Chapter 983: Role Change

Enkrid found his conversations with Seriana more enjoyable than he had expected.

‘She knows a lot.’

The breadth of her knowledge was different. It felt like talking to a sage who had spent an entire lifetime doing nothing but reading books.

She had a deep understanding of politics, administration, magic, swordsmanship, and a wide range of other fields. And on top of that, she added her own thoughts as well.

“An executor’s role, in the end, is to divide one side from the other. That’s why law matters. Without law, that division would be made according to personal inclination and personal taste.”

“There is an emperor, so doesn’t everything simply go however that emperor pleases?”

“The Empire is large. Very large. And there are many people in it. A group that large cannot function properly without rule of law.”

“And why is that?”

The more he heard, the more he stood to gain. So he asked more, and listened closely. It was an enjoyable conversation for Seriana as well. This man—this swordsman, this knight, this madman, this bewitching one, this demon slayer.

A man burdened with all kinds of epithets listened to her more attentively than anyone else ever had.

‘Not pretending to listen.’

He was truly listening. It was easy to tell the difference. Hadn’t she seen countless people who only pretended to listen while flattering her?

“If there are established rules for resolving conflict, then people all live according to those rules. Even without the ruler judging everything himself...”

“It’ll run on its own well enough.”

Enkrid picked up the point. That was what made it so interesting, so pleasing, so enjoyable. Enkrid was enjoying himself, and Seriana felt the same.

‘An executor.’

Her role was to judge people’s crimes. If they did wrong, she told them what they had done wrong, what law of the Empire they had broken, and then punished them.

‘What should people like that be called?’

A moral elite? If knights stood at the peak of force, if they were the very definition of a select few elites—

‘Then Imperial officials are the same.’

These were the few iron-minded people who guided the Empire.

“If you had to describe Imperial politics in a single phrase, what would you call it?”

“A fresh question, though it is also something many scholars have already agonized over. Rule by philosopher-kings.”

A law made by a chosen few forced the choices of the many. Crang, who had been listening along at the side, couldn’t help being impressed.

If Naurillia had only just now begun establishing the foundation of the nation through the Council of Ten and a small elite body of officials, then the Empire had long since moved past laying its foundation. It had leaped forward and settled into the motion of an enormous set of gears turning in stability.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean everything goes exactly as they want. The Empire must have problems of its own too.’

Crang and Enkrid thought the same thing. Wasn’t the current situation itself proof enough? Why had Seriana come here?

‘She doesn’t know how to fight.’

The reason Executor Seriana held such a firm position in the Empire was because the Empire’s blade, the Empire’s army, and its orders of knights were always with her.

‘And yet they sent her out as an envoy to another country.’

Valmung was visibly uncomfortable with that fact from time to time.

Even though the two were neither lovers nor particularly close.

One fact could be inferred from all of that.

‘Seriana is a respected person, and this sort of task does not suit someone like her.’

Seriana had expected the two of them to notice at least that much. Which was why she spoke so openly about it.

“To be honest, before coming here I had no expectations. But now that I’m here, I’ve found a great many enjoyable things.”

I didn’t want to come, but now that I’ve come and seen the two of you, I’m in a good mood. Literally translated, that was more or less what she meant.

She was elegant, highly cultivated, knew how to listen to others, and in some ways could also show a sincerity beyond reproach.

If something was difficult to talk about, she would rather give no answer at all than lie. And outside of serious or difficult matters, she was honest most of the time.

“Do you know Madam Conti?”

Enkrid shook his head.

“I don’t remember.”

“She was the matchmaker the Empire sent before. The person Madam Conti was supposed to introduce you to was me.”

She said it with a modest smile, and for a moment lightning cracked across the clear sky. Even so, she spoke with just the right amount of confidence and just the right amount of shyness. She seemed like a master at controlling the intensity—saying what needed to be said, but never enough to make the other person uncomfortable.

“Ah, so I missed a good opportunity?”

At Enkrid’s answer, playing along with her rhythm, lightning struck again. It was a peculiar day. Thick clouds were indeed gathering in the distance and rolling closer, but it still wasn’t yet the time for lightning.

They were walking at an easy pace even during the day. Since they were traveling on foot while calculating the schedule and route, that sort of process was necessary.

And so for several days, they had been talking about this and that, building goodwill while exchanging information. That had been the case until the disaster called Shinar Kirheis arrived.

