Chapter 499: While We Weren't Looking
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 499: While We Weren't Looking
The rain was too light to be called an autumn drizzle; it felt more like the lingering breath of late summer.
Even that thin mist suddenly tapered off.
It was an ambiguous sort of weather, as if the sky couldn't decide whether it had rained or not. The ground wasn't even damp yet, but with the heavens turning a bruised, gloomy purple, it looked as though a deluge was imminent.
"Who goes there?"
As the three of them crossed the border of the territory, a group of soldiers stepped out to block their path.
It was immediately clear that Krais hadn't been slacking off.
There was a distinct, sharp discipline in the posture of the men barring their way. In some places, you might find soldiers who would look the other way for a few copper coins, but these men exuded a cold, professional military air.
The way they gripped their short spears proved it. The corded muscles of their forearms, visible beneath short linen sleeves, also bore the unmistakable mark of Audin’s grueling drills. They were fully equipped, right down to the secondary shortswords strapped to their waists.
Encrid took all of this in with a single, fleeting glance. His perception and mental acuity had sharpened significantly; his thoughts moved faster than ever before.
"What? Enki?"
A lightly dressed woman among the group recognized him. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, and she held a roll of parchment in her hand. It was Leona, the head of the Lockfried Merchant Guild.
"...What are you doing here?" Encrid asked, his expression one of genuine bewilderment.
"Working," Leona replied with a smirk.
It looked as though she was overseeing the birth of a new city.
When Encrid explained that he had returned and was heading inside, Leona nodded. Meanwhile, Rem poked his head forward from behind Encrid, his face brimming with joy and a smile full of anticipation.
"I see. I wonder how those blockheads who were under my command are doing."
People naturally became talkative when they were excited. As Rem spoke, Leona wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve and looked directly at Encrid. Rem had said "under my command," but since he didn't actually have any official subordinates, he was likely referring to the members of his old platoon.
"I haven't been to the Border Guard in quite a while, so I don't really know their status," Leona admitted.
That made sense. There seemed to be a mountain of work to do right here. They were expanding the city outward from the Border Guard, a monumental task. To establish a foothold in these lands, they had to constantly drive back the surrounding monsters while hauling and stacking stone.
When building a pioneer village or city, the first step was always to erect wooden palisades to mark the territory—a way of testing the waters while clearing out the local threats. If monsters swarmed the site during construction, the endeavor was doomed. It would be equally disastrous if the ground turned out to be a swamp where rainwater pooled without drainage.
Furthermore, there had to be arable land nearby. A city needed to feed itself. Even the term "trade city" was often just a fancy title; few cities on the continent could survive solely on commerce. While the kingdom’s centralized feudal system meant the crown would pour resources into direct royal territories, the reality remained: A city is meaningless if it cannot stand on its own.
Therefore, this city had to be founded with self-sufficiency in mind. Yet, there was no farmland nearby, and the forest where the centaurs once resided was dangerously close. While a forest was a treasure trove of resources, it was also the perfect nesting ground for monsters.
However, they seemed determined to tame that wilderness, even if they didn't clear-cut it entirely. On one side, piles of logs were stacked as high as the mounds of stone. This wasn't the result of a few days' labor.
Encrid looked around. The signs of deliberate, intensive industry were everywhere. He couldn't help but wonder what Krais was planning.
"The name of this city is Lockfried," Leona said, smiling. This was why she was out here, sweating and directing the labor herself. A trade city run directly by a merchant guild—or something very close to it.
Behind her, Mathis offered a nod in greeting. He seemed to have a few more wrinkles on his face than before. Beside him stood a young swordsman Encrid didn't recognize, sticking close to Mathis’s side like an apprentice.
The Lockfried Merchant Guild possessed a surprising number of capable fighters. Though, of course, they paled in comparison to the Border Guard. Encrid took it for granted, but to outsiders, the Border Guard was a terrifying combat force of immense military might.
"Ah, General."
Recognizing Encrid thanks to Leona, the soldiers snapped into a crisp military salute.
"Right. Good work, everyone. How have you all been?" Rem patted the soldiers on their shoulders with a relaxed, easygoing grin.
The soldiers stood at stiff attention and remained silent. Someone had clearly warned them about Rem.
