Chapter 584: A Child's Words
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 584: A Child's Words
"Did he lose his mind because you worked him too hard?"
"Oh, please. How much work could I have possibly given him? Why would he go crazy? Besides, even I feel like laughing out of sheer absurdity, so I understand exactly how he feels."
This was said because the man who was the leader of the city, the Lord of the Border Guard, and the Master of the Order of Knights had just delivered a stinging slap to the back of the Holy Church’s head.
That was Krais's reply to Encrid's question as he looked at Abnayor.
The two of them couldn't possibly fathom the emotional shift occurring inside Abnayor. To them, he simply looked like a madman who had suddenly burst into laughter.
After sending Encrid inside, Krais turned toward Abnayor.
Since the Captain was not the type to listen even if someone tried to stop him, Krais hadn't uttered a single word of complaint. Still, deep in his chest, a heavy surge of anxiety was rising.
It was the same as always. He was, after all, a man who constantly lived in the worst-case scenario.
If things turn out like this...
As his anxiety spiked, Krais's extraordinarily sharp mind began to spin even faster.
If the Holy State doesn't use military force, what will be their first move?
What could they do to interfere, obstruct, and harass? If it were him, he would do anything to exert influence over this region. Scenarios assuming the absolute worst scrambled wildly through his head.
At the same time, Krais calculated the preparations needed to counter them. He had drawn up a rough picture, but he needed to double-check his work. In a situation like this, the presence of a strategist superior to himself was a source of immense comfort.
"Abnayor, listen to this and tell me if it sounds right."
Krais laid out his plan, rattling it off without a pause. There was no room for Abnayor to cut in.
Because he never knew when or what kind of trouble Encrid would cause, Krais had been making various preparations for a long time. Among them was a plan on how to support him if a demon suddenly descended and they had to fight with everything they had.
After all, wasn't it entirely possible for Encrid to go out, pick a fight with a demon, and come back?
It's a possibility, isn't it?
Though it wasn't common for a demon from the Demon Realm to make its way to the continent, Krais believed it could happen. It was one of the ten worst nightmares Krais had ever envisioned.
"You certainly dream in vivid detail, don't you?"
His lover, Nurat, had called him overly dramatic, but he had prepared nonetheless. Compared to a demon's descent, a feud with the Holy Church was relatively manageable—even if it was still a completely insane thing to do.
"Why even ask when you've already decided everything?"
When Abnayor spoke up mid-explanation, Krais scolded him immediately.
"Pay attention, will you? Do you think this is someone else's business? We're doing this for everyone's benefit. What if the Holy Church plays dirty and everyone ends up starving? Huh? Would Azpen like that?"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
This bastard has already decided everything, yet he complains about my lack of sincerity?
Abnayor tried to defend himself, but Krais scolded him repeatedly before letting out a deep sigh.
"Anyway, this is how we're doing it."
Abnayor listened to the rough outline of Krais's plan, committed it to memory, and then asked the real question weighing on his mind.
"Don't you resent him?"
Krais was rolling his eyes in anxiety, yet he still did exactly what needed to be done. It was fascinating. Abnayor wondered how he could take such a massive issue so lightly. Was there anyone on the continent who lived as an enemy of the Holy Church?
Even the king of a great southern nation wouldn't dare. Perhaps the Emperor of the Empire might, but no one else.
Krais spoke with an indifferent attitude, neither laughing nor crying.
"Yeah, well, I'm used to it. Actually, the original name of that order was the Troublemaker Knights."
To Abnayor's ears, that name sounded quite fitting. However, since even the Order of Madness must have made people wonder what on earth it was when they first heard it, they could hardly use "Troublemaker" as an official name.
"We'll hold a meeting in a few days. You should attend too, Abnayor."
With those words, Krais turned on his heel and walked away. He seemed to have a mountain of things to do. Though irritation was visible in his stride, there was no resentment. He walked like a man simply doing what had to be done.
Looking around now, the entire city was the same. Many had heard the news, but apprehension and worry made up only a tiny fraction of their thoughts. Far too little.
"He's back."
"Is training starting again tomorrow?"
Some worried about the intensity of the training the returned Knight of the Iron Wall would put them through.
"Sigh... vacation, vacation. Give me a vacation. I'd sell my soul for one."
There were soldiers who looked half-ghoul, crying out only for time off.
"Please spar with me!"
The requests were incredibly diverse, with some even asking for a spar from the returned Knight Commander, the hero who ruled the entire territory.
"You have returned, Sir!"
