WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

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A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 554: It Was a Confession

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Rem was darting around the banquet hall like a sheepdog, and somewhere on the other side Audin had planted himself like a hunter laying a trap, spreading rumors. Enkrid could not be bothered with any of it.

Too many people were looking for him.

The crowd pressed in thick and tight on all sides. There really were a lot of them.

The Wave-Blocking Sword felt like exactly the right technique for this occasion.

People really had come crashing in like waves.

Enkrid received greetings from an enormous number of nobles. A few were faces he vaguely recognized, but the great majority were complete strangers.

There was one interesting fellow in the middle of it all.

The man who had been running schemes behind a merchant when Enkrid first entered the capital walked up to him.

"I will never do such a thing again."

He ran a few small trading companies under him, as Enkrid recalled.

He was a noble who stayed in the capital without any territory to manage and held no particular rank within the palace, though he occasionally appeared as a proxy in court proceedings and had built a modest reputation for it.

Walk around the capital and you found that sort everywhere.

Some were ruined families with nothing left to their name who still lingered at other nobles' banquets. Others were near-swindlers who exploited whatever status remained to them.

Crang could not round up every last one of them and be done with it, but he was managing the situation through a degree of self-correction. The idea was to let each noble figure out on their own how to live up to their station.

'I think I heard he was even quietly buying up titles from the royal family.'

The plan was to purchase the titles of fallen nobles who had taken to walking crooked paths.

Seizing them by force would cause noise, so gold and silver coins handled it instead.

The intent reminded Enkrid of Krais, so he had asked about it, and Crang said he had gotten the idea from advice.

"Didn't Big Eyes say that problems you can solve with Krona are the easiest kind?"

That was Crang, laughing as he said it.

"I agree."

Enkrid had nodded at that.

It was part of a conversation they had shared during one of their trips between Azpen and the capital.

No matter how much gold you had, money alone could not make someone sheathe a blade already at your throat. That was exactly why problems solvable with Krona were the easiest ones.

Krais used to say it constantly.

This particular noble, the one running the trading companies, was not so far gone that he needed his title stripped. He had some genuine talent for business, one had to grant him that.

And though his methods were bad, the goal he held was not rotten.

Crang's palace was never flush with resources, so it genuinely needed the Krona these nobles donated.

"If you get caught doing that again, I'll cut off one of your four," Enkrid said, without any particular weight behind it.

The color drained completely from the noble who had been backing the trading companies.

The bloodless face was really something to see.

"Four?"

the noble asked.

"An arm or a leg. One of the four."

"Ah. Those four."

"Right. Those four."

With no regard for noble dignity or anything else, Enkrid said only what needed saying, and the man backed away. His legs were shaking, though at least he did not collapse.

The noble in front of him was no monster, and calling him a truly great villain would have been too much.

This was not some extraordinary matter worth dwelling on.

There were lords in the world who simply killed every person who set foot in their territory and took whatever goods they carried. By that measure, this was nothing.

Naurillia had been free of that sort since Count Molsen died, at least.

Rumor had it that even just past the border of the southern great power, there were plenty of figures you could not tell apart from bandits and lords.

Enkrid had seen his share of them during his years working as a mercenary and guide.

Compared to that kind, swindling a few traveling peddlers was almost cute.

Still, if he did it again, he really would have to give up one of his limbs.

Enkrid had said so himself, and while it was not quite an oath, he kept his word. He always had.

Enkrid's spot would open up, another noble would step forward, and the cycle would repeat. His job right now was to stand there and exchange a word or two with each of them. So that was what he did.

Tedious, but not painful. He had no reason to tire from this, not physically, not mentally. He had once been kept in a banquet hall all night long like a noblewoman's trinket. This was better than that.

Much better.

Though swinging a sword from morning to night would have been easier on his nerves.

"I've fallen for you!" announced a few bold noblewomen, scattered throughout the evening.

"I'm afraid I haven't," he said each time, and turned them away.

