"If there is something you wish to do, do it."

The marquis gazed steadily at Kin before speaking, then immediately turned and left. She stood where she was, lost in thought for a moment. A gust of wind carried dust toward her, but she did not even notice it brushing her face.

'Just like that?'

Her whole body trembled with astonishment. The head of the house was not a man to go back on his word. As she thought it over, the words and actions of the man responsible for all this stirred her heart.

'Should I at least thank him?'

To be honest, she did have some personal interest in the man named Encrid. That did not mean she wanted to become his wife, though.

A dream, he had called it. Kin was more interested in the finished pieces made from gemstones than in cutting the stones themselves. Someone born into a house as illustrious as Marquis Vaisar's was supposed to admire finished pieces, not have a hand in making or selling them. Permission would therefore have been difficult to obtain. Such things were supposed to remain little more than a hobby.

But how could the human heart abide by that? She loved this work. She loved the opportunity to pursue her own ambitions and show her abilities, rather than serve as an accessory to a man.

There would, however, be things she had to give up for it. She could trade on the prestige of her house, but she could no longer live as a member of Marquis Vaisar's direct line. Kin was not so childish that she failed to understand that.

'Can I really live like this?'

Just then, a man who truly lived however he pleased caught her eye. His name was Encrid. She decided she ought to thank him. It was his words that had brought matters to this conclusion.

Her mind made up, she started toward Encrid, who had begun swinging his sword on one side of the training ground. Before she had taken more than a few steps, the barbarian leaning against a wall spoke.

"Leave him be."

"I have something to say..."

"Right now, you could strip naked and dance beside him... Oh, right. You're a noble. Anyway, you could say whatever you like next to him and he wouldn't hear a word."

Kin ignored the offensive comparison and looked at Encrid. There stood the man who had turned his back on the marquis and immediately begun swinging his sword. His eyes were unfocused, his mouth half-open. He almost looked drugged. He was already intoxicated with swordsmanship, utterly absorbed in it. A training fanatic through and through.

'So they don't call him a lunatic for nothing.'

Kin turned away. Later, she told several acquaintances what had happened. Marquis Vaisar, too, pretended to sulk, but he liked the man's refreshing boldness and spread the story far and wide.

After that, no one in the capital could trouble Encrid and his companions. This was a man who had rejected even the patronage of House Vaisar, a house promised a dukedom.

* * *

Just after the marquis and Kin left, Encrid turned his back on them and immediately swung his sword. He simply could not put off something this enjoyable any longer. Whether someone was watching or not, waiting or not, he truly could not delay it another moment.

'Ah, this is fun.'

Had fighting Rem, Ragna, and Audin taught him something? No. He had simply been beaten. And yet this was fun. Every part of the process brought him joy: swinging his sword, thinking things over, and reproducing them with his body.

There were movements he had performed hundreds upon hundreds of times in a single day. Fundamentals such as cuts to the crown, horizontal cuts, downward cuts, and stabs. Encrid began repeating them. He did not expect some new realization or change. He did it simply because it brought him joy, again and again.

After several days spent swinging his sword and sparring lightly, word came that the award ceremony would be held.

"Let's go."

Encrid set out with Rem, Ragna, Audin, Dunbachel, and Teresa. Sinar had left earlier on business and had not come with them in the first place.

"Please leave me out of it."

Jaxon had never been the type to appear at such occasions. Esther shook her head in her panther form. That was how Encrid ended up taking only the others.

The audience chamber was packed with nobles.

"The Savior of the Kingdom has arrived."

An attendant announced him from behind, and Krang nodded from the throne. The dark circles beneath his eyes made him look utterly exhausted. Two nobles stood closest to him: the Marquis of Fertile Lands and Marcus Vaisar. Marquis Vaisar stood a step behind them.

Krang boldly dispensed with all the proceedings extolling the king's greatness and the glory of his bloodline, and spoke.

"I apologize for the delay in holding this ceremony."

Some nobles sighed at how brief the proceedings were. They muttered about royal dignity and the like, but held their tongues before Krang.

The king who had ended the civil war. The king who had won without summoning the knight order. The king they themselves had chosen to follow.

This was the first ceremony he had held. Would they openly challenge his actions to his face? However stupid they might be, anyone with so little political sense ought to give up calling himself a noble.

Several nobles and commanders received appropriate rewards, in Krona or parcels of land. Andrew was among them. He received land and gold coins, and his title changed as well. He was now Viscount Gardner. He also received something akin to an official position within the capital.

As the ceremony continued, a monk who also served as a scribe conveyed the king's decree.

"I decree that Marcus Vaisar, for his distinguished service as supreme commander... shall be granted the rank of count."

At those final words, the buoyant atmosphere turned frigid, as though someone had doused it with ice.

"What did you just say?"

Marquis Vaisar's lips trembled as he demanded an answer.

