Chapter 96: Someday in the Distant Future

Thwang!

With a loud noise, the middle of the practice greatsword snapped.

“Hah……”

The result of a slender rapier striking the same spot countless times.

Muno looked at the rapier that had come right up to his eyes and playfully raised both hands.

“I lost. Hah……”

At that, Karina withdrew her weapon and wiped her sweat.

“You had a lot of idle thoughts this time, Sir Muno.

For someone who says they will bring the world to their knees alone.”

“I thought if my resolve changed, I would overcome the wall immediately.

I’m quite disappointed that it didn’t work. Tsk.”

“Puhahaha!”

The sight of Karina laughing heartily at his clumsy joke was so pleasant that the bitter taste of defeat seemed to be slightly soothed.

Of course, more than that.

‘I’m sure of it. With just a trigger, I can evolve again.’

The anticipation for the future was greater, after all.

“Thank you for the spar. Above all, your advice was a great help, Sir Karina.”

Advice that not only provided a clue to overcome the wall but also helped him establish his own outlook on life and decide on a path to live.

A smile naturally formed on his face at the feeling of the person he had been fond of from the beginning looking even prettier.

And though he didn't know if she felt the same.

“I’m glad it was helpful.

I also got to stretch my body out properly for the first time in a while.”

Her smiling face as she looked back at him also looked genuinely refreshed.

To the point where her pretty face seemed to shine particularly brightly.

However.

“Then now……”

“Then I……”

“Ah, you go first.”

“Ah, no. You first, Sir Muno.”

“……”

“……”

The two knights, no, the two men and women who had finished their spar, were so clumsy at communicating in ways other than clashing with their bodies.

So in the end, what came out of their mouths was.

“……Then, I will be sure to tell the Grand Princess that you will be coming to the party tomorrow.”

“……Yes. I will see you tomorrow.”

Only official conversation.

Karina, hesitating for a moment, turned away.

‘This is a bit…….’

Muno, who was watching her, summoned a little courage.

“Hey, that……!”

“Yes?!”

Karina, who reacted by whipping around at the small voice.

Her slightly flushed face made him summon a little more courage.

Of course.

“Someday, after we’ve both finished what we have to do……”

“Yes, yes. After we’ve finished?”

“……Let’s spar again then.”

Though the words he managed to say after mustering up all his courage were of this sort.

- You fucking idiot!!

The voice of his friend from his past life, which he couldn't possibly hear, seemed to echo in his head again.

‘Hah…….’

He hadn't stopped her to say this, but his tongue had already escaped his control.

Karina, who had been staring blankly with her mouth slightly open, soon frowned a little.

“A spar…… you say?”

Damn it.

It was true that he was fond of her, but he didn't know how to express it plausibly.

And it wasn't like they were in a special relationship, so he didn't want to make promises or assurances he couldn't keep while looking forward to a future that he didn't know when would come.

Still, he had to salvage the situation.

“That……. The only thing I can think of that we can enjoy doing together, is still that.”

He just blurted out what came to mind.

Fortunately, Karina’s expression brightened a little.

“That’s…… true, isn’t it?”

“Yes. After I’ve definitely finished off those evil cultist bastards, and after you’ve safely gone through the succession war, I hope we can slowly get to know other things we can enjoy doing together.”

Frankly, without overthinking it.

He conveyed his feelings with simple words instead of fancy rhetoric.

Even as he said it, he wondered if this was right.

“……Alright.”

Fortunately, a bright smile appeared on her face.

“I hope that day comes soon.”

“We have to make it come. Us.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

He didn't know what kind of expression he was making now, but her smiling face was so pleasant to see.

A difficult path lay ahead for both of them, so it would be hard to carelessly promise the future.

“Then again, at that time.”

“Yes. Again, at that time.”

Thump.

They smiled and bumped their gloved fists, then lightly clasped hands, pulled each other in, and patted each other's shoulders in a slight embrace.

Two people who were knights before they were a man and a woman.

It was a promise made in a crude rather than romantic way.

But for some reason, to the point where an unfounded expectation that the promised day might come sooner than he thought arose.

His heart pounded.

* * *

The aftermath of the spar was significant.

It became an opportunity for him to reflect on himself, both mentally and emotionally.

But there were things to do right away before he could fully process the impressions and realizations he had gained.

First, preparations for the 3rd Prince's party he would be attending tomorrow.

“You’re saying you’re going out of the royal castle?”

“Yes. I have something to attend to.”

“……Well, as long as you’re not trying to enter a forbidden area of the royal family, you can go anywhere outside.

The royal family does not restrict the freedom of its guests.”

The Steel Knight guarding the lodgings easily granted him permission to go out.

It was none other than the king who had allowed Muno to stay in the royal castle's lodgings.

Until the king’s next command, he was the king’s guest.

Perhaps because of that, the knight even showed him excessive consideration.

“If you show your identification plaque, you can go anywhere in the permitted areas.

If you wish, I can assign a guide from the royal castle to you.”

He had already heard all about the palace from Karina.

“I appreciate the kindness, but I’m fine.”

“Ah, then do you perhaps have an acquaintance in the capital?”

“No. I just want to look around Ironheart.”

“Do as you wish. However, entry to the royal castle is until 10 PM.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

He didn't have an acquaintance in the capital, but there was a place he had to go.

Muno smiled as he recalled the ‘Reid Merchant Guild’ identification plaque he had kept in his bosom.

From the moment he left the royal castle, Muno couldn't help but attract attention from all sides.

A knight in dark black armor with a large two-handed sword on his back.

