Tap tap.
"...Not bad."
A courtyard not large, but of moderate size.
Lush grass and insects.
A wooden cabin overgrown with moss and vines.
In truth, it was enough to make one wonder if ghosts might appear, but even this was quite welcome.
For this was the Academic Institute, infamous for having the most expensive land prices, yet he had found such a cheap home.
Although.
'There are rumors of ghosts, several murder cases, and even talk of it being a criminals' hideout, but well, it doesn't matter.'
It was a cabin rife with ominous rumors, but to Lee Han, it didn't matter much.
If ghosts appear, just beat them up.
If a murderer comes, beat that bastard up too.
Beat up the criminals too.
Wasn't that enough?
Therefore, this house couldn't help but be a truly precious home to Lee Han.
Above all.
"There's a cliff on the mountain behind... Is this heaven?"
He could go cliff climbing!
That fact uplifted his heart so much that Lee Han was utterly delighted.
It was undoubtedly a successful 'move.'
* * *
Suddenly, but he had moved his nest after 3 years.
It was unavoidable.
Getting employed as an instructor meant he had to commute to the Royal Academic Institute instead of the Knight Order from now on.
Even if he wanted to commute from his original residence, with a commute distance of 25km, moving had become essential.
...Though if he set his mind to it, he could run it as exercise.
Why bother?
'It's better to just move.'
Of course, besides moving, there were also trains and carriages as means of transportation.
As mentioned before, this medieval fantasy hadn't experienced an industrial revolution, but had many bizarrely developed means.
However, transportation in this world was extremely expensive.
Wouldn't a commoner go bankrupt just riding the train for a month?
So it was more profitable to just move.
Of course, walking around and house-hunting during the one-week course adjustment period that was like a holiday for instructors was extremely bothersome and wasteful, but finding such a perfectly satisfying house made the effort worthwhile.
Thud.
"Phew, is this it?"
"Sir Knight, where should I move this?"
"Just leave it anywhere. I'll organize it separately later."
"Yes sir!"
Having her move only the things that wouldn't break, she moved the luggage well without any mistakes.
She was so clumsy she might fall over at any moment, but fortunately, Leira had quite high health and strength stats.
'...Was a wardrobe something you could lift that lightly?'
Her feat of lifting alone what should be carried by two.
Thinking anew, God is quite fair.
Giving pretty looks and health, but dropping intelligence stats that much.
"...Taking her to a construction site would make you popular."
Especially with the foreman uncles.
There's no better premium labor than that.
Of course, with the risk of being scammed out of money, he shouldn't take her.
Thuuud!
"Wow, Sir Knight! You're really strong? The tree is being pulled out!"
"I'm not pulling it out, I'm just breaking it."
"But why are you breaking a perfectly fine tree?"
"This tree is already dead, so if left alone, it'll attract insects."
"I see! But can you really break a tree with bare hands?"
"It's something anyone can do if they train."
"Wow! Can I do it too?"
"Half a year, no, if you follow me for about a year, maybe..."
Seeing her innate muscle quality, if trained for about a year, couldn't she be made into an expert comparable to the Knight Order's decent fellows?
'She'd be perfect raised as a pugilist.'
Her head was lacking, but just like a boxing gym owner who discovered talent to claim world women's boxing supremacy, greed was creeping up at that moment.
"-You're spouting crazy talk. Please have a normal conversation for once."
Someone interrupted their insane conversation.
"Ah, you're here."
"Yeah, I'm here, you crazy bastard."
"...Why are you picking a fight the moment you see me?"
"You make me want to pick a fight."
"??"
"...Whatever, why am I even talking to a half-troll."
"Who's a half-troll!"
...This guy, he's surprisingly sharp.
Jake Farmer.
Lee Han's only friend was shaking his head with a sigh.
* * *
Unfortunately, the warm housewarming culture of celebrating a friend's move didn't exist in the Pendragon Kingdom.
Rather, would you believe that when you move, you go to a temple-affiliated church to request a blessing and pay a donation?
