Chapter 158. Evil Must Be Punished
I walked up to the half-open door, drawn by how interesting the situation was getting.
I didn’t forget to reassure the employee either, who looked like they were cowering in fear.
‘Shh.’
Was it that he understood my signal? With his hands neatly clasped together, the employee nodded with a face gone deathly pale.
Even in the middle of that, Ransi and that “Pai-whatever”… no, the lout’s conversation was still in full swing.
“Ah, is it that commoner kid named Chenbi? Trying to attend the young lord’s birthday banquet?”
“That is not a matter I can answer.”
Ransi didn’t give him any real answer, but the lout continued with a “hmph-hmph,” as if he’d understood anyway.
And the way he spoke…
“Lady Gamo really is something—so kind. Inviting some lowly commoner riffraff to the young lord’s banquet, of all things.”
“He is the young lord’s friend. Please mind your words.”
“Ahh, sure, sure. Of course. I’m just saying it’s a shame, that’s all. It’s the banquet of the Great House Brando’s young lord—what do you mean, a commoner? Huh? There’s a limit to how far you can drag down the dignity of the occasion.”
Ah. So this is what a noble-house lout looks like?
I’d heard plenty of stories, but I hadn’t realized he’d be this textbook.
This was practically… yes, exactly—like someone had crammed every single stereotypical image of a “noble-house lout” into one body.
But the lout’s misbehavior didn’t stop there.
“Ransi, come on—huh? Let me see his face. You never know. If I like him, maybe I’ll toss him something. I heard his whole family latched onto Brando, yeah?”
“…Young Lord Paijin.”
“Bring him here. Ah, and I heard that guy’s got a little sister? Hope she’s pretty, at least…”
“You’re going too far.”
A chill settled into Ransi’s already icy voice.
And the atmosphere sank heavily with it. So heavily that even I, standing on the other side of the door, could feel it.
Then, right around then, laughter suddenly spread.
“Hah—ha, hahaha!”
Is he insane?
The lout laughed loud enough to shake the shop, and then at some point, the laughter cut off abruptly—silence dropping like a curtain.
Immediately after, a single voice split that silence.
“What did you say? I went too far?”
“……”
“Haha, Ransi. I haven’t laughed like that in a while. So what—my words went too far? And that’s why you decided to advise me?”
“If I displeased you, I offer my apologies.”
“Yeah, you should apologize. Of course you should. But… really now.”
The sudden commotion erupted right after that.
Crash!
“Kyaaah!”
Something shattered, and a scream followed. At the same time, the lout’s voice boomed through the shop.
“Ah, screw all of it! F*ck—yeah. You people think I’m a joke, don’t you? Some idiot’s blocking the way and now what? Hah! Fine, I went too far. Yeah?”
“…Young Lord Paijin.”
“Why, Lady Ransi? Did I go too far again? Wait a second. If I’m already going too far, I might as well flip the whole damn place over.”
As soon as he said that, he started smashing everything within reach.
So—how long did that tantrum go on?
Gradually, the sounds of breaking things grew less frequent, until the only sound echoing in the now-quiet space was the lout’s ragged breathing.
“Lady Ransi. No—Ransi. You’re under a very big misconception, you know. Mind if I offer a little advice?”
“…I’m listening.”
“Sometimes, when you keep animals, they start getting the wrong idea. They start thinking their master’s power is their own. Right?”
“……”
“Serving great people doesn’t make a dog into a person. But there’s a dog right in front of me that thinks it’s a person, yeah? So what should you do?”
“……”
“You don’t know, right? I don’t know either. Because if you punish the dog, its master gets angry. But you can’t just stand there and watch, either…”
Good. Decision made.
I kicked the half-open door wide and stepped out right after hearing that much.
Bang!
“Kyaaah!”
When I shoved it open with all my strength, the wooden door slammed hard into the wall, a resounding boom ringing out.
While the employees let out shrill screams—
“Huh. What’s that supposed to be?”
“…Aster-nim.”
“Aster? Ha—don’t tell me that’s the Black and White Zone vagrant?”
