How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Chapter 241: The One Who Erases the Stain (1)

“There’s a way?”

It might sound funny to say this, but Lucent was half convinced it was impossible.

So even while listening to Osian’s words, he didn’t have high expectations.

The question was just a formality. At least he had to hear what the person who offered the opinion had to say.

“There are two ways.”

“Two ways?”

“One is to solve it with force.”

Osian tapped the sword at his waist.

“The primitive power of violence. Subjugate them with it and then make them answer for their crimes.”

“Is that possible? They’ve already hired security guards with their earned money. Besides, they…”

Lucent started to say something but shook his head.

“Anyway, that doesn’t seem possible. Let’s find another way.”

“Then we only have the second option left.”

“What exactly is this second option?”

“If they’re trying to win with money power using their enormous wealth, we can respond in kind.”

In other words, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Money for money.

At those words, Lucent’s expression hardened even more.

“Money? Is that possible? We’re talking about Saint Tree’s board members here.”

Rather, the first method of solving it with force seemed more credible.

Lucent suspected that Osian might be mocking him.

If he had enough money to play power games with Saint Tree’s directors, why would he be doing fixer work in a place like this?

“You don’t seem to believe it.”

“That’s…that’s…”

“I understand. It doesn’t make sense that I, a fixer, would do this with money. However, I know someone who has sufficient qualifications.”

“Someone with qualifications?”

“Yes. But nothing’s certain. Whether they’ll help when asked is up to that person’s choice. So what will you do?”

Lucent pondered.

He wasn’t sure if the person Osian knew really had that much money.

Perhaps he would have to pound the pavement looking for other solutions after leaving this place.

‘I should refuse. That would be right…’

But strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to speak words of refusal.

It was strange. The moment he heard Osian’s words, while his head couldn’t understand it, his heart trusted him.

‘Why? I just can’t refuse at all.’

Lucent is a scientist. The world he had pursued was all about data and numbers.

He had lived that way until now and might continue to do so. Because that was the path he was best at.

‘But has following that path brought me good results so far?’

Lucent reflected on his past.

Certainly, he had become Saint Tree’s chief researcher and proved that he could create new trends by incorporating his own methods into existing theories.

Tirna believed without doubt that it would become a better city through the ideas he had devised.

But what was the reality?

The technology he created wasn’t being properly shared, and those with wealth were only obsessed with using it as a weapon to inflate their money further.

Countless people were still repeatedly falling and breaking down in desperation.

Images of kind neighbors suffering flashed before Lucent’s eyes.

Though the intentions were good, the results weren’t because the world ultimately doesn’t run rationally.

When just a few mudfish thrash about, the pond becomes murky, but those moving now were massive whales that would swallow everything.

Those crushed beneath had no choice but to be swept away by the movement of those whales.

Yes. In the end, the flow of the world was emotional.

‘Emotions.’

Lucent recalled what his emotions wanted.

He looked at Osian.

Osian’s unwavering gaze staring straight at him seemed almost leisurely, as if he could wait as long as needed for his answer.

“…Who do we need to meet?”

At those words, the corners of Osian’s mouth turned up slightly.

Lucent closed his eyes tightly and steadied his breathing.

He wondered if Osian had anticipated that he would give such an answer. He wasn’t sure.

‘Still, having come this far, I must do it.’

When Lucent opened his eyes, Osian pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against.

“Then we should move quickly.”

Osian’s gaze turned toward the street below through the second-floor window.

He could see a man in a coat secretly watching them from across the street in an alley.

“Before more guests gather outside, we need to finish this.”

“By guests, you mean…”

“Obviously people are following you. You must know, right?”

“Ah! That, that…”

Lucent belatedly realized he was being tailed.

“From when you came in, you were being cautious and careful, so I figured as much.”

“To notice just from that…”

“And looking at the guys spying from outside, they definitely don’t look like ordinary shareholders. Is it them?”

Lucent nodded with a heavy face.

“Yes. They’re probably people sent by Saint Tree’s directors to prevent me from doing anything foolish.”

