WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 356: Andrew Put Up a Desperate Fight.

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The six nobles did not say a single word to him.

They treated Crang and Enkrid as if they did not exist.

"Wait quietly. Do not open your mouth unless you are asked. Do not raise your head and make eye contact. Answer sincerely when spoken to. If Her Majesty calls you, step forward, kneel on one knee, and answer."

Viscount Bantara came over and said that in the middle of everything. Enkrid nodded without reacting to the foul smell.

Unless you were Beastfolk or had trained Sensory Art, it was probably hard to catch that kind of scent.

None of the others stepped up, only Viscount Bantara did, so he looked like the one who always handled the dirty work.

Enkrid suddenly grew concerned and asked,

"Are you being ostracized?"

Were the other nobles deliberately dumping all the rough work on him?

If that was true, maybe he should tell him to dangle a carrot, like Jaxon did.

Viscount Bantara did not even blink.

His mental strength was unusual. There was not the slightest shake in him.

Maybe Count Molsen really did have an eye for people.

Through the wide sleeves, Enkrid could see well-trained forearm muscles.

Those were the arms of someone who had held a sword for years. The palm he showed while speaking was the same. It looked like Enkrid's own, a palm that had split and split again while gripping a sword.

"Watch your mouth."

Viscount Bantara continued in a warning tone. Enkrid only shrugged.

Maybe the exchange felt novel, because two nobles turned to look at them.

Still, none of them spoke.

After a short wait, a few nobles began whispering. They covered their mouths and leaned in close to one another's ears.

They thought no one could hear them, but Enkrid had Sensory Art.

Once he focused, their conversation came through clearly.

"He's low class."

"I heard his skill is on par with a squire."

"Did that bastard son bring him to get him recommended into a knight order? As thanks for escorting him all the way here?"

"Look at the state of the one he brought as his own man."

"He does have the kind of face that would do well under some noblewoman's skirts."

If Rem had heard that, would he have split their heads with an axe on the spot?

He hated this kind of noble trash.

Enkrid did not care. It was not as if this was the first or second time he had heard things like that.

People could chatter all they wanted. He could ignore it.

As he let the nobles' words go in one ear and out the other, Enkrid glanced to the side and saw Crang standing there, expressionless.

His posture was steady, but his face made him look like he was waiting with one leg cocked and his arms crossed.

The Queen appeared soon after.

"Her Majesty the Queen arrives!"

She was not alone, of course. Escorts followed, and the Royal Guard entered with her, taking positions by the audience hall doors and by the rear door she had come through.

Were those spear tips painted gold as a matter of taste?

The thought flashed through his mind.

Of course not. It was for show. The Royal Guard also served as a ceremonial guard, so that was why their gear was decorated in gold.

Whatever else, gold helmets and gold spears would certainly look splendid on parade.

The stray curiosity rose, then faded. What did it matter?

"Are you the one?"

The Queen spoke to Enkrid the moment she arrived.

Rather than someone ruling a nation, she seemed like a warm woman with an easy smile.

Enkrid was reminded of an older tavern waitress who had looked after him when he was young.

One was the ruler of a kingdom.

The other carried beer mugs in a tavern.

Their status was completely different, and they looked nothing alike, yet Enkrid felt a similar air from both of them.

"Lower your head."

Viscount Bantara scolded from beside him.

Should he?

"Leave him."

The Queen stopped him.

Then she looked at Enkrid's face for a moment and said,

"You have a pleasing face."

It sounded less like desire and more like a simple compliment on his looks.

Enkrid had nothing to say.

He could hardly answer, "Your Majesty looks very generous."

In truth, the Queen was not frail or slender.

She had a moderate build, and a tiara symbolizing the crown rested on her head.

And beside her stood one familiar face, or more precisely, one familiar Frog.

Grrk.

The Frog puffed one cheek for a moment. That was probably a smile.

Enkrid greeted her with his eyes too.

Ruagarne, the Frog who had been with him when he obtained the Nameless Correct Sword Style, who had helped train his Correct Sword, and who always flared up at the sight of Cultists.

"Do you not even know manners?"

Another noble spoke again. That alone made one thing clear.

The Queen's authority was a mess. She had allowed it, yet a mere noble still stepped in.

Enkrid noticed that too, but let it pass.

"You gathered to confirm whether he truly carries royal blood, yes? State your name."

As if she had not heard the noble at all, the Queen turned her gaze to Crang.

Enkrid did not even get a chance to step forward and kneel on one knee.

She naturally redirected the topic and the room's attention. This was the real point. Naturally, the noble who had stepped in could not press Enkrid now.

