Chapter 342: Experiencing a Knight's Sword
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 342: Experiencing a Knight's Sword
"Bastard."
Rem ground his teeth. Ragna stood before him, his expression the picture of haughty indifference.
Ragna pulled back his chin and tilted his nose up slightly, looking down his nose at his opponent. He spoke as if reciting a line of poetry.
"Strive on."
Strive on—meaning, keep moving forward.
Encrid thought the choice of words was perfectly fitting.
Rem’s insides boiled. He wanted to run straight back to his birthplace and retrieve the things he had left behind. Even though he hadn't used his sling, he had lost.
No, the truth was that he couldn't have used his sling even if he’d wanted to.
There were two reasons for that. First, Rem’s instincts told him that even with the sling, winning would be difficult. Second, there was no point in dragging them both to the grave.
It was true that Ragna had been an obnoxious bastard from the moment they met, but he wasn't so bad that Rem actually needed to beat him to death. In a world crawling with bastards who raped and murdered innocent maidens only to live in comfort, a picky-eating, directionally challenged idiot was someone Rem could tolerate leaving alive.
"Do you really want to die?" Rem growled.
He spoke with venom, but he had no intention of making a move. If pushed, he wouldn't hesitate to risk his life, but he couldn't do that here. Rem knew that doing so would be its own kind of defeat.
To truly win, he had to suppress Ragna with pure skill.
Just as Ragna had just done to him.
Just as that directionally challenged idiot had ended the fight without needing to sever any limbs, that was how it had to be done.
But Rem couldn't do it—not yet.
His opponent had fought while wielding something called Will.
That power was infused into every swing of the blade. Even when deflected, the sword flew back faster than the speed at which it had retreated. The tip of the sword, even when just lightly tapping his shoulder, carried the force of a full-power thrust.
This was true even though the process of gathering momentum had clearly been bypassed.
What was the reason? Rem could define it in a single word.
Will.
Did that mean Ragna had become a knight? Not quite. But at this point, he was—even if only by a hair—superior to Rem.
That fact irritated him so much he felt like he was going insane.
"Can you really do it? If you want us to die together, sure, go ahead and try."
Do you think I'd fall for that? That was the subtext behind Ragna's tone.
Ragna knew it too. If Rem fought in earnest, Ragna wouldn't escape unscathed. He would definitely take damage. If Rem came at him with everything, Ragna might lose an arm or a leg.
Knowing this, Ragna still refused to drop his haughty attitude.
Ah, should I just beat him to death?
Just as Rem was seriously contemplating murder...
"I understand, Rem," Encrid intervened.
He, too, had finished his sparring before he knew it. Or rather, it was a spar that had never reached a serious level from the start. Sinar maintained an instructional attitude, and since Encrid accepted it, the session took the form of a guided spar.
That wasn't bad, but the fight between Rem and Ragna had drawn too much of his attention. Naturally, he had stopped to watch their battle, and the final exchange of blows in particular had shaken Encrid's mindscape.
After a total of six short snap strikes, the final blow had been a downward slash that felt unyielding. It was a vertical slash of the Heavy Sword Style.
From that, Encrid could tell that Ragna's sword was different than before.
Against that vertically plunging blade, Rem had crossed his two axes, twisting to deflect the force. The two axes had absorbed and redirected the impact as if they had turned into balls of cotton. If Rem had just a bit more leeway in that situation, the direction of the fight would have changed. At the very least, it wouldn't have ended so decisively.
But Rem couldn't hold out. Ragna's sword drove straight down with a constant, unwavering force.
It resembled the Crushing Sword, yet it was different. The intent to cut was infused within it, but unlike before, that intent lingered. If his previous severing was instantaneous, this time, the Will dwelt within the blade for the duration of savoring a sip of tea.
The Crushing Sword exerts pressure on the opponent through a preparation process. The actual activation of Will, akin to intimidation, occurs only at the brief moment the swords clash. In a way, it could be considered a minor trick. Because he couldn't skillfully use intimidation for a long period, he utilized a method of slowly pressing down.
