1015. Among these, still
Krang looked at the nobleman who had just spoken. He did not answer immediately, as he was chewing on a dish of fresh mushrooms pan-fried in oil to release their subtle juices. Krang continued to chew and swallow his meal while gazing at the nobleman who had spoken, and even took a sip of wine. Although the time was brief, a strange atmosphere formed as he continued to stare intently.
It seemed that the other person had initiated the attack, yet Krang, who hadn’t uttered a single word, held the upper hand.
Having eaten and drunk, Krang answered.
Do I have to prove that?
As he spoke, Krang casually wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin. Then, he muttered that the food was delicious.
The Emperor—or more precisely, the Emperor’s doll—watched the two from one side.
Although the veins on the nobleman’s forehead were not bulging, anyone could tell he was suppressing his anger.
“Didn’t you come seeking the Empire’s help? I heard you came for the unification of the continent or something like that.”
In life, one encounters quite a few narrow-minded people. It was not that the Empire was devoid of such individuals. On the contrary, there were many. Those
who had grown fat inside the walls built by the Emperor, their heads filled with fat. Even though
Krang had formed the Council of Ten and weeded them out again and again, and cast them out over and over again, there were still many he did not want to deal with.
Yet, he couldn’t simply cast them all out either. Because while they displayed narrow-mindedness in one aspect, they also demonstrated something outstanding in another.
If you cast someone out based only on one side—that is, their negative side—their potential vanishes. As
long as they don’t cross the line too seriously, there are many times when you simply have to listen to them and endure it. Of course, if they do, there would be no mercy.
Was it the same with Nasan, the Imperial noble who speaks so recklessly because his head is clearly filled with fat?
That was none of Krang’s concern. They were simply a situation and a person he disliked.
And what on earth was this talk of “continental unification”? If he was going to nitpick, he should have spoken properly and clearly.
Furthermore, even what he claimed to have heard lacked credibility. Who would say such a thing? It must have come from among birds of a feather.
To corner someone based on mere speculation—that was truly the mark of an idiot.
Is unifying the continent easy if the Empire helps?
Krang asked again. Instead of an answer, a question came back. To the nobleman who had spoken first, the way things were turning was far from pleasant. His tone became sharp and raised.
“Seeing how you’re beating around the bush, you definitely have an ulterior motive!”
He spoke rather carelessly. Encred, who had been listening quietly, asked Kahal.
Is it your relative?
If this one is a foul-mouthed proc, then that one must be a human who has lost all sense of fear.
“What are you talking about? I’m a prog and that guy is a human.”
Yes, that was exactly what I found quite fascinating. Why did they both enjoy spouting such foul language despite being of different species?
Encred did not harbor murderous intent or display any hostility in her eyes.
If she had to kill a noble of the Empire?
She would lay hands on him without hesitation. That is why she was calm. It was because she had no worries.
She would strike in an instant and break his neck. She had already roughly sketched the plan in her mind.
That said, it was not that she was actually surging with the desire to kill. She intended to step forward only if necessary.
A fellow who insulted his King and his friend is attacking, backed by the bulwark of the Empire? And to attack by wielding such an audacious tongue?
Then she would show him what the Emperor desires. She would have to show him that she is the spear, smashing and piercing through the barrier, just as she wishes. It was in the midst of these thoughts that she heard the words.
“You said that guy was a relative of mine just because he was talking in a bad way, right?”
Encreed noticed one of Kahal’s strengths here. He doesn’t understand jokes as well as one might think.
Since he likely wouldn’t even grasp half of what an opponent provoked him during a fight, it is a strength.
Regardless of the method, maintaining composure is important even when one is not a knight, but it becomes even more crucial after becoming one. Acting like an idiot while intoxicated by a sense of omnipotence is entirely due to a loss of composure, so it is actually more important after becoming a knight. In this sense, elements that are weaknesses in politics or public speaking can become strengths in battle.
A person’s strengths and weaknesses are reversed depending on the environment, stage, and situation. Thinking about it this way, would the foul-mouthed noble who stepped forward just now be useful in a different environment? Perhaps that is why the Emperor hadn’t cast out such a bastard.
They notice too quickly.
Enkrid answered as if spitting it out. His thoughts were brief. Since he had reached that conclusion in an instant, his response was quick.
“Uh, are you teasing me again just because I noticed late?”
Kahal asked back, as if conducting a study. In a way, Frock seemed to stand on the opposite side of Luagarne. In any
case, while he might call others abusive, a tongue-twisting slur, or a foul-mouthed person, he was not like that to Encred. Wasn’t he still quite kind?
