Chapter 978 - The Duke's Dream
Krang raised his wine glass as he spoke.
6Aside from a few stray drops of crimson liquid clinging to the crystal, the glass was completely empty.
"Ah, this is the wine of victory. Since my Knight has emerged victorious, we absolutely must raise a glass in celebration."
He looked as if he had already consumed quite a bit.
His face was flushed red, and his tone was heavily laced with force.
Hearing Krang speak with that bright, charming smile, Balmung let out a hollow, exasperated laugh.
This King sure loves to aggressively provoke people.
While it absolutely wasn't fine that he had lost, Balmung forcibly suppressed his emotions because there was an infinitely more important matter at hand.
Yet, they kept deliberately poking and prodding at his pride.
The bastard named Enkrid did it, the bastard named Rem did it, and now even the King was doing it.
Yeah, this is actually starting to genuinely piss me off.
If Knights fight with their lives on the line, the outcome of a battle is never an absolute certainty.
Despite knowing that perfectly well, the reason they were continuously provoking him... was it because they secretly hoped he would lose his temper and make a fatal mistake?
'Or maybe they're just mocking me because they actually find it highly entertaining.'
If it was the latter, it was a truly bizarre King paired with an equally bizarre Knight.
Balmung simply grabbed the wine glass set before him and downed it in a single gulp.
"Then I suppose this is my penalty drink. I misspoke. While I did formally receive permission from Lady Seriana, I simply assumed it would be significantly easier to convey our absolute sincerity if I initiated the conversation exactly like that. For the record, Lady Seriana actively attempted to stop me, but I stepped forward entirely on my own volition because I genuinely believed swearing an oath would make it much easier for you to trust us."
This man absolutely wasn't a politician.
Even taking into consideration that his argument constantly flip-flopped, it was incredibly difficult to claim he possessed silver-tongued eloquence.
"Unless the people you are speaking to are absolute fools, it is an incredibly difficult situation to simply trust blindly. I am absolutely not saying this to insult your honor, Sir Valpir."
Krais replied.
This response was also incredibly insidious.
It essentially meant: I deeply respect your honor as a Knight, but given the catastrophic circumstances, you leave us absolutely no choice.
"His Imperial Majesty has heard the sweeping tales of the King and the Knight who slaughtered a Lord of the Demonic Realms, and he fervently desires to meet that King personally and engage in deeply intimate dialogue," Lady Seriana reiterated.
"If the sole purpose is merely to engage in dialogue, why couldn't he simply rely on a letter or an intermediary?"
This time, Krang personally answered.
"He explicitly stated that the profound desire to see you with his own eyes is entirely his own personal greed."
"How interesting."
"He also explicitly predicted that if he couldn't see you with his own eyes, he wouldn't be able to truly believe it, and that you would absolutely ask exactly that question."
"...Now that is truly fascinating."
In all brutal honesty, Krang genuinely was intensely curious to see the face of the man known as the Emperor.
He desperately wanted to catch a glimpse of the terrifying intellect that could sit upon a throne in the distant capital of the Empire and perfectly predict the exact flow of this dialogue between himself and the Envoy.
Furthermore, he was deeply curious about the man's physical appearance and the true intentions behind orchestrating such an elaborate scheme.
Absolutely nothing was known about the Emperor of the Empire—not even his exact age.
Some vehemently claimed the Emperor had never once changed, while others whispered that the 'Emperor' was actually a fabricated entity artificially constructed by dozens of shadowy figures operating behind the scenes.
In reality, even among those actively serving within the highest echelons of the Empire, those who had personally laid eyes upon the Emperor could be counted on one hand.
Furthermore, those individuals absolutely refused to speak of or discuss the Emperor in any capacity.
He held no children, possessed no wife, and simply... existed.
That was the absolute, unfathomable nature of the seat known as the Emperor of the Empire.
Because he completely shrouded himself in absolute mystery and revealed nothing, to some, he became a source of unfathomable, paralyzing terror, while to others, he was worshipped exactly like a living God.
