter the circumstances, I bore some responsibility too, so an apology was in order.
It might seem too early, but Alfred always rose precisely at dawn, so it shouldn't matter.
['Conversation topics like black tea or cookie varieties would be safe. Absolutely no jokes...']
With that resolution in mind, Leo knocked.
"Come in."
With permission granted, Leo opened the door.
"Good morning, Head Butler Alfred."
"Oh, Leonardo. Good morning."
Alfred was reading his newspapers with such vigor it was impossible to imagine he'd fainted the day before. Black tea accompanied him, naturally.
"That's Darjeeling, isn't it? Looks like fine quality."
"Oho, you noticed... I had no idea you were versed in tea."
"I'm still sorely lacking. They say true experts can tell how many months the leaves have aged just from the aroma."
That was Alfred. Humbly accepting the praise while elevating his counterpart in return—a masterful display of rhetoric.
"Even so, knowing black tea varieties at your age is impressive. You're exceptional in cultured pursuits beyond humor too."
Those words stabbed at my heart. He must still be angry.
"...I'm truly sorry about that. Having lived as a mercenary since childhood, I have no talent for refined jokes."
"No, no. It was a splendid joke. I laughed heartily for the first time in ages."
My heart wasn't just stabbed—it was being shredded. At this point, I wanted to prostrate myself.
"...You're reading the papers. Three at once—aren't you tired?"
To shift the topic, I directed it toward the newspapers right in front of him. A natural pivot; it shouldn't seem awkward.
"Today's editions are particularly entertaining. The front page especially. Care to take a look, Leonardo?"
"Pardon? What's the..."
Leo's words cut off there.
"What do you think? Far more pleasant than stories of economic woes or fatal accidents, no?"
And now...
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
The once-paralyzed language ability was now erupting in a frenzy.
[Joke killer surpassing dragon speech... Heh...]
"Shut up!! Shut your mouth!! You crazy old geezer!!"
Leo swings his sword wildly as he shouts. The ghostly sage can't be struck by a blade, but he needed to do something to steady his mind.
[Hey, hey, I told you not to listen to my jokes... Can't control it yet... Heh...]
That laughter snaps the final thread of his patience.
"I'll kill you!! I'll kill you all!!"
It might look like he's getting even more worked up, but that's an illusion.
He had to make it one.
"Aria, why is Leonardo acting like that?"
A short while after dawn, Chris arrived at the training grounds and gazed at the rampaging Leo as she asked.
"That's just Leonardo's training method. He was yelling and screaming last time too."
"Hmm... It seems like a training technique that draws out the body's power by channeling raw emotional fury."
That's not it at all.
"To control anger at such a young age and turn it into nourishment for his strength... It's beyond impressive—it's downright frightening."
"As expected of Leonardo..."
Not even close.
"But it could be dangerous. He might end up enslaved to that anger."
Just... no. If it's not that, then it's not.
"Leonardo, training since morning?"
Concerned that Leo might become a slave to anger, Chris stepped forward as the adult to offer some guidance.
"Kill...! Ah? Lady Chris?"
Spotting Chris instantly cooled his frenzy. No matter how humiliating the incident, he needed to compose himself before his superior.
"Good morning, Lady Chris."
"Training in the morning is good, but try to stay calm. Situations like this call for a cool head."
Embarrassing, but she was right. He should handle this rationally above all.
"My apologies. I've shown myself unworthy as a squire."
"No, the power you unleashed in that passion was plenty strong. It's just too soon for you to wield it, that's all."
...Her words felt a bit off, but it was Chris, so he let it slide.
"Come to think of it, I heard from Aria—you have another special training method."
This madness isn't a training method, but it was Chris, so whatever.
"Another training method...? You mean Mana Physical Training?"
"Mana Physical Training, hmm... Is that the name?"
"Yes, shall I demonstrate?"
"It'd probably be best coming from you, the creator."
The moment he took his stance for Mana Physical Training—
"You little shit...! So here you were!"
His sky-high seniors came charging across the training grounds, stomping loudly. Their flushed faces made their rage obvious at a glance.
"Oh, seniors. Were you looking for me?"
That casual, smug remark only fanned their reddened faces into full infernos.
"You...! You call that talking...!!"
"What's this about?"
Chris, standing ahead, eyed the squires with puzzlement.
"...Lady Chris...!"
"You're Roshea's squires, aren't you? What's the issue with Leonardo?"
The moment Chris posed her question, another set of footsteps and a voice rang out.
