The Return of the Talented Monopolist is Special

An isolated island far from the Penchel family estate.

In the middle of it stood a towering, massive tower.

“Lord Muel, it’s lunchtime.”

“…”

“Lord Muel!”

“Oh, right, right.”

The man, called Muel, looked up from the book he was engrossed in in the top floor of the tower, a room full of books, as the butler called him.

He was none other than the first son of the Penchel family, Jade Penchel, a child born with a rare talent and seen as an outcast. Due to his frail health, he had found it difficult to adapt to life within the Penchel household and had been living alone here, studying magic.

“And, Lord Muel.”

“Hmm? Is it the same tasteless health food again?”

“No, that’s not it…”

The butler carefully spoke up.

“There are… noteworthy individuals in this upcoming exam. I thought you might want to see them.”

“Noteworthy? Is it someone like Eldora? How many others are there?”

“Well, there’s… Eugene. Lord Lillian’s son.”

Muel paused for a moment, then asked again.

“Is this the same kid who, five years ago, made everyone distribute flyers to find a martial arts master, that reckless one?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

Muel thought for a while and then burst out laughing.

“Haha, that kid… he’s 12 now, right? I guess he’s grown a lot in the meantime.”

“I suppose so.”

The dedicated butler nodded and then shifted the topic.

“By the way, Lord Muel, didn’t you say you were planning to visit the family estate? To be exact, the herbal area near the estate?”

“Right, I need to go. I’m looking for a specific herb.”

A few days later.

Eugene and Raul were standing in the training hall, having fully recovered from the wounds sustained during the Trial of the Beast.

Standing beside them were Goldsword and Raul’s escort knight.

The two had become close enough that they were chatting in low voices.

Eugene was holding a wooden sword, while Raul had a wooden spear.

“Should I judge your duel?”

“It’s fine. I’ll call for you if we need it.”

Raul, looking around the training hall, spoke with an excited expression.

“You know, Eugene, this 3rd floor training hall is supposedly reserved for the elite knights directly under the Penchel family. But the family head has made a special allowance for you to use it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and the facilities and weapons here are top-notch!”

Since the Trial of the Beast, Raul had noticed the shift in Eugene’s status. The fact that they were given permission to use the 3rd-floor training hall, and the respectful attitude of the escort knights towards Eugene, was proof of that.

But Eugene seemed indifferent to it.

“By the way, did you practice Ran’nachal some more?”

“Of course.”

“Wanna spar a bit?”

Raul confidently raised his spear, and Eugene slowly walked towards him, pushing his sword into Raul’s guard.

Swish, swoosh!

Soon, Eugene’s sword began to press Raul hard.

If Raul were holding a sword, he would’ve been drenched in sweat, barely managing to defend himself. However…

Thud! Clang!

Raul, wielding a spear, successfully deflected Eugene’s sword using both the spear and the shaft.

In fact, he even countered, making Eugene hesitate with a well-timed strike.

“Oh.”

‘It’s only been a few days since Raul picked up a spear, and he’s already this good. He might be a good sparring partner in the future.’

Eugene stopped and admired the progress.

“Heh, it’s all thanks to you.”

“Yeah, so let’s pick up the speed a bit.”

Eugene readied his sword.

“Sure, I’m ready anytime—”

Whoosh!

Raul took a deep breath, slightly startled.

Eugene’s footwork was barely responded to, but when the sword came at him from a strange angle, he felt a sudden, dizzying sensation.

He had faced Eugene’s movements before, even before the Trial of the Beast, but this time was different.

Eugene moved in a way that picked out unexpected openings, and whenever there was even the slightest gap, the sword would inevitably strike.

At the same time, Raul realized that Eugene was controlling his strength.

He was probably making sure not to hurt him.

Raul’s pride was a little hurt, but there was also a strange warmth in his blood.

“Don’t hold back! If you’re going to get hurt, just get hurt!”

Without saying anything, Eugene nodded.

“Hm, that might actually be better for you, brother. Let’s try using aura too.”

At once, Raul gathered his aura.

Eugene did the same, utilizing the second-tier Mugwang that he had upgraded.

Whoosh!

Eugene’s body was wrapped in a rough-textured aura.

Eugene’s unique swordsmanship, developed while facing 12-year-old Jade, unfolded.

The movements, a combination of Ghost Acrobatics, the basic swordsmanship of the Penchel family, and Goldsword’s style, blended seamlessly with Mugwang.

Raul barely managed to follow Eugene’s swordsmanship with his eyes.

Shing!

Before he knew it, Eugene’s sword was near Raul’s neck.

“Ah…”

“Hah, it’s because you haven’t practiced enough yet. But the spear is definitely much better.”

“…Yeah.”

When Eugene relaxed his strength, it was clear that Raul was checkmated in less than 10 seconds.

He could definitely feel the wall in front of him.

Of course, he had sensed that even before the exam.

“I really need to change.”

“You can do it, brother.”

Eugene secretly smiled inside.

‘Since Raul has started handling a spear, once we get past that incident, I think he’ll pass.’

Raul nodded to Eugene’s encouragement, set his spear down, and took a breath.

Though it was brief, after the intense sparring, his injuries felt like they were flaring up again.

Noticing this, Eugene scratched his head.

“Don’t you need to take your medicine again later? Looks like it hasn’t fully healed yet.”

“Ah… I really don’t want to go back to the apothecary.”

