WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 416: Send-Off

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"If there is something you want to do, then do it."

The marquis stared at Kin for a moment as he spoke, then turned and left at once. Kin remained where she was, lost in thought.

Wind swept through and sent dust flying. It brushed across her face, but she did not even notice.

'It really ended up like this?'

Her whole body trembled with shock.

The head of her house was not a man who took back words once spoken.

As she replayed everything, the words and actions of the one who had created this situation kept stirring her heart.

'Should I at least thank him?'

To be honest, she was not entirely uninterested in a man named Enkrid. That did not mean she wanted to become his wife.

Maybe it was her dream. More than cutting gems, Kin loved the finished works made from them.

If you were born into a prestigious house like the Marquis Baisar's, you were meant to admire completed pieces, not dirty your hands making or selling them.

So this was never something easy to gain permission for. At best, it was supposed to remain a hobby.

But people's hearts were never that simple.

She loved this work. She loved the chance to carry out her own will and prove her own ability, instead of living as an accessory to a man.

Still, she knew she would have to give things up for it.

She could borrow her family's prestige, yes, but she could no longer live like a direct heir of House Baisar.

Kin was not so childish that she failed to understand even that.

'Can I really live like this?'

Right then, a man who lived exactly as he pleased came into view.

His name was Enkrid. She felt it was right to thank him.

This situation had reached its conclusion because of what he said.

After finishing her thoughts, she stepped toward Enkrid, who had started swinging his sword on one side of the training ground. She had barely taken a few steps.

"Leave him be."

A barbarian leaning against the wall said it.

"I have something to say..."

"Right now, even if someone danced naked beside him... ah, you're a noble lady. Anyway, no matter what anyone says next to him, he won't hear it."

The comparison was unpleasant, but Kin ignored it and looked at Enkrid.

He had turned his back on the marquis and gone straight into his sword swings. His pupils were unfocused, his mouth half open. He looked almost drugged. He was already drunk on swordsmanship and completely lost in it.

He was a vicious training maniac.

'So he's not called a madman for nothing.'

Kin turned away. Later, she told a few acquaintances about this incident. Marquis Baisar acted offended on the outside, but he liked Enkrid's boldness and spread the story around as well.

After that, no one in the capital could bother Enkrid and his group.

He was the man who had refused even the pressure of House Baisar, the house promised a ducal title.

* * *

Right after the marquis and Kin left, Enkrid turned his back on them and immediately started swinging his sword. He simply could not put this fun off any longer. It did not matter who watched, who waited, or who called him. He really could not delay it anymore.

'Ah, this is fun.'

Did he realize something after crossing blades with Rem, Ragna, and Audin?

No. He just got crushed.

Even so, it was fun. Swinging his sword, thinking, then reproducing it with his body again, every part of that process brought him joy.

There were motions he had done hundreds of times in a single day. top-down slashes, horizontal slashes, downward slashes, thrusts, the basics. Enkrid started repeating them again.

He did not expect any new enlightenment or sudden change.

He did it because it was fun, and then fun again.

After several days of sword practice and light sparring, word came that the meritorious service ceremony would be held.

"Let's go."

Enkrid set out with Rem, Ragna, Audin, Dunbakel, and Teresa.

Sinar had left earlier for other business, so she had not come with them in the first place.

"Please leave me out."

Jaxon was never the type to show up at a place like this anyway.

Esther shook her head in panther form. So only the rest went.

The audience chamber was packed with nobles.

"The Hero Who Saved the Kingdom has arrived."

A chamberlain announced from behind, and Crang nodded from the throne. Dark circles sat under his eyes, and he looked exhausted.

Two nobles stood closest to him. One was the Marquis of Okto, and the other was Marcus Baisar.

Marquis Baisar stood one step behind Marcus.

Crang boldly skipped all ceremonial lines praising royal blood and the king's greatness, then spoke.

"I apologize for delaying this event."

Some nobles groaned when they saw how short the program was.

A few muttered about royal dignity and such, but they shut their mouths in front of Crang.

A king who ended the civil war.

A king who won without calling the knight orders.

A king those nobles themselves had chosen to follow.

This was the first event held by that king. Who would dare challenge his actions to his face there?

No noble could be that politically tone-deaf unless he wanted to rip off his own noble badge.

Several nobles and commanders were given suitable rewards. Krona or portions of territory, that sort of thing.

Andrew was among them. He received land and gold coins, and his title changed. He became Viscount Gardner. He also received a post in the capital, something close to an official office.

Then, as things continued.

"By royal command to Marcus Baisar, as commander-in-chief..."

A monk who also served as recorder delivered the king's words.

"Because of your distinguished service, you are granted the title of count."

The moment those words ended, the excited mood turned ice-cold. It felt as if someone had dumped freezing water over the room.