Then what about Ragna's sword now?
The duration is different.
Ragna originally used Will with the technique of severing. That was about infusing Will in an instant. But now? It descended while maintaining a constant force. A sword truly infused with Will.
That was where victory and defeat were decided. Rem had failed to draw out his own Will.
There was no great difference in their physical strength. In fact, in terms of physical perfection, Rem might have been superior—but Ragna had layered Will on top of his.
Ah.
Encrid quickly grasped the situation. It was thanks to his eyes being opened after facing a knight's sword.
Ragna's new swordsmanship—the light and heavy sword—was the birth of a style based on Will. It was the result of talent blooming because he had encountered the sword of a knight. Thanks to his prior experience fighting associate knights and squires, he had already resolved to break through his limits. What finally made the things eating away at him disappear was witnessing Encrid's steadfast way of life.
It was the sum of all those things. And among them, what had been the most meaningful recently?
A knight.
In other words, the experience of facing a knight's sword had produced this result.
Thinking so, Encrid comforted Rem.
"You've never fought a knight, have you?"
"……What?"
"Try fighting a knight. It'll change things."
Encrid shared the experience he had personally felt. It was genuine advice meant for Rem.
Ragna chimed in. "I see. You have never faced a knight's sword."
And Rem...
"Aaaaargh!"
...briefly demonstrated what a human turning into a demonic beast looked like, though he didn't actually throw a violent tantrum.
It was exactly what Encrid had expected. On the surface, Rem looked like a crazy bastard who would split someone's skull with an axe if things didn't go his way, and while he did possess madness, he still maintained boundaries. That was the Rem Encrid knew.
However, feeling pity that Rem couldn't readily accept his advice, he offered one last word of counsel.
"Once you face a knight's sword..."
"Cut the crap! What are you even talking about?"
"It's just because you haven't seen it yet. I'm telling you, once you do, things will change."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
Afterward, Encrid insisted he had absolutely no intention of teasing him, but Sinar, who had watched the whole thing, saw it differently. She commented on that day's events like this:
"A demon has taken up residence on my fiancé's tongue."
Esther, who was lying down nearby watching, had a similar thought. The mage, who had actually encountered a real demon, thought even a demon's whispers wouldn't be quite that malicious.
"It's for your own good," Encrid added.
Especially when he said that, one could feel a clear intention to drive the other person mad.
"Stop, just stop!"
It was a rare sight. Rem was in genuine agony. After hearing Encrid's words dozens of times more, Rem eventually reached a state of forced enlightenment.
"Fine, let's do that. I'll face a knight someday."
Seeing this, Audin quietly offered a prayer. "The Lord dwells within and embraces him. You have gained an important realization, brother."
"Sure, let's go with that. I'll gain a realization," Rem conceded, defeated.
Ragna watched Rem for a moment, then spoke to Encrid. "I must admit, Captain, your cruelty is several levels above mine."
Encrid claimed it was a misunderstanding, but no one believed him.
*
Rem only came to his senses when night fell.
"If you say the word 'knight' one more time, I'll use my axe to turn your tongue into a snake's."
The threat to split his tongue in two felt entirely genuine—to the point where one might wonder if Will had been infused into his words. For sometimes, a powerful will had a way of striking deep into one's heart.
Encrid stopped teasing him and merely smacked his lips. "Alright, let's stop."
Since opportunities to tease Rem like this were rare, he had put quite a bit of effort into it.
"Damn it."
Rem lost his temper in the end, but he eventually calmed down. Afterward, he immersed himself in solitary training, requesting a spar from Ragna once every few days.
"Hey, directionally challenged bastard. You think you're that good at fighting? Follow me to the sparring grounds."
To this "polite" request for a spar, Ragna would personally step forward.
"Very well. Let us see if we can detach that useless head of yours today."
Encrid sometimes joined in between the two of them, but Sinar visited him with utmost diligence, keeping him focused on their guided sparring.
