Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 545

545
Azpen has been greatly influenced by religion since ancient times.

As a result, they were able to build good relations with the sacred city-states that were recognized as cities and nations, and they were able to receive help from them, but conversely, they had to be mindful of the temples, so it was difficult to do anything as they pleased.

So, it wasn’t just the Holy Nation that was the problem.

If it were a single sacred nation, the king of Azpen would have been able to carry out his will if he had been a bit more careful.

That is, religion was not the only problem.

Going back in history, the Principality of Azpen began as a country with the title of Duke.

It is a country established with the permission of the empire.

If we look more closely, we can see that the empire’s strategy to tie down the peerless hero to the ground worked well, but that’s only if we evaluate the time that has passed. To those who lived during that time, King Azpen must have been a true hero among heroes.

The hero who founded a country could not have been an ordinary great man.

Since that was the beginning of the country, it was natural that it did not have a great connection with the empire even now.

It was literally like he was telling them not to fight because he would give them land.

Therefore, it would be okay to view the Azpen Principality as a separate kingdom in reality, although it was only a principality in name.

However, it is difficult to make that claim now.

“Do you not wish to receive the Empire’s convenience?”

The imperial envoys who visited every year gave food to Azpen, where most of the land was mountainous and farmland was scarce.

It wasn’t a hit and run. It was a very reasonable treatment of Azpen at an appropriate cost.

Of course, Azpen was in a situation where it was difficult to stockpile anything to pay for the food.

As the saying goes, when drawing a beauty, the eyes must be drawn last to complete the drawing, so there was one more country that influenced Azpen.

This is Lichenstetten, known as the Southern Power.

This side was the opposite of the empire.

They bought various items including metals from Azpen.

In other words, one side could be said to be the buyer and the other side could be said to be the seller.

Given the moods of those two, Azpen had difficulty establishing trade even with the trading cities located in the southeastern part of the continent.

‘That’s a really fu*king case.’

The lord of the throne, Argius Bona Azpen, who was known as the Chosen Man of God, was very unhappy with the current situation.

‘Are we ultimately going to have to become a country where we have to reach out to others to survive?’

Not just one, but three?

The priest of abundance resided in the castle of Azpen and built a temple within the castle.

They said that the teachings of God were necessary for the stability of the people.

Those who lack food always dream of abundance. Naturally, most of the people in Azpen were faithful believers in abundance.

However, while some priests were faithful in their faith and prayed for the people, some were so rotten that they even stinked.

Does that mean we can kick them all out?

It’s impossible.

If we kill one priest right now, wouldn’t we hear divine voices everywhere?

The king was in a position where he could not kill a single lower-ranking priest at will.

This is one of the reasons why Argius wanted a separation of church and state.

Then why do the people of the Azpen Kingdom believe in the god of abundance? It was because they lived in poverty.

‘Is it right to use faith as an escape?’

The king knew that evasion and escape would only bring temporary relief, but not all of his subjects could do the same.

He wanted to get through the situation, and that opportunity was right there in front of him.

‘Green Pearl.’

The continent’s richest land, with great potential to become a granary, was located right next to the border.

Just go down a little bit to the southeast and expand the border a little bit.

If we could just take over the granary, we could find the answer to all our problems.

Of course, not everything in the world goes as planned, but it was clear that it would be meaningful.

‘There is no need to borrow the hand of the empire, and there is no need to sell much of the iron produced to the south. When the stomach is full, the poor in spirit will seek God a little less.’

Then it would be possible to drive out a few corrupt priests.

After all, isn’t it enough to let the people know that the king accomplished all this? Then their reliance on religion will decrease.

Argius had a dream.

It was a dream I had been having for over ten years.

It was a dream of his country becoming a kingdom rather than a principality.

It was a dream of a lame person who could stand and walk alone without any help from others.

Some who heard my dream called themselves dreamers, and some again joined in and followed my dream.

And it failed.

But right now, the young king who was more than ten years younger than him was speaking nonsense beyond his dreams. He was being unreasonable.

“Why doesn’t that make sense?”

“Isn’t it nonsense to erase the magic realm? And the end of the war? A land without fighting? Gathering different races and fighting together? Do you think all of that makes sense!”

