Chapter 149 - The Walking Fortress

"G-Gate Captain! I think... something is approaching!?"

The gatekeepers immediately went into Level One alert.

They drew their rifles and took cover behind barricades.

A moment later, the source of the tremors emerged from the dense forest.

It was a massive boulder.

The boulder was moving.

That illusion lasted only a moment. As it drew closer, they realized it wasn't a Golem—it was a suit of armor.

No... was that really armor?

It was so heavy that the ground trembled with every step it took.

It felt as though a Golem that belonged deep underground had come walking to this place.

It drew nearer.

Though the figure stood only about two meters tall, it felt as imposing as a mountain.

As it approached, the Gate Captain finally forced himself to fulfill his duty.

"S-St...!"

The man couldn't even finish the simple word, "Stop."

Once it came close enough, the armored man stopped of his own accord and set his shield down before him.

BOOM!

With a deep reverberation, the man stood motionless.

One of the gatekeepers cautiously approached and asked,

"W-Who are you?"

His speech had instinctively become polite from the fear for his own life.

Without a word, the armored man unfolded a crumpled, well-worn sheet of paper.

Though it was tattered beyond belief, the seal stamped upon it belonged to Count Consilus.

"This certifies that the bearer, a Knight who rendered distinguished service during this Monster Extermination Campaign, is authorized to seek an audience with Regent Ferda Valdrova..."

"...Huh?"

The gatekeepers looked at one another after reading the document.

"That can't be... Isn't something wrong here?"

"The armored Knight who was supposed to come has already entered, hasn't he?"

"Exactly. They said he'd arrive this morning, and he did..."

Unable to refuse entry to someone carrying an official certificate, the guards wore troubled expressions.

"Y-You may pass."

After the Gate Captain returned the certificate, the armored man lifted his shield and resumed walking.

His impossibly heavy footsteps headed toward Hestia Village.

***

Meanwhile, Erika was delighted that the armored Knight, Valdrova, had accepted her proposal.

"I thought this would take much longer to resolve... I never expected it to work out so smoothly."

Clenching her fist to suppress the tremble brought on by her sense of accomplishment, Erika expressed her gratitude.

"Ahem! Thank you very much. If the day ever comes when the Cerdes Continent is saved, it will surely be thanks in no small part to your assistance, Sir Knight."

Taking advantage of the favorable atmosphere, Erika cautiously asked another question.

"I'll guarantee your anonymity, so... could you perhaps tell me just a little about your identity?"

Shake, shake, shake.

"I understand. It's unfortunate... but it can't be helped."

The Spawn of House Iorga were the type who simply had to uncover anything that piqued their curiosity.

Resolving that she would one day discover Valdrova's true identity, she temporarily brought the conversation to an end.

She dispelled the barrier magic.

"Then tomorrow, please stop by the Adventurers' Guild before coming to the Labor Union. There are things we need to coordinate, and I know you're not working here simply for money, so we'll need to arrange the schedule accordingly."

Nod, nod.

With that, the meeting concluded, and Valdrova and Erika stepped outside.

Hanson, whom they had expected to be waiting by the door, was instead standing nervously in front of the Labor Union lobby.

Because of the statue standing there.

Staring at it, Hanson spoke.

"Um... this isn't the Adventurers' Guild. This is the Labor Union. I don't think this is where you should be, sir..."

No.

It wasn't a statue.

It was a man clad in armor so heavily reinforced that calling him a fortress wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

His armor and shield looked as though they had melted and solidified countless times, their surfaces rippling like waves.

They appeared so heavy that taking even a single step seemed impossible.

Yet at the same time, every step he took demonstrated overwhelming strength that no one would dare stand in front of.

Just looking at him made one's breath catch.

Tilting her head slightly, Erika quietly asked Valdrova,

"Is he someone you know?"

Shake, shake.

If it were an acquaintance, it could only be one of the Dragons.

But there wasn't a Dragon who would walk around wearing armor like that.

Even if one assumed human form, Dragons would appear in their own appearance rather than wrapping themselves up so completely.

The helmet of the motionless Knight shifted.

Valdrova felt a gaze from behind the visor.

He was looking directly at her.

"So... it was you."

A deep, resonant voice broke the long silence.

"You shameless thief who stole another man's achievements."

At that very moment—

Valdrova, whose battle instincts far surpassed anyone else's, saw it clearly.

She could read the tell in his movement.

He intended to bring that club crashing down onto her head.

The thick, solid club moved.

"What are you doing?!"

Erika reacted instantly.

Using magic, she bound his arm, attempting to stop the club.

CRASH!

No.

She failed.

Erika's intention shattered along with the chains of restraint she had cast.

"What...?!"

Erika's spell was a Fifth-Circle defensive spell.

It was powerful enough to tightly bind even an Ogre, a creature whose strength was notoriously difficult to oppose.

Yet that man had shattered the spell.