"What did you just say?"

Marquis Baisar asked again, lips trembling.

Marcus Baisar was supposed to inherit the family. After this war, he was supposed to receive a ducal rank.

But by accepting the title of count, he had kicked away succession to the family headship.

Enkrid knew all of this was Marcus Baisar's own design.

A small uproar broke out. Marquis Baisar looked stricken.

The head of House Baisar had ultimately sided with Crang, but not from the beginning.

Only after weighing everything did he place his gold on the scale.

That choice itself had been close to gambling, but not for Marcus.

Marquis Baisar glared at Marcus, then shook his head and shut his mouth.

Watching, Enkrid thought he looked like an old man sulking hard.

"Your merit is truly great, so I grant you a ducal title."

Instead of Baisar, the Marquis of Okto became a duke. He dropped to one knee and lowered his head.

Even when most people had received suitable rewards, some names still had not been called.

Enkrid and the Lunatic Company.

"I want to do the last one myself."

The king rose from his throne. He stepped forward and spoke without looking at anyone around him.

"Need a title?"

His tone sounded like asking a neighbor if they needed firewood.

Enkrid thought, not really, and lightly shook his head.

"No."

His attitude looked like he had thrown palace etiquette into some Cursed Ground, but who could say anything?

Only a few nobles who could not control their expressions frowned.

"Figured as much. The treasury is open, so if you want anything, take whatever catches your eye."

"Thank you."

"After that, you may return to where you were stationed."

That was the line Enkrid had most wanted to hear. Still, some people narrowed their eyes in suspicion.

'Just opening the treasure vault?'

'Is that really right?'

'When the hunt ends, what do you do with the hound?'

'Boil it and eat it, obviously.'

One idiot muttered nonsense, but even if Crang and Enkrid heard it, neither would have cared in the slightest.

"I'm busy. I trust you are all busy too. Just because the civil war is over does not mean we get an 'and then everyone lived happily ever after' ending. That does not even happen in fairy tales. You know that, right?"

Fairy tales did not begin with civil wars and blood-soaked battlefields, so yes, it was obvious.

"So let's work."

The work-addicted king said that, and the meritorious service ceremony ended with unusual simplicity.

A lunch banquet was held. No alcohol. The king did not even attend.

Some nobles still worried about royal dignity, but Enkrid dropped that concern entirely.

Had he not already seen enough at the Memorial Coronation?

Crang had recited the names of soldiers carved onto the memorial.

Enkrid had seen the eyes of the people watching him then.

He had seen a monk offer a silent prayer.

He had seen a mother weeping as she looked at the new king.

There had been fathers and children too.

Some upright nobles had even knelt after the coronation and sworn true loyalty.

No halo, no grand festival, yet that coronation in the middle of the capital had branded the new king into everyone's mind.

'That is enough.'

Feeling light, Enkrid moved on. Crang could handle the rest.

It was time for him to return to Border Guard. Before that, he had to stop by the royal treasury.

He wondered how many swords there might be that could replace Silver.

"This way."

Even Rem and Ragna showed quiet interest in the royal treasury.

What they saw was not what they imagined. The doors stood wide open, and carts rolled in and out without pause.

"Ah, still busy in here."

Marcus was personally guiding them. Marcus, now the kingdom army commander-in-chief, newly made count, acting ruler of Count Molsen's territory, and head of the capital defense force.

"Are you not busy?"

"You said you'd stop by here and leave right after, yes? Then now is when you should see it. I don't have time to come give you a leisurely send-off later."

If he was busy, he could have skipped this, couldn't he?

With that thought, Enkrid stepped inside to look at the kingdom's treasures.

This truly was not what he expected.

The treasure vault was huge and mostly empty. Gold coins were not piled like mountains. Magic swords were not lined up in rows.

"Excuse us, coming through!"

A cart loaded with boxes brushed right past Enkrid.

The worker pulling it was dripping sweat, working so hard that he did not even glance at Enkrid.

Enkrid took in the situation and thought it through. He understood quickly.

Rem noticed too and asked before Enkrid could speak.

"Are they covering civil war losses from here?"

Marcus nodded, thinking even his barbarian friend had a sharp head.

"The magic swords?"

Ragna's standards were simple. A sword with enchantment, or tied to magic, or with a will of its own, or at least one that breathed fire or ice, and at absolute minimum one that never dulled, would be enough.

If it was only for temporary use, that much was fine.

"None."

"Why?"

Ragna's words got short. Marcus did not blame their rudeness. What was the point of nitpicking manners with lunatics?

"Sold them all."

Ragna did not ask more. What was there to do if none were left.

'If there are no enchanted swords...'

Maybe he could pour Will into one.

Geniuses really did think in strange ways.