Argios felt the blood rush to his forehead. His emotions were suddenly mixed with my words.

I wanted to ask you what you were talking about, and why you were spouting such nonsense.

“Why not?”

“Isn’t it wrong to even ask why?”

“Have you tried it?”

“……what?”

“I asked if you had tried it.”

If there is a road that no one has walked before, is it a road that cannot be walked?

Once upon a time the king thought like this.

Because that was the dream he had.

It is a dream to stand alone, free from everyone’s influence.

Everyone said it was something that couldn’t be done and that it was a path that couldn’t be walked.

But Argius didn’t think so. He just saw it as a path he had never been on.

“If no one has set foot on a land, is that a place where people cannot live?”

And the young king spoke his mind.

But their vessels were different.

Just as not all knights are the same, not all kings are the same.

“Are you going to give up without even trying? Is that the dream you have? Then why did you cross the border of Naurilia? Enki, cut off the head of the king of Azpen and gather your forces immediately and kill everyone living in the land of Azpen.”

Krang’s voice was quiet and soft. Only his tone of speech had changed slightly.

Saxon listened to Krang’s words and glanced at Encred.

Aren’t you thirsty?

Encred just watched, knowing that Krang wasn’t being sincere.

Andrew felt like he was going crazy listening to the conversation going on for a while.

The young man, who identified himself as Illod, listened to Krang’s words and placed his hand on the grip of his sword.

The other two from Azpen took a step back without realizing it, and Prok remained silent.

Everyone took it as truth because of the force with which he spoke when he said to cut off his neck.

“Is that really what you want?”

The crane asked.

Argius looked at the young king. Behind him was the night sky, behind him was the knight blocking the army, and he knew that one gesture from the man could kill him, but now all Argius could see was Krang’s eyes.

His eyes were brighter than the moon and bright enough to push out the starlight.

Nothing can shine brighter than the eyes of a dreamer.

“Why did the policy of integrating different races come to light? Wasn’t it to treat them all the same? Please tell me the secret.”

Krang continued.

It sounded like something he said with no ulterior motives.

Argios felt like gasping for breath with just a few words.

It took that much mental effort.

Why are you so angry that your forehead is red?

Argios looked back at himself.

Why are you angry?

‘The difference in the bowl.’

I hate to admit it, but the other person is bigger and broader than me.

“Why did you come here?”

Instead of shouting, Argios asked a similar question to the one he had asked at first.

However, while earlier he asked what I was going to do if I had hidden troops, this time he asked purely about my intentions.

“Does that matter?”

Krang smiled. Argios also let out a hollow laugh.

Not all kings are the same.

Argius felt as if those words had hit home.

The man in front of me was a different person.

I will erase the demonic realm and end the war on the continent.

“How are we going to do that?”

Argios asked again. The subject was missing, but the meaning was clear.

What to do about the end of the war on the continent?

How are you going to deal with the Demon King?

How else can we eradicate socialization?

All three of them are nonsense. Saying just one of the three would be nonsense.

Argius had to watch the mood of the priest who had come with him, and he had to keep in mind the woman who had come from the Eckins family at the instigation of the South, but he forgot.

For a moment, all I could hear was what the man in front of me was saying.

Krang smiled again. If that smile had magic, Argios would have nodded.

The king with magical powers spoke against the night sky.

“Please think about it together.”

“… … Ha, hahaha.”

Starting with a hollow laugh, Argius threw back his neck and laughed heartily. He laughed so hard that tears welled up in his eyes.

Did this kid just say he’s going to do it without any method? Is this a big ambition? Or is he just a fool who doesn’t know the world?

Although he was originally seen as a reckless person, he was the king of Naurilia and inherited the throne after ending the civil war.

Can’t we dismiss this kind of person as a fool?

‘Anew.’

Argius thought of his vassals who had opposed him when he had asked to stand alone.

‘You’re a dreamer.’

Compared to himself, the author in front of him is a crazy kid who dreams with his eyes open.

but.

‘I lost.’

None of the stories I expected came out. The King of Naurilia didn’t bring up any of the things I was worried about. He just showed me the difference in the vessels.

“You will need granaries. You will want to get out of the hands of the Empire and the South, and you will also have religious issues.”

‘He also seems to be quite smart.’

