The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 10

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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 10. Rian Drasen
“Mother, are you going to oversee elder brother’s etiquette lessons again?”
Rian asked with a smile, and his mother’s expression hardened at once.
“Rian, just because your brother calls me ‘mother’ doesn’t mean you should too. Not yet. Come now, try again. Mo…ther.”
“Hehe, elder brother said that formal speech is something beautiful because it carries respect in the heart. I want to call you mother too. Mo…ther.”
“No, you don’t need to grow up so fast…….”
Their mother’s face grew sorrowful for a moment, but she soon smiled gently and drew him into a tight embrace.
“This mother is so happy. To have two such thoughtful sons.”
“Hehe. So am I.”
“I’m sorry, Rian. Mother’s been busy with your brother’s coming-of-age ceremony lately, so I’ve been a bit neglectful.”
“It’s all right. I’m twelve now anyway. I’m all grown up.”
“Oh my. Our son speaks so well……. So what’s on your schedule today?”
“Swordsmanship practice in the morning, then studies with Administrator Palmer. I’ll work hard.”
“Yes, Rian. I believe in you~!”
She embraced him once more and turned to leave.
Rian accepted that warmth deep into his chest and smiled.
But then some thought seemed to cross his mind, and for a moment his face turned cold in a way no twelve-year-old should wear.
Yet by the time he opened the door and stepped out, that expression had vanished without a trace.
“Young Master, you’ve arrived.”
“Yes.”
The moment Rian reached the Training Grounds for his swordsmanship practice, the knight Larry welcomed him.
Under normal circumstances, they would have begun training right away, but today was different.
“Larry, you’ve finished the investigation, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
The knight with the sky-blue hair and a sturdy frame but still-youthful face continued as if he’d been waiting for this very question.
“The ones spreading rumors about Young Master Muno are knights Roider and Pulson. What’s more, during the last expedition, they even submitted a deliberately underestimated report on the size of the discovered Monster Subjugation group to Young Master Muno.”
“These bastards actually dared…….”
Rian ground his teeth, and his twelve-year-old face bore a ferocity that seemed utterly impossible for a child his age.
“Assemble all the Common Knights.”
“Yes!”
Thud.
Larry, who had Awakened at nineteen and become a 1-Star Knight, was still the youngest among the six Common Knights of House of Drasen at twenty, yet his response carried not the slightest hesitation.
* * *
“Rian, the young master?”
“Why?”
“No idea.”
“Tch, seriously. A brat summoning us…….”
“Watch your tongue. He’ll be the next lord.”
“I know, but…….”
The Common Knights of House of Drasen gathered at the Training Grounds, bewildered by this sudden summons—and from the second young master, no less.
“The kid probably wants to play soldier or something.”
“Let’s just humor him.”
As Roider and Pulson, the senior knights in their late thirties, laughed and reassured their comrades,
Rian and Larry walked together into the Training Grounds.
Roider found the sight of Larry irritating.
‘Little bastard…….’
True enough, the boy had Awakened before even reaching twenty—that much was undeniable.
‘He’ll probably surpass me one day.’
But watching him fawn over the next lord like this made Roider’s stomach churn.
No, the way he was already flattering—the boy might very well stagnate after a single Evolution, unable to grow even after ten or twenty years.
Roider fixed him with a gaze full of such curses, and
the moment their eyes met, the boy smirked.
‘That little shit……?’
His eyebrow twitched involuntarily. He glanced sideways and saw Pulson, his comrade, wearing a similarly sour expression.
‘That bastard needs a lesson.’
‘Right. Let’s rough him up a bit.’
He and Pulson, comrades and friends who had moved in sync for years, understood each other perfectly with just a look.
‘After all I’ve endured, and this whelp dares……. Unforgivable.’
Since childhood he’d lived the life of a mercenary, spending decade upon decade memorizing cheap Body-Strengthening Techniques that circulated through the underworld.
Only after nearly thirty years and narrowly surviving a brush with death had he finally experienced an Evolution and been reborn as a Body-Strengthening Practitioner.
