Chapter 550 - Lunatic Knight Order

Some of the nobles had never even seen Encrid in person. To them, everything happening in Border Guard was a distant affair.

Green Pearl? Had they taken that land now? He had stopped an army alone? Not killed them all, but stopped them? An army stopped because he told them to stop attacking? Did that make any sense?

Some rumors sounded utterly absurd. Other reports were plausible enough, but had nothing to do with them. They had heard of the hero who ended the civil war and his fearsome reputation as the Demon Killer, yet many still felt no real connection to any of it.

Some genuinely worried for the royal house, some sought to keep Encrid in check, and others were simply there without a thought in their heads. Whatever their reasons, Krang's words silenced them all. A smile did not necessarily mean he felt kindly toward them.

Having silenced the room with a single sentence, Krang rose from his seat.

He could have lashed out at everyone watching.

"Is that any way to speak to the hero who ended the civil war and defended our borders? You make me so ashamed I could drown myself in my washbasin."

Or he could have persuaded them, one by one.

"Encrid is not that sort of man. He is my dear friend and the sword that protects the royal house. I will vouch for him."

Failing that, he could have soothed their fears.

"I know what troubles you. But have no fear. My eyes are still clear, and I do not let personal matters make me forget my duties."

Had Krang possessed a merchant's disposition, he could even have promised the nobles something in return for their silence. But he did none of those things. He neither soothed their fears nor grew angry, nor did he justify his actions by persuading each of them in turn.

He simply savored the moment. He remembered meeting Encrid in the barracks, before he had even declared his intention to become king. For Krang, that moment had been the beginning.

"What do you want to become?"

He asked precisely the same question, word for word. Encrid blinked once, then smiled. It had been so long that it almost sounded like an old tale, yet looking at Krang brought the memory back naturally.

The throne stood seven steps above the floor, so Krang naturally looked down from atop the stairs. Below him, Encrid had just risen after kneeling on one knee to pay his respects, honoring Krang's position on this public occasion.

Their eyes met. One looked down and the other looked up, yet both forgot their positions as they recalled the past.

During that conversation with Krang, Encrid had asked himself whether only traces of his dream remained somewhere near his heart. He had immediately answered himself: no. He was moving forward.

He gave the same answer he had then.

"A knight."

A soldier with a third-rate background, no more than a Squad Leader, had dared to voice that fragment of a dream, heedless of his place. Despite his tiny station and paltry skill, he had spoken of the very pinnacle of those who bore arms. That was what Encrid had done.

"I see. A knight."

Krang's words seemed to overlap with those he had spoken back then. A great deal of time had passed, but he was the same now as he had been then. Rather than scoff, he gave weight to his reply and took Encrid's words seriously. He showed that he was listening with his whole heart.

"Have you figured out how you want to live?"

Encrid turned the question Krang had once asked him back on its speaker. Krang's lips quivered before he burst into laughter.

"Pahahaha!"

"Yes. And that brought me all the way here. Have you achieved your dream, my friend?"

Maintain his royal dignity because so many eyes were watching? Who cared? This moment, standing here right now, was one Krang had dearly longed for. The man before him had reminded him of the dream he had forgotten and kept trying to forget.

How could he not cheer him on? He had wished, over and over, for that man to achieve his dream. To rise to knightly rank.

Back then, Vengeance had stood beside them, spoiling the moment with his mockery. Here, no one could do that. The man who had spoken of knighthood had stitched his shattered dream together and come this far. The man who had not mocked that dream had found his own path and taken the throne.

"Part of it."

Encrid still wanted much more, so he said his dream was not yet complete. Krang nodded. The same was true of him.

"Everyone, leave."

Krang spoke without taking his eyes off Encrid.

"Pardon?"

A half-bald noble with sun-darkened skin asked in disbelief.

"I will receive his knight's pledge."

He meant to formally appoint Encrid a knight of Naurilia, here and now.

"The commander of the Scarlet Cloak Knight Order is not present."

Marquis Varnas spoke, concealing his dismay. He had made this point before: without the order commander's permission, the king could not arbitrarily admit someone to the Scarlet Cloak Knight Order.

That was true. And Krang knew Encrid would not join the Scarlet Cloak Knight Order even if told to do so.

"I know."

