WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 354: Kedianat Rangdius Nauril

= = =

"Stop."

As they reached the wall, a guard blocked the group with his spear shaft.

By reflex, Enkrid checked the guard's position, stance, foot angle, and everything else.

Two men blocked the front. Others stood behind them.

The two in front were mediocre. They were not even at a level worth discussing.

'New recruit level.'

In Enkrid and the Madmen Company, a soldier with battlefield experience but no proper training was called a new recruit.

That was by Border Guard standing army standards.

His eyes met a soldier behind them who looked like the senior.

The man glared.

As if to say, How dare you look at me like that.

'Sloppy.'

If they fought, that man would not even be able to stop a draw-cut.

More than twenty guards were stationed at the gate.

Ignoring the soldiers checking wagons and carts on one side, four had come over here.

Two blocking the front, one senior behind them, and last, a middle-aged man standing furthest back in a crooked feathered hat instead of a helmet.

A thin, long sword hung at his waist, and only that man carried himself differently.

Could he cut him?

Enkrid was sizing him up when it happened.

"You're staring too openly."

Rem spoke. It was a warning. The moment he finished, the other side spoke.

"Well, now. You sized me up, didn't you?"

The owner of the feathered hat said it with his head tilted.

His instincts were sharp too. His skill was probably the same.

Without hesitation, Enkrid nodded.

"...You're admitting it?"

The feathered hat muttered, then raised his voice.

"How many are there total?"

He threw the question at his subordinate.

The soldier at the front looked over the group.

"Seven and a beastfolk? What's with that horse too, why are its eyes like that, uh, and is that a panther?"

The guard scanned each of them and spoke. It was a ridiculous party.

A panther was still a beast. If it caused trouble, it would be a headache.

The guard quietly lowered the spear tip. He looked wary of the panther.

Or maybe he was just scared.

Enkrid had nothing to say.

Esther was a panther, but in Border Guard no one bothered to nitpick that.

Why? She was the mage by his side.

People also knew mages were mysterious and strange by nature.

Some thought Esther was just a panther, and that was fine too.

To them, Esther was Enkrid's animal.

In Border Guard, no one interfered with what Enkrid did.

But this was the capital.

Getting in was the first problem.

Should they turn back here?

The mission was to escort Crang to the capital.

Entry itself was a separate matter. Getting him inside was probably not Enkrid's responsibility.

"It's fine."

Crang said it while Enkrid was thinking, giving his shoulder a light tap.

"If all you do is worry, even things that should work won't. A sage told me that, and I forgot it without realizing."

"Hm?"

Enkrid looked at him, wondering what he meant at a time like this, and Crang's eyes shone.

"You'll become a knight, right?"

At that seriousness, Enkrid nodded.

"Of course."

"I'll ask again. Why are you standing beside me?"

Crang kept whispering. Meanwhile, the guards in front were getting more aggressive by the second.

"We can't let in a beast without a leash. More importantly, do all of you even have entry permits?"

"It's rare to see people walk in looking like trouble from head to toe. Mercenaries?"

The feathered hat was talking too.

Crang had found the weakness in Enkrid's words, so he had to ask.

Saying he would protect him because he did not know Crang's value was only a shell.

Once the headache cleared, Crang saw it. Enkrid did not move for reasons like that. Saying he'd protect him because he did not know the value was a calculated line.

What calculation was inside it?

That was what Crang wanted to know.

To Crang, Enkrid was a straightforward man who moved forward without wavering.

A man like that should not weigh profit and talk about value. So if he used that excuse, something was bothering him. That was Crang's conclusion.

"Why did you make that excuse?"

Enkrid was honestly impressed.

This bastard's instincts were sharp enough to slap Kraiss across the face.

The moment Crang used the word excuse, it felt like he had seen right through him.

Enkrid belonged to Border Guard. He had never forgotten that. If he had been a fool who never thought ahead, he would not have survived this long.

He knew where he stood, and he knew the fallout his actions could bring.

What if Count Molsen started throwing a fit right away?

That was what came back when he talked it over with Big Eyes.

"That bothers you, right?"

That bastard had said it in that irritating way of his.

"Make excuses and justifications. Keep insisting to the end."

It was a good method. This was that excuse and justification.

Was Crang really worth that much?

Enough for assassins to come as a set?