Marcus Vaisar was supposed to inherit the house. He was supposed to receive a dukedom for this. Instead, by accepting a countship, he had kicked away his succession as head of the house. Encrid realized that this was all Marcus Vaisar's doing.

A small commotion broke out, and Marquis Vaisar looked dismayed. The head of House Vaisar had sided with Krang in the end, but not from the beginning. He had weighed his options thoroughly before putting down his gold. Even that choice could be considered a gamble, but Marcus had not seen it that way.

Marquis Vaisar glared at Marcus, then shook his head and held his tongue. Watching him, Encrid thought he looked like a thoroughly sulky old man.

"In recognition of your truly great service, I grant you a dukedom."

The Marquis of Fertile Lands became a duke in Vaisar's place. He went down on one knee and bowed his head.

By the time almost everyone had received an appropriate reward, there were still some whose names had not been called: Encrid and the Lunatic Company.

"I'd like to handle the last one myself."

The king rose from his throne and took a step forward. Without glancing at anyone else, he spoke.

"Need a title?"

His tone was that of a man asking a friend next door whether he needed firewood.

Encrid saw no particular need for one, so he shook his head lightly.

"No, thank you."

He acted as though he had left court etiquette somewhere in the Demonic Realm, but who could object? Only a few noble bastards who could not control their expressions frowned.

"Thought so. I've opened the treasury. Take whatever you can lay your hands on, if you want."

"Thank you."

"After that, you may return to where you came from."

Those were the words Encrid had been waiting for most. Some, however, looked doubtful.

'All he's doing is opening the treasury?'

'Is this right?'

'What do you do with a hound once the hunt is over?'

'Boil it and eat it, of course.'

There were even some muttering such nonsense, but neither Krang nor Encrid would have cared in the slightest had they heard.

"I'm busy. I trust you are busy too, my lords. A civil war ending doesn't mean 'they all lived happily ever after.' You wouldn't find that even in a fairy tale. You understand?"

It was an obvious enough point, since fairy tales did not feature civil wars and bloody battlefields.

"So let us get to work."

Thus spoke the workaholic king, and the award ceremony ended with unprecedented simplicity.

A luncheon banquet followed, without alcohol. The king did not even attend.

"I fear for the dignity of the crown."

Several nobles still fretted over the king's conduct, but Encrid dismissed such worries.

Hadn't he already seen it at the coronation of remembrance? Krang had recited the names of the soldiers written on the memorial. Encrid had seen the eyes of the people watching him then. There had been a monk quietly praying. A mother weeping as she watched her new king. Fathers and children, too. The worthy ones among the nobles had even knelt after the coronation and pledged their genuine loyalty.

Without a halo, without some grand festival, the coronation held in the middle of the capital had engraved the new king upon everyone's memory.

'That's enough.'

Encrid set off with a light heart. Krang would handle the rest. It was time for him to return to Border Guard. Before that, he would have to visit the royal treasury. He wondered how many swords there might be to replace Silver.

"Here we are."

Even Rem and Ragna showed a quiet interest in the royal treasury. But it looked rather different from what they had imagined. The doors stood wide open, with carts constantly coming and going.

"Ah, still a bit busy."

Marcus himself was showing them around. The very man who was supreme commander of the royal army, had been granted a countship, and had become both acting governor of Count Molsen's domain and head of the Capital Defense Force.

"Aren't you busy?"

"You said you were leaving as soon as you'd been here, didn't you? Then I have to see you now. I don't have time to stroll out and see you off."

Surely they did not have to see each other if he was busy? With that thought, Encrid went inside to look at the kingdom's treasures.

This really was nothing like he had imagined. The treasury was spacious and largely empty. There were no mountains of gold coins, no rows of magic swords hanging from the walls.

"Coming through!"

A cart loaded with several chests passed close by Encrid. The laborer pulling it was too busy working, sweat dripping from him, to even look at Encrid.

Encrid took stock of the situation and thought it through. He soon understood what was happening. Rem had evidently realized it too, for he spoke before Encrid could.

"You're covering the damage from the civil war out of here?"

Thinking that their barbarian friend was no ordinary intellect either, Marcus nodded.

"What about magic swords?"

Ragna thought a sword bearing a spell, or connected to magic, or possessing a mind of its own, or failing that, one that spewed fire or ice, would do. If he had to compromise on everything, even a weapon that never lost its edge would be enough. That would suffice for something to use temporarily.

"There aren't any."

"Why?"

Ragna grew curt. Marcus did not reproach them for their rudeness. What was the point of quibbling over such things with a lunatic?

"Sold them all."

Ragna did not press the matter further. What could he do if there were none?

'If there aren't any spell-bearing swords...'

Perhaps he could imbue a sword with Will? A genius's mind certainly worked differently.

Encrid looked around. There was nothing better than the longsword he had picked up on his trips to and from the training ground. He could not even see a sword with Valeri steel mixed into it.

