Chapter 179: Enc-Enc-Encrid
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 179: Enc-Enc-Encrid
The nobles of the Kingdom of Naurilia had a habit of naming their military units after themselves.
Thus, it was Viscount Vantra’s forces that arrived before the pioneer village.
A vanguard of cavalry, having received the urgent dispatch, had ridden ahead at full tilt. What greeted them, however, was a sight they hadn't expected.
"I thought you said they were under attack?" the cavalry captain asked. Having ridden out personally to scout, he stared at the scene in confusion.
What are they doing?
Why are they burying the corpses?
Contrary to its foul appearance, the black blood of monsters and demonic beasts actually served as potent fertilizer for the soil. Even the poison on a ghoul's claws would neutralize and vanish once buried deep within the earth.
For that reason, the residents of the pioneer village were pouring all their strength into burying the monster carcasses.
The wilderness ground was left uneven and lumpy. Most of the villagers were drenched in sweat, swinging shovels and pickaxes with fervor. Soldiers and villagers alike moved as one.
"Yes, that was indeed the message we received in the urgent dispatch," the adjutant replied, checking the parchment.
It hadn't just been an urgent dispatch; it had been a plea for survival.
- Large colony, gnoll pack, immediate reinforcement requested.
That was all it said.
They must have been in an extreme rush, as they hadn't even written down an approximate number to indicate the scale of the threat.
And indeed, he had been. Deutsch had been in a frantic rush when he sent the dispatch, and in his haste, he had omitted the specific number of monsters. The message only hinted at a large colony of at least several hundred, and to make matters worse, it also mentioned cultists.
It was an emergency report more than alarming enough to spur any commander into action.
"To my eyes, it looks like they're just slash-and-burn farming with monster corpses," the cavalry captain remarked.
There truly didn't seem to be any threat whatsoever. Aside from the piles of monster carcasses, it was a remarkably pastoral scene. In fact, the cleanup was nearly complete, so the number of monsters didn't even look that imposing anymore.
"Heave-ho, thump-thump, five hundred fell to his blade~"
"We shall name this fortress wall~"
"Enc-Enc-Encrid~"
The workers were singing some ridiculous work song to an equally absurd melody.
"Go find out what's going on."
They had ridden all this way, caked in dust and grime, only to witness this nonsense. At the captain's command, one of his subordinates galloped forward.
Thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud!
The subordinate who had ridden off returned after assessing the situation and reported back with a bewildered expression.
"What? He slaughtered five hundred gnolls by himself?"
The villagers had been completely honest, but the numbers sounded like a tall tale.
"What, is he some legendary Free Knight? Or did the Mercenary King himself show up?"
"No, sir. They say he's a platoon leader from the Border Guard."
A mere platoon leader slaughtered five hundred gnolls alone? Of course, they added that it wasn't done in a single day.
And apparently, he killed cultists too. No, wait—they just died? He supposedly tricked a sinister foe, struck them from behind, and they clutched their heart and dropped dead?
Since when were cultists like common bandits wandering the back hills? Were they faint-hearted idiots?
What a joke.
The captain snorted. What kind of mere platoon leader could accomplish such a feat?
"Is that so? Well, let's go have a look at this bastard's face."
With those words, they entered the village.
"He has already departed," the village chief said, stepping forward as their representative.
"Already?"
"He said his mission was to deal with the colony. Once it was done, he had no reason to stay."
And just like that, he had vanished.
What a remarkably straightforward fellow.
The cavalry captain snorted a second time.
Looking at the situation, the only witnesses were mercenaries and villagers. While it would be difficult for all of them to coordinate a lie, it was equally hard to believe that everything they said was the absolute truth.
When people are pushed to the brink, they tend to exaggerate.
The captain knew this psychological principle well. Someone standing on the edge of a cliff would be seized by the terror of falling even if they had five paces of safety left. These people were surely the same.
Five hundred? It was probably fifty at most, maybe a hundred if they were lucky. If those mercenary fellows admitted they couldn't handle a monster colony of that size, it would be tantamount to admitting their own incompetence.
They must have exaggerated to save face.
The captain made his judgment. He had no intention of digging up the buried corpses to count them.
"Forget it."
After all, as long as the village was safe, that was all that mattered.
He occasionally heard nonsense about "Encrid's Wall" or whatever, but it wasn't his place to criticize the locals' gratitude.