Enkrid did not know. Since he did not know, he would save him first.

They attacked while he knew nothing, so he dealt with them, that's all. Yeah. He did not know anything.

That was Enkrid's stance right now.

But Crang saw through all of it and asked.

Could he answer without the excuse?

That was the hidden meaning of the question.

"If it's you..."

As he spoke, Enkrid thought.

A knight protected. A king ruled.

Enkrid had no boiling patriotic devotion to protect Naurillia.

He was not bound to this land. He was simply someone born on it.

That did not mean he loved nothing in this country.

Enkrid cared about the small city where he was born.

He could not turn away from the people who raised him when he had no parents and would have starved to death.

"I wish war would just disappear."

A fruit seller said it while cutting away a rotten corner of an apple and splitting it in half.

"Wouldn't it be nice if everyone had some sense and just lived?"

An old waitress said it while baking potatoes over the coals.

"That damned war. Young men probably like it, heh."

An old woman who once sold her body just to survive lamented her life.

"If there had been no war, I'd have just married quietly, had children, and lived making stew."

The mixed stew that old woman gave him warmed his stomach more than ever.

"You're a genius."

There had also been a mercenary who shouted that at a young orphan and told him to survive.

That mercenary had lost a leg and was full of bluster, but he loved children, and he knew how to feed starving little beggars before filling his own belly.

Enkrid's childhood had hardship and adversity, but he did not hate it.

Not truly.

All of them were people living in this country.

He knew nothing about royalty, nobles, or their politics.

Still.

"I think you'll do well."

If the man named Crang became king, would something change?

It was instinct and prediction. Enkrid was no prophet who saw the future, so calling it a gamble was fair.

"Choose me, Enkrid. Become a knight and stand beside me."

Crang spoke. His words seemed to carry will. That intent touched him like a formless pressure.

Those words were meant only for one man, Enkrid. Even then, Enkrid did not nod. Crang moved first.

"No answer needed."

Crang said it and raised his head.

He felt calm under the threat of assassins.

At the end of that calm came realization.

'If your sword rests at your waist, mine rests in my mouth.'

It was in his head, and it flowed in his blood.

Now it was time to swing that blade.

"Matthew."

Crang called his escort by name, and the escort stepped forward.

The guards glared.

"Who are you?"

Matthew opened his mouth at Crang's instruction.

"In the name of this land's one exalted and wise Queen, I declare that the sole legitimate heir of the royal house has arrived."

The wording was difficult. The guard blinked. The senior at least had his head working.

"What did you just say?"

He grabbed the shoulder of his subordinate, who looked ready to use force at any second, and pulled him back as he spoke.

"Exactly what I said."

Escort Matthew's voice was loud, loud enough for anyone to hear.

It was noisy in front of the gate, but everyone nearby heard him clearly.

"What did he just say?"

"Legitimate royal line?"

"Is he saying he's some child the Queen hid in secret?"

Anyone with decent sense knew Naurillia was in a very complicated internal period.

Succession was always sensitive in a kingdom.

The Queen was not old, but she had no children.

She had a husband, but anyone who knew anything also knew he could not father children.

"How insolent."

Matthew spoke so everyone could hear. More precisely, he aimed it at the senior soldier blocking him.

"My lord is a descendant of Naurillia's royal house. His name is Kedianat Rangdius Nauril."

Royal names were long by nature.

They often took letters from earlier generations and put them into the new name.

By that standard, Crang's name was short.

Because he had lived hidden as an illegitimate child.

He only heard this current name after he was already grown.

So.

"Call me Crang."

Crang spoke with a skill close to ventriloquism, as if he had learned it somewhere.

Enkrid shifted his gaze toward him, and Crang continued.

"That was my real name from the start."

He had been called that since childhood. Then that was his name.

Crang did not sound like he was lying.

'I was wrong.'

Enkrid had thought it was an alias.

Now it looked like it was built from Kedianat Rangdius initials, but if Crang said it was his original name, then he must have used Crang first.

"You hold your heads too high before royal blood!"

Matthew shouted.

"...I've never once heard there was a prince. Shouldn't you prove it first?"

The man in the hat stepped forward from behind the senior.

He was the guard captain of this gate.

At the South Gate captain's words, Crang took one step forward.

"What do I need to prove myself?"

