Chapter 377: The Suffering of the Hell Knight (2)
This is Namaran, the city on the cliff.
The city was shrouded in silence, just past midnight.
Bathed in the eerie glow of a barrier of dark purple magic.
Under the ominous moonlight.
In the empty assembly hall at the center of the city.
A song, stranger and more haunting than the magical barrier itself, capable of sending any listener’s eardrums to the afterlife, flowed relentlessly.
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star~ How I wonder what you are~ Up above the world so high~ Like a diamond in the sky~”
– “Ugh… damn it…!”
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star~ How I wonder what you a-a-are↗!”
– “…Stop singing!”
“How I wonder what you a-a-are↘↗!”
Lloyd’s resonant singing filled the assembly hall.
With his unnecessarily strong vocal volume, he mercilessly assaulted the Hell Knight’s hearing.
Under this assault, Sir Geo-Rexius, the commander of Hell’s First Legion, suffered from the song’s lyrics as if being sliced by wind, or rather, by the very words.
Unable to bear it any longer, he shouted out loud.
“Enough!”
“Nope.”
“Do you think this will make me confess?”
“Yep, pretty sure.”
– … “No way.”
“Just watch. Ahem, ahem!”
The Hell Knight’s jaw trembled.
Lloyd cleared his throat and smiled mischievously.
Tilting his head, he asked annoyingly.
“So you’re saying you’re not going to tell me about the Hell King’s plans yet, right?”
– “Correct!”
“So that means you want to hear more of my lovely singing.”
– “…No…”
“Thanks for that. Let’s start the next song, shall we?”
– “Wait!”
Sir Geo-Rexius shouted desperately.
But his urgent plea didn’t scratch Lloyd’s conscience even a millimeter.
“Yo, the monkey’s butt is re-ed~ Red as an apple~ Apple is delicious? If it’s delicious, ba-a-nana↗!”
– “…Ugh!”
Sir Geo-Rexius’s skull trembled.
But the Hell Knight couldn’t even tremble as he wanted.
That’s because Javier, under Lloyd’s direction, had started adding the beat(?).
Thump! Thump! Bang! Thump! Thump! Bang!
The sheath of the Grandmaster’s sword, enveloped in aura, dropped vertically.
It struck the Hell Knight’s skull precisely on the beat, like a machine.
– “Ugh! Guh! Ugh!”
It was a continuous shock that felt like his skull was splitting open.
During all this, Lloyd’s torturous song continued.
“Ba-a-nana is lo-o-ong~ Long as a train~ The train is fast! The fast one is an ai-irplane!”
– “Stop! Please!”
“Stop?”
– “Huff, huff. Yes, please, enough…”
“Ready to tell me the Hell King’s plans now?”
– “As I said before, I am a knight. Revealing my lord’s secrets to a dangerous enemy is against a knight’s code.”
“Then you’ll just have to keep listening to my singing.”
– “What?”
“Next song, starting now?”
– “Wait…”
Sir Geo-Rexius reached out desperately.
But before he could extend his hand fully, Javier struck him with a counterattack.
**BANG!**
– “Ugh!”
His jaw clamped shut with the upward knee strike.
It felt like a massive hill had slammed into his jaw, not just a knee.
Sir Geo-Rexius barely avoided losing consciousness and had to prop himself up with his hands on the floor.
And he immediately regretted it.
“Ding! The school bell rings!”
**BANG BANG BANG!**
Lloyd’s cheerful singing continued.
Javier’s sheath struck in time with the beat, raining down on the Hell Knight.
“The teacher is waiting for us~”
– “Ugh…”
It wasn’t the teacher that awaited him.
It felt like the gates of reincarnation were waiting.
He wished he could just faint already.
Hellfire-like tears streamed down Sir Geo-Rexius’s eyes.
But Lloyd’s song continued like a runaway train.
If the previous songs were lively and cheerful,
this one was soothing, as if to console the Hell Knight,
with terribly off-key notes in a soft voice.
“You better not cry. You better not pout. Santa Claus is com-ing↗? To town~”
– … “I want to cry instead.”
He just wanted to wail out loud.
But he couldn’t.
Because alongside Lloyd’s song, Javier’s sheath continued to fall in time with the beat.
“Santa Claus is coming to town~”
**THUMP! THUMP! BANG BANG BANG!**
“He knows if you’ve been bad or good~”
**BANG BANG BANG! THUMP THUMP! BANG!**
– “Ugh, ugh! Please stop!”
Relentless strikes to his crown!
In that storm of beat strikes, Sir Geo-Rexius thought sincerely.
Who is Santa, anyway?
He couldn’t figure it out.
But this much he knew.
Who the real bad guy was.
Who was worse than the Hell King.
– “Ugh, stop! Please, enough!”
In the end, Sir Geo-Rexius couldn’t withstand the dual assault of physical and auditory violence.
He sincerely shuddered and cried out desperately.
Perhaps as a result of this.
Lloyd’s song, which had been like an endless medley of garbage disposal, finally stopped!
“Stop? Really?”
– “Huff… Huff, thank you…”
“Too early for thanks.”
Lloyd smiled only with his mouth.
His eyes were cold as he asked the Hell Knight.
“So, are you ready to give me the answers I want?”
– “That is…”
“That is?”
– “I am a knight… I can’t just…”
“You still haven’t come to your senses, huh?”
– “Wait, that’s not…”
“Ahem, ahem. Echo on, one, two.”
– “Wait!”
“What?”
– “I mean… anything but the singing, please…”
“Is it painful?”
– “…Yes.”
Sir Geo-Rexius nodded obediently.
He spoke in a voice filled with deep sorrow.
– “The worst song I’ve heard in my life as a Hell Knight was the angels’ chorus. But to think there exists a song more annoying and filthy in this world… I never imagined.”