She had already estimated his strength from the moment she saw him wearing that incredibly heavy armor.

But even that estimate had been an underestimation.

That tremendous power came crashing down toward Valdrova's head.

BOOM!!

A tremendous shockwave erupted.

"Kyaah!"

"Aaaah!"

Everyone nearby was thrown onto the ground, while dust rained down from the ceiling.

Had that attack landed directly, not even a trace of the target would have remained.

But that never happened.

The club never reached the ground.

It stopped directly above the armored Knight's head.

Just as the man had swung the club with one hand, the armored Knight had caught the very tip of it with one hand.

"Hmm..."

The man let out a slow breath.

"So, even for a thief... you've got some skill."

Still gripping the club, Valdrova glanced around.

People had been knocked over.

The building had shaken violently.

"The building... almost collapsed."

Emotion welled up inside her.

"The building I built..."

For the first time since the Godwin incident...

She felt anger.

Just as that emotion was about to surge forth from Valdrova's heart—

"What kind of disturbance are you causing in someone else's territory?"

A young man's voice rang out.

It carried such weight that it was hard to believe it belonged to someone not even twenty years old.

The instant Valdrova heard that voice, her anger evaporated like steam.

The one who stepped between them belonged to someone she knew all too well.

"Mr. Ferda...!"

It was her incredibly dependable fiancé.

***

Before the incident occurred,

Ferda received a report from Isabella.

—The armored Knight has already entered, but now another armored Knight has arrived.

"What are you talking about?"

Puzzled, he asked her to explain.

—One is the armored Knight who has been working here all along, and the other is a man carrying a certificate from Count Consilus.

"I see."

The first was the armored Knight he already knew well.

The second was undoubtedly Alberdo, the man known as the Walking Fortress.

Had it ended there, he would have simply assumed there had been some misunderstanding.

Isabella probably wouldn't even have reported it.

But what came next was the real issue.

—That man wasn't heading toward House Valdrova. He was making his way to the Labor Union.

"Is he planning to work as a laborer too?"

Ferda briefly wondered whether that man was another eccentric like the armored Knight.

—I don't think so. It seems more likely he's holding a grudge against the armored Knight who arrived first.

"A grudge?"

—The people apparently assumed the armored Knight working as a laborer was the one who was supposed to arrive today and gave him a warm welcome. Our guess is that the newcomer took offense to that.

Isabella's reasoning made sense.

There was only one oddball armored Knight who worked as a laborer.

If the newcomer headed to a completely unrelated place, her deduction was probably correct.

—I thought trouble might break out, so I reported it in advance. I'm heading there now.

"I'll come as well."

Two men possessing monstrous strength were gathering in one place.

Curious to see what would happen, Ferda decided to witness it with his own eyes.

By the time he arrived—

Something astonishing was already taking place.

BOOM!

A terrifying shockwave erupted from the Labor Union.

Tables, chairs, and even people were blasted away.

"Remarkable."

Ferda had naturally assumed the armored Knight would be the one pushed back.

Although the armored Knight also possessed monstrous strength, compared to Alberdo's reputation, Ferda had considered him insignificant.

Yet the scene before his eyes told a different story.

The armored Knight, who had stopped the attack with a single hand, was by no means an ordinary opponent.

The clash between their two overwhelming strengths had generated the shockwave and shaken the building.

"I wonder which of them is actually stronger if they fought seriously."

He found himself genuinely curious.

But he couldn't allow it.

This wasn't a battlefield.

This was Hestia Village.

He couldn't stand by and watch the buildings collapse.

"What are you doing in someone else's territory?"

The moment Ferda appeared, the murderous atmosphere instantly faded.

Standing between the two Knights, Ferda turned toward Alberdo.

He had looked huge from a distance.

Up close, he seemed even larger.

Alberdo handed his certificate to Ferda.

"I doubt the certificate allowing you to come here was meant to give you permission to run wild."

"I was merely trying to catch a thief who coveted what belonged to another."

Ferda was a little surprised.

"So... he can talk."

Alberdo.

The Walking Fortress.

Ferda had never once heard that man speak.

He had naturally assumed the man's tongue had been cut out.

But that wasn't the case.

He simply had never needed to speak.

Even this man opened his mouth when necessary.

Meanwhile, the armored Knight standing behind Ferda remained completely silent.

"I doubt that was ever his intention."

In the end, Ferda had no choice but to defend the armored Knight himself.

"He took the Oath of Silence, and the situation escalated before he ever had a chance to explain himself. As for stealing your achievements, that was merely a misunderstanding caused by other people's assumptions. Isn't that right?"

Ferda glanced back at the armored Knight.

He nodded vigorously.

"Mr. Ferda..."

Even though she wasn't in her true form, the fact that he had taken her side filled Valdrova with overwhelming joy.

Though she was technically the taller one while wearing the armor, his back looked broad and utterly dependable.

"Would that fool really do something like that?"

