Chapter 804
Swish.
A soldier who recognized Krang offered a military salute. He lowered the sword he had been swinging, pressed its grip with his left hand, and bowed his head.
"Your Majesty."
So of the soldiers who recognized him followed suit, showing military courtesy and bowing their heads to express their respect for the master of the royal castle.
Only a very small number of them just stared at him blankly.
"Carry on."
Krang said in a simple tone.
It was as if he didn't care at all about royal dignity.
For a while, so nobles had told him to fix his speech and behavior, but Krang had reportedly countered them by saying that he would instead use his sincerity as a weapon to get closer to the army and the people.
That said, Krang did show dignity and speak in the na of the royal family when the mont called for it.
'I've also seen him emit an even greater aura than that.'
Enkrid had seen it himself.
It was the sa when they first t, when the civil war ended, when he saw him later in the city of Oara, and when they t after he beca a knight.
If necessary, Krang knew how to capture the attention of everyone around him in an instant.
What should one call such an ability?
There was nothing to say but that he was born with it.
It was a matter of course that one who sat on the throne should be careful with their words and actions and add dignity to their deanor, but this did not apply to the man nad Krang.
The common sense created by ordinary people does not apply to a person who plays outside the standard.
He was a man who proved his leadership as a ruler with his own charm, dignity, and aura.
This was a mont that offered a glimpse of that.
"This is the royal training ground, a place for those who strive to protect the royal family. Therefore, to continue what you were doing is to prove your loyalty. Right?"
He added the last word and smiled sweetly.
The soldiers bowed their heads, their eyes sparkling.
They were clearly the eyes of soone who had fallen for another.
They were soldiers full of loyalty and devotion.
If necessary, these n would carry out the king's orders, risking their own lives.
Matthew and the trident-wielding warrior woman nodded from behind the king.
They were familiar faces.
They were also the ones who had been trapped in a room together during the attempt to stop the previous insurrection, trying their hardest to save Krang.
Though it was difficult for Enkrid to rember everyone due to the repetition of the day, it was absurd to forget people like them.
He also hadn't forgotten the na of Rierban, whom he had seen briefly before dinner, though he wasn't present now.
The sa Rierban who was a hero of the civil war and had muttered that Enkrid was his own shining hero.
He had now beco quite a skilled man even within the Royal Guard.
As they passed, Enkrid had even promised to check his skills later.
"These relentless bastards."
Marcus was also with the king.
Aishia would normally be attached as an escort to the king or Marcus, but it seed she had stepped away for a mont.
That was fine.
It wasn't a place that required a heavy escort anyway.
This was the royal training ground.
To Enkrid's party, the people gathered here might look like re soldiers, but in reality, their lowest rank was Royal Guard.
They were the core force among the security units serving in the outer castle or the royal castle garrison.
To put it more simply, their minimum rank was that of a platoon leader or higher.
Marcus swept his eyes over the training grounds.
'From day to night.'
It was widely rumored that these n also lived as if they were mad for training, but they were hard to compare to the truly insane.
They hadn't rested, but they weren't forcing themselves to endure either.
Anyone could see they were doing it on their own accord, full of excitent.
And the soldiers within the royal palace had been swept up in that atmosphere.
That, in turn, beca a rumor, and it seed that every soldier who could enter the royal training grounds had flocked here.
"I lost."
In the midst of it all, there was a fellow like that.
His build was a little smaller than Audin's, and from his face alone he looked a couple of years older than Enkrid, but in reality, he was a man not yet thirty.
He was one of the private soldiers under the Marquis of Okto, who had been confident in his skills.
To be precise, he was one of the talented warriors the marquis sponsored.
He had co to test his skills, and had been struck in the chin by Fel's palm, lost consciousness, and had just woken up.
Enkrid, having seen that, had just told him what he was lacking.
"Get more real combat experience. et a variety of opponents and do everything from mud-slinging fights to duels of honor."
His talent was outstanding.
However, he only had talent.
He would need ti to be broken, to learn, to struggle, to ponder, and to worry.
Of course, if he couldn't endure that ti, that would be his limit.
For that is the limit of those with only talent.
"Shall we go inside and talk? But I can't have you drinking while soaked in sweat. Go wash up, Enki."
Krang said and headed for a small reception room set up next to the training grounds.
At those words, several soldiers blinked their eyes.
