Ch.392EP.82 – Not a Knight-Errant. Not Even a Knight (1)

Recently, or to be precise, for the past three months, “demons” have been swarming throughout the kingdom.

They appeared completely out of nowhere, leaving people bewildered. However, the older generation who had experienced demons before nodded calmly at their emergence.

As if it were a natural phenomenon.

“…They’re like cockroaches or rats. When the environment is filthy and rotting meat lies around, they appear at some point.”

Demons tend to emerge as despair blooms in people’s emotions, and they become more active and lively as death spreads thickly.

This was fitting behavior for beings belonging to hell, and it explained why the appearance of demons in the current era wasn’t surprising.

“If one appears, more will follow. What? How did our generation eliminate all the demons? Haha! What a strange question. When did we ever claim to have eliminated demons?”

The surviving soldier from the older generation shook his head in denial.

He insisted they hadn’t driven away demons to bring peace to the world.

“When peace settles, demons naturally disappear. What’s needed is what you might call a golden age of prosperity.”

Once the war ends, demons would naturally vanish as well.

That was his advice, though not explicitly stated as such, and people could only sigh in response.

“But how does peace come…?”

An era of war.

Nothing could be more foolish than calling for peace in these times.

—Even so.

“The Turtle Knights have arrived!”

“W-we’re saved…”

No matter how foolish it might seem, in every era, there are those who strive to uphold morality.

“It’s not the Turtle Knights, but the Turtle Alliance Knights…”

“Whatever, even we get confused and use ‘Turtle Knights’ more often.”

“That’s true.”

“But aren’t we not actually knights? We weren’t formally appointed by the king or nobles.”

“Do you want to be appointed by that king?”

“…No, not really.”

Another comrade nodded in agreement at his colleague’s rebuke about not saying such horrible things.

The Turtle Alliance Knights.

Though established only about half a year ago, they were famous.

Not only did they have exceptionally skilled knights and rare magicians, but they were also an alliance group created with the sponsorship of high nobles.

Their main duty was originally to find and regulate lords who initiated territory wars through illegal means, or to issue stern warnings.

One might wonder how they could regulate arrogant lords who ruled their territories like kings, but fortunately, they possessed the finest means of dialogue in the world, namely:

CRACK!

THWACK!

The rational and gentle means of dialogue called ‘violence.’

The alliance knights swung their spears at the lord’s subordinates who charged at them.

CRUNCH!

In the blink of an eye, the spears, which had no spearheads or tips but rather blunt metal pieces attached, pierced through a soldier’s sword and then struck his head.

There were other forces of the lord trying to resist, but the moment the magicians’ lightning struck, it was over.

They were too strong.

…No, the others were too weak.

“Why are these guys so low-level?”

“Were we always this strong?”

“It’s not that we’re strong; it’s that they’re weak. Though our standards might be high because of who trained us.”

“…Ah, I understand immediately.”

The men wearing bear pelts, members of the 108 Arhats, nodded in understanding.

Indeed, the person who trained them was quite extraordinary.

To an unbelievable degree…

From their recent experiences in the world, the 108 Arhats realized that not all knights were strong, and in some cases, many knights were even inferior to novice academy students.

Literally, they had only learned combat techniques, but their bodies and skills were incredibly weak.

In contrast, they had solid fundamentals and broad perspectives.

Although they had only received training for a year, they often thought lately that what they gained from that year of teaching might be more profound than ten years of instruction elsewhere.

Just then…

WAAAAAAH…!!!

The people cheered as they watched the lord and his subordinates being punished.

“Waaah! The lord is being captured!”

“My father should have seen this sight.”

“Hang that lord on the guillotine!”

-Hang him! Hang him!!

While people from most territories might sympathize with their lord, no one showed any compassion toward this one.

It was understandable, as the lord being punished had forcibly conscripted young men as soldiers and hadn’t even paid them wages.

Not only that, he had raised taxes and even taken away food, trying to starve them to death.

From the people’s perspective, this lord seemed more terrifying than any demon from hell, and they felt not even a trace of love-hate relationship—they simply wanted him burned at the stake if possible.

The 108 Arhats fully sympathized with the people’s feelings, but they thought permission should come first.

“Guild Master. What would you like to do?”

“……”

“Guild Master?”

“…It’s not Guild Master, but Committee Chair, Conrad.”

“Ah, I’ve gotten used to calling you that… But Guild Master doesn’t sound bad, does it?”

“It feels different, haah….”

The girl with her eyes covered by a blindfold sighed.

It seemed strange to her that people often called her Guild Master rather than Committee Chair.

But fixing the title was something that could be done later; what was important now was:

“We can’t arbitrarily proceed with punishing the lord. We’re in a position that advocates ‘neutrality,’ after all.”

“Isn’t this too much interference for neutrality? We even punished the lord….”

“This couldn’t be helped. It was almost at the point where a demon might be summoned.”

“……”

“Really.”

“I believe you. How could I dare doubt the words of the Saint—I mean, Guild Master?”

“…You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

The girl pouted her lips sulkily, and they soon laughed.

But this wasn’t out of disrespect for the girl.

It was just their way of showing reverence to a ‘noble lady’ who hadn’t changed despite rising to a high position.

At that moment…

“By the way, have you heard the rumor, Guild Master?”

“…What rumor?”

“About the ‘knight-errant’ who hunts demons recently.”

“……”

“I hear that this knight ‘destroys’ demons with overwhelming ‘brute force,’ regardless of how alien or strong they are.”

“…They say he blew away five buildings with a single punch.”

“There are also rumors that he folded or tore apart even giant demons the size of mountains.”

“That confirms it. Only one person is capable of such feats.”

“Indeed.”

“…He’s still the same, really.”

The girl couldn’t help but smile.

A rumor she’d been hearing for about a month.