Which was why Seriana, sincere and extraordinarily clever executor that she was, found herself deeply flustered.

“You truly are ugly.”

That was what the fairy said out of nowhere first thing in the morning.

Should she get angry at that?

“Ugly. Monstrously hideous.”

Or should she ignore it? She had never once in her life been treated like this, and the sheer novelty of it left her bewildered.

“You are like a vine that climbed a wall to prey upon a carefully tended garden.”

By good fortune or bad, Seriana understood the peculiar metaphorical style of fairies.

“She means creeping ivy after an empty lot.”

So there was no need for the explanation.

“I would like to ask why she is doing this.”

Seriana said it.

Enkrid looked quietly at Shinar. She was the fairy who had only calmed down yesterday after being allowed into his arms for a moment.

“I want it understood that I am enduring this only because I am a mature fairy.”

That was what she had said.

What exactly was she enduring?

Wasn’t it absurd for a fairy who had immediately tried to draw her sword to claim she was the one enduring something?

“So...”

Drawing out the word, Enkrid searched for what to say. Should he explain that the fairy, who was at least several hundred years older than Seriana, was actually very jealous? Or should he say that it fell somewhere in the territory of teasing and jokes? Since it was both at once, should he just leave it alone and let her make of it what she would?

The third option appealed to him the most. But saying that outright was awkward, so he fell silent for a moment in thought.

“So she isn’t a fallen fairy?”

Valmung muttered in a low voice while chewing and swallowing a thick strip of bacon.

“Fallen? Who?”

Shinar shot back. Fairies were sharp of hearing by nature, and with her attention focused this way, she could probably hear the sound of dust hitting the ground.

“Yes, this is exactly what I was waiting for.”

Esther, standing at Shinar’s side, kept cheering her on.

‘What a mess.’

That was how Crang saw it, and Enkrid’s feelings were much the same. Yet it produced an unexpected result.

“What a rude fairy.”

The woman attending Seriana had been so sparing with words that she might as well have had aphasia, but this time she couldn’t hold back and finally spoke.

Seriana herself had been too dumbfounded to respond. Shinar, who had been hurling one-sided fairy-style abuse at her, nodded.

“I was rude. Yes. I am rude.”

She’s half-crazy.

That was what Enkrid decided to think. She must have gotten hit in the head by something while training in the Fairy City.

“You are an interesting person.”

Even the priest, who had spoken little, now said so with an awkward look. Since this kind of thing was daily life for Enkrid, he smoothed it over as best he could.

“She’s simply that kind of fairy.”

She’s naturally like that? Even though she isn’t a fallen fairy? Seriana pressed her lips together and said nothing.

After that, they left Zaltenbuck without further comment.

“If we have to go anyway, let’s move quickly.”

Valmung said it, and Crang nodded. Rem and Jaxon had briefly put hands on each other, then stopped, and did not resume fighting.

‘This really is a complete mess.’

As they departed, Crang looked over the people traveling with him.

Rem and Jaxon had a relationship as bad as that of a dog and a cat, yet neither hesitated to entrust the other with his back.

“I’ll take this side.”

If Jaxon took position to the king’s rear right, then Rem, grinning, walked at the front on the opposite side. To anyone looking, they were plainly placing themselves as the king’s guards.

The Royal Guards reorganized their positions around those two. Three covered the rear, and two moved to the front. The captain held the rear, and Riervan, as vice-captain, took position at the front.

‘They fight, argue, curse each other, and still do their jobs properly?’

What fascinating people.

A witch who called down lightning from a clear sky. A fairy who shouted that an Imperial executor was ugly the moment she saw her.

“Well, they all seem insane, but there’s nothing for it.”

The Imperial knight, Valphir Valmung, seemed to have decided to accept the situation somehow.

The priest and maid who had come from the Empire, as well as the one presumed to be Valmung’s attendant, were all tight-lipped beyond mere silence, and even their expressions rarely changed.

They looked like people who had already resolved to let a great many things slide in order to carry out this mission.

What in the world did the emperor want, for them to go this far?

It definitely didn’t seem like a simple trap.

‘A truly astonishing sight, is that what I should call it?’

Most astonishing of all was Enkrid. As if tugging on a rope with Seriana, he exchanged information with her while also building familiarity.

‘My friend, I’m pretty sure you said the priority was gathering information. What exactly are you doing?’

What was the point if he just became friendly with her outright?