"Are you very free lately?" Encrid asked her.
"I'm busy. Big-Eyes has been starting a lot of things."
Encrid had ears to hear, too. Krais had come by and babbled on about this and that. Krais had organized a massive trade route. He was laying down blue stones to pave a road that could be traveled even in heavy rain.
"And who is doing that work?"
Since Krais was explaining everything to him in detail, Encrid asked the man himself. The Border Guard was short-handed. After all, there was also the reclamation of the Greenpearl Plains to consider.
"There are people in the pioneer village over there who are well-known for this kind of work. We paid them," Krais explained.
Though the pioneer village wouldn't have spare hands either.
"I used your name, Captain," Krais said proudly.
Encrid didn't scold him. When it came to the brains needed to make things work, Krais was undoubtedly the best. What did it matter if he used his name a little in the process?
"I heard they were trying to name the castle wall over there after you, Captain. This much is mutually beneficial."
In addition, personnel were dispatched from Martai, and passing mercenary bands were being recruited as labor forces in their entirety.
"The current labor shortage will be resolved soon. More importantly, please take charge of training the recruits."
Just as Krais had confidently promised, the labor shortage was resolved. It was the effect of Encrid's name spreading throughout the region. At the same time, rumors spread far and wide that if you went to the Border Guard, you wouldn't starve to death.
In this world where monsters and demonic beasts roamed the streets, there were no mere vagrants. Instead, there were those who had been forced to become bandits—people who had escaped the clutches of dog-like lords who sucked them dry.
Krais accepted refugees fleeing from various cities, including those former bandits. Although many of them could pose problems, it was no time to be picky, so he accepted them for now. If they caused trouble within the city, they were dealt with through severe punishment. Since everything was done with the Castellan's approval, there were no legal issues.
Of course, there were those who stepped forward out of concern.
"Do you not realize that accepting just anyone like that will cause security issues?" the Castellan's adjutant spoke up.
"And what should we do to prevent that?" Krais retorted, scolding him instead. "Huh? Are you saying we should just throw away this opportunity to transform into a trade city, this chance to rake in Krona, just because we can't solve a simple security issue? Huh? You're going to just throw it away? And you call yourself the Castellan's adjutant? Go over there and ask that fellow named Rem to pop your head off. He's got a lot of anger lately, so he'll pop it off nice and clean. What are you waiting for? Go on!"
If there was anyone who could match Rem in a battle of words, it was Krais. Especially when Krona was on the line, his tongue's combat power multiplied several times over.
The adjutant was speechless. He thought he heard some nonsense about Krona in the middle of it, but he couldn't even argue. Nor could he beat him up. Krais was a member of the Mad Independent Platoon.
Can I hit this guy? Is it okay to hit him?
The adjutant could not hit him. Krais shoved his face forward as if daring him to strike.
"If you're not going to hit me, let's get to work."
The adjutant was a man who sat in his seat because he was cool-headed and sensible. His judgment that he couldn't hit Krais was only natural. Krais knew this and had pushed his luck accordingly. If that hadn't been the case, the adjutant would have beaten him first. If the adjutant were the type to let his fists fly, Krais wouldn't have provoked him like this.
From then on, the adjutant faithfully followed Krais's "non-command" commands and buried himself in work. Because of the Castellan, who had rediscovered the joy of swinging a sword, the dark circles under the adjutant's eyes never faded. Instead, the adjutant began to recite prayers before going to sleep. Half of it was cursing Krais, and the other half was cursing the Castellan.
Encrid couldn't know all of these details, but he had a rough grasp of it. If Krais worked this hard, groans of agony would naturally escape from everyone else. Krais knew how to squeeze every last drop of ability out of a person.
"Audin will take charge of the recruit training," Encrid said, lending Krais his support.
"Yes, brother. I shall do it. We must at least make the lambs capable of running."
There was no one better suited for basic physical training than Audin. Of course, the newly arrived recruits would weep, but it wasn't a bad thing for them. It was an absolute truth that suffering to the point of death during training increased one's chances of survival on the battlefield.