Even the Castellan stepped forward to welcome him.
They say his skills only truly blossomed in his old age, which is rare. Even though an Associate Knight is no common existence.
Well, Associate Knights would probably be seen much more frequently now. Every faction across the continent was beginning to reveal its hidden strength, one by one. Before anyone knew it, the world was changing, and at the center of that change stood the Knight of the Iron Wall.
What was surprising was that Encrid's presence was heavily felt in the improvement of the Castellan's skills as well. Simply by existing, he stimulated everyone around him. Those who did not give up or back down under that stimulation all moved forward.
In a way, it was a great mystery, something akin to magic. Because it had become reality and everyone before his eyes took it for granted, was that why they were brushing off this incident so easily?
There could be no greater mystery than this.
And because of this, the moment had come for every corner of the continent to reveal its true power. Strictly speaking, everything Encrid had done served as a signal flare, announcing to all those who had held back and hidden their strength that the time had come to unleash that power and fight.
Is this a new world?
As the continent's landscape shifted, Abnayor felt it. A breeze blew, fluttering his hair. From Azpen to Naurilia. From a prisoner to the present. The wind of change was blowing. It was a moment where the future could be glimpsed—a future where absolutely nothing was set in stone.
Abnayor let his imagination wander for a moment. Then, returning to the present, he looked ahead. He saw the old Castellan moving with eager enthusiasm, asking for a spar. One would think a Castellan would be worried, yet he didn't seem to care in the slightest about making an enemy of the Holy Church.
While perhaps not every single resident of the city felt this way, on the surface, they all seemed the same. They raised no questions about what Encrid had done.
There was likely only one reason. Everything he had shown them up until now was proof enough of who he was.
"Ah."
Abnayor had understood it with his head before, but only now did he truly accept it in his heart. He hadn't lost simply because he lacked martial strength. It was a fact he already knew, but seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it firsthand made it carve itself deep into his chest.
I lost.
He had lost, but he felt no frustration or despair from that defeat. That was Abnayor's current state of mind. His heart raced, and he looked forward to tomorrow.
*
"What did you just say?"
As soon as Encrid returned, he conveyed Audin's words to Rem, Ragna, and the others. This was something that needed to be shared quickly.
"Audin said that when he returns, he's going to beat you all up."
Encrid summarized and repeated what he had said moments ago.
"Who's beating up whom? That bear-cub youngest is going to beat me?"
"If you call him the youngest one more time, he probably really will."
At Encrid's words, Rem smirked, gripping his axe. Who was beating up whom? A guy who couldn't even guarantee a fifty-percent win rate even if given the distance to fight in ultra-close quarters?
Furthermore, once someone reached Rem's level, spacing was second nature. Rising above the level of a Master to stand atop knights was no joke. Those who had reached this height did not easily yield their preferred distance. Thus, the bear-cub youngest named Audin stood no chance. He was merely a tough bear who was annoying to hit.
"What utter nonsense," Rem spoke again. It was a statement he could make because he clearly knew Audin's limits from their past spars.
"From what I can see, that bear-like man is a step ahead of you," Sinar chimed in from the side.
By nature, one never truly knew the outcome of a fight until they clashed. Still, there were things that could be seen. The concentration and level of Divinity he harbored instead of Will was the standard of judgment. Of course, even so, one couldn't know the outcome of a life-or-death battle. But what about a spar? What if it was a situation where Rem couldn't swing his axe with lethal intent?
At the elf's words, Rem's eyebrows twitched. It was the exact expression of someone hearing something they absolutely did not want to hear. Would that elf lie? The probability was low. Furthermore, Encrid was not the type of person to joke about such matters.
"Seriously?" Rem asked once more.
"Seriously." Encrid nodded silently.
Rem got the feeling that this was the truth. Encrid was an incredibly serious man, especially when it came to swordsmanship and martial arts. He was not one to lie about such things.
Beside him, Ragna opened his eyes slightly wider than usual and asked, "Who?"
"Audin."
Encrid answered kindly.
"Who?" Ragna repeated the exact same word in the exact same tone.
"He said he'd be here within a few months at the latest," Encrid spoke calmly. He knew that only those who cared to listen would pay attention anyway. And there was no way these bastards didn't know what he had noticed.
Didn't they all already know that Audin was hiding something? Even Pel and Ropode knew. In truth, they had all caught on. To add to that, they knew Audin would rather die than reveal what he possessed. It was a fact they knew because they had tormented him countless times under the guise of sparring.
But that guy had broken out of his shell?
