I’m a Holy Knight, but I Contracted with an Evil God - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 51
“Must it really be this way?”
Leon tugged loosely at the Cravat constricting his throat, muttering under his breath.
The Velvet Coat that fell perfectly across his shoulders, the silk of the Silk Shirt wrapped around his waist—every sensation was thoroughly detestable.
Even when he’d attended Imperial receptions, he’d never worn anything quite so ornate.
“Yes. It has to be this way.”
Corbin’s answer was uncompromising.
In stark contrast to Leon, who was draped head to toe in luxurious garments, Corbin’s attire was plain to the point of severity.
For all the world, the picture of “a young master and his servant.”
Their peculiar appearance on the streets was the result of a conversation held with Aila just hours earlier.
Leon had reported to Aila everything he’d gathered about the “Candy” at the reception, and secured her approval to investigate the “Market”—though she’d attached the condition that he go with Corbin.
Not that it mattered; he’d planned to bring Corbin anyway.
“I’ll carry that old blade.”
The weathered, enormous Ecrizei sword in no way suited Leon’s refined appearance.
Yet for all that, Leon found himself unable to simply hand it over.
“I heard it was your father’s keepsake. Don’t worry—I’ll take good care of it. Besides, it looks completely out of place on you. Or would you rather I played the servant instead?”
“Would that be acceptable?”
“I’d recommend against it. Your face is better left hidden.”
Corbin said this while gesturing to the ornate clothing and the half-Mask that accompanied it.
Though procured hastily, this Mask was an absolute necessity at the Shadow Market, where “distinguished persons” were said to gather.
“Your face is memorable—the kind that sticks in people’s minds. Mine? Long as I don’t draw attention, I’m just another forgettable face.”
Corbin’s logic was sound.
But the real reason for Leon’s hesitation lay elsewhere.
True enough, only Leon could perceive that Ecrizei dwelled within that weathered blade.
There was no danger of the sword’s true nature being revealed if someone else held it, but the problem was Ecrizei’s temperament.
The thought of what this ill-natured Evil God might complain about if his hand passed from Leon’s grip to Corbin’s made Leon’s ears burn.
He stood suspended in that hesitation.
【I have no objection.】
‘Surprising. I figured you’d have plenty to grumble about.’
【Better to pass into his hands for a time than be subjected to the spectacle of your ridiculous costume any longer.】
It was an answer that disarmed all his concern.
Leon laughed quietly and handed the sword bearing Ecrizei to Corbin.
“Oh, it’s heavier than it looks.”
Corbin accepted the blade and bound it securely across his back.
Despite holding the same rank of Elite Knight, his casual demeanor and plain garb made him look for all the world like the genuine servant of a noble house.
Of course, Leon cut the figure of that servant’s young master.
“Can you act?”
“I can manage.”
“That doesn’t sound particularly convincing.”
Corbin looked Leon up and down with suspicion.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he added, “Since you’re playing the young master anyway, you don’t need to say much.”
Together, Leon and Corbin left the city’s glittering heart—where brilliant lights burned endlessly in Rostelron—and ventured toward the darkest corners of the urban sprawl.
As they abandoned the main thoroughfares and descended deeper into the maze of cramped back alleys, the air grew visibly fouler, and the sweet scent of noble perfume gave way to the rank stench of sewage and filth.
“The Shadow Market shifts locations every time it opens. Apparently today it’s being held in the Abandoned Sewer System beneath the Old City District.”
Following Corbin ahead, Leon glanced around from behind his Mask.
“A location deliberately out of sync with the Royal Guard’s patrol routes.”
“Yes. Convenient, isn’t it?”
Corbin wrinkled the bridge of his nose as he spoke.
The passages grew steadily narrower, and as they drew closer to the underground waterways, the stench became almost unbearable.
It reeked in a way that made one doubt any nobleman would venture down such a path.
“The Shadow Market is known as a black-market bazaar in the back alleys, but in reality it’s closer to a ‘one-stop shop for anything under the sun.'”