“Seeing how they’ve tailed you, it seems you’ve already done something to get on the directors’ bad side.”

“They demanded to know why I did it. The researchers who worked with me were fired, but my theory is central to this technology.”

“Right. But if you cross the line any further, they won’t hesitate to eliminate you.”

“…Is that so?”

Lucent wasn’t particularly surprised. He had vaguely anticipated that the directors might resort to such dangerous actions.

These were people who had driven countless others to ruin. Secretly killing one researcher would probably be easier than eating a meal for them.

“You came here not just for the request, but also seeking protection for yourself.”

“…Yes, that’s right. Even if the request was impossible, I was planning to at least ask for protection.”

“Saves the trouble of finding someone else. Let’s go.”

“Y-yes? Where are we going?”

“Didn’t I tell you? We’re going to talk with the big shot who can play the power game.”

“C-couldn’t I stay here?”

Osian sneered at Lucent’s timid response as if it were absurd.

“Let me tell you this – I’m only going to arrange a meeting with that person. Convincing them is not my job. It’s yours.”

“…”

“You must understand that just getting the chance to meet them is an enormous opportunity.”

Lucent spoke in a crawling voice.

“B-but outside there are people sent by Saint Tree…”

“I told you that too. There’s no need to find someone else. We’ll handle the protection.”

“We?”

“Over there.”

Osian pointed his finger toward the door.

Following his finger, Lucent’s body flinched.

Through the half-open door, Loraine was staring intently at them.

“My stocks…can they be saved…?”

Her voice was filled with a gloomy energy as if returning from the netherworld.

A fierce light began to slowly swirl in her previously empty eyes.

“We’re going to save them.”

Osian answered on behalf of the frozen Lucent. Looking at Loraine’s haggard appearance, it was an ambiguous expression.

Regardless, Loraine gave a crooked smile and disappeared from her spot to gather her weapons.

“Huhuhu. My, it seems this case will grow uncontrollably big again.”

Only Ronan showed an awkward smile as if finding the situation regrettable.

“M-more importantly, we haven’t discussed something crucial yet.”

Lucent, belatedly coming to his senses, realized he had forgotten the most important thing.

The payment.

“How much for the request…”

“You don’t need to worry about that right now.”

Even with those words, Lucent couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Though it wasn’t his place as the client to say this, this case was no ordinary scale.

Even hiring a cheap fixer for such a task would cost no small amount.

Moreover, having met Osian in person, Lucent realized his misjudgment about Violet Fox, who was well-known in the industry.

Osian and the people here were more exceptional than he had imagined.

As if seeing through Lucent’s concerns, Osian asked a question that cut to the core.

“If that’s really what you’re worried about, will you stop here?”

“…”

Lucent could answer this one thing with certainty.

“No, that’s not it.”

If he had meant to stop, he wouldn’t have thought to come this far.

He realized that determination once again.

“Right. Don’t think about request fees or payment, just focus on what needs to be done.”

Osian’s words made Lucent’s heart feel much lighter.

Ronan shrugged as if thinking it was hopeless, and just then, Loraine returned with her weapons fully equipped. The weapons Osian had given her were among them.

*

“I’ve confirmed Lucent Philburg’s location. Yes, it’s definitely him.”

The man secretly tailing Lucent took out his communicator and reported everything he had seen to the person on the other end.

[Is that really true?]

“Yes. He’s currently inside a fixer’s office. It seems he has no intention of stopping.”

[I see, understood.]

“Shall we handle it?”

[Even if he is the chief researcher, we can’t overlook any more deviation than this. Handle it as we have before.]

“A clash with the fixers will be unavoidable.”

[It doesn’t matter if you make it big. We can feed them any amount of money to cover up the incident. If there’s a problem, it would be the fixers.]

“Don’t worry. Mere fixers, no matter how many there are, are no match for us.”

The man in the coat tailing them showed a cruel smile.

Like the men on the other end of the communicator, they were specialists who moved professionally for the big shots.

