Terminally-Ill Genius Dark Knight

Chapter 17

A few days after that.

I went demon hunting with Zitri and Rona.

The location was Mia’s Forest, which had been captured and transformed into an ordinary forest.

It was said that Grey Wolves and the like would still intermittently appear outside, so it was necessary to send troops to hunt them down every so often.

‘The game world has become quite realistic.’

Aha!

I guess I’ve gotten pretty good at it after all.

As for the Grey Wolves, they were no match for me.

Below me, a giant Gray Wolf lies on the ground, breathing heavily. There was no mercy at my disposal.

I didn’t even feel the need to activate the Time of Genius.

CRACK!

[Steals a small amount of Grey Wolf’s health, gaining two hours of life].

With the roar of the beast, a message appeared.

I let out a frustrated breath as I read the details.

For your information, I am currently hunting in the forest owned by the Reinhafer family.

The reason for the frown, of course, is that the results are not good.

One might say.

I’ve added a whopping two hours of life to just one beast.

Isn’t that a pretty successful hunt?

Yes.

But that’s bullshit.

For example, problem one.

This is how long it takes me to hunt a beast without triggering [Genius Hour].

About an hour.

This isn’t even math, it’s too wrong.

As a result, I’ve earned an hour, but if I take into account the time I spent preparing for this and that, and the work that went into it… it’s just a loss.

Anyway, it may not be bad in the sense that you can increase your stats such as strength and will, but dying is no different than before.

It’s just a matter of whether you die sooner or later.

Shit.

The second problem.

This one is simple.

Am I going to be slaying monsters every hour? No, I’m not.

I’m human, I have to eat and go to the bathroom. Even then, time is going to go by fast and dirty without a care in the world.

Problem three.

Here’s the real problem… The monsters are not infinite.

These days, especially since I’ve dried up the crop, they’re either dangerous or half-assed when I try to find stronger ones.

This is why my grand plan to extend my life is in shambles.

“Haha, it’s a shame that there are so few demons around these days.”

“……I can’t believe you’re talking about the lack of demons. If the others hear you, they’ll think you’ve lost your mind.”

Rona says, pointing at me as I sit on a tree stump.

I have to admit, for once, she has a point.

It’s a shame there aren’t more of them in this monster-infested world. There shouldn’t be.

Unless you’re a madman who can’t stay alive without killing them.

“The problem is, that’s me.

It’s a shitty thing, but my mentality has hardened over the past few days of hunting. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t get angry at things like this anymore.

Rona is grumpy, Zitri’s mind is still a mystery, and her aide Hana is a genius.

She’s still playing the spy, but what’s the point of me doing anything stupid when I already know she’s one of Theo’s minions?

There’s nothing to report, nothing to file.

I’ll just go hunting, travel day and night, come back and swing my sword.

Theo would simply think his youngest son had improved.

He’ll see if his youngest son can distinguish himself in Eldain.

And he’s wondering if I’ll ever be useful to him.

“You’ve had a long day!”

Zitri is the first to speak, and she smiles at me.

I take the drink she offers and take a sip.

Now that I look at her again, she doesn’t look like an extra after all.

Her beautiful green hair falls neatly into a bun as befits her profession as a maid, and her sharp features are visible beneath her round, cute face.

To top it all off, her porcelain skin is flawless, catching the light clearly.

Beautiful. If Talia was a colorful flower, she was a plain, pretty face.

“Good work.”

I nodded appropriately, then turned to leave.

“Do you want me to preheat the bath water? I’ll set it to a temperature that’ll be nice and warm!”

“I’d like to do it before we eat, so make it timely.”

“Yes!”

Zitri smiles, her face radiating neatness.

But there’s a shade in that hidden expression that the others can’t see.

I know it.

“Don’t forget about me, Young Master, I’m going to clean up the room!”

“What? …Whatever.”

I’ve suddenly grown up.

I smiled sheepishly, enjoying the lavish care of the two of them.

