Chapter 04
“Opening it while I’m speaking nicely will be beneficial for your health. If you don't open it, I will really break it.”
Bang bang.
I continued to pound on the carriage door with the scabbard.
Every time I knocked, the door crumpled.
“Why on earth are you doing this!”
Not long after, the door burst open.
A man fat with blubber was glaring at me with a neurotic expression.
“I hired you, Sir, because I heard you were a good and honest knight! If I knew you were such an unconscionable person, I wouldn't have even requested you!”
“Finally opened it. This isn't the time to care about such face. It’s a matter of life and death.”
“I don't know what you are talking about at all.”
The owner was wearing an expression that said he really didn't understand the reason now.
Because the Reinhardt he remembered was a quiet and calm knight whose every word and action felt dignified.
But now the situation had changed.
Seriously, with weight.
I met the owner's eyes and opened my mouth.
“I will ask just once. Depending on the answer, I might turn you into an enemy, Owner. Understood?”
“I did not understand!”
“This journey, is the purpose to hand over slaves secured in the Empire to the Gamudan Kingdom?”
The owner's expression darkened for a moment.
I felt regret.
‘No.’
The moment the owner nods here, the situation becomes irreversible.
“If not, say it isn't.”
“Aren't you asking when you already know everything?”
“A person must have a backbone. If you feel wronged, say I understood incorrectly.”
“Stop trying to test me.”
“I said, tell me if it’s not?”
At the demand that followed almost immediately, the owner tilted his head.
Then, with an expression that said he finally realized, he nodded.
“Ah, I understand. Sir Reinhardt didn't know anything about this journey. I will testify so.”
“Not that kind of words but…….”
“The goods of this journey are indeed slaves. Since you have accompanied a dangerous deal, I will pay you a reasonable price. It will surely be satisfactory.”
“Driving me crazy.”
I muttered with sincerity. The floating sensation became several times more intense than before.
[Additional injustice detected.]
[Sudden Mission: Condemnation]
Unforgivable things have happened. You feel extreme anger.
Punish all sinners.
If you ignore injustice, the effect of [Justice] decreases.
[Buff Applied: Justice x3]
[Basic stats increase by 66.]
The injustice detector activated.
A loud alarm bell began to ring in my head.
‘Justice stat 3 stacks.’
If injustice was triple, the sense of justice was also triple.
When the sense of justice became triple, controlling the body was also nearly impossible.
Crack. Pop. Pop.
I loosened my body. Sounds of bones cracking came from my neck and wrists.
“Reinhardt is angry.”
“Sir Reinhardt?”
“He’s become angry.”
Hands and feet moved on their own.
Before I knew it, the drawn sword was drawing a long trajectory.
The owner was looking at me with an expression of disbelief while clutching his neck.
“Kuh, kuuuh…….”
“That’s why I warned you so earnestly.”
I muttered with a regrettable heart.
From the moment I cut the owner myself, the water was already as good as spilled.
Kick.
I grabbed the reins tightly and spurred the horse.
The horse carrying me dashed out in an instant.
The heat of battle gradually became closer.
I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't.
I began to offer a prayer inwardly. I had no religion, but in moments like this, I had no choice.
“It’s the knight! The knight has joined!”
“Fall back! Organize the formation and…… The knight is cutting allies!”
A mercenary’s head was flying through the air.
It was my work.
Every time the sword light flashed, a mercenary fell one by one.
They wore expressions as if they hadn't yet realized what had happened.
Mounted combat. Weaponry. Several other talents, and above all, the powerful buff effect of [Justice] were lending power to the current me.
Breeeeeet---!!
A whistle rang out. Mercenaries shouted something roughly with distorted expressions.
Those who were dealing with the ‘bandits’ turned back in unison.
Facing the knight wielding a sword with an angry expression, they raised their weapons.
“That crazy bastard! The knight betrayed us!”
“Aim for the horse!”
“Don't engage from the front!”
Unlike the body moving gallantly, I was in an anxious state of mind.
Flashing blades were aiming for me from all directions.
‘About thirty mercenaries. About twenty bandit bastards. You’re telling me to handle them all alone? Does that make sense?’
Even if I received a buff, it was absurd.
Knight or whatever, at this stage, one cannot overcome the difference in numbers.
The fear that I might die rushed in. Intense fear that even a knight's will couldn't suppress.
“This dog-like situation…….”
However, regardless of the emotional agitation, the uncontrolled body was mechanically performing what needed to be done.
Slash.
Whenever my right hand moved, without fail, someone fell.
It was a smooth movement that even I couldn't properly grasp.
At that moment.
Front right.
I saw a mercenary lowering his posture low. He seemed to intend to stab the horse's flank with a long spear.
“……!”
My eyes opened wide. If I lose the horse, the [Mounted Combat] talent also becomes useless.
Turning the horse was the perfectly normal judgment.
I had to organize other enemies one by one, but unfortunately, I was already in an angry state.
Tap.
I lowered my body as if leaning on the horse, then jumped off to the right with a whoosh.
