Chapter 79 : Audience

“Sir Karina, Sir Muno is currently carrying out a royal command.”

Rantus's reaction was not just stiff, but cold.

It was awkward enough to see the man, who had been smiling the whole time, completely stiffen his expression, but Karina nodded with a smile, as if she had expected it.

“I am aware, Sir Rantus.

I have merely come to deliver a message.”

“A message?”

“The young lady is waiting, Young Master Muno.

After the audience is over, she will send someone, so she would like you to come.”

Muno, who had been staring blankly at Karina, finally came to his senses and nodded.

“Ah, yes. Of course…….”

Having answered in a daze, his father's words suddenly flashed through his mind.

- ……Even if you are invited to a party hosted by the prince, never accept.

Ah, damn it…….

He thought he had made a mistake, but.

“Of course, you mean you will come, right?”

He couldn't shake his head while looking at the already sweetly smiling Karina.

‘She’s even prett……. no, that’s not it. Damn it!’

Just when he thought he didn't even know what kind of expression he was making.

“Then I shall be waiting, Young Master Muno.”

“Ah……. That is…….”

“It seems you have grown a lot, just as the rumors say.

I look forward to the day we can spar again.”

Looking into Karina’s unwavering eyes, he felt his complicated thoughts being cleared away.

Putting aside her captivating beauty, he could see that he wasn't the only one who had changed.

Her body seemed more solid than before, and the very air changed with just the hint of her movement.

‘A 4-Star……. already in that short time…….’

Was talent that Count Enoch Trian himself had bestowed an artifact upon truly different?

But he, too, had grown on a different dimension from before.

“……Hmph. I understand.

I am looking forward to it as well.”

When he replied with a competitive spirit, Karina gave a bright smile, nodded, and turned away.

Heh.

‘As expected…….’

He felt foolish for having been needlessly nervous, but for Muno, who had zero confidence in relationships between men and women, this was frankly more comfortable.

Remaining as acquaintances who purely tested their skills as knights.

What a clean relationship…….

“She’s a real fighting chicken, Sir Muno.

You’d do well to be careful…….”

“Eh?”

At the sudden, annoyed voice of Rantus cutting in, a crooked reply escaped him without him realizing.

Fortunately, Rantus seemed more focused on bad-mouthing Karina than on his reaction.

“As soon as her master secured a position in the royal court, she's the type of woman who goes around picking fights with the royal knights for spars.”

“Picking fights?”

She doesn't seem like that kind of person?

“Well, let's correct that to provocation……. Anyway, she caused fights day in and day out as if she were possessed by a ghost who died because it couldn't spar enough…….”

Ah.

What was I thinking?

“She must have won them all.”

“……What?”

“I say that because for someone like that, Sir Karina looks perfectly fine.”

“Ugh. That is true.

That’s why I’m telling you to be even more careful.

That woman is known to be a 4-Star, but I heard she even defeated Sir Kailok, the Vice-Commander of the Steel Knightly Order, a while ago.”

“Pardon?”

“You are aware that the Royal Knightly Order is divided into the Red Iron, White Iron, and Steel Knightly Orders, correct?”

“Ah……. I think I’ve heard of it…….”

“The Steel Knightly Order might be the third of the three, but Vice-Commander Sir Kailok is a 5-Star knight.

A 5-Star knight! And a 4-Star knight defeated him.”

To that extent…….

“The name of the Knight of the Gale must have spread widely in the royal castle.”

Even as he thought that a revenge match might be a bit difficult.

‘Still, you never know until you try.’

If anything, his competitive spirit began to boil.

And.

“So what?

Her looks are already sharp enough, and now there are rumors about her being a fierce woman.

I wonder if she'll ever get married like that……. Tsk.”

To that extent, Rantus’s condescending attitude toward her was a bit irksome.

“It seems you’ve been burned a little yourself, Sir Rantus.”

He could see Rantus's face crumple at the words that slipped out.

But this time, he didn't feel like he had made a mistake at all.

“……That I have. In any case, most of the 4-Star knights in the capital have either lost to her or are avoiding a spar, so I’m just telling you to be careful, Sir Muno.”

