Chapter 231: Aren't You Really Going to Visit the Temple?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 231: Aren't You Really Going to Visit the Temple?
Today was a wall, a threat, a crisis, a turning point, and an obstacle.
Just as there were many names for it, there was more than one way to overcome it.
One of the easiest ways was through his companions and subordinates: the demon born of the temple, the axe-wielder, the insidious assassin, the prickly panther mage, and the lazy swordsman.
If he ordered them to follow, several would do so gladly. With them by his side, a threat would cease to be a threat.
Even without their help, there were plenty of paths. In the end, all he had to do was not get cut. He could simply fight without taking a hit until he won.
Because of the curse, even if Encrid died, he would live this "today" all over again. One could well call him a soldier who lived only for today. He just had to repeat, repeat, and repeat countless times. That repetition would eventually open the door.
But none of those thoughts lingered in Encrid's mind.
There are people who, once they find a goal, look only at it and march forward. Encrid stood at the absolute extreme of such people. Above all, it felt as if the wall itself were provoking him to climb over it.
Even if there were hundreds of other ways. Even if there were an easier path. Even if there were a faster route than this.
Encrid possessed the stubborn single-mindedness to march toward the destination he had set for himself. That was why people said his head was broken.
Well, that is a bit offensive.
Especially coming from Rem, of all people. And it certainly wasn't something he wanted to hear from the Ferryman, either.
One of them made a hobby of beating up his superiors or hacking them with an axe, while the other enjoyed trapping people in "today" and watching them go mad. Neither of them had any right to comment on the sanity of someone else.
Of course, even if it weren't those two, Encrid would never admit to such a thing.
My head is broken?
Nonsense. He was just an ordinary man who happened to have a very clear dream.
In any case.
"What? You had it all along?"
"Did you already possess it?"
"If you have it, you won't die. Whew, what a relief!"
"Ah, you really gave me a scare."
These were the reactions one would get after being cut by the Shepherd's sword and speaking with nonchalance. They were words that practically forced him to ask what on earth he was supposed to have. So he had asked. And this was the word he had received in return:
"Will."
The Shepherd had said it, and Encrid had felt its necessity. Something stood blocking the path he wished to walk. As Encrid groped along the wall blocking his way, he saw a clue. He felt it—faintly, yet clearly.
Having organized his thoughts throughout his practice of the Isolation Technique, he had just returned to the quarters. It was a day when the sunlight was bright, the sky was blue, and the clouds were white.
Behind the door of the quarters lay a magnificent sky. Against that backdrop, Encrid raised his left hand and spoke.
"Who here can use Will?"
At his question, everyone fell silent for a moment.
*
Esther the Panther, being a mage, naturally ignored him.
That man is spouting crazy nonsense again first thing in the morning.
It was just another ordinary day.
"Churr."
Expressing her thoughts with a soft rumble in her throat, Esther rolled around on the soft fur. It was a pelt that Krais had brought her some time ago. He was also the one who had been the most terrified upon seeing her transform into a human.
"Why? Why are you turning into a human? You were a panther!"
"Insolent human."
When she had snapped back at him like that, Krais had turned pale as a sheet and brought her all sorts of things. This pelt was one of them. Sitting on a beast's pelt in the form of a beast looked rather strange, but Esther was satisfied. Thermal Leather was nice, but nothing beat plush softness.
While one beast remained utterly indifferent, the others had their own circumstances.
To put it coldly, Rem couldn't really be said to wield 'Will'.
That's something the folks on this continent use.
Instead, Rem could reach a similar destination through a different method. Attaining a knight's martial prowess and wielding 'Will' were entirely different matters, but would Encrid accept that if he told him?
Encrid had spoken clearly. He wasn't asking for a way to reach his destination. He had spat out the exact word: 'Will'.
Rem pondered for a moment before answering. He spoke with one boot on, having paused halfway through putting on the other. That was how much Encrid's question had given him pause.
"I'm no good for that."
If it were a method other than 'Will', he could have done something similar. But in the end, what wasn't, wasn't. Rem replied as such, then bent over to finish putting on his boot.
Sachsen had never been a knight in the first place, nor had he ever desired to be one, and he had never trained to awaken 'Will'. However, whenever he saw those around the level of an Associate Knight, he felt something instinctively. There was something faintly similar within himself as well. But was this 'Will'? Was it that 'willpower' they spoke of?
