Chapter 14 - Knight

"You! Get over here!"

"Keep your voice down. This is the Medical Barracks."

"What the fuck do you want me to do about it?" He might growl, but even the fiercest beast posed no threat if it couldn't reach you. "We really must be bound by fate. We first met in the village below, didn't we?"

An ill-fated connection. One that kept bringing them together.

"Who are you trying to act friendly with, you obnoxious bastard?" Vengeance had spoken to him first. Encrid didn't bother pointing that out. He wasn't petty enough to quibble over such things. "Very well."

Instead, he turned away. Jaxon's ointment worked wonderfully. Even moving like this barely hurt. "What are you doing?"

"You told me not to act friendly, so I'm pretending not to know you."

"Are you fucking with me, you bastard?!" Vengeance roared. If he knew it was a joke, there was no need to get so angry. But how to put it?

'Is it because my squad members are always so vicious?'

Seeing Vengeance again after so long, Encrid found him almost cute. Watching Rem, Jaxon, and the others fight often felt like having years shaved off his life. "Ah, you noticed. Just what I'd expect from you, Platoon Commander. The future of the Cyprus Division."

"You, you!"

A vein bulged on Vengeance's forehead as he picked up his boot and threw it. Encrid deftly caught it.

"Is this a gift?"

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Hadn't Rem once said that while he was pretty good at getting under people's skin himself,

["I wouldn't want to trade words with you when you really set your mind to it, Squad Leader."] Encrid held the boot, his face utterly composed. Vengeance snorted furiously at him.

And then:

"Pahahahaha!" The soldier who had been busy killing time by staring into space burst out laughing. He sounded positively mad with delight. Vengeance's murderous gaze whipped around toward the laughter. After laughing his fill, the blond man bent a finger and dabbed away a tear with its outer edge.

"'Is this a gift?' Seriously? I couldn't hold it in anymore. I'd been trying ever since the bit about pretending not to know you. Whew." GRRRK. Encrid thought Platoon Commander Vengeance would crack his molars before he turned forty. Grinding his teeth all the time wasn't good for his gums, either. He debated mentioning that too. Any more, though, and the man might go down in the records as a soldier who'd died from blood rushing to his head in an uncontrollable rage. "Your unit?"

Vengeance kept his composure. Instead of swearing at the man, he asked where he belonged.

"Me? Hmm, just a passing soldier." Oh? Encrid privately admired his nerve. At least he himself was a squad leader. This fellow really seemed to be an ordinary soldier, yet he acted like that. Still, the way he said it made it sound more like he was hiding his unit and position. Vengeance wasn't a complete idiot, either.

"Are you saying you can't disclose your unit?"

"It's a bit awkward. But I really am a soldier. I've forgotten my unit." Utterly carefree. Encrid saw the dignity of a nobleman in the blond man. If an idiot who forgot his own unit wasn't a noble,

'He'd deserve a beating within an inch of his life.'

He'd have no grounds to complain even if they beat him half to death. So this attitude had to be dignity. GRIND, GRIND.

Vengeance was at a loss. "But rather than looking at me like that, I think you ought to look behind you."

Both Encrid and Vengeance had been looking at the blond man all this time, so both turned their heads. Someone stood behind them. 'When?'

Encrid couldn't claim exceptional awareness, but he had spent enough time on battlefields to develop something of a sixth sense. Yet he hadn't even noticed someone standing behind him. He hadn't heard a sound. "Here? This is where the leader of Squad Four-Four-Four is?"

It was a woman. One of a race generally more slender than humans, with vivid eyes and larger ears. A Fairy. She spoke while staring intently at the blond man. Her casual authority marked her as a superior. Encrid reached that conclusion, raised a hand, and spoke.

"Encrid, leader of Fourth Squad, Fourth Platoon, Fourth Company. Over here." Only then did the Fairy woman look away from the blond man. The tent flap rustled, and the soldier attending the Medical Barracks came in, adding an explanation.

"Yes, that's the squad leader under your command." "A Fairy?"

Apparently quite startled, Vengeance finally reacted. The Fairy turned her head without so much as twitching an eyebrow.

"That's the commander of Third Platoon, Second Company," the attending soldier volunteered. The Fairy woman's next words were exceedingly dry. Someone had called Fairies symbols of grass and trees, but her voice was desert sand itself.

"Does Second Company teach you to announce your superior's race when you see them? I know better than anyone that I'm a Fairy." 'Brilliant.'

