The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 96

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

Chapter 96. Someday, in the Distant Future
Bang!
With a deafening crack, the Practice Greatsword snapped clean in half at its midpoint.
“Hah…….”
The slender Rapier had pierced the same spot countless times—the inevitable result.
Munno raised both hands in playful surrender as the Rapier’s point came within inches of his face.
“I yield. Hah…….”
Karina lowered her weapon and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“You were distracted this time, Munno. For someone who swore he’d remake the world on his own terms.”
“I thought once your resolve changed, you’d break through the wall in an instant. I’m disappointed it didn’t work out. Sigh.”
“Hahahaha!”
Her hearty laughter at his self-deprecating joke was so genuine that it softened the bitter sting of defeat.
Though more than that—
‘I’m certain now. If the right moment comes, I can evolve once more.’
His anticipation for what lay ahead burned even brighter.
“Thank you for the match. Your advice especially has been invaluable, Karina.”
More than just pointing him toward the key that would let him break through the wall—she’d helped him establish his own philosophy and find his path forward.
She’d been appealing from the start; now he found himself drawn to her even more.
Whether she felt the same, he couldn’t say.
“I’m glad it helped. It felt good to really stretch and move again after so long.”
Facing him, her smile carried genuine relief, and her pretty face seemed to glow brighter for it.
Radiant in a way that made his heart quicken.
But then—
“So now…….”
“So I…….”
“Ah, please, go first.”
“No, no. You first, Munno.”
“…….”
“…….”
Two knights—or rather, two people—who had just locked bodies in combat found themselves utterly clumsy when it came to any other form of communication.
And so what finally spilled from their lips was—
“……Well then, I’ll make sure to tell the lady about tomorrow’s party.”
“……Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Nothing but formalities.
Karina hesitated for a moment, then turned to leave.
‘This isn’t…….’
Watching her, Munno gathered a scrap of courage.
“Wait, that is to say……!”
“Yes?!”
At his quiet voice, she spun back around immediately, her eyes widening.
The slight flush creeping across her face gave him just enough courage to push forward.
Of course—
“When we’ve both finished what we need to do…….”
“Yes, yes. When we finish?”
“……then, perhaps we could spar again.”
After all that buildup, that’s what he’d managed to say.
– Damn it all!!
The echo of his past life’s friend’s voice—impossible to hear, yet ringing in his mind once more.
‘Hah…….’
He hadn’t meant to stop her just to say something like this, but his tongue had already slipped beyond his control.
Karina’s expression had gone slightly slack, her mouth opening in surprise, but then her face tightened a little.
“Spar……again?”
Damn.
He did feel affection toward her—that much was true. But expressing it gracefully seemed beyond his reach.
They weren’t close enough to make promises about an uncertain future, and he hated the thought of offering empty vows he might not keep.
Yet he needed to salvage this somehow.
“It’s just……that right now, it’s the only thing I can think of that we might enjoy doing together.”
The words tumbled out unplanned, honest and raw.
Fortunately, Karina’s expression brightened.
“I suppose that’s……true?”
“Yes. Once I’ve thoroughly dealt with those thugs, and you’ve safely navigated the Succession War for the Throne, I’d like us to gradually discover other things we can enjoy together.”
No need to overthink it—just speak plainly.
Instead of flowery words, I convey what I feel with simple language.
Even as I said it, I wondered if it was the right thing to say.
“……That sounds good.”
Fortunately, her face broke into a bright smile.
“I hope that day comes soon.”
“Then we’ll make it come. Together.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I don’t know what expression I’m wearing right now, but her smile is beautiful to look at.
A difficult road stretches ahead of us both, so it’s hard to promise the future carelessly.
“Then, until then.”
“Yes. Until then.”
Thunk.
We knock our gauntleted fists together with a laugh, then lightly clasp hands and draw each other close, gently patting each other’s shoulders.
Two knights before anything else.
It was a promise made in an ungainly way, rather than a romantic one.
Yet somehow, a baseless hope kindled—that the day we’d promised might arrive sooner than expected.
My heart raced.
* * *
The aftermath of the sparring was significant.
It became a chance to reflect on myself, both mentally and emotionally.
But I had pressing matters to attend to before I could fully refine the insights and lessons I’d gained from it.
First, there was the preparation for the Third Prince’s party tomorrow.
“You’re planning to leave the Royal Palace, sir?”
“Yes. I have business to attend to.”
“……Well, it’s not as though you’re entering a restricted royal sector, so anywhere outside is entirely acceptable. The royal household does not restrict our guests’ freedom.”
The iron-clad knight guarding the quarters granted my departure easily enough.
It was none other than the King himself who had permitted Munno to lodge in the Royal Palace quarters.
Until a new royal command was issued, he was the King’s guest.
Perhaps because of this, the knight extended even generous consideration.
“If you show your credential badge, you may go anywhere within authorized areas. If you wish, I can also arrange a guide from the palace for you.”
I’d already heard all about the palace layout from Karina.
“I appreciate the courtesy, but that won’t be necessary.”
“Ah, then do you perhaps have acquaintances in the Capital?”
“No. I simply wish to see Aion Heart for myself.”
“As you wish. However, entry and exit from the Royal Palace must conclude by ten o’clock in the evening.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I don’t have acquaintances in the Capital, but there is a place I need to go.
Munno smiled as he recalled the credential badge for the Reed Trading Company that he kept close.
The moment he left the Royal Palace, Munno couldn’t help but draw attention from all quarters.