Rantus added another word in displeasure, but that only served to provoke him further.

He began to look forward to their next meeting even more.

“Thank you for the advice.”

“Keheum. Well then, I’ll see you again.”

Muno gave a polite farewell bow to the departing Rantus and approached the inner castle gate.

“I am Muno Drasen, here at His Majesty's summons.”

* * *

The procedure for an audience was complicated.

Even though he had heard that word had been sent to the royal family the moment he entered the North Gate.

“First, when the door opens…….”

From the etiquette to observe when the great hall doors opened, to the distance to maintain from the king, and even the protocol for speaking and listening.

It felt like it took over an hour just to be instructed on all of it.

And yet.

“Our Iron Kingdom doesn't have useless formalities like the Empire, so isn’t this a practical etiquette?”

This was what the old man, who was the royal chamberlain, said with a chuckle to him as he looked uncomfortable.

Well, what could I do?

‘I just have to shut up and take it.’

And after going through all that procedure, when he finally reached the magnificent, gold-decorated front doors of the great hall.

The knights guarding the door blocked him, pointing a strange stick at him.

‘Is this like an airport security checkpoint?’

He had never even been on a plane in his past life, only seen it in videos, so to have a similar experience in a fantasy world was so absurd that a laugh escaped him.

An unexpected remark came from the knight.

“There is a mana reaction from the object on your waist, Sir.”

“Ah, this is…….”

He was pointing to the ‘Blade’ that he had transformed and wrapped around his waist.

He was about to simply disperse it, but then hesitated, wondering if it was really polite to drop a pile of metal inside the royal palace.

‘Wait…….’

Jjeojeojeong.

Suddenly a good idea came to mind, and he transformed the blade back into its original two-handed sword form.

“……I had forgotten. It has become such a habit to carry it on my person.

Here, I will entrust this to you.”

The knights, who had been momentarily wary, finally smiled and accepted the sword.

And the chamberlains who received it from them retreated and moved away.

“So this is the Black Knight's…….”

“The mana contained within doesn't seem like much…….”

“There must be a specific way the owner uses it.”

“True, they say real artifacts choose their owners, so how could we possibly judge…….”

Listening to the voices murmuring in the distance, he was able to smile fully.

‘A Spirit Master would know right away……. but, what are the chances there's one among the chamberlains?’

His unique Spirit Arts, ‘Blade’, which could maintain its form even when separated from his body.

It was a welcome thing if they misunderstood the weapon made with a special Spirit Art linked to his unique ability as ‘the rumored artifact’.

Even if those chamberlains happened to talk with the knights of the North Gate Guard, it didn't matter, as they would probably get their stories straight and misunderstand on their own.

“Now then, are you ready?”

“Yes.”

As soon as he answered the knight's question.

“The Genius Knight of Drasen, the Black Knight, Sir Muno Drasen, requests an audience!!!!”

‘Hup!?’

Two knights shouted with tremendous voices.

‘……My eardrums almost burst. F*ck.’

He found himself glaring at the knights opening the door.

Geugeugeugeugeuk.

Finally, with a loud noise, the massive doors of the great hall opened.

Only after receiving a look from the knight that seemed to say ‘What are you doing?’ was he belatedly able to focus on the inside of the opened doors.

Geugeugeugeung.

A path of red silk stretched out endlessly.

On the impossibly high ceiling and the three pairs of pillars lining the left and right, three-dimensional carvings of unidentifiable figures resembling people and animals were engraved.

The stained glass adorning the windows on the left and right of the great hall reflected various kinds of light, creating a splendid atmosphere.

‘Wasn't this indoors?

Where is the light coming from?’

Muno's gaze shifted to a slightly odd place before.

He finally gulped upon seeing the gazes of the central nobles lined up on both sides focused on him.

‘Wasn't I having a private audience?’

On second thought, who was I that the king would grant me a private meeting?

Come to think of it, he seemed to recall hearing the chamberlains mention something about being ‘in a meeting’ when he was learning the etiquette earlier.

