Chapter 252
Chapter 252
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 252
Chapter Title: 72. Knight's Country (2)
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While the dispatched knights unpacked in the city, Hansen took on the mission of scouting the city's mood and stepped out of the inn.
It wasn't a particularly difficult task.
"Northern soldiers?"
"Oh! Ballerhard's Rangers!"
The citizens were especially friendly toward northern troops, particularly those from Ballerhard, and volunteered information about the central region's atmosphere without Hansen even needing to ask.
"It's tragic that four villages were reduced to ruins, but it's a real stroke of luck that the chaos didn't spread further."
"Honestly, back then it felt like the end of the world had come. The rumors were pretty grim."
"There are still some ugly rumors popping up here and there, but with knights running themselves ragged to handle it, I believe things will calm down soon enough."
Before heading to Winter Castle, the central region had been in disarray, but by the time winter passed, it had fully regained its stability.
"It's all thanks to the royal family acting swiftly."
"Who else but them? Long live our royal family!"
The citizens unanimously credited the royal family for everything, praising them effusively until their mouths went dry.
And the name mentioned most frequently in that chorus was Crown Prince Idrian Leonberger.
The man who had mobilized the royal family, the Silver Lions, and the central army when no one knew disaster was coming.
A walking repository of wisdom who, upon hearing descriptions of unheard-of monsters, immediately produced strategies to defeat them.
At first, the citizens sprinkled in mentions of the crown prince like seasoning, but before long, they were singing his praises exclusively.
They even backtracked to the Battle of the Raintes River—far before the current crisis—to rave about his exploits there, and eventually lauded his feats in repelling the empire's army at the border.
For Hansen, who had endured the nobility's rampant abuses to the point of fleeing his home with nothing but a bundle on his back, these tales didn't resonate much.
They start the poison and then hand out the antidote.
What was so great about independence that they provoked a war and let all those able-bodied men die?
They could've lived their whole lives in fine clothes, feasting in abundance, if they'd just stayed put. It was their own greed that ruined them.
He had once let that inner sentiment slip during a conversation with Winter Castle's Rangers. Just once.
"Fine clothes and good food? This guy's saying some hilarious shit."
The Rangers doubled over laughing, as if it were the funniest thing they'd ever heard.
That day, he was put through hellish training.
"Fine clothes? I've rarely seen His Highness in anything intact, you little shit."
A Ranger yanked him up by the collar of his training-torn shirt and growled.
His voice and expression were as menacing and sharp as if facing an enemy, leaving Hansen too intimidated to complain even when mealtimes passed.
The training-disguised venting didn't end until dawn broke.
After that, he never voiced his thoughts on the royal family—especially the crown prince—aloud again.
Once he learned how the Ballerhard Rangers revered the crown prince like a god, he grew even more tight-lipped.
Criticizing the crown prince was taboo in Winter Castle at minimum, and experiencing how pleasantly jovial Rangers could turn terrifying when that taboo was breached was lesson enough after one go.
But that didn't change his mind.
Living among zealots who couldn't open their mouths without gushing about "our crown prince this" and "that," his resentment only built up.
The same held true now.
He fell silent, watching citizens so engrossed in praising the crown prince that they'd forgotten he was even there.
He didn't bother saying that if the royal family had done its job properly from the start—if they hadn't sparked a war with the empire that cost so many lives, if border villages hadn't been helplessly trampled by monsters.
He simply rose quietly and headed elsewhere.
There, he inquired further about the kingdom's situation.
Wherever he went, whomever he met, the pattern repeated.
Citizens would start by chatting about local affairs, then swiftly pivot to lauding the royal family and crown prince.
Each time, he concealed his discomfort, said nothing, and left.
In the process, he learned from their chatter that other nations had failed to quell their early chaos, letting it spiral out of control.
Even that mighty empire was said to be in utter turmoil.
Hansen hurried back to the inn and reported everything verbatim to the dispatched knight.
"They haven't eradicated the monsters entirely, but the subjugation forces have achieved no small feats. Praise for the knights and soldiers spread across the kingdom is widespread. In contrast, other kingdoms seem to be struggling because they failed to suppress the monsters' uprising early on."
In truth, it was praise for the royal family, but he had no intention of singing those praises himself.
"It seems mostly settled now, but I can't fathom why His Highness the Crown Prince would order a kingdom-wide knight muster at a time like this."
The dispatched knight tilted his head.
"Well, we'll find out when we meet him anyway."
He reached his own conclusion and waved Hansen away.
"As long as it's not another war they're starting."
Alone now, Hansen grimaced faintly.
He hoped the royal family wouldn't recklessly cause more needless deaths, but as the knight said, the crown prince summoning knights at this juncture gnawed at him.
But no lowly Ranger's pondering would change a thing.
He shook off the stray thoughts and went to bed.
The next day dawned, and the dispatched force departed the city without delay.
After two days of marching, they met cavalry from Count Branburt's household, who had come to escort them. The subjugation force followed their lead toward the command post, a day's ride from the count's castle.
And at last, they arrived at a dilapidated little fortress.
Hansen eyed the colorful banners fluttering atop what was surely a renovated structure serving as command headquarters.
The gold lion banner symbolizing House Leonberger.
Ballerhard's distinctive triple banner.
Count Branburt's iron mao banner.
Innumerable others from houses Hansen couldn't identify whipped in the wind.
At a rough estimate, forces from at least twenty families had gathered at this command post.
It looked primed for war, not mere subjugation.
Hansen was far more startled by the subjugation force's scale than he'd anticipated.
Yet the fortress interior held few troops.