Whether it was fifty monsters or five...
It was still a fact that the platoon leader had saved this village. However, the fact that he had left behind such inflated rumors of his own fame rubbed the captain the wrong way.
If I ever run into him...
I'll bring him down a peg or two. Maybe slice off half his boasting tongue while I'm at it.
With that thought, the captain turned his horse around.
*
"You could have stayed a bit longer..."
The village chief immediately expressed his regret upon hearing that the group was leaving.
It was the morning of the second day after their festival-like night. As Encrid washed himself after working up a heavy sweat, several women from the village watched him from a distance.
"His body is amazing."
"He's handsome, too."
"He fights so well."
"He has a great personality."
"He's so robust. I bet down there is also..."
The last comment seemed to cross a line, but it was spoken with something close to envy, respect, and adoration.
It didn't feel bad. Encrid simply enjoyed the attention in moderation.
When Encrid announced his departure, Deutsch Fullman had abruptly approached him, thrusting his glaive forward.
"Would you care for a spar?"
Though he had suddenly pointed a weapon, respect could be heard in his tone, and admiration was visible in his posture. It was a request—no, a plea—made with a straight and upright stance.
Above all,
Those eyes.
Encrid liked eyes like that. Eyes that smoldered and burned with passion.
"Sure."
It was a brief spar.
Clang, clang!
Deflecting the glaive twice—once vertically, once horizontally—Encrid slipped inside Deutsch's guard and drove his left fist straight into the man's chest.
With a dull thud, Deutsch took the blow to his torso and collapsed to the ground, gagging.
Gasp, wheeze, huff.
Deutsch struggled to draw breath, and only after catching it did he manage to speak.
"What incredible strength..."
Then, standing up, he bowed deeply once more.
"Thank you for the lesson."
Encrid nodded indifferently. Since there was no reason to linger, he decided to set off immediately.
"I'm coming with you."
Even though Encrid had told her to recover in the village before returning, Finn insisted on tagging along.
"I'm a ranger."
Those words carried a lot of weight. As a member of a group whose motto was "Rangers go first," she couldn't stay behind.
"I hate falling behind."
It wasn't mere stubbornness. For one, her injury wasn't a fatal one where her entrails were spilling out, and the treatment had been excellent. It was Krais's handiwork—he was a remarkably versatile fellow. He was useful for everything except fighting. Especially when it came to using his head.
Above all, there shouldn't be any particular danger on the journey they were embarking on now. At worst, it would be...
Just some monsters and demonic beasts.
Normally, when a colony formed, most of the surrounding monsters were wiped clean. It was a natural phenomenon. A colony meant forming a group. Since the nearby monsters had gathered to form that group and they had just eradicated it, they weren't likely to encounter another pack anytime soon.
It should be fine.
"Treasure, treasure~"
Krais hummed a cheerful tune. According to him, the location indicated by the treasure map was only a day's journey away.
"I mean, this is really nothing. In the past, we'd have to disarm traps and deal with all sorts of complications, but now? If you've read Christrown's Dungeon Solution, this is child's play!"
Confidence practically radiated from him. And indeed, it was no big deal.
After packing some rations and a few bottles of apple wine, they set out.
"Please come back again. You must!"
The village chief bowed deeply from behind. No, it wasn't just the chief. All the villagers had come out to see them off.
Encrid gave a slight nod and replied,
"If the opportunity arises."
It was a blunt farewell, but because it was genuine, its sincerity shone through. It was a journey that would end with them simply picking up a treasure on their way back.
"Let's go find some treasure! Treasure!" Krais chattered away in high spirits.
Encrid readily nodded in agreement.
"I shall accompany you that far."
Luagarne did not leave immediately. Whether she had no urgent need to return or simply had lingering attachments, Encrid didn't bother to ask.
Instead,
"A spar?"
He simply treated her as he always did. She had said something about falling for him, but that was something only time would tell.
To Encrid, what he could learn from her right now was far more important than any future day. In terms of pure combat power—that is, if he intended to kill her—Encrid was confident he could surpass Luagarne. However, her experience and skill were the real deal.
If it was just combat capability, she was more manageable than he had expected. One cannot see the surrounding landscape before reaching the summit, but once atop, what one sees and feels changes completely. Thus, he could see it now.
Encrid's vision had opened up. Since one only sees as much as one knows, he could now see the path to defeating Luagarne.