They seemed to feel that they were about to be fired.

From what I’ve heard, even the mansion’s butlers and maids have their own cliques, and who they serve determines whether they get promoted or not.

In that sense, Rona is in the worst situation.

She’s been labeled by me, so she won’t have much chance of advancement unless I succeed.

But whatever.

“Well, I’m going to go clean the room first…oooh!”

Rona quickly disappears.

The way she’s walking around, it’s like she can’t wait to get some rest.

Anyway, she’s done her job, so why bother? I’ve done my part, and she’s done hers, and it doesn’t matter anymore.

More importantly, right now. What to do with Zitri.

Deciding what I will do with her.

“Zitri.”

“Yes. Young Master Knox!”

This time, Zitri said with a smile.

I continued calmly.

“There is something I wish to ask you.”

“If you… want to… ask… what is it…….”

For the first time, Zitri’s voice trailed off, and her perpetual smile cracked. For some reason, just saying that she would ask a question.

That’s all it took to break her expression.

“Who do you serve?”

“…What?”

It was the most important thing to me.

Zitri de Robilia.

She has the fraudulent trait of [Throne Genius], but I will abandon her outright if I can’t handle her properly.

No matter how beautiful and well-honed a sword is, if I cannot use it.

If it is a sword that will cut off my hand, I will have no regrets.

I am not foolish enough to cling to something that was never mine to begin with.

If it’s for the best, even if it means a tragic future.

I am willing to endure it.

I was never a saint to begin with.

Just a man struggling to get by. From the beginning.

Yes, from the beginning.

I inhale lightly, then exhale again.

Zitri’s slender shoulders shuddered. What it means, I already know.

But it had to be done.

If she sides with me here. I could save her.

No, those words would not be appropriate.

I can, and she can. We’ll be able to use each other.

That’s all there is to it.

But I don’t think that’s the most important thing.

Because I don’t believe in trust.

It’s enough that we can use each other.

At least between Zitri and me.

“…….”

For a split second, I see Zitri’s mouth drop open. This was not the behavior of a spy.

If she wanted to lie, she could have done so to me from the start.

If she had simply said, “Of course I’m in your service!

If only she had said, “Of course I’m serving you!

Then foolish Nox would not have been deceived.

But for some reason, she hasn’t even said anything at this point.

Okay, okay.

“So that’s your answer.”

“……I haven’t said anything yet, Young Master, I’m not….”

“I know what you want to say. I have no intention of chastising you. On the contrary, I’m grateful. At least you didn’t lie, don’t worry.”

I looked her in the eyes, sharpening.

“No matter who you are, I will take you as mine. If I need to, I will use you. And you can use me, that’s all.”

So much the better to get what you want.

With that, I turned and walked back into my room.

“Take an early night tonight.”

There was no reply. Zitri de Robilia just stood there, staring at the scoundrel she’d come to serve.

She could not help but think about Nox.

* * *

“So, Young Master Knox is really too hard on me? He always asks me to run with him in training… ‘If you don’t run with me, what fun am I going to have training?’ Don’t you think that’s too much?”

Sitting across from Rona’s harsh words, Zitri, who was toweling off, smirked.

“Haha, of course…….”

I thought to myself.

She’d heard all the rumors about Nox before she came to Reinharbour, and she knew them well.

How he was an asshole and a troublemaker.

What the people thought of him.

But yesterday.

When she heard Nox’s words, a tiny, tiny crack opened up in her beliefs.

‘They say he’s not as talented as the first and second, and that he defeated the third and fourth sons in one fell swoop to get into Eldain Academy.

But…… I figured that was most likely a fabricated rumor, too, since people rarely suddenly transform.

The truth is, Zitri was clearly a pessimistic person.

Not surprising, since she’d grown up in a situation where she had no choice but to be.

Bad luck.{1}

Those two words were like an indelible stain on her life.

That’s how her life had been.

Of course, it wasn’t through any fault of her own.