In return, they raised the soldiers' wages significantly. In addition, they hired a massive number of laborers for odd jobs, increased the number of maids, and gathered women skilled in sewing to form a sewing guild.
"Let's spend the Krona."
Krais completely burned through the Krona remaining in the castle. He strove to spend every last copper coin.
"That is the castle's treasury," the adjutant protested, gathering his remaining strength, but it was futile.
"So? If we let that treasury rot, will wheat fall from the sky? Will it give us an apple? So what do you want me to do?"
"I was just saying..." The adjutant gave up. It was also because the Castellan had permitted Krais to do as he pleased. It was just that the adjutant's nightly prayers grew several times longer.
Krais changed several organizational structures, starting with the veteran soldiers. All the equipment was newly customized as well. Unifying the equipment was a device to increase their sense of belonging.
Leona lent them the lacking Krona.
"There's no interest. Just don't forget to expand my authority."
Krais had to hand over the trade routes and other matters to the Lockfried Merchant Guild anyway. Leona knew this too, but she put forward the gold coins to lend a hand, acting under the principle of mutual benefit. This way, there would be no room for complaints when she granted special privileges to the Lockfried Merchant Guild later on.
Meanwhile, rumors also circulated that the pay was on a different level if one belonged to the Border Guard standing army. As rumors carried rumors, people gathered quickly. When tenants began escaping from neighboring territories, lords from all over submitted petitions to the royal palace and began cracking down on their own lands.
An envoy from the royal palace came and told them to tone it down, but while the Castellan outwardly bowed and agreed, he naturally didn't pay it the slightest bit of attention.
"If they're going to be like this, they should have helped us when we were being harassed from all sides," Krais criticized them bitterly.
He knew that, at present, the royal palace was in no position to mobilize military force immediately. So he simply did as he pleased. Once they built up enough power and justification, no one would be able to say anything to them anyway.
Even after that, they continued to pave the roads and began establishing outposts within their line of sight. The outposts lined up on both sides of the road looked like landmarks of the Border Guard. They dispatched the newly organized units there, naming the ten-man squads as "outpost squads."
"Are you telling us to guard this place?" the first squad leader sent out asked anxiously.
They had to stand guard day and night, and there was no guarantee that monsters and demonic beasts wouldn't appear. Krais offered a solution as if it were obvious.
"I'm giving you extra pay, though."
"Even so..."
"Would you rather go to the advanced training course?"
"I will guard the outpost."
Audin's training was like entering the gates of hell. That was why the saying "become a soldier if you want to die" circulated alongside it. Even so, many came seeking to become soldiers.
The Border Guard was transforming day by day. At the center of it was Krais. For he truly started all kinds of things.
*
Consequently, Sinar also became busy. Her unit was in the middle of surveying the entire swamp, their newly acquired territory. It was indeed an incredibly busy time. Yet she visited Encrid without fail, which was why he had asked if she wasn't busy.
"Then couldn't you just come when you're a bit more free?" Encrid asked, but to Sinar, it was an absurd question.
"A date is at stake."
"……Ah."
In a way, she seemed even more persistent than Encrid himself, but Encrid's intuition told him that this elf wasn't doing this just for a date. There was something else. Otherwise, wouldn't it make more sense for her to suggest going out to the marketplace already? But she hadn't done that.
"When the time comes, I will make my request," she merely said. "Let us have some fun today as well, fiancé."
Sinar drew Naidel. Encrid also drew his silver longsword. It was a sword that now fit perfectly in his hand, as if it had forgotten its former master.
"You are better than me now," Sinar remarked as they engaged in their guided spar.
She meant that Encrid's skill had surpassed hers before she knew it. Encrid did not deny it, because he felt the same way.
It was the point where the end of the spar was approaching, as usual. Sinar took a step back and pulled back her chin. Her gaze swept up from below, staring straight into Encrid's face, and her mouth opened.
"This won't do."
It was immediately after she finished speaking.