The Giant Clan Leader
The elf slapped her forehead. Chiiik—! The woman who had blocked Enoch’s fist was shoved backward, skidding across the ground.
“Oh?”
He had only given her a light tap, but just moments ago he had been disappointed by the level of these mercenaries. Were they actually somewhat skilled? Enoch’s senses swept over the woman. From the aura he felt, she was around the early-to-mid Expert stage. He didn’t know about her actual ability, but her realm itself was quite respectable.
“Hey, wait! I said I don’t want to fight!”
The woman rubbed her numb hand and tried to stop Enoch. She was really trying to avoid this? The fun was gone. Enoch stared at her with a sullen expression.
“Then I’m leaving.”
If they weren’t going to fight, there was no reason to keep Rionne waiting.
“No, come on. Let’s talk for a second, yeah?”
The woman raised her hand slightly, and mercenaries who had been hiding all around stepped into view. What the hell? She said she didn’t want to fight. A faint spark of interest returned to Enoch’s eyes.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Well, something that benefits both of us.”
The woman stretched out her arm and gestured around them. “See? We’ve got a pretty decent force here. Especially for a remote territory like this.”
“Huh. Unexpected.”
How could the lord just leave a group with this much military power alone? Enoch couldn’t understand it. Logically, wouldn’t you either nip it in the bud or prevent them from forming in the first place?
The woman, unaware of Enoch’s doubts, grinned and introduced herself.
“I’m Capri. B-class mercenary and leader of the Giant Clan.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, you should introduce yourself too.”
“Don’t want to.”
Why should he? When Enoch started to lose interest, Capri clicked her tongue and asked,
“Anyway, this isn’t the kind of talk for out in the open, so just follow me for a bit.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Well, in that case…”
At Capri’s gesture, the surrounding mercenaries revealed their fighting spirit. Even though they were right in front of the Mercenary Guild in the middle of town, the footsteps of frightened citizens came to an abrupt halt.
“Fine. Let’s do it.”
“Smart choice.”
Crackle—! Lightning coiled around Enoch’s hand. Capri flinched and widened the distance.
“What the—! You said okay!”
“Yeah.”
A fight was always welcome.
The streets were littered with unconscious mercenaries.
Capri ground her teeth. This was completely outside her expectations. She never imagined the kid would be this insane. Out of the twenty-odd people who had been standing, only six—including herself—were still on their feet. These were the elites of the Giant Clan.
“Why are you going this far?” she asked, shaking out her tingling arm.
The kid with the still-blank face tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you making such a big scene out of this?”
Was he hired by the lord? Capri’s mind began to spin. By imperial decree, the lord could not openly suppress armed groups within his territory. But since it wasn’t strictly regulated by detailed laws, there were plenty of ways to get around it. It wasn’t strange that she had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
“Huh?”
Of course, Enoch had no obligation to think that far.
“Damn it.”
Looking at that clueless face, Capri bit her lip. Now that things had come to this, the lord would definitely send troops. He finally had the perfect excuse to get rid of them, the constant thorn in his side. She had thought that if she could coax the knight who had spoken to the kid earlier, they might even be able to take the lord’s seat. But it turned out the kid was already working for the lord! Assuming he was just some noble young master with a bit of fame had been her fatal mistake. Normally, wouldn’t anyone at least listen to what you had to say? She really hadn’t expected the situation to explode into a brawl like this.
“There’s no choice now! From! Contact the clan! Pack up whatever you can and we’re leaving Dendalo!”
“Yes!”
The man called From hurriedly left the area. Enoch didn’t bother to stop him. There was only one thing holding his interest right now.
“Interesting.”
Crack—! The moment Enoch closed in quickly, Capri swung her fist. Whoosh—! The punch that cut through empty air made Enoch’s black hair flutter. He stared straight at Capri’s distorted face with those dark eyes.
“How are you doing that?”
Thud, thud, thud—! Capri was driven back by a barrage of punches to her entire body. But that was all. She didn’t seem to have taken any significant damage.
“You little—!”
Instead, she counterattacked. A fist dropping from above right. Enoch lightly hooked it with his fingers and pulled, and once again the punch sliced through nothing but air. Whoosh—!
Enoch had many options. If he attacked seriously, he could have torn Capri’s body apart. The only reason he hadn’t was because her incredibly tough physique had piqued his curiosity.
“Captain!”
“Stay back!”
While roughly dealing with the remaining clan members, Enoch pondered. At that moment—
“Fire, gather and strike!”
One of the clan members who had stayed back cast a spell. Enoch’s gaze traced the magic. It was crude. It looked like they were using Circles to replace the middle dantian, but a substitute was a substitute for a reason.
“Scatter.”