I fixed my eyes on the lout, who was laughing like he couldn’t believe this.
I didn’t know who he was. Judging by how Ransi couldn’t treat him coldly and was floundering like that, he had to be someone with serious status.
But at this moment, his status didn’t matter.
Only one thing mattered.
‘Evil must be punished.’
“Hah—so this is him. I heard the young lord favors you, so I was curious, but I never thought I’d get to see you like this. Nice to meet you. This one is Paijin von Tulk. The young lord of Tulk, a vassal house that serves Brando—”
I offered a casual apology to the lout who’d come right up to me.
“Sorry.”
“…?”
“My foot slipped.”
I swept the floor with my foot and kicked—
A crisp impact rang out.
“…Hk!”
From the shock of being kicked, the lout was lifted clean off the ground before slamming down with a thud.
While he lay there, having landed on his back, choking and unable to even breathe—“kgh, kh-urk”—I smiled and took in the scene around me.
Everyone exclaimed in admiration at the justice that had been carried out.
“Hiiik!”
“Hhk!”
Someone was so overwhelmed they couldn’t even speak.
[……Aster-nim!]
Ransi called my name—so happy, somehow.
Of course, not everyone was cheering.
“You crazy bastard…!”
Ah. So there were some, after all?
It looked like the lout’s escort knight.
The agent of evil who hadn’t protected his master during what happened in an instant, he finally wailed in belated grief and charged at me. But who am I?
A righteous Troubleshooter.
“Do you not know who I am?”
“…What?”
As the agent of evil hesitated at the very “impressive-sounding” line, I smiled and revealed my identity.
“Ah, this one is a friend of Demian, the young lord of the Great House Brando.”
“……”
“And for your information, Demian and I are close enough that we decided to share everything we have. And you draw your sword on me?”
Can you bear…
“Can you bear this justice?”
Having quietly subdued the agent of evil, Aster immediately turned his gaze and fixed it on Paijin.
“Are you all right? Sorry about that. My foot slipped.”
“You dog-like thing…! Do you even know who I am—!”
Spitting out his rage at the sudden assault, Paijin twisted his body, trying to get up. But that was the wrong choice.
“When I’m scared, my legs shake.”
“What are you— …Guhk!”
Aster fell onto Paijin’s back and drove his elbow down!
The full weight of the blow struck the center of his back, and Paijin’s breath was taken again, leaving him unable to say a single word.
‘Th-this… this…!’
What kind of dogshit situation is this?!
He is the young lord of House Tulk.
One of the seven vassal houses that serve Brando!
The legitimate successor who will inherit that house, and a prideful noble who holds no one above his head except Brando’s bloodline—
“Ah, are you all right? Sorry. My foot slipped again.”
At the brazen question, Paijin ground his teeth.
‘How dare… a Black and White Zone vagrant like you.’
Still, perhaps he had some learning sense, because he didn’t make the mistake of saying that thought out loud.
He only steadied his breathing, swallowing down his fury toward that worm-like vagrant for the moment.
But Aster, as a righteous Troubleshooter, was a man who had mastered the art of sensing evil’s presence.
“Ahem. Sorry. Let me help you up.”
“Just leave—”
“Now, now. How could I?”
Paijin felt like he was dying as Aster seized the back of his collar and forcibly hauled him up.
Without even having caught his breath, being forced to move made his head spin as if he’d gone anemic.
But it didn’t end there.
“Oops, my hand.”
“Ghk!”
Aster abruptly let go, and Paijin slammed face-first into the floor.
Somehow, one way or another, Paijin managed to get himself back up.
But the humiliation still wasn’t over.
“It was an accident, so you’ll forgive me, right?”
“What the dog—”
“Dog? A dog, huh. Maybe I’m the one with a big misconception. So I thought I’d give you some advice.”
At the sight of that grinning face, Paijin’s eyelids trembled.
This was something he simply could not accept.
He, the young lord of the Great House Tulk, getting beaten by some filthy Black and White Zone vagrant and then rolling around on the floor in front of all these nobodies?
Murderous intent naturally boiled up.