Enkrid moved out of the center of attention. Crang stepped forward.

The noble who had glared at Enkrid now glared at Crang instead.

Spineless bastard. If he had decided to show malice, he should have kept his eyes fixed.

Thinking that, Enkrid watched Crang step forward.

That stride was hard to describe.

Not fast, not slow, just confident. Crang walked, raised his head, and met the Queen's eyes.

In that moment, though Crang stood below the throne, he looked like he was facing the Queen as an equal.

That much force, presence, and confidence radiated from him.

His clothes were dusty from travel, his hair shabby from not properly washing, but none of that mattered.

He had dignity and gravitas.

"Kdianat Rangdius Nauril, present."

Crang spoke. His voice shook the grand hall. It bounced off the inner walls and seemed to ring through the whole body.

"Come forward."

At the Queen's words, an old woman in trailing robes stepped out from behind her.

She took the pendant from Crang and compared it with the one in her own hand.

"It matches."

After that came a process to verify Crang's blood with spells.

Enkrid only watched.

"Correct. You are my blood. I recognize you in the Queen's name. If any ministers have objections, speak now."

The nobles did not object aloud.

But their eyes said enough.

"So what, everyone already knows he's the Queen's blood."

"This is just because the former king could not drop his bad habit."

They already knew everything.

When it had gone as far as sending an assassin set, what could anyone accomplish by challenging Crang's identity now?

They had even brought out a pendant engraved with the royal crest, and a mage had confirmed it.

It felt like watching a play everyone had agreed on beforehand.

After that, the Queen said she would withdraw because her official duties were pressing.

The ministers quickly dispersed as well.

In the end, Crang and Enkrid were the last to leave the audience hall.

The nobles ignored them both as if they were nothing worth noticing.

Not a single glance on the way out.

Even the one who had complained about manners kept his mouth shut.

As they exited the hall, Enkrid spoke.

It was not his business, but the mood was strange.

"They all look uninterested."

A new succession path had appeared, and Crang had made his presence clear, so why did the nobles show no interest in him at all?

"The nobles who would acknowledge me are not in this room. Only those who want me dead gathered here."

Enkrid caught the meaning and asked,

"So they do not need to talk to someone who will die soon?"

"Practical people."

Crang said that and snickered.

Was it right to laugh about something tied to his own life?

The dignity from earlier was gone, replaced by pure mischief.

Enkrid spoke with concern.

"Do not get too close to Rem."

"I keep telling you, from what I see, you are the craziest one."

"I mean it. Try not to talk to Rem."

He had been influenced. Definitely influenced.

As they came out of the audience hall,

"Enki."

The Frog, Ruagarne, called Enkrid.

"Have you been well?"

With those words, the Frog brought down a vertical hand blade.

Enkrid raised his hand and read the movement.

A feint.

More important than the downward hand was the foot. Ruagarne's foot pushed off the floor and slid in over the thick carpet.

A move to seize distance.

Ensnaring Sword activated on its own.

In step with that footwork, the slick hand blade moved, bent, stabbed, and struck from every angle. Enkrid blocked all of it.

Because the skin was slippery, it was even easier to deflect.

From the start there was no killing intent, not even pressure, just a game of moves for fun.

Two soldiers guarding the audience hall watched with bright eyes.

The level of the exchange between the two was high.

"If we fought now, I would lose. You have grown a lot."

Ruagarne sounded impressed. She pulled her hand back, cheeks puffing with a grrk sound.

It was exactly as she said.

With growth like this, even if those Cultist bastards had attacked, Enkrid could have crushed their skulls.

That thought made her feel good again, and two more grrk sounds came from her cheeks.

"Is this really appropriate in front of the prince?"

Enkrid asked.

"No one demands etiquette from a Frog."

"I agree."

Crang added, then asked Enkrid,

"So you knew each other?"

"She is the Frog who came to Border Guard before."

Enkrid answered, and before he could finish, the Frog moved her cheeks and spoke.

"Was our relationship so light that you would put it like that?"

"Then how should I put it?"

"I taught you swordsmanship, we fought together, and we even explored relics. If things had gone wrong, we could have been trapped there."

"That sounds like a long story."

Crang threw in at just the right moment.

"Yes, it is. More importantly, where did everyone go?"

Enkrid nodded and asked.

None of his own group was in sight.

Had some knight jumped out and dragged all of them away?

Still, they were not the type to be dragged off quietly.

They knew no one here either, so even if someone told them to rest in the royal palace, they were not the type to simply obey.

