WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Order
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◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈
Chapter 39: Marriage Scam (1)
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[Master.]
‘Hm?’
Tuon had been strict while guiding him through the meal, but once Kriel had more or less learned how to use the utensils, the Sword Spirit urged him to look at Armede as he ate, saying that forgetting the person before you in favor of etiquette was an even greater breach of manners.
Tuon had remained silent ever since, then suddenly sent a thought wave.
[It is time to step in.]
‘You mean that Mazhar Gabi guy?’
Tuon’s blade trembled faintly, likely in affirmation. Mazhar Gabi, who had suddenly barged in, was once again making smarmy remarks. Armede’s expression was souring by the second.
Still, hadn’t she just driven Mazhar Gabi out herself? She could handle this on her own. Was it really right for a guest to overstep?
‘I’m a guest here. Isn’t it rude to interfere when the host hasn’t asked me to?’
[Trust me. A knight steps forward when good people are in danger.]
Kriel briefly wondered whether Armede was truly in “danger.”
Still, as far as he knew, she was a good person, and she was in a somewhat difficult position. He rose from his seat.
“First, let me ask you this. Who exactly is the man you secretly invited? Though we have not formally become engaged, it is improper for a grown man and woman to meet in secret, away from the eyes of others.”
Armede’s expression grew colder by the moment. She considered taking out her staff and blasting him apart.
But that would truly cut off the Gabi Family’s support for good. Before that fool did anything more idiotic, she had wanted to block him preemptively by presenting a proper fiancé.
Then Kriel suddenly stepped in.
“I should have introduced myself sooner, Young Master Mazhar Gabi. I am Kriel, a Wandering Knight.”
“A Wandering Knight?”
Mazhar’s expression filled with confusion. Mages often hired knights as escorts, but a mage of Armede’s standing had no need for one.
First, there was her own skill. Monsters might be dangerous if they approached, but Armede had the power to crush most monsters before they could even come close.
Second, there was her position. The troublesome work of hiring escorts and negotiating wages was for subordinates to handle. Someone who was both the eldest daughter of a count’s family and the head of a society would naturally have servants to arrange employment contracts.
On top of that, Armede’s trusted retainer was not even a formal knight of some knightly order, but a “Wandering Knight.” They were called knights, but most were little more than armed ruffians.
Still, he had been introduced, so etiquette demanded that he return the courtesy.
“Pleased to meet you, Kriel. As you know, I am Mazhar, the third son of the Gabi Family. Why exactly were you dining with my fiancée?”
Hm. Kriel raised his assessment of Mazhar. Even after being addressed so casually in this situation, he was maintaining his composure.
His pursuit of Armede, ridiculous as it appeared, might have been an act. After all, he had found a way to barge back in only moments after being thrown out.
“I believe there is a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Young Master Mazhar, the woman you claim is your fiancée…”
Kriel reached out with his left hand and drew Armede, who was beside him, close by the shoulder. Armede looked startled but did not resist as she fell into Kriel’s embrace.
“Armede is already engaged to me.”
Awkwardly and hesitantly, Armede raised an arm and wrapped it around Kriel’s neck. Unlike Kriel’s natural posture, hers was quite stiff.
Yet her flushed face made that hesitation seem less like the awkwardness of a false engagement and more like the shyness of lovers.
Impressed inwardly by Armede’s timely response, Kriel looked at Mazhar.
“…What?”
Mazhar’s face twisted. It was closer to bewilderment than anger. Mazhar Gabi’s mind was not brilliant enough to stand out among his siblings, but it was more than capable of earning him the label of a gifted man.
He had enough intelligence to consider the pressure he was applying and the measures Armede might choose.
With a rigidly blank expression, he said, “Is this how you intend to respond, Lady Kett? The Gabi Trading Company is the only choice that can resolve your society’s financial difficulties.”
“Shouldn’t a society pursue knowledge rather than money, Young Master Gabi?”
