Chapter 235: An Elven Joke Echoed Through the Bathhouse
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 235: An Elven Joke Echoed Through the Bathhouse
Is he insane?
That was the only thought racing through the rapier swordsman’s mind. Specifically, the thought that the man’s mind had finally snapped for good.
Given how quickly he had raised his skill mastery, luck must have played a part alongside his endless, grueling training. Had that combination of obsession and fortune finally broken his brain?
Rem was thinking something similar.
Have you lost your mind?
His hand trembled reflexively. There was a world of difference between resisting Intimidation and simply refusing to submit to it.
Ragna gripped his sword. He judged the situation to be too dangerous. He intended to rush forward and swing, executing Severing. To be precise, he planned to cut down the momentum of the Intimidation the opponent was exerting.
Audin prepared his divine power. As long as the man didn’t die instantly, he could heal him.
Sachsen silently drew his stiletto from behind the swordsman. Stab and kill. No matter what tricks the opponent pulled, Sachsen was confident he could end it. It didn’t matter if the opponent was a knight, an associate knight, or anything else.
It was the heartbeat before anyone could react. Just before the intangible blade reached and touched Encrid’s body.
In that split second, Encrid directed his intent toward the intangible spark nestled deep inside him.
I reject this.
The intent imbued in the swordsman's blade was to cut. Then, what was the intent imbued in the Intimidation behind it?
Step back.
Encrid rejected it. He rejected the intangible pressure weighing on his shoulders and the phantom blade cutting into him.
Will was the manifestation of willpower—the emission of a certain intangible force. If Intimidation was that, then rejection was its equal.
He realized that the pressure of the Intimidation, which had once inflicted pain as vivid as reality, was now merely an invisible momentum. Encrid could ignore it. This was actually easier than enduring being cut by the sword of Pel, the Shepherd.
His current action was not reckless; it was calculated. Encrid demonstrated this through his actions. The incoming intangible blade scattered like dust. It was a blade that had only ever existed in his mindscape.
Step.
Encrid took a step forward and spoke casually.
"What are you doing? Ragna? Sachsen?"
Ragna, who had closed the distance before anyone noticed, stood beside him holding his sword vertically. Sachsen stood like a shadow behind the rapier swordsman.
The startled pair blinked. Sachsen was the first to react, backing away without a single breath or footstep. The rapier swordsman likely had no idea someone had been standing at his back, ready to end him.
Ragna froze, his sword still raised. Perhaps having quickly come up with a plausible excuse, he said, "It’s a good day to hold a sword."
Had Encrid’s earlier comment about today being a good day left that much of an impression on him? No sooner had he spoken than thunder rumbled, and a sudden downpour began to lash the earth.
Patter, patter.
"……Huh?"
The rapier swordsman, seemingly oblivious to the rain, couldn't take his eyes off Encrid. His mouth hung open, his voice failing him. It was as if he had been struck mute.
"Huh?"
Only a single, bewildered syllable escaped his lips. Encrid tilted his head.
"Do you have something to say?"
"Huh?"
The swordsman only repeated the sound. Encrid had seen people speechless from shock before, but this was a first. The man remained agape, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Encrid spoke carefully. "We need to find a healer."
Those with mental afflictions were not easily cured. Even if a healer came, they might just shake their head in pity.
"I think his head is broken," Encrid added.
"Pfft."
Rem burst into laughter. Encrid hadn't said it to be funny; he was being quite serious.
"Huh?" the rapier swordsman repeated. He seemed truly, deeply shocked.
"That sword will rust if it gets rained on. Is today really a good day to hold a sword?" Encrid turned to his side and asked.
Ragna, bound by his own words, was still holding his sword, but he soon agreed. "Yes. This is enough for today."
"Right. Put some oil on your blade."
"I should do that."
Ragna withdrew his sword and stepped back, revealing three figures behind him who looked just as shocked as the rapier swordsman. All of them were staring at Encrid with their mouths wide open.
"How?" the half-giant, the most composed among them, asked.
"Just did," Encrid replied kindly. In truth, there was nothing more he could say. Will was not something that could be easily explained.
"Will?" Swallow Blade muttered. It wasn't a question, but Encrid readily answered.
"Yeah."
The guard frowned. Finding it difficult to accept or comprehend the situation, he couldn't find his words. The rain began to pour in earnest, soaking Encrid's hair and everyone else's clothes.
