Chapter 821 - When Gold Illuminates the World
Krais sat in the shade, avoiding the afternoon sun, and thought.
There was a man who said he would plant an apple tree even if the world were to end tomorrow.
What was that man's name again?
Was it Martin?
Or was it Spinoza?
He couldn't remember exactly.
However, he knew one man's name.
It was Enkrid.
Beside him, Rem spoke.
"Well, for a guy whose been visited by some demonic subordinates, he's remarkably consistent."
It was the day after the demon's subordinates had come and gone.
There, in front of him, was the man with a sword, saying it was time for afternoon training.
The man with black hair and blue eyes, the captain of this group.
The Commander of The Order of the Madmen Knights, Enkrid.
A man known to the world as the Demon Slayer, the Hero who Saved the Nation, the Guardian of the Border Guard, the King's Friend, the Demonic Knight, the Heartbreaker, and the Monster Slaughterer.
'And the title of Beelrog's Slayer should rightly be added to that.'
Funnily enough, the first to react to that great deed was not the continent, but the Demon Realm.
'No, if the rumor gets out, all hell will break loose.'
He remembered Abnaier, whose jaw had dropped upon hearing that he had killed Beelrog.
Even the man who said that composure was his greatest weapon had been that surprised.
What about other people?
Should he subtly leak the information to the trade city they had recently established relations with?
They were already making all sorts of concessions, but if they heard the words 'Beelrog's Slayer', they would surely concede several times more.
Because the trade cities are quick-witted.
He had no intention of trading exploitatively, so there was no real need to tell them.
If one were to ask why exploitation wasn't necessary, he would say it was all because of the man in front of him.
It was only right to say that these things had come about because of the human named Enkrid.
'Conscience, standards, conviction.'
Well, it meant that it was a decision made from a tangle of such things.
"It is an ideal form, but for this to be sustainable, the trade city must also be of the same mind."
Seeing it, Abnaier had spat out some bitter words, and Krais had nodded as if it were a matter of course.
"Yeah, of course."
He knew.
If the other party turned their back, what he was doing now was, at best, the act of a sucker.
But.
'As long as the Captain is sound.'
Be it the trade city or anywhere else, they would have no choice but to be cautious.
'But what if the Captain is captured by a demon?'
Oh, just the thought of it was a terrible omen that squeezed his heart.
The current situation felt like a sharpened blade approaching and aiming for his neck.
Krais's head throbbed.
Was this okay?
It was not okay.
Normally, he should have packed his bags and run away long ago.
But he didn't feel that way now.
Even though it felt like a keen blade was touching his neck, a drop of blood trickling down, it was bearable.
Why?
'I've invested a lot in this place, too.'
He said so inwardly, but he knew the real reason was different.
Krais, too, had now been influenced by his captain.
Well, not that he wanted to say embarrassing things like protecting people.
There were times when one was aware of one's own change, yet did not want to admit it.
"They say a man is a child even when he's all grown up."
It was something he often heard from his lover.
Krais simply didn't want to say embarrassing things.
If you show it through your actions, it's all the same in the end, isn't it?
"Isn't it a bit dangerous?"
In any case, Nurat, beside him, also expressed her concern.
A series of unexpected events would probably occur ceaselessly from now on.
"Yeah."
Krais answered calmly.
"And you're still okay?"
She was his lover.
She knew how he would react.
"Yeah."
Krais answered simply and, with his anxious heart, put his head to work.
'Are all demons the same?'
They couldn't be.
There were frogs who carved ornaments, and there were giants who had devoted their bodies to a religious order.
It was the characteristic of an individual that transcended the characteristics of their race.
'Demons would be even more individualistic.'
Since their numbers weren't large, their collective characteristics would be faint.
'There will be persistent ones, ones who hold a grudge, and ones who will seek immediate retaliation.'
And there would be ones who just watch.
Whatever the case, Krais judged that he had to prepare for various situations. With that thought, he opened his mouth.
"Increase the number of soldiers on the safe roads by one each and…"
As his words trailed off, Nurat asked back.
"And?"
What more needed to be done?
Was it even possible to predict a demon's response?
If he let his guard down for just a moment, anxiety would surge and strike his head.
Krais's gaze turned toward Enkrid.
There, he saw a human training his body by swinging his sword.
Unwavering in any moment, upright as ever.
