Chapter 228 - Bell's Today

Proto knight Aesia. She was the member of the knight order who had come with Luagarne the Frog. The technique she had used was called intimidation, an art founded on willpower. What the swordsman before him was displaying now was the same.

No, it was even better.

Encrid could see formless blades cutting, stabbing, and slicing through his body. They were faster and more numerous than Aesia's had been. He knew they were false, mere illusions, yet he could not possibly ignore them. Even though he instinctively knew they arose from his opponent's willpower, his dodging sense activated.

He nearly stepped back on reflex, but clenched his molars instead. His body flinched. His shoulders trembled. To stand firm before the approaching blades, he would need a blade within his own heart.

It was the same as before. If he could not fight his way through, he would be fleeing. Evading. Just like Aesia's intimidation. Unless he overcame it, the wall would crush him where he stood. He would be admitting defeat without fighting, without so much as reaching out a hand.

The ferryman's laughter came to mind. His mockery would surely shake the river. Encrid suppressed his instincts.

"You could die."

The rapier swordsman spoke when Encrid refused to retreat, but Encrid did not listen.

He had risked his life even when death meant the end. He had not struggled desperately to die, but to keep walking forward. So should he retreat now? Was that what he ought to do?

"Step back," the rapier swordsman said again.

Instead, Encrid began swinging his sword at the approaching blades.

He turned his dodging sense toward attack, unleashed the Heart of the Superhuman, and threw his Sixth Sense wide open. Concentrate on a Single Point activated, immersing him completely in the moment. He could see every approaching blade, every formless sword.

Slow and clear.

Encrid swung. One by one, he struck them down, knocked them aside, shattered them. The broken blades vanished like phantoms, shattering like glass. And for every blade he broke, another appeared.

"Foolish," the rapier swordsman said.

Those were the last words Encrid heard.

He missed a blade. It curved inward, then accelerated like a swift hawk. No wonder he had missed it. Encrid felt it slice straight through his neck. It felt real. Horrifying, with a searing heat. Enough to make him think this was certain death.

Encrid closed his eyes. But he did not meet the ferryman. When he opened them again, he heard Rem's voice.

"Awake, are we, you lunatic captain?"

* * *

Caught in the intimidation, Encrid had swung his sword at empty air like a madman, before his eyes rolled back to show only white and he toppled over. Even so, his swordsmanship had been strangely precise and clean. It was obvious he had been properly taught.

Then he had collapsed without so much as a groan or scream, like a kite whose string had snapped, like a puppet that had served its purpose. Just as Encrid fell—

BANG!

Someone kicked off the ground. One person—no, several moved. Audin flew forward to catch Encrid. Rem drew his axe, and Ragna stood beside him, blocking the space between Encrid and the rapier swordsman. Jaxon was already behind the swordsman.

"If I meant to kill him, I would have done it long ago," the swordsman said.

Rem knew that, too. The man before him was someone even he could not be certain of beating.

'Well, if I really set out to kill him, I could manage on my own.'

But was he alone here? There was no need to reveal what he kept hidden.

"If he'd died, I'd have cut you down," Ragna said. There was not a trace of doubt in his words. If he said he would cut someone down, he would. That certainty was what made his sword strong.

Rem spoke without expression, his usual smile nowhere to be seen.

"Let's be a little careful, eh? My axe tends to swing itself. It's got a mind of its own. A sentient axe."

His face was remarkably indifferent for someone making such a silly joke. That only made him more menacing.

"His body is fine. As for his mind, we'll have to wait until he wakes."

Audin had checked Encrid's breathing. His customary "brother" was absent.

Intimidation affected the mind. It was a power that pressed and constricted the opponent. Encrid could awaken an idiot. Of course, Audin had no such concern. Encrid was not that sort of man. He would not crumble over something this minor.

There was only one concern: what if a blade called fear had lodged in his heart? That was what the other man had done. Not bound him in physical chains, but left wounds in his mind. It was fair to call what he inflicted psychological trauma. Once etched into someone, fear was not easily broken.

"We'll discuss this once he wakes and we've checked his condition."

The word "brother" was still absent from Audin's speech. That was how the fight ended.

* * *

After waking, Encrid heard everything that had happened immediately after he lost consciousness and nodded.

"I see."

Intimidation was a technique based on Will. That made his opponent a proto knight at the very least. And one who truly knew how to use a sword.

"Interesting," Encrid murmured.

Interesting?

Everyone looked at him.

If he meant that, something was wrong. His head was broken. They all knew it. Yet they could also imagine it being true of Encrid. Wasn't he a complete lunatic? That thought passed through everyone's mind.

A brief silence fell as their various thoughts ran their course. Was he really all right, or just putting on a brave face? Would he still act that way before an actual blade?

"He's as broken as ever, so I guess he's fine," Rem concluded.

In other words, this was normal for Encrid.