Are all Froks at this level?
Probably not. As she had mentioned several times, she was a scholar.
"Not a bad proposal. I've grown a bit rusty myself. I should spend some time training again."
It seemed she, too, had learned something from fighting the cultists. They walked the path, clashing two wooden swords with sharp clack-clack sounds.
What he had gained, what he had learned, what he had mastered. He walked while reflecting on those things.
"You are truly a fascinating human," Luagarne said right after their battle of wits with the wooden swords ended. "No matter how talented someone is, this shouldn't be possible."
"Is that so?"
Encrid brushed it off indifferently. His dream was to be a knight, and there were still many mountains to climb and paths to walk.
He could not be satisfied with taking just a single step. Indeed, he couldn't be. Even if that step was a giant leap, it was still not enough to reach his faded, torn dream.
Even if he did reach it, would he be satisfied? There was no telling. Was becoming a knight the end of everything? No, it wasn't. The dream remained, but the reasons he had sought to achieve it had accumulated in his heart as he wandered the continent. Some remained as bitter dregs, others as lingering regrets.
"But what's most fascinating is your attitude right now."
Luagarne kept talking, but Encrid remained unchanged. To learn and to master. Since that was what quenched the thirst deep inside him, he simply slaked his thirst and marched forward, keeping his eyes on the signposts.
"Again?"
It was still the same. He sweated through the subsequent spars, then quenched his thirst with a moderate mix of water and apple wine.
They walked steadily along a path where no streams appeared. Finn took the lead, with Krais chattering away right beside her.
"Looking at the map, the terrain matches this area perfectly. What do you think, Finn?"
"I think you're right."
Krais's talent, so to speak... truly shone when his life and krona were on the line. He could find the way just by looking at a small portion of a map, even though Finn was helping him from the side.
Isn't that even more fascinating?
Big-Eyes, Rem, Ragna, Audin, and Sachsen.
Hmm.
The Mad Platoon.
They were bastards who suited that name perfectly. So, compared to them, wasn't he on the normal side? Surely, sparing no effort because of a grand dream fell within acceptable bounds.
Of course, that was just Encrid's own opinion.
Indeed, was Luagarne the only one surprised to see Encrid fight the gnolls this time? Esther was surprised as well.
Crazy bastard.
She had already seen him change overnight several times. But this time, it was different.
Slaughtering hundreds of monsters without even using a spell? Was he holding some kind of magic weapon? Did he pick up a magic sword?
No. He was exactly the same as always. His sword, his armor. Only the man himself had changed.
Could this not be considered the combat power of an Associate Knight? She didn't know about his raw power itself, but in terms of results, that was what it amounted to.
Krais was also surprised. However, he didn't question it.
Because he's the platoon leader.
He was already a crazy guy obsessed with swords. So of course he could do something like that.
Pondering over the incomprehensible was useless. Krais didn't waste his mental energy on useless things; he simply accepted it.
Among them, the one most shocked was Finn.
How is that even possible?
He hadn't been at this level when she first saw him. She had been surprised back then too. She was shocked to see him fight among werewolves, and shocked to see him kill a mage. But back then, it felt like it was within a comprehensible range.
But now...
It felt like he was at the very limit of human capability, or perhaps had already stepped past it.
Above all, his recovery rate.
It would put even a Frok to shame.
He fights to the brink of death, revives the next day, and fights again. How could he do that when there wasn't even a priest pouring divine power into him?
Finn tried to figure out how it was possible, but soon gave up. In truth, most people who saw Encrid eventually gave up trying to understand him. It couldn't be helped.
"An intriguing fellow, indeed."
Luagarne's murmur spoke for everyone's thoughts.
"Is that so?"
Encrid remained as calm as ever.
No monsters or demonic beasts appeared during their short journey. Walking diligently, they arrived at the back of a rocky mountain. Because they had taken a detour, it had taken them a day, but if they had rushed, it would have taken about half a day.
They had sparred, eaten, and rested plenty along the way. There was no rush. As Krais had said, they just had to pick up a treasure on their way.
Behind the rocky mountain, there were scattered stones, short grass, and a few trees poking their heads out here and there. It was a stretch of land that was hard to call a plain, a wilderness, or even a stony field.
"Leader, do you know what?"
"What?"
In that situation, Krais suddenly spoke up.