Even after hearing Encrid's words, Ropode, Pel, and Luagarne remained unfazed. The same went for Sachsen. He couldn't be said to be on good terms with Audin, but he wasn't on bad terms either. The two of them tacitly respected each other's boundaries.
But Rem and Ragna were different. The two of them had teased and tormented Audin to their hearts' content. They had even made him play the role of the youngest for quite a while.
Although rumors of the "blood-crazed youngest, Ragna" had been circulating recently, before that, they had relentlessly teased Audin, cornering him as the bear-cub youngest. At least, that was how it looked on the surface.
Rem stood up, gripping his axe. Hadn't he been a bit lazy with his training lately, busy playing with his newly acquired toy—his squad members? He had been. But now, there would be no time for that.
"Don't look for me for a while."
Fortunately, luck was on his side. Recently, he had found traces of a strange monster in the Pen-Hanil Mountains—something like an amorphous evil spirit. It seemed like he could somehow convert it into sorcery to use. He didn't know the method yet, but he had suddenly become pressed for time.
Originally, he had planned to take his sweet time finding a way, but now he couldn't afford to. In the west, they often described such a situation as "trying to bask in the sun just as it sets." It was an idiom similar to "having a fire lit under one's feet." Just like the term "gloomy dawn," it was also shortened to "chasing the sunset."
In any case, he was in a hurry.
"Tell that Big-Eyes bastard that our unit is on vacation for the time being!"
Even though he rarely wandered around once the weather turned chilly, he showed his resolve by bringing out heating stones and leathers from the barracks, wrapping them around his body.
Encrid nodded as he watched him and asked, "Sparring later, then?"
"Let's do it in a few days."
Going into the Pen-Hanil Mountains alone would sound insane for anyone else, but this was Rem.
"If you die, I'll make sure to bury your body well," Encrid said, raising a hand. Rem smirked in response.
"Hanging out with those religious fanatics must've taught you how to bless people. Why don't you just say a prayer for me while you're at it?"
"I'll do that too, if needed."
"Ah, get lost. Can't you see I'm busy?"
This was rich coming from a guy who, until Encrid arrived, had been oiling his axe and basking in the warmth of the bonfire inside his quarters.
Ragna silently gripped his sword, took a spot in the corner of the training ground, and began to swing.
Whoosh. Swish. Whir.
Each swing produced a different sound.
Seeing the two of them, Encrid felt a surge of motivation as well. He wanted to try out the things he had realized on his way back. As always, the moment he returned, he fell right back into his daily routine—the routine of swinging his sword, training, and disciplining his body.
"Do you plan on bringing back a girl every single time you go outside? A collection? Is that face of yours the problem?"
At one point, Esther, who had transformed into her human form, spoke to him.
"The sorrow of an unpopular man is welling up. It's not about my face; she came because she needed a place to stay."
Encrid replied calmly with words Esther wouldn't quite understand. He thought he had forgotten, but Seiki's words had remained deep in his heart.
That Seiki had adapted quickly upon arriving at the Border Guard and was currently following Sinar around. She had only left a brief message asking to train together sometime, but seeing the mountains, fields, and new terrain seemed to have made her quite excited.
Were all Highlanders like Seiki? Did they find joy in observing and exploring new terrain whenever they discovered it? Was she special, or were all Highlanders like that?
He recalled what Seiki had said on their way to the city.
"I want to live in the mountains for the rest of my life. It's not that I dislike mingling with people; I just like living that way. Hunting, eating delicious food, sometimes counting the stars, basking in the moonlight, and drinking—that kind of life."
It was a life she had learned from her grandfather. She wanted to grow old and die repeating that cycle of morning and evening every day.
Could one assign some grand meaning to such a life? Probably not. Yet, her desire for that life felt incredibly earnest. Should it be dismissed just because it was simple? Surely not.
Must every dream change the world? Surely not.
Must every dream be accompanied by insurmountable obstacles? Of course not.
Must every dream be something that transforms an individual's life? That, too, was not the case.
"I know my desires might change. My grandfather told me countless times that I have too little experience and know nothing. He said my dream of dying as a mountain person, even if I wasn't born a Highlander, might just be because I'm young and ignorant. But if my mind changes, shouldn't I just deal with it then? Anyway, for now, I want to live like that. Just as I said."
These were the words of a child who loved the moon and stars, the mountains and stones, the waterfalls and streams, the freshness of spring, the sunshine and heat of summer, the coolness and abundance of autumn, the cold of winter, and the pure white snowflakes falling from the sky.