“Isn’t that what black markets are supposed to be for?”
“Usually.”
“The Shadow Market is different?”
“It is. Apparently the Shadow Market also deals in ‘Goods that money alone cannot procure.’ Though from what I hear, you can only access the true merchants if you’re elevated to the status of Distinguished Guest.”
Merchandise that money couldn’t buy was, more often than not, a matter of scarcity.
Or perhaps it required power.
“Besides, moving that volume of inventory requires more than a couple of people. You’d need horses, carts, that sort of thing. If you insist on using people, you’d need quite a lot of them.”

“Even if you time it carefully, it’ll be difficult to slip past the patrols. You’d stand out terribly—unless you already knew their routes beforehand. Did you investigate that in the capital?”
“Yeah. While I was tracking the missing people, it all connected back there. But you figured that out just from what I told you?”
His gaze was persistent, probing for reactions, but Leon’s face—half-concealed by the mask—remained unreadable in the dim light of the narrow alley.
Leon drew his lips tight and answered.
“A cramped, sloping sewer system like this couldn’t handle the volume an underground market like the Shadow Market would need. For the market to survive, large-scale transport through the city’s major thoroughfares becomes essential. Which means….”
Leon’s eyes lifted toward the upper reaches of the sewer—toward the surface streets above.
“Anyone can skulk like rats to avoid the capital’s attention. No matter how tight the security is, small gaps exist everywhere. But moving dozens of wagons safely through the heart of the Imperial Capital repeatedly? That’s an entirely different proposition. I suspect the odds of the patrols happening to miss you by chance are far lower than the odds that their eyes are simply closed from the start. In other words: the authority to coordinate the entire city’s patrol routes and to overlook those gaps.”
At that measured analysis, Corbin’s eyes narrowed.
Leon met his gaze directly and asked quietly.
“Is Prince Frentz the supreme commander of the Royal Guard?”
……
At Leon’s question, Corbin stopped walking and stared at him.
After a moment of thought, he spoke again.
“Do you know how dangerous an idea that is?”
“I do.”
At his unhesitating answer, Corbin let slip the smile he’d been wearing habitually.
After a stretch of silence, Corbin resumed walking and began speaking, his eyes sweeping the surroundings.
His voice dropped even lower.
“It’s suspicion. But it’s not exactly baseless, either.”
With that, Corbin fell silent again.
The quiet settled heavy on the damp air of the sewer.
Leon followed his receding figure, lost in thought.
‘So the princess might not be working alone. The prince could be involved too.’
【Your suspicion about the princess being behind this is hardening more and more.】
‘Yeah.’
How much deeper had they come?
The stench pressing in from all sides suddenly shifted to a strange mixture of metallic blood and luxury perfume.
When a low murmur echoed faintly from somewhere ahead, Corbin abruptly stopped and turned back.
“We’ve arrived, Young Master.”
Corbin came to a halt, flashing an exaggerated smile.
At the end of the underground sewer, concealed discreetly behind a moss-covered wall, stood a massive iron door.
Corbin knocked on it with practiced ease, then waved at the Gatekeeper who poked his head out.
“Long time no see? I heard the Shadow Market was open today, so I came by.”
“What, Corbin! When did you get back to the capital?”
The Gatekeeper, who recognized Corbin by that name, showed pleasant surprise—until he spotted Leon standing behind him, at which point his expression hardened into sharp alertness.
“Is he a new employer?”
“Yeah. I picked up a bodyguard job for a few days.”
Corbin scrunched his face playfully and stepped closer to the open side door.
He lowered his voice further, speaking toward the Gatekeeper.
Softly enough that an ordinary person wouldn’t hear, but loud enough for Leon to catch every word.
“He’s the only son of some nouveau riche merchant who came up from the provinces. First time in the capital, apparently. He kept whining that there was nothing fun to do, so I brought him along.”
“A nobleman?”