The two arms, disproportionately swollen compared to his frame through the Evolution, caused him some inconvenience in daily life, but in combat at least, they offered advantages well worth enduring that discomfort.
When he swung the enormous Two-handed Sword like a windmill, slaughtering worthless monsters, he could almost convince himself he’d become an absolute force.
Yet even after Roider had become a Body-Strengthening Technique practitioner and earned his knighthood, those conspicuous physical changes had kept him from being appointed to a desirable domain.
His friend Pulson had fared no better.
Like Roider’s own ballooned arms, Pulson’s swollen legs bore the unmistakable mark of having learned ‘cheap Body-Strengthening Technique’—a limitation impossible to hide.
Unlike other Body-Strengthening practitioners whose outward changes were subtle, the two of them were routinely assessed as inferior in combat endurance and future potential.
Those who refused to appoint them had all cited character and trustworthiness as excuses, but the real issue was plain enough.
‘For all that, we’d be stronger in a short, decisive fight.’
But because that was the common perception, here they were, serving as knights in this backwater countryside.
To leave behind their long mercenary lives and finally settle down.
True, the domain required brutal combat every winter, but compared to his mercenary days, the pay, treatment, and station were all vastly superior.
Yet sometimes, watching those who’d flowered in better circumstances, his gut twisted with something he couldn’t quite control.
Like that monster Muno Drasen—a stammering wretch blessed with a frame that let him toy with Common Knights even before his Awakening.
‘That adopted bastard…….’
And then there was Larry, who’d had the fortune—or misfortune—to undergo his Awakening while serving as a soldier in these harsh lands.
The soldiers of this Drasen domain were learning proper Body-Strengthening Technique and training with a rigor that made the scraps Roider had picked up during his mercenary days look laughable.
What’s more, once a soldier showed promise, knights like Gunter would pass them Evolution Factors, which explained why Larry, despite no special innate gift, had undergone his Awakening at a far younger age.
Jealousy was inevitable.
‘If only I’d grown up in an environment like this…….’
Perhaps his brooding had gone on too long.
A youthful voice suddenly cut through from below his line of sight.
“Why are you glaring like that?”
When Roider lowered his gaze, he found Rian Drasen, the second son of this domain, regarding him from below with cold eyes.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing, sir.”
“Nothing? Then what?”
……Why was this brat like this?
Irritation flared, but he couldn’t let it show.
This one was different from that Muno.
Blood son of Lord Ryan Drasen and grandson of Earl Enoch Trian—the domain’s actual ruler.
The future heir to the Drasen seat, the next master of this land.
And despite his youth, he’d shown talent in both Swordsmanship and Body-Strengthening Technique, making him the very prodigy who’d been expected to undergo his Awakening even faster than that monster Muno.
An elite born with everything.
The thought alone made his skin crawl, but this brat would one day be his master—his employer, rather.
“……Ah, I was simply wondering why you called us, sir!”
“Any guesses?”
Watching the boy’s cherubic face strain to assume an air of dignity, Roider felt a laugh welling up inside, though he choked it back.
It did strike him as odd, though.
‘What in the world is he seeing that makes him do this?’
To be honest, even Gunter, who could be called the commander of the nine—now eight—knights of Drasen, had never assembled them like this.
Well, it hardly mattered.
“……I’m not certain, sir.”
It was probably just a child’s whim.
Roider swallowed the words he couldn’t speak aloud and shook his head.
But then.
“The reason’s simple. I heard something rather absurd, and I wanted to tell you all about it.”
The smirk playing at the young boy’s face sent an inexplicable chill down Roider’s spine.
“Sir?”
“You all know what’s been stirring about my brother lately, right?”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights’ answer came without hesitation.
Yet the young lord’s expression remained glacial as he surveyed them.
“Everyone here knows my brother’s been diligently going out on Monster Subjugations for the past few months. And you’ve all ‘yielded’ him your assignments several times, haven’t you? Isn’t that right?”
Yielded.
