Chapter 554 - It Was a Confession
Inside the banquet hall, Rem dashed around like a shepherd dog, while Audin played the part of a hunter spreading rumors, lying in wait with a trap.
Enkrid couldn't care less about any of that. Too many people were looking for him. The crowd pressing in was dense—so many faces.
It felt like he would have to use Wave-Blocking Sword here. Because people were truly surging toward him like waves.
Enkrid greeted a great number of nobles. Some of them were vaguely familiar but the majority were strangers to him.
Ah, there was one amusing person in the mix. It was the same guy who had been scheming behind a merchant when they entered the capital.
"I won't ever do that again."
This noble apparently ran a few small trading companies under his command. He had no city under his charge and stayed in the capital without holding any particular rank within the royal palace.
Occasionally, he made a name for himself as a legal representative in court cases. The capital was full of nobles like this.
Some of them, having lost everything skulked around other noble's banquets. Others abused their status to conduct schemes that bordered on fraud.
Krang couldn't clean them all up, but he ensured a degree of self-regulation to keep things under control. The idea was to let the nobles live in a way befitting their status.
'Didn't he say the royal family secretly bought titles?'
They bought titles from those who failed to live up to their status and turned to crooked paths. Using force would have caused an uproar, so they resolved it with silver and gold coins.
It was something Krais had suggested, so when Enkrid had asked about it Krang had laughed.
"Big Eyes said that if a problem can be solved with Krona, it's the easiest way to handle it."
Krang had laughed as he said this.
"I agree."
Enkrid had nodded.
It was part of a conversation they had had while traveling between Aspen and Naurillia. No matter how much gold you have, you can't make someone withdraw the sword at your throat.
If a problem could be solved with Krona, it truly was the easiest way.
Krais's words came to mind. The noble who ran the trading company wasn't at the level of selling his title. He seemed to have some skill at managing things.
His methods might have been questionable, but his overall intentions weren't entirely rotten.
Given the royal palace's constant lack of funds, Krang still needed Krona donated by such nobles.
"If you're caught pulling such a stunt again, you'll lose one of your four."
Enkrid's offhanded comment turned the noble's face pale.
His face drained of blood, which was quite satisfying to see.
"One of my four?" the noble asked.
"An arm or a leg."
"Oh… those four."
"Yeah, those four."
Ignoring all pretense of noble decorum, Enkrid had spoken his mind. The noble backed off, his legs trembling slightly though he didn't collapse.
This noble wasn't some monster or great villain. So this wasn't anything significant or worth fretting over.
After all, this was a world where some lords killed everyone who entered their lands and took all their possessions.
At least in Naurillia, such things had disappeared after Count Molsan's death.
Rumor had it that if you went to the southern border of a large nation, you'd find plenty of lords who were indistinguishable from bandits.
Enkrid had personally seen plenty of them during his time as a mercenary and guide. Compared to that, swindling a few traveling merchants almost seemed cute.
Of course, if it happened again he would indeed claim one of the man's limbs.
Enkrid wasn't one to make idle threats. If he said it he would follow through, he always had.
As soon as space opened up around him, another noble approached. The pattern repeated itself and Enkrid responded with a few perfunctory words.
It was dull but not exhausting—neither physically nor mentally. He had once spent an entire night at a banquet, clinging to the arm of a noblewoman like an accessory.
This was better.
By far.
Of course, it would have been even better to spend the day swinging his sword from morning till night.
"I've fallen for you!"
Here and there, a few brave noblewomen declared their feelings.
"I'm not interested."
Enkrid shut them down without hesitation.
With Kin Baisar, the self-proclaimed most beautiful woman in the capital by his side, few ladies had the courage to approach him.
"The reputation of Kin Baisar, the most beautiful woman in the kingdom isn't unwarranted."
"…Don't say things like that."
Enkrid didn't even remember when he and Kin had started speaking so casually. But it felt natural—both their conversations and their actions.
Recently, Kin had devoted herself to running a workshop in Border Guard, which had led to a peculiar trend: young noblemen from the capital frequently visited the garrison.
But after seeing Esther or Shinar…
"Ah, so that's true celestial beauty. An angel has descended upon us."
It was the reason why their nicknames—Black Witch and Golden Flower had spread even to the capital.
Kin hadn't sought such titles, but young men who visited Border Guard often said such things about her.
"Kin may be the capital's most beautiful, but the kingdom's most beautiful are the Black Witch and the Golden Flower."
While Enkrid didn't particularly care, the remarks were still irritating. And it didn't help that both were frequently seen near him.
As Enkrid caught a breather from the tiresome exchanges, he spotted Rem blending in surprisingly well with the banquet crowd.
"Did you know? If you mention women in Border Guard, there's a crazed stray cat who goes wild for human or beastkin alike."
