The Indomitable Martial King

[ Chapter 137 ]

She managed to master the breathing technique that even he couldn’t―since Repenhardt had deliberately avoided using this breathing technique―and watching Christine, he couldn’t help but sigh.

Before Gerard took in the young Teslon, he had traveled across the continent looking for a successor to Gym Unbreakable. During that time, it seemed he had also encountered a young Christine. Although she wasn’t suitable enough to inherit Gym Unbreakable, it seemed he couldn’t help but want to pass on at least something to her out of regret.

‘She definitely has enough talent to make Master regret it.’

To begin with, just being able to utilize that breathing technique was a sign of immense talent. That technique wasn’t something anyone could learn and see results from. If it had worked for everyone, Gym Unbreakable would have made a fortune from it. After all, how many short men in the world wish they were taller?

‘Oh, Master…’

Repenhardt clicked his tongue. Gerard, believing bigger was always better, had taught her the breathing technique out of goodwill, but the result was…

‘Blocking a young maiden’s bright future marriage prospects, even good intentions have their limits!’

With a guilty heart, Repenhardt looked at Christine. She still had no idea that her height might be related to the breathing technique. Repenhardt swallowed hard.

‘If she finds out about this, I’m in big trouble.’

The actions that had driven Sillan to the brink of despair might now come back to haunt Repenhardt. And this time, instead of a loving gaze, it might be a blade dipped in poison!

“But… is this a problem right now?” Christine asked, suddenly looking puzzled. Repenhardt quickly waved his hand and let out a hearty laugh.

“No! It’s no problem at all! It’s completely irrelevant! Hahaha!”

“Then let’s continue the duel!”

“Yes, let’s! Quickly, to the duel!”

Christine, Sillan, and Siris all tilted their heads at Repenhardt’s sudden eagerness for the duel. Desperate to change the subject, Repenhardt immediately cast a spell.

“Wing Cutter!”

Christine also lunged forward with a shout.

“Haah!”

Utilizing her enhanced physique, Christine launched a fierce attack. Repenhardt calmly countered with his magic each time. Flames flickered and lightning flashed as the two clashed intensely.

As expected, the situation was overwhelmingly in Repenhardt’s favor.”

After all, he was once a Demon King. Even if he wielded magic of the 6th circle or lower, his level of execution was that of a grand mage of the 10th circle. No matter how exceptional Christine’s physical abilities, comparable to those of an Aura User, she couldn’t even touch Repenhardt’s sleeve. Besides, her abilities were only comparable in terms of brute strength; her agility, dynamic vision, reflexes, speed, and insight were significantly inferior to those of an Aura User, making the fight easy for him.

Despite this, Christine managed to face off against Repenhardt. This was because, feeling guilty, Repenhardt focused solely on defense, unable to bring himself to launch a serious counterattack.

Watching Repenhardt repeatedly block her sword strikes with magical barriers, Christine suddenly yelled out in frustration.

“Ahhh! Why won’t you lose?”

“Do you mean to say that your opponent must lose in a duel?”

“You talk like a typical mage! Did you use those sweet words to seduce that naive Sillan?”

Repenhardt couldn’t understand why his perfectly reasonable response was considered smooth talk. He muttered in a weary voice.

“I didn’t say much of anything…”

All he had done was show Sillan his impressive back. Well, if you think about it, that could be considered a form of seduction.

“Ugh! I’ll show you the power of my love!”

Christine, gritting her teeth, attempted a series of downward slashes. Repenhardt, continuously retreating with the Wind Step spell to evade her attacks, slumped his shoulders.

“And what is this power of love?”

“You’re pitiful for not understanding the power of love!”

“…Let’s just continue the duel.”

Eventually, Repenhardt’s energy bolt struck Christine’s abdomen precisely, ending the duel. He had carefully adjusted the power of his energy bolt to paralyze her body without causing permanent harm. As her sword fell and she collapsed, Christine lifted her head with effort.

“Ugh! I… I’ve lost.”

Despite living in her own world, she wasn’t so delusional as to deny a clearly decided outcome. After all, she was still a knight.

Repenhardt scratched his cheek and hesitantly asked,

“Well, since I won the duel, will you now give up on Sillan?”

Christine’s face crumpled as if her world had collapsed. She probably wouldn’t be this devastated even if she were excommunicated from the Seiya Order.

Repenhardt averted his gaze. Honestly, he felt a pang of guilt, knowing his influence had greatly contributed to Christine’s current state.

Turning his head, he saw Sillan in the distance, looking as if his collapsed world had been restored. Seeing his expression, his guilty conscience began to heal significantly.

“Alright, I suppose I have no choice but to step back for now…”

Christine gazed at Sillan with a despondent look.

“Sillan, I don’t have the strength to rescue you from that villain right now.”

“Have I even confined him?”

Repenhardt scoffed incredulously, but of course, Christine didn’t listen. She trembled as if overwhelmed with pity.

“Oh, just thinking about your delicate body being crushed by such a ruthless man… sniff sniff!”

Repenhardt and Sillan, horrified, shouted in unison.

“Hey! Stop saying weird stuff!”

“Yeah! That’s not happening! Mr. Repen and I share a spiritual love! Isn’t that right, Mr. Repen?”

“I don’t want to share anything with you…”

“Are you going to ruin it at the end? Just go along with it!”

“Y-yes, our delicate Sillan… sniff.”

“Stop crying and smile! Come on, smile!”

“…”

But by then, the soldiers were already giving Sillan sympathetic looks, as if they believed Christine’s words. The situation seemed impossible to resolve.

“I will definitely come back! And I will save you, Sillan! Sniff sniff!”