Some said it was an exaggerated story, others called it a false rumor or a tale made up by minstrels to earn money, but the girl—no, all of them—knew who this knight was, folding demons that even they, as a group, would find fearsome and difficult to face, or crushing them to powder like stepping on cookies.

“I hope you’re well, Master.”

The girl smiled softly, thinking of him whom she missed at any moment, though they had only been apart for half a year.

She seemed pleased just to hear rumors about him.

* * *

Rumors spread.

No matter how small a rumor might be, if it continues for a week, then exceeds a fortnight and spreads endlessly for a month, it becomes more than just a rumor.

It becomes something infinitely close to ‘truth.’

That’s why some people in the royal capital couldn’t help but smile when they heard the rumors.

“A knight-errant, huh? It’s like an ancient relic has reappeared.”

The young nobleman with black eyes shook his head.

“Is a knight-errant such an unusual existence? Aren’t there many wandering knights too?”

The gray-haired boy asked, and the black-eyed one—well, the one roughly called “Blackie”—objected.

“They’re completely different. A wandering knight is essentially like a mercenary. It’s a drifter who just holds the title of knight. But a knight-errant is different. They wander the world too, but they follow the code of chivalry.”

“I see. …But hearing this, it seems like the culture of knight-errants would flourish in Pendragon, which values chivalry, so why call it an ancient relic?”

“Because of the questing knights who, under the pretext of helping others, only cause trouble and lead people to misfortune.”

“??”

The gray-haired one, roughly nicknamed “Cannon,” tilted his head in confusion.

“As you said, there are many who admire knight literature and call themselves knight-errants. But most of them do reckless things to elevate their own fame. Among them, many have shown excessive meddling that’s worse than doing nothing at all, and from the people’s perspective, it was nothing but a nuisance.”

“…I think I get the general idea now.”

“That’s right.”

It’s a passage that explains why knight-errants disappeared.

Not knowing chivalry and just causing accidents while trying to raise their fame—it’s natural that the existence of knight-errants would fade away.

“Afterwards, those who wander here and there might be called wandering knights or questing knights, but never knight-errants.”

“What about this case?”

“The instructor wouldn’t call himself a knight-errant. The people probably gave him that title.”

“…That’s impressive. For the people to call him that.”

“Because it’s the instructor.”

The two boys laughed for the first time in half a year.

Just hearing these rumors made them think he was still the same.

‘He’s such a cheerful person.’

They hadn’t had much to be cheerful about lately.

After the kingdom became like this, they had been living diligently and trying hard, but there was hardly anything to laugh about.

In a way, it was a side effect of being forced to become adults and getting busy, of living in reality, but honestly, it wasn’t fun.

That’s why news of him felt like rain during a drought.

Because he was creating something to laugh about like this.

“…Come to think of it, I wonder if he’s met the instructor by now?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“You know, the one who disappeared leaving just a letter.”

“…Ah, you mean him? Well, I’m not sure. He must have heard the rumors though.”

The two boys recalled him with mixed feelings of embarrassment and bitter amusement.

Truly…

“He can’t help but be a pitiful figure.”

They showed deep sympathy for a certain wanderer.

Even at this very moment, surely…

“He must be walking a path of hardship.”

*

*

*

Trudge, trudge!

A man climbed the mountain.

It had taken him over two months to reach Bulkan.

“Damn it, curse it all…”

His face was covered with patchy beard, and his hair was completely disheveled.

His face was also incredibly dirty, as if he hadn’t washed for days.

But the man didn’t even have time to wash properly.

On his way from the royal capital to Bulkan, he had encountered numerous bandit groups and clashed with goblin hordes, ultimately fighting battles that lasted for dozens of days.

He had achieved significant growth in his struggle to survive, but the man wasn’t happy about it at all.

He only wished for this cursed hardship to end as soon as possible.

Just then.

[Weeeng?]

“Hey! You, you!! You know my face! You know it!”

[…Weeng.]

A bee the size of a puppy nodded its head.

And then asked with body language.

[Wing?]

Why are you here?

That was the question from the giant bee, and the man, who was quick to understand, felt like cursing.

“Why am I here!? I came to find that damn human! Where is he, where is that irresponsible human!!”

The man shouted as if wailing.

As if releasing all the resentment he had built up.

And as if rejoicing that the end was finally approaching.

…However.

[…Weeng.]

The bee shook its head regretfully and pointed to the other side of the mountain.

Someone slow-witted might not understand, but the man was quite perceptive.

Perhaps that’s why.

“…H-he left…?”

[Weeng.]

“W-when?”

[Weeeng, wing!]

“A-a month ago?”

[Wing!]

“……”

[Weeeng.]

Pat, pat!

The bee comforted the man.

If it were a stranger, that would be one thing, but this was a human with whom it was somewhat acquainted.

When someone makes such a devastated expression, one can at least offer some comfort, right?

Afterwards, the bee flew away to hunt.

It was starting another energetic day to collect honey for its newly born baby bees.

“……”

Left alone, the man just wore a numb expression.

And then.

“D-damn it! Curse it all! This filthy world…!!”

He went berserk, swinging his hammer, which had become almost like a part of his body, violently.

Recently, there had been a questing knight who defeated groups of bandits and monsters with just a hammer, gaining fame.

Uniquely, this questing knight didn’t pursue honor or fame, and people began to call him:

– The Wielder of the Unyielding Hammer.

The Hammer Knight Damian Pollet.

The boy who would unintentionally be called a knight-errant just like his master while chasing after a certain knight for retirement, continued to cause a disturbance, and it was only natural that he would be driven away by Bulkan after 10 minutes.

[Weeng.]

[Wing!]

The bees covered the eyes of the baby bees, telling them not to watch such things.

…It’s not good for their emotional education.