Just recalling how the armored Knight had been pushed to the forefront at the Labor Union made it obvious.

He had probably stood there simply because he thought he had to do something, without understanding what was happening.

Ferda merely regarded the armored Knight as someone stubbornly kind and painfully honest.

It was far more believable that this had all begun as a misunderstanding than that the Knight had tried to steal someone else's achievements.

"Hmm..."

Alberdo let out another slow breath.

He seemed to be thinking.

Yet his club remained pointed at his enemy.

"Even a man himself does not truly know what lies within his own heart. How can you be so certain?"

"On that point, I agree."

Because it is difficult to keep one's heart unwavering, people come to admire those who can.

A person's heart can change as easily as turning over the palm of a hand.

"Even so, now that you've personally told everyone this was all a misunderstanding, wouldn't it be best to stop here instead of continuing to use force and making matters worse?"

Ferda spoke calmly.

This was Valdrova's territory, and he could not allow it to be threatened.

If Alberdo intended to cross the line any further, Ferda was fully prepared to fight him.

"I understand."

Alberdo withdrew without resistance.

He hadn't come here to cause trouble in the first place.

His true objective had been Ferda.

Fortunately, he wasn't needlessly belligerent.

"Come with me."

With Ferda leading Alberdo away, the incident was brought to an end.

Alberdo rested his club across his shoulder.

At the very tip of the club were five distinct finger marks.

***

Ferda continued the conversation in the Town Hall, the largest building in Hestia Village.

Since matters concerning the village often required many people to gather, the Town Hall also had a reception room, and that was where they met.

There was a simple reason he hadn't taken Alberdo to the manor.

"Because of Luri."

According to the rules, Knights had to bathe before entering.

To do that, they had to remove their armor.

But Alberdo never took off his armor.

Even though there was no foul odor coming from him, it would have been unreasonable to expect Luri, who still harbored resentment toward Knights, to make an exception for Alberdo.

So Ferda had arranged to meet him in the Town Hall from the start.

Alberdo didn't seem to mind.

"So, what kind of reward would you like?"

Following what was written on the certificate, Ferda asked him.

"I need none."

Just as expected.

Alberdo hadn't come out of simple greed.

He had come to see Ferda.

"Then what is the purpose of your visit?"

"Do you know of the white Demon Race?"

The defining characteristic of the Demon Race was their black skin.

However, there was one unusual exception.

A being with white skin.

The Curved Demon had been one such individual.

"I do."

"I met him."

That wasn't particularly surprising.

If Alberdo was truly a wandering Knight who eliminated everything that threw the world into chaos, then members of the Demon Race would naturally be his highest priority.

Meeting one eventually was inevitable.

"Is he offering his cooperation because he wants to eliminate it?"

If that were the case, it would certainly be welcome news for Ferda.

"He said something to me."

"What did he say?"

"He told me he had discovered someone with the potential to become the next Demon King."

The Demon King.

Although the Black Dragon Godwin had been the mastermind behind everything, the Demon King was by no means someone who could be underestimated.

The Twelve Heroes had struggled immensely just to defeat him.

In the end, the Hero had perished together with the Demon King in mutual destruction.

If that was what the Curved Demon had said, then one would normally set out in search of this future Demon King.

Yet Ferda could easily guess why Alberdo had come here instead.

"You're saying that person is me?"

"Correct."

"And you believe the words of that Demon Race?"

It was his roundabout way of asking whether Alberdo was an idiot.

"No. I do not."

So he wasn't a fool.

"But neither did I see any reason to ignore those words."

Neither, however, was he reckless enough to dismiss a warning outright.

Ferda leaned back in his chair.

"And if, after confirming it for yourself, you conclude that I truly am someone fit to become the Demon King?"

"Everything I do is for the sake of the Cerdes Continent."

In other words—

He would kill him.

"What is a Demon King?"

"A fool who wishes to reduce this continent to nothing."

"Do you believe I could become such a fool?"

"Anyone can become such a fool. Through loss, one is emptied into a void. Then that void is filled with twisted emotions. That is what a Demon King is."

Ferda understood those words.

After his mother died, every trace of warmth had disappeared from his heart.

In the end, he had even been cast out.

Just like the version of himself from the distant future before he returned to this point in time.

That version of himself had been no different from a Demon King.

"So let me ask you."

"Can you say with certainty that you will never become the Demon King?"

Ferda thought carefully about the question.

For Valdrova...

He would do anything.

"No."

That was precisely why he could not claim absolute certainty.

The determination to do anything for someone could gradually become corrupted.

Eventually, even one's original intentions would become twisted.

That was simply human nature.

And Ferda was human as well.

"In that case, allow me to make you a proposal."

Ferda extended his hand toward Alberdo.

"There is a territory not far from here that has been left abandoned."

It was the territory once ruled by Teshalos Wolcher, whom Ferda had executed.

At last, that land had found the time to welcome its rightful lord.

"How about watching over me from there?"

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