The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 97

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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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Chapter 97. The Ted Family
“I heard recently that a new information broker has set up shop in the Northern Alley of Ironheart. They say he’s quite competent.”
“Hmm?”
“If the person you’re looking for is ‘L,’ then that’s the place.”
The hoodlums, now considerably more docile, began to guide him through the streets.
Since Munno had entered through the Southern Alley where the market was located, the distance to his destination was greater than he’d anticipated, but finding his way proved straightforward enough.
“Hey, this is our territory…. Ah, go right ahead, sir.”
Though gang members from different alleyways appeared at intervals to block his path, apparently territorial squabbles ran deep even among these street dwellers, they all yielded without resistance the moment they caught sight of his armor and weapons.
Of course.
“A street destroyer…….”
“If he gets involved, he smashes everything…….”
“Younger-looking than I expected though…….”
“Shh.”
He heard murmurs that grated on his nerves from time to time, but he had no desire to dwell on them.
Yet some things were unbearable.
“A coin, sir, just one coin.”
“Knight, just one coin…….”
They couldn’t have been more than five or six. Too young to be called mere beggars—grimy children who looked far too fragile for such a life.
“Get lost, you filthy brats!”
Crunch!
A hoodlum who had been hurling curses and raising his hand to strike the children found himself on the receiving end of a kick from behind—his spine bent backward as he flew three meters through the air and smashed into a wall.
Bang.
Splash.
“Gahhh.”
“Eeeek!”
The other thugs, not the victim himself, shrieked in horror and began to edge away nervously.
The smeared trail of blood streaking down the wall where the man had crashed was secondary.
“Nnngh…….”
The way his spine had bent in an impossible direction meant that even if he survived, he would never function as a human being again.
Of course, the one who had created this situation felt no guilt whatsoever.
“Insane bastard, attacking children…….”
Munno forced a smile at the young children, who had frozen mid-plea like statues.
“Eeeek!”
“P-please spare us!”
“We’re sorry!”
……It seemed he had only frightened the children further.
So he resorted to a remedy that worked on anyone.
Click.
“Here. Take these.”
“……Yes?”
He unlatched a portion of his armor, drew out silver coins from within, and pressed one into each child’s hand.
He knew well that even a substantial sum could not alter the lives of children born into this slum.
So perhaps this was merely self-deception—or a consolation prize for himself.
And yet.
“Go on, buy yourselves something tasty today.”
“……Th-thank you.”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you so much, sir!”
He couldn’t help but feel a warm satisfaction watching the children bow repeatedly and break into genuine smiles, however brief.
Even knowing that such slums could never disappear without a fundamental restructuring of society itself.
And knowing that he had no power to bring about such change.
“Thank you, sir!”
“Thank you!”
He smiled back at the children as they receded into the distance, their expressions bright, yet an uncomfortable weight settled in his chest.
‘This frustrates me…….’
In his past life in Korea, he had never once seen children begging on the streets; even in Drachen, such a sight was absent.
Yet here in Ironheart, a city reputed to prosper far beyond Drachen, he had witnessed this.
‘If I had not had my father, would I have ended up like those children?’
Circumstances might well have been even worse.
No—they certainly would have been.
‘A chain-wearing vagrant with a demon in his head, and just a kid at that.’
The grim future unfolded in his mind’s eye with perfect clarity.
He found himself grateful for his father anew, and felt the cold truth of it: this fantasy world was just as wretched as everything else.
And then, in that moment.
“An Artifact…….”
“Whoa…….”
Someone had noticed him transform the Armor, and an irritating murmur drifted over.
He would have preferred to ignore it.
“So the Ted Family kids are decent after all? Robbing knights’ purses and…….”
But he couldn’t let that one pass.
“What did you say?”
The thug who’d been whispering flinched and averted his eyes.
The moment Munno took a small step forward, the boy had no choice but to open his mouth in panic.
“They’re from the Ted Family, sir! The Northern Alley organization!”
“……What?”
Children running an organization……. Oh.
‘Now that I think about it…….’
An old saying from his past life flickered across his mind.
‘A child begging ring…….’
Christ.
“So you make the kids beg, and…….”
“They’ll collect the money we took just now too and hand it over to the Ted Family.”
The thug who’d brought it up stammered out the explanation in a panic.
“And the children?”
“With the Silver Coins they’ve paid in, they’ll get warm bread and soup today.”
“Damn…….”
Yeah, that’s how it would be.
The authorities wouldn’t bother themselves with back-alley security like this.
Which meant the future of children raised in places like this would inevitably be.
“……Sir, it’s not us—it’s another organization here!”
“Yeah, I know.”
Not much different from these vicious-looking pieces of garbage.
‘These children, like this…….’
Even imagining it casually.
……it was unbearable.
“So do you bastards do the same thing?”
“Our territory isn’t a slum like here, sir!”
As if seized by some instinct, the thug who appeared to be the leader suddenly shouted and shook his head violently.
“……Right. It should be that way if you’re human. Well. Let’s turn back for a moment.”
“Sir?”
“Take me to this organization that runs the slum.”
Today he’d have to play the apostle of justice, at least for a while.
Of course, smashing one back-alley organization wouldn’t guarantee those children’s lives would change.
But right now he had to vent this rising fury.
Whether he became an apostle of justice or an apostle of wrath, he wasn’t sure.
“……Sir?”
“Don’t know the way? Then find someone who does.”
Crack.
The moment his fist clenched again, the leader’s gaze swept quickly over the form of his comrade ‘who had been’—now embedded in the wall with his spine folded backward.
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Good. Then you understand.”
“B-but…….”
This bastard.