Krang stared silently at Enkrid.
While Krais slowly shook his head in disagreement, that man fundamentally possessed far too much inherent anxiety anyway.
'Even if I die.'
Marcus can simply step in as Regent.
He had meticulously structured the Kingdom so that it would continue to function flawlessly even in the total absence of a King.
The timing was incredibly fortuitous.
Even if he completely vanished right now, the Kingdom would absolutely not grind to a halt.
Simply vacating his seat for a brief period wouldn't trigger a catastrophic disaster.
Furthermore, the thought occurred to him that he had already personally met with the King of Aspen and the King of the South, hadn't he?
Hell, hadn't the King of Evergart recently visited in person, accompanied by only a single Knight, specifically to personally verify the character of the man he was allying with?
'Although, a direct, personal summons from the Emperor of the Empire feels like it operates on an entirely different scale.'
Since there was absolutely no conceivable way to decipher the Emperor's true intentions, he simply had to face it head-on.
What if it ultimately sparked an apocalyptic war with the Empire?
'Then the war against the Demonic Realms goes completely out the window.'
That remained true even if they won.
If they lost, it was a given.
Krang had absolutely defined his true enemy.
It wasn't humanity; it was the demonic beasts, and the absolute pinnacle of those beasts—the demons, the Lords of the Demonic Realms.
If initiating a catastrophic gamble was absolutely necessary to fight them, he would gladly take the bet.
Krang solidified his resolve.
"Sir Balmung, I shall actively protect your honor. Lady Seriana, wasn't it? It seems you will successfully fulfill the mission you were burdened with as well."
"Your Majesty?!"
Shocked beyond belief, Marcus urgently called out to him, but Krang simply flashed a bright, charming smile.
"Everyone worries far too much. If things go completely south, we can simply fight our way out. I will be bringing my absolute finest Guardian Knight with me, after all. You're going to come with me, right?"
The tone he used for that last question was unimaginably light.
It sounded exactly as if he were casually asking Enkrid to accompany him to a tavern for a good drink, and Enkrid, without a single shred of hesitation, simply nodded his head.
Because to him, it was an absolute given.
Krang was his close friend, and the King who was actively accomplishing the things Enkrid couldn't do himself.
Using his sword to fiercely protect him was an absolute certainty.
"If we go to the Empire, are they going to treat us to exceptionally good food?"
Enkrid asked casually.
Hearing that question, Balmung burst into loud, genuine laughter.
"Absolutely!"
It seemed Balmung had genuinely taken an incredibly strong liking to Enkrid.
The Duke of the Fertile Lands hadn't actively intervened until the very end.
The absolute entirety of his involvement consisted of quietly eating his meal and occasionally uttering a few strictly necessary words.
Aside from politely informing them that the servants would guide them and wishing them a restful night, and briefly introducing himself, he had been exceptionally sparing with his words.
His face wasn't completely overwhelmed with anxiety.
He merely looked as if he were deeply lost in profound thought.
The very next morning in the grand throne room, the Imperial Envoy, the Knight, and the Mage took a formal knee before the throne, highly praised the King's majestic presence and his terrifying infamy across the continent, and formally presented the official missive sent from the Empire.
Unfurling the blank scroll and examining it, Krang nodded and formally declared to everyone present.
"I shall travel to the Empire for a formal summit with the Emperor."
It wasn't a declaration of war; it was a summit.
While many let out profound sighs of relief, almost immediately, massive question marks painted themselves across everyone's faces.
"Excuse me?"
"Where exactly are you going, Your Majesty?"
"Are you genuinely suggesting you will travel there personally?"
"Do you intend to march an entire legion with you?"
"Is 'summit' simply a polite codeword for an apocalyptic war?"
These were the frantic questions aggressively pouring from the members of the Council of Ten and the other major nobles.