"My apologies, Lady Chris—these fools! What do you think you're doing?!"
It was Roshea. He appeared and immediately seized his own squires. With their direct superior on the scene, tension etched their faces.
"It's fine. Hearing out a squire's grievances is a knight's virtue too."
At her magnanimity, the squires' tense expressions eased. And that relief...
"So, what's the problem?"
...bred overconfidence.
"This junior, Leonardo, has gone too far with his rudeness, so we've come to reprimand him."
Vector, the sharpest of the squire pack, stepped forward. He wasn't just the smartest in their group—his eloquence was renowned among the other kids too.
"Too far with his rudeness?"
"Yes. He showed no respect for us, his seniors—instead, he attacked us with outright insubordination."
As proof, they lifted their clothes to reveal their injuries. Those hit in the face had bruises plainly visible even without.
"...Is this true, Leonardo?"
So it comes to this? This is too...
Profit.
Pure profit.
"Yes, those injuries are mine."
At his response, the squires ahead inwardly cheered.
Insubordination was harshly punished in the knight order—what penalty would this dumb commoner face? They could hardly wait.
"Why?"
"Because you insulted Lady Chris and Lady Ariasfil."
And their inward cheers twisted into sudden discord.
"...Insulted me?"
"When did we do that?! When...!?"
"Yesterday, you clearly called me a crazy bastard after seeing my attitude."
Trembling though they were, the squires answered first.
"Yeah! We did! But that was because you pulled insubordination...!"
"And you also said, 'The guy Lady Chris brought along. Of course he's crazy.'"
That was true too. The squires faltered, unable to respond right away. Before they knew it, they'd been swept into Leonardo's rhythm.
"Th-that..."
"That was an insult to Lady Chris, who selected me as her squire—an act of disloyalty, doubting her judgment."
A touch exaggerated, sure, but grounded entirely in fact. Proof enough: the squires couldn't muster a proper rebuttal, merely glancing about.
"And you even insulted Lady Ariasfil."
"When did we...!!"
"Not content with dropping her honorific, you claimed I'd seduced the family lady and she'd fallen for it."
"..."
Suddenly, they recalled what they'd yelled while getting pummeled.
[Ariasfil!! Think you can seduce the family head's daughter and get somewhere?! You're just a comm...]
Words spat in the heat of a sudden fist, without clear thought. But in a battle of words, even slips like that could prove fatal.
"Before showing respect as my seniors, you insulted my benefactor—the lady of the house. I deemed the offense grave enough that my hand moved on its own."
His explanation left the squires utterly speechless. From the start, the gap in their eloquence spanned over a decade.
"...But wasn't your hand too heavy? They are your seniors—and nobles, at that..."
As if refusing to let Roshea continue, Leo cut in at the perfect moment.
"Before that, my seniors challenged me to a spar."
"A spar...?"
"A sort of initiation rite. Four of them against one me—they charged all at once. My wooden training sword was already cracked ages ago. If you doubt it, the broken blade's in my room; feel free to check."
Even without fancy words, the situation made the fault glaringly obvious.
"If anything, my hand was light—I don't see it as excessive. If you think my judgment or actions wrong, please correct me."
Even Roshea turned into a mute with a perfectly functional throat.
"Is all this true, Roshea?"
"Well, I'm not entirely..."
"Not knowing is an even bigger problem. A Reinhardt knight unable to manage even a single squire."
No excuses needed. Or rather, making them would surely follow Jehard's footsteps.
"My deepest apologies!! I'll ensure it never happens again!!"
"See that you do. Reinhardt doesn't regard repeated mistakes as mere mistakes."
"Understood!!"
Roshea bellowed his remorse at full volume, showing maximum contrition. At the same time, he shot his immature squires a glare burning with fury.
The heat in his eyes turned every squire's face—save Leonardo's—to ashen gray.
"...We'll take our leave then. Truly sorry for the rudeness."
With their apologies done, Roshea and his squires departed the training grounds. The squires' faces had gone from ashen straight to muddied dirt.
"...For some reason, you always expose Reinhardt's flaws. I have no face left."
"It's fine. If you were too perfect, I might've quit as squire out of sheer intimidation."
"That's a funny joke. The 'Joke Killer' moniker suits you perfectly."
...
......
.........
Suddenly, he wanted to scream.
[Hey, hey... Hearing my joke'll split you in half and kill you. Please don't awaken my. Joke. Power... Heh heh...]
No—he wanted to die.
Suicide by joke?
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