“-Sometimes I think about it, but I think you, Instructor, are a ‘genius.’”
“???”
Crunch.
As I was lightly stepping on the head of the guy spouting nonsense about bloodlines and such, I heard some nonsense.
‘genius…?’
I?
It was the first time in my life, no, in my entire life, that I had heard such praise.
Even his grandfather from his previous life who raised him said, “I’ve never seen such a blockhead like you before,” and his middle school teacher even taught him the reality by saying, “Hana, you’ll never be able to succeed through studying,” to him who always dropped his grades in the class.
But, is he a genius?
“… Is this what you call a beggar?”
Lee Han picked up the iron hammer that the knights had dropped.
It seems like a kid who teases adults needs a loving spanking.
“I’m not kidding. I’m genuinely impressed.”
However, the guy didn’t show any sign of panic and had an expression that seemed to be full of sincerity.
“I am. I have fought against the temple since a very long time ago. However, I was always swayed by their schemes and eventually tasted the bitterness of defeat. However, the instructor not only saw through their schemes, but also crushed them. And he did it too easily… .”
“?”
“To put it simply, I mean, I thought you were amazing because you were able to do something so easily that I couldn’t do it.”
“… What a fuss.”
“It’s not a fuss at all.”
First of all, it was amazing that they caught this woman named Hayes Roche.
No, how did she know that she had the Mongma gene?
“You’re giving off an aura similar to that Pierre guy, aren’t you?”
“… Don’t say things like everyone knows what they’re talking about. Only instructors have that kind of talent.”
“?”
“… … This is what really pisses me off.”
Is this how others feel when they see you?
It was Roen who was doing mirror therapy properly, and his blood pressure rose slightly.
“haha….”
Derek scratched his cheek, smiling awkwardly.
It was a little bit of understanding of Roen’s feelings.
Derek tried to lighten the awkward silence a little by telling them about what had happened before they got there.
“Well… First of all, let me report. Thanks to the instructor’s ‘quiet’ resolution, there hasn’t been much of a reaction from the academy. It’s also thanks to Youngae Karin.”
“Your woman is capable, so you don’t have to mention her.”
“That’s not it…!”
“Alright. I’m sorry for making you look so sad… Anyway, you’ve caught all the spies, right?”
“… … First of all, we caught all the suspicious people. What’s unusual is that many of them tried to commit suicide right after their identities were revealed. It seemed like they had been thoroughly trained.”
“Swoop, you guys are really bad.”
“Yes, really….”
It was only now that I could see it, but as if to prove that the two boys had been running around busily, there were burn marks and blood stains here and there on their sleeves and stomachs.
It might not be theirs, but their opponent’s bloodstains. It might be evidence, not proof, that there was a fierce battle and chase.
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
I feel this once again, but it seems like the group called Shinden is really going crazy.
It feels like I’ve tried every trick I can think of to get out of here.
… but.
“Once we catch these kids, there’s no way they can escape.”
“Yes. There are others, including the Paladins, or rather the Lords of House Lohengrin.”
“Lohengrin?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? This man is Erhin de Lohengrin. He was also the leader of the Knights Templar at the time.”
“… … This kind of guy?”
Lee Han made an expression that seemed to suggest that a knight could be this weak, and Derek smiled bitterly.
… It seems like he doesn’t think he’s abnormally strong.
“As you may know, the Lohengrin family is known as the House of the Paladins. They are famous for only listening to the orders of the temple. The Paladins would be enough evidence to put pressure on the temple, but Erhin is decisive evidence. There is no loophole to escape.”
Derek thought that capturing Lohengrin’s man was a decisive move, even though the other knights were knights as well.
Even if the temple tries to get away, it will never be able to do so.
Derek was sure… .
“Well, do you think things will work out that well?”
“… Are you having trouble with something?”
Derek looked cautious at Lee Han’s meaningful reaction.
I know from experience that when an instructor reacts that way, it’s often because there’s something bothering them.
As expected.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t think we can do anything about them with something like this.”
“Huh?”
“…Why do you think so?”
The last stiff question was Roen’s.