Though they now operate as Saint Tree’s exclusive security force, their original role is as cleaners who handle the dirty work that companies can’t deal with in the open.

[Finish quickly and return. We still have mountains of work to handle.]

“It won’t take long. Don’t worry.”

After ending the call, the man activated a signal. The cleaners who had been wandering around the area gathered one by one as they received the signal.

“Confirmed the rat’s location. He’s trying to struggle somehow by hiring fixers.”

[Haha. That’s completely insane.]

[All he could come up with was hiring fixers? This is why nerds who only do research in their rooms don’t cut it.]

“Right. I think so too. In a way, this is also disrespecting us. Just because we both get paid, he’s putting us on the same level as fixer bastards who do odd jobs.”

[We should teach this rat who doesn’t know his place a harsh lesson.]

[More importantly, what about the eyes around us?]

“They said we can handle the aftermath however we want, so deal with it thoroughly.”

[Whew. As expected, big shots have different caliber. Isn’t that even better? We can do whatever we want. This is why I can’t quit this job.]

“Right, but there’s no benefit in dragging it out. It’ll get annoying if guards who haven’t been fed money rush in. Even considering that, we’ll have enough time to relieve our boredom.”

Having conveyed this much, the other cleaners should have figured out what needed to be done.

Like teammates who had worked together for a long time, they surrounded the Violet Fox tavern.

Their movement was so stealthy that their prey wouldn’t even know when the knife was at their throat.

[Should we wait until they come out?]

“The higher-ups’ patience isn’t that long. Rush in quickly, kill them all, and burn it down.”

[That fixer’s office got unlucky. Of all places, the rat chose them.]

“This is what happens when you have no power in this city.”

[That’s true. Then I’ll start infiltrating through the back door.]

The cleaners’ operation began.

There was an open space surrounded by buildings at Violet Fox’s back door.

The cleaners trying to infiltrate through the back door casually revealed themselves in that space.

“Huh? Who are you guys?”

There were people already in that space.

Six men with their upper bodies exposed, showing their muscles.

The apprentice knights receiving Osian’s training expressed their confusion at the suddenly appearing cleaners.

“What’s this? Could they be new recruits?”

“These guys. Looking at their scrawny bodies, they need to work out more.”

The cleaners narrowed their eyes at the sight of the apprentice knights.

“Who are these guys? Are they part of the fixer’s office?”

“Why are they shirtless? Ah, whatever. It doesn’t matter, we just need to clear them out.”

Click.

They aimed their loaded guns at the knights.

Despite a sight that should have terrified them, the knight members remained calm.

“Ah, what? Not new recruits but uninvited guests?”

David, who had been laughing good-naturedly as the eldest and leader of the knights, changed his expression to a fierce one.

“Then we’ll have to clear them out.”

*

When the back door unit was moving, there was another unit moving separately.

Their role was to control the surrounding alleys to prevent the rat from escaping.

They openly created an ominous atmosphere, making passersby retreat on their own.

However, there were people who remained unaffected even in such a situation.

“Excuse me. Could you please move aside so I can pass through?”

It was a woman with blonde hair that suited her well, wearing a red cloak.

She seemed to have gone shopping, holding a basket full of food ingredients in one hand.

At this sight, the cleaners frowned, making their already fierce faces even more intimidating.

“Hey, get lost while we’re asking nicely.”

“Excuse me. I’ve never seen your faces around here before, did you get permission from anyone to do this?”

“Didn’t you hear me say get lost?”

“I live around here, you know? If you keep this up, I’m going to report you to the guards.”

When Ena boldly spoke without backing down, killing intent appeared in the cleaners’ eyes.

“Ah. This…”

“You should have listened when we were using words. It’s too late to realize now.”

“No, that’s not what I’m worried about. You’re trying to touch me right now, aren’t you?”

“So what?”

The cleaner who asked that couldn’t help but be puzzled.

After all, his wrist that had been pointing a gun at Ena was now dangling loosely.

And somehow, a black knight was now standing proudly beside Ena.

“Just that, it’s already too late even if you realize it now.”