“More or less. You wouldn’t know the name even if I told you.”
After hearing Corbin’s story, the Gatekeeper turned his head to study Leon.
Specifically, he examined the Velvet Coat and Silk Shirt Leon wore, his confident bearing.
The mask covering half his face bore little decoration, yet was clearly of fine quality.
“……He does seem to have decent money.”
“Doesn’t he? He brought plenty with him.”
“Does he have an invitation? The Shadow Market is difficult to enter without one.”
“Does he really need one? The Young Master just wanted to see the Shadow Market so badly.”
“He does. Not any other day, but when the market’s open, it’s necessary.”
This wasn’t going to be easy.
Corbin palmed a gold coin and slid it through the slot in the side door, lowering his voice further.
“Really? How long do you think I’ve known you? He’s just visiting. What trouble could some rich kid possibly cause? How much damage can he do?”
“No, but without an invitation…….”
The Gatekeeper grumbled in dissatisfaction while turning the gold coin over in his fingers.
Corbin deliberately glanced toward Leon, then leaned in to whisper even more quietly to the Gatekeeper.
“He’s a young master from a ridiculously wealthy family. Still a kid, but he can’t control his spending—he’s itching to waste money. He’s going to spend it all here.”
“Even more reason why not. Bringing some ignorant brat to a place like this…….”
“Ignorant? No, you’ve got it wrong. What could someone like him and folk like us possibly have in common? How interested would a person of his standing be in our worlds? But these days, how much are the ‘goods’ at the Shadow Market worth talking about among the upper classes?”
Merchandise.
At that loaded word, the Gatekeeper’s eyes twitched faintly.
Corbin didn’t miss the shift and drove his point home like a wedge.
“Right. There’s such a thing as fashion, you know? I won’t cause any trouble. Just let us take a look and we’ll be on our way.”
“……Still…….”
The Gatekeeper was still hesitating, his lips working soundlessly.
“How much longer do you plan to keep us waiting?”
As he turned his head, the Gatekeeper found himself staring at ash-gray eyes beyond the half-mask.
A low, cold voice. A chill gaze, heavy with pressure.
The moment Leon — who had been holding his tongue — tilted his head with deliberate insolence, Corbin quickly played along.
“My apologies, Young Master. This fellow here lacks a bit of flexibility…….”
As Corbin fawned with exaggerated deference, Leon clicked his tongue pointedly.
Then he drew a leather purse from his coat and hurled it toward the iron gate.
The purse struck the gate and tumbled to the ground, clattering loudly.
“If there’s no invitation, then buy the damned thing with this instead.”
Corbin grinned wickedly, retrieved the leather purse, and passed it through the small opening to the Gatekeeper.
The moment the Gatekeeper received it with trembling hands and opened it, a jingling sound erupted, and gold coins poured forth—far more than what Corbin had originally thrown in.
At least dozens of gold coins tumbled out, and the Gatekeeper’s mouth fell open as if his soul had left his body.
“Don’t waste my time. Unless you’d prefer to keep rigidly to your pointless principles and lose your head for it?”
The boy had supposedly been young, but the arrogance radiating from him as he issued this threat matched any noble of his years and station.
Beneath that presence and the glitter of gold coins before him, servile reverence bloomed across the Gatekeeper’s face.
Corbin, watching the scene unfold, suppressed his laughter and exaggerated a shrug of his shoulders.
“May we enter now?”
“Yes, yes! Of course! Please forgive my rudeness, Young Master! This way, if you please!”
The Gatekeeper hurriedly wrenched the door open and bowed so deeply before Leon that his torso folded nearly in half.
Through the gap in the opening door came a reek of filth and an indescribable, cloying heat.
It was time to step into the darkness where Rostelron’s most sordid desires festered.
Continued in the next chapter ▶
A Holy Knight Who Made a Contract with an Evil God
Author
Ram Dat
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
March 27, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227066
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※ Pentagram welcomes your precious manuscripts.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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