Chapter 47: I’m an Attention Seeker (1)

The knights of the Bydent family gathered together.

Arbold, who heard the full story from Jordic, whispered softly, “This is our chance. If we kill them all, we won’t have to pay him thirty thousand gold, and we can keep the secret about the beastfolk.”

Jordic nodded in agreement.

“I know, but so does that guy. But I can’t figure out what he’s plotting.”

They didn’t know about Luke, but Keter surely wasn’t a fool. He was a con artist among con artists. His archery might have seemed mediocre, but his silver tongue was dangerously sharp.

“Whatever he’s plotting, he’s still just an archer. He can’t beat us.”

“Mm.”

Jordic agreed with that statement. A spear was stronger than a bow—no, stronger than a sword. He believed without doubt that the spear was the strongest weapon in the world. Yet, the uneasy feeling gnawing at him made him hesitate.

That crazy guy seemed more skilled in hand-to-hand combat than archery.

Jordic couldn't deny that martial arts could be powerful if it reached its peak, but he didn’t feel that Keter had reached that peak. Keter’s martial arts were not organized like a knight; it was crude and sly like an undignified mercenary.

Jordic believed that Keter did not stand a chance against the Bydent’s spearmanship with martial arts or archery like that; he was certain Keter would never be able to defeat the knights of the Bydent family. It was an obvious fact that needed no thinking.

Am I underestimating you? Or have I lost my composure, blinded by greed?

Jordic stared at Keter, who was casually chatting with Luke. He looked as if he was leisurely enjoying a picnic on a sunny day, without a care in the world.

“Even if it's not just about the money or the secret... I want to kill him,” Jordic muttered, not bothering to hide his true feelings.

Though he wasn't speaking for anyone to hear, Arbold chimed in.

“You don’t even need to step in, Captain. I’ll finish this quickly.”

Arbold wanted to show off his skills, eager to redeem himself to Jordic. However, Jordic pointed to another knight instead.

“You. You take the lead.”

The knight he chose was the newest member of the Order of the Silver Leopard, a junior knight who had recently joined. The junior knight, though surprised at being chosen, didn’t hesitate or back down.

“Am I allowed to kill him?”

“Give it your all.”

Though the response was somewhat ambiguous, the junior knight took it as permission to kill.

“Understood, sir!”

Gripping his spear confidently, the junior knight marched boldly into the field.

“Lord Keter! We are ready. As you are an archer, you may take the first strike!”

Typically, a duel began with both opponents facing each other. However, fighting like that put the archer at a severe disadvantage. Believing in fairness, the junior knight graciously offered Keter both the distance and the first attack.

Keter, who had been chatting casually with Luke, picked up his bow and a single arrow, walking toward the junior knight. The junior knight assumed that Keter was approaching to speak to him. After all, if Keter intended to attack, he wouldn't come so defenselessly.

...Hmm.

The knight carefully observed Keter as he approached. He had already seen him once at the town hall, and even now, Keter appeared unremarkable.

Tall but not particularly big.

While Keter could pass as a son of a noble family if he dressed well, right now, he resembled nothing more than a gigolo courting wealthy noblewomen. Keter's eyes were calm, his lips curled slightly upward, making him look careless and even somewhat content.

The junior knight’s state of mind changed as he observed Keter. It was a subtle shift that he didn’t even consciously notice. His tension faded, and the grip on his spear loosened. He was convinced that Keter was just approaching to speak.

As Keter came within arm’s reach, the junior knight said, “What do you want to say—”

But in that instant, Jordic's urgent voice cut through the air.

“Wake up!”

It was too late.

Before the knight could register what had happened, Keter’s arrow, held in his hand rather than shot from a bow, had already pierced deep into the junior knight's chest.

Squelch.

Keter's unconventional attack shattered the assumption that arrows had to be fired from a bow. The knight only realized he had been struck when he could not breathe.

“Ghhk...”

The arrow had punctured his lung. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was enough to incapacitate him. As the junior knight collapsed, Keter grabbed him by the hair and stared at Jordic, still with calm eyes and a faint smile.

Seeing that, Arnold flared up in anger, thinking Keter was mocking him.

“You cowardly bastard!”

Arbold was about to step forward, but Jordic stopped him with his arm.