That was when the escort knight who’d been standing awkwardly stepped forward.
“…Did you say your name was Aster-nim? No matter how close you are to Young Lord Demian, I will not stand by and watch any further.”
As a knight of House Tulk, he couldn’t keep watching his young lord being toyed with like this.
That was when Aster burst out laughing—“Paha!”
“Won’t stand by and watch? What? Then what are you going to do?”
“…I will cut you down.”
“‘I will cut you down,’ my ass—you idiot bastaaard! Hurry and grab this bastard and make him kneel ri— …Ghk!”
“Man, you’re loud.”
Aster’s fist drove into Paijin’s solar plexus.
This time there wasn’t even an excuse.
As the escort knight reflexively tried to draw his sword at that sight, Aster’s voice rang in his ear.
“Ahjussi, coming in and out is free, sure. But your young lord is in my hands right now, yeah? Is your sword faster than my hand?”
“Ggh… you bastard, I-I’ll ki— …Kuhk!”
“Ah, come on. I told you to shut it. Huh? Ahjussi, you that fast?”
The knight of House Tulk couldn’t say anything.
Before he knew it, his opponent had Paijin by the throat.
If he swung, maybe he could cut the hand before it snapped the young lord’s neck—but he couldn’t bring himself to try.
What if his sword was even a little slow?
What if Paijin’s neck snapped because of that?
There weren’t many knights in the world who would gamble with their master’s life, and House Tulk’s knight was no exception.
With the knight clamping his mouth shut, Aster calmly looked down at Paijin, who was choking and wheezing.
It didn’t take long for Aster to open his mouth.
“Hey. What was that about ‘commoner,’ huh?”
“Ghk… uhk.”
“Chenbi’s family, what? Little sister, what? And what about ‘dog bastard’ and whatever else? Hey, f*ck. No matter what, messing with someone’s family is crossing the line. Right?”
“Y-you… even after this, you won’t get away wi—”
“Not get away with it? What, you going to kill me or something?”
“Even the young lord… won’t be able… to cover up… this outrage…”
As Paijin fumbled out his words, Aster let out a snort of laughter.
“Hah, seriously. Hey—do you think I’m doing this because I trust my friend? Yeah, sure, I guess that’s part of it. It is, but….”
Paijin was misunderstanding one thing.
Aster wasn’t the type to start something because he “trusted” something.
When he was meticulous, he was meticulous to an extreme, laying the board out in advance—but once he actually moved, he didn’t lean on anyone.
“Alright. Starting now, I’m going to give you a chance.”
“D-don’t spew… bullsh— ngh.”
Paijin, who’d been stammering, suddenly stopped breathing.
Transparent eyes staring into him. And inside them, he caught a glimpse of the numb emotion lurking there.
It wasn’t killing intent, and it wasn’t disgust—just an absolute colorlessness.
Those eyes were like emotionless glass.
While Paijin was unable to speak at the bizarre sight—
Aster smiled and shouted loudly, gathering people.
“All right! Our lout of House Tulk has something to say! Everyone, assemble in the lobbyyyyy!”
As the booming voice spread through the entire tailor’s shop, the people who’d been holding their breath through the commotion began to gather in the lobby, hesitantly.
Even Ransi, stunned by the baffling turn of events, could only stare at the scene blankly.
And with a crowd gathered in the lobby—
Aster whispered into Paijin’s ear.
“It’s presentation time.”
Presentation?
“Confess every last one of your sins here and be reborn. This is the first and last chance I’m giving you.”
“What… are you— Ghk!”
As Paijin tried to question him—
Aster kicked his leg again.
“I’m not taking questions.”
“…Young Lord!”
The knight of House Tulk tried to rush over, but he couldn’t take another step under Aster’s voice.
“Stop. Approaching.”
“……”
“From this moment on, until our young lord’s presentation ends, no one moves from where they are. Understood?”
Of course, no answer came back.
Only Ransi, with worried eyes, showed concern.
[Aster-nim, why in the world…]
[I am carrying out justice.]
And so the “presentation” of Paijin, the young lord of House Tulk, began.
