Chapter 174: Chapter 157 Part 2

Translator: “Hakou” Editor: “Weasalopes”

「It was four versus one you know? Could he really win that?」

「According to the reports, he defeated his enemies with his sword skill that was so fast their eyes couldn’t catch up. They said it was to the extent they can’t follow his movement at all」

The knight commander continues.

「On top of that, his magic skill was also astounding. The Knight, who was lifted from the bottom of the valley, had his chest accurately blown off」

The prime minister puts his weight on the backrest and sighs loudly.

「Until very recently, they’re a country where their Knight was left sleeping without a rider. But now it can take on four B-class Knights?」

The power of the Kingdom is weakened, and the power of an insignificant country is strengthened.

Fortunately, they’re a friendly country.

「Whatever is going on in the Empire, I want more Knights. Knights that can repel them if they began to invade again」

The knight commander puts his hand on his chin and ponders about what the prime minister just said.

And he opened his mouth.

「Then, how about we hire the Black Locust Knight?」

The prime minister raised one of his eyebrows to that suggestion.

「Are you saying we should take a Knight away from a friendly country?」

The knight commander greatly shakes his head.

「No, what I mean is to hire him temporarily, like a mercenary. I also heard that recently Black Locust country also hired a new pilot, operating a C-class Knight」

He took a breath and continued his words.

「The maintenance of two units of Knights. It should be hard in the kitchen of such a small country」

The prime minister starts to understand his point.

「Right… One C-class Knight should suffice to be the national Knight of such a small country. And having a B-class Knight would be a burden for them instead」

He nodded to himself.

「If we say that we will pay him a great deal amount of money, there’s a high chance that he will 」

Then he looked up at the knight commander.

「That’s not a bad idea. If we can expect him to defeat four Knights alone, we can make him fill the hole of a few A-class Knight we lost」

He immediately called his secretary and had him write a letter to the king of Black Locust country.

***

At around the same time, in the merchant guild on the east side of the town square, south of the royal castle.

Rain that occasionally increases in intensity flowing on the surface after hitting the slate roof, and enters the gutter on the street through the drain spout.

The guild master’s office on the top floor was surrounded by the sound of rain hitting the roof.

「There was a follow-up report from the knight order about the matter of the town in the north」

An old man with a small stature buried in a big chair tells Santa Claus, who sits opposite of him.

「It seems that they found a female giant double axe mantis’ skeleton in the suburbs. They probably used that to lure the entire herd to that place」

What do you think? The guild master asked.

The vice guild master, who looks like Santa Claus, puts his hand on his whitebeard.

What the guild master meant by the town in the north, is a small town located near the northern border of the Kingdom.

Although it is on the trade route to the northern countries, there are no remarkable specialties in the town itself.

「I think their goal was to capture our, the merchant guild’s Knight, Old lady」

The Knights of unknown affiliation were actually the Knights of the Empire. Those Knights were acting together in a coordinated manner.

Quietly urged by the guild master, Santa Claus continues.

「The place is the place. The Empire located just on the other side of the mountain after all」

He expresses his thoughts while looking at the large map on the wall.

The giant double axe mantis that was lured there on purpose.

The four B-class Knights that were lying in wait.

To defeat the Old lady who came to subjugate the demon beasts they have prepared and bring it to the Empire. That must have been their plan.

「I also think so」

The guild master nods and picks up his coffee cup.

「Since Tauro-kun became our pilot, exterminating the demon beasts on the trade route has been monopolized by the Knight of the merchant guild」

He then put his mouth on the cup and moistened his throat.

「When a demon beast appears, the Old lady always immediately rushes to the scene. It will be easy for the enemy to ambush such Old lady」

It seems that coffee is not the only reason why his expression is bitter.

The vice guild master also sip his coffee and expressed his impressions.

「They really took some drastic measure back there huh?」

「Tell me about it. We’ve got to carefully pick out the request from now on」

The guild master shrugs as the bitterness somewhat disappears from his face.

「Unlike in the past, the knight order now is also showing a positive response toward subjugating demon beasts. Let’s pass them some of the requests as we narrow down the request we receive」

Santa Claus nodded.

「It might be better to leave the requests near the border to the knight order as much as possible」

Let’s do so, said the guild master as he sip his coffee.

Returning the cup to the saucer, the guild master changed the topic.

「By the way, do you know the talk about the ghost knight?」

Santa Claus makes a dubious expression.

He tried to search through his memory, but nothing came to his mind.

「That’s quite a terrifying name there. Is it a new type of Knight from the Empire?」

The guild master smiled like a mischievous kid after looking at the clueless Santa Claus.

「Apparently, it’s a secret weapon of the Kingdom. It seems deep inside the hangar of blacksmith guild, if not the knight order, they kept making adjustments towards its practical use」

Santa Claus doesn’t nod.

His expression becomes even more dubious. This is because he has never heard of such a story or any information that touched that topic at all.

The guild chief begins to laugh while looking at him.

「That’s the illusion the guys from the Empire saw. Though that was probably Tauro-kun and the Old lady they saw」

Finally understanding the whole story, Santa Claus deeply nodded.

「The expeditionary force that advances towards Awoke. So that Knight was seen as the one who repelled them」

The guild master laughed as he said, now this is where it gets more interesting.

「The Kingdom developed a new type of weapon, but the flaws are too big for it to be used practically」

「Flaws?」

Santa Claus folds his arms and lifts one of his eyebrows before the guild master continues.

「It’s very powerful, but sometimes it will berserk and aims its fangs at its allies. They seems to think so after seeing the former knight commander rampaging around that time」

That time is probably about the battle of Land barn.

At that time, the former knight commander, also known as the White Lion, attacked the current knight captain who had taken over his seat.

「It wasn’t intended, but the White Lion sure did a great job in the end」

The guild master said while nodding.

「Because he will be used?」

Of course, the guild master said and hit his knees.

「The Empire is unable to make a move because they are afraid of the Ghost Knight. While the Kingdom needs more time to prepare themselves」

How pleasing.

「They won’t get anything no matter how many times they look for the Ghost Knight. They will only waste time until the Kingdom regains its power」

He grins as he plays with the green tea chick-shaped buns in his hand.

「If this goes on, it will be the same as before. Where both side can’t make a move as the peace continue to last」

「But this peace isn’t going to last forever, isn’t it?」

The guild master looked at Santa Claus with an exasperated expression.

「What are you saying? There’s nothing such as eternal peace. Even if someday the world is conquered by a single country, it will eventually fall from the inside」

He picked up Santa Claus’ chick cake and put it in the shape of a copulation and continued his words.

「Ten years, that’s all we need. After that, everything will repeat itself. Even if there is a long period without war, that’s something you will know by looking back」

The guild master didn’t remove his gaze from Santa Claus’ eyes.

「In the beginning, aiming for long-lasting peace is impossible for humans」

「That’s certainly true…」

Santa Clause was convinced after thinking the meaning of those words under the pressuring atmosphere.

He seemed to have become ashamed of his words earlier.

「I just hope that everyone can enjoy this peaceful life for a moment」

Santa Claus nods deeply to those words.

(Even if I were to worry about my grandchild’s generation later on, there is nothing I can do about it)

There is no choice but to leave our grandchild’s generation to themselves.

All we can do is not to leave a negative legacy.

「I hope that comes true. No, let’s do our best to make it comes true」

The guild master nodded with a smile.