"I think we should get out of the rain first," Encrid said.
"Huh?" the rapier swordsman replied. The fellow was still completely out of it.
"Someone look after him," Encrid said as he turned around. Rem and the rest of the group followed close behind.
No matter how accustomed they had become to their captain's rapid growth, this had crossed a threshold. This was entirely different from simply wielding a sword well or controlling one's body.
"Is it really Will?" Ragna, who possessed the Will of Severing, asked. His voice was higher and faster than usual—a sign of his shock. Thanks to the rain, Ragna's blonde hair hung limp, obscuring his eyes.
"You need to cut your hair. And yeah," Encrid replied nonchalantly.
Being happy was one thing, but he didn't mind enjoying the moment; this wasn't the end. He hadn't run all this way just to stop here. A true knight's Will was not just about rejection, but naturally manifesting one's willpower. Overwhelming an opponent with momentum, rejecting, and cutting—all of it had to be done naturally.
Having realized a part of it, he now understood. Aisia's Intimidation and the rapier swordsman's Intimidation had both developed by specializing in that specific direction. From the same perspective, Ragna's Severing was similar. Even if Lion Slash and Steel Slash reached the pinnacle of mastery, his Severing could not be imitated.
In the end, it was a matter of awakening Will.
"What is this? Where did you learn it? No, are you training to death in your dreams or something?" Rem was equally astonished.
To his question, Encrid replied, "In my dreams, a perverted ferryman usually appears rather than training."
"Eh? A perverted ferryman? What on earth is that?"
Since this was a question he couldn't answer, Encrid ignored it. Rem would probably treat it as some sort of joke anyway.
Afterward, Audin muttered, "It is as if you alone are running through a different time, Brother."
Like the rapier swordsman, he was a man with excellent discernment. His words hit the mark.
"Are you training somewhere with time stopped, Brother?"
He looks dull, but he's sharp, Encrid thought. He replied, "Something like that."
Audin, instead of replying, quietly began to recite a holy scripture. He naturally assumed Encrid's answer was a joke. Who would actually believe it?
Sachsen was his usual self, remaining silent. Instead, his gaze was piercing as he repeatedly scanned Encrid's entire body.
"I trained normally, and I didn't take any drugs," Encrid said.
Sachsen gave a rare flinch of his shoulders. It was a sight seldom seen. "How did you know I suspected you of taking drugs?"
"Your eyes are full of suspicion."
Encrid had asked, wondering if Sachsen's expertise with drugs made him naturally suspicious, and it turned out to be true.
"Hmm. Have you mastered mind reading as well?"
It wasn't mind reading, but rather the fact that the "blade sense" Sachsen had taught him was becoming more acute. It made it easier to read an opponent's intentions and emotions—especially their hidden thoughts.
For instance, in the case of Swallow Blade, who ultimately hadn't attacked earlier: though he had spoken with a smile, what was hidden within those eyes? Murderous intent and malice.
There was also the opposite. The half-giant, who outwardly erupted with a competitive spirit and a desire for battle—after being thrown, what was reflected in her eyes? It was something akin to regret and sorrow. Naturally, it wasn't directed at Encrid. It felt self-deprecating.
Well, I might not be entirely accurate. It was just a general feeling.
Encrid was about to head straight into the quarters but stopped to strip off his clothes. As he organized his gear to one side and placed it under the eaves, Krais emerged from the quarters.
"Wipe the moisture off the gear and organize it," Encrid commanded. The others piled their gear on top.
"Isn't this too much?" Rem tossed a pouch on top of the pile.
"For your trouble."
"Please visit Krais's Gear Maintenance Shop anytime!" Krais’s attitude flipped instantly. Since Rem tended to spend krona freely, the amount in the pouch wouldn't be small.
"If we go inside soaked, the quarters will become a mess. Let's head straight to the bathhouse," Encrid suggested.
The Border Guard barracks had many good facilities. Among them was the wellside, but there was also a private bathhouse for the unit, which they had gained unrestricted access to after becoming an independent company. It had large wooden tubs filled with water that was kept constantly boiling. In other words, they could wash with hot water.
With water being boiled continuously on one side, the place was filled with steam.
"Let's go."