"Then what is it you intend to do?"

The Duke of Fertile Lands added his voice.

Marcus remained silent, for he had seen what those two had not. The king had not said it aloud, but by now he could roughly see the shape of things. It was not stupidity that kept the two great nobles who had spoken up from understanding.

'How unconventional.'

It was simply something most people would struggle to imagine. Yet viewed another way, nothing could better suit a man who had rendered such distinguished service. Especially considering his martial strength, it was only natural.

"My dear friend will command a new knight order."

What had he just said?

The Duke of Fertile Lands blinked, then looked at Marquis Varnas. The marquis felt much as the duke did.

What, now?

"Leave. I will receive his pledge in private."

Normally, the pledge should have been made before all the nobles, but what could they do? Nothing they said would sway Krang now.

His faithful guards struck the floor with the butts of their spears.

THUMP!

"We will escort you outside."

The guards stationed around the room led the nobles out. As Marcus left, he raised a clenched fist toward Encrid in encouragement. He, too, had been rooting for Encrid's dream.

With everyone streaming out, the room might have felt empty. Yet it did not. Instead of emptiness, Encrid felt something burning within him. It was much like when he had become a knight.

Call it light, and it was light. Call it a flower, and it became a flower. Call it a star, and it was a star; a dream, and it became a dream. His Will stirred. Blazing hot, it filled his entire body to the brim.

Krang stood before him.

A knight's pledge of loyalty was founded upon an oath. Breaking it would deal devastating damage to their Will, so it was only natural for a king to receive that pledge. Every nation on the continent did so.

"This is the dream you wished for. Follow whatever path you choose."

And Krang ignored all that nonsense. If the man before him drove a sword into his body, then that would be where his life ended. A gamble? No. He was a king. A king had to know how to judge people, and how to trust them.

This was not gambling, but trust. The faith he would show a man he believed in, precisely because he was a king and not a merchant.

SHING!

Krang drew his sword and laid it on Encrid's shoulder. Encrid neither knelt nor bowed his head.

"I appoint you a knight of Naurilia."

As Krang spoke, Encrid felt the weight and touch of the sword on his shoulder.

Some had deceived and cheated him, but others had planted a dream in a child's heart. Some he had sought out had cursed and shoved him away, but others had patted his back.

What did he wield his sword for?

He wanted to protect a farmer who should never have had to lose a leg.

What did he keep moving forward for?

He wanted to save a child who dreamed of becoming an herb gatherer.

He had stitched those fragments of a dream together and become a knight. Apart from a select few, no one had expected it, and no one could have been certain. There was no reason to stop for those who criticized and mocked him, so he had not.

Even when arrows flew and pierced him. Even when blades cut his flesh and struck bone. Even when the wall barring his path grew taller still, and waves bearing the name of despair crashed over him.

"Waves, walls, whatever comes, I will overcome it and protect everything behind me."

The oath was short, but that did not matter. The conviction in his heart mattered more than the words leaving his lips. And Encrid had proved that conviction through his actions all this time.

Krang lifted the sword from his shoulder. An investiture normally involved all sorts of formalities when someone became a knight, but they had dispensed with them all in favor of a simple ceremony.

"What do you want to name the order?"

Krang's tone changed. Without the solemnity, he seemed like an ordinary young man from the neighborhood. Though, with a face that handsome, perhaps not quite ordinary.

"Isn't that something the king decides?"

"Ah, I hear the Scarlet Cloak Knight Order took its name from the Sun Beast's fur. So, Iron Wall?"

The Iron Wall Knight Order. Not a bad name, but Encrid considered their identity. Did it really suit the people under his command? Somehow he had acquired that nickname, yet he felt that moving forward suited him better than holding firm.

"Blue Cloak Knight Order?"

He tossed out the suggestion.

"... You bastard. Why do you sound so serious when you're joking?"

Krang shot back with a laugh. Usually he managed to sound refined, but now he spoke more comfortably than ever.

Really, did the order's name matter that much? Encrid would rather revisit what had come to him a moment ago. How to put it? It had been an entirely unexpected insight.

Perhaps everything had contributed to it: his battle with the Aspen knight, unleashing everything he had in that fight, the sparring and training that continued afterward, all his deliberation and Review.

