Chapter 31
"I really can become a knight?"
"You don't believe me when I'm the Grand Duke's eldest son?"
I know nothing of such black-and-white logic or yardsticks of guilt.
If I were going to divide up sins and pass judgment, I'd have become a judge. My goal is to save the world.
Having shouldered responsibility for the weight of the world, shouldn't I at least have the qualification to judge people?
Thus, what matters more to me than whether a person is good or evil is that person's usefulness.
If someone can serve as a piece in preventing the apocalypse, I recruit them without hesitation.
That's why I took Jenkins in.
"However, there's a condition."
A knight is one who protects the weak.
Jenkins, who had preyed on the weak until now, would have to change completely.
Of course, Jenkins's future was foretold as that of a hero.
The Knight of the Dying Ember who protected his home amid the destruction.
I intend to draw out his true nature quickly.
"From now on, your life is no longer yours. If I tell you to die, you die."
"……."
"I'll make sure you die with meaning. You'll be remembered not as the death of a gutter parasite, but as the noble sacrifice of a knight."
A strange light entered Jenkins's eyes. I knew just by looking.
He longed more to die as a knight than to live as a back-alley kingpin.
"It isn't easy for someone like you, born at the bottom, to become a knight. The sins you've piled up will follow you like a label. You know that better than anyone."
My sins might differ in magnitude, but I had sins of my own.
I believed that the single destiny of saving humanity could cover up my sins.
That thought remained valid.
I would make Jenkins contribute to humanity without even realizing it.
"I won't make a long speech. Prove your worth—make it worth more than your life. Then you can become a knight."
I bent forward and held out my hand.
"If you're confident, take my hand."
"……."
Jenkins stared blankly up at me, then abruptly grabbed it.
"Y-Young Master!"
I pulled Jenkins to his feet and turned my head.
There was Baron Kelton, the merchant guildmaster, lying flat on his stomach.
Thud!
He repeatedly slammed his forehead into the floor hard enough to break it.
"Young Master! Please forgive me too! I will devote my loyalty to you!"
"From where I'm standing, you look like the real culprit."
"Y-Yes?"
To profit exorbitantly as a drug dealer, one needed exclusive distribution rights and connections of that scale.
If Jenkins's lot released even a single bowlful of drugs, their heads would naturally be chopped clean off.
Jenkins was the accomplice, while Baron Kelton was the mastermind behind it all.
I might have considered taking Kelton in too, if he had some use like Jenkins.
I lightly tapped his bobbing shoulder with the pommel of my dagger.
"I won't kill you."
"Th-Thank you!"
"Not with my own hands."
The guildmaster's movements faltered.
His greasy face slowly lifted with a creak.
"……What?"
"You tried to sell drugs without a shred of fear, didn't you? Anyone who sucks the lifeblood from the Empire deserves to die. But I don't want to get filthy blood on my hands, so, Jenkins."
"Yes, Young Master."
He had already switched to a more pleasing form of address.
I handed him the longsword.
"From now on, if I tell you to die, you die, and if I tell you to kill, you kill."
The former had already been tested. This man would really die if told to.
"We should test the latter too, right? Pig, deal with him yourself."
"Y-Young M-Master! Please spare my life! I'll give you everything!"
"I'll put your money to good use."
To organize the Ashen Forest expedition, enormous capital was essential.
Seizing every last asset used in drug distribution and putting it toward the greater cause.
Now that was what I called a virtuous cycle.
Stab!
"Ghk!"
Jenkins's sword point pierced through Kelton's back and out his chest.
Bright red blood soaked the floor and pooled there. Kelton's limbs went limp.
He clearly hadn't lived by the sword for nothing; his technique was clean.
***
I brought Kyle and his three apprentices, along with Jenkins, into the family.
Before that, I asked Kyle's permission first. Was he uncomfortable going with Jenkins?
I do have some complaints, but it's the Young Master's decision, isn't it? Then I have to trust you."
"Don't worry about my feelings; do as you please. If you want him dead, you can kill him."
!?
Jenkins, who had been listening, opened his eyes wide.
No matter how useful he was, Kyle was far more important.
If Jenkins had a negative influence on Kyle, I could cast him aside at any time.
"There's no need for that. I've never even met this man. The person I'd like to kill is Baron Kelton, but he's already dead, isn't he?"
"You are a very kind man."
Jenkins nodded, looking slightly moved.
"That is true as well, but I have another use for this man. May I use him whenever I need him?
"Fine. Leave hard physical labor and petty chores to Jenkins. Work him until he drops dead, if you like."