“They both prepared and since he offered the first move, it's his fault.”

“But—!”

“He caught him off guard. I knew he was a conman, but to bet his life on a con... Impressive, Keter.”

As Jordic acknowledged Keter, Arbold could no longer step forward.

“But there won’t be a second chance. Sir Garuda.”

The next fighter from Bydent stepped forward.

Keter stretched out his hand and said, “Wait. There's something I want to sell you.”

“If it’s the symbol of the Moon Rabbit Tribe, I’ll just kill you and take it.”

“Huh? No, that's not it. What I'm selling is...”

Keter, with the junior knight's neck inside his bowstring, said, “How much will you pay, sir?”

* * *

Death was inseparable for those who lived by the sword, especially for knights of a noble house.

“Are you saying you're going to kill a Bydent knight?” Arbold said.

It was clear that he wouldn’t let Keter live if that happened. Keter knew just how much knights, no, the nobility, valued honor. And he also knew that this honor could ultimately be bought and sold for a price.

“Three thousand gold.”

“...!”

You should never wait for the other side to ask how much it will take to spare a life. People who think they're special will die for their pride.

“If you kill our knight, you will die too, Keter.”

“You plan to kill me anyway. But should you be talking about this right now? In two minutes, this guy will bleed to death.”

Jordic was put in a tough spot. If Keter had just brutally killed the junior knight, it would have boosted morale and given them a reason to act. Instead, Keter left the junior knight barely alive and offered to spare him for money—an amount that wasn’t too high or too low.

For a knight, dying in battle was considered an honorable death, but...

Hey, don’t look at me like that.

Everyone knew that a knight could die at any moment. They all accepted this when they became knights. But it didn’t have to be now. If there’s a way to survive, why would one choose death? Three thousand gold wasn’t an unmanageable sum, after all.

Although the junior knight was easily overpowered by Keter and the Order of the Silver Leopard was a secretive order, that junior knight was not just a comrade; he was a friendly younger brother, and a fun companion. They didn’t want him to die.

If Jordic ignored the desperation of his men here, no matter how much charisma he had, he would lose their trust.

“I’ll pay the three thousand gold. Hand him over at once!”

“Whoa now, this isn’t your first deal, is it? Either pay in cash right now, or sign an agreement.”

“I’ll sign. Bring me the contract.”

“An extra thousand gold for the contract.”

“You bastard!”

Although contracts were expensive as they were made with magical items, they rarely exceeded ten gold. Charging a hundred times that amount was outrageous, and it was hard not to curse Keter.

With both the junior knight's life and his own leadership on the line, Jordic reluctantly signed a contract stating he would pay Keter four thousand gold—three thousand for the life and one thousand for the contract.

“Thank you for the smooth transaction,” Keter said, stepping back five paces after releasing the junior knight.

Garuda, who rushed over to check on the wounded knight, bit his lower lip upon examining the injury.

“Captain, this arrow is curved like a hook. The moment we pull it out, the flesh will tear, and the bleeding will worsen.”

Most knights were trained in basic battlefield medicine, but removing an arrow, especially one shaped like a hook, required advanced skills. Even Jordic hadn't learned that—after all, they never expected to be struck by an arrow in the first place.

Jordic, who was struggling to maintain his composure, finally lost his temper.

“You planned to kill him all along, Keter!”

Keter had sold them a barely alive corpse.

As Jordic shouted in anger, the eyes of the Bydent knights blazed with fury. And Keter, as if pouring fuel on the fire, made a provoking remark.

“He's still alive, isn’t he? It’s your problem that none of you know how to remove the arrow.”

“Enough. Now I can kill you with a clear conscience,” Jordic growled.

Jordic then gestured toward Garuda; not that he needed to though, as Garuda was already preparing to charge at Keter.

“What are you doing? There's a doctor right in front of you. You should be begging me to save him.”

“Don't listen to that bastard's nonsense any longer,” Jordic said.

“Two thousand gold to spare his life. If you don't trust me, then forget it,” Keter replied, pouring cold water on the flames of Jordic’s anger.

At this point, Jordic just wanted to kill Keter no matter what happened.

But not Garuda. Unlike the other knights, he genuinely didn’t want to see the junior knight die.

“Captain, that bastard is stalling for time, a minute at most,” Garuda said.