They knew the relationship between the two was special, but for the king to co for a drink and wait for the other person to wash and get ready seed like another unexpected event.
"I should."
And the knight nad Enkrid accepted it calmly and moved.
The training that had continued until the night was lit by two moons had ended.
Krang really did wait for the party to wash and co back.
"Sorry, there's not much."
The Founding Liquor he had brought was only enough for five cups.
Even for Krang, he couldn't bring a sealed bottle of the Founding Liquor, so he had brought one he had been drinking from before.
Enkrid took the liquor personally poured by the king into his mouth and swallowed.
The amber liquid that reflected the moonlight filled his mouth.
When he first put it in his mouth, it had the aroma of fire-heated wood, and though the scent lingered quite strongly, it was not unpleasant. Strong, yet subtle.
Subtle, yet strong.
It was a liquor of contradictions.
As he swallowed the liquid, he felt a tingling sensation and a fla caressing his esophagus.
It was hot, but it didn't feel like it would burn.
After swallowing, a completely different aroma from the first taste remained in his mouth.
It felt like holding the concentrate of freshly crushed whole fruits.
Here, too, the concentrated aroma was not uncomfortable.
It was strong, yet smooth.
"This is no ordinary taste."
Enkrid admired.
"It's called the Founding Liquor."
Krang showed a soft, satisfied smile.
"Ah, what a sha."
At the words that there wasn't much, Rem licked his lips.
He managed to get a cup and his eyes shone with a brilliant light.
To soone who didn't know, he might look like he was itching to kill soone, but to soone who knew, they could tell his eyes were captivated by the taste of the liquor.
"Ropord, you seem to be doing well. You're looking good."
As Krang casually greeted him, Ropord bowed his head.
It was amazing that he knew his na, but considering his current affiliation, it wasn't that special.
However, the way he called his na so unreservedly and expressed familiarity was surprising.
His friendly attitude was perfectly natural, even though he had never had a private audience with the king.
"I heard your wife and child in the West are well, Rem."
"Hey, you seem to have better ears than ."
Rem nodded while continuously smacking his lips.
"It seems the Legion often asks if you have any intention of returning, saying there was no holy knight like you there?"
"I told them that where my heart is, there the Lord is, and where my will is headed, there lies the holy war."
Krang also spoke to Audin.
Next, he saw Ragna muttering to himself while holding his sword even at the drinking table, and just laughed and moved on.
He acknowledged Jaxen with only his eyes.
He asked Fel how his life as a shepherd was, and Fel replied that he was now a mber of the knight order, not a shepherd.
Rem had interjected at one point asking since when, but it was sothing everyone acknowledged.
"What about Lady Shinar Kiraheis?"
Shinar had been asleep for two days straight due to issues with her spirit energy and stamina.
She had said she needed to enter the Spring of Life in the city of elves, so he had told her to go ahead, but she had said she didn't want to.
"She's resting."
"A pity. Her face alone would be a joy to behold."
He says such things so well, even though he wouldn't actually fall for her and has no intention of doing so.
Krang's style of joking, perhaps.
"If my fiance heard that, she would co into the bed with a dagger."
Enkrid retorted with a joke of his own.
Half of the conversation was trivial.
They hadn't brought up the talk of so seditious air circulating in the capital at all, when Marcus interjected.
"He said he would hear it directly, so I didn't say anything."
When Enkrid asked with his eyes what he ant.
"That."
Marcus said again, emphasizing it.
Enkrid, who had caught on, spoke.
"Ah, we saved those residents."
"Not that."
Only after Marcus interjected again did Enkrid bring up the stories of his journey.
It began with the story of destroying the Thornbriar Fortress.
"That thing was disgusting to look at."
"You've seen it?"
"I've only heard of it, but it wasn't difficult to guess what they were doing."
Next, when he brought up the story of Beelrog's labyrinth, a strange heat appeared in Marcus's eyes.
Now, how surprised will he be?
"...Sir, what did you say you did?"
First, Matthew asked, his eyes wide as if they would pop out, and the trident-wielding guard slapped her own cheek once.
SLAP.
The sound was so crisp that Rem even said.
"Want to hit you?"
Marcus's expectations were directed at Krang.
His king was looking down at the reception room table, his head bowed.
What, is he so shocked that he's speechless?
And when Krang lifted his head, his eyes were sparkling like never before.