It was not a matter of taking lightly the instructor’s seemingly confident words.
He said that in a calm tone.
“I mean, I think the temple is full of crazy people.”
“Huh?”
“You’re saying that they’re not just crazy in a nice way, but in a very messy way? And in my experience, messy guys like that never admit to their own mistakes.”
“…There is such obvious evidence?”
“Rather, it’s a problem because there is obvious evidence. That’s what it means.”
“which…?”
“This is it… .”
To turn the table upside down.
He must know, because in his previous life, he was a soldier who was deployed to a region where a religious war was raging for a year.
How cruel and crazy can a human being become when he uses religion as a shield?
So when the so-called forces that follow God commit an act, it is literally… .
‘They do crazier things than you can imagine without any hesitation.’
Lee Han shivered for the first time in a while.
It wasn’t that I was shaking because of fear.
This is just that.
‘I’d rather have a cute rat… .’
It was a shiver of disgust caused by physiological aversion.
*
*
*
Kurururung.
A sky full of dark clouds.
The sky in the south is famous for not having rain in the fall, but the sky was unusually gloomy and thunder-filled dark clouds were gathering.
Well, that doesn’t mean there’s a big problem.
It’s rare, but dark clouds in the fall aren’t a big problem.
“Today is the day of the temple prayer meeting, but why is the weather like this?”
“Let’s go and grab a seat quickly. We’ll be late and end up getting rained on outside.”
“I don’t want to go today… .”
“Oh my! How blasphemous!”
It’s worth noting that Pendragon’s weekend was not a day of rest for the people, but rather a day to attend temple prayer services.
So, even if it rained or snowed, I had to go to the prayer meeting.
That is why it is not uncommon to see people going to the temple preparing to get caught in the rain and bringing umbrellas or raincoats with them.
But.
“Huh? What is that?”
“uh?”
“…order?”
It wasn’t just a simple knighthood either.
The armor dyed in turquoise and the shields and armor with the
“Hey, the Knights of the Turquoise Unicorn!? It’s the Knights of Galahad!!”
“!!!?”
Galahad.
The only ducal family of Pendragon and the highest noble family.
However, although they are affiliated with the Pendragons, they are a family that has the power to become independent and establish a nation at any time.
Its size and power were already comparable to those of a small country, and since it was made up of only elites, it was also a family with extraordinary power.
However, the Azure Unicorn Knights, who boast the greatest military force of Galahad, are on the move.
Each and every one of them with the spirit that seemed to set the air on fire.
However, there was one who had an enormous presence that overwhelmed even such an order of knights, and who rode a black horse that was three times the size of an average horse and had an aura that made the heavens tremble.
And someone among the people dared to mention his name.
“B, Your Highness the Duke of Blake…!!”
“!?!!!”
A noble dragon bloodline whose face ordinary people will never see.
Also, Duke Blake is not just a simple dragon blood.
He was called the greatest King of Pendragon in history, excluding the Knight King, the founding king of Pendragon.
“Your Majesty… .”
… … He was of the bloodline of a king and his subjects.
dump!
dump….
Some have already knelt down.
Especially the middle-aged and older people who remembered the king would bow their heads in respect as soon as he appeared.
Anyone who remembers the great king while he was alive cannot help but react this way.
It was a time when the kingdom was considered to be the poorest in the South, or even on the continent, due to the incompetence of the previous king, and it would have been better to establish a new kingdom.
He was a giant among giants who built a kingdom by dealing with all the incompetent royal officials and members of the royal family, ascending to the throne himself, stabilizing the kingdom, and even repelling hundreds of invasions from other countries, and even winning. This was none other than Gunshin.
It is said that when the king was alive, the royal houses of all continents paid homage to Pendragon, and other countries still remember and honor him.
…even though he was an enemy, he was someone I respected.
If this is the case in other countries, what about the people of the kingdom?
“You guys! What are you doing so blasphemous!”
“Oh, sir?”
“Don’t block His Majesty’s path, you rascals!!”
Even the young men retreated in the face of the old man’s spirit.