He was like a sturdy barrier or a fortress wall.
From the time he had said he would become a knight until now, he had not changed in the slightest.
Even when a demon's subordinate had come and said whatever they wanted, not a single scratch was left on his will.
A man who had declared, "I will protect those who stand behind me," and had discussed the end of war, making it his knightly conviction to erase all the Demon Realms on the continent.
"Hey, tsk, a round?"
Beside him, the gray-haired barbarian thrusts his axe.
That barbarian, too, seemed to have no interest in the fact that a demon's subordinate had visited.
In other words, he was the same as always.
"Do I have to get in line?"
Ropord and Fel stood behind him, and Dunbakel, who had been watching for an opportunity, beat Rem to it and charged at Enkrid.
Without a word or a signal, she abruptly threw a punch, and Enkrid nonchalantly parried that punch with the flat of his sword.
Thwack!
With a dull sound, the two began to circle each other.
In tune with Dunbakel's three-dimensional maneuvering tactic, Enkrid also began to move his feet.
Of course, Krais's eyes couldn't see all of it.
"A knight is a calamity."
Nurat muttered.
If that calamity was an ally, shouldn't it be called something different?
"Not a calamity, but a blessing, I suppose."
Krais muttered.
"You're all having fun, brothers."
Then Audin and Theresa, having finished their all-night worship, returned.
"Are those things gone?"
Jaxen, who had returned at some point, examined the traces of the fight and muttered to himself.
That 'gone?' probably contained the meaning of whether they had been killed and eliminated.
"A blade not consumed by heat."
And the genius who would get lost at the drop of a hat appeared with Luagarne, muttering words that couldn't be understood.
As soon as he arrived, his gaze was stolen by the fight where Enkrid was.
"If you cut in line, I'll plant an axe in the back of your head."
The barbarian, who had been cut in front of by the beastkin, said in a peeved tone, but the directionally-challenged man simply ignored him.
"Oho."
Luagarne's eyeballs rolled left and right ceaselessly and grew larger.
Gurgle.
The frog's cheeks puffed up as she watched Dunbakel's movements and Enkrid's response.
The elf and the witch were inside the city of elves for recovery.
"A demon bastard came?"
It was a bit much to say he was a substitute, but the wood giant who would get angry just by hearing the word 'demon' was here.
Puff.
The Wood Guard named Bram exhaled smoke.
It was something he felt every time he saw him, but he could never get used to seeing a Wood Guard with a lit cigarette in his mouth.
Watching all of this, his anxiety subsided.
Funnily enough, a sense of relief reared its head.
Krais had not known that the demons would send subordinates.
But because he didn't know what would happen, he had poured Krona and time into the training of the Border Guard's standing army.
It was an investment that the home country, including Krang and the capital, did not know about in detail.
No, even most information guilds would have missed it.
In the first place, it was something they couldn't know because The Order of the Madmen Knights stole all the attention.
The Krona that went into the Border Guard's standing army was astronomical.
And on top of that, it was The Order of the Madmen Knights in its entirety that was in charge of their training.
Those influenced by them become commanders, and those commanders in turn exert a similar influence on other soldiers.
'If the Captain is an epidemic, then the rest are also a terrible plague.'
It would be fine to see it that way.
"Ah, this is fun."
In the midst of it all, Enkrid, who had landed a middle kick on Dunbakel's side and sent her flying, spoke.
His right foot was in the air, and he was standing on only his left foot.
Even standing on one leg, his sense of balance was extraordinary.
There was no wavering.
As always.
The beastkin who was hit spun in the air, landed on her feet, and hopped backward.
It wasn't that there was no impact from the blow, but it was a process of deflecting it with unbelievable physical ability.
It was like displaying the Flowing Sword Style with her body.
In principle, it was the same as Audin's torso deflection, but the method was a completely different kind of movement.
"It's annoying when you say that after hitting me."
Drip.
Though a beastkin's body was not as hard as a giant's, it was still sturdy, yet her nose was bleeding.
It was because she hadn't been able to completely disperse the power contained in Enkrid's kick.
"What was that last thing?"
Dunbakel asked, and Rem interjected.
"What do you mean, what it was? You smelly beastkin."
And it was Audin who was surprised.
"Holy Infiltration?"
Ragna's gaze also changed.
A moment ago, Enkrid's Will had changed.