At this rate, wouldn’t he even agree if asked to break that noble’s neck?
“Shouldn’t you be worrying about the other side?”
Then, Kahal gestured with his chin and asked, “Can you clearly see how things are going, even without paying attention to your surroundings?”
They’ll figure it out.
There was no need to go out of his way to show Kahal his intention to display the image the Emperor desired if things went wrong.
Enkrid spoke, looking indifferently at the aspiring nobles and Krang.
If Krang deemed it necessary, he would likely summon him and have the bastard standing before him chop off. He had already roughly sketched out the plan.
Above all, if Krang requested such an action, the axe murderer, who was dying to step forward before him, was watching from the side.
Did that bastard Rem still say his hands itch whenever he saw a noble? He
says it even though he knows not all nobles are bastards.
He brushes it off with a joke about it being an instinct etched in blood, but fundamentally, he probably just dislikes the very fact that those at the top of a class society act cocky.
He may not look like it, but Rem is a guy who is very interested in dismantling social structures he dislikes. In the West, the weak die and only the strong survive, so it is likely partly due to the environment in which he has lived by that way.
I have a lot of random thoughts today.
Enkrid let his thoughts drift to one side as he held the food to fill his stomach in his left hand. It was tender pork wrapped in thin cabbage leaves and stuffed with seasoning. He popped it right into his mouth. It was a sense of abundance that filled his mouth. No
matter how the situation unfolded, Krang did not lose his composure. He looked at the nobleman and spoke with truly nonchalant tone. It was a tone no different from saying that breakfast this morning was chicken soup.
You have a lot of ulterior motives.
His answer changed the expressions of some of the nobles. One noble was left speechless by the unexpected response. Watching him, Krang spoke again.
“Your Majesty, this is quite amusing.”
He keeps his gaze on the nobles but speaks to the Emperor. It was an interesting dynamic.
“What?”
The Emperor asked back.
“On one side, knights are fighting with their lives on the line, yet here, there are so many people idly judging appearances, speculating on ulterior motives, and picking fights for no reason.”
“Pick fights? Watch your words!”
That was the remark of the nobleman who had been picking a fight. Krang gave a wink. A faint smile even formed on his lips. Then, he abruptly threw the glass onto the floor.
visor!
Some flinched, while others placed their hands on their hips. Those checking the weapons tucked into their bosoms were all guards of the nobles.
Meanwhile, Encred stood behind Krang. Even Kahal was surprised by this. Since he had mimicked Saxon’s footsteps, he was extremely secretive and quiet. To be precise, he had moved while concealing his color from the surroundings through assimilation.
Kahal was startled because he had momentarily lost sight of Encred.
This guy has more hidden skills.
Kahal thought to himself. Enkrid hadn’t acted with the intention of threatening anyone.
It was an expression of his feelings—that while it wasn’t strictly necessary, anyone could say whatever they wanted to say. It was
something like, “I am behind you.”
Krang didn’t look back. He wiped the composure and smile he had shown earlier completely from his face and spoke.
“If you suspected me or were worried about my ulterior motives, you should have cast me out immediately, not invited me to a banquet to gauge my intentions! If you had respected the will established by your Emperor, you should have stopped your nonsense and pondered what this gathering was for. I am deeply disappointed that you did neither.”
A purple liquid flowed from the broken glass and spread across the floor. It looked like a painting drawn on white marble. Or perhaps it seemed as if someone’s intention and will were spreading around.
“Your Majesty, I am deeply disappointed. I will fight relentlessly against the Southern Demon Realm, just as you and I wish. In the meantime, eliminating the unnecessary will align with my goal of preventing the Empire from collapsing.”
“What do you mean?”
This time, another noble stepped forward. Krang shouted at him as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“If not! If you do not want war! If you respect the Emperor’s will! If the lives of the knights and soldiers fighting at the forefront are precious! If you wish to protect everything you possess!”
It was a shout delivered with the force of a bolt of lightning. Though unexpected, the cry drew the attention of those around.
Even the attendants and maids froze in their tracks. For a moment, Krang felt as if he were bathed in the blazing sunlight. It was a hallucination caused by the sheer spirit Krang possessed. Of course, this would only be visible to those who were willing to look. The rest would simply be intimidated by his presence.
“We must find a way to coexist, not wage war. I share the same opinion with Your Majesty.”
Krang spoke, turned abruptly, and walked out. Encred wondered if it was right to end the banquet like this, but what could he do? His king, his friend, had left.