If you see a gray-haired bastard carrying an axe, just ignore him.
There must have been an order to simply endure whatever the gray-haired man did. Encrid sensed this intuitively, though he didn't take it as an absolute certainty. He had once mistakenly assumed Rem was of mixed continental blood, and that error had taught him a lesson: verification was always necessary.
And while he rarely let his guard down to begin with, hadn't he also learned something new?
Everyone has openings.
It was a truth he had been forced to accept. He had been blown away to the desert, barely survived, and returned after living through repeating days while practically losing his mind. He could never forget the lessons of that experience.
Anyone can let their guard down.
He had to accept that. Even if an opening appeared and his defense was breached, he had to move immediately. The true significance lay in the action taken after the opening was exposed. Anyone could fall, but not everyone who fell got right back up.
But was getting up immediately the only answer?
Keep all possibilities open, judge, and then move.
Foresight—the very first method of utilizing Will that a knight learns—required this level of judgment to accompany it. Encrid found and saw a path even in the most trivial things. It was a good habit, an old one, but a talent that was only now beginning to truly shine. His habit of insight and self-reflection had been with him for a long time.
For instance, when he had first wandered the continent and ended up with a hole in his stomach after being stabbed by a child, he had engaged in a similar reflection.
Do I really have talent?
He had learned how to find the answer back then as well: You only knew once you threw your body into the struggle. He did the same now, moving to verify if his insight was correct.
"Did someone tell you to be careful of him?"
As Rem walked past, patting the soldiers' shoulders, Encrid followed behind and whispered the question. One of the soldiers rolled his eyes before replying.
"Sir Ropode, the training instructor."
The soldier addressed the instructor as "Sir." It might have been because he knew Ropode was a Squire, or it could have simply been out of respect.
"See you later," Encrid said to the soldier, waving to Leona.
Out of nowhere, Leona asked, "Do you have any intention of marrying me?"
As Encrid blinked and came to a halt, Leona continued with a completely blank, expressionless face. "Just kidding."
Has she been hanging out with Sinar lately? Encrid thought as he passed the construction site and headed toward the Border Guard.
After walking for a while longer, the castle walls began to appear in the distance. It was a distance easily covered on horseback, but on foot, it took time. Encrid estimated that at his pace, they would arrive before noon, having set off at dawn. About three hours? It was quite close for a distance connecting two cities. There had to be a reason Krais had established a new settlement so nearby.
The rain began to patter down again. As they reached the walls under the drizzle...
"General?"
It was the Vengeance Platoon Leader. No, was he a Company Commander now? He called out from atop the wall. It was impressive that he had recognized them from so far away, but Vengeance had always possessed excellent eyesight.
Encrid scanned the faces of the soldiers standing guard. He saw some familiar faces, but many were new. The area in front of the wall was crowded. People were lined up to pass through the gates, while others lived in tents pitched alongside the road. There were occasional elves and even some dwarves. It was a significant crowd.
Steam rose from beneath some of the tents; people had settled in enough to cook their own meals. Though he only gave them a passing glance, they didn't look like destitute refugees.
"Please, come in."
Vengeance was highly respectful. To him, Encrid was both the savior who had saved his life and the highest-ranking officer of his unit.
As Encrid entered, the onlookers tilted their heads in curiosity. Who is that guy, getting let in immediately?
Even so, no one tried to stop him. Part of it was because Vengeance had personally come down to guide him, but looking at Rem and Frok following behind, no one dared to approach. The black-haired man leading the way possessed an uncommon appearance and an extraordinary aura. His Will now naturally radiated into his surroundings.
As Encrid walked the familiar paths inside, he noticed how much had changed in just a few months. First, there were far more vendors. The Border Guard was a strategic hub with heavy merchant traffic, so this was expected, but the barracks had also grown. The perimeter walls had been expanded, and several newly constructed buildings thrust their heads toward the sky.
"Isn't this a rush job?" even Rem seemed slightly surprised.
How could the scale have expanded so much in such a short time? To an outsider, Krais might have seemed like a mage. But once you understood the circumstances, it wasn't a miracle.