Separate from Enkrid's thoughts, the two Royal Guards watching Enkrid, Crang, and the Frog wore complicated expressions.

Why did this Enkrid speak casually to the prince, but use honorifics with the Frog?

And why was nobody questioning it?

"I knew you would come here someday, Captain."

The voice came suddenly. Enkrid turned toward it.

"Hm?"

It truly surprised him. He had not expected to see anyone familiar here besides Marcus or Ruagarne.

Even if someone did appear, he thought it would not be a good connection.

"You."

"Calling a noble 'you,' how insolent."

The other man said it with a smile. It was playful.

"And the one in front of you is a prince."

Crang cut in.

"Yes, Your Highness, have you been well?"

"Thanks to you."

That exchange formed in an instant, all from one "you."

"Let us move. I invited everyone to my estate."

The familiar face said it.

"Andrew."

Enkrid spoke his name.

"Andrew Gardner, a noble."

"And I am a prince."

Crang added.

"Your Highness, did you always enjoy jokes this much?"

Andrew said, blinking.

To Enkrid's eyes, Crang and Andrew looked like they knew each other. And they did.

Andrew had dreamed of restoring his house, and for that he had gambled his family's fate on someone outside the existing factions instead of joining one.

That man was Crang.

After parting with Enkrid, Andrew had gone through adventures of his own and ended up here.

Now he had become Baronet Andrew Gardner, and he even owned a proper estate in the capital.

"I am surprised."

Enkrid said in a flat tone.

"Your face does not look surprised at all."

"I am really surprised."

"Then will you stay at Baronet Gardner's estate?"

Ruagarne asked while listening, and before Enkrid could speak, Andrew answered first.

"Please do. It will be better than staying at an inn."

There was no reason to refuse.

"Then see you later. I have plenty of work too."

Ruagarne said that, then raised her round fingers and waved them side to side.

A very human farewell. Enkrid waved back too.

"We can talk on the way. What about you, Crang?"

"I should stay in the palace. In a few days there will be a party celebrating my return, so I have a lot to prepare."

A party was completely against Enkrid's taste.

Crang slipped away before hearing any reply.

Enkrid stared at Andrew and realized this friend had grown a lot.

His beard shadow had thickened, and there was a scar under his right eye that had not been there before.

Now he was alone. Maybe he no longer needed a nanny.

Enkrid had disarmed before entering the palace, so Andrew was empty-handed too.

"Mack?"

"He is at the estate."

Maybe he had quit playing nanny and become a butler instead.

"Fine, let's go."

* * *

Andrew summed up his life since then in simple, direct words.

"I risked my life on a commission and recovered my noble rank. From there, the pressure and checks got brutal, so even now I am still in the middle of an adventure."

There was no need to hear every detail of that adventure.

Still, it looked like he had saved Krona properly in the meantime. It was not an estate with a garden, but he had a proper house in the capital.

A three-story building.

The first floor had a reception room and dining room, and the rooms started on the second floor. There were more than ten rooms total.

The house was large and spacious.

When they arrived, Enkrid saw the group, including Rem.

"Wow, this bastard Andrew made it big."

Rem said from the middle of the reception room while chewing sweets.

The capital was the center of logistics.

Naturally, its food culture was developed. Its dessert culture especially.

Rem chewed and nodded.

"Rem is still the same."

Andrew said from behind.

Esther was dozing on a wool cushion.

The others were loosely gathered in the reception room for now.

Ragna stood by the window, and in front of him a few men were training with clubs in their hands.

"Private soldiers?"

Enkrid asked.

"Owning private soldiers inside the capital is forbidden."

"Then?"

"They are trainees learning swordsmanship from me."

"From who?"

"From me."

"Who?"

Even Rem asked while eating sweets.

"What do you teach?"

Then Ragna turned his head and asked too.

Jaxon said nothing, but quietly looked at Andrew.

"If you see how much my skill has grown, you will be shocked."

Enkrid nodded. He had grown. Of course he had.

From Enkrid's point of view, Andrew had talent.

"Then you grew."

Enkrid's voice was oddly flat.

Hearing that, Andrew's mouth curved into a smile.

Only his lips twisted up, his eyes did not smile. Enkrid had achieved great feats too, but Andrew had crossed no easy obstacles himself.

"One spar?"

Andrew said it first. Enkrid nodded again.

Many things had happened, from the invitation to meeting the Queen, but this line was the most welcome of all.

"Will you be okay crying after getting beaten in front of your trainees?"

Enkrid was showing concern for an old unit member.

"Fuck, come at me."

Andrew put up a desperate fight.

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