A Red Knight Does Not Blindly Follow Money - Chapter 24

Peon’s heart was filled with anger.

It seemed like all that was left for it was to swell and explode.

“So what do you want me to do?”

He hated his petty actions.

On the other hand, he was resentful of Giryu for not understanding his mind.

Peon stared at the commander.

“What did you do wrong? Do you want to say something like that, when you shouted at the new knights to just quit? Don’t make me laugh!”

An imperial knight who has played an active duty for 10 years.

That was the only pride Peon had.

Abandoning it, he was really nothing. It was just a bunch of bloody geniuses everywhere.

Peon, who almost screamed in a rage, caught his breath.

The gaze towards him became even colder.

“The Peon Grand, whom I valued and admired, knew what he was doing. There was a proper balance between stubbornness and pride. I’m very disappointed in you now.”

It was past tense

Peon’s eyebrows twitched.

He didn’t like the fact that he became miserable even when he was excited by the compliments poured out by the young leader.

“12 months salary reduction and 2 weeks in prison. As soon as the imprisonment is over, you will be transferred to the Pakesh Coast Ridge. No objections are accepted.”

The southwestern Pakesh Coastal Ridge was virtually destabilized.

Even this was only downgraded because it was Peon, who had been commissioned for over 10 years.

However, Peon received a huge shock.

Demotion?

Just for something like this?

Transferring at this time was the same as walking around the neighborhood saying, ‘I have been demoted.’

It was virtually the same as a recommendation for resignation.

Peon couldn’t stand it. The retirement he had envisioned and planned was not like this.

How could that be?

He bit the inside of his mouth so hard that he tasted blood.

“What junior can I ask to trust and follow you now, Peon Grand. You are not qualified to teach new knights.”

“……”

“Get out. Making you walk out on your own feet is my last consideration.”

Until the order was issued, Peon did not say a word. The door opened.

Outside the commander’s room, there was a table with a soldier.

“You will regret it.”

Peon suppressed the anger that rose up to the end of his neck, and walked outside.

The door closed with a bang.

“……Regret?”

Giryu let out a laugh.

He was dumbfounded. It was such a pity that he couldn’t give him an answer.

“I’ve been doing that since a while ago!”

The bottle of ink flew out of Giryu’s hand.

The inkwell bumped against the door and rolled on the floor.

Peon wasn’t like that two years ago.

Until the age of 35, he was a fairly reliable presence among the new knights. He was in the Red Knight’s division longer than Giryu.

He was a man that his juniors could respect, and he was a person who could be proud just to be in the front line.

But age is a cruel thing.

Peon is now 37 years old.

The usual training became increasingly difficult, and his skills and stamina were noticeably declining.

It is said that he survived thanks to his accumulated know-how and tactics, but in other words, he became a non-professional knight.

New knights kept coming in as if to test him, a senior knight.

Perhaps it was because he felt that his skills were declining that Peon insisted on staying on the front line.

It was around that time that he began to regard his fellow knights as competitors.

There were several opportunities for promotion and assignment. A senior who insists on being on the front line despite having experience is embarrassing.

Nevertheless, Peon remained in the Knights Order. It was because Giryu respected him.

When Peon said he would die as a knight, Giryu thought it would be nice to have at least one such person in the knighthood.

Giryu thought Peon would silently remain in his place and set a good example for his juniors.

‘I should have forced him to go to Radpascal’s camp or somewhere.’

Giryu regretted it much too late.

He never imagined that Peon’s existence would come back to him in such a way.

‘I shouldn’t have overlooked it…’

The bullying was expected.

It is foolish to expect that there will be no territoriality in a hierarchy. Human beings are constantly looking for a place to stand and confirm their position.

But the assault was unexpected.

To use violence to find one’s place was the same as a gangster sitting in a small room and wielding a bottle of wine to his family when he gets older.

At best, the territoriality expected by Giryu was giving wrong information about the location of the training camp, or to find fault with the training log.

The same went for training.

A means of flattening the nose of a new knight with low momentum and repeating training until success.

But this is the first time that failure has led to violence. At first glance, remembering the bruises on Judith, it felt like his intestines were twisted.

Peon went too far. Such violence had never been seen before.

Considering the effort put into earning the title of imperial knight, no one wants to be fired for a disgraceful act such as assault or battery.

**1

Neither Peon nor Judith are rogues.

Giryu believed so, but today that belief was broken.

Peon disappointed him with the last thing a senior knight should do.

The same was true of Judith. No matter how good she is, if she tries to solve everything with violence, she cannot be recognized as an Imperial Knight.

Giryu had just decided on Judith’s first mission with the prince yesterday.

But he didn’t know this would happen even before he delivered the mission.

“Why on earth…”

Judith’s shocked face came to mind. Her bruised abdomen also came to mind.

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Why?

Why did you do that?

If you were going to make that face, why didn’t you say something to me?

Among the three Knights of the Imperial Order: Blue, White, and Red, the Red Knights have the lowest threshold for a leader.

But why didn’t you tell me?

‘You’ve been beaten that much. Why?’

Giryu liked her dignity.

He thought that with that level of courage she would be able to do anything.

Of the new knights coming in every quarter, more than half of them quit after less than a year.

However, Giryu did not doubt that Judith would survive.

But, now he didn’t know.

Why didn’t you tell me?

He’d thought about it three times, but he still didn’t know what to think.

Giryu’s face gradually distorted.

‘This is the worst.’

Giryu Lwalchmei was appointed to the Order of the Red Knight at the age of 22.

However, even three years later, Giryu still had a difficult time as the head of the Order.

Is there anyone whose vocation is a leader?

At least his wasn’t.

In fact, there were many empty corners of the high evaluation towards him.

Because there is only one star that can shine, the other stars are only obscured by clouds. There were many great and wonderful subordinates he had.

He is where he is now because he had a subordinate shining like a star who risked their life to protect him and followed him.

In Giryu’s assessment, he himself was not as perfect as the public thought.

If it wasn’t for Alpen, he would have been living with Deschamps at the count’s mansion, scratching his stomach.

Maybe that’s why?

Maybe he really was an unreliable leader?

After thinking of his subordinates, Giryu’s mood subsided.

A question mark came up quickly.

Was the way he reprimanded his men bad?

Was his expectation of Judith reasonable?

Was the disciplinary action against Peon appropriate?

Did he make the right decision as the leader?

“……”

It’s a mystery.

Nothing can be certain.

Doesn’t it take charisma and effort to win everyone’s trust?

Then what should he do?

Giryu wanted to be a good boss, a perfect leader for his subordinates.

And it was proof that he was not perfect by worrying like this. That often depressed the commander.

It was a time when he rubbed his forehead in a crowded complexity.

A sullen voice was heard along with a knock.

“Gi… Captain. I’ll go in.”

“Come in.”

It was Deschamps. Giryu asked with a cold face.

“Did you know?”

“…I’m sorry. As I said before, I’ll report when I get back, because I’m busy with Berk’s hiring, so it’s just…”

“Did you know?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

Even with empty words, Giryu did not say it was okay.

Ironically, since they had been together for three years, Deschamps’s thoughts were clear in his eyes.

‘Yeah, I did.’

He knew it, but thought it would end with his warning. He didn’t know it would get this big.

Perhaps Deschamps saw a fleeting future with Stigma.

Stigma is a power left behind by Karnak God, and each has different uses and abilities.

Deschamps’s ability, Omniscient, can see fragmented scenes up to the past 72 hours.

He could see the future, but it was like spying on fragments through a needle.

Even Stigma showed only the future that one could never change by any means possible.

Deschamps used this ability to bring news that turned the tide in war.

But it was not without limits.

Every time he used Stigma, it gave him severe headaches. Due to physical problems it brought, he could use it  at most three or four times a day.

‘…and the information he gets through the Stigma is just a testament anyway. There is no physical evidence.’

No matter how strong the relationship between them is, it involved the punishment of knights.

He can’t just trust Deschamps’s words and give them punishment. Either physical evidence or confession was mandatory.

But he should have reported it even if there was no physical evidence. This was a clear dereliction of duty.

“Take responsibility and you and I will fix it.”

“I, I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Captain…”

“The number of the new knights who were assaulted, the circumstances at the time, the testimony, whatever you do, find out and secure them all.”

Giryu cut him off.

“From today, all training by senior knights to juniors is prohibited. Call up the senior knights. Training will be canceled tomorrow.”

“Right away, sir.”

The white-haired lieutenant lowered his head like a puppy in the rain.

“…….I’m sorry.”

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An apology followed, but Giryu did not answer. Because it wasn’t him who should have listened to that apology.

——————

TL notes ( ´ ▿ ` )

Manhwa chapter 18

I am so sorry for the late updates, I’ll start working on the next chapter tomorrow and try to publish it by Thursday or Friday.