“Why throw away the horse!”
The horse, having lost its master, ran far away.
I was bewildered, and the mercenary aiming for my horse was also bewildered.
Belatedly, he stabbed the spear fiercely, but my sword was already drawing a smooth arc.
Clang!
The flying spear was deflected.
A head flew.
Beneath that, I burst out in frustration.
“This is why he dies like a crazy sunfish!”
It was like jumping into a beast's den on my own two feet.
Until just before, I was looking down on the enemies, but now I had the same eye level as them.
The surrounding gazes were subtle.
In the eyes looking at a stupid drifter, anger soon replaced that spot.
“Strike the knight first!”
“Even he dies if you stab him! I will give the knight's sword and armor to the one who kills him! I promise!”
The rushing mercenaries looked slow. Along with the bandits who were just eyeing the situation with ambiguous moods next to them.
With a deep sigh, I closed my eyes trying not to face them.
Even though nothing was visible to the eyes, the knight's body began to do what it had to do step by step.
***
The commotion was subsiding.
Clearly at first, it was a role where bandits and mercenaries attacked, and I defended.
At some moment, the relationship reversed, and soon I began to hunt them steadily.
And finally.
“Kuak!”
Only when the last bandit fell could I face the welcome message.
[All sinners have been executed.]
[The effect of ‘Justice’ has been strengthened by the righteous choice.]
*Stat increase per stack +1
[Regaining composure.]
I wasn't very happy even seeing the message.
My whole body trembled. The price of overworking muscles had come belatedly.
Clack.
Even so, I sheathed the sword well.
As a knight, I couldn't drop the sword on the ground. It was a habit ingrained in ‘Reinhardt’s’ body.
“What a rare scam character.”
Looking around, I muttered hollowly.
I thought it was impossible, but it was possible for the Knight of Light, Reinhardt.
Because if the opponent was a villain, he could exert power outside the standard.
‘Anyway, I have to clean this up.’
They say spilt water cannot be gathered again.
I agreed with those words.
But even if one cannot gather the water, pretending to wipe it with a dry cloth is the duty of a person.
‘I don't know where to start touching this.’
It was a complete mess.
The mercenaries hired by the merchant group were all down, and the bandit group that attacked had also fallen to the ground in a similar state.
The ringleader who caused this was naturally me.
Considering that I was in a position hired by the merchant group, I had practically betrayed the employer.
“So why hire a knight for such illegal work. And why did the Knight Commander permit that.”
Knights shouldn't move chasing money.
Wasn't that common sense?
Protecting the weak, pursuing justice, roughly living such cool lives, isn't that what people call knights?
Of course, I knew.
This world was generally rotten, and thus bandits, mercenaries, and knights ultimately only had subtle differences in category, but weren't that different.
“I’m dizzy.”
Sighing deeply, I looked toward the carriages.
I saw the shivering figures of the merchant staff.
Since the injustice radar didn't activate, they weren't enemies.
It meant they were innocent citizens, not villains.
“You there. Blue hair. Come this way.”
“So-sorry! Please, just my life……!”
“I won't kill you.”
He was bending his upper body and wrapping his head with both arms, shivering. In this situation, no matter how I tried to reason, it was useless.
Eventually, I started walking toward the carriage.
“Uaaak!”
“I said I won't kill you.”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry.”
The merchant staff clearly thought of me as some kind of murderous devil.
Or a stuffy knight with absolutely zero flexibility.
I gave up on persuading and instead began to lay out only the words I had to say.
“The Empire's strict laws state that humans cannot be used as slaves. These people were merely condemned according to that.”
“Oh my, I didn't know……!”
“So I won't kill you. I have no intention to punish you either. If I condemned even those mobilized innocently, the roots of the Empire would shake.”
I mimicked the tone of the knight I had seen through the monitor in the past.
‘Seems plausible.’
It was still a bit awkward, but I seemed to have succeeded in mimicking a knight well enough.
The merchant staff, who had shrunk back greatly, also recovered a bit of composure.
His gaze, which had only been looking down at the ground, was glancing up and examining my face.
He seemed to be gauging if these were sincere words.
“Tell those hiding to come out too. You all need to help clean up the situation.”
“T-yes! Understood!”
“No harm will come to you all. We are returning to the Empire. Tell the merchant group that a crazy knight violated the contract, and I will testify to the Empire. That you are innocent victims.”
The merchant staff, who had been watching my reaction, nodded quickly.
Then soon, he poked around the procession and brought out the hiding merchant staff one by one.
I added one word so they would become a bit more cooperative.
“If you cooperate faithfully, I will treat you as innocent victims, but if you run away, as criminals.”
The movements of the merchant staff became a bit brisker.
Flump.
Only then did I gain the leisure to sit and rest for a moment. My whole body felt like it was creaking, but I couldn't show it on the outside.
‘This roughly cleans it up.’
Fortunately, there was still minimal leeway.
Watching the faces of the merchant staff popping out one by one.
I began to review the situation I had experienced just before.
‘Let’s organize it from the beginning. From the beginning.’