"That too, but I was thinking of using him as a test subject."
!?
"Clinical trials are highly dangerous, after all. It's better to use a living person than a rat. If he's prepared to die anyway, shouldn't we put him to meaningful use?"
This one didn't seem normal either.
But now that I thought about it, he had a point.
"Fine. I'll allow it."
"Thank you."
!?
Jenkins stared at me with his eyes bulging from beside us.
Crack!
One smack to the head made him lower his gaze immediately. If he didn't like it, he could commit seppuku.
I fixed my gaze on Kyle.
"Later, I plan to establish a pharmaceutical trading company under my name. I'll act as the figurehead, and delegate all authority to you, Kyle. You can do that, right?"
"Of course I can!"
"You've got too much fire in you. Relax a little. The family has an unused annex, so you can use it for the workshop."
"Yes, sir!"
A few days later, after we arrived at the estate.
Kyle and the other three hurried toward the annex, pulling a cart piled with luggage.
It was right to guarantee them freedom without interference. Demanding something from them during this transitional period would only create impatience.
And Jenkins.
He didn't really need a title. I just had to work him to the bone, then take him into the field with us.
There was someone here more expert than I was.
"A new recruit?"
"Yes. They say he's a street thug from the back alleys, so please straighten him out. He's a drug dealer."
"Quite an uncommon son of a bitch."
Hendrickson clicked his tongue, spraying spit.
Jenkins narrowed his brow in front of him.
"Are you a knight?"
"This gentleman is a Sword Master."
!?
Hendrickson dragged Jenkins away, leaving him looking as if his soul had left his body.
Seeing them head to the training grounds, I knew hellish training had begun at once.
Recruiting Jenkins was only the beginning.
In a few weeks, word would reach the Imperial Capital Daily.
When that happened, men like Jenkins—and worse—would flock in like sheep.
"Ah, I forgot, kid."
Hendrickson, who had been dragging Jenkins away, stopped dead.
"That fellow was looking for you."
"That fellow?"
"You know. That inflexible, nasty bastard."
"Why is Father looking for me?"
"He said to come to his office as soon as you get back. Said you were fucking dead."
Hendrickson flicked a sheet of paper onto the floor.
A newspaper fluttered gently down in the wind. I picked it up.
[Founding Festival Bombshell! High Society's Star Lucia Rejects the Suitors of Powerful Men and Chooses Cardenos's Astin!]
[Enraged Crown Prince Zenon, Patrian Trading Company Chairman, and Winterhart Young Master. What Will Become of the Three Men?]
[Astin Donates 50 Million Shillings for an Old Greatsword! Money Laundering in Collusion with the Military, or Romance?]
"Ah."
***
A quiet night. A silent bedroom.
Lucia was prone to dreaming.
But she had never once experienced a lucid dream.
'…A dream?'
An unfamiliar sensation of floating. Her vision was blurry, as though she were in a fog.
It was a first-person dream in which she could not see herself.
Her left field of vision was plunged into darkness, as if thick black ink had been poured over it. She could see the bizarre surroundings only through her right eye.
The landscape contained in that half-field of vision was cold and silent.
Ice formations jutted sharply from the cliff face. The surface of the rock was densely covered in white frost.
―Whoooosh!
A blizzard howled around her.
The air she inhaled into her lungs felt like sharp shards of glass.
It was definitely a dream, yet every sensation felt vivid.
A cave in the dead of winter? Had she become stranded in the bitter cold?
Despite her bewildered thoughts, Lucia's body began to move.
A person filled her half-field of vision.
A blood-soaked man lay collapsed before her.
His entire body was covered in plate armor, making it impossible to tell who he was.
"Astin."
Lucia flinched in surprise at the words she herself had spoken.
This man was Astin?
Against her will, Lucia's hands moved.
Her thoughts in reality were nothing more than thoughts. The Lucia in the dream was a separate entity from her.
Lucia's hand caressed his cheek, cold as ice.
Astin was in terrible condition.
Dark red blood had soaked his armor until it was clammy, and the steel frozen in the blizzard had leeched away his body heat.
His blue lips could not even breathe out the faintest puff of air.
If left like this, he would die.
There was nothing nearby with which to start a fire. For some reason, her mana had been completely depleted as well.
There was only one way to save him as he slowly died of hypothermia.
But Lucia hesitated.
His armor and clothes were completely frozen.
In this situation, to transfer their body heat…….
Rustle-
Lucia was already removing Astin's breastplate.