Argius listened to what Krang had to say without saying anything.

“I can’t give you all the land. Instead, let’s attach it like this. Then, we can secure farmland.”

Krang said, placing his palms together.

‘This could also be considered a delusion.’

Argios had such thoughts.

Krang said he was going to put up a border now.

They proposed that we split up the farmland and divide it up, without fighting at all, whether we were allies or not.

It was easy to say that the two countries originally had the entire Green Pearl as their border. However, it was only easy to say.

Where did we leave off the history of our many fights? What about the ill-fated relationship we built up during that time? Yeah, good.

Let’s just say that there wasn’t a fight that was enough to wipe out a city.

‘Should the Empire and the Southern Powers just sit back and watch?’

“I’ve been waiting for this,” said Krang.

“If you say anything else, well, this guy, make an excuse. There is a knight order that can cut down an entire city of Azpen, and I can’t threaten them with a sword.”

As he spoke, Krang pointed behind him with his thumb. Naturally, the finger was aimed at Encred.

Encrid nodded roughly, as it didn’t matter.

“Is he gone?”

“We are friends.”

Encred’s face remained indifferent even as he saw the king calling him his friend in front of another king.

Looking at that, Argios was curious about the relationship between the two.

Of course, that may not be important right now.

“Is that okay? We’re at war with the South, so they won’t stay still.”

“It’s not me who’s fighting, but yes. Those who protect my country, those who have the same dream as me, will protect it together.”

“I see.”

Argius’s words seemed to drain all of his strength.

But instead, his eyes began to shine.

It wasn’t the defensive, defensive look I had when I first saw it. It wasn’t the look that spoke of frustration and despair.

Krang’s subsequent words were also mind-boggling.

“I cannot fight because there is a threat, but I have been given the farmland because of your generosity. Since the god of abundance cannot allow me to leave the remaining land, you can say that there is nothing you can do, right?”

What a fool.

What kind of nonsense is that?

A rabbit living in a cave does not understand its companion living outside the cave.

Why do you live outside in such a dangerous place? You can survive by eating only the grass that grows inside the cave.

He himself could not see outside the cave.

The man in front of me wasn’t simply asking me to be his friend or to join him in his dreams.

He was also smart. He knew exactly what he was dealing with and figured it out.

Also, with his passionate speech that captivated those around him, he silenced even those who stood behind him to state their positions.

There comes a moment in everyone’s life when things change.

To Encred, those were the words of a third-rate mercenary swordsman.

You are a genius.

It was also a verse of lyrics sung by a minstrel.

The knight of the past, the knight who ended the war.

The King of Azpen now had a similar experience.

Krang smiled and opened his mouth again.

“What are you afraid of? Dying? Failure? If not, why don’t we dream together?”

How? None.

Alternative? None.

But I have a dream.

Krang was a dreamer, but Argius wanted to get his hands on that dream.

What should I do first to do that?

I was intoxicated by the young king’s words, but I must first look at the person who made the king say such things.

While everyone else was flustered and intoxicated by the words, he was the only one standing there indifferently.

His name is Encred, the knight of iron walls.

That was the name of the person who created this place.

In fact, it was the king himself who should have been the first to thank Illod Hurier.

Illod took over to protect his pride and preserve the reputation of the kingdom, even if only a little.

It wasn’t for nothing that I asked Encred to come to the meeting.

So now that I have my eyes wide open.

Shouldn’t I be grateful that my people and my kingdom have not been spared from the bloodshed?

The king, awakened from his daze, laughed and got up from his seat.

“What should I call you?”

“Crang.”

“Argios. I would like to do what I want to do first before it is too late. Is that okay?”

It is not something that must be done, but something that one wants to do. As a king who knows well that a single word can change the meaning, he said it correctly.

“Do as you wish.”

After hearing Krang’s answer, the King of Azpen looked at Encrid.

“I am late in greeting you. Sir Encred, the knight of iron walls, thanks to what you have done, my wife who spent the night crying will no longer cry, a child who almost lost his father and mother will smile, and the old parents who sent their children away will breathe a sigh of relief. For that, I thank you.”

The king bowed his head.

In the end, it was a courtesy to not forget that this place existed because there was an extraordinary hero who stopped the army.