Encrid saw innate grace and charisma in her. She had crushed the man with a single remark. "N-n-n-no, ma'am! V-Vengeance, commander of Third Platoon, Second Company!"

"Do me a favor."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Platoon Commander V-Vengeance, please keep your mouth shut while I'm here. No need to answer that request. If you open that trap, I think I'll want to drive a blade or a fist into your face. Platoon Commander V-Vengeance." Encrid didn't bother pointing out that Platoon Commander V-Vengeance's name was Vengeance. Vengeance started to open his mouth, then clamped both hands over it. "Now, I hear you've been doing a fine job leading some interesting squad members."

The company commander's gaze returned to Encrid.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Nothing good could come of getting on the new company commander's bad side. He answered with impeccable courtesy. The ensuing conversation left him with an odd feeling.

'Why did this woman come here?'

It was all utterly pointless chatter. She even praised his performance in battle. By his own standards, he had indeed performed well. He had killed the stabbing soldier, and along the way he'd saved quite a few allies within his reach. But had that affected the battle?

'Hard to say.'

He didn't think so. Whatever his own fighting ability, Encrid had a fairly good eye for the battlefield. "You survived an encounter with a Frog?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was lucky."

"Luck is a kind of skill. The goddess of luck doesn't drop coins very often."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." She'd come all this way for this sort of conversation? Encrid couldn't fathom her intentions. In any case, the Fairy company commander spoke to him with her shining green eyes fixed on him, and he answered dutifully. Before long, she said, "I'll look forward to your continued accomplishments," and turned away. Just before leaving, she looked back again, toward the blond man.

"What's your name?"

"Er, um, Krang." His eyes shifted and his brow creased as he gave his name. Anyone could see it.

'He just made that up.'

That was the sort of name it was. "I see."

The company commander replied impassively and left the barracks. Only then did Vengeance, who had barely dared breathe, let alone speak, let out a great breath.

"Fuck." "Oh, Company Commander."

Encrid spoke as he heard the curse, and Vengeance jumped.

"No, just a passing soldier."

"You fucking bastard." The platoon commander, who had become V-Vengeance rather than Vengeance for the day, flew into a rage. The blond man who'd introduced himself as Krang burst out laughing again. The soldier attending the Medical Barracks gave the three of them a look, wondering what was wrong with them, then went outside. Looking at Platoon Commander Vengeance, Encrid thought he was unlikely to be bored during his stay.

* * *

Review of the fight. The direction he should take next. Encrid focused on those two things. 'Stab with all my strength, without committing my whole mind.'

Finding a lead in less than a day left him itching to move. But he couldn't put his body through its paces just yet. With his side hurting, grip training was all he could do. He worked his fingers and forearm muscles. It might seem foolish in a way, but:

'The body is the foundation of every technique.'

Even the tiniest leaf had weight, and even a drop of water could bore through rock with time on its side. So these seemingly insignificant efforts would help him later, too. Encrid had built his tower thus far on that belief. "You work awfully hard."

It was Krang. Two days had passed since the company commander's visit. Aside from his Review of the fight and grip training, Encrid had done nothing. He devoted himself to rest. Resting was important, too. The only change was that the half-mad soldier who called himself Krang and claimed to have forgotten his unit kept hovering around him. "Why do you work so hard?"

Krang spoke casually to everyone. To Encrid, of course, but to Vengeance as well. "I'm a platoon commander! Your superior!"

He even teased Vengeance. Watching him, Encrid doubted he'd come here because of an injury. He seemed fairly skilled, too. The way he deliberately walked past Vengeance, then slipped just out of reach, marked him as no ordinary man. "At what?"

Since the man had called himself a soldier, Encrid dispensed with formalities too.

"Every day you just keep opening and closing your hands. The rest of the time you're staring into space, looking blank. I wonder what you're thinking about so much, and why you're so determined to keep opening and closing your hands." He wasn't an eight-year-old, yet he certainly had plenty of questions. Not that he was particularly annoying.

'I'm bored too.'

There was only so much amusement to be had from teasing Platoon Commander Vengeance. Small talk and someone to share it with were good ways to stave off boredom. "This is grip training. And when I'm sitting still, I'm not spacing out. I'm doing a Review of the mistakes I made in the last battle."

"I'm asking why you do all that."

Why?

"So I don't fucking die in the next battle."

"I've never seen a soldier go that far just to avoid dying."

"And have any of those soldiers lived long?"

"Hmm, quite a few?" What sort of life had this fellow seen? Encrid had long since decided he was playing at being a commoner. Not that it changed anything. If that was what the man wanted, he could play along. It cost him nothing. Nor did he envy someone for having what he lacked. If he were inclined to envy such things, others' talent for swordsmanship should already have driven him half mad with jealousy. But Encrid wasn't like that. He had a path ahead of him, and the joy of improving gave him far greater fulfillment. 'More practice should take care of the stab.'

Committing his whole mind and strength required training. The heart of the beast remained one of the pillars keeping him safe. One more step forward. One step every day. That wouldn't change even if today no longer repeated. Of course, that didn't mean nothing had changed. "What do you want to become?" Krang asked.

It was much like the question Rem had once asked him. The memory returned.

'Why does that feel so long ago?' That day no longer existed. It had vanished because he had died. And so the ambition he had voiced like a joke had vanished like one too. If he opened his mouth and spoke of his future, his dream,

'Would today disappear?'

It wouldn't. Even though reality had silenced his dream, devoured it and torn it apart, traces remained. Traces, yes. Mere traces left somewhere near his heart. He had once thought that. But what about now?

'Are traces all that's left?'

Encrid looked at his palm. He saw the ugly, misshapen skin where calluses had formed and burst again and again. The ingrained calluses on every finger joint would probably never disappear for as long as he lived. He had wanted it this badly. 'Is that really true?'

Were traces still all that remained? He asked himself, and sought an answer. Surely not. He believed they weren't. Strangely enough, even when only those traces had remained, Encrid had never given up. "A knight." A low-ranking soldier who'd once been a third-rate mercenary. And a squad leader, at that. A mere squad leader. A tiny position, with paltry skill to match. Yet this man had named the very pinnacle above them all. Hearing it from beside him, Vengeance was about to laugh uproariously in scorn. But Krang answered first.

"I see. A knight." Strange. Vengeance should have sneered. He had to. Yet Krang's manner stopped him. Nothing forced him, but instinct told him he mustn't. The words were merely quiet, but they were heavy. They carried weight. Krang took that ridiculous dream seriously. He listened with everything he had, with all his heart. Even the simple act of listening could be done to such an extent. "Seeing you, I think I'm getting a sense of how I should live my own life," Krang said.

Encrid shrugged. The strange atmosphere that had briefly enveloped the Medical Barracks vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. "Pfft! A knight? What a joke!"

So Vengeance sneered to his heart's content. But he only made himself look ridiculous. Neither Encrid nor Krang paid him any attention. "I'm your superior."

Vengeance made a timid attempt at protest. Naturally, it had no chance of working.

* * *

Exactly one week. Encrid's side no longer hurt.

'Thanks to the ointment?'

He had healed quickly. Near bedtime, Krang asked, "You're going back tomorrow, right?"

"Yes." It had been an uneventful day. The Bard, back after a week, had sung Cyprus's praises right beside the Medical Barracks all morning. The attending soldier had overslept. During a short walk around noon, Encrid had also seen Krais. Big-eyes hadn't looked well. Before Encrid could ask anything, he had hurried off somewhere. Nothing had happened afterward. Patients in the Medical Barracks didn't even stand night watch, so he could truly say he'd rested well. "Sleep well, Encrid."

"You too, Krang."

"Just wait till we're back. Both of you."

Vengeance offered his daily goodnight too. Encrid closed his eyes and fell asleep.

And then:

"Cyprus! Cyprus!"

He woke to the Bard's singing. 'Again today?'

He'd heard that this fellow, who had become a battlefield Bard after getting a taste for the money, made the rounds of the barracks to sing. In other words, he didn't stay in one place for two days. The singing should have come from farther away today. Why was he here two days in a row? "Is the damn bastard slacking off? Why hasn't he brought breakfast?"

Vengeance had woken up and was grumbling. At those words, Encrid's hair stood on end. He'd heard them yesterday too. No, to be precise, he must have heard them in the today that had now repeated. "Was the soldier late yesterday morning too?" Encrid asked.

Vengeance stared at him, then gave a derisive laugh.

"What bullshit are you trying now? He brought it on time yesterday." Encrid let out a hollow breath. That settled it. Today had repeated.

Which meant:

'I fucking died in my sleep without a soul knowing.'