He didn't know. He couldn't very well teach something he didn't understand himself. Sachsen shook his head.
Audin harbored Divine Power within his body, and it was said that nothing impure could enter the body of one who held Divine Power. This "impurity" did not necessarily refer only to harmful or evil things. In the eyes of God, humans awakening their own power based on willpower was also considered impure.
While it couldn't be called wrong, it was not a path to be taken by one who had embraced Divine Power first. Indeed, those who awakened Divine Power first opened their own paths to rise above knights; they had no need to awaken 'Will'.
Audin was the same. For him, Divine Power was enough.
"Are you in a hurry, brother?"
It was a gentle question. He had noticed Encrid lost in thought the entire time he was training his body with the Isolation Technique. Even so, Encrid had dedicated himself fully whenever he practiced the Isolation Technique.
Encrid was an ascetic who confronted and challenged his own limits day after day. At least, that was how it seemed to Audin. He shattered the physical limits of his talent as if it were nothing and marched forward.
This was what such a man desired. Audin wanted to give it to him. But since he did not possess it himself, there was nothing he could offer.
Embracing Divine Power would be faster, but...
...without devout faith, it would only hinder him. Audin also shook his head.
"I'm not in a hurry."
Encrid spoke in a clear voice. He had lowered his raised hand at some point. Seeing his arms hanging naturally and his shoulders relaxed, he wasn't tense; he truly didn't seem to be in a hurry.
Only Ragna remained. Ragna woke up at the sound of Encrid's voice. Sleeping in was practically his trademark. With sleep crust still in his eyes, the blonde man shook his head.
"You're shedding dandruff, you lazy bastard," Rem grumbled, but Ragna ignored him and spoke.
"I can teach you if you want, but it'll be a waste of time."
"Why?" Encrid asked, still standing.
Ragna continued calmly. "To explain, it's like how the Boss's hair is black and my hair is blonde."
Saying so, Ragna nodded slightly. He seemed to be admiring his own words, thinking he had made an exceptionally brilliant analogy.
How should one put this? His explanation was like that of an overgrown puppy.
"You call that an explanation?" Rem, the second-highest authority on terrible explanations, stepped in to scold him.
Sachsen snorted with laughter, while Audin turned his head away, pretending not to notice. At that single snort, sparks flew between Rem and Sachsen once again.
"If you're going to fight, take it outside."
In the past, Encrid would have mindlessly intervened between the two, physically blocking them. That was back when he knew nothing. Now, he could tell just by looking. He knew whether they were actually going to fight or if they were just posturing because they were annoyed with each other.
This time, it was posturing. Ragna's dry explanation continued.
"Even if you dye your hair blonde, your natural hair color will eventually grow back. And even among blondes, the shades are subtly different. In the end, you have to live with your own hair."
If this bastard didn't know how to use a sword, I would have abandoned him somewhere long ago.
He couldn't find his way, his explanations were garbage, he was lazy, and he wasn't even quick-witted. But the moment you put a sword in his hand, he was like a lone white crane soaring above a flock of chickens. No, not a white crane—maybe a golden crane? The thought occurred to him because of Ragna's emphasis on blonde hair.
"How about showing me with your body instead of your mouth?"
Encrid's sweat had not yet cooled. Seeing this, Ragna slowly stood up.
"Sure."
The two went outside. Rem and Sachsen also stopped their posturing by offering "blessings" to each other.
"May you die of an STD, you bastard." This was Rem's blessing for Sachsen, who frequented the red-light districts.
"I pray you drop dead before the year is out." This was Sachsen's blessing.
Audin watched the two of them warmly encouraging each other with a pleased expression.
"What are you looking at, you big bear?" Naturally, Rem's sparks flew toward him as well, but Audin ignored them. A sulking Rem was more dangerous than a dog in heat.
"Let us go. Sister Dunchabel, come watch with us. Sister Finn has been away quite often lately."
"She said she was busy," Krais replied, and everyone headed outside.
They saw Encrid and Ragna just as they crossed their wooden training swords.
"I don't know how to use things like Intimidation," Ragna said, their swords still crossed.
The suggestion to explain with the sword instead of the tongue was perfectly fitting. Encrid was just thinking that. And why wouldn't he? Especially when Ragna was showing him something like this right before his eyes.
"Instead, I can do this."
Whoosh.
The wooden sword in Ragna's hand vanished. Or so it seemed to Encrid's eyes. It was that fast. Although a long afterimage lingered like a flash of lightning, it was impossible to track in real-time.