Kin Bysar, who considered herself the most beautiful woman in the capital, was standing at his side, and that alone was enough to discourage most ladies from trying.

"The renowned Kin Bysar, most beautiful woman in the kingdom, is earning her name tonight."

"...Don't say things like that."

He could not even remember when talking to Kin had gotten this easy.

Yet it felt natural. The conversation, the way they moved around each other.

From what she said, Kin had recently set up a workshop inside Border Guard and was throwing herself into work with full dedication. Apparently a handful of young male nobles from the capital had been making nonstop trips to Border Guard because of her.

Then they got a look at Esther and Sinar.

"So that's what heavenly beauty looks like. An angel has descended."

That was why the nicknames Black Flower and Golden Witch had spread all the way to the capital.

It was not that Kin had gone out of her way to hear it, but the men who traveled to Border Guard on her account would say things like that.

"The most beautiful woman in the capital is Kin. The most beautiful woman in the kingdom is the Black Flower and the Golden Witch."

Kin did not particularly care, but annoying was annoying, and the one saying it while being practically glued to those two was Enkrid, which made it worse.

That was how the dull time passed. During one brief moment to breathe, Enkrid spotted Rem, who was fitting into the banquet hall better than expected.

"You know what? Over at Border Guard, there's a wildcat who loses its mind over any woman it meets, human or Beastfolk alike."

The smooth, practiced way he lifted his cup and started talking made it clear this was not his first time.

His purpose was obvious, but at least he was not breaking anyone's neck at the banquet, which was a relief of sorts.

In the current situation, it would have been strange for anyone to pick a fight with Enkrid or his companions anyway.

Enkrid's gaze drifted naturally toward Audin and found him in a corner, wearing a gentle smile, explaining to someone that he was not a bear Beastfolk and had no hobby of tearing people apart.

After that, he went on about a gloomy wildcat-like fellow back at Border Guard, then about the madman youngest member, then about his own regrettably foul mouth.

Enkrid read people quickly, and neither Rem nor Audin was hiding what they were doing. He could see plainly what they were up to.

Right now, at least, the two of them seemed completely united in purpose.

Was that a pleasant sight?

The banquet's mood, at any rate, was not bad.

Crang had mentioned he was sorting through the nobles to find the sound ones. Along the way, he had put his finger exactly on why Azpen had collapsed.

"An environment where everyone has no choice but to lean on religion, plus two great houses capable of checking the king. Nothing can be done freely there."

"And you're different?"

The Naurillia royal family had long been influenced by the God of the Scales and the Holy State alike.

Separating politics from religion might be a goal for a king, but it would be enormously difficult.

One misstep could be enough to set off a religious war in the name of that very separation.

Crang said he was not even dreaming of separating church and state, and added this:

"Right. I'm different."

When asked how, his answer was striking.

"I have a friend and a knight who share my convictions on my side."

He could say things like that without a hint of embarrassment. But he was not wrong.

Enkrid had become a knight, and Crang's goal and his own were the same.

Crang, who had been standing beside him exchanging words, turned to address the room.

"Don't torment him too much. Keep this up and just hearing the word banquet will make him recoil."

At that, a young, neatly dressed noble around Andrew's age stepped forward, offered a string of flattering praise about the king's wisdom and greatness, and asked, "Your Majesty, what are your intentions going forward?"

There were, apparently, three factions in Nauril right now: the new noble faction, a group that looked like noble partisans on the surface but quietly pledged loyalty to the crown, and the openly royalist faction.

Strip it back and they were all on Crang's side, but outwardly he kept them divided.

There were various reasons for it, though Enkrid had no interest in political games and had not listened closely.

Regardless, one member of the new noble faction had spoken, and Crang set his cup on the table with a sharp tap.

It was a standing party format, no chairs, everyone on their feet.

In the middle of that crowd, Crang drew the attention of the surrounding nobles with a gesture and a shift in breath.

A natural gift, you had to call it. The power to pull eyes toward you.

With the atmosphere pulled taut, Crang spoke.

"For the time being."

For the time being? Enkrid found himself looking over too.