And the indescribable horror was that there were plenty of 'people who went bankrupt' from paying those donations in the capital.
That was why Lee Han became an atheist in this life as in his past life.
He didn't want to go bankrupt.
"That's too extreme an example. The offerings to the temple are merely a matter of sincerity. It's praying that you can go to Avalon when you leave this world someday."
"Enough, don't proselytize after coming all the way here."
"...You unbeliever."
Holding a cross symbolizing the kingdom's one and only religion,
"Almighty Light of Radiance, Seven Archangels who follow the Light of Radiance, please forgive the irreverent sinner and bestow your blessing, Amen."
"Is that irreverent sinner perhaps referring to me?"
"Who else would it be."
"...Right, thanks a lot."
Half sarcasm, but half genuine.
How many guys would even recite scripture for a friend who moved?
A thankful friend.
"If you're really thankful, buy this cross."
"This cultist bastard...?"
"I'd like to just give it, but they say if you give unconditionally, misfortune comes."
"...."
Never mind, thanks my ass.
Like a street vendor waiting at a subway station and forcing charms on easy marks.
Grumbling Lee Han eventually flicked two silver coins.
Not buying it as a sucker, but paying after being forced because taking a silver-coated cross to the church later would allow him to receive divine power healing cheaply.
In game terms, a cross that could drop at rare grade.
"Since it's a cross given by a mid-tier priest, you'll probably get up to a 30% discount."
"Enough. Just hand over what you brought."
"So impatient."
Jake grumbled about not even getting a cup of black tea, but quietly handed over the letter he had brought.
Information requested from the information guild.
Lee Han could have purchased it directly, but it was a consignment transaction just in case.
"The Grand Duke's information is so tightly hidden that we couldn't find out much. Same for the Duke. What's written will probably only be what others already know."
"That's enough."
He didn't want detailed information.
He was just reading to see if there was any useful information that others knew, just in case.
"...Exactly as expected."
Fortunately, it didn't seem like the money would be wasted.
Neither more nor less, information exactly worth its price.
After reading this, Lee Han without hesitation.
Whoosh.
"...One gold coin becomes kindling."
"Shut up."
Using the letter as kindling to burn, Lee Han casually crossed his arms.
"They're all quite crazy people."
"How irreverent."
"Irreverent my ass."
They were all psychopath-like bastards.
* * *
Duke Galahad.
After losing his wife, he developed madness, and because of this, he was an extremely dangerous human always obsessed with torturing and killing criminals.
In particular, he had inherited the magic sword passed down through the Galahad family for generations, and was said to have the highest compatibility with the magic sword among all previous dukes.
Conclusion: an ominous and extremely dangerous murderous psychopath.
Next, Grand Duke Lionel.
Due to the family's bloodline characteristics, he had many wives.
He formed a Pride like a lion pride.
And like Galahad's magic sword, he had inherited the 'mystery' passed down through his family for generations, and because of the side effects of this mystery, he was a man who messed with all women regardless of status, even touching maids.
Despite that, they said he didn't even take responsibility for the women he touched and the children born from them.
Conclusion: a rapist who couldn't control his lower half and an irresponsible child neglecter.
"However, since they're all peerlessly handsome, they're still popular with noble women... Hah! So if you have a good-looking face, murder and rape are all forgiven?"
"Ahem."
"Well, with such enormous power, I guess this kind of thing is possible."
Romance genre specialty.
If you're handsome and rich, any crime you commit gets a not-guilty verdict.
...But wasn't the past life also a bit similar?
"Anyway, this bastardly looks-ism."
"I think Sir Knight is handsome too!"
"...Thank you, Miss Maid. You're pretty too."
"Hehe, I hear that a lot normally."
"H-how about me, Miss Maid?"
"...Huh? Who are you?"
"...."
Jake made a genuinely hurt expression, and Leira blinked blankly, genuinely not knowing Jake was there.
Not knowing that might be even more hurtful.