The word, delivered with such deliberate emphasis, caused every knight’s face to stiffen simultaneously.
In truth, it hadn’t been yielding at all—it had been dumping.
Adoption or not, when the lord’s nominal eldest son actively sought out Monster Subjugations, they’d each passed off unwanted duties to the heir several times over, eager to be rid of the work.
‘Surely not…….’
A cold wind began to blow through Roider’s chest—he’d been the most enthusiastic about it.
“The eldest son of the domain, supposedly so eager to undertake these subjugations himself, and yet the knights not only fail to support him but palm off their assignments…… Hmph. Well, I suppose I can understand the ‘yielding’ part—after all, it was his own wish—but…….”
The gaze that swept across the knights’ faces held none of a child’s warmth—only a thin, cutting chill.
“……In the end, you overcame the trials you chose for yourself and achieved your Awakening at just sixteen years old. That’s wonderful. Since it went so well, I’ll let that part pass.”
What if it hadn’t gone well?
The question lingered in every mind, yet no one dared speak it aloud.
When you actually saw him like this, you had to wonder if this little one was truly Rian Drasen, the Second Son known throughout the castle for his courtesy even to the servants.
“……But!”
The small boy’s face, grinding his teeth, was now visibly contorted.
“My brother may have spoken haltingly, but he was wise and compassionate beyond his years. Everyone who watched him closely knew it! And yet!”
A child shouting with a fury far beyond his age.
But no one thought to contradict him.
“Just his speech! Because of that single ‘small’ flaw, there are bastards out there calling my brother a fool, calling him a disgrace to House of Drasen, spreading those slanders both inside and outside the castle!”
At those words, Roider found himself glancing involuntarily at his colleague Pulson beside him.
And then.
Shink.
Rian suddenly drew a small sword.
For some reason, a chill ran through the air.
‘There’s no proof. No proof.’
Roider fought desperately to keep any hint of anxiety from showing.
Then Rian exhaled slowly and continued in a tone tinged with regret.
“……Still, since they haven’t caused any direct harm, I can let even that slide. Punishments disproportionate to the crime only destabilize order and collapse organizations. That’s what I’ve been taught, after all. So I must endure. Yes, I must.”
The little boy tapped his own head with the flat of the small blade, pacing back and forth before the knights.
The contorted expression and aggressive muttering formed a grotesque contrast with his innocent appearance.
Then.
“But here’s the thing…….”
Rian stopped in front of Roider and suddenly smiled—a smile that was almost frightening.
“Those bastards deliberately submitted a reduced report on the size of the monster pack my brother went to subjugate? That’s causing actual harm, isn’t it? Right? That means I don’t have to hold back on that one, do I? Isn’t that so, Sir Roider?”
Gulp.
A dry swallow.
How had he found out?
“There, there must have been some mistake. Surely, isn’t that right, Pulson?”
“Y, yes, my lord! Surely…….”
Roider’s voice began to stammer as his panic rose.
‘Even so, there’s no grounds to punish them for something so trivial. Right, no matter how much authority a lord has, he couldn’t.’
Inwardly reciting common sense to soothe the growing dread in his heart.
Yes, what could a young second son possibly do?
Or so he’d thought.
“There’s no way it was intentional…….”
Whoosh.
“……Aaaahhh!”
In that instant, Rian’s cold blade drove into his leg.
“My lord!?”
“Sir Roider!”
“M, my lord. If you do this……!”
“All of you, shut it! Larry, strike down anyone who resists!”
“Yes, my lord!”
Thud.
As Larry stepped forward wielding his Great Sword beside Rian, the Common Knights who had been advancing flinched and retreated once more.
They knew well the overwhelming strength of Larry, youngest among the Common Knights yet possessed of tremendous power, but more than that, they had no intention of doing anything against Rian in the first place.
Sweeping his gaze over the retreating knights, Rian twisted the blade he’d driven into Roider’s thigh with a cold expression.
“Gaaahhh! I, I’m sorry, my lord! I was wrong, I was wrong!”
