Chapter 14: New Plot (1)

It was already late afternoon, but the Duchy Rudolf's castle was still busy. In fact, the training schedule for that day was only until noon. However, specifically for Arthur Rudolf, the outdoor field had been vacated since morning.

Arthur had volunteered to learn swordplay like the previous schedule. Duke Rudolf had initially refused because of his stress-induced memory loss. However, the castle doctor suggested exercising to keep Arthur's physique stable. Moreover, seeing Arthur's very thin body condition, it was appropriate to look like a stressed person.

Now, he probably regrets in his heart for proposing the training schedule. How could he not expect the person who became his training teacher to be such a freak from the moment Kang Seongje opened his eyes as Arthur.

"Young Duke, stop practicing, come rest with me!"

Daniel Wilfton who was sitting on the stairs at the edge of the practice. He was accompanied by a young and beautiful maid who was usually in charge of bringing food to Arthur.

Arthur avoided both of them. Duke Rudolf was still cool because he was a Head of Household, although sometimes similar to those two, but he was still rational. Unlike the two people who were resting there, they were like fanatical fans of the Rudolf family.

Swinging the wooden sword at the artificial mannequin, Arthur consistently memorized some of the moves Daniel had taught him earlier. In the morning, he warmed up, once daylight came, Daniel taught him the basics until in the afternoon, Arthur could do it on his own.

'I want to practice alone. Why haven't those two left yet?'

Arthur tried hard to hit the mannequin. He didn't like this, because in the past when fighting monsters, he used his own hands to punch.

Crack!

The sword Arthur was holding broke into two. The energy released by the man was too great and continuously made the sword break. It was normal, but Daniel and the maid's reactions were very strange.

"My God, are you in pain, Young Duke? I should have tried to stop you earlier!" Daniel exclaimed to the point of almost crying.

The maid, known as Milly, looked at Arthur's arm. "S-sir Daniel, the Young Duke's hand is bleeding!"

Daniel looked at the arm Milly was pointing at. True, Arthur's arm was bleeding, but not badly, just a slight scratch from the splinter of the exposed wooden sword.

"Oh my. Milly, call a doctor!"

See, this is the reason why Arthur wanted to be alone.

Arthur didn't have the energy to fight. He kept quiet until the doctor at the castle came because he was dragged by Milly and treated him for his stupor.

Daniel thought Arthur was silent because he was in pain. So, he told Milly to get the fruits she had brought to give to Arthur.

"Open your mouth, Young Duke!"

Arthur resignedly opened his mouth as Daniel thrust the fruit at him. He realized he was physically and mentally exhausted because of Daniel's exaggerated behavior. Until finally a notification made him realize.

Ting!

[You've affected a character in the story!]

[Thanks to you, a character who shouldn't be a character has been saved!]

[Processing the course of the new plot... 3... 2... 1!]

[You got the sub-plot 「Throne」into the "World of Level Up"!]

[Become a character to get various information!]

[Prepare the character 'Arthur Rudolf' to enter the main story plot: 44/100%]

Looking at the notification window that entered his eyes, he was unintentionally excited again. His bandaged hand jerked and accidentally hit the face of Daniel who was squatting beside him.

Duagh!

Arthur coughed as he saw Daniel holding his own nose. The man chuckled before helping him up. "You little... bastard."

Once Daniel was on his feet, he ordered the doctor to leave. "Go away, Doc. These scratches are nothing. You'd be better off treating the knights with aches and pains."

The doctor begged to leave. Seeing the doctor out of sight, Arthur turned to look at Daniel and the maid.

Both of them raised their eyes like a puppy when they saw him. In South Korea, what they were doing was aegyo. However, Arthur wanted to punch them in the face.

"Hey, Milly."

"Yes, Young Duke-nim."

Arthur saw that the maid immediately stood up straight. He said, "Thank you for your meal, now you go back to the kitchen, you have something to do."

Milly wanted to argue, "No, Young Duke-nim, before I see you eat first—"

"I'll double your salary."

"Okay, Young Duke-nim, have a good rest."

