A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

As far as Enkrid knew, Kraiss was not the type to cling to lost causes.

“You’re not needed.”

At the mercenary king’s words, Kraiss quickly gave up on trying to impress him.

“Yes, I see!”

It wasn’t as if he had truly planned on following him anyway.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have changed his stance so quickly.

“A guest arrives, and yet you bring no gifts?”

Instead of trying to win over the king, Kraiss set his sights on his gold.

Enkrid had also heard the rumors while traveling across the continent—that the East had warehouses overflowing with gold.

There were even stories of a coalition of thief guilds attempting to infiltrate, only for not a single one to make it out alive.

Enkrid had always taken those rumors lightly.

‘Gold, huh.’

There was probably a lot of it.

That was the extent of his thoughts on the matter.

He didn’t particularly need that kind of wealth, so why bother looking into it?

Rem, Ragna, Audin, and Jaxon were the same.

The Mad Platoon had no lingering attachments to króna.

But Kraiss was different.

His eyes glowed with an eerie light.

Like the spirit of a man who had been betrayed by a sworn lover, trapped in the ruins of his home for a hundred years, with only his obsession remaining.

The heat in Kraiss’s gaze as he spoke of gold was almost maddening.

Enkrid simply thought that he had picked the wrong target.

“A gift? What, do you want Eastern gold or something?”

“That would be nice.”

“No.”

“The King of the East is said to have a heart as vast as the ocean. How can you be so stingy?”

“I’m not a generous man.”

“You are the King of the East. Does this meeting mean nothing to you?”

“I can’t hear you.”

Enkrid had never considered the King of the East particularly eloquent. But in terms of pulling others into his pace, he had an undeniable talent.

Kraiss didn’t get angry. He didn’t grit his teeth.

He simply continued speaking in the same tone, with the same smile.

“Is that so? Then I’ll ask again tomorrow.”

From a distance, it might have looked like a friendly conversation.

The king merely laughed and nodded.

For a brief moment, Enkrid was concerned.

If Kraiss ended up getting hit even once, he might not live to see the next day.

“Are you sure about this?”

So, as Kraiss emerged from his meeting with the king, Enkrid asked him.

Kraiss, with his back turned to the king, merely mouthed his response.