The Top-Tier Butler of the Marquis Family Chapter 43 : Chapter 43

Chapter 043

A voice from inside told to co in.

I had wondered why the Knight who was supposed to be guarding the outside was nowhere to be seen, but apparently he had been inside speaking with the Young Master.

The Guard Knight’s na was Parala. He was soone I had seen once before. He gave one look full of pity. I offered him a small respectful bow.

“I am Dilen, and beginning today, I have been assigned to attend Young Master Hal for one week. Though I may be lacking, I humbly ask for your guidance.”

“You ought not to be lacking at all, should you? You are attending none other than , after all. And yet you begin with such weak words. At this rate, you will not last a day, much less a week.”

That had not co from Sir Parala.

It had co from Young Master Hal, who was seated in the place of honor behind him. Sitting there with one leg crossed over the other, he smiled viciously.

He was reenacting, almost perfectly, the conduct of so third-generation chaebol brat one might see in a novel or drama. It seed that wherever people lived, they were all the sa.

Young Master Hal was the typical wastrel who liked liquor and won.

And on top of that, his personality was utter trash, so he was practically the sort of figure who ought to appear in a textbook.

And yet there was one surprising thing.

His residence was far more modest than I had expected. I had imagined a wastrel who had even decorated his chamber pot in gold, but unexpectedly, there was nothing glittering about the place.

If anything, it gave the stronger impression that only what was necessary had been placed exactly where it belonged.

Leaving that question aside for the mont, I asked him,

“What task would you have perform?”

“You really are lacking in basic sense. You are no more than a lowly servant of the House. You ought to keep your mouth shut and simply do whatever you are told.”

Putting on an air of nace, Young Master Hal looked down at with fierce eyes. He was seated in a chair, and one of his legs was conspicuously wrapped in bandages. He was also holding a cane, using it like a crutch.

“Before I give you any task, there is one matter we ought to settle first.”

I had a rough idea what that would be, judging by the way he was waving around the bandaged leg.

“Thanks to you, I ended up in this state. Quite absurd, really. A commoner daring to lay hands on my body. And after seeing this, have you still nothing to say?”

If I had followed my heart, I would have dragged him into the Room of Truth at once, but Sir Parala was standing right there, and I also had the warning Young Lady Sapiela had given , so I quietly prostrated myself.

“I have committed a cri worthy of death. Please forgive .”

“So you do know you were wrong. I expected you to argue back, but it seems your head works at least a little. Well, yes. People do make mistakes from ti to ti.”

What is this?

The atmosphere had suddenly turned strange.

The Young Master I knew ought to have seized on the matter and made a great show of tornting or punishing , and yet instead he was letting it go with surprising ease.

Unable to resist my curiosity, I raised my head slightly.

At once, my eyes t Young Master Hal’s. He beckoned with his fingers, signaling for to rise.

I stood up as he instructed.

At the sa ti, Hal’s expression turned serious. The wastrel-like look vanished entirely. Then ca a single sentence, fired at like thunder.

“What exactly are you?”

“I... beg your pardon?”

Grinning, he rose from the seat of honor. Then he walked toward with asured steps.

“You are the first man I’ve t who had enough nerve and brains to get Training Officer Cornel dismissed, save my younger sister’s life, and then deliberately step on my foot. That is not sothing a commoner from Fortuna, raised by ordinary parents and serving as an apprentice, ought to be able to do.”

Before I knew it, he had co close enough that I could feel his breath. His eyes sharpened.

“Was I wrong? Judging by the fact that you can’t answer, I suppose I was right. Who are you?”

He seed like an entirely different person. The wastrel I had known was gone, and before stood a man whose presence spread like the point of a finely honed spear, like a beast ready to spring.

Was it all an act?

“Hahahaha! What an expression. Apprentice. Did I look like so irredeemable wastrel to you? I was! I’m irredeemable as hell. But if by chance—only by chance—you saw so other side of , then it would be wise to keep quiet about it. If you want to live long, that is.”

He gave my shoulder a few light pats.

At that very mont, sothing unexpected happened. His Status Window, which I had assud would remain hidden, began to appear.

○ Hal de Adeline

Rank: ★★★★★

Level: 31

Traits: Acting A, Swordsmanship A, Tactics A, Stratagem A, Intuition B, Courage B, ???

Status: Abyssal Curiosity

[Not Unlocked]

[Not Unlocked]

......

Was this real?

A five-star genius actor was standing right in front of .

And through those Traits, I could tell the truth. Acting A-rank. This bastard had been deliberately acting like a wastrel all along.

Once I inferred everything that had happened so far, there was really no other conclusion possible. Otherwise, he would never have shown this sort of keen intelligence.

It was a highly political stratagem.

If a man behaved like a wastrel, his opponents would let down their guard. They would worry in advance only about what sort of trouble he might cause this ti. And in that gap, he could quietly sche toward entirely different ends.

Had there not been kings like that in actual history too? n who acted like fools so they would not be purged?

The Adeline Marquis House was one of the kingdom’s most illustrious noble lines.

And the older a noble house was, the more different powers were bound to collide within it. It would not have been strange if a storm of blood erupted at any mont over the matter of succession.

One reason I had chosen Young Lady Sapiela within this jungle of a house was precisely that she stood relatively free of the succession issue.

Because she was a woman.

The more the pieces of the puzzle fit together, the clearer my head beca.

