novelraw Chapter 187 : Chapter 187
Chapter 187 : Chapter 187
Chapter 187 - A New Wave
Hero.
It was surely a magnificent word that made the listener’s heart tremble.
If such a magnificent word were to refer to oneself, and if the one who used that word were the first princess of the empire, it would be an undeniable honor beyond compare.
It should have been.
“A hero, you say.”
Surprisingly, nothing much stirred in my heart.
And my reply, unconsciously containing that feeling, had become quite dry.
“Oh my, you don’t seem very impressed?”
Regina, seeing my reaction, said so with a grin.
It was a smile that didn't seem particularly displeased, something I had come to understand after seeing her face for about a year.
“To hear from a person of that stature that I will become a hero…… I thought it would be a considerable honor.”
“Was it a disrespectful reaction?”
“Fufu. To point it out as disrespectful would be quite an overreaction, but it does hurt my feelings, you know?”
With those words, she placed a hand on her chest and deliberately made a sad-looking expression.
It was a familiar, characteristic playfulness of Regina.
“I must offer my head as the price for disturbing Your Highness's heart. Please accept it.”
Therefore, I didn't show a serious reaction either and replied with a mixture of appropriate humor.
“Ugh, when you say it like that, it doesn't sound like a joke, so I don't really like it.”
“That’s a shame.”
This series of conversations was a pattern of jokes that Regina and I always exchanged, and personally, I thought of it as a rather relaxing time.
As for Regina’s true feelings, well, I didn't know.
“Jokes aside, I was actually happy to see your reaction.”
“You were happy, you say?”
“Yes, didn't I once say something like that to you, young lord? That a ruler is not someone who is swayed by public opinion, but someone who makes public opinion their own.”
Ah.
- Remember this, Sir Rain.
- A ruler is not someone who is swayed by public opinion, but someone who makes public opinion their own.
Hearing that story, a memory from about a year ago flashed through my mind.
Was it the story Regina had told me at the beginning of the semester, right before the duel with Milo Gloss?
“I believe that heroes also share the same vein. They are beings who make people’s hearts pound, not beings who have their own hearts pounding.”
“I see. In that paradoxical aspect, it is indeed the same context.”
“That’s about right, young lord. If you were a man who got drunk on the title of hero and recklessly wasted your heartbeat…… I would have been quite disappointed.”
Hmm.
It did seem that a person who got swept up in the name of a hero and mixed emotions into their judgment would not be to Regina’s liking.
I wasn’t a fan of that either. It seemed we were on the same page in that regard.
‘By the way, was I being tested without even realizing it?’
I really couldn't let my guard down. It felt like I couldn't relax my mind in front of her at all.
That meticulousness was precisely the reason why I was accompanying Regina.
“Anyway, that's good. Let’s stop sidetracking here. Let’s move on to the next thing.”
“What do you mean by the next thing?”
As if she had been waiting for my question, Regina smiled again, the corners of her mouth turning up.
“Let's see. The next story is…….”
The story that followed after she drew out the end of her words was.
“It will be a story about how to create a new wave.”
***
The capital of Hargen Province, Endinium, is a city that plays a central role for the Knight Order and the Empire.
Its population, industrial scale, level of technological development, and history. In other words, it was not lacking to be called the second city of the Empire after the imperial capital.
In fact, the Archenia Academy, the best knight training institution on the continent, was located in Endinium, and the vice-commander of the Knight Order was stationed at the Endinium branch of the Knight Order.
In this way, the Endinium branch of the Knight Order, with its lofty status, was always crowded with various types of people.
Knights who came to handle related official duties, people who flocked to ask for the help of knights, and even bounty hunters and knights who came to the Knight Order branch to collect bounties.
In such an Endinium branch of the Knight Order, the appearance of a boy with a gloomy impression was not a particularly noticeable event.
Although some people recognized the boy and shared their own impressions, it was, at best, a storm in a teacup.
However, the words he, clad in a Knight Robe, spoke to the receptionist at the desk were enough to turn the peaceful Endinium branch of the Knight Order upside down.
In contrast to his characteristic dry and calm tone.
“I have brought the head of the criminal designated as a special-grade wanted fugitive, the Knight Executioner Grændal.”
It was a story that could not only turn the Knight Order branch upside down but also shake up the knight society and the society of the Empire itself.
The series of reactions that followed that calm story were truly filled with chaos.
First, the boy who had brought the news that would astound the listener who had heard it so calmly, Rain Enlight, was immediately guided to a room by the receptionist.
- P-Please wait here for a moment. I will bring someone who can speak to you about that matter.
A room filled with furniture that exuded a static and antique atmosphere, in contrast to the other things inside the Knight Order branch that focused on simplicity.
Although he was forced to wait for an indefinite period of time for over ten minutes in that room, the boy’s heart was not particularly uncomfortable.
‘As Regina said, it’s going to be noisy.’
The reason was that he had been thinking about the repercussions that would arise from his actions.
Yes. Until now, he hadn’t been able to receive a direct reaction from anyone, but just from the reactions he had glimpsed indirectly, Rain could predict that this was no ordinary matter.
The receptionist’s strangely surprised expression, even though for him, this matter was just a simple task.
The nameless knight who had shown an expression between surprise and wonder when he heard those words nearby, and so on.