The first misfortune she could remember was the death of her parents.

Her healthy parents had been killed by her uncle, who had conspired against them.

Afterward.

Her position as the heiress to a prominent family was quickly undermined.

Her uncle’s machinations were too much for young Zitri to handle, and the family name was lost forever.

From then on, it was a living hell.

Misery followed her everywhere, stinging her every moment.

There was the persecution of her uncle, the subtle disrespect of her vassals, and the beatings by the daughters and sons.

She would rather die.

But there was a ray of light in her resolve.

“Is there hope for me?” she asked herself.

It was a letter that made her think.

The sender was Theo von Reinhafer, head of the Reinhafer family, and he was asking for a maid for his household.

That evening. After some discussion, Zitri agreed to become a maid for House Reinhafer, which kept her awake at night.

The Reinhafers are a third-generation Dark House.{2}

She wanted to start over there and get out of this hell.

The Zitri family is known for producing many maids and butlers for prestigious families. Her own talent for housekeeping was near perfection.

So… even though she thought she was going to die, she believed she could do it.

She believed she could do it.

“The person you will be in charge of is my youngest son, Nox von Reinhafer.”

The moment she heard that, she felt her plan completely fall apart.

It was obvious.

Nox.

How ugly and dirty were his rumors?

That he’d laid hands on countless women, that he’d beaten his servants, even though he hadn’t yet crossed the line.

In effect, you have sent yourself into exile.

Your uncle has removed you so that he can more properly assume power, and the patriarch of House Reinhafer has accepted.

Now that she realized it, all she could think about was surviving here.

It was still hard to believe, though Nox hadn’t called Zitri to him from day one, as she’d thought he would, or beaten her at will as he’d done in the past.

It was still hard to believe.

‘What you said yesterday… and what it meant.’

Zitri had made one big mistake yesterday.

She’d thought she could just smile and laugh it off as a silly Nox.

He would put his hands on her in a dirty way, or if he did, she’d put up with it somehow.

No matter how hellish life here was, it was nothing like life in the House that had been taken from her.

She would grit her teeth and endure it.

But Nox’s words were a far cry from what she’d been thinking.

[Whom do you serve].

It was a question that cut to the core.

He realized she was being paid by someone else to spy on Nox.

But Nox was nonchalant, as if he already knew this.

It’s okay, he said.

We can use each other if we need to.

I wonder why.

The words stuck in the back of Zitri’s mind like a sore thumb…….

While she was lost in thought, she heard Rona’s cheerful voice.

“Hmm…… Zitri is not very talkative, don’t worry I’ll take care of you since you’re my first junior, I’m a bit of an ass here, but I’m not the only one!”

Lorna puffed out her chest proudly, and Zitri smiled as wide as ever.

As she picks up the laundry, she asks naturally.

“Of course! But, senpai… I’m done, is there anything else I can do?”

“What? You… you! When did you finish mine…?!”

Rona exclaimed angrily, realizing that she had done her share of the work.

Her face quickly flushed. Just a few moments ago, she was supposed to show her new junior what a proper performance was….

What the hell?

Rona swallowed hard.

‘There’s no doubt about it, Zitri is… a lyric god!'{3}

She’d caught the bull by the horns.

Though not exclusively a lyricist, Jitri did possess the Throne Genius trait.

Somehow, Zitri realized the blatant meaning behind the gaze directed at her, but she didn’t flinch.

To hide oneself.

Wearing a mask is what she is most familiar with.

* * *

Several days passed.

An unfounded rumor began to circulate within House Reinharbour.

The details of the rumor were that Zitri had been dismissed from the family and was no longer worthy of being a Maid of Reinhafer.

Surprisingly, the rumor did not die down, but continued to spread.

The person responsible for the incident remained tight-lipped.

Next Chapter

{2} : pretty sure this is a chaebol reference

{3} : there’s a pun here about lyrics and performance that doesn’t translate well