"I explicitly said I am going to the Empire, and the Madmen Knights shall accompany me. Since Sir Cypress remains entirely occupied fiercely defending the Southern border against the Demonic Realms."
Krang answered completely nonchalantly, and the faces of a significant portion of the nobles instantly drained of all color, turning a sickly pale blue.
The Kingdom had only just barely managed to stabilize its internal and external affairs, yet this absolute lunatic of a King was currently declaring he was going to walk straight into the gaping maw of a demonic beast on his own two feet.
It was entirely natural for every single one of them to start foaming at the mouth.
The absolute chaotic uproar caused by the nobles was brutally silenced by the Duke of the Fertile Lands.
"Are you openly declaring that you absolutely cannot trust the decisions of the King you have chosen to serve and follow?! I trust him! Furthermore, utilize your brains. Do you genuinely desire to spark a catastrophic war with the Empire right this second? Because if you don't, we are severely lacking in viable alternatives."
He fiercely reprimanded them while simultaneously soothing their anxieties.
By ultimately forcing them to praise the King's 'noble sacrifice', he explicitly proved that his terrifying political acumen hadn't dulled in the slightest.
Having silently observed the entire exchange, Krais internally muttered that the Duke was a truly insidious, old serpent.
If you actually broke it down, they could have easily arranged to meet in a neutral, middle-ground territory, or utilized countless other diplomatic alternatives, so the Duke's argument was fundamentally riddled with massive logical holes.
However, by forcibly placing the absolute statement 'I trust the King' at the forefront of his argument, he completely silenced the nobles' bewilderment while flawlessly playing the role of a stubborn, fiercely loyal old man.
It was undeniably a terrifying display of political manipulation.
Despite recognizing that, Krais's expression remained profoundly sullen.
However, after meeting privately with Krang later, he finally nodded his head in reluctant acceptance.
"Trust me. If Enki goes with me, I am absolutely confident we can extract ourselves in one piece if things go wrong. Furthermore, you know this perfectly well too. If the Empire genuinely wanted me dead, they absolutely wouldn't need to orchestrate a massive, convoluted scheme like this. If they wanted me dead, they would have just sent an army of assassins. Why the hell would they specifically summon me to the Imperial Capital under the explicit guise of a summit? If I die there, what exactly does the Empire gain? Do they gain Naurillia? Absolutely not. All they gain is an enemy nation that will violently wage a blood-soaked war against them until the bitter end."
The absolute core foundation of all these highly logical deductions was undoubtedly Krang's terrifying primal intuition.
Krais deeply respected that intuition.
However, that didn't mean he was just going to passively nod his head and do absolutely nothing.
"To ensure Your Majesty's absolute safety, I shall summon one more individual. Ah, to be precise, I shall summon two more."
Krang knew perfectly well that Krais's mind was constantly overflowing with deeply unconventional thoughts far removed from the norm, and he also knew perfectly well that those thoughts were ultimately highly beneficial to him.
"Do exactly as you please. How are the preparations for the salon business progressing?"
"This goddamn war needs to end first."
The King was the single largest primary investor in his salon business.
Krais fiercely dreamt of the day this massively wealthy patron would live a long, prosperous life and aggressively back his business ventures.
Even setting that aside, he intimately knew exactly what kind of genuinely exceptional man this King was.
He knew he was his Captain's close friend, and the profound, genuine respect Krang consistently displayed toward him was glaringly obvious.
Therefore, Krais was fiercely overflowing with the absolute resolve to never let him die.
Shortly after, the Imperial Envoy stepped forward to formally negotiate their exact departure date and the highly specific route they would take into the Empire.
***
"I wanted to speak with you for a brief moment."
Enkrid faced the man who had specifically requested to see him.
It was late evening in a small, cozy reception room illuminated by only a few flickering candles.
For some inexplicable reason, it strongly reminded him of the time Marquis Baisar had summoned him while lying bedridden.
While he was undoubtedly younger than the Marquis had been, the hair of the Duke of the Fertile Lands was also completely stark white.