Even for the capital of the Iron Kingdom, the kingdom of knights, it was a deadly fashion that was rarely seen.

Of course, he himself was well aware of that.

“Wow, Mom. That man……”

“Shh, don’t look. Don’t make eye contact.”

It was uncomfortable to keep hearing such things.

‘……What did I do.’

But thinking about it, it was natural.

‘Well, I would avoid him too.’

Who would dare to come near someone carrying a huge and sharp-looking weapon on their back and wearing hideous armor that looked like other swords couldn't even put a dent in it?

Though he had no helmet, just wearing a full plate mail like this was proof that he was a knight, not some riffraff mercenary.

Though the knights here did not have the right of summary execution like in the medieval times of his past life, it was an attire that ordinary people would shy away from.

So.

“The Black Knight……”

“That ‘Street Destroyer’.”

“He breaks everything he sees……”

The words he was hearing now must just be auditory hallucinations.

Yes. Of course.

……Daaamn it.

‘Street Destroyer.’

He suddenly resented the Chainman of a few days ago.

But it was a karma he had already built, so it couldn't be helped.

And anyway, the place he had to go now wasn't a main street like this.

- Since we also handle information about nobles, we can't openly claim to be an information organization on a main street.

- You’ll have to look in the back alleys, Brother.

‘It’s better than attracting attention on a main street.’

Muno’s footsteps naturally headed towards a dark alley in a corner of the market.

When he had entered quite deep into that dark alley, Muno encountered a group of thugs.

Unlike the vagrants from before who had been busy disappearing as soon as they saw an outsider in deadly armor with a greatsword.

The gang, twirling daggers and spitting, even glared at him for a moment.

Of course.

“That’s……”

“Tch. Black armor. It’s the Street Destroyer. Keep your head down.”

Hah…….

“He looks young though, maybe we can……”

“Shut up, you crazy bastard!”

They soon turned their eyes away and looked at the innocent wall, ground, or sky.

A silent gesture begging him to just pass by.

But Muno had no intention of following their wishes.

Jeobeokjeobeok.

“He looks young, so maybe you can what?”

At that, the thug who had just spat out the venomous words and was the last to turn his gaze away, twitched his lips, made eye contact, and then twisted his head with a contorted face.

It would have been better if he had just stopped there.

“Ptooey.”

He unnecessarily spat to the side, indirectly expressing his dissatisfaction.

Useless bravado. It was the way of the back alleys to immediately punish foolish acts.

Kwadeudeuk.

“Kkeuaak!!”

The moment he grabbed the guy’s left collarbone, a scream as if he were about to die burst out.

It was natural, as his bone must have cracked.

“Ben!?”

“This is……!”

At that, the surrounding thug companions flinched as if to attack.

“Hoh?”

The moment he stared at them indifferently, they froze as if they were frozen or turned their gaze back to the sky or the ground.

They knew very well what the military power that could break a person’s bone with just a light grip meant.

“Kkeueueu…….”

The person himself, who was on the receiving end, sat down on the ground and seemed to be trying to endure the pain belatedly, but he had already screamed loud enough to make the alley ring.

“If you’re going to spit, at least aim properly. This is neither here nor there……”

Muno grabbed the guy by the scruff of his neck, pulled him up again, and lightly pushed him towards the wall.

Thump.

“Kkeuk, why, why……”

The guy, who was barely standing, leaning against the wall while holding his painful collarbone.

His eyes were still full of dissatisfaction.

The clumsy informal speech he spat out with defiance even after having suffered a severe blow once.

This expression, these eyes.

Han Munho was all too familiar with them.

Those who basically carry hostility when dealing with people because they resent the world and find life painful.

Thugs who rationalize that since they have suffered without reason, it's okay for them to do the same to others, and make a habit of doing trashy things.

‘It’s unfortunate, but they’re not worth sympathizing with.’

It was an expression he had seen a lot from his friends from the orphanage who had gone down the wrong path, or from his older and younger brothers.

Faces he didn't want to recall.

‘There were a lot of troubles…….’

Well, among the thugs in this world, he didn't know any of them, and if things went south, he could just deal with them himself, so he didn't want to care too much.

He would just use them when needed.

Just like right now.

“Why, because I have business with you.”

“Bus……iness?”

“Yeah. I wanted to ask for directions.”

The moment he said that, he could see the guy’s expression go blank.

Seeing the surrounding thugs with similar expressions, it must have been a rather fresh line.

“Kkeueu, for just that now……”

The words he barely spat out like a groan with a contorted face.

His face was full of injustice.

So he stated the facts.

“It’s not just for that. You were going to rob me, weren't you?”

“How did you…….”

As expected, this guy was a novice who didn't even know that a Corporeal Arts user’s senses were completely different from an ordinary person’s.

“So I’m robbing you.”

“Why would a knight……?”

“Why? You can rob me, but I can’t rob you?”

“……”

The moment he stared at him straight, the guy’s wavering eyes fell to the ground.

Pfft.

“Just kidding. If you guide me well, I won’t touch you anymore.”

- No matter what business it is, they say you have to coexist with the local gangster organization to do anything in the back alleys of a big city. I hear their backers are often nobles.

- Anyway, just grab a guy who looks like he's been around and get him to guide you.

He was being sincere, but it didn't seem like the guys listening believed him.

“Really……?”

“Well, if you don’t want to believe me, then don’t.”

Woddeuk.

Just by lightly relaxing his right hand, the face of the guy in front of him turned pale.

“Ah, no……”

“No?”

“No, sir!”

His expression was full of injustice, but what could he do, it was the truth.

And fortunately.

The guys knew Muno's destination.