Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Foolish Reward
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King's audience chamber.
Kneeling before the king, whom he saw again after just a few days, Enri was receiving praise from His Majesty.
"Splendid work, Sir Enri. Saving the prince and the cadets with the Filma unit—it's irrefutable proof of your unparalleled valor!"
Storming alone into a train hijacked single-handedly by bandits, cutting them down, and rescuing royalty, nobles, and citizens alike. The king had loudly proclaimed this feat far and wide, striving to safeguard the kingdom's honor and prestige.
Our kingdom possesses power like this! He had boldly declared that they feared no foe, no matter who it might be—come at us if you dare.
"Since time immemorial, knights of valor have received rewards befitting their deeds. Sir Knight Enri, I hereby grant you a professorship at the Academy."
The king said this with a beaming smile. Enri was only eighteen—an age when others were attending the Academy or serving as squires under senior knights—yet he was being offered such an extraordinary position.
However, Enri didn't welcome the proposal.
"Eh— I don't want it."
"......What?"
The moment he voiced his refusal, a heavy silence descended upon the audience chamber. Rejecting the king's offer was an act of grave impudence, one that could land him in prison for lese-majeste without argument. Yet the king maintained his composure and let out a low groan.
"I... see. Sir Enri. Then, is there another reward you desire?"
He had gone to the trouble of making Enri a hero; arresting him now and ruining the atmosphere would be unwise. He could always find fault later, but punishing him on the spot would be a poor move.
"─Yes, Your Majesty. There is."
"Speak it."
"In that case, to me─."
Enri racked his memory and conveyed his wish to the king. The item widely known as one of the royal treasures...
Three days later.
Upon returning to the Claudia Duchy, Enri found himself grabbed by the collar by Lady Eve and thoroughly shaken down.
"So."
Lady Eve fixed him with a glare so sharp it seemed she could kill with her eyes alone.
"You spouted that nonsense in front of the king... and brought back that......?"
"Guh, Lady. I'm starting to have trouble breathing..."
"Answer me."
"Y-Yes. But."
"You idiot─."
Grrrrrr...
Eve clenched her fists, her body trembling with rage. She desperately wanted to slug this fool, but knowing her own hand would ache from the impact against his steel-like frame, she barely held back.
Finally suppressing her anger, Eve panted heavily and ground her teeth.
"So, why did you bring that back...?"
Her finger pointed out the window toward a single horse frolicking in the duke's courtyard. The royal steed that had immediately conquered the stables upon arrival and was now galloping about the yard like it owned the place—Horus, the famed horse.
"Well, because you said you wanted it a while back, Lady."
"That was over ten years ago! You idiot!"
Thwack!
Unable to contain her fury any longer, Eve threw a punch, then rubbed her bruised knuckles against Enri's rock-hard chest, wondering if it was made of steel.
This idiot's worst trait was his selective memory: he forgot all the important things but remembered every casual offhand remark with infuriating clarity.
It was just like a father gifting his eighteen-year-old daughter a toy from her childhood, assuming she still loved it. Eve had never dreamed she'd end up in this exact situation.
"If you're getting a reward, at least ask me first! Or bring back something useful like a magic tool or a royal secret spell! Horus? Horus, of all things?!"
Of course, Horus wasn't bad. In fact, ten years ago, when asked for the kingdom's most famous horse, everyone would have named him. Eve had wanted him back then because owning the kingdom's finest steed would have let her recruit more knights.
But over a decade had passed since. The kingdom had bred many superior horses in the interim, dethroning Horus from his top spot. These days, even a duke could acquire steeds on par with him without much trouble.
"Should I go exchange it?"
"Ex-exchange? Do you think you bought it at a street market? And you're just sitting there saying crap like that......"
Eve slumped into her chair, too drained to even scold him further. Enri merely shrugged, as if to say, what can you do? Horus might not be the absolute best anymore, but he was still top-tier. There were scarcely any horses of his caliber in the duke's stables right now.
A steed that had once held the glory of being the finest. Time had tarnished that shine a bit... but Enri didn't think it was so bad.
'Having more horses is a good thing, right...'
But he knew that voicing it would make the freshly exhausted Lady Eve leap up like Mario grabbing his first coin, so he clamped his mouth shut.
Neighhh!
Horus's cry echoed from the garden. The echo of past glories from a horse who still believed he was the king.
The Claudia Duchy lay in the kingdom's southwest corner—a massive granary supplying the entire nation's food. Naturally, it drew countless scoundrels, and it was the prime target for external barbarians and monsters alike.
To defend it, the Claudia Duchy had invested heavily in knight recruitment. When Eve Claudia seized real power, she scrapped the old knight order entirely and formed the Black Rose Knights.
The order took as its symbol the black rose: black hair, rose-like beauty, and a thorny personality befitting the lady it represented.
Astonishingly, the Black Rose Knights could rival the kingdom's premier knight order—even excluding Enri.
Enri had once wondered how a ducal territory could match the royal knights. Eve had just laughed and claimed she had a good eye for talent.
In truth, she wasn't wrong. She had excellent foresight. How could she not? As a regressor, her greatest advantage was─
"Black Rose Knights reporting back from territory patrol."
─knowledge of the future. And through it, monopolizing the market.
Eve knew exactly which knights would rise to fame and which would prove exceptionally skilled over the next decade or so.
Recruit them early, before their names spread, with offers of excessive pay and privileges that even rookies couldn't refuse—and naturally, no knight would turn it down.
That was how the Black Rose Knights had come to challenge for the kingdom's top spot.
"Here's the map recording the locations of monster packs and bandit groups encountered during patrol."
"Got it. Good work. Anything else noteworthy?"
"Nothing."
Eve listened to Luca's report while studying her. In the previous timeline, she had remained loyal to the end. She had been captain then, but in this life, thanks to the anomaly named Enri, Eve had only managed to recruit her as vice-captain.
Of course, Luca herself seemed content with the role.
More than content, even—she seemed like a completely different person.
Every time Eve saw her, she was reminded anew that time had turned back. And for good reason...
"Ah, Captain!"
"Ah...... damn it."
Finishing her report, Luca spotted Enri entering the room and swiftly latched onto him. Enri recoiled in disgust and backed away several steps.
"Hehe, Captain. I missed you!"
"Uh, yeah. Could you let go?"
"No way? Aren't you being too cold to your vice-captain after so long?"
Vice-Captain Luca puffed out her cheeks as she spoke. Considering how countless knights would throw away their lives for a single glimpse of her smile, that expression was worth more than gold.
Enri, the one she was clinging to, shoved her away with utter indifference.
Eve couldn't help doubting whether this was truly the Luca she knew. What had she been like in the last timeline? A iron-blooded knight who killed without a flicker of a smile her entire life.
And now? Not a shred of dignity or decorum as captain shone through in her foolhardy antics. Perhaps this was her true self—a girl's spirit crushed and unable to bloom under the weight of the captaincy...
"Both of you. Cut the chit-chat."
At Eve's words, the two sobered up and focused on her. Fool or clown, their core identity was knights—blades that obeyed their liege and cut down enemies.
"Your mission."
"What is it?"
"What else?"
She handed over the official decree from the royals.
It bore the words "conscription order."
"Punitive expedition."
Subjugating the Anti-Humanity Alliance.
A thorough revenge for daring to lay hands on royalty.