A moment ago, he had felt his surging Will sweep through his body like waves. The word had not appeared in his oath for nothing. And he had wondered what would happen if he swung his sword in time with that wave-like surge.

If it worked as he imagined, should he call it the Wave Sword?

Creating sword arts was not the sole province of the genius who had brought swordsmanship together in the Oniak Sword Technique. Encrid was no genius, but as everything he had achieved through effort blended and merged, something felt within reach. A sword art.

At its foundation, it combined the Flowing Sword with the Straight Sword. Mixed into it were the method Sir Jamal had shown him, which forced an opponent to block his strike, and a little of the sword art called Aker's Web.

Distracted by thoughts of swordsmanship, Encrid decided to leave the order's name as it had always been.

"Let's call it the Lunatic Knight Order."

"Are you serious?"

"That's what our unit was called to begin with."

"Oh, Lord. This bastard seems serious. Please fix his head."

He sounded like Audin.

"There's nothing wrong with my head."

Krang mulled the name over a few times, then simply nodded. Did a grand-sounding name matter? Probably not. Then how would the neighboring nations feel when they heard the word "lunatic"?

'First, they'll ask if we're serious. Then they'll probably curse us and ask if these bastards really are mad.'

That was Krang's assessment.

Encrid gave it little thought. Had he been the sort to be swayed by others' words, he would never have made it this far. Besides, he thought the order's name would change naturally with time. Just look at his own nicknames. From the irresistible Squad Leader, he had become the Demon Killer, then the Iron Wall Knight.

"Do come to the banquet. It would be a shame to have the guest of honor missing."

A knight order had been founded. One kingdom now had two. Nothing like it had happened anywhere on the continent for nearly a hundred years. It would be a shame not to hold a banquet.

* * *

After parting with Krang, Encrid received the guards' salutes and passed Marcus and the two stunned great nobles on his way back to his quarters. As soon as he returned, Rem sprang to his feet.

"Heard the news?"

Had word of the knight order spread already? Encrid wondered as he asked,

"What news?"

"Apparently I'm some Noble Slaughterer, and that one's a bear Beastman who tears people apart. Then there's the truth about that directionless bastard being a blood-crazed swordsman who kills anyone who meets his eyes. Esther's a witch, the Fairy has demon blood in her, and the rumors are everywhere. But that bastard's the only one without a nickname."

Rem had leaped up the instant he saw Encrid and launched into his speech, gesturing as he went. He could not have looked more serious.

Encrid removed his coat and reached for his shirt. A maid and a manservant who had been watching with frightened eyes approached to undress him. Such things were routine in the palace, but he still found it awkward.

While he shed some of his clothes, Rem, who had delivered his whole speech in one breath without seeming winded, spoke again.

"Does that make any sense to you?"

"You mean Jaxon, don't you?"

"It's a conspiracy."

Rem seemed bored. Either that, or he and Jaxon might actually have become friends. When people grew overly close, they did tend to tease and insult each other. Of course, if Encrid said that aloud, Rem would immediately return to Border Guard. To swing an axe at Jaxon's neck.

"Quite so. The scriptures tell us not to accept injustice as our fate."

With Audin chiming in, it seemed they had both made up their minds. They disliked their nicknames, but one man escaping the whole affair seemed to annoy them far more.

"There's a banquet tomorrow. Are you going?"

The talk about Jaxon was probably mostly a joke. Encrid wondered if they might clear up these minor misunderstandings with the nobles and everyone else. All they had to do was explain that Rem was not a mad bastard who split open every noble's head on sight, and that Audin neither tore people apart for a hobby nor was a bear Beastman.

It would be the Lunatic Knight Order's first official appearance. He did not care what others thought, but if it bothered these two so much, giving them a chance to repair their reputations would not hurt.

"I think we should go together."

He thought there would be nothing for it if they refused, but Rem nodded.

"Sounds good."

"I will join you as well, brother."

Audin did not refuse either. As for why, after hearing Rem's next words, Encrid hardly needed to ask.

"I think we need a rumor about a mad alley cat in Border Guard who hit on every woman around, got rejected by them all, and now only dares come out at night."

For a moment, Encrid wondered whether bringing them was the right decision, but he did not dwell on it. Right now, he wanted to ponder the waves and the sword he had forgotten about earlier.