Although some nobles desperately attempted to hide their age by dyeing their hair pitch-black with ink or artificial dyes, he clearly hadn't surrendered his hair to such fleeting trends.
"Please, come in."
The Duke invited him.
Sitting on the table in the reception room were teacups and the savory, unsweetened, crispy pastries he was known to heavily prefer.
Should he ask why he had been summoned?
It was an incredibly abrupt call.
However, it absolutely wasn't an order; it was framed entirely as a polite request asking if he could spare a brief moment of his time.
Because he seemed so incredibly desperate, it was impossible to ignore the request, and Enkrid could also feel the man's subtle consideration in deliberately approaching him during a time when he wouldn't be interrupting his grueling training schedule.
There were countless ways to try and justify it, but it ultimately boiled down to a single fact: he had absolutely no valid reason to refuse.
"You may enter."
The Duke called out again.
A side door slowly opened, and a woman stepped into the room.
Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, easily rivaling Kin Baisar's, and the skin exposed above the neckline of her elegant dress was pristine, smooth, and snow-white.
"She is my adopted daughter. What do you think?"
"What do you mean, what do I think?"
"Is she absolutely not enough to be considered a viable marriage prospect? Is it because you constantly surround yourself with breathtaking witches and fairies that your standards have become impossibly high? If you live a little longer, you'll eventually realize that physical appearance absolutely isn't everything."
The Duke of the Fertile Lands spoke with a tone overflowing with profound, genuine regret.
His facial expression perfectly matched his words.
Honestly, if Enkrid hadn't been an absolute master at piercing through the emotional concealment techniques employed by fairies, the Duke's acting was flawless enough to completely deceive him.
However, he was intensely curious exactly why the Duke was deliberately spouting this nonsense.
Realizing Enkrid wasn't falling for his act in the slightest, the highly perceptive Duke instantly dropped the facade and revealed his true intentions.
"You're not fooled at all. How exactly did it play out right before Marquis Baisar passed away?"
At those words, the memory vividly resurfaced.
"Please, formally wed Kin. It is my absolute final dying wish. It would be even better if you could bless me with a beautiful grandchild before I go."
Along with that memory, Enkrid instantly understood exactly why the Duke of the Fertile Lands had deliberately paraded his adopted daughter in front of him.
Are every single one of these old bastards absolutely dying to aggressively tease people?
"I sincerely apologize, Sir Knight. In truth, I was the one who relentlessly pestered my father. I desperately wanted to see you in person just once. No matter how many letters I sent, I never received a single reply, and even when I visited the Border Guard, the absolute most I could manage was catching a fleeting glimpse of you from afar. To be able to see your face this closely, even if it meant exploiting my father's absolute authority to do so... my greatest wish has been completely fulfilled."
The father had aggressively teased Enkrid, while the daughter had successfully achieved her ultimate objective in the ensuing chaos.
Am I genuinely supposed to eagerly support a dream like this too?
Within the ranks of the Border Guard, there existed a highly secretive society of noble ladies fiercely dedicated to worshipping the man they dubbed the 'Demonic Knight'.
The Duke's adopted daughter was apparently a high-ranking lady holding significant influence within that exact society.
"If he absolutely cannot belong to any single one of us, then he absolutely can belong to everyone. We are perfectly content with merely admiring him from afar. You've heard our creed, haven't you?"
The adopted daughter asked, flashing a brilliantly bright, enchanting smile.
"I have heard it."
Enkrid replied with a profoundly apathetic tone.
Because absolutely no one could possibly stand by his side—excluding the Black Flower and the Golden Witch—they had collectively resolved that it was infinitely better for everyone to just mutually admire his ridiculously handsome face from a distance.
Hadn't Krais heard that exact reasoning and excitedly declared that the absolute true flower of the salon was, in fact, the Captain?
Regardless, while it was a situation that would have left most men profoundly flustered, Enkrid remained completely unfazed.