No, I thought it was closer to ‘loyalty’ rather than spirit.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Where on earth is Your Majesty the Duke going?”
“That direction, huh, by any chance…?”
Some were terrified as they realized what was in the direction the Knights were heading.
[Great Temple].
The knights were moving in the direction of the headquarters that carried the light of light, and they were startled and their faces turned pale.
“… How do I stop that… .”
They could not find the courage or reason to stop Galahad, and so they just watched them advance.
* * *
It wasn’t just the common people who were keeping an eye on the rare procession of the peacock.
Even the knights who swore loyalty to Duke Blake were watching his every move.
‘Is Your Majesty very angry?’
‘You must have been incredibly angry.’
‘Who would have thought that the temple would do such a thing?’
‘Even if you cross the line, you cross it firmly.’
Even they were terrified, and after being terrified, they became furious.
No wonder, how dare he create something like a ‘fake daughter’… .
And every single one of the knights was indignant and showed their anger towards the temple that they had dared to use that fake to deceive His Majesty and plan to fool Galahad.
They wanted to storm the temple right away, but Duke Blake remained calm and did not act as they pleased.
It’s the same now.
“… … .”
He kept silent, and seemed to be particularly stiff, barely suppressing his uncontrollable anger.
How much anger do you have?
“… I think you misunderstood.”
But listening to the whispers of those members, Lark shook his head and muttered to himself.
Somehow everyone else seems to think he is furious… .
‘I don’t think so.’
I know because I have been serving him for a long time.
When he gets angry, he gets even more excited and angry than Lark.
That I’m not that cold-blooded.
Honey, how can you be so cold-hearted?
‘I’m not angry, it’s just… .’
“… Lark, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“!!”
“You know already, right? I’m not that angry.”
“that….”
“Ha, at least it was worth raising him. He knew how to read his master’s mind.”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Your Majesty.”
“And that funny article said, ‘The temple is not pretty, it’s messy.’”
“…Your Majesty, those are just the words of a mere thug.”
“Well, I think he’s a great tactician.”
“??”
“I guess he must have a reason for saying that.”
“… … .”
Worry.
The Duke pondered what the temple would do, and Lark felt uneasy.
I felt a sense of defeat at the sight of His Majesty overestimating that thug.
……but.
Slowly, slowly.
“… … .”
The closer he got to the temple, the more Lark felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
What should I say?
‘The air…?’
It’s an unpleasant atmosphere.
Messy, no… .
To put it in hooligan terms.
‘It’s messy.’
Lark approached the Great Hall with a stern expression, and when he finally arrived at the Great Hall… .
“──.”
“Are you not His Highness the Duke of Blake? I was just about to send someone to the duke’s residence, but you have come here like this. I am sorry, Your Highness.”
Hurrruk!
… I could tell what the unpleasant air was.
“How terrified I was to hear that there were heretics who dared to mock Your Majesty and put the temple in jeopardy… Haa, we are in the process of ‘purifying’ the temple quickly, but we are still not fully aware of how many apostates there are. But do not worry, Your Majesty.”
Gulp… .
“As always, the temple will catch the apostates.”
Whoosh whoosh…!
“… Ugh, you crazy guys.”
Someone’s muttering breaks the silence and spreads widely.
But no one could deny that.
That makes sense.
“You guys… how many people have you killed?”
“Huh? Kill them? – I was just purging the apostates?”
“… … .”
The garden of the main shrine.
Hundreds of heads on skewers, decapitated, and hundreds of torsos burning in the fire, decapitated.
And among the heads on the skewers-.
“Haa, I never thought His Majesty the King would do something like this. I wonder why someone who doesn’t have much time left until retirement would do something like this….”
The head of the contemporary king was dead with a pained expression on its face, blood dripping from it.
…the Duke, Lark, and the Knights remained silent as they watched the mad scene.
No, I had no choice but to remain silent.
I couldn’t even ask any questions in the face of their madness, which I couldn’t understand or should not understand.
“You’re really fucking crazy.”
“… … .”
… Lark no longer denied his lord’s words.
