DBOFS 74

Chapter 74

It sent shivers down my spine.

The familiar face of Mei, twisted into such an alien smile, was reminiscent of a scene straight out of a horror movie.

“Where did they figure it out from?”

Swish. The woman in a maid outfit swept her hair back.

Her face, briefly obscured by the motion, transformed into another form, and a man in a dark robe, as if black ink had been poured over him, appeared in her place.

This time, there were no distinguishing features except that the face partially visible beneath the deep hood of the robe could be considered handsome.

The man, Camillo, sat across from me and quietly observed me.

“I’m really curious… well, there’s plenty I’m curious about.”

Thump. Camillo placed a note on the table in front of me.

“First, I’d like you to explain why you sent me this note.”

The neatly folded note contained the information I had asked Alucas to relay to the head of the Information Guild, and I had been certain a response would come.

[Guillier Gaizen.]

That was the name of the heir recently produced by the Isag Duke family.

As mentioned before, the Isag Dukes of the North do not follow bloodline succession.

The first Duke, the holy knight Isag, unlike Godwin or Rayer, refused wealthy fiefs and voluntarily went to the harsh North.

At that time, the North had suffered the most from destruction.

Monsters that appeared even after the Void was sealed, frozen lands, distrust among humans due to food shortages, and slums…

“It was practically a lawless zone.”

The newly established empire naturally did not have the capacity to care for such regions.

But Duke Isag did.

He personally defeated the beasts that plagued the North with overwhelming force and, using the wealth and honor earned from saving the people, purchased grain to feed the starving citizens.

He also unified the scattered northern populace through strict leadership, punishing criminals who turned the North into slums…

“Yes, yes, very great, but incredibly boring.”

To the people of this world, he was impressive, but as a reader, such an exemplary figure is dull.

Moreover, he was a mere extra in the story, not a main character!

Naturally, it would be impossible to remember him. But why do I remember him?

The reason was simple.

“Duke Isag was canonically a virgin!”

A holy knight who remained pure despite being a hero? You don’t forget a setting like that.

Duke Isag had pledged to serve a saint, and he kept this vow his entire life—never marrying, never seeing children, and raising orphans as his disciples.

The orphans who learned martial arts directly from Duke Isag grew into astonishingly strong knights, becoming the pillars protecting the North from monsters.

“And among those disciples, the greatest one was chosen to inherit the family.”

At this point, a cynical reader might think:

• Isn’t this just glorification?

• Even if he officially never married, who knows what he did behind the scenes?

• Yeah, I don’t buy it—probably a secret child twist coming up.

Apparently, the residents of the Shicheon-Gui world thought the same.

The most outstanding disciple, who became the second Duke of Isag, Naria, was speculated to be “Duke Isag’s illegitimate child.”

Various noble houses, including the royal family, offered marriage proposals.

Since the Isag family controlled the North, the plan was to link the empire through marriage.

But.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot marry. Please withdraw all proposals.”

Naria publicly rejected all proposals.

Of course, the suitors did not accept the refusal easily.

“Duke Isag, even if the previous Duke pledged chastity, you need not continue the same?”
“What? Duke, the Isag family is one of the founding families of the empire. Are you seriously going to end the line?”
“Duke, this is an order. Without a proper reason, refusal will not be accepted.”

Under the barrage of objections, Naria had no choice but to reveal the reason.

“I cannot accept marriage proposals.”
“Why?”
“Because the martial arts perfected by the previous Duke can only be learned by someone with a pure body.”
“…!!”

The empire was stunned by Naria’s answer. Half were amazed, thinking, “What kind of martial art is this?!” and half shocked, realizing, “The hero Duke Isag really was a virgin until his death!”

Moreover, it was revealed that losing chastity would nullify the martial arts, destroy the core, and lead to death—a radical side effect that shook the entire continent.

“This is true madness…!”

Even I, as a reader, was astonished.

“That’s the child-gong (童子功)!”

A legendary skill from martial arts novels that’s rarely learned because the protagonist cannot become impotent, but supporting characters often do—it was appearing here in a Western fantasy setting!

Thanks to the story Naria revealed, all marriage proposals to the Isag family were withdrawn, and most who coveted the Isag family’s martial arts backed down.

“Guess no one wanted to live as a eunuch.”

Of course, not everyone believed Naria. Some dared to defy the rules, and one such person infiltrated the Isag household as an orphan to steal the martial arts.

However…

“Aaaah-!”

That infiltrator, practicing martial arts with impure intent, was found with a woman in a back-alley inn and suddenly died. Investigations confirmed that his mana core was destroyed, and he died from shock.

After this, attempts became quieter.

Even attempts to seduce the Isag knights occurred, but knights who lost their chastity either died or failed, reducing the number of conspirators.

Thus, the Isag Dukes became like a martial arts sect.

“Meaning, bloodline nobility doesn’t matter at all.”

They were the only founding family not linked by marriage to the royal family.

“Marriage alliances were impossible for this family from the start.”

Yet even if their bloodline wasn’t noble, who could say the Isag Dukes weren’t honorable? Some even said they were greater than the royal family in some ways.

‘Guillier Gaizen’ was chosen as heir from such a great family.

But actually, the person the Isag Dukes originally intended as heir wasn’t him…

“The Isag family’s vile prodigal daughter, ‘Iogena Zion.’”

Camillo answered calmly.

“You’re also holding the protagonist of a pulp novel.”

“……”

As the title suggests, the 19+ novel The Corrupt Knight Every Night is simple:

A knight renowned for purity, Ion, is secretly corrupt and caught doing impure acts every night.

Its popularity came not just from tension and the erotic scenes, but…

“Mostly because it’s based on real people.”

In the past, the Isag family had two favorites: the beautiful and strong Iogena Zion, and the martial arts-obsessed Guillier Gaizen.

Guillier Gaizen had originally been an orphan wandering the northern mountains, feared as a monster. Iogena Zion gave him the name “Gaizen” and brought him to the Isag household.

Iogena Zion, then a minor duchess, personally taught him martial arts. They were as close as siblings.

But once Gaizen’s strength surpassed Iogena, tension arose.

When Duke Isag gave Gaizen the second name ‘Guillier,’ signaling him as heir, their relationship completely broke.

“A second name was only for heirs.”

Iogena, driven by jealousy and fear of losing her place, plotted to corrupt Gaizen with beauty, alcohol, and drugs to steal his chastity!

“Given the martial arts, it was practically an assassination attempt.”

But Gaizen did not fall, and Iogena fell into her own trap…

“She lost her chastity and died.”

Camillo’s calm voice cut in.

Even in the honorable Isag family, the scandal was so sensational that the whole empire was abuzz.

“Even pulp novels were written about it.”

Even long afterward, such stories remained bestsellers.

“Even if she survived, her mana core would have been destroyed, so it would be like death.”

Beneath the robe, Camillo’s face remained hidden as he spoke dryly.

“Yes, normally that would be the case….”

Knowing it wasn’t a hypothetical, I spoke slowly.

“Luckily, you survived.”

“……What?”

“While dying, you awakened as a superhuman and were fortunately found by a passing guide, who trained you.”

Adrian, the strongest guide.

I smiled, resembling Adrian, and asked:

“Isn’t that right, Iogena Zion?”

The one who changed names, hid her gender and identity, and lived as head of the Information Guild.

Iogena Zion faced me with a frozen expression.