“Thanks for the compliment. But?”
– “Do anything but sing. You can torture me. I’ll endure any other kind of torment. But please, stop the singing.”
“No can do.”
– “But it’s unbearable. It’s not just my ears. It feels like my pride and honor are being humiliated. You might not understand, but I am a knight of hell. I live and die by the flames of the battlefield and the glory of destruction.”
“And?”
– “Your atrocious singing… It feels like it’s breaking all of that apart. Like you don’t acknowledge me as a knight at all. It’s humiliating and disgraceful.”
“So wasn’t it humiliating and disgraceful to live groveling under someone who gave you nothing in return?”
– “What?”
Sir Geo-Rexius hesitated.
Lloyd’s smile turned meaningful.
“Think about it. The Hell King, wasn’t he too much?”
– “What do you mean? My lord was not harsh.”
“Your lord, my foot. Did he provide you with proper benefits?”
– “Benefits…?”
“Rights you should enjoy as a worker.”
– “What are you talking about?”
Sir Geo-Rexius’s eyes grew wary.
Lloyd Frontera.
He couldn’t understand what this insane human was trying to imply.
But whether the Hell Knight was suspicious or not,
Lloyd’s voice grew more insidious.
“I’m asking if you ever got to leave work on time?”
– “Leave work on time…?”
“Yeah. Leaving work on time. Not worrying about your boss and just going home when it’s time. Ever done that?”
– “A knight doesn’t have such things. Just always serving their lord. And I don’t even have a home.”
“Wow. No home?”
– “Of course not. That’s a luxury Hell Knights can’t afford.”
“This is terrible. So sad.”
Lloyd’s eyes filled with empathy.
Pity overflowed from his gaze.
The Hell Knight felt like refuting.
But Lloyd’s tongue moved half a beat faster, shifting gears.
“What about the four major insurances? Did you get them?”
– … “What?”
“Insurance, you know. National Pension, Health Insurance, Employment Insurance, Work Injury Insurance. Who takes care of you when you’re hurt or sick?”
– “Well, of course…”
Nothing.
Such benefits don’t exist in hell.
When he realized that, Sir Geo-Rexius closed his mouth.
Lloyd’s sharp questioning continued.
“No such thing? So if you get hurt here, you get no work injury compensation? Not even a penny for recovery? Seriously?”
– “That’s…”
“Wow. That Hell King is really something.”
– “Don’t insult my lord…”
“No insults? But can you really not? Seriously?”
– … “Think about it. Really? No?”
– “…”
“Think about it. Isn’t that unfair? Serve and be loyal, but just be used? Isn’t that the feeling?”
– “…”
“See? You must feel resentful. Serving with loyalty and devotion only to realize you were being used. Do you know?”
– “What are you talking about?”
“It’s not just a feeling.”
– …
“Listen. A person, even if not a person. Working under someone doesn’t mean you have no rights. Right? No matter how much you’re paid, you should still get your rights.”
– “Pay…?”
“No way.”
– …
“Even no pay?”
– “Hell Knights serve for honor, not for petty compensation…”
“Honor, my foot. Without money, there’s no honor or dignity. Don’t you know?”
– …
“Hey. No matter how much you’re loyal and devoted. Even so, getting paid the minimum wage is necessary. So summarizing what we’ve found out, working non-stop with no time off, no place to stay, no leave, no insurance, and no pay? The Hell King?”
– “Don’t… insult him. He’s my lord!”
“I know. Calling him lord and all, just ordering you around and using you. Right?”
– “That’s…”
“Is that really a lord? Javier, what do you think?”
Lloyd sent a glance.
Javier caught it and quickly agreed.
“The worst kind of lord.”
“Right?”
“Yes. I am also a knight, but my lord provides lodging and pay.”
“Absolutely. That’s a proper workplace.”
“I think so too.”
– …
Lloyd and Javier’s seamless back-and-forth.
The conversation made Sir Geo-Rexius grind his teeth.
The Hell King was his lord.
Unconditional devotion and loyalty to him were natural.
Don’t compare his honor and pride to petty compensation and benefits.
He wanted to shout.
But he couldn’t.
He felt like loyalty to the Hell King was natural.
But a tiny rational voice whispered that something was wrong.
‘So I…’
I was actually treated unfairly.
But I followed the Hell King like a fool.
And the Hell King used my loyalty.
At that realization.
– “I…”
Sir Geo-Rexius trembled.
He mumbled through clenched teeth, tasting blood.
– “You might… have a point…”
“Yep. I know. It was hard to accept.”
– “No, maybe I’ve always known deep down…”
“Don’t cry. People get used sometimes. It happens.”
– “But… I…”
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
– “But… I…”
“You did nothing wrong. Right?”
– “Huh… But…”
“Of course. The real fault lies with the one who used you.”
– “Really?”
“Absolutely.”
Got it.
He’s coming around.
This Hell Knight is now ready to open up.
Now, I just need to make him mine.
Then he’ll spill all the Hell King’s plans.
Success felt close.
Lloyd clenched his fist secretly.
With a compassionate expression and gentle gaze,
he nodded warmly at the Hell Knight’s wavering eyes.
He spoke softly, encouragingly.
“So lift your head. Straighten your shoulders. You’re a proud and impressive knight. Don’t waste away in a place like that. Got it?”
– “Then…”
“What now? How should you live? It’s overwhelming, huh?”
– …
“I can tell you. Want to know?”
Nod.
Sir Geo-Rexius nodded heavily.
Toward such a Hell Knight,
Lloyd dealt the final blow.
“Simple. Just sign a contract with me.”
With a flourish!
From Lloyd’s bosom, a meticulously prepared contract appeared.
Working hours, lodging, leave, insurance, and salary details.
A thorough and comprehensive employment contract.