Rem's confident demeanor and casual chatter, drink in hand suggested he had done this many times before. His motives were obvious, but at least he wasn't breaking anyone's neck in the middle of the banquet.
Enkrid's gaze naturally sought out Audin, who had stationed himself in a corner wearing a soft smile as he reassured a group that he was not a bear beastkin and did not have a hobby of tearing people apart.
He then followed up with comments about a pair of gloomy stray cats in Border Guard, their blood-crazed youngest and how unfortunate his "indiscreet mouth" was.
Enkrid was perceptive and neither Rem nor Audin were hiding their intentions. Their antics were obvious.
At that moment, at least Rem and Audin were of one mind. It wasn't a bad thing to witness. At the very least, the banquet's atmosphere was lively.
Krang had said he was sorting through which nobles were worth keeping around. When discussing Aspen's downfall, he had summed it up neatly: "In an environment where you must rely on religion, with two powerful houses to keep the king in check, you can't do anything freely."
"And you're different?"
Naurillia's royal family too, had long been influenced by the Holy Church and the balance of the state religion.
Krang's response had been striking.
"I am different."
When asked how, his answer had been memorable: "A friend and knight who shares my goal is on my side."
At such moments, Krang's words were shamelessly confident yet true.
Enkrid was a knight, and their goals aligned. Krang gestured to the nobles.
"Take it easy on him. Otherwise, he'll start hating the word banquet."
A young, clean-cut noble stepped forward, full of flowery compliments and asked: "Your Majesty, what will you do next?"
In Naurillia, there were the emerging noble faction, nobles who covertly supported the royal family, and the overtly loyal royalists. All of them were ultimately Krang's people, though on the surface they appeared divided.
Krang placed his goblet on the table with a deliberate thud. Since the banquet followed a standing format, there were no chairs everyone stood.
Drawing the nobles' attention with his natural charisma, Krang smiled and announced: "For the time being."
For the time being? Enkrid turned his gaze toward him. Rem and Audin noticing the relative hush, also looked on.
With all eyes on him the royal bloodline smiled as he spoke: "My goal is to live well and eat well."
Though the statement seemed out of place, those with sharper minds understood immediately. It was time to consolidate their foundation.
As they ate, drank and observed a group entered the banquet hall. They were draped in flowing robes adorned with large grapevine patterns, priests of the God of Abundance.
"Enkrid of the Border Guard."
"Who doesn't know that name in this land?"
The priest spoke with the same smile, but Enkrid didn't particularly like his face. Still he didn't spit on the smiling priest, he simply let it be.
However, when he saw the clear long scar of a blade on the priest's exposed forearm and the way he walked, it was clear this was no ordinary priest. The traces of training were evident.
"May the light of abundance rest upon the hero."
The high priest, offering his respects marveled at, all that which Enkrid had accomplished before withdrawing. The priests following him quickly departed in a group.
The banquet continued late into the night and ended quietly.
The next day strange rumors began to spread, rumors about a fugitive heretic. It was the story of a priest who betrayed his god, abandoned someone akin to a father and fled.
Heretics, in some ways were persecuted even more harshly than cultists. It wasn't hard to figure out who was at the center of the rumors.
The heretic supposedly gained the strength of a bear through misguided faith and had the bulk to match it. Someone seemed to be spreading the word with deliberate intent.
Yet Enkrid uncaring whether rumors spread or not, set out for the Border Guard.
"Don't mind it. It's all nonsense."
The captain of the guard, who was fanatically loyal to Enkrid personally came to see him off and spoke those words.
Having already exchanged greetings at the banquet, there was no need to see anyone else so he left quietly.
The captain, holding the reins spoke again.
"That merchant scum won't pull something like that again."
"What? Did you kill him?"
Rem asked from behind, and the captain merely smiled without answering. Even if he hadn't killed the man it was clear he'd made him suffer, there was no need to ask.
"Make way! The Unyielding Knight of the Madmen Order is departing!"
There was no need to announce it so loudly, but the captain shouted and the crowd parted in response. Everyone in the capital watched as Enkrid departed.
From demon slayer to the Unyielding-Wall Knight.
A supreme hero born of Naurillia. Despite the noble faction's opposition, to the common citizens of the kingdom, Enkrid was a hero beyond compare.
"Blessings on your journey!"
Someone said it and soon the crowd repeated the words. People wearing coifs or straw hats removed them and bowed their heads.
Enkrid had entered quietly, but now as he left, nearly the entire capital watched him. There was no space for rumors to reach his ears.
Thus, on his return journey, the sound of horses' hooves clattered and the afternoon autumn sunlight enveloped the entire group.
Just as they were leaving the city, Audin spoke to Enkrid.
"I am that heretic."
It was a confession.
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Many thanks to azuring for proofreading the chapter