With a single short chant, the forming spell dispersed. He had torn apart the sloppy flow by forcing mana through it. While the mage panicked, Enoch knocked out the rest of the clan members by smashing their heads. Now only Capri and the mage remained.
“Hiiik…!”
No, the mage had just run away, so only Capri was left.
“You— you bastard…!!”
Capri’s face flushed bright red with rage. She pulled a pill from her pocket, shoved it into her mouth, and bit down. Crunch—! At the same time, her aura began to explode outward. With veins bulging grotesquely across her face, Capri glared at Enoch.
“You son of a bitch…!”
By then, Enoch had finished organizing his realization. Her body was tough because she had trained it with mana the way others trained with iron, and the way to deal with it seemed simple enough.
“Haaaaah—!”
Capri poured mana into both fists. Fwoosh—! The overflowing mana flickered like flames. This was commonly called Flame. Since it was wrapped around her fists, it would be Fist Flame. It was a half-baked technique that relied on raw mana output, but its power couldn’t be ignored. Knowing this, Capri swung her fist with the clear intent to beat Enoch to death.
Boom—! The air was ripped apart.
Enoch lazily overlaid the shape of claws onto his gloves. Then—
Tap— He simply pushed the fist firmly to the side.
“Huh…?”
Capri’s eyes widened in disbelief at how easily her strike had been deflected. But she was a veteran mercenary. She quickly regained her composure and braced herself. She had taken the Berserk Pill, so her body’s durability had skyrocketed. She should be able to withstand at least one hit…
Smack— Enoch’s palm touched Capri’s stomach.
‘What?’
Capri smiled at her unexpected luck. She would grab him like this and crush him—
Thud—!
When she came to her senses…
“…Huh?”
Capri saw the blue sky. She tried to get up, but there was no strength in her entire body.
“What the…”
She hurriedly tried to circulate her mana, but it was impossible. Her insides were a complete mess. By then, Capri finally realized what had happened.
“Inner Family Heavy Hand Technique…”
Also known as penetrating force—a high-level technique that directly struck the opponent’s internal body. A kid like this could use something like that?
“Inner Family Heavy Hand Technique? Is that what it’s called?”
He had just used whatever name came to mind. So it already existed? Enoch clicked his tongue.
Seeing his reaction, Capri let out a hollow laugh. It was simply absurd.
At that moment, as if they had been waiting for the fight to end, the sound of footsteps approached. Clank. Clank. The metallic noise came with them. Capri closed her eyes. This was the end. She would be dragged before the lord, given some convenient excuse, and disposed of.
“Oh.”
She had forgotten for a moment. Truly crazy people didn’t care who their opponent was.
Crackle—! Enoch released his aura toward the approaching knights. Seeing that, Capri could only laugh helplessly.
“You crazy bastard.”
Then her consciousness cut off.
Capri has been incapacitated.
“W-wait a moment! We are not here to fight!”
Seeing Enoch’s aura that looked ready to charge at any second, one of the knights rushed forward in a panic to explain. Now that he looked closer, the face was familiar. It was the one from earlier… Hamington? No, Wilbert. That was the knight’s name.
“I am Wilbert.”
“Ah.”
“Anyway, we only came to apprehend the main instigators of this disturbance.”
“I see.”
The main instigator of the disturbance was Enoch himself.
Crackle—! Enoch smiled brightly and wrapped lightning around his hand.
“W-wait! We’re not here for you, Sir Enoch! We’re here for those mercenaries over there!”
“How did you know my name?”
“Pardon?”
“How did you know my name?”
“Well, that’s… obviously…”
An imperial order had come down saying that if he was touched, the king himself would come and personally slit their throats, so they had to serve him with the utmost care. How could they not know? Wilbert skillfully danced around the truth and bowed deeply to Enoch.
“Then… may we take them?”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“I caught them. Why should you take them?”
Prey naturally belonged to whoever caught it.
“Uh… then…”
“Just leave them.”
“Ah, yes.”
Wilbert nodded and relayed the message to his fellow knights. He said they couldn’t take them.
Wilbert gave Enoch a few more words before withdrawing. The lord had invited him—did he have any intention of coming? Would he settle down in Dendalo? Most of Enoch’s answers were “no” or “don’t know.” For the invitation, Wilbert even asked once more if he really didn’t want to come. Enoch answered firmly. He really had no intention of going. He had zero desire to go see some human lord’s face.
“Rionne.”
Enoch whispered softly, infusing mana into his voice. Rionne appeared abruptly from somewhere.
“Enoch!”
Rionne had been smiling brightly, but after looking around once, her face filled with about seventeen question marks.
“…Enoch?”
“I won them all.”
The mercenaries lay brutally defeated. Standing among them, Enoch proudly puffed out his chest.
“Oh…”
Rionne slapped her forehead.