"Impersonating royalty is a grave crime."

"Then arrest me and drag me away."

Crang said it and pulled a pendant from inside his chest. It was not whole. It was half.

He had been wearing it like a necklace.

The royal crest was clear on the pendant.

It was too ornate to fake with clumsy craftsmanship.

It was smaller than a palm, and though it was only half, the royal crest was unmistakable.

Three swords and a sun beast with a round head and a flame mane.

The symbol of the royal house.

Among those, this half bore the sun beast's head.

"I heard my sister has the other half."

Only the Queen could verify Crang's identity with this.

Even so, should they let him in here?

The guard captain was troubled. Then it happened.

"I'll vouch for him."

It came from behind the captain. When had he arrived?

"I, Marcus Baisar, vouch in my own name. That man is the legitimate line and royal descendant of this kingdom."

The guard captain knew this was out of his hands now.

"Escort them inside."

He had no choice. He could not overturn a guarantee made in the name of House Centerpole here.

From this point on, it belonged to the royal palace, to those who killed people under the name of politics.

He handled metal, not tongues.

Still, he could not just let them pass without doing anything.

'Detain the companions.'

Of course, the guard captain could not get his way.

"They are all my people. Will you detain them?"

The blond man who had declared himself royal approached with a bright smile as he said it.

'I'm seriously screwed.'

If he just let them through, noble bastards would roast him alive later.

If luck went bad, he might even lose his head for admitting a band of traitors.

So what, grit his teeth and block them?

If this man was really royal, his head was gone either way.

Even an idiot would not impersonate royalty in the capital, right in front of a guard captain, so there was a very high chance this was true.

That left him unable to choose anything.

In that situation, Crang kept speaking with the same smile.

Every word stabbed into the guard captain's chest.

What noble, what official, would ever say this?

It was the first time in his life he had heard words like this, and they were an order.

"Say I insisted. Say I forced it. Say it was all because of me."

Marcus added a nod.

A shiver ran through him.

The guard captain was forty this year.

At this age, his chest trembled. His emotions almost surged out.

'What kind of man is this?'

Before he could say anything, Marcus Baisar walked up and quietly reassured him.

"I'll make sure no harm reaches you."

The guard captain nodded. His eyes never left Crang.

He looked like a very strange and singular man.

Enkrid and the others only watched.

"Man, royal backing is insane."

Only Rem sounded impressed.

As he said, no one blocked the group.

Even setting aside the wild horse with mismatched eyes, a panther walked proudly into the capital and still nobody stopped them.

They had no time to look around inside the city.

The guard unit had already sent word, and an escort came from the royal palace.

They were called the Royal Guard. Every one of them wore plate cuirasses, carried a long spear, wore one short sword on either the left or right hip, and had a kite shield strapped diagonally across the back.

All of them wore helmets painted gold. With visors lowered so only the eyes and mouth area showed, they looked naturally intimidating.

Their unified gear and expressionless eyes seemed to prove their authority.

The Royal Guard approached and formed a full ring around the group.

"We will escort you to the royal palace."

The man at the front said it. He alone wore a dull dark gray helmet.

An unplated helmet, plain as it was.

Just looking at him could have crushed a person's nerve, but was anyone here ordinary?

"See them sweating? Working hard in this heat."

That was Rem's assessment.

Jaxon said nothing as usual, but inwardly thought this was good.

He had already been looking for an excuse to get into the palace anyway.

Dunbakel rolled her eyes left and right and whispered.

"We're following them like this?"

Did they really need to go all the way inside the palace? It was a beastfolk warning after sensing danger.

"You going back? Go ahead first."

Enkrid sounded like he did not care either way. Dunbakel quickly shook her head.

"If captain stays, I stay."

"Do as you want."

Inside, Enkrid's curiosity rose.

Curiosity about what exactly Crang was doing right now.

This was not a battlefield where metal spoke in place of words, but watching Crang's back as he stepped forward, he looked like a general ready to take on a hundred men, or a thousand, alone.

Something inside Enkrid turned restless as he watched. Something in Crang had touched his own desire.

"Want to get stronger?"

Rem had said it casually, and now the words came back.

When Enkrid nodded at that obvious question, what had Rem said after that?

Holding onto that memory, Enkrid kept watching Crang's back.

= = =

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried