Chapter 160 - A Stepping Stone Toward a Small Goal

"You just need to do that another ten or fifteen times," Rem said offhandedly.

Encrid gazed at him.

"That's how you get your hands on the wall. Then you climb over it."

Was he still sulking about something? Encrid picked up on it, but he was too busy going over what he had done. A single exchange. He knew instinctively that it held a wealth of lessons.

"Thanks for the match."

Encrid turned away. He wanted to Review it, to think it through. What had been contained in that one bout, that single exchange of attack and defense?

"You took a hit there, brother."

He heard Audin teasing Rem behind him.

"How about I send you to have lunch with the Lord today, you hulking lunatic?"

The sounds of Rem and Audin scuffling followed.

Encrid ignored them. These days, they knew when to stop fighting. They hadn't grown any closer, but strangely enough, they respected the limits.

'How did I cut him?'

He had scratched Rem's cheek. That alone amazed him, but he was even more absorbed in savoring the process. This wasn't his first experience of its kind, so he did know how to think it through and conduct a Review.

In other words, it was like a frog trapped in a well leaping high enough to see outside. What did it gain from that experience? A frog that had jumped that high once could jump again. Encrid wanted to greet the new world beyond the well.

Though he was leaving on his mission in two days, his dedication remained unchanged. Apart from his basic training, he spent all his time thinking it over. Following the principle that one saw as much as one knew, Encrid began to feel what he lacked.

'The Oniak Sword Technique.'

Of its five sword styles, he had taken the Heavy Sword Technique as his foundation. Was that enough? He found himself wanting to try other weapons, a thought he'd had before while dual wielding.

Wasn't it said that knights could wield ten different weapons proficiently? He wouldn't be able to do that. Such proficiency meant learning one thing and understanding ten. That must take talent. For him, it would be difficult. Exceedingly so.

What should he do, then?

'If I can't learn one thing and understand ten...'

Why not learn them all, one by one? He could keep repeating his daily routine, but if there was a way to walk rather than crawl along the path ahead...

"Then I'll do it."

His resolve slipped from his lips. It went without saying.

He was so absorbed that he hadn't noticed evening fall. In truth, one corner of his mind had been occupied with contemplation and Review even during meals, no matter what he was doing. The moment he scratched Rem's cheek, Encrid had felt not satisfaction, but longing. He had searched for the way forward. This was the result.

After muttering to himself, Encrid rose from his bed. The quarters weren't large. Everyone's eyes turned to him as he stopped before the bed of Luagarne, the Frog. Getting ready to sleep, she looked up at him without rising.

"Do you know the Righteous Sword Technique?"

Tomorrow was the day of departure. Lamplight stretched shadows long behind them. Everyone had washed in the baths. Pin had returned last, water dripping from her wet hair. Esther stopped tending her claws on Encrid's bed and raised her head. The panther's deep blue eyes stared straight at his back.

"It's my specialty," Luagarne replied, still lying down.

"Please teach me."

Encrid craved learning. He didn't wait for someone to teach him. As he saw it, this Frog was an excellent instructor. Besides her whip, she was proficient with other weapons. Especially the Righteous Sword Technique. He knew that from their spars and the occasional lessons she had offered.

He needed instruction of a different kind from watching, learning, and imitating from the sidelines. Ragna's northern-style Heavy Sword Technique was excellent. The other sword styles he taught weren't bad either. But Ragna, too, had picked those up by watching.

["I'm just imitating something I saw once or twice."]

He often said things like that. The way a genius learned wasn't enough. As always, Encrid felt a thirst. The Frog had something he couldn't learn from the other platoon members.

Rem? His fighting followed no established form. His axe work belonged to the realm of instinct and Sixth Sense.

Encrid had scratched Rem's cheek during their spar. Beneath that exhilarating thrill, he had seen it: that appearance like an evil spirit. Was it Rem's true nature, or an illusion conjured by his own mind and eyes? He didn't know.

But if he wished for anything...

'To see it again.'

He wanted to force Rem into that situation again. That was what he wanted. Not to break his limits and grasp Will right this instant. That wasn't how Encrid approached it.

Through all the years and days he had endured by gathering fragments of his dream, he had learned just one thing. Take one step at a time. Crawl if necessary, but move forward. However slow those steps, advancing had allowed him to see, to feel, to reach.

He decided to set himself a small goal, one step forward: to see Rem get serious, whether that showed on his face as a ghost or something else. And, if possible, to see the same on Audin's, Ragna's, and Jaxon's faces too.

"Very well."

Luagarne nodded without hesitation. Encrid bowed his head and went straight to bed. Tomorrow he had to set out for the Pioneer Village to carry out the commission as promised. He had a journey ahead. Starting tired wouldn't do, so he needed an early night.

"You know, it strikes me all over again. I wonder if you realize that being too matter-of-fact actually makes a man look insane."

Rem muttered from his bed. Encrid didn't answer. Talking back would only mean another lengthy conversation. Fortunately, Rem fell silent too. It was merely an idle observation.

"Ho ho, brother. May the Lord's grace be upon you. Please, may He keep that mind of yours intact."

It sounded rather as though Audin was calling him a crazy bastard, but a prayer was a prayer, and a blessing was a blessing. The others kept quiet.

The night passed. The next day came, and Encrid set out with his usual composure. Once outside the city, Luagarne and Krais walked behind him, Pin ahead, and Esther lay in his arms. Whenever he tried to put her down, she dug her claws into his chest, adamantly refusing to let go. What choice did he have? He would have to bring her.

"Let's go."

With Pin leading the way, the party followed the highway and encountered Ghouls.

"Already?"

It was an early encounter. They were quite close to the city for monsters to be appearing here. Of course, that wasn't a problem.

Two Ghouls. Gray-skinned monsters with a taste for human flesh and blood. Encrid drew his sword. His cuts came as matter-of-factly as his departure that morning.

THUNK! CRACK!

The Heavy Sword Technique was founded on muscular strength. With single blows, he severed a neck and split a skull. Black blood and gray brain matter patterned the ground. A few drops of Ghoul blood spattered Encrid.

"The foundation of the Righteous Sword Technique is waiting," Luagarne said behind him.

The journey was a path of practice, a continuation of his training. The lessons had begun.

* * *

A scab had formed on his cheek. Stroking it, Rem remembered the day he had first seen Encrid. Or, more precisely, the day he had first toyed with him.

["You want to spar? With me?"]

Who the hell was this bastard? The man who'd arrived as their Squad Leader swung his sword like someone fighting for his life every day, and now he wanted a bout. One look was enough to call him third-rate. No, perhaps second-rate in some respects? Somewhere between low-grade and intermediate-grade under the soldier grading system. He truly had no talent.

["I thought there might be something I could learn."]

What weapon had Rem used against Encrid that first time? He tended to use whatever came to hand, but that time it had been swords. Two swords, one in each hand, swung just as he habitually swung his axes. It had been an easy fight.

THUD!

Tripped by Rem's foot, Encrid rolled across the ground. He landed badly enough to scratch his face. Rem had intended that, to an extent.

'Where'd they find this pretty boy to make Squad Leader?'

Surely ruining his face would get some sort of reaction. Rem was curious about who he was, too. A noble? Someone important's offspring? Did he have a backer in the military? He had none of those things.

Instead of tending his scratched face, Encrid got up and spoke.

["Could you go one more round?"]

["You want to do it again?"]

He nodded.

Was he half mad? In all honesty, Rem had never met anyone more reckless than himself. He beat him. Hit him, left cuts on his neck to frighten him, and sliced the skin on his forehead to draw blood.

Blood from the forehead ran down over the eyes. No one who hadn't experienced it could understand. Having your vision turn red brought a peculiar kind of fear. Yet the new Squad Leader wouldn't back down, even with his face so drenched in blood that he looked like a Blood Ghoul.

["I've got a question. What are you going to do if you get yourself fucking killed?"]

They were in the middle of a spar. Rem had room to spare; Encrid didn't. The madman who kept coming at him through the changing seasons caught his breath and answered.

["Then that'll be the end."]

Was he completely insane? That would be the end? Surely he couldn't let it end like that.

["There's something wrong with you."]

Rem said that and taught him the heart of the beast that day. If he was prepared to die, then fine. Perhaps he could gain something from it.

It was a waste of time. His disposition made him incapable of learning the heart of the beast. The moment things went wrong, he squeezed his eyes shut. Boldness couldn't take root. Even with his eyes open, he couldn't see properly. His body froze in moments of danger.

["You really have no talent."]

The words came out unbidden. Still, the position of Squad Leader, whose occupants had always been replaced one after another, didn't change hands. He survived. Stubbornly.

Did Rem enjoy sparring with him? Well, it was simply something he did. The man wasn't some great figure in his life. Rem liked women, too, so there were no strange feelings involved. Watching him just felt pleasant enough. Like looking at bright sunshine, dry grasslands, or beasts running across them. That was all.

'He'll get himself killed like that.'

Watching him struggle on the battlefield, Rem found himself lending a hand. At the very least, he wasn't someone Rem wanted to see die before his eyes.

The spars continued. Time passed.

["How did you do that?"]

Encrid had acquired the heart of the beast. From that day on, things began to change. His skill grew. Sometimes so abruptly that it was visible, sometimes so slowly that Rem wondered whether this was right.

Had Encrid changed in the process? No. He remained the same. Just as he had been at the beginning.

["Spar?"]

He was less wordy than when they first met. And Rem now knew just how remarkably well that mouth of his could get under someone's skin. Still, the spars continued.

A scratch on his cheek. Blood hardened into a scab. Ha! From that Encrid? That Squad Leader? Rem had been forced to get serious. He had almost brought out the techniques he'd buried away.

No. This wouldn't do. How to put it? It was a personal wish, but not yet. Rem needed to keep playing far above Encrid's reach. He wanted to have fun a little longer.

Then this wasn't enough. Where was the fun if Encrid caught up and they had to fight in earnest? If Rem wanted to tease him as they sparred, he couldn't be pushed back. He couldn't let Encrid catch up for even an instant.

And in the instant of that blow that scratched his cheek, even if only by the tips of his toes, Encrid had caught up. Rem disliked that intensely. It even made him anxious. Besides, the question Krais had asked on the battlefield still lingered in his heart.

["Can you take on a proto knight?"]

["If one comes at me, I can kill them."]

The question had been serious, so he had answered seriously. There had been a curious forcefulness about that big-eyed fellow, too. A fascinating bastard. The fellow with the astonishingly quick mind had nodded. It meant he'd understood even that vague answer.

Rem could kill one, but not while worrying about what came afterward. If he staked his life on it, would his chances be fifty-fifty? Honestly, his odds of winning were probably thirty or forty percent.

After that question, Krais seemed to have decided to avoid the enemy's strongest forces. That was how the battle had unfolded, so wasn't that right? It probably was. That, too, had wounded his pride in a strange way.

"Hey, picky-eating layabout."

That was why he hadn't gone along. He had things to do here. That idiot probably felt much the same. At Rem's words, Ragna raised his head, his body half propped against the wall of the quarters.

"Want to fight with half your life on the line?"

The tone was playful as ever, but there was seriousness beneath it.

"... Let's do it."

Ragna stood. The layabout had changed, too. Even without Encrid there, something like a flame had appeared in his eyes.

Rem headed for the training ground without a trace of a smile.

"Big guy, you can come too."

He called to Audin on the way.

"Ho ho. The Lord calls."

Audin rose with a smile.

He left the devious wildcat alone. Head-on combat wasn't that fellow's specialty to begin with.

'He'll come if he needs to.'

That bastard wasn't one to come just because he was told. Above all, he really was a devious bastard. Rem himself had been a hunter, hadn't he? That fellow was like a relentless hunter of the night. Or a hunter of humans.

At one side of the training ground, Rem raised his axes.

TING!

He struck their blades together and settled into his stance.

"Don't blame me if you die," Ragna said from across from him.

"That's my line."

The two began to move. Every soldier training nearby stopped and became part of the crowd of spectators.

CLANG! THUD! CLANG!

Heavy sounds rang out with each collision. The three took turns sparring. The sheer ferocity left everyone shaking their heads in amazement.

"I'd like to join in."

The Fairy Company Commander stepped in.

"We're putting half our lives on the line here, you know?"

At Rem's question, she smiled and drew her sword. The leaf-shaped Nidle reflected the light. It was a declaration of her determination.

She went on to show that her skill was every bit a match for theirs, and they sparred together. They knew without words that they all felt the same way. Such things became clear when blades crossed and fists met.

'Not yet.'

Truly, not yet. Even if wanting to keep their place so far above Encrid was like the wish of a mischievous eight-year-old, they had decided to give themselves fully to the present.

Fighting with half their lives on the line marked the beginning of change, and accelerated it. All four had been called geniuses. All were honing their skills. But it didn't end at mere honing.

Rem faced Ragna, Ragna faced Rem, and Audin joined them. Sometimes Jaxon jumped in as well. The Fairy Company Commander took turns with them. Whenever things grew too serious, the others rushed in to restore the balance and defuse it. As they repeated this, their talents burst into bloom. With each passing day, they had more to show Encrid when he returned.

* * *

Meanwhile, Encrid was making his way along a rougher journey than expected.

"Kraaaah!"

Packs of demonic beasts kept springing out one after another. Well, it was enjoyable enough. For Encrid, it was both an opportunity to train and a testing ground.