When it came to construction and administration, Krais cut out all unnecessary red tape and dealt directly with the stonemasons' and artisans' guilds. Normally, when a noble initiated a project, they would delegate it to a subordinate, who would contact the guilds, with various middlemen taking their cuts along the way. Naturally, this slowed progress and inflated the cost in Krona.
"Let's settle the guilds in the city," Krais had practically declared to Graham, the Castellan of the Border Guard, before immediately putting it into action. There was no one to stop him, and no reason to do so.
Furthermore, because the prestige of the name "Encrid" was so immense, people gathered easily.
"Isn't their general the one who blocked Azpen and swallowed up Martai and the former Molsen territory?"
This was what most of the guild masters asked. It was only natural for people to gather—stonemasons, artisans, and more. At first, it was fighters wanting to test Encrid's strength; next, petty nobles coveting his future; then, merchants seeking trade routes; and now, skilled craftsmen.
Krais gathered those craftsmen and set them to work. Of course, that wasn't all.
"The person in charge will bear full responsibility. I will grant you the authority to select five people. You may employ those five as you see fit, and I will advance you half of the payment."
He selected one capable worker, had that person choose five more to keep the gears turning, and even established an inspection team. This team wasn't meant to dig up mistakes; they were the ones who went to resolve issues whenever things went awry. By organizing the inspection team like a coalition of the various guild masters, Krais made the impossible possible.
"Why isn't this working?"
"We need to use glue, but the hunters' guild bastards are selling hides too expensively, so progress has stalled."
"They're charging a fair price. Do you think harvesting demonic beast hides is easy?"
Whenever such problems arose, Krais would immediately mobilize the military. He would conduct an unseasonal demonic beast hunt, and instead of dumping the hides on the market, he would trade them directly to the hunters' guild. By stabilizing prices and swiftly resolving issues, everything progressed rapidly.
That was the reason a brand-new barracks now stood before Encrid. Rem made a brief comment before heading inside.
A spacious training ground came into view first. At least twenty soldiers were sweating there. Despite the rain, they were engrossed in training, stripped to the waist. To the eyes of Encrid, Rem, or Frok, it was training. To those actually rolling on the ground, it probably looked like pure torture.
"Boss!"
From the platform in front of them, Ropode—the only one sheltering from the rain—shouted. He called out to Encrid in delight. Encrid waved, and Rem stepped forward first.
"Where's the directionally challenged bastard?"
Rem was already in a combat stance, his right hand gripping the handle of his axe. He looked ready to hurl it the moment Ragna appeared. They had sparred numerous times on their way here. Encrid couldn't be sure who would win if Ragna and Rem fought. Rem, imbued with sorcery, was definitely at the level of a knight. He could even project something akin to Intimidation.
At Rem's question, Ropode let out a hollow, somewhat awkward laugh.
"Is something wrong?" Encrid asked. The soldiers didn't stop their grueling exercises even after the group appeared. Their discipline was top-notch; there had likely been repeated demonstrations of overwhelming force to keep them in line.
"Well..." Ropode scratched the back of his head. "He went out for a walk, and we haven't seen him for four days."
Ah.
"Is he out of his mind?" Rem didn't hide his disbelief. Why on earth would a bastard who couldn't find his way out of a room go for a walk?
"Where to?" Encrid asked calmly.
"He said he was going to take a quick look inside the mountain range."
"Why did you let him go alone?"
"He said he'd kill anyone who followed him."
He must have been stubborn. It was obvious. Would Ragna die just because he got lost? Not a chance. But was it even true that he had gone to the mountain range? If he had started from the barracks, he might have already crossed into the eastern lands by now.
Encrid brushed aside his worries. Ragna wasn't the type to die in some ditch.
"What about Wildcat?"
"She left temporarily because an issue arose in another city."
"Ah, damn it," Rem grumbled.
Aside from them, two more people were missing. That was likely why Ropode was standing here.
"Krais is currently in the city of Greenpearl," Ropode added, noting that the outpost there had been transformed into a fortress city. "Sir Audin and Sir Teresa went to the mountain range for a fasting prayer."
Encrid wasn't flustered. They were unpredictable people to begin with. They would return eventually.
More than that, the change in Squire Ropode caught his attention. His aura was different. To Encrid, it looked as though Ropode's skills had improved significantly. Naturally, his eyes lingered on him.