"I'll pass."

Rem shook his head.

The objects truly worthy of being called the kingdom's treasures were already in the possession of knights or the knight order. The rest were in a secret vault deep within the palace, but those could not be given away. They were national treasures.

Krang would have liked to tell Encrid to take even those, but the national treasure was neither a sword nor a shield. It was a staff in which the Sun Beast slept. Encrid would not want it, nor could he use it.

"It is said that poverty is no sin."

That came from Audin, who had never been interested in treasure to begin with.

Dunbachel chose nothing at first, saying her curved swords were better, but eventually took a shin guard made from a demonic beast's hide. It was the most useful thing there, such as it was. Teresa followed Audin's example and quietly shook her head.

"I haven't done anything."

She did not think she had done anything particularly remarkable on this battlefield. She also thought it best not to be greedy.

"Tell Krang I'll see him again."

Encrid said it while he was at it.

"Mm, all right. I suppose you're allowed to call the king by name. Royal dignity aside, it seems best for the king and the Savior of the Kingdom, the Demon Killer, the Demon Slayer, to remain friends."

Marcus spoke without binding himself to rigid etiquette. It was a decidedly liberal view. All that mattered was showing a little discretion in public. He did not think Encrid was too stupid to manage that.

Encrid gathered his things, finished preparing for the return journey, and set off. He did not expect an elaborate send-off. They would not have the resources to arrange one. Just look at what was happening in the treasury.

'Will they be lucky if the country doesn't collapse?'

No, they must have opened the treasury to prevent it from collapsing. It was fine that he had received nothing at the award ceremony. He had not come expecting anything.

After collecting Odd-Eyes as well, they were making their way out along a road around the capital's outskirts when a group of Royal Guards blocked their path. The captain who wore a gray helmet stepped forward.

'A spar?'

That was Encrid's thought at the sight. He, too, felt disappointed when a skilled fighter abruptly left. Perhaps this man felt the same. Ready and willing to oblige, Encrid stepped forward.

The Royal Guard commander removed his gray helmet and went down on one knee.

"Thanks to you, my eyes were opened. Thanks to you, I walk a just and righteous path."

He spoke and paid his respects. Every Royal Guard followed him to one knee.

"To the Savior of the Kingdom!"

This could hardly be called a modest send-off. Among them was Lierban, who had known Encrid in the old days. He had been transferred here in recognition of his battlefield service.

"It's been a while."

Encrid spoke to him as he passed, acknowledging their salute. He was one of the few people who had taken Encrid's side. Some people could not be forgotten, no matter how much time had passed.

Lierban bowed his head deeply.

"I'm ashamed."

He spoke as he recalled his past self, and Encrid gave him a light pat on the shoulder as he passed.

'And to my shining hero.'

Not as a Royal Guard, but as a man who held a sword, Lierban silently swore that if the man named Encrid called him, he would come running. Once he had fulfilled all his duties, he would do so if Encrid wished it.

Encrid thought that would be the end of the send-off. It was not. As the capital's gate came into view, he saw what looked like more than half its citizens crowded before it. Judging by the murmur of voices alone, there seemed to be even more people than at the coronation of remembrance.

"To the Savior of the Kingdom!"

The citizens had come to watch him leave, as though they had arranged it among themselves. Among them were the healer who had lost his son, along with Andrew and the trainees.

So that was where Andrew had gone straight after the award ceremony. He must have been run off his feet now that he had received a territory, yet he had come to see Encrid off.

"I knew you'd leave right away," he said as he approached.

"There's nothing left for me to do here."

"We'll see each other again, won't we?"

"Come visit."

"I will."

As they exchanged their brief farewells, Aesia and the south gate guard captain approached from beside Andrew.

"You're leaving just like that?"

The guard captain spoke, and Aesia extended her hand. Encrid clasped it.

"See you again."

A simple farewell. The guard captain bowed, saying he was indebted to him. Aesia merely shook his hand without saying anything in particular.

Listening to all the kingdom's people cheer, Rem chided him.

"At least give them a wave."

Encrid did as he said.

"Demon Killer!"

"Savior of the Kingdom!"

"Take me!"

Why was there always someone asking him to take them? Encrid kept waving as he wondered. The cheering grew louder.

"Waaaaaah!"

A roar louder than the cheers he had heard on the battlefield rose behind him. It was not a bad feeling.

"I'm telling you, it's Noble Killer."

Hearing Rem mutter, Encrid chuckled and left the capital.

Now it was truly time to go back...

"Let me go part of the way with you."

The capital, Nauril, was receding into the distance when several people blocked their way on the main road. At their head was—

"Aren't you the king?"

"What, is a king supposed to spend his whole life working?"

Krang.

Encrid had expected no send-off at all. Instead, it had turned into quite a commotion.