Mazhar turned toward Kriel. Surprisingly, there was no personal resentment in his eyes, only a merchant’s coolness. It was as though he were evaluating Kriel’s value.
“You said your name was Kriel. You…”
Mazhar chose his words. All he knew of the man before him was his name and an occupation that barely qualified as one: Wandering Knight. Still, given the general traits of knights, he likely valued honor.
‘Just by appearance, he looks less like an ordinary knight and more like a Dark Knight leading the armies of the Abyss…’
He could not make a judgment based on such uncertain intuition. Mazhar continued with what he had originally intended to say.
“Do you believe you can make Lady Kett happy?”
It was an unexpected question.
“You may condemn me as shameless for saying this, but I have a great deal of money. You may say, ‘What wealth can a mere third son possess? It is your father’s money, not yours.’”
Though he belittled himself with his words, his posture remained confident. Kriel raised the possibility that Mazhar’s foolishness was an act even further.
“That is true for now. But if Lady Kett and I join together, and if we can raise my family into the Bloodline Nobility, my father will name me his successor. Then, as the head of the Gabi Trading Company, I can provide Lady Kett with everything she needs.”
The future Mazhar painted was clear. His words carried the certainty that it would benefit both himself and Armede.
“I can support Lady Kett’s lifelong research without holding anything back. What about you?”
Kriel thought hard. He had assumed the bastard was just some thoughtless third-generation chaebol heir from a novel or drama, but he was far sharper than that.
Think, Kriel. Think!
Come up with the perfect sophistry to crush his sound argument…
“I do not mean to disparage your occupation as a Wandering Knight, but Lady Kett’s research must require a great deal of money. Can you support her research?”
Kriel remembered who he was. He was a knight.
Didn’t the very word romance originate in medieval chivalric literature? If Mazhar shouted, “Love? Don’t make me laugh. How much will it take? Name your price,” then Kriel only had to smile and answer.
He could simply answer that he pitied a man who did not know the beauty of love.
“Then let me ask you this, Young Master Gabi. Can you love Armede?”
* * *
It felt as though the breath had caught. Neither Armede nor Mazhar could easily follow Kriel’s sudden words.
Mazhar answered with a merchant’s composure.
“Why should a political marriage prevent love from blossoming? With the abilities she possesses, of course I can love her.”
“I did not decide to become engaged to Armede because of her abilities or background.”
Kriel responded immediately. Then the backstory he had prepared was recited, carefully kept within the bounds of truth so as not to violate chivalry.
“The first time I met Armede was on a battlefield. Her magical ability was nowhere near what it is now, and I did not even know she was the daughter of Count Kett.”
A brief pause. The important point was that everything he had said was true. When he had first met her, he had only thought she was a mage from a mercenary company.
“Yet when I decided to become engaged to her, none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that Armede wanted it.”
He had decided to become engaged around three minutes ago, when Tuon had urged him to step in. All that mattered was helping Armede temporarily escape her difficult situation, so that was not a lie either.
“Young Master Gabi. Can you swear before the Six Principles, here and now, that you would act the same way even if Armede Kett were not Armede Kett, but simply Armede?”
An Armede who was not a noble would be meaningless to Mazhar Gabi. Mazhar could not answer easily.
* * *
“I can.”
Here was the key point. “Act the same way” meant something different for Mazhar and me. For Mazhar, it meant marrying her. For me, it meant becoming Kett’s partner in a false engagement.
Mazhar, who had sought rank from the beginning, could not easily agree. I was merely granting Kett’s request, so I could swear to it as many times as necessary.
Somewhere, I thought I could hear a horned horse’s head saying, “Ugh, is this chivalry?” but I ignored it.
If stepping forward to help a friend in trouble was not chivalry, then what was?
Impressed by my own accumulated experience with dramas and novels, I prepared to put the final touch on the conversation.
Footnotes:
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