Rem and Audin, who had been chattering away, noticed the relative quiet around them and glanced over as well.

The blood of the royal line had absorbed the gaze of nearly everyone in the room. He smiled and opened his mouth.

"My goal is to eat well and live well."

After all that buildup, the words landed strangely, but anyone with a sharp mind understood immediately.

It was time to build up what they had from the inside.

While they ate and drank and watched, a group made their way into the banquet hall. They were draped in flowing robes with thick grape motifs embroidered across the surface. Priests of the god of abundance, from the look of it.

The moment they entered, Audin slipped out to the balcony without a sound. It was a smooth motion, the kind you would not notice even if he passed right beside you.

Enkrid glanced at Audin going to the trouble of moving so carefully, but said nothing and let his eyes drift over the newcomers instead.

After exchanging brief greetings with those nearby, one of the priests broke from the group and approached Enkrid. Clearly a senior priest at a glance.

The clothing, the bearing, the air around him all said as much.

The face wore a smile and projected benevolence. The deep lines from nose to mouth and the creases at the corners of the eyes gave that impression, yet something about it felt constructed.

"May gentle rain and warm sunlight dwell with you, bringing abundance to body and spirit."

Audin would have received that properly with the right words, but he was not here, so it could not be helped.

"May abundance and peace be with you," Enkrid answered plainly.

Now that he thought about it, when Audin met people in the city who called themselves priests but were really frauds, he would step in personally and snap their bones. But when the real thing came around, he always quietly excused himself.

The reason? Enkrid had never tried to find out, so naturally he did not know.

"Enkrid of Border Guard."

"Who in this land would not know that name?"

The priest said it with the same smile, and Enkrid did not particularly like that face. He did not spit on a smiling priest over it, but he filed it away and moved on.

What he did notice were the long scars on the exposed forearm, clearly from a blade, and the way the man walked. This was no ordinary priest.

The signs of hard training were unmistakable.

"May the warmth of abundance rest upon the hero."

The senior priest offered that blessing, expressed admiration for everything Enkrid had done, and stepped back. The priests following him trailed along behind.

The banquet continued late into the night and ended quietly.

The next day, a strange rumor began circulating. It was about a fugitive and a heretic.

The story was of a priest who had betrayed the god he served, abandoned the man who had been like a father to him, and fled.

A heretic was, in some ways, a more persecuted figure than even a Cultist.

Tracing who had set the rumor in motion was not difficult.

The heretic had apparently gained the strength of a bear through corrupted faith, along with a body to match.

Someone had clearly decided to spread the word deliberately.

Enkrid had no concern for whether rumors spread or not, so he set out on the road back to Border Guard.

"Pay it no mind. It's all baseless gossip," said the captain of the guard, who had come out in person to see him off. The man attended Enkrid with a near-fanatical devotion.

The farewells had all been made at the banquet, so there was no need to see anyone's face again before leaving.

The captain gripped the reins and said again, "That merchant will never pull a stunt like that again."

"What, did you kill him?" Rem called from behind.

The captain smiled and said nothing.

No one needed to ask to know that even if the man was not dead, he had been made to suffer enough to wish he were.

"Make way! The Iron Wall knight of the Madman Knights is coming through!"

There was no particular need to shout it that loudly, but the captain did, and the road cleared for it.

Every person outside in the capital watched Enkrid as he left.

Demon Slayer. Iron Wall knight.

Naurillia's own peerless hero.

Setting aside the friction from certain noble quarters, to the common people of the kingdom, Enkrid was more than a hero.

"Blessings on your journey."

One person said it, and then everyone was saying it.

People in coifs and straw hats removed them and bowed their heads.

He had entered the capital quietly, but behind him as he left, most of the people in the city were watching.

No rumor could reach his ears over that.

The road back. Hooves struck the ground in a steady rhythm, and the autumn afternoon sun wrapped itself around everyone in the group. They were just clearing the edge of the city. That was when Audin spoke to Enkrid.

"That heretic is me."

It was a confession.

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