But not caring at all about such male-female dynamics, Lee Han fell into thought.
The reason he obtained information about the Duke and Grand Duke was nothing else.
Since ancient times, they said to kill a general, cut off the horse's neck first.
Lee Han was quite a diligent adult who listened well to the words of ancient sages, and was roughly looking into the people around them before contacting Roen and Aileen.
But the investigation results were more serious than expected.
Of course, if this world was really a romance fantasy, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
The main characters of romance fantasy worlds were all somewhat broken bastards.
'Their kids probably won't be normal either?'
Parents are the mirror of their children.
This saying would apply here too, and Lee Han began to somewhat understand why Isis had even made a 'request' to him.
'If it were me, I'd also be annoyed if these kinds of humans' kids were in my front yard.'
Lee Han unintentionally came to understand Isis's feelings.
* * *
"If you need help later, tell me. And... if possible, it's better to stay far from those in power. I'm not saying this as a knight or noble, but as a friend who's worried."
Well well?
Whether he'd seen a play somewhere, or because of Leira, Jake left behind a showy remark and leisurely turned his steps.
Well, unfortunately.
"Sir Knight, that person seems a bit strange. Could they be someone with a disability somewhere?"
"...No, nothing like that."
To Leira, he could only be treated as a sick person.
Still.
"They're a strange person, but they seem like a good person. I could see they were worried about you!"
"He's a decent guy."
That Jake guy, despite his fallen status, was the scion of a fairly old family.
Did he say the family fell due to unjust circumstances?
Yet despite that, he hadn't forgotten his loyalty to the royal family and showed the appearance of joining the Knight Order to continue the family line.
He was undoubtedly an honor student different from delinquent students like Lee Han.
But such a guy advised to stay away from those in power—from the royal family.
In a way, he was suppressing even his own loyalty and doing it for him.
The guy valued brotherhood over loyalty to the crown.
...Strange thing.
In his past life, he was only ostracized for being an orphan, and the guys he thought were friends were busy stabbing him in the back.
Now in this life, he had met a guy who genuinely looked out for him.
"I guess I've lived fairly well this life too, myself."
"Huh?"
"It's a thing. More importantly, Miss Maid, shouldn't you be slowly heading back to the royal palace? It's getting late in the evening."
Anyone else would know Lee Han was trying to change the subject, but Leira didn't have that kind of perception.
She was such a good kid who took people's words at face value.
...Though it was worrying that she'd probably still be bright even if she got scammed by a guarantee fraud.
And with her characteristic child-like bright smile.
"I'm not going."
"...?"
"I'm going to live with Sir Knight from now on. The Princess told me to take good care of you, hehe."
"...Hah, don't you think that's a bit much?"
Didn't she know what it meant for a man and woman to live under the same roof?
But she wasn't that simple-minded.
"The Princess said Sir Knight is safe! What did she say again? Oh! 'He's a guy who can't do his manly duties, so there's nothing to worry about' she said!"
"...."
"But what are manly duties?"
"...You don't need to know."
How cruel, scratching his pride like this?!
'Damn that woman, just wait until next time we meet.'
As Lee Han ground his teeth, promising the next encounter.
Knock knock.
"Oh, we have a visitor."
"Please stay back for a moment."
An unfamiliar scent.
The scent of cornelian cherry wafting subtly.
Lee Han's senses, which ghost-likely remembered people's unique body odors, sensed unfamiliarity, so he quietly opened the door.
Though bare-handed, with the confidence that he could roughly pull out a spine with bare hands....
"H-hello. Um, I-I moved next door, and I'm handing out hardened Polenta, ...Oh? Aren't you Instructor Lee Han?"
"...."
"To m·e·e·t like this, what an amazing c·o·i·n·c·i·d·e·n·c·e!"
"Hmm..."
He didn't know about anything else, but this kid.
'Her acting is terribly bad.'
Lee Han looked at her.
Aileen Windler.
She, surveillance target No. 2, was hovering around the courtyard in an obviously suspicious manner.