Milly left immediately when Arthur said his salary would be doubled. He knew that Milly was the person Duke Rudolf paid separately in order to keep Arthur informed on a regular basis. Therefore, Arthur knew that money could control Milly.

"Young Duke, have you regained your memory now?"

Hearing Daniel say that, Arthur was surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You used to pay Milly to go and tell the Duke that everything was fine. You were very generous to Milly a long time ago. Do you remember?" Daniel explained.

'It's called a bribe, stupid. Hang on, Arthur, the good boy bribed?'

Arthur didn't bother, he asked, "Is my sword training good?"

Daniel smiled, making Arthur think that he had mastered the basic sword techniques as taught. "It's good that I think it's good."

"Hehehe, Young Duke." Daniel called out.

Arthur irritably replied, "What?"

"Actually, your technique is all wrong. Maybe the body's memory won't forget. From the beginning, you didn't easily learn it."

'Huh?'

"Your difficulty in taking the sword position also makes me happy. That means every day, you'll be learning with me, hehehe."

'Huh?'

"Your slender waist is also—"

"Shut up."

"But—"

"I said shut up, bastard."

Arthur wanted to scream at Daniel, but then the man would cry. So, silently, he cursed the idiot.

'Then why did you make me do the wrong moves for 5 hours!'

She wanted to cry, but there was no point. I don't know what sins he had committed to become an Arthur now. He should have become Sandy and fought the damn empire and the monsters that passed by.

Because of that thought, he remembered some of the things he left with Dean Volton. Since a few days ago, the war due to the empire's surprise attack should have been resolved.

"Hey, go rest. I'm going to take a shower and rest too."

Arthur shooed away Daniel who seemed to be moved by him. To hell with that guy, he wanted to know the development of the New Free City that Dean Volton helped.

***

"Can I help you, Mr. Customer?"

Arthur visited the same "Sea Blue Bar" again when he was expelled a few days ago. The bartender there was still the same person.

When Arthur wanted to say his purpose, this time someone else's words preceded him.

"You want to screw up again by pretending to be rich, Mr. Troublemaker?"

The assassin wearing the hood came up beside him. He let out a curse word even before Arthur spoke. That man was about to drag Arthur back until someone stopped him.

"Stop your hand, Roby. He is my special guest."

Dean Volton came from behind the kitchen. Even the bartender was surprised to see Assassin's Guild Leader K-Night there. Dean was wearing gloves while carrying a large steak.

Roby, the assassin who had kicked Arthur out, apologized. "I'm sorry, Leader-nim. He made a scene here once."

Dean looked sharply at Arthur after hearing that. The person he was staring at just shrugged his shoulders.

"In the future, you will continue to meet. Arthur, this is Roby, one of the guild's executives in the information field, he is in charge of this branch. Roby, this is Arthur."

Roby, with a reluctant look on his face, bowed in greeting. Then he said, "Roby, K-Night Executive."

Arthur wanted to play his part. "Arthur Rudolf, you must have heard me."

Hearing that, Roby widened his eyes. He looked at Dean and the man just nodded. Then he looked back at Arthur who was covered by the cloak. Although it was dark, he could see the blond hair and blue eyes under the cloak.

"A-ah, someone n-noble." Roby scratched his head in confusion. He was embarrassed, as it was usually only minor nobles who came and messed around wanting to meet the Assassin's Guild Leader. In front of him was Arthur Rudof, a Young Duke and of royal blood.

Arthur thought of someone. "Is that person you call a cheating guy named Kalypt?"

Dean cut his steak on the bar counter. He took a bite before answering, "Yes."

"Is he a member of you?"

Dean shook his head and Roby replied, "He's notoriously mysterious among the guild members, Mr. Customer. Many want to recruit him, but he wanders alone."

Arthur nodded in understanding. "In that case, what about the war in the New Free City?"

Dean stopped the action of cutting his steak. "You know that too, apparently. Well, it's not strange since your brother is there."

"Your brother is safe."

"Yes?"

"I said, your brother is safe."