RD | Chapter 41

“What are you doing?!”

Louise was watching the sparring and suddenly screamed.

“I’m looking for the broken part. To use healing. But wherever Lord Ian touches, he reacts…”

“If you touch like that, of course he would! He’s a frail person! Just heal him!”

Ian’s HP was at rock bottom, and blood was streaming from his nose.

Pressing on his broken arm was counted as continuous damage, and as Ian struggled to get away, his HP dropped even faster. His HP bar was not that large to begin with, so it was depleting quickly. As Ian groaned and bled, Keith panicked and took his hands off. Then, he poured all the healing power he could muster into Ian.

Ian’s arm healed, and the bleeding from his nose stopped. Ian, who had been crying his eyes out, moved his arm, which worked perfectly now.

“Keith.”

Ian gestured while sniffling. Keith bowed his head following Ian’s gesture.

Bam!

“…….”

“…….”

Keith just took the hit with his eyes closed. He somehow knew this would happen.

But what was more important to him was this fact:

‘Lord Ian’s hand must hurt more…’

And that was indeed the case.

Ian was clutching the hand that had hit Keith, trembling slightly.

“Lord Ian.”

“Shut up…”

“I’m sorry.”

“I said shut up…”

“I didn’t know you were this weak.”

“You won’t shut up?”

“I faced you with one-twentieth of the power I used against my seed.”

Ian was disturbed by this, thinking if it had been one-tenth, he would have gone mad asking, ‘Why did you hit me so hard?’ But one-twentieth seemed oddly realistic and trivial.

“I guess I shouldn’t have done that. I will keep in mind that you are as delicate as a feather.”

Keith deeply regretted it. Ian decided not to hit him anymore because he didn’t want to get hurt again.

“…….”

“Lord Ian! Where are you hurt? What happened this time?”

The drunken priest came running late.

“Have you been hurt like this before?”

Keith was surprised.

“Yes! Don’t think of Lord Ian as a sturdy knight like you!”

Louise was furious. He had been sitting on the shoulder of the priest who was healing before jumping down at Keith. The dragon, having flown up, tried to bite Keith, but Keith didn’t let himself be bitten.

And so, Ian’s knight training project ended before it even started.

People whispered and went back to their places.

Ding!
[People are seriously worried about your health.]

Ding!
[People think you are frail.]

‘Is this reputation really weakening my bones?’

Ian was now genuinely curious about the debuff from the ‘frailty’ reputation.

Keith had several reasons for suggesting sword lessons to Ian. One was that swordsmanship was his most confident skill, and the other was that Ian’s health did not look good.

Keith had seen Ian twice; the first time he had tried to choke him, and the second time he saw Ian with his throat torn by a demon.

‘His neck was slender.’

Keith thought, looking at his hands.

His skin was very soft and thin, his pulse weak. Not the body of a healthy adult man.

It was like the body of someone who indulged in pleasures, drinking and dancing every day. Of course, Ian couldn’t have been such a person, so he must have been born weak.

What was it like when his throat was torn by the demon? So fragile and delicate that Keith’s heart sank. He thought Ian would die then. If he had known that was the strategy, he would not have agreed.

When Ian’s neck snapped and his body went limp, Keith realized this was the opportunity Ian had created for him.

The knight’s body moved on its own, but his head was frozen, his gaze fixed on Ian.

That image was so vivid that he decided Ian needed training first.

A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. One who serves God must not only keep their body pure but also strengthen it through training. Even those priests did a bit of training for self-defense.

‘Who would have thought his arm would break at that…’

Keith was worried sick. He never expected God’s apostle to be this weak, and he didn’t know what to do.

He needed to protect him, but it seemed like his subordinates didn’t have any thoughts about it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let him rush into dangerous situations.

Even in the situation where they came to rescue him, weren’t they the ones who sent him into the danger zone first?

Keith went to the dining hall to meet his subordinates. It was meal time, so everyone was gathered.

After receiving his meal, Keith headed towards the werewolf. That was the only empty seat at the table.