That wasn’t to say it looked bad. If he were in Enkrid’s shoes, he might have done the same.

At the moment, though, friendship or not, they were in a situation where conversation itself had become difficult. Shinar always positioned herself between Enkrid and Seriana.

“Stand back. Before my sword strips every vine from the wall.”

Seriana, already standing quite far away from the threat, remained constantly bewildered.

“I know she doesn’t really intend to cut you down, but it would be best to show some restraint, fairy.”

Valmung might have had no choice in the matter, but the instant things crossed a line, he responded.

They walked all through the day like that, then found a suitable basin and made camp. They spread a moisture-blocking cloth over firm ground, then laid thick fur pelts on top of that. Even though the days had grown warmer, the nights were still cold.

And judging by the state of the clouds gathering overhead, it looked as though rain might fall before long.

Shinar and Esther watched Seriana’s every move like venomous cats. Crang observed all of it and came to a conclusion.

‘This mess is helping.’

Shinar had rattled Seriana, and instead of continuing to build rapport with her, Enkrid latched onto Valmung.

“Aren’t you going to loosen up?”

He was baiting the man into a sparring match. If he did that, Shinar would naturally follow him instead.

“I am more than willing as well, Enki.”

Then the dragonkin called Temares got involved too. To Seriana, the entire scene felt like a stage play. In the midst of it, Crang moved to her side.

“She’s a peculiar fairy, but she doesn’t harm people.”

“...Are you certain?”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before giving that answer. Seriana felt not only bewilderment, but threat as well.

Crang noticed and nodded, answering sincerely.

“Probably.”

“...Probably?”

“As long as Enki is beside her.”

If not for him, the Mad Order of Knights would never have gathered at all. So you understand what sort of man my knight is, the one traveling with me to the Empire? And you are the one in a position to deliver that understanding. Which means you’ll have to report all of this properly, won’t you?

Smiling, Crang said all that to himself inwardly.

As though she had read that hidden meaning, Seriana replied,

“The Empire guarantees the safety of all of you, including Your Majesty and your knight.”

“That would be your declaration, and the emperor’s as well?”

“Of course.”

“Then I suppose we cannot really call ourselves safe.”

Seriana was very clever. She immediately grasped the hidden meaning in Crang’s words. If an ordinary farmer or soldier had heard them, they would only have wondered what in the world the two were talking about.

“Yes. To be ruled by law means there will be people who break that law. Within the Empire, there are also those who do not welcome Your Majesty’s visit.”

“I expected as much.”

Even within Naurillia’s Council of Ten, opinions differed from person to person. This time, matters had been easy only because the Duke of Octo had deliberately crushed their objections. Under ordinary circumstances, Crang would at least have had to pretend to hear them all out. A ruler had to listen to the words of his ministers.

And the Empire was many times larger than Naurillia.

Would all who belonged to it share one heart?

‘No chance.’

After camp had been set up in the early evening, Seriana watched Enkrid and Valmung take their stances in an open patch of ground off to one side. The fairy and the witch standing nearby had already let their attention drift far away from her.

She felt a certain aversion to going over there. If so, wouldn’t it be better to read this king’s true intentions instead and take what she wanted from that?

Nor had she entirely discarded her suspicion that the kingdom of Naurillia itself might somehow be a trick of demons.

That in turn reminded her of the hardline nobles who had argued that if they were going to harbor such suspicions, then they ought to crush all of it outright.

“Rule by law. And above it all stands only one perfect great philosopher-king—His Imperial Majesty.”

Concealing information about the emperor, Seriana deftly shifted the subject. Crang judged after only a few exchanged words that it would be difficult to draw information about the Empire from this woman, but it didn’t matter. Shinar’s appearance had shaken the mind of Executor Seriana.

They never said it aloud, but Enkrid and Crang understood each other well. The two of them switched roles.

‘Now it’s my turn to act close with the executor.’

And it was Enkrid who spoke frankly with the knight called Valphir Valmung.

Their tactic was appropriate.

No, it was more effective than appropriate.

***

“His Majesty has no children. He is not someone who needs to bear and give birth himself.”

“...Was the emperor a woman?”

Those words were exchanged during the spar. Valmung blurted something out without thinking, and Enkrid immediately asked the question back.

“My lord!”

Mol, his attendant, cried out in alarm. Everything concerning the emperor was confidential and secret. Valmung instantly realized his mistake as well.