Nervous, he barely managed to recall his training and gave a slight bow, then slowly stepped onto the silk with his left foot first and proceeded down the path.

“Younger than I thought…….”

“Already a 3-Star…….”

“Before that, this problem with the magicians…….”

He did his best to ignore the words of those whispering in very small voices.

And soon, upon discovering a particularly deep indentation in the silk, he dropped to his right knee.

“Muno Drasen greets the rightful ruler of the kingdom, the Master of Steel.”

Having said the greeting, it seemed he had omitted quite a lot from the etiquette he had learned earlier, but what was done was done.

Moreover.

“Hahahaha. Like a true young man, your greeting is indeed simple.”

The owner of the old voice coming from above his head seemed to be in a good mood for some reason, so it didn't seem like it would be a problem.

“Raise your head, Muno Drasen.”

At those words, he raised his head and saw a large-framed man in his prime with a commanding presence, who looked more like a knight than a king, with shiny, pure white hair—no, silver hair—and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard.

He was the king of this country, Lockhart Iron I.

He looked old at first glance, but as far as Muno knew, silver hair was just a characteristic of the Iron royal family, and the king was currently in his mid-40s.

Indeed, there wasn't a single wrinkle on his face, so the more he looked, the younger he felt.

But the strongest thought from his first impression was.

‘He resembles him.’

Funnily enough, that was it.

Their facial features were different, their styles were different, their eye color was gray, and their ages were all different, but.

‘Strangely similar.’

The atmosphere itself was too similar to his adopted maternal grandfather(?), Count Enoch Trian.

So much so that he wondered if they were brothers.

Of course, he didn't look as strong.

‘A 3-Star at best.’

But the aura he exuded had a strangely similar sense of pressure.

So much so that the knights and people in priests' robes standing around him only came into view belatedly.

“Are you the Black Knight who can pierce the magicians' new technique, the ‘Veil’?

Ah, of course, I am not doubting you.

I am merely asking for confirmation because you look so young.”

“……If you're asking if I'm the one who's been getting into a lot of scuffles with the devil's minions pretending to be human lately, then yes.

That's me.”

Feeling a strange sense of familiarity, he answered jokingly, and he could feel the gazes pouring in from the surroundings turn murderous.

However.

“Puhahaha.

Yes, you look the part.

You have good spirit.”

The king, on the contrary, liked it, so it didn't seem to be a problem.

It was exactly the reaction he had expected just from the atmosphere.

‘Are they really not brothers?

Is he mixed with Trian blood? Hmph.’

He could only swallow the thoughts he couldn't say out loud.

But then.

“Good. Since you speak so frankly, I too will not beat around the bush and speak directly.

Let me see your ability.”

“Pardon?”

“The Temple and our royal family have each developed a technique to pierce that Veil.

However, we have not yet proven them, so we wish to compare them with your ability, which has already been proven.”

It was an explanation that was too ambiguous to accept at once.

“How……. do you mean?”

“What do you mean, how? Competition is always the best way to prove something.”

“Pardon?”

“Recently, the number of disappearances and murder cases has been increasing slightly within the capital, but the culprits are rarely caught.

If all the ministers of this kingdom are not incompetent…….”

The moment the king's gaze turned toward the lined-up ministers, he saw them all flinch and avert their eyes.

The king's cold smile then returned to Muno.

“……It must mean that a considerable number of those devil's minions who hide their demonic energy have infiltrated the capital.

So I'm proposing a competition.”

“Pardon?”

As he stood there dumbfounded, wondering what that meant.

“I'm saying you, the Temple, and the royal family should each use your own methods to exterminate those vermin who have sold their souls to the devil, and we'll assess the outcome based on the results.

What? Are you not confident?”

The king spoke in a teasing manner, as if testing him with a smile.

And he was not the type to shy away from such a provocation.

“……Of course not.

I am merely worried if it is alright for me to win.”

At those words, he felt a certain knight and a priest standing by the king's side flinch, but he paid them no mind.

“Puhahaha.

Yes, that's how a man should be.

Good. If you win, I will prepare a great gift for you. Will you do it?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

At Muno's confident answer, the king laughed loudly again.