Enkrid looked around. He could not find a single blade better than the longswords he had picked up around training grounds. There was not even one mixed with Valerian Steel.

"I'm good."

Rem shook his head.

Things worthy of being called true kingdom treasures were already in the hands of knights or knight orders. Others were in a deep secret vault inside the palace, and those were not items that could be handed to anyone.

Those were national treasures.

Crang had wanted to tell Enkrid to take even one of those if he wished, but the national treasure in question was a staff containing a sleeping Sun Beast.

Not a sword. Not a shield. Enkrid would neither want it nor be able to use it.

"Poverty is not a sin."

That came from Audin, who had never cared about treasure to begin with.

Dunbakel said she preferred her own curved blade and chose nothing at first, then finally took shin guards made from magic beast hide. That was at least the most practical thing there. Teresa quietly shook her head too, following Audin.

"I did nothing."

Teresa believed she had done nothing especially great in this battle.

She also believed greed was dangerous.

"Please tell Crang I'll see him again."

Enkrid said it while he was at it.

"Hm, sure. You can call the king by his name at this point. Dignity and all that aside, it might be better if the king and the Hero Who Saved the Kingdom, Demon Slayer, stay friends."

Marcus said it without sticking to rigid ceremony. Quite a free-minded take.

As long as he read the room in public settings, that was enough. Marcus did not think Enkrid was stupid enough to miss even that.

Enkrid finished packing up to leave and started moving.

He had not expected a grand send-off. No one had the spare capacity to prepare one anyway.

Just look at the state of the treasury.

'If the country doesn't collapse, that's a win.'

No, opening the treasury was exactly to prevent that collapse.

He had not received anything at the ceremony, and that was fine.

He had not come expecting anything.

After making sure Odd-Eye was with them, he took the outer road and headed out of the capital. Partway there, a group of Royal Guards blocked the road.

The captain in a gray helmet stepped forward.

'A spar?'

That was Enkrid's first thought.

He too felt disappointed when a strong fighter left suddenly. Maybe this man felt the same. Enkrid stepped up, fully ready to indulge it.

The Royal Guard commander removed his gray helmet and dropped to one knee.

"Because of you, my eyes opened, and because of you, I now walk the right and proper path."

He spoke and gave his salute.

Every Royal Guard followed him and knelt the same way.

"For the Hero Who Saved the Kingdom!"

This could not be called a modest send-off.

Rieban was among them, someone who had known Enkrid in the past.

His battlefield merit had been recognized, and he had been reassigned here.

"Long time."

As Enkrid passed after returning the greeting, he said it to him. Rieban was one of the very few who had stood on his side. No matter how much time passed, there were people you could not forget.

Rieban lowered his head deeply.

"I am ashamed."

Rieban said it while remembering his old self. Enkrid patted his shoulder once and moved on.

'And for my shining hero as well.'

As one man holding a sword, not as a Royal Guard, Rieban swore in his heart that if a man named Enkrid ever called him, he would run to him.

After fulfilling all his duties, if Enkrid wanted it, he would do so.

Enkrid thought that was the end of the send-off, but it was not.

By the time the capital gate came into view, almost half the capital's citizens had filled the space before him.

Just from the roar of voices, it looked like even more people than at the Memorial Coronation.

"For the Hero Who Saved the Kingdom!"

The citizens watched him leave. They came out as if by promise. Among them was a healer whose son had died, and there were Andrew and trainees too.

So that was where they went right after the ceremony ended.

He had received territory and should have been swamped with work, but Andrew still came to see him off.

"I figured you'd leave right away."

Andrew walked up and spoke.

"Nothing left for me to do here."

"We'll meet again, right?"

"Come visit."

"Yes."

As they exchanged that short greeting, Eisia and the South Gate Captain approached from the side.

"You're leaving just like this?"

The captain spoke, and Eisia held out her hand. Enkrid took it and shook.

"See you again."

A clean, simple farewell. The captain bowed, saying he was indebted. Eisia only shook hands and said little else.

Rem, listening to the entire kingdom cheering, clicked his tongue.

"At least wave."

Enkrid did as told and waved.

"Demon Slayer!"

"Hero Who Saved the Kingdom!"

"Take me!"

Why was there always at least one person saying that?

Thinking that, Enkrid kept waving.

The cheers got louder.

Waaaaaaah!

A roar even louder than what he had heard on battlefields pushed against Enkrid's back. It did not feel bad.

"I told you, Noble Slayer."

Hearing Rem mutter that, Enkrid gave a small laugh and left the capital.

Now he could really head back...

"Let's go together at least halfway."

It was when Nauril had grown distant. A few people blocked the road ahead in the middle of the main route.

At the front was:

"Aren't you the king?"

"Does a king only live to work?"

Crang was there.

He thought there would be no send-off. Instead, it had become almost absurdly loud.

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