Indules.
And that change was different from before.
It was not hard as a fortress wall; it flowed like water, seeping into the opponent.
Enkrid nonchalantly lowered the hand that held his sword and spoke.
"Enkrid-style combat art. Seep-in Strike."
Rem spoke, without a hint of a smile.
"...Don't name things yourself."
In truth, he had just made up the name on the spot.
Enkrid showed a smile.
He grinned and beckoned with his finger.
"One at a time."
A demon's subordinate came?
So what?
Should he be scared?
Should he agonize and contemplate?
No, it would be right to swing his sword one more time in that time.
'But how many people are there who can do that, even knowing it?'
Krais asked inwardly and answered inwardly.
'There are quite a few, it seems.'
There are such people here.
They are all gathered here.
Abnaier, watching them, thought of those in Aspen who had recently been claiming they would break ties with the Border Guard for the sake of the nation's autonomy.
'I should order them all to be beheaded.'
Not that he would really cut off their heads, but he couldn't just leave alone those who were willing to get on the bad side of people who would calmly spar even if they had to fight a demon.
The sunlight was warm.
It meant it was a good day for training.
When it rained, he would think it was a good day in its own way, so in reality, there was no bad day for training.
Still, it was a particularly sunny day.
The sky, seen through the clouds that were dotted here and there like islands, was a deep blue.
Last night, it had seemed as if the starlight would pour down.
Still, he preferred a day like today over a day full of dark clouds.
'A clear day.'
A day where the sunlight embraces the heart.
Enkrid enjoyed the sunbathing and moved his body.
He sweated profusely, moving each muscle one by one with the technique of isolation.
'Better than before.'
After strengthening his Will like a fortress wall with Indules, his body had responded, and the quality of his muscles had changed.
They had become harder and tougher.
'Though I won't become like a giant.'
According to Luagarne, giants apparently draw letters imbued with Will directly onto their bodies.
It was a method of engraving Will onto the skin instead of an inscribed weapon.
'Fury.'
And that Will was said to respond to a giant's emotions.
When idle thoughts arise, he leaves them as they are and moves as usual.
The demon's subordinates are not in his head.
He just faithfully lives out the today.
Each member of the knight order moved to do their own thing, and only the Wood Guard, Braum, who had come in place of the elf and the witch, remained like a spectator, as if he were bored.
"It's amazing how much you improve every time I see you."
He had said, upon hearing the words 'Beelrog's Slayer'.
"And yet you don't let a single today pass in vain."
This time, his face was one of admiration.
That was Enkrid's guess.
No matter how quick-witted he was, it was difficult to read the expression of someone covered in tree bark.
"The elves have learned how to control their emotions and spend the today with dryness, but now it is time for us to change as well…"
Braum left with those words.
In the middle of it all, Luagarne had come and they had talked about this and that.
"Our unit has become quite useful now, too."
Rem had also reported on the training situation of his unit.
It wasn't exactly a report.
It was closer to a boast.
"Is that directionally-challenged bastard properly teaching those ten people?"
He didn't teach.
He had said he occasionally sparred with them.
And yet, Ragna had ten swordsmen under his command.
Teaching them was mostly Ropord's share.
Fel had come and said he was researching a new technique.
And Anne had complained about her relationship with Ragna.
"It would be nice if he came to find me sometimes."
It meant she always had to be the one to seek him out to meet him.
Enkrid cleared up the misunderstanding.
"He can't find the way on his own."
"Ah."
Anne understood and returned.
Her research lab was not in the center of the city.
It was in a corner of the inner castle.
Naturally, her room was also near the lab.
It was too complicated a path for Ragna to find.
As he sent off those who had come to visit and immersed himself in training, time flew by.
Today's sunset was golden.
The sun of a clear day had set very slowly, and with its setting, the color of the sky had changed, and gold was hung on one side of the sky.
The clouds were cast in shadow, and the trees and structures were also divided into a side where the light reached and a side where it did not.
The time of the dog and the wolf.
It is said to be the time when one cannot distinguish a four-legged beast hidden in the shadows.
It was Enkrid's favorite time of day.
He stopped for a moment and looked at the sky.
Shouldn't today be called not the time of the dog and the wolf, but the time when gold illuminates the world?
"It's a beautiful sky."
"It is."
It was Esther.
She approached and stood beside him.
***
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