This might not be a crisis at all. It might be another opportunity.

“I am lowly and foolish, and know nothing at all, Young Master. Please do not trouble yourself overmuch.”

“That makes more suspicious.”

“What is it that makes you so suspicious?”

“Truly stupid people never say that they are stupid. True ignorance lies in forgetting one’s own ignorance. The intelligent are the ones who know that they are ignorant. Is there not a famous saying that a man must know himself?”

That unexpectedly philosophical remark made realize that his learning, too, was far from ordinary. Most likely, there was so knowledge-related category hidden among the question-marked Traits.

That might reveal itself later, once my relationship with him had progressed a little further.

For the mont, I stayed silent and waited for him to continue.

“Since you are now going to attend , there is one thing you must do first. Think of it as a kind of rite of passage.”

“Command .”

“You aren’t afraid.”

“I was taught that if one cannot avoid sothing, one ought to enjoy it.”

“Hahaha, good! Our House Adeline has an excellent training process, does it not? Whether knight or butler, no one receives formal appointnt without first passing through a harsh apprenticeship. You know that well enough, yes?”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“I have chosen you as the representative of the Butler Apprentices. Therefore, you will face an Apprentice Knight in single combat.”

I was genuinely startled.

I had never imagined he would make such an offer.

Under normal circumstances, such a thing would have been absurd. The martial strength of knights and butlers existed on entirely different levels. They were combat personnel, while we were administrative personnel.

Even if butlers trained in martial arts from their apprentice days, the intensity and difficulty could not compare with that of knights.

“Why that expression? Are you scared?”

“Young Master, I am only an ordinary Butler Apprentice. How am I supposed to face an Apprentice Knight?”

“I told you. It is a rite of passage. If you cannot carry out this task, then you are not fit to work under . Not even for a re week.”

This felt wrong.

For so reason, it no longer seed as though the Young Master had called here just to tornt . The clue lay in the words Abyssal Curiosity from his Status Window.

What was an abyss? A deep pit from which it was difficult to escape.

Apparently, he had fallen into the abyss of curiosity called Dilen.

It was even possible that he had beco fascinated by . With the intention of making one of his hands and feet.

Given my recent conduct, that was entirely plausible. As he himself had said, I had boldly arranged for Training Officer Cornel’s dismissal, then saved Young Lady Sapiela with outstanding martial skill and judgnt, and finally picked a fight with Hal of the Royal Family by stepping on his foot.

If he truly was no ordinary genius, then he would have taken all of those circumstances as highly significant.

The proof lay in the mont he had asked who I really was.

“Understood. When is the date set?”

“Tonight. Imdiately.”

“And will Your Young Master choose the opponent personally?”

“Knight Commander Varian will choose him himself, so don’t worry too much. It may end with only one arm cut off.”

When I looked at him as though asking what sort of nonsense that was, the Young Master laughed idly and explained with remarkable kindness.

“We call it a spar, but live blades are used. The rule is that it continues until one party is rendered incapable of fighting. So if an arm or a leg happens to co off, there is nothing particularly strange about that.”

“……I will obey.”

“You truly do not frighten easily. Still, it would be better not to hide yourself too much. The more suspicion you attract, the shorter your life tends to beco.”

He waved his hand, signaling that I was dismissed. I gave him a respectful bow and withdrew from the Young Master’s residence.

And as I did, my mind was full of only one thought.

“Who exactly is going to be sent out as my opponent?”

I did not know much about the Apprentice Knights in detail. But I did know that they, too, entered as apprentices only after passing a strict admission exam.

Whoever ca out would be on an entirely different level from Beron, whom I had fought during physical training before.

To begin with, back then no weapons had even been used. Weapons did not exist for no reason. They were tools made to subdue an enemy more effectively and more lethally.

If that was the case, then the combat level would rise not by double, but tenfold.

“As long as it isn’t him, I’m confident.”

There was only one person I was worried about.

Arthas.

Even his na radiated pressure. Not only because it sounded as though it might freeze everything in its path, but because he had already reached Level 42, a four-star talent.

His Swordsmanship was A-rank, and on top of that he possessed both Breakthrough and Iron Wall. That would make him quite troubleso to face. One careless step, and I might actually lose.

If I had known it would co to this, I should have forced so ti aside and sparred with him earlier.

“Dilen.”

Soone called my na as I walked along the corridor.

I turned politely and saw that it was none other than Sir Parala. He still wore that sa pitiful expression. I had thought it before—he often behaved in ways that did not suit a knight. One might say he lacked firmness.

“Did you call for ?”

“Co with for a mont.”

Without a word, I followed behind him. He turned into an entirely deserted corridor and led into an empty room.

We stood facing one another. He was the first to speak.

“I regret that matters have turned out this way.”

“Not at all. It was my fault. Thank you for your concern.”

“Let ask you one thing. Was stepping on the Young Master’s foot truly an accident?”

I could not quite read the intention behind the question, but I repeated Young Lady Sapiela’s advice exactly as she had given it to .

“Of course it was. Even so, I do not think of it as unjust. It all happened because of my own lack of care.”

Sir Parala nodded, then looked at with a bright gleam in his eyes.

“You will probably be beaten half to death by your opponent tonight. Just as the apprentices summoned by the Young Master have always been.”

“You do not seem to have brought all the way here rely to tell to enjoy myself today.”

“As expected, you are sharp. I will tell you how to avoid this crisis.”