Crack.
He only heard that single sound. The result of the invisible wooden sword remained in Encrid's hand, split clean in half. He had cut a wooden sword with a wooden sword.
Encrid could do it too. But not like this. It wasn't broken; it was sliced. There was only a sharp crack at a speed he couldn't even react to.
Ragna had said he couldn't use Intimidation, but his momentum was similar. Even though Ragna had only swung the wooden sword once, Encrid felt an instantaneous, explosive surge from him. Looking into Ragna's eyes now, did they not resemble jewels radiating light?
"It's Severing."
It was what Ragna had told him to learn before. He had said to master Steel Slash and Lion Slash for this very purpose.
"Currently, this is my Will."
Things that couldn't be understood through simple sparring. Encrid had asked, and he had listened. Even if the speaker's tongue was terrible, the truth contained within remained unchanged. And because the listener's ears and heart were open, it was difficult, but comprehension was possible.
Above all, there was also the advice of Rem, Audin, and Sachsen, who were watching.
What was 'Will'? 'Willpower'—that was its foundation. But if it were merely willpower, how did 'Will' allow humans to transcend their limits? Why had it become the symbol of a knight?
An intangible power forged from willpower. That was what they called 'Will'.
"It's different for everyone. Just like hair color," Ragna repeated, seemingly very fond of his hair color analogy.
Yes, now he could understand.
'Will' cannot be taught.
Although one could provide a starting point for enlightenment through the form of a Baptism, or help someone blocked by a wall, one could not awaken 'Will' through that Baptism alone. Awakening it and mastering it were also two different things. One could learn it through Baptism, but could not be made to awaken it. However, it could be learned.
If one experienced it repeatedly, they might eventually feel it. That was what Baptism was for.
"To achieve Severing, I practiced Lion Slash and Steel Slash at least a thousand times a month."
Judging by the words of the overwhelmingly talented Ragna, Will is not something taught, but awakened. That might make it seem like too long a road, but he had also heard the word 'Baptism' in the middle of it.
"Baptism."
It wasn't the meaning originally used by the temple. An intangible power forged from willpower. Creating a technique based on that, and then exposing oneself to it.
"To awaken Will, a knight order's Squire will receive Baptism at most once a month, but usually about once every three months."
"Isn't that too infrequent?"
"Even with that, some guys go crazy. That's why the Intimidation of that rapier-wielding bastard was so dangerous. Resisting the Baptism is how one masters Will on their own."
Ragna surprisingly knew a lot. To the point where Encrid wondered why he hadn't just explained it like this from the start.
"Then why did you make that hair color analogy?"
"To make it easier to understand."
Please, spare me those efforts, Encrid thought to himself, nodding as he said, "I see."
Still, he couldn't dismiss the other's effort as worthless. Even if it wasn't today, that effort would surely bear fruit someday. Just as he was mastering the sword, Ragna might be learning something too—like how to speak properly, or how to find his way.
"But why are you grinning?" Rem, who had been watching closely, asked.
Encrid stroked his own face. Ah, I smiled without realizing it.
A smile had naturally slipped out. They said that even with Baptism, even if one endured it, 'Will' could not be easily mastered. That it was difficult to grasp even the slightest clue.
That was why Encrid smiled. Because he felt as though he had already seen something.
It wouldn't be an easy path. Of course. He was well aware of that. So what? When had it ever been easy? To Encrid, the sword and his dream had never once been an easy path.
The Shepherd had said that 'Will' was needed to overcome the unknown power of the blade. The answer was not far off. The repeating today, the sword held by the Shepherd—that was his Baptism, and his opportunity.
Something he had already experienced over eighty times.
He couldn't help it when he didn't know, but now, through their explanations, he had grasped a faint understanding. The Sixth Sense and intuition were equally invisible. Had he known anything when he mastered those? Hadn't it been similar when he trained his senses to open the Gate of the Sixth Sense, or when he broke through the traps created by spells?
If so, what if he did the exact same thing this time?
A way to resist an invisible power? He didn't know. A path? He couldn't see one. Did that make it a problem?
No, it was no problem at all.
Encrid smiled. He intended to keep rolling until he died—no, even as he died. No matter how rugged the path, he could smile. Because it would elevate him one step higher.
Rem, who had been watching the smiling Encrid closely, spoke with a serious, worried tone.
"Are you really not going to visit the temple?"