Roider screamed in agony. Watching the pale face of Pulson standing beside him, Rian smiled coldly.
“Even if you come from a mercenary background, even if there are some character flaws……. If your skill serves the territory, then it’s worth keeping. Father’s words. I agree with that. But…….”
Crack.
“Gaaahhh! Please, mercy…….”
Without any mercy, he yanked the blade out violently, and blood sprayed forth in torrents.
Rian, paying no mind to the blood fountaining up or to Roider writhing on the ground, raised his sword with a flushed face.
“By my standards, what you did isn’t just ‘a little character flaw,’ you see?”
Covered in scarlet blood, he smiled coldly.
Though the young second son looked more ethically compromised than anyone present, the knights remained frozen in silence, unable to speak a word of objection.
And Pulson, his face drained of all color, bent his massive frame and dropped to his knees.
Thud.
“P-please, sir! I beg your forgiveness…….”
But before those words could finish, a small blade drove deep into his ribs.
Squelch.
“Argh!”
“If you’ve committed a crime, you must face punishment. Isn’t that right?”
The small boy twisted the blade into him with a cold smile, utterly without hesitation.
Yet even through that searing agony, Pulson could discern with eerie precision how the blade had angled—skirting his vital organs, embedding itself with calculated mercy.
“Kgh…….”
Coincidence? No. It couldn’t be.
Those blue eyes meeting his at close range remained terrifyingly, impossibly calm.
This “monster,” then, had never intended to kill them at all.
“Kgh—I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“Hmm, I don’t mind. So long as you keep giving me excuses like this, I can draw blood without guilt. The thing is…….”
Crack.
“Argh!”
“Next time won’t end this easily. You understand, Pulson?”
“Kgh—yes, yes!”
“Roider!?”
“Gasp—yes, yes! I understand!”
Even Roider, desperately stanching the arterial spray that erupted from his thigh, cried out his assent in panic.
And there before them all.
Squelch.
Rian withdrew the blade from Pulson’s side and turned his gaze back to the two offenders.
“Of course, I’m hoping you’ll do something like this again next time. Do you understand what I mean?”
At that chilling smile etched across his coldly set face, both men nodded frantically.
Rian’s expression hardened once more.
“Prove your worth, you garbage. Convince me not to kill you.”
Clang.
“Clean this up, Larry.”
Without waiting for a response, Rian tossed his small blade aside carelessly and turned to leave the Training Grounds, then abruptly stopped.
“Oh, and today never happened. Understood?”
“……Yes?”
“You don’t understand? If word of this gets out—if Father or Mother or my brother finds out…….”
The moment Rian’s sinister gaze swept across the Common Knights.
“What happened here!?”
“Ah, well—Sir Roider and Sir Pulson’s sparring got a bit rough.”
“I-it was just practice, really! They were being a little too intense!”
A coherent story fell into place on the spot.
Watching them with a smile, Rian turned away and meticulously wiped the blood from his body with a cloth, then departed the Training Grounds.
Not long after, he came face to face with a familiar figure.
“Brother~!”
“Ugh……. Rian.”
“Etiquette lessons are grueling, aren’t they?”
“Don’t mention it. It’s just not suited to me……. Wait, what’s that? Blood? Who dared……!?”
At the sight of his brother’s expression darkening, gripping his shoulder with sudden intensity, Rian felt his heart skip.
He’d forgotten his brother was unusually sensitive to scents.
“Oh, I was watching the knights spar in the Training Grounds. Some blood splattered—quite a bit, actually…….”
“Sparring? But that much blood?”
“Sir Roider and Sir Pulson were rather badly injured.”
“Ah……. They should be more careful. Or they should call me.”
“You’re well beyond the level of Common Knight matches now.”
“It’s just—stress builds up, you know……. Ahem, no. Right, and you should stay away from knight training anyway. It’s dangerous.”
“Yes, I’ll be careful.”
In that smiling Rian, there remained not a trace of the savage boy glimpsed in the Training Grounds.

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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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