Her trembling fingertips felt as though they might split apart. Strangely, her senses did not fade.
She tore through the leather straps stiff with frozen blood and snow until her nails cracked. Then she peeled off his cold, wet shirt.
Astin's massive upper body was exposed, bare. His torso was covered in scars.
Her mind was dazed, but she acted without hesitation.
Lucia stripped off her own cumbersome clothes and threw them aside.
"Stay alive. Please……."
Lucia wrapped her arms around Astin's chilled body.
Her bare, curved breasts pressed against his broad, solid chest.
His scars and hard muscles touched her soft skin, sticking closely together.
Thump-
She felt the faint beat of life.
Perhaps he had found a source of warmth. Astin's two limp arms moved.
!
His arms fiercely embraced Lucia around the lower back. At such close range, the scent of bare skin rose between them.
It was an instinctive urge to survive, but she wanted to scream aloud right then. She wanted to shove Astin away with all her strength.
"Ah……."
Yet Lucia did not push him away.
A sigh mixed with relief escaped between her teeth. Instead of pulling away, she burrowed deeper into Astin's embrace.
His grip was so strong it felt as though her bones would be crushed. Astin held Lucia tight enough to steal her breath.
Lucia's two legs sensuously tangled between his thick, firm thighs.
Neither of them was wearing even their lower garments.
Even knowing this was about survival, the atmosphere grew strangely heated.
Hot breath escaped through Astin's lips. His intermittent breaths brushed Lucia's ear and nape.
Astin's body scent, laced with blood, wafted over her.
A tingling sensation spread down Lucia's spine. Sticky heat rose through the skin pressed against Astin.
"Astin."
Lucia carefully traced his broad back.
His skin felt rough beneath her hand. Astin's entire body was covered in scars.
She hadn't known from a brief look. Only after touching him did she feel how deeply they had been carved in.
"You must have had such a hard time, all alone……."
Her hand tracing his scars trembled not from the cold, but from compassion.
She buried her face deeply in the nape of Astin's neck. Her hand moved to the corner of Astin's mouth.
She gently caressed his lips as their vitality slowly returned, and spoke.
"If only I had been by your side……."
Lucia's eyes flew open.
What she saw was not the ceiling of a cave, but a crystal chandelier.
"H-huck……."
Her breath caught in her throat.
Back in reality, Lucia first focused on calming her breathing.
Without thinking, she felt along the corner of her left eye. Fortunately, she could see clearly.
Her heart pounded as if it would burst from her chest.
Her entire body was drenched in sweat, and her breathing remained ragged.
"Haa……."
Catching her rough breath, Lucia looked down at herself.
She was hugging a body pillow about the size of a person.
Her arms were clasped around it as if she would crush it, and her legs had tangled around it sensuously. Exactly as she had done to Astin in the dream.
Whump-!
Lucia hurled the body pillow to the floor.
Lucia cupped her cheeks with both hands. A furnace-like heat rose from them.
The sensation at her fingertips was acutely heightened, as if they had rubbed against scars.
"What kind of stupid dream was that……."
As Lucia understood it, dreams were said to stem from one's emotions.
In other words, having a dream like this meant she……
"No way!?"
She shrieked in a metallic voice without realizing it.
"I like him that much? No way! That can't be right!"
Lucia certainly knew her own heart well.
It was true that she felt fondness toward Astin. Somewhere between affection and curiosity.
It was special only because this was the first time she'd developed feelings after always being on the receiving end. It could never become love.
It was true that she had chosen him at the ball, danced with him, and received his help at the café.
But never! It wasn't love.
Who was she, anyway?
She was Lucia, the star of high society.
This dream was merely a stupid dream.
"It was a stupid dream. Yes, just a stupid dream."
Dreams could stem from emotions, but there were also stupid dreams.
Meaningless stupid dreams.
But why?
The sensations she had felt in the dream clung to her vividly.
The feel of Astin's firm, broad chest.
The sticky, hot breath that had touched her ear.
The strong arms wrapped around her waist, the brazen tangle of their thighs.
Even the scent of his body mixed with blood that had rushed at her like a stab to the lungs.
"Nightmare!"
Wham! Wham!
Lucia furiously pounded the pillow with her fists.
After two punches, cotton and feathers burst apart and scattered in every direction.
She stopped punching and let out a heavy, deep sigh.
"I won't be able to see Young Master for a while……."
It was terribly disappointing to think she wouldn't be able to see his handsome face.
Whack!
The moment that thought occurred, she struck the pillow again.