“Why? The Penchel family uses really good medicine, doesn’t it? It should be really effective.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Raul whispered in a small voice.

“The apothecary is… strange.”

“What’s strange about him?”

“His eyes are all slit, and his expression is kind of creepy. He’s definitely an apothecary, but his hands are covered in scars, and if you listen closely, his accent is mixed. I think he’s from the South, not the North.”

“…Really?”

Eugene suddenly thought of someone.

‘Could it be? He had a suspicious look when we were saying goodbye at the family estate. No way…’

Eugene let out a bewildered laugh, then quickly had a good thought.

‘I’ll check it out first, and if it’s true, that could actually work out well for us.’

It was then.

From downstairs, the voices of several people could be heard, raising their voices in protest.

“Doesn’t this seem strange to you!? What more do you need to discuss? It’s obvious just by looking at it, isn’t it!?”

“The direct line passed all the way through the Ice Cave’s 2nd and 3rd levels, but the collateral branches fell off from the beginning!”

“They gave the direct line members traps that are easy to avoid, and we can only think they were given information in advance!”

From the content, it seemed like the guards of the fallen candidates were questioning whether there had been any corruption among the Penchel family members.

“Make them retake the test! There’s no way our family’s heir could fail the test so easily!”

“Right! Prepare for a retest!”

Eugene put his hand to his forehead and shook his head.

“Geez… what are they trying to do with this nonsense? How are they going to handle the aftermath?”

“Why? Do you think they’re going to knock us out? Well, it’s understandable from the perspective of the fallen candidates.”

“Do you think they’re going to knock us out?”

Eugene chuckled softly.

“If that’s all it takes, I’d actually be relieved.”

“Huh?”

Eugene, Raul, Goldsword, and the guards slowly descended to the first-floor training hall.

When they arrived on the first floor, it was even more of a spectacle.

A large, imposing knight, radiating a fierce aura, was shouting so loudly that the entire training hall echoed.

He was shouting at the Penchel family representative who had come to announce the results of the test.

“Do you think we’re a bunch of fools!?”

From Eugene’s senses, the knight’s level was roughly in the low 7th tier.

A 6th-tier knight is treated with utmost respect in most knight orders, and a 7th-tier knight would have lived comfortably without much trouble until now.

However, what was more important now was not whether this hulking, unruly knight was truly a 7th-tier knight.

What mattered was that ‘that person’ was walking toward them from the opposite side of the entrance.

“I understand your frustration, but please sit down and listen to the explanation. The crystal orb contains all the records; how could we have used any tricks?”

The representative calmly continued, but the knights didn’t seem willing to listen.

“Are you saying it’s not a trick, but that you did leak information beforehand?”

The knight growled and pointed his finger at the representative.

The representative’s expression slowly hardened.

“…Penchel doesn’t do such things. The story is fine, but it’s hard to tolerate such insulting actions, so—”

“Do you know how long it took to get here? How would you feel if your family’s heir failed the test like this!?”

And then, it happened.

Screech.

The door at the entrance slowly opened, and ‘that person’ appeared.

“Hah… this is something.”

It was Clark Penchel.

The knights who had been protesting flinched at Clark’s arrival, but they still didn’t back down.

“I’ve heard everything. The representative will go inside; I’ll handle this.”

“Sir Clark Penchel, we believe you will consider our grievances.”

The knights spoke in a much more polite tone than before.

However, Clark didn’t seem interested in that.

“Let’s do this.”

“Please, show us reasonable treatment—”

“Three knights who personally came all the way here to protect your weaklings, fight me. With real swords.”

“…What, what?”

“If one of those swords even brushes my clothes, I’ll allow them to retake the test.”

Clark didn’t wait for the stunned knights to respond, and he moved to the center of the training hall.

“Use aura, magic, whatever you need. I’ll fight with this wooden sword, relying only on pure physical strength.”

The three knights exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and drew their swords from their waists.

Swish, swish!

Eugene assessed their combat capabilities.

‘One is in the early 7th tier, one is in the mid 6th tier, and one is in the early 6th tier. If they use their combination skills, they might reach the mid-to-late 7th tier in fighting power.’

Of course, Eugene knew Clark’s personality and figured that he was probably just going to enjoy a bit of entertainment.

“If it really comes to this, I have no choice!”

“Don’t blame us, Sir Clark!”

The three knights charged simultaneously.

Their swords flew at lightning speed. From their movements, it was clear they were capable.

But…

“You should have ended this with words when you had the chance.”

Clark moved his arms a few times, and when he stopped…

Crack!

Crunch!

Crunch!

The sounds of something breaking and shattering echoed one after another.

“Ahhh!”

“Ughhh…”

Before long, the three knights were lying on the floor, their legs broken, knees crushed, and elbows twisted in unnatural directions.

Eugene momentarily realized.

‘Right. Uncle Clark’s alias was that, wasn’t it?’

He saw the image of a huge turtle’s hard shell briefly appear in the air as an illusion before disappearing.

Clark’s fighting style, which struck with heavy blows, was known by his alias: Hyeonmu (玄武), the Black Tortoise.

With just three strikes, Clark had subdued the three highly trained knights.

Thunk.

Clark threw his wooden sword to the ground and approached the fallen knights.

“Ugh…”

“Listen carefully.”

With the heavy, trembling tone that followed, Eugene exhaled quietly.

“This is Penchel… If you have complaints, prove your worth.”