Only about a hundred soldiers and a handful of knights stood guard.
From Count Branburt, who greeted the dispatched force, he learned most lords and knights had left to hunt monsters.
And,
"His Highness is not at the command post currently."
Among those absent was the crown prince himself.
"Word is His Majesty forbade His Highness's direct participation by royal decree..."
"That's my understanding as well."
Count Branburt, looking pained, passed the explanation to someone else.
"His Highness isn't here."
Vincent Ballerhard, lord of Winter Castle, stepped in to brief the dispatched group.
"He left a note saying he'd be quick—just a momentary lapse in vigilance—and vanished."
Hansen, eavesdropping from afar, found the story utterly absurd.
"Couldn't wait and slipped out again, it seems."
"He held out for half a year this time, so that's progress."
But the dispatched knights accepted the castle lord's words with calm matter-of-factness, not a hint of surprise.
"How long has he been gone?"
"About a fortnight. He vanished right after hearing monsters had appeared in a western city two weeks' ride away. By now, he's probably wrapped things up and preparing to return."
"Or he might've headed somewhere else entirely."
"Hard to imagine, but since it's His Highness, we can't rule it out."
Hansen listened to their exchange with a dumbfounded expression.
"The Royal Knights and Yorden are tracking him, so we can only hope they return before word reaches His Majesty's ears."
The conversation sounded less like talk of a nation's crown prince and more like gossip about some snot-nosed kid from a common home.
"I vouched for him when I brought him out."
"Mercy. Vouching? That's trouble."
"Not letting it slide this time."
"Even if you say that, once His Highness returns, you'll just grumble a bit and be done."
"No. Absolutely not."
The Winter Castle lord bared his bushy pate, lamenting how the crown prince was balding him prematurely.
"Still looks fine for now. Can't say about later."
The dispatched knights snickered.
Hansen gave up trying to understand their behavior.
He'd thought only the Rangers were odd, but the castle lord and knights weren't right in the head either.
As he shook his head unwittingly, the conversation topic suddenly turned to him.
"Who's this Hansen fellow?"
At the abrupt question from the Winter Castle lord, Hansen stepped forward.
"I-I'm Hansen, sir!"
He shouted stiffly, nerves on edge.
He hadn't noticed from afar, but up close, the lord's presence was no joke.
"So you're the cheeky recruit who vowed to kick Yorden's ass."
Hansen paled completely.
He hadn't imagined a single slip of the tongue would spread so far, let alone draw the attention of a castle lord.
He considered ratting out the meddlesome anonymous Ranger to clear the misunderstanding, but the lord spoke first.
"His Highness's disappearance was misfortune for all, but luck for you in the end. If he hadn't vanished, Yorden wouldn't have left either."
Realizing his blunder had reached the man himself, Hansen blanched even further.
"Well, he'll be back soon anyway."
The lord chuckled, fanning his anxiety.
A week flew by.
The once-empty fortress bustled with returning knights and Rangers fresh from subjugation.
"You're that rumored recruit!"
Every Ranger he met sought him out to gossip about the tale.
Word came that the Royal Knights and Rangers were escorting the crown prince back.
The fortress brimmed with energy as time passed.
The castle lord's face noticeably brightened.
Hansen's, by contrast, grew steadily darker.
More time elapsed.
The fortress teemed not just with subjugation troops but also knights and aspiring knights drawn by the proclamation, packed to bursting.
Days later—two weeks after the dispatched force's arrival—the day he'd dreaded finally came.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has returned!"
Early morning saw knights and Rangers gathering at the fortress gates to welcome him.
The crown prince appeared on a pristine white steed, ambling across the distant plain.
His cloak hooded low, only his jaw and mouth visible—but that alone screamed foul mood.
His lips were pursed out a good foot.
"We're overjoyed at your safe return."
The Winter Castle lord greeted him on behalf of the subjugation force, teeth gritted.
Anyone could see he was forcibly suppressing his anger under the crowd's eyes.
Only then did the crown prince's protruding lips retract.
"Vincent."
The crown prince forced an awkward smile.
"We'll hear the details inside. I pray there was no choice but to vanish without a word."
The castle lord's words, spat through clenched teeth, turned the crown prince's face to that of a cow led to slaughter.
Hansen watching them fared no better.
Forgetting this was his first glimpse of royalty, a northern hero right before him.
His eyes fixed on the Ranger standing directly behind the crown prince.
Scarred face with an infuriatingly punchable look—exactly matching Winter Castle descriptions.
Instinct told him this was Yorden.
The Ranger's eyes scanned the crowd. Sweeping over subjugation knights and soldiers, they halted at the newly arrived dispatched force.
His roving gaze locked dead on Hansen.
The Ranger grinned. To Hansen, it was a death god's smile.
"What're you staring at?"
The crown prince, trudging like slaughterhouse-bound cattle behind the castle lord, followed the Ranger's gaze.
His eyes landed on Hansen as if by appointment.
"So you're the one gunning for Yorden's ass."
Not fabricated, but the phrasing dripped with misunderstanding potential. Hansen resigned to whatever came.
"Let's see if your guts match your skill..."
The crown prince's mocking trailed off mid-sentence. His eyes widened round.
Hansen blinked, baffled by the sudden shift.
Then he realized the crown prince wasn't looking at him—but slightly above.
His gaze darted across empty air, as if reading something invisible.
Finally, the frantic eye movement stilled. The crown prince beamed.
"I was wondering why the rest hadn't shown up yet."
His voice so disarmingly friendly that Hansen briefly wondered if they'd always known each other.