To reach the point he was at now, he had frequently worked as an escort for countless noble ladies, and—exaggerating only slightly—he had personally experienced situations significantly more aggressively teasing than this well over a thousand times.
Therefore, he remained completely apathetic.
"Well then, since my ultimate wish has been completely fulfilled, I shall take my leave. You truly are devastatingly handsome, Sir Knight."
With that, she casually declared that her eyes had been thoroughly blessed and departed the room.
Watching her leave, the Duke of the Fertile Lands smiled warmly.
"She is an incredibly amusing child."
A father who wholeheartedly supports his adopted daughter doing completely absurd things like that.
He absolutely wasn't your run-of-the-mill noble.
Then again, if he had been an ordinary, unremarkable man, he never would have secured the immensely powerful title of Duke in the first place.
"Do you know what my ultimate wish is?"
The Duke of the Fertile Lands asked.
"What is it?"
When Enkrid asked in return, the Duke responded with a smile that was fundamentally different from the warm smile he had displayed just moments ago.
If the previous smile had been one of genuine amusement, this one appeared profoundly sorrowful.
"It is to die peacefully and be buried in my own land."
The story wasn't particularly long.
It was simply the profound, heartfelt desire of an old man who had lived his entire life upon this land—a noble, and a man who deeply, fiercely loved his territory and the people residing within it.
"One day, individuals calling themselves the minions of demons approached me. Do you have any idea exactly what it was they promised me?"
If they had aggressively approached absolutely every other major noble, it was a given they would have approached the Duke of the Fertile Lands as well.
Why would they meticulously target the pathetic, insignificant crumbs while completely ignoring this massive, incredibly succulent piece of meat?
Looking at the current situation, it was glaringly obvious the Duke hadn't succumbed to the demons' insidious schemes.
That was the absolute sum of it, but navigating that treacherous process had undoubtedly forced the Duke to plunge into profound, agonizing contemplation.
"They promised me my land. They promised me that for the absolute entirety of my life, it would never be invaded by anyone, and that even after I died, it would remain my absolute property, flawlessly passed down to my descendants. Isn't it incredibly amusing?"
The land, and the profound joy of the harvest—that was the fundamental, primal desire harbored by the Duke of the Fertile Lands.
The demons had offered an absolute guarantee on exactly that, yet the Duke's thoughts drifted in an entirely different direction.
"Please, put an absolute end to this war."
He had explicitly told the King exactly that.
He had declared that his own era was rapidly drawing to a close, and that pouring his absolute utmost effort into fervently supporting and pushing forward whatever it was the King desired was his greatest possible contribution.
And now, in this exact moment, the Duke of the Fertile Lands formally requested the King's Knight.
"I desperately wish to die peacefully and be buried in my own land."
He explicitly stated his ultimate desire.
Because Enkrid, as he always did, fervently supported the dreams of everyone, he fiercely supported the Duke's dream as well.
"It will happen exactly as you desire."
It was the dead of night, and it had been an incredibly brief encounter.
He had listened to the Duke's desperate wish, and Enkrid had firmly nodded his head.
Did all of this stack upon his shoulders as a crushing, suffocating burden?
Absolutely not.
Enkrid simply utilized the moment to fiercely reaffirm his own absolute resolve and unyielding Will one more time.
It was highly likely that exact mindset had directly influenced what happened next.
That night, the Ferryman appeared in his dreams.
***
If you enjoy the series and want to get more chapters early, head over to https://payhip.com/Samowek
Next 100 chapters - 25e [Be sure to message me on discord for any information]
[SHOP BEST BUY] - 50e - Every chapter translated - Latest WN-1125+ daily chapters from monday to friday for a month.
-KNIGHT - Cost 20e - Chapters 1055-1125 + daily chapters from Monday to Friday for a month
I welcome you to join our discord https://discord.gg/RY7BbJpeAZ
**ANY INFO ONLY APPLIES TO THE LATEST CHAPTER HERE ON WEBNOVEL**