Jordic was frustrated at Garuda’s subtle urging. He would have barked at them to stop the foolish talk if he wasn’t his subordinate.

“Hand over that damn contract again.”

And so, another three thousand gold was paid. Finally, Keter approached the junior knight that was barely alive. To everyone's surprise, he plunged his hand straight into the knight’s chest.

“...!?”

It looked like Keter was actually trying to kill him rather than save him. The knights of the Bydent family couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Keter then yanked his hand out, pulling out the arrow along with it.

Wiping his hands clean, he casually remarked, “Surgery complete. Clean the wound with water and bandage him up.”

Jordic scowled. “You've just made an even bigger hole in his chest, and you're acting shamelessly.”

“Just watch,” Keter said smugly.

“Why even bother...!”

It turned out they did need to see. The arrow had not only been removed, but the bleeding had completely stopped. Though the chest appeared sunken, there was no open wound.

“What is this?”

“I swear I saw his hand go in...!”

Who in the world are you?

The knights of the Beident family stared at Keter in awe, their gazes burning with curiosity. Keter flashed a mischievous grin.

“Just call me Sefira’s genius doctor.”

Even the infamous Keter couldn't always fight without getting hurt. Since he favored strategies that allowed his enemy to land a blow while he aimed for the kill, the first skill he mastered in Liqueur was medicine.

On top of that, Keter was a master of killing. He knew exactly where and how to strike to end a life, and that knowledge of killing was closely tied to the art of saving lives. He realized the difference between life and death was not in the action, but in the intent. With this understanding, Keter could perform miracles using pure medical skills.

For example, he could save someone’s life, yet leave them with lasting disabilities, just as he did with Bydent’s junior knight. There was no reason for him to fully heal an enemy knight; of course, Keter left him crippled. The Bydent family would now waste vast resources trying to rehabilitate the knight.

Jordic, who did not know Keter’s intent, opened his mouth to speak, then quickly stopped. He felt a sudden desire to recruit Keter. As a leader hungry for talent, Jordic would even accept an enemy if they were skilled enough.

However, he didn’t want to recruit Keter. He was certain that accepting Keter as a subordinate would only put his own life at risk.

“You've earned enough for the ferry to hell, Keter. You can’t stall for time anymore.”

Though the junior knight had been caught off guard and easily defeated, there wouldn't be a second chance. Jordic was sure of it, and Garuda, who would now face Keter, also had no doubt he would win.

Still, there was no room for complacency. Garuda wouldn't be as generous as the junior knight and allow Keter to have the first move, nor would he give Keter the space to create distance. Garuda immediately rushed forward, gripping his spear in an extended stance and thrust it toward Keter.

This thrust, which increased the attack range threefold in an instant, was impossible to avoid without understanding spear combat. Furthermore, the Bydent family's cross spear wasn’t just specialized in thrusting. It was far superior in creating unpredictable variables and maximizing lethality.

Even this thrust wasn't the main attack; the follow-up strike was the true danger. The moment Keter dodged, the relentless assault would begin.

But then something unimaginable happened. Keter didn't dodge—he actually advanced, as if he wanted to be skewered by the spear.

Luke, watching from the side, felt his heart was going to stop. From his angle, it looked as though the spear had pierced straight through Keter’s body.

No...!

But that was a misconception. The spear did indeed pass through Keter, but not through his body. Keter dodged the spear shaft by slipping it between his side and his arm, then locked it under his armpit. The long shaft of the spear was now tightly secured by Keter’s grip.

If Garuda had been holding the spear with both hands in a normal stance, there would have been no way for Keter to beat him using strength. However, at that moment, Garuda was gripping the far end of the spear with only one hand due to using a variant thrusting technique, which required a one-handed grip.

But Garuda was not like the junior knight who had been caught off guard earlier. He calmly adjusted his grip, seizing the spear with both hands, and began tugging on it with force. All his focus was now consumed by the struggle over the spear.

And because of that, he missed something important. He failed to notice Keter drawing and firing an arrow—he didn't see the trajectory of the arrow flying toward him.

Typically, the mind reacted first, realizing the need to dodge an incoming arrow, and then sent that signal to the body to move. Unfortunately for Garuda, Keter’s arrow was faster than the time it took for that command to reach his legs.