They were eyes that sparkled so much they blurred out his sallow skin and the dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping or eating properly for several days.
No matter how you looked at it, it looked more like excitent than surprise.
"Fucking aweso."
And that's what he said.
Krang too had lived wandering the back alleys at one point.
His old habit of speech had popped out.
"Ah, right?"
Enkrid also agreed.
It wasn't that he didn't know what Marcus was pressing him to say a mont ago.
He had a rough idea of how Krang would react, so he had been teasing Marcus.
Krang would not be surprised by sothing of this level.
His vessel was different, his magnanimity was different, and his perspective on the world was different.
"You're not satisfied with just Beelrog, are you?"
That's why Krang asked.
It was a night where only two moons illuminated the world.
Because there wasn't a single cloud, the night sky wasn't just black.
It was full of stars that overca the moonlight and scattered their light as if in a frenzy.
Under the watch of each and every one of those stars, Enkrid replied.
"There will be more than one demon."
It was a declaration of his will to kill them as he saw them.
"Right."
Krang also nodded, still with a smiling face.
Beco a knight.
Erase the Demon Realm.
Protect those who stand behind .
This was the path forward to achieve a dream that sounded absurd.
Beelrog was nothing more than a stopping point to be visited along the way.
Krang knew that.
"Why are you not surprised, Your Majesty?"
Marcus's expectations were shattered.
"I was surprised."
Krang poured the remaining two cups of liquor.
Enkrid tossed his back in one gulp.
"Just a sip for , too."
Rem hastily tried to extend his hand, but it was too much for his injured body.
Jaxen, seeing that, shook his head and clicked his tongue.
At the tsk tsk sound, Rem flared up, the two bickered, Audin diated, and Krang, watching it, laughed saying they were the sa as ever.
He laughed out loud, and Enkrid, looking at Krang, said calmly that they were not people who would change easily.
In the anti, Enkrid saw a pattern on Krang's arm that he hadn't seen before.
It was a tattoo.
From its shape and script, it was an esoteric design whose aning was difficult to guess.
"What's that?"
"Recognition."
A short answer ca back.
This was probably sothing that no one but the most sensitive person would have noticed.
But Enkrid, who had activated his senses to the level of cutting through spells, could tell.
'Sothing.'
He saw sothing like an illusion swirling around his friend.
A continuous feeling of heat, so intense that just looking at it felt like his eyes would burn.
"It's a good thing. Put your worries aside."
Krang said, patting his forearm, and Enkrid nodded.
The two of them didn't talk about the undercurrent or other matters at all.
Then, when it was ti to get up, Krang spoke.
"Do a favor later."
"Anyti."
"Right. Let's see each other again soon."
There was no purpose.
Today was a ti to have a drink and celebrate the achievents of a friend.
What other reason would there be to bring out the Founding Liquor?
Krang was no different from before.
He was a man with unpredictable deanor, skill, and capacity.
Looking simply at his martial prowess, he might not be able to block a single arrow, but his abilities would shine in other areas.
"If you give one bottle of that liquor, I'll do ten of those favors for you."
Rem interjected from the side.
Krang chuckled at his words.
"I prefer precious tea."
Marcus added a word from the side.
They were definitely about to get up, but more trivial jokes were exchanged for a while.
Just talking and chatting like this was also a pleasant ti.
The next day, Enkrid received a summons from Marquis Baisar.
It was after he had finished training and eaten lunch.
It was an afternoon where a light drizzle was falling.
In the training ground, he could see people rolling around, dedicated to their training even while being soaked by the rain.
Enkrid went outside the inner castle and headed for the marquis's residence.
"You've co."
The one who greeted him was Kin Baisar.
Her complexion was unusually dull, and she didn't look to be in a good state.
Back in the Border Guard, she was a woman who never lost her smile and was engrossed in her work.
"The Marquis?"
"He is waiting."
A white-haired, old butler behind Kin said, bowing his head.
Enkrid headed inside.
And so, he t a dying old man on a bed behind a door carved with classical patterns.
Marquis Baisar's eyes were full of gray matter, so his vision wasn't intact, and he only had a few teeth left.
Because of that, his pronunciation was slurred, but there was no difficulty in understanding him.
"Are you Sir Enkrid?"
The old man asked.
Enkrid answered and approached the bedside.
"I am."
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