A Knight Who Eternally Regresses
Chapter 810
Normally, a knight would not often act as a personal escort.
Their very idleness was a loss to the nation's strength.
Generally speaking, it was more beneficial for knights to protect the borders or deal with the numerous dangers across the continent.
This was also the reason why the Crimson Cloak Knight Order could not easily leave the southern border.
Well, it wasn't that there weren't those who lived as they pleased, but in the first place, the number of knights across the entire continent could not be said to be very high.
Therefore, the captain of the Royal Guard could not have calculated for this turn of events.
Therefore, he had nothing to say.
Still, he resisted until the very end.
"A fortress wall cannot be built with one hand."
Krang casually dismissed his resistance.
"Right. But this is different. Right now, it's over once I'm protected."
"A person only has two eyes."
Enkrid thought the Royal Guard captain was right.
Separate from the act of sensing danger, preventing such things from happening in the first place required no small amount of effort.
That was not something an individual could do, even a knight.
In the first place, it was a matter of course that a close-protection escort could not move beyond a certain radius from the person they were protecting.
Enkrid had no small amount of experience working as a bodyguard.
That's why he knew.
"Does that mean an attack that escapes a knight's perception could occur within the capital?"
Krang asked abruptly.
At his confident tone, the captain of the Royal Guard answered, even knowing he was being drawn in.
"My job is to be wary of the one-in-ten-thousand chance."
"Then I must say this. It is my job to rule so that that one-in-ten-thousand chance does not happen."
He had resolved the public security issues around the capital and had put great effort into it.
Was he saying that despite all the work he had done, danger still existed?
It was possible.
No matter what one does, not all dangers can be eliminated.
Because in the work of men, there can be completion, but not perfection.
That is the way of the world.
Also, with the recent opening of the trade route through Naurillia, weren't the city streets now teeming with people coming and going, from giants, elves, and dwarves to frogs and beastmen?
On top of that, Westerners and Southerners, and even occasionally dignitaries from the Empire, came and went.
'That's a stretch.'
'A stretch.'
From Enkrid to Marcus, Matthew, and the Royal Guard captain, they all knew he was stretching the truth.
But Krang, as he spoke, seemed to shine.
As it happened, he had his back to the east, so the rising sun cast a long shadow from his back to his front.
It was a demeanor that made even that shadow seem imbued with conviction.
Krang continued to speak in a confident tone.
"So, put your worries aside. Also, even if I die, the nation will not end. The Naurillia of today is not weak."
The captain, though half-resigned, said one last thing.
"My job is to protect you."
"I know that, too."
Krang, smiling as he spoke, seemed to be asking for a concession.
With that, he dismissed the Royal Guard captain, and thus Enkrid was able to leave the inner castle with Krang.
The two of them walked out on foot without a word.
Enkrid, walking with steady steps, brought up what had just happened.
"That was a stretch."
Krang nodded at once.
He showed no intention of denying it, nor did he look ashamed.
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Hmm, I should probably explain everything now, but I have a feeling you'll understand even if I don't, so I won't."
He's developed a talent for persuading people with sophistry while I haven't seen him.
Enkrid nodded for him to go on.
Krang added to his words.
"If necessary, a king must also take risks. And what I want to do is an incognito inspection."
An incognito inspection meant hiding the king's identity and observing the faces of those living in the capital.
If he moved with a large number of escorts, he would stand out, and the meaning of observing in secret would be lost.
But was there really a need for that?
At this point in time?
No.
But yes.
From a general perspective, it was a sudden incognito inspection, but Enkrid knew that Krang would not do something meaningless.
Though it would be difficult to guess the reason if he didn't explain it.
However, he felt with his gut and knew with his intuition that there was something Krang desired.
"Still recovering?"
Krang asked.
"Both arms still need rest."
"You need rest, and yet you beat up Aishia and the soldiers like that?"
"That was rehabilitation training."
Enkrid was serious, but Krang took it as a joke and laughed cheerfully.
He called it an incognito inspection, but all he had done was pull a hood with a pointed brim down at an angle.
He showed no real effort to hide his face.
"You don't have to cover your face?"
"How many people living in the capital do you think would recognize the king? You can count them on one hand."
To Enkrid, it looked as if Krang was hoping someone would discover him.
And he also felt as if Krang was satisfied with the fact that he was not in perfect condition due to his injuries.
'What do you want?'
If he thought about it carefully, he felt he might find the answer.
He calls it incognito, but he reveals his face and doesn't hide his identity.
He looks at the extent of my injuries and nods with satisfaction.
He deliberately shook off his escort.
And he had also said that some seditious air was circulating within the capital.
Was he trying to use himself as bait to lure out the enemy?
Would that even work?
Would it be politically advantageous if the people knew the king had been attacked?
'Seems like a loss.'
The stability gained from securing the city's safety and wiping out the surrounding monsters, beasts, and bandits.
All of that was the reason for Naurillia's current prosperity.
Was there a need to announce that there was a blade aimed at the king in the midst of this?
Even if there was, was there a need to reveal it so publicly?
And not even as a vague rumor?
Look.
Krang said in the middle of his thoughts.
Enkrid tossed his thoughts to one side and turned his gaze.
Before him was a road paved with white stone, still sparsely populated.
The stones formed a certain path.
The four roads that cut through the capital. This is the White Road that leads to the inner castle.
As they walked on it, white sand or the like made a crunching sound.
Krang spoke again.