When he glared at him, wondering why the kid kept raising objections.
“Sir, it’s not us we’re worried about. We’re worried about you.”
“What?”
The answer that came back was simply absurd.
“Do I look like someone who can be touched just because you’ve gathered trash like yourselves?”
“That’s not what…….”
Watching the boy’s eyes dart around, a laugh slipped out despite himself.
‘I’m sure that’s exactly what they think.’
Come to think of it, my previous life in Korea had people like that too.
People who watched movies and mistook gangsters for actually knowing how to fight.
Of course, experience makes people grow, so throwing a few punches is better than never throwing any at all.
But truly skilled fighters don’t waste their time as thugs.
‘They take big money for matches in rings and cages.’
If thugs need any talent at all, it’s a filthy character willing to stab people with a knife at the slightest provocation and a conscience numb to all manner of lawbreaking—not fighting talent.
Like the old friends Han Munho had often watched and dealt with in his previous life, using them as cautionary tales.
And now, in a world where supernatural abilities run rampant unlike the old world, such delusions weren’t even amusing.
“Does that organization have some thugs trained in the Hard Body Technique? Dirtbags who’d rather extort kids running begging rings than work decent merc or knight jobs?”
But then.
“Still, the numbers…….”
“And th-the Ted Family—there are rumors they’re connected to prominent nobility in the Royal Capital! Or rather, based on the circumstances, it’s certain! Those bastards, they’re trained like…….”
What came next caught his attention slightly.
“Hmm? What house?”
Well, whatever he heard wouldn’t change a decision already made.
He asked just in case.
“That is, well, how would lowlifes like us know something like that. It’s not exactly rumor, but their behavior is so strange that…….”
It seemed there was nothing to worry about after all.
A soft laugh escaped him.
Whatever nobleman teamed up with back-alley thugs, how impressive could they possibly be?
“If you say one more worthless thing, I’ll make you look like that immediately.”
“Huh…….”
The boss stared once more at what had been made ‘like that’ before swallowing hard and nodding frantically.
“Show me the way.”
Then, gesturing the direction, he started ahead.
Ah. Come to think of it, for all its wretchedness, this fantasy world had its merits.
Namely, no one complained when you disposed of garbage like this on the spot.
* * *
“There’s supposed to be a kind knight who gives out money…….”
“Hurry, hurry. Us too.”
The slum children who had been streaming down the alley
stopped in their tracks
the moment a man in Black Armor appeared before them.
Though they knew this was the person they’d been looking for.
“Um…….”
“Hey, that person…….”
“Y-yeah.”
Children who had been begging since childhood could not help but develop a sharp instinct for reading situations.
They felt instinctively that now was not the time to approach this knight who was handing out money.
Into the alley where the children had scattered away, Munno and the gang of thugs guiding him stepped forth.
And there, before Munno’s eyes, emerged what looked like an enormous structure built from ramshackle slum huts stacked haphazardly and reinforced with bricks.
“This is it.”
“Huh……?”
As if denying that the Northern Alley slum existed in the shadow of glorious Ironheart, the building that had seemed shoddy from a distance appeared almost like a fortress up close.
And the thugs guarding what looked to be the entrance exuded a menacing aura like soldiers.
“……what’s this now?”
Puzzled by the atmosphere being somewhat different from what he’d expected, he walked forward alone nonetheless.
“Hold it.”
“Who are you?”
Thugs seemingly just slightly larger than him suddenly drew daggers and short blades, blocking his path as if conducting an inspection.
“You appear to be a knight, sir, but this is not a place for distinguished guests like yourself. Please turn back.”
Their manner of spitting was thuggish, but their speech was surprisingly courteous.
He found that odd, but wanted confirmation.
“Ah. I have something I’d like to ask, actually.”
“Then you should seek out the Information Broker instead. It seems those incompetent fools back there gave you wrong directions?”
The thugs’ menacing gaze turned toward the Southern Alley gang that had remained behind.
Of course, Munno paid them no mind.
“You lot—do you make kids beg and then steal their money to get by?”
At those words, the thug’s face twisted.
“It seems you’ve taken quite an interest in our business, Sir Knight, but perhaps you should return and have a word with your superiors before coming back. It would be most unfortunate if a young man like yourself caused trouble here.”
The thug’s sneering laugh carried an odd confidence.
By any measure, he didn’t look like a Hard Body Practitioner.
‘……Wait?’
In that moment, Munno’s gaze shifted past the man’s shoulder.
“Ah, you have backing? So that’s why…… you work these young children like this?”
In one corner of this massive fortress (?), before the thugs collecting payment, he recognized several of the children he’d given alms to.
“As I said, this is none of your concern, so……!?”
Bang!
The thug, who’d been grinning viciously, crumpled instantly under a single kick and flew backward.
When the man didn’t even manage a scream, those behind him started shouting instead.
“We’re under attack!”
“A knight!”
“Sound the alarm!”
Clang-clang-clang.
A loud bell clamored through the building, and the children who’d been making their payments scattered in panic in every direction.
“Kill him!”
“Just one man!”
As thugs came pouring out of the building in a wave, Munno’s brow deepened.
‘What are these people?’
Why did street thugs charge at a knight without a trace of fear?
The question lingered.
“Does the brat want to play at being a righteous knight?!”
The moment he saw the thugs rushing toward him, jeering and roaring, a savage smile spread across his face without thought.
“Whether I’m righteous or not, I’m not sure…….”
Whirr-whirr-whirr.
“……But things that irritate me need to be swept away, or my blood won’t settle.”
The Metal Chains extending from his limbs began to lash out mercilessly at the charging thugs.

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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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