Chapter 71: Just Wanted to Beat You Up |
The insect chirps in the backyard of the blacksmith shop rose and fell intermittently. Moonlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the ancient trees, shining upon O’Brien’s tightly furrowed brows.
Kyle’s method made it clear—he wanted dark creatures to grow without interference. But to O’Brien, that was no different from raising a tiger that would one day bring disaster.
“How can you guarantee that once these dark creatures grow stronger, they won’t let their desires swell and start killing people?”
O’Brien’s voice was low, each word squeezed out as if through clenched teeth.
Kyle almost laughed in anger.
“Guarantee? Then how can you guarantee that those Transcendents won’t exploit the common folk?!”
“You want guarantees for everything, afraid of every risk—then why not just do nothing at all! Let those commoners keep sweeping streets, selling their labor, and when they fall sick, not even able to earn enough to sell their blood—now that would be the ‘safest’ option!”
O’Brien was momentarily speechless, his chest rising and falling once.
“You can’t have it both ways, can you?” Kyle’s tone dripped with mockery.
“But…” O’Brien tried to argue.
“No ‘but’!”
“If you insist on clinging to ‘absolute safety,’ fine! Then let them keep sweeping streets and starving—this is the path you’re choosing for them. Don’t come begging me for solutions later!”
“If you’re really capable, do it yourself! I’m just a dark creature—what do I owe you?!”
Kyle felt utterly exasperated with this kind of paladin who indulged in fantasies all day yet refused to bear even the slightest risk.
The barrage of questions struck O’Brien’s heart like hammer blows. He took a deep breath of the cool night air, forcing himself to calm down.
“You’re right,”
O’Brien finally spoke again, his voice tinged with exhaustion.
“I cannot guarantee that Transcendents won’t oppress the common folk. I’ve seen too many of them, under the guise of collecting protection fees, snatch away the last morsel of food from civilians. I’ve also seen evil mages who, merely for experiments, caused the deaths of countless innocents.”
“This is my failure, and the failure of the entire order.”
“But I have also personally witnessed countless villages and towns overrun by dark creatures. How could I ever forget those blood-streaked white bones and the wailing of shattered souls?”
“I’ve buried families whose bones were still clutched together, and I’ve personally purified vengeful spirits that destroyed entire towns in revenge for their loved ones.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you—I don’t trust ‘accidents,’ nor do I trust ‘loss of control.’”
“I’ve seen too many plans that were ‘supposedly foolproof’ end in disaster. Kyle, what you want is a distant ‘beautiful new world,’ while what I want is for the people in this world to live long enough to see that day!”
“Commoners need to survive and hold their heads high—that’s not wrong. Your subordinates wanting to exist peacefully—that’s not wrong either. But when two ‘not wrongs’ are put together, it doesn’t necessarily make it right—because in between are the fragile civilians who cannot withstand the fall.”
“Your idea is good, but I cannot just stand by and watch a group of dark creatures grow stronger!”
The air between them seemed to freeze. The insect sounds had long vanished, leaving only the rustling of leaves in the night wind.
“Finished?” Kyle’s voice turned cold.
“Finished.” O’Brien replied in a deep voice.
“Good.”
There was a trace of impatience in Kyle’s tone. With a thought, the surrounding scenery suddenly twisted and warped—
He directly dragged O’Brien into Alvaro’s domain.
“What are you doing?!”
The sudden change of scene made O’Brien’s entire body tense instantly, holy light instinctively covering him.
“Nothing much,”
Kyle controlled Alvaro’s metallic body, rotating his wrist joints with a sharp metallic grinding sound,
“I just can’t stand that cautious, stubborn paladin look on your face—so I want to beat you up! Clear your head a bit!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Alvaro’s figure turned into a streak of silver light, tearing through the air with a sharp screech as his fist shot straight toward O’Brien’s face!
***
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window lattice, awakening the sleeping Coral Thorn City.
Dean yawned as he pushed open the door. Fresh air filled his lungs. Out of habit, he glanced toward the courtyard, ready to begin his morning training.
However, the sight before him instantly wiped away all drowsiness.
There lay O’Brien sprawled in the middle of the stone courtyard, eyes tightly shut. On his face were two perfectly symmetrical, dark purple bruises under his eyes, and several obvious swollen bumps on his forehead. He looked both miserable and absurd.
“Teacher!” Dean cried out, rushing over in panic. He crouched down and carefully checked O’Brien’s breathing. Only after confirming it was steady did he finally let out a small sigh of relief.
He struggled to lift O’Brien up and helped him onto a nearby bench.
Under the sunlight, those panda-like bruises stood out even more. Dean barely managed to suppress a laugh and hurried back inside to fetch some ointment, carefully applying it to him.
After a thorough check, he found that the injuries on his teacher’s face were the most severe, while his body only had some minor bruises. That eased his mind a little.
O’Brien had already regained consciousness when Dean helped him up.
His mind was now filled with the conversation he had with Kyle before being beaten down.
“No one achieves great success by avoiding mistakes. If you’re unwilling to bear the cost of trial and error, then you can only remain stagnant forever!”
“But that cost shouldn’t be borne by innocent civilians!”
“Stop using innocence as an excuse! Are they innocent right now? Sweeping streets, starving, waiting for death when sick… Is this the ‘safety’ you want? My plan at least gives them a chance to choose!”
“Risk? What in this world doesn’t carry risk? You could choke to death just eating!”
***
“Teacher?”
“Are you alright?”
“Teacher?!”
Dean called out anxiously. Seeing his teacher sitting there motionless and dazed made his heart race.
The teacher he had finally taken—could he have been beaten stupid?
“I’m fine.”
O’Brien snapped back to his senses. His voice was hoarse, and the moment his lips moved, it tugged at the injuries on his face, making him suck in a sharp breath.
“Phew… You really scared me. It’s good that you’re okay.” Dean let out a long sigh. “Teacher, what happened last night? Did you fight someone?”
Dean felt both worried and curious. Whoever could beat his teacher into this state—how strong must they be?!
“I got beaten up by your future brother-in-law!”
O’Brien replied irritably.
He didn’t bother hiding it. His pride wasn’t that fragile, nor was his skin that thin.
“Huh?”
Dean froze for a moment, then quickly reacted. His eyes widened instantly. “Brother Kyle came last night? Then… then Sister Caitlin, she…”
The young man’s thoughts immediately became lively, and a faint blush even crept onto his face.
“Stop!”
O’Brien felt his head hurt even more—partly from the beating, partly from this foolish boy.
“I didn’t see your sister, and I didn’t talk with that brother-in-law of yours about her at all!”
Could this kid really become the first love-struck paladin?!