As everyone stripped down in the bathhouse, the kitchen maids boiling the water laughed and spoke.
"Wow, after looking at nothing but my husband, seeing this place makes it feel like heaven!"
At the coarse remark of one kitchen maid, everyone burst into boisterous laughter.
"Hey, treat your husband well. It can't be easy for him to live with a woman bigger than himself, either," Rem teased with a smirk.
The maid promptly splashed cold water at him. "Ah, that's cold," Rem chuckled, unfazed.
The maid laughed back. "You grey-haired bastard, you've got a sharp tongue."
They seemed to know each other. When asked later in the bath how they were acquainted, Rem explained: "Dunchabel kept passing out and rolling in the dirt, so I used to throw her into the bathhouse often. That's how we got acquainted. She's a hearty lady."
Just being able to converse with Rem like this was impressive. No, come to think of it, Rem was surprisingly kind to women. Even if he picked fights with anyone, he rarely beat up women.
"Dunchabel? She's a warrior, not a woman," Rem answered when asked.
"Anyway, it looks like I'll really have to use my 'strength' properly if I want to fight the captain now," Rem said, submerged up to his neck in the bathwater.
Ignoring the stealing glances of the kitchen maids, Encrid looked at Rem. What was contained in those grey eyes? A competitive spirit and a desire for battle had taken root in Rem as well. It was something he had never seen before. No matter how much he ran wild, had Rem ever shown him such emotions? Had he ever shown such momentum?
He had once said it was hard to use his strength because he was afraid he might accidentally kill Encrid.
"If you do it properly?"
Splash.
Splashing the bathwater, Rem replied, "It'll be fun."
Encrid laughed. The eyes of the training madman and the axe madman met. It was a moment when an unprecedented momentum directed itself at each other. Watching this, Sachsen said, "I wonder if everyone has gone mad."
Audin smiled as usual, and Ragna remained silent, though his eyes shook restlessly, lost in deep thought.
"Is it really Will? Seriously? For real? No lie? No scam?" Krais, who had stripped off his clothes late and joined them, asked as he entered the bath.
Big-Eyes never stopped training his body, so there was plenty to look at. A few kitchen maids chattered, saying their preference was actually more toward him.
"It's one copper coin if you want to watch!" Krais joked, making the maids giggle. He still maintained a friendly attitude with everyone.
Through the steam rising gently and filling the air, everyone's gaze focused on Encrid. They said he had overcome Intimidation. Even if it hadn't spread as a rumor yet, it was something those in the know would have heard.
Encrid spoke the truth. "I repeat today, so the same day repeats every single day."
"Cut the fiction. Next," Sachsen answered. The story was simply too unrealistic.
Encrid scratched his head and spoke again. "I got lucky."
It was his usual answer. In truth, there was no other suitable excuse. Rem and everyone else swallowed their words.
Is he really using that as an excuse?
Was this bastard actually a genius?
There's no way.
Having taught him, they knew he was far from a genius—he was a man with absolutely no talent to speak of. Though there was questioning in everyone's eyes, there was no doubt. Indeed, there was really nothing else to say other than luck.
"I wonder if he slept with the Goddess of Fortune," Rem muttered. It was practically the correct answer.
Soon, another guest burst into the bathhouse. "Will? Is it true? Really?"
It was Marcus, dressed in casual clothes. His face was flushed, and he was soaked from the rain.
"Since you're here, why not join us for a bath?"
When Encrid spoke, Marcus stripped off his clothes and plunged into the bath with a splash. His body was more toned than expected, with scars scattered here and there—though fewer than Encrid.
"Is it true?" Marcus's eyes shone. His gaze held a question: What on earth are you, and how far are you going to go?
"Yes," Encrid confirmed.
He had said he would become a knight, called it his dream, and shown his intent and will. But even so, could Encrid really become a knight? Many had harbored such doubts. Marcus was no different. He believed Encrid would move forward, but hearing that it was becoming a reality, he couldn't help but be shocked.
"Ha."
Behind his hollow laugh, a new voice rang out.
"Fiancée?"
The elf company commander barged into the bathhouse.
"There are only men here, but you're quite confident. Care to join us?" Krais welcomed her.
The company commander shook her head. "Anyone who sees my naked body, other than my fiancé, must have their eyes gouged out. Are you fine with that?"
An elven joke echoed through the bathhouse.