It was paved by carving white stone.
On the road of smooth stones, it looked as if the path for carriages and the path for people had been separated.
It was one of Naurillia's road projects.
They divided the roads people walked on from the roads carriages used, and carriages that ran at set times would carry people.
In the meantime, this road would help people not to get lost in the complex city.
'Similar to the Border Guard.'
Krais was also undertaking and progressing with a similar project.
And you see that over there?
Enkrid followed Krang's finger and turned his gaze.
In that direction, he saw a warehouse with a round roof.
What was different from an ordinary warehouse was that the texture covering it looked like metal.
The building, reflecting the sun, glittered with a silver light.
A silver wave seemed to ripple over the building.
They say the lower quality ones among the True Silver can't be used properly. We covered the outside with that and installed a spell object inside that injects cold air.
Maintaining cold with a spell object cost a lot of Krona.
This was a device to make it last semi-permanently.
The True Silver covering the outside was a magic metal, and based on that, they had designed a formula to keep cold air constantly circulating inside.
Of course, Enkrid didn't know the details.
Someone like Esther would have looked at this and called it an interesting device.
The state provided the money and we lent it out to various businesses. We've had some good fun with the Krona.
It wasn't a boastful tone.
He was just telling him on the way, since they were out in the city.
No, he looked excited right now.
Wasn't he just showing off what he had done to his friend?
Krang was a king, but he was also a good guide.
Besides that, there was also a street where many merchants gathered, where carriages were not allowed to pass, and the Outer Road, made for people in a hurry.
Afterward, they were walking, side-by-side, munching on apples coated in sugar water.
In an instant, Enkrid's five senses became incredibly sharp, and with that, he felt his surroundings slow down.
Why?
His five senses converged, stimulating a sixth.
Even without knowing the reason, he sensed danger.
With the apple still in his mouth, he extended his hand, opening and closing his fist.
It was a simple motion, but it was a gesture so fast that an ordinary person's eyes couldn't have seen it properly.
Something was caught in that gesture.
Thwack! Vibrate.
The arrow shaft caught in his hand trembled.
It was not an arrow shot with ordinary strength.
And it wasn't just one.
Three arrows flew in in succession.
Enkrid's two hands moved as if snatching at the air.
Thwack, thwack, thwack.
Vibrate.
Four arrows had been caught.
Though he was still injured, his body had been through a sparring match.
This much was nothing.
Enkrid's gaze spread wide, centering on the buildings.
Skilled assassins.
If not, they wouldn't have shot an arrow and immediately changed position.
Building rooftops, windows, alleys in the marketplace.
The rats were hiding in the shadows, revealing their killing intent toward them.
There were several assassins.
Enkrid blocked Krang's front with his body.
He could block arrows like this all night.
No, he could catch them.
...You blocked all of them.
Krang said from behind.
It was a surprised tone, but the type of surprise was strange.
It was as if he was surprised not by his skill, but because things weren't going the way he had wanted.
There are a lot.
Enkrid's tone was calm.
It would have been the same whether arrows or javelins flew at him.
An attack like this could be blocked by even a Junior Knight.
Of course, not in the way he had just snatched them, as if catching a newborn's wrist.
With just this, Enkrid could have broken the assassins' fighting spirit, but the opponents did not know how to give up.
Two more arrows flew in.
However, this time, the type of arrow was different.
Enkrid's thoughts accelerated as he perceived two lines.
One has an acrid smell.
The other had a sharp, spicy smell.
They were arrows coated with a spell.
Then the response?
If he cut them in the air, they would explode and the aftermath would reach them.
The best way to deal with the two arrows was to step forward and cut the arrow shafts with his sword.
That is, to step a few paces forward, leaving Krang, and neutralize them to block the aftermath in advance, but that was their aim.
If I dodge, the remaining arrows will fly in.
Therefore, he just had to block them while protecting this spot.
Enkrid did so.
First was the arrow with the acrid smell.
It was an object with a scroll rolled around it that would explode the moment it stopped.
Then he just had to not let it stop.
He treated the tip of the arrowhead as the thrust of a skilled warrior with a sword or spear and tapped its end with the back of his hand.
With that, the arrow's trajectory changed.
The arrow that had been aiming for Krang, spreading its acrid smell, changed its trajectory and flew over his head.
The next arrow was the same.
This one would spread a poison cloud the moment it exploded, but at Enkrid's gesture, it flew far away.
The first arrow exploded three stories above a building, and the second went into an alley in the marketplace and created a green fog with a bang.
Some of the attacking assassins unconsciously opened their mouths.
What did I just see?
Catching arrows was surprising enough, but he had deflected arrows wrapped in scrolls with a mere gesture.
It looked as if he had swung his palm and created a wind to push them aside.
Enkrid nonchalantly dusted off his hands.
The arrowhead had grazed him, but it had only left a red mark, not even a scratch.
It was because he had momentarily moved his Will to wrap himself in Ironclad, and the tip hadn't directly cut his flesh.
Sharp.
He then gave his impression.
Enkrid did not bother to glare at where the hidden men were.
He still couldn't leave his spot.
Because he had to protect Krang.
In other words, if they shot arrows from a distance, all he could do was block.
The defending side was always at a disadvantage, so this couldn't be helped.
The group of assassins all glared at Enkrid and were about to make their move again.
Enkrid, sensing this, opened his mouth.
You know, I didn't come alone.
Hiding in the shadows was not their monopoly.

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