A knight in deep black armor, with a massive Two-Handed Sword strapped across his back.
Even in Aion Heart, the capital of a kingdom of knights, such a forbidding appearance was rare to see.
Of course, he was fully aware of it himself.
“Wow, Mom. That man over there…….”
“Shh, don’t look. Don’t make eye contact.”
Hearing things like this over and over was inconvenient.
‘……What did I do?’
But thinking about it, it was only natural.
‘If I saw someone like me, I’d avoid them too.’
Who would dare approach someone carrying such a massive, menacing-looking weapon on their back, paired with armor so formidable it seemed impervious to any other blade?
Without a helmet, but still—the very fact of wearing full plate mail like this was proof enough that one was a knight, not some mercenary rabble.
Though knights in this land didn’t possess summary execution authority as they had in the Middle Ages of my past life, ordinary people still avoided such attire.
So naturally……
“The Black Knight…….”
“That ‘Street Destroyer.'”
“They say he destroys everything in sight…….”
The words I was hearing now must be nothing but an auditory illusion.
Yeah. Definitely.
……Yeah, right.
‘A destroyer of streets.’
He found himself resenting Chainman all over again, though it had been days since their encounter.
But the debt was already incurred; there was nothing for it.
Besides, the place he needed to go now was nowhere near this main thoroughfare.
– Since we deal with information about nobles as well, we can’t exactly set up an information organization right out in the open on a main street.
– You’ll need to look in the Back Alleys instead, sir.
‘Better not to draw attention on the main road anyway.’
Munno’s feet naturally carried him toward a dim alleyway tucked into one corner of the Market.
When he ventured deep into that shadowed passage, Munno encountered a band of thugs.
Unlike the vagrants from moments before, who had scattered the instant they saw an outsider equipped with menacing armor and a Great Sword,
this gang—twirling daggers and spitting casually—even paused to glare at him.
Of course.
“That’s…”
“Tch. Black Armor. A destroyer of streets. Keep your head down.”
Hah.
“But he looks young. Maybe we could—”
“Shut your mouth, you lunatic!”
Still, they quickly averted their eyes again, staring instead at the walls, the ground, the sky—anywhere but at him.
A silent gesture begging him to just pass by.
But Munno had no intention of honoring that plea.
Step. Step.
“Young, you said? Young enough to what?”
The thug who had just spat his venom—the last to look away—twisted his lips and met Munno’s gaze, then contorted his face and turned his head.
It would have been better if he’d simply left it at that.
“Ptui.”
Instead, he spat sideways, his dissatisfaction conveyed indirectly.
Pointless bravado. Stupid acts were promptly punished in the Back Alleys—that was the law of this place.
Crack.
“Ahhhhh!!”
The moment Munno seized the thug’s left collarbone, a shriek tore from his throat.
The bone had likely fractured—a natural response.
“Ben!?”
“Damn—!”
The other thugs flinched as if to rush forward,
but at a single blank stare,
they froze as though turned to stone, or swiftly redirected their gaze back toward the sky and earth.
They understood all too well what it meant to possess the kind of strength that could shatter human bone with a casual grip.
“Uuugh…”
The victim, still crumpled on the ground, belatedly tried to suppress his pain, though he’d already screamed loud enough to echo through the alley.
“If you’re going to spit, at least aim properly and do it right. This half-hearted nonsense is pathetic.”
Munno grabbed the thug by his collar, hauled him upright, and shoved him lightly toward the wall.
Thud.
“Kgh—why, why—”
The thug leaned against the wall, clutching his injured collarbone, barely able to stand.
His eyes still brimming with resentment. Despite the harsh lesson he’d already received, his defiant tone continued—clumsy, crude.
That expression, those eyes—Han Mun-ho knew them well.
The kind of people whose world felt nothing but hostile, whose lives were unbearable, and who met every person with base contempt.
Thugs who rationalized their garbage behavior by reasoning that since they’d suffered for no reason, others deserved to suffer too.
‘Pitiful, perhaps, but they’re beyond redemption.’
He’d seen that look plenty of times—among friends and siblings from the orphanage who’d gone astray.
Faces he had no wish to recall.
‘It was always so much trouble back then…’
Well, he had no acquaintances among the world’s thugs, and if necessary he could just handle them directly—there was no reason to fuss over it.
Use them when the need arose, nothing more.
Exactly like now.
“Why? Because I have business, that’s why.”
“Bus…iness?”
“Yeah. I need directions.”
At those words, the thug’s expression went blank.
Judging from the similar looks on the faces of the other thugs, it seemed like a refreshingly unexpected response.
“Tch, just because of that…….”
Words barely forced out through a contorted grimace.
His face was full of grievance.
So I stated the facts.
“It’s not just because of that. You said you’d try to beat me, didn’t you?”
“How did you…….”
Right—this amateur didn’t even know that a Hard Body Practitioner’s senses worked nothing like an ordinary person’s.
“That’s why I’m beating you.”
“Why would a Knight……?”
“Why? You’re allowed to beat me, but I’m not allowed to beat you?”
…….
The moment I locked eyes with him, his gaze wavered and fell.
A soft laugh.
“I’m joking. Just guide me properly, and I won’t lay another hand on you.”
– See, any business in the back alleys of a major city—you’ve got to coexist with the criminal organizations that run the place. Apparently, a lot of them have nobles backing them?
– Anyway, if you grab one of the thugs who looks like he’s been scraping by here, get directions from him, and that should do it.
It was sincere, but the ones listening didn’t seem to believe it.
“Really……?”
“Well, if you don’t want to believe me, don’t.”
Crack.
Just loosening my grip on his right arm was enough to drain the color from his face.
“No, wait…….”
“Wait?”
“No, sir!”
His face was still full of grievance, but what could he do about the truth?
And fortunately.
These men knew where Munno needed to go.

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