The boy self-assessed that it was understandable for even people not deeply involved with the Knight Order to show such a reaction.
Basically, the knight executions that Grændal had carried out had in itself become a syndrome, a serious issue that was eroding the society’s deep-rooted trust in knights, and it was an incident that had garnered the attention of so many people that it could have that much of an impact.
From their perspective, for a sickly-looking boy to claim that he had taken down a special-grade wanted fugitive, and the most talked-about one at that, they must have wondered what he was talking about.
‘When I saw it in the game, it was just a few lines of text, but I didn’t know it was such a significant incident.’
The symbol of strength and righteousness, the knight, being slaughtered like livestock, revealing their moral shame.
The boy concluded that this must have been quite a shocking content for the people of this era.
Well, anyway, around the time he was refining such thoughts in silence.
Creak-
The boy, at the end of his wait, could hear the sound of someone entering the room.
“I’m sorry for being late.”
The voice of a woman who seemed to be past middle age and approaching old age.
Then, if he turned his gaze.
‘Ah.’
The boy, upon seeing the face of the person who had entered the room, couldn't deny that he was quite surprised, though he didn't show it.
The middle-aged to elderly woman with dark gray hair mixed with streaks of white and a one-eyed gaze who had entered Rain’s field of vision.
That characteristic appearance had drawn out a piece of information from his memories of enjoying
The person facing him was the renowned vice-commander of the Knight Order. Janet Maroden.
***
Naturally, the position of vice-commander of the Knight Order is by no means an idle one.
Although they do not take on missions on the front lines, as the very core of managing the vast organization that is the Knight Order, their days are bound to be filled with all sorts of arduous duties.
That fact could not be an exception for the current vice-commander of the Knight Order, Janet Maroden.
Especially in this period when monsters were suddenly moving in large numbers in the north, and the once-weak rebel army in the south was growing its forces through a series of coincidences.
Being in such a position, Janet avoided creating any exceptional variables in her daily schedule.
After all, if she were to make one exception among the tasks that absolutely had to be carried out, the tasks waiting endlessly behind would inevitably be pushed back.
Furthermore, she had also taken into account that the destruction of such a principle would give rise to countless other exceptions.
However.
“Vice-Commander, there is something I must tell you for a moment. It's about the subjugation of a wanted fugitive⋯⋯.”
“It doesn't seem to be a topic that could be particularly special, so just handle it appropriately.”
“Well, you see. They say the target of the subjugation was that Knight Executioner.”
“⋯⋯.”
At those words, Janet’s expression twisted into a rather serious one.
Who was the Knight Executioner? Was he not the very public enemy who had recently been threatening the ideology of the Knight Order itself and crushing support for the Knight Order?
Not only that, but he was a powerful individual who had been literally slaughtering the Senior Knights and Master Knights, the most important assets of the Knight Order, so it was impossible not to pay attention.
“So, who is the subjugator? I don't know who it is, but they will surely be treated like a hero.”
Janet, too, was a knight before being a public figure. Curiosity was inevitably stirred by the story of the subjugation of that difficult foe.
Furthermore, the fact that they had subjugated the Knight Executioner also meant that they could become the talent to lead the Knight Order in the turbulent times to come.
“A Master Knight? A Senior Knight with not enough years of experience would be even better.”
“⋯⋯About that part, you see.”
The words that followed from the secretary's mouth were far beyond Janet’s expectations.
“The person making that claim is a cadet currently enrolled at Archenia Academy.”
“Then it seems more likely that it's just a ridiculous lie.”
“The problem is that the cadet is the illegitimate son of the Enlight family.”
“⋯⋯.”
The illegitimate son of the Enlight family.
Hearing that, Janet’s expression became complicated.
As the vice-commander at the center of the knight society, she was at least vaguely aware of some gossip and the political situation.
If it was the illegitimate son of the Enlight family, wasn't it that Rain Enlight?
An irregular who, unlike his shabby past, had been accumulating various achievements despite being a cadet since entering the academy.
And recently, he had come to the fore as the closest aide to the first princess, Regina.
If so, the possibility of the cadet lying was low. If it were a lie, he would have much to lose and nothing to gain.
Especially since he was an individual assessed to be receiving the favor of that Princess Regina.
However, the story of him having subjugated him directly also didn't make sense.
Recognizing the seriousness of the matter, the Knight Order had so far made many efforts to subjugate the Knight Executioner, even in a short period of time.
And those efforts had, naturally, all been in vain.
But, no matter how many various achievements he had accumulated so far, a mere cadet had subjugated the Knight Executioner?
It was a story that truly didn't make sense, a story that couldn't possibly be true.
The problem was that those two ‘impossibilities’ were clashing with each other in the realm of reality.
“⋯⋯.”
Janet, who had been agonizing for a moment, quickly came to a conclusion.
“Where is the young lord now? Did you send him back?”
“For now, I have asked him to wait in a special room.”
“Good.”
And putting down everything she was doing, she must have gotten up and said.
“I'll go and talk to him myself.”
It was not an outburst of simple curiosity.
As she was at the most important point of the Empire and the knight society, she simply could not overlook the importance of this matter.
“If what he says is really true⋯⋯.”
After the secretary left the room, Janet muttered softly, her words trailing off.
It would be a high and new wave, one that I can't get used to.
Swallowing those words.