The thin gambeson covering the Imperial knight’s arm swelled. It happened because the muscles in his arm bulged as if they were about to burst.
He tried to twist Enkrid’s arm like that, but the forearm that had become his target did not budge, as though it had been made from black gold.
‘What the—’
His confusion was brief. He was a knight too. He knew not with his head, but with his heart, that confusion in battle led to death.
He let go of his sword as he was, sprang up as though clinging to the arm, and wrapped both legs around his opponent’s neck.
Then the knight from the continent also let go of his sword and blocked by striking away his legs with his forearm. The Imperial knight tried to trap even that arm with the strength of his legs and break it, but it was nowhere near enough.
‘Why?’
His opponent calmly pushed his legs away with one arm. Not with technique, but only with strength.
Then he too leaped up and, in reverse, wrapped his legs around the Imperial knight’s neck. For an instant, the two became tangled in midair like a twisted net.
‘I got caught.’
The moment he thought that, he felt force tightening around his neck, and his mind grew hazy as blood stopped reaching his head.
Even in that situation, he still reached inside his chest for the dagger hidden in his clothes, but he lost consciousness first.
‘Infiltration and injection.’
His opponent had wrapped both legs around his neck and infiltrated Will into him. It was a variation of divine infiltration, one of the specialties of holy knights.
‘Where did a monster like this come from?’
That was the Imperial knight’s final thought. With that, his memory snapped off.
The moment his opponent tried the arm lock, Enkrid proved that the sweat he had shed with Audin had not been wasted.
‘A setup.’
Deflect every attack, then use the moment the opponent wavered to decide the fight with close-range wrestling. He had likely used it as a sure-win strategy until now. Only, this time, it did not work in the slightest. Enkrid’s forearm did not move at all, and the follow-up attack was also blocked with one arm.
Should he say the strength of the man’s legs had been beaten by the strength of his arm? A trained body was a weapon in itself.
“You say it does not work at the level of knights? Who said that, brother?”
If it did not work against knights, then one simply had to train until it did.
Audin’s words circled his ears like an auditory hallucination. Enkrid choked the man while suspended in the air. The two crashed down with a thud, and one side stood up right away, but the other did not move.
“Did you kill him?”
Valmung asked from quite far away.
“No.”
Enkrid answered and brushed off his backside. As he slapped the dust off, it puffed up into the air.
It had been a surprise attack, but his opponent had charged in with intent. More than hiding his presence, the man’s will to close in and gauge Enkrid’s skill had come first. Enkrid liked that quite a bit.
Valmung’s request was one thing, but the bigger reason he had not taken the man’s head was that.
“Excellent.”
Temares admired.
“As expected of my fiancé.”
Shinar also approached and nodded.
Whoosh.
Esther, who had been protecting the campfire, suddenly made the flames rise. The fire shot straight up to a giant’s height, then settled back down. It was a sight worth seeing. A mage’s tricks were close to acrobatics, after all.
“What are you using spells for?”
Watching that, Nephir Teshir spoke with despair in his voice. Had the reason she had just awakened to a spell been to cheer for that man’s victory?
Looking only at the situation, it seemed that way. He had already realized there was no room for him to slip in, but seeing Esther express her will even to the point of overusing spells left him depressed.
“...He won.”
Esther hesitated a little, then muttered. It seemed even she thought using a spell had been slightly excessive.
Rem, who had just smacked Lynox in the head and knocked him unconscious, opened his mouth.
“If he wins twice, what, you’re not planning to burn this whole place down, are you?”
It was a joke tossed out with a cackle.
“Do not burn the forest.”
Shinar added.
“Words are enough, witch.”
Temares comforted her. Esther knew opening her mouth here would only put her at a disadvantage, so she shut it.
“Imperial hospitality is certainly on the noisy side.”
Crang said, leaving the madmen aside. There was no rise or fall in his tone, so his emotions did not show. At some point, Jaxon had taken position behind him, and the Royal Guards still had not relaxed their vigilance.