See you later.
Speaking only to Kahal, Encrid followed, and Rem gathered a few bottles of liquor and stepped out last.
Several startled nobles had their precious liquor snatched away with their eyes wide open. Once they regained consciousness, they would likely be ill for days, regretting the loss of the wine they had lost. There were three bottles of that value. Rem shrewdly secured his provisions. This was
after Guri Krang had stepped outside and the rest of the party had followed in a line. The Emperor’s laughter erupted from inside the banquet hall.
Hahaha.
The Emperor laughed a lot. Otherwise, there was no way he would laugh like that every time.
* * *
He threw the cup to the ground and smashed it, and he also lost his temper. In the end, he scolded everyone around him.
It was no different from giving the Emperor a piece of his mind before leaving. Having come out like that, Krang tilted his head back, looked at the sky, and spoke.
The weather is nice.
Yes, the weather was fine. Encred also gazed at the sky. It was full-fledged spring with a gentle breeze blowing.
The air was exceptionally clear even though it hadn’t rained, which was one of the characteristics of the system.
The inner fortress, which looked like gray castle walls on the outside, was also part of a very large tree. Encred turned his gaze toward the banquet hall. Several of the towers were too high to leap up in a single bound, even for a knight.
The air is clear.
Enkrid accepted Krang’s words.
“Right? It feels like my head is clearing up.”
“Yeah.”
To an outsider, it was a conversation beyond compare, but compared to the situation just moments ago, it was truly a conversation between madmen.
“Aren’t you going to ask why he did that?”
“He must have been annoyed and angry.”
It was a night when stars boasted of the light emanating from their bodies between the two moons. Moonlight and starlight mingled with one another, creating a balance. The moonlight did not oppress the starlight, nor did the starlight rebel against the moonlight. That is why it was a beautiful night.
Until the army that kills the night swarmed in, that sky was the time of the moon and the stars.
“Oh, right. I was angry to see those seeking their own gain regardless of the Emperor’s wishes, and the crowd trying to protect their power by displaying vigilance.”
I meant it. I hadn’t said it while calculating anything. I was really angry.
But as I blurted it out in such anger, I realized something.
Warning, scolding, cursing, things like that.
You could say he did it on their behalf.
The Emperor must have been angry to see those guys who were obsessed with pointless things and lost in political games when they should have been fighting the Demon Realm.
“Just because you’ve lived a long time doesn’t mean your emotions become dull, does it?”
Krang spoke and turned his gaze. The fairy who was the object of his gaze answered.
“Why are you asking me that? I am a mature fairy, not an old fairy.”
If Sinar had been skilled at lying, she would have argued about why she was asking a fairy who was only thirty years old this year, but she still could not easily lie. The answer she gave now was her best.
“Among these, still…”
“Shh, King, friend of the fiancé, I do not wish to kill you.”
Sinar’s jokes knew no time, place, or person. Krang smiled, nodded, and began to speak.
Anyway, looking at it from this perspective, Lord Donapa is actually better.
He acted of his own free will, knowing it was futile and going against the Emperor’s will. Although he had attacked him, he was better than those who were all talk
and no action. He was sincere. Encred reached a conclusion by synthesizing the story he had heard from Prok Kahal, Krang’s current account, and the Emperor’s attitude.
All those who held the country upright are going to the battlefield.
In this way, he maintains the barrier blocking the demonic realm.
The Emperor lived for a very long time, and even though he had become one with the trees and was half-immortal, he was still a human being.
A person who laughed, cried, got angry, and grieved.
The reason there are so many people who call me their child.
It’s because I’m lonely.
Whenever I see them grow old and die, or die fighting.
She must have felt the pain of loss.
It resonates with me that the wish of a fairy who has lived that way for so long is peace.
Naturally, this led my thoughts to the boatman as well.
Do you want to live repeating today forever?
I ask myself. No answer came back, but I felt like I knew it without even hearing it.
“I don’t know either. Whatever happens, we just have to go back and do what we’ve been doing. At least the Empire won’t attack us, so isn’t that how things turned out?”
Krang spoke with optimism, and the party spent the night at their respective lodgings.
That night, Encreed had a dream. Was he angry because he had been arrogant and presumptuous to associate the Emperor with a boatman?
As soon as he fell asleep, the boatman appeared and threw Encreed into his nightmare.
“You will wander in pitch-black darkness. You will lose your way, be trapped, and die. And yet, you say you will take that path?”
Only a voice echoed in the darkness.