Christine turned away, tears streaming down her face, and ran out of the mansion. Her retreating figure looked like that of a heartbroken maiden who had been betrayed in love. Of course, the perspective was severely skewed, which was a problem.

Whoosh…

A breeze blew.

Just as abruptly as she had appeared, Christine vanished.

Repenhardt looked at Sillan and asked in a drained voice,

“What… how are you going to handle this?”

Sillan replied cheerfully, feeling as if he had ascended to heaven simply because Christine had left.

“Well, we’ll figure something out, won’t we?”

* * *

They figured nothing out.

The world was far from lenient enough for Sillan’s hopes to materialize.

“Ho, so that’s what happened?”

“Lord Repenhardt and the young saint…”

“It’s a bit problematic, but don’t they make quite the pair!”

“They sure have a sense of romance, haha.”

The nobles of Prince Yubel’s faction discussed this sudden ‘scandal’ at every opportunity. The soldiers were no different. Already on edge from the war, they sought distraction in frivolous gossip. And now, with such an entertaining story at hand, they reveled in it, whispering excitedly among themselves.

Moreover, the incident had an unexpectedly positive effect.

“Oh, so the savior has such tastes!”

“That’s what I heard, Sir Kadamyte. Could it have been that way from the beginning?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I think there were signs even when we were in the city.”

“Oh, indeed.”

In one corner of Count Hendrik’s mansion, a human noble and a dwarf aura user were having a friendly conversation.

Not all nobles looked down on other races. Some had changed their minds after witnessing the remarkable prowess shown by them. While the prejudice against other races hadn’t completely disappeared, they at least recognized that these allied warriors differed from the common perception.

These nobles sought to build friendships with dwarves, orcs, and elves. The non-human races, too, understood Repenhardt’s point that they needed to get along with Prince Yubel’s army, even if it meant mingling with humans.

However, due to their different races and historically hostile relations, they found it difficult to find topics of conversation. Some common ground was needed to start discussions and build rapport, but creating such opportunities wasn’t easy.

Finally, a common topic emerged!

It was deeply relevant to both sides and, moreover, stories of love have always intrigued people, regardless of race or era. Throughout the mansion, orcs, elves, and dwarves were found chatting with human nobles and soldiers.

“Do humans love other men?”

“Usually not, but knights often take in boys known as ‘midong’.”

“What is a ‘midong’?”

“A boy as pretty as a girl.”

“I don’t understand.”

“A boy like the young saint.”

“Oh, Jalkato understands now.”

“It seems your name is Jalkato. An orc warrior. I am Hans.”

“I am Jalkato, you are Hans. Understood.”

“Hahaha! Anyway, let’s get along from now on!”

Those who started talking naturally introduced themselves and began asking and answering questions about each other. Once the conversation started, the invisible wall between humans and other races significantly lowered. At least among those in Prince Yubel’s army, there was now a growing sense of camaraderie with these non-human warriors.

“…So, you could say we’ve taken a step closer to fulfilling Lord Repenhardt’s dream. Don’t you agree? So why don’t you come out of your room now?”

In a square stone chamber assigned as a dormitory, Siris looked at a corner of the room with a bitter smile. Beside her, Russ, Tilla, and Tassid stood with their arms crossed, wearing similar expressions.

In the corner of the room, Repenhardt was crouched down, staring at the wall and sighing continuously, rejecting the world.

“Sigh…”

In the opposite corner of the room, there was also a small red-haired boy sighing in the same pose.

“Ughhh…”

The joy of overcoming the immediate crisis was short-lived, and Sillan realized what a disastrous thing he had done. It was to the point where he couldn’t show his face in public. As he sighed deeply, Repenhardt glared fiercely at him and muttered.

“It’s all your fault!”

“Ah, what’s the point of blaming me now? It’s not going to change anything!”

Sillan glared back. Their sharp gazes crossed in the air. And then, another sigh erupted.

“Haaah…”

“Hooo…”

This had been the ongoing behavior between Repenhardt and Sillan for the past few days. At first, Siris had let it slide, but she was starting to worry and came to calm them down.

Siris approached Repenhardt and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Um, Repenhardt.”

At the soft voice of his beloved, Repenhardt weakly raised his head. Siris, holding back a laugh, continued.

“What are you worried about? Isn’t it because Sillan is so pretty that such rumors spread like wildfire in the first place?”

Russ, also trying to console Sillan, said.

“And Sillan, isn’t that why you exercise every day because you hate it?”

At that moment, both squatting individuals’ eyes lit up simultaneously.

“That’s right!”

“That’s right!”

Come to think of it, now wasn’t the time to be holed up in a corner of the room. The ridiculous rumors were gaining credibility because they looked so good together. So, they just had to break that impression!

How?

Wasn’t it simple? Sillan just had to become more manly and robust than anyone else!

Repenhardt sprang to his feet.

“Let’s go, Sillan!”

Sillan also jumped up.

“Yes, Mr. Repen!”

Clenching his fists tightly, Repenhardt declared firmly.

“From now on, it’s special training! I’ll make you a strong man! Believe it! Your body can become steel!”

“That’s what I wanted! Repen!”

Sillan’s eyes were also burning with the flames of determination. With resolute determination, the two of them dashed out of the room, immediately heading to the backyard for intense muscle training.

Watching their backs, Tassid muttered absentmindedly.

“They seem to get along well.”

“The rumors will spread even more.”

“Indeed.”

Tilla and Siris responded with a wry smile.

“Well, rumors are fleeting anyway…”

Russ shrugged his shoulders. Though the two involved didn’t realize it, Russ knew well how short-lived rumors could be. They might be causing a commotion now, but in a few days, it would all die down.

With a gentle smile, Russ said.

“Somehow, it will work out.”

Russ had become quite influenced by Sillan by now.