The humanoid species, by Keith’s standards, were close to mamools. However, Ian said he was a ‘half-human, half-werewolf’ and his subordinate.

“You absolutely must not harm him. You swore.”

Before meeting his subordinates, Keith did not forget Ian’s warning. Keith was not one to break oaths. He tried to think of the other as not a mamool.

“Momisia, you need to eat vegetables.”

“I don’t want to. I’ve eaten so much of them.”

“But if you only eat mamool meat, you’ll be in trouble. You won’t grow properly.”

“It’s fine. I can enchant a skill to make my legs longer.”

“You can’t enchant your body with skills.”

“You can’t do anything!”

The girl called Momisia twisted her body, trying to escape. The werewolf grabbed her and sat her back in her chair.

‘Hmm, not that difficult.’

Keith was surprised at himself. He seemed ready to follow the apostle of God at any time. Even if the apostle said, ‘He’s just an ordinary person,’ Keith saw it that way immediately.

Keith was thankful for his faith and also felt gratitude toward the one watching from above.

With a heart full of grace, he opened his mouth.

“Would it be alright if I ate here?”

“Sure. Feel free to eat.”

The werewolf said.

Keith nodded in thanks and sat down next to the werewolf. Momisia looked at Keith warily, her cheeks slightly blushing before she tilted her head and glanced at him again.

It was not uncommon for children to like him. Keith smiled at her. Momisia made a stern face and pulled her head back but didn’t take her eyes off him. The knight, all in white from head to toe, seemed like something out of a fairy tale to the child’s eyes.

The knight from the fairy tale asked:

“Is Lord Ian originally this weak?”

“He’s surprisingly weak. If you touch him, he bleeds like this. You need to be careful.”

Contacca answered while feeding Momisia. Momisia nodded as she ate. Sometimes, Lord Ian seemed even weaker than herself. Contacca also said that they needed to take good care of Lord Ian.

The knight fell silent with a grave expression.

“What are you thinking about?”

Contacca asked gently. The knight looked up with a sacred face and said:

“I was thinking if it’s alright for such a person to be out working. I don’t know how to protect him. Wouldn’t it be better to lock him in his bedroom?”

“……?”

“……?”

Momisia didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Contacca, understanding, fell silent before answering, “You can’t imprison the Master.”

He was confused about what kind of conversation this was…

The sacred knight said, “Wouldn’t it be fine if we get permission?”

“……?”

“Would that work?”

Momisia asked. She didn’t think Ian would agree to imprison himself. Her own experience with confinement was unpleasant. But thinking about meeting Contacca there, it didn’t seem entirely bad…

Contacca judged this conversation wasn’t good for Momisia’s education.

“No. He won’t give permission. And even if he did, imprisoning someone doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“Yeah. He won’t agree. What are you talking about?”

Ian entered the dining hall and saw someone sitting in his seat. Hearing the nonsense, he was astounded.

‘Is he really crazy?’

Ian broke out in a cold sweat. Was it really okay to let him keep thinking of him as ‘God’s apostle’?

Louise, who had finished his meal, was indignant.

“Yes. Lord Ian has nightmares unless he’s in a soft, feathered bed. Remember that!”

“Why are you giving confinement tips?”

Ian pulled Louise off the chair. Meanwhile, he registered Keith in the dungeon.

Ding!
[5-star hero ‘Keith’ joins the dungeon.]
[The dungeon level increases.]
[Dungeon LV.12 → LV.17]

Ian felt a deep thrill from within.

He smiled broadly.

‘Level 20 is within reach.’

Then he could build new facilities in the dungeon!

Of course, that was that, and this was this. He didn’t want to wake up one day in a place he didn’t know.

“Keith. Will you swear not to confine me?”

“Lord Ian. An oath is a voluntary act, not something done because someone tells you to.”

Keith answered with a devout attitude.

“So, do it voluntarily.”

“I will think deeply about it.”

“…….”

‘Why doesn’t this guy ever give a straight answer?’

Ian felt an ominous chill…

And Contacca thought that Ian seemed to have a hobby of collecting only strange people.