“This was not what we wished, and even if I say it was not Her Majesty’s will, I truly have nothing to say. I can only ask that you understand with a generous heart. This area is the fastest and safest route.”
Fast and safe. In exchange, it would also have been easy for the person behind this to predict.
Seriana offered the excuse and explanation she had prepared. In conversations between rulers, excuses, pretexts, and justification came first.
If one made public sentiment and opinion one’s allies, the fight began half-won. War, by nature, began before anyone lifted a spear or drew a sword.
“That sounds like you brought us here knowing this would happen. Am I right?”
Crang asked again.
Riley still stood behind Seriana. From the moment he had first appeared, it had been clear whose side he would take if necessary.
Even if she pretended not to know here, no one would believe her, and it would clearly only build resentment for no reason, so Seriana answered honestly.
“Yes, that is correct. Though I did not predict this situation. Especially not that the Butterfly Troupe would get involved.”
And still less that they would be beaten like this without accomplishing anything.
She swallowed the rest. Her eyes were on Crang, but her attention turned toward Jaxon.
‘What in the world did he do?’
The Butterfly Troupe was a renowned group even within the Empire. It was not as though everything succeeded whenever they moved, but it was rare for them to fail this helplessly. At least, that was how Seriana understood it. Yet now, the man before her had blocked the Troupe’s attack alone.
That was how the situation looked. Had the Troupe’s preparations been sloppy?
No. That was unlikely. The person who ordered this was not someone so easy, and the Troupe who carried it out was not that sort of group either.
‘This is purely that man’s ability.’
The fame of the Mad Order of Knights had spread even to the Empire. It was not for nothing. Along with the big-eyed man who acted like some hidden mastermind and the madman called their captain, this man’s skill was hard to measure too.
“Do you know whose doing this is?”
Crang asked. At the question, Seriana returned her gaze to the king. Yes, this was the time to ask who stood behind the matter.
“There are a few within the Empire who do not find this visit very pleasing. I believe it is one of them. I will only know the exact name once we reach the capital.”
In truth, she had a name to give, but this was not the time to say it.
“Former Count Coty ordered it.”
Then the answer popped out from elsewhere. It was one of the Troupe members Jaxon had faced. She was an assassin whose weapons were her twin braids and youthful face.
Her skin was not especially smooth, given the rough work she did, but outwardly, she was cute enough.
To the eyes of those at the level of knights, the developed trapezius muscles, balanced physique, and callused fingertips would make it clear she was no ordinary person.
She said it as she crawled out of the darkness. Then she looked at Jaxon and smiled brightly. It was like the smile of an ordinary woman looking at a man she liked, and that made it terribly ill-suited to the current situation. Jaxon merely ignored her completely, as though he could neither see nor hear her.
“Count Coty?”
Crang asked back. His questions were always directed at Seriana. It was clear who the person responsible was.
“It is the Margrave’s nickname. His real name is Gainer Epoch, the name of the Margrave who governs this region.”
Because he was a count guarding the Empire’s southern border, he was a Margrave. Since he ruled the border region, he could be considered a king in this area.
“And we have to pass through his city?”
It was a question that meant, how could they trust a man who did this?
“Even if I swear it, I know it will be difficult to believe, but nothing will happen. If necessary, I will remain as a hostage.”
Riley Zaun’s mind worked quickly. He had not taken Seriana hostage for no reason.
The king of Naurillia was too complacent. Was he not entering a place that might become enemy territory without even the bare minimum of safety guaranteed?
Taking an executor hostage made things easy. Rather than explaining separately, Riley had more or less told him through action to do exactly that.
“Is there any need to go that far?”
Crang rejected it. He understood Riley’s intention, but he refused it politely. Why? If one were to give the reason, it would be right to say the vessel was different.
“If I die here, then that must be my fate. And there are more than one or two people who will not simply let me die.”
Who could he mean by the people who would not let him die?
Enkrid calmly grabbed the unconscious Imperial knight by the leg and dragged him over to the campfire.
“If you’re not going to kill him, take him.”
He spoke as he did. There was no particular will, pressure, or command carried in those words, but everyone who heard understood.
Unless one crossed the mad knight, one could not reach the king. That fact was clear.
Right before he said those words, the western barbarian, the dragonkin, the fairy, the mage, and the assassin stood behind Enkrid.
They did not speak. They merely stood behind him.
With that alone, their meaning was conveyed to everyone. All of them shared the will of the knight named Enkrid. Crang smiled and returned to his seat.
“Would you like some?”
He offered it to the woman presumed to be an assassin.
Just a moment ago, something had flown toward him, a fight had broken out, the ground had been dug up here and there, and several tents had collapsed, yet he was calm.
Was one only able to handle the Mad Order of Knights with nerves like that? It was a thought those watching might well have.
Seriana once again admired Crang’s response, but the part she admired was a little different from everyone else.
‘He knows that his position and mine are different.’
The man called a king had raised his own station without the least fuss. He had done it by saying that taking a mere executor hostage would be meaningless.
What did one have to do to converse with the emperor as an equal?
The emperor had often said she was bored because she had no friend to talk with. Seriana had not understood those words. There were always people overflowing around the emperor, so why would such words come out?
Now she knew the reason.
‘A friend must speak with the same view.’
There were people around the emperor who held her up, but no one who tried to speak to her on the same line.
The prime minister was the closest to that, but even that prime minister was more like a child than a friend.
‘Ah.’
Now she understood a part of the emperor’s emptiness and melancholy.
Cradianat Randios Nauril had finished preparing to talk with the queen before even departing.
‘You were wrong.’
Seriana said it toward the person who had arranged this in the capital. After several days of talking with the king and spending time with him, she understood.
‘Is one a king because there is a throne?’
Was one a king because there were people? Was one a king only by claiming the title? Was one a king only by being recognized?
No. Before all of that, a king was a king when he knew himself. With the simple sentence of not taking an executor hostage, he had solidified his position and standing.
By walking and choosing the path no one else easily chose, he had made his place firm.
“Will we be able to see this Margrave’s face tomorrow morning? Or must we break through a rain of arrows?”
“I will make sure you can see his face at once.”
Seriana spoke, then glanced toward the Troupe member.
“Go to the Margrave and tell him this. Ask if he intends to fire arrows on a road where I am taking the lead. Add that I know very well he is not someone who would do anything so filthy.”
It was more or less something she spat out in anger. The assassin had been staring closely at Jaxon’s face, but now she rose.
“Yes.”
It was the executor’s order. In this land, the Margrave might be a king, but once they entered the Imperial capital, an executor held a special position too.
When she gestured, three or four assassins with broken ribs or broken limbs approached and collected the Imperial knight.
“When that man wakes up, tell him my name is Enkrid.”
Enkrid spoke toward those leaving. He had not liked the surprise attack, but it had not been a bad spar.
He had only said it because he wanted to give at least his name, and one assassin nodded.
As they withdrew, Rem stood beside Jaxon and spoke.
“When we get back, I’ll spread this far and wide for you. I’ll say you were a master of legendary assassin arts who ended a fight by seducing the assassin who attacked you.”
“...Nonsense.”
“Someone in particular will be very delighted to hear it.”
Rem let out laughter that rose from deep in his lungs. The way he cackled was no different from a demon.
“Should I make sure that mouth of yours can never move again before we get back?”
Jaxon showed rare irritation. It was not as though Yenatrice would say anything even if she learned about the current situation, but it bothered him. The sight of this man pointing precisely at that and saying it was endlessly annoying.
As much admiration as Seriana felt while looking at the king and his knight, she felt a different kind of emotion while looking at the knight named Rem.
‘He is teasing him about that at a moment like this?’
He seemed like someone who had spent his whole life thinking about how to mock people. It was truly astonishing.

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