Afraid at the sight of a sword? It could happen. Anyone who had spent time on battlefields had seen people whose minds had broken. There was even a story of a soldier who had seen a Giant in battle and fainted at the mere word "Giant" for the rest of his life.

But none of that applied to Encrid. He had already died for real, actually fucking died, enduring every bit of pain. A man who had not backed down before real death would hardly be tormented by being cut and stabbed to death by imaginary blades.

"First when you drew that sword, and now this. You really must be broken up here, Captain."

Relieved, Krais circled his right index finger beside his ear. He seemed to be recalling the similar experience they had had when drawing the demon sword.

SMACK!

Rem struck the back of Krais's head. It was such a solid smack that his eyes seemed to pop out, befitting his nickname of Big-eyes.

"Ow! Why'd you hit me?"

"That's mine."

What was his? Encrid inwardly shook his head and sat up.

"Only I get to do that."

Rem was being petty for no reason. Krais pouted, but quietly backed off. It wasn't as though he could reason with the man.

"Are you truly all right, Brother Captain?"

"Must have slept too much. I feel light as a feather."

Asked if he was all right, he had replied that his body felt light. Audin smiled.

"Your mental fortitude is truly remarkable, brother."

Once again, Audin saw Encrid in a new light. How could he not? Throughout the long years of honing divine power, everyone was required to have patience and a steady mind.

"Let only those who bow to no hardship or threat raise their heads."

Audin murmured a passage of scripture. No one paid it much attention.

Ragna was not suspicious by nature, but he still felt a check was necessary.

SHING.

He drew his sword and stopped it a finger joint's length from the tip of Encrid's nose.

"... You want to spar?"

Encrid stared blankly into Ragna's eyes as he asked.

Someone afraid of a sword could not conceal their anxiety. But what of Encrid's eyes now? They were unchanged. Steady and upright. Filled with the same look that had sickened Swallow Blade.

"We can do it another time."

Ragna withdrew his sword.

As always, Jaxon could only marvel at Encrid.

'Feels like he wouldn't die even if you killed him.'

Not that he would simply stand by and watch if Encrid were in mortal danger.

In any case, Encrid got up perfectly fine. The sparring continued afterward. Instead of his earlier gentle, kindly swordsmanship, the rapier swordsman unleashed intimidation again.

Once more, Encrid knocked aside formless blades until one cut him down and killed him. Strictly speaking, he lost consciousness, so it was not an actual death. Something like death merely burrowed into his mind and heart, tearing them up. It could not change him.

"You're enduring it?" the rapier swordsman said.

Watching, Swallow Blade grumbled.

"Enough already. If you're going to kill him, just kill him. Why keep testing the waters?"

The rapier swordsman ignored him.

The half-Giant and Edin Molsen's bodyguard had a different opinion.

"You should go last from now on. He's unconscious before we even get a turn."

That was the bodyguard. The half-Giant nodded, too. They were telling him not to rob them of their chances.

This, too, was remarkable. The rapier swordsman had seen Encrid's limits, but gave credit where it was due.

'Motivation?'

Not one of the people here was the same as when they had arrived. Every one of them was changing the more they faced Encrid.

Before they knew it, the heat had passed and dry autumn had arrived. Border Guard lay in northern Penn-Hanil, where autumn was short. The cold would soon follow. That autumn was already half over. Thirty days had passed since they arrived in Border Guard.

"Tell him next time will be the last," the rapier swordsman said.

"Do as you please," Rem replied.

When Encrid woke from the unconsciousness induced by intimidation, he nodded.

"I want to beat that."

"There is one way."

They usually offered advice after he faced the visitors to the city. This time was no different. Ragna spoke up.

"If you cannot knock them all aside, meet the illusory blades with your mind."

His meaning was not vague.

'Will.'

Unless Encrid acquired something intangible that could at least withstand intimidation, he could not overcome it.

"They say Will comes through enlightenment, but if that were truly the only way to obtain such power, knight orders could never be formed. Proto knights are those who have forcibly awakened their Will. It may be possible for you. Of course, awakening it and immediately countering intimidation like that are separate matters."

That last part meant he could not run the moment he learned to walk. In any case, the conclusion to draw from Ragna's words was that his opponent was testing him. Whatever the intent, good or evil, out of kindness or malice, Encrid did not care.

Only this.

'Intimidation.'

As with everything he had ever encountered that bound him, he simply wanted to overcome it. Not that he had the slightest intention of throwing his life away to repeat today.

* * *

Another day passed, bringing a night like any other. On duty at the city gate, Bell spotted someone approaching through the darkness.

"Who's there? A peddler?"

Even as he asked, Bell knew the stranger was no merchant. Rationally, traveling alone was odd enough. Instinctively, the man simply looked formidable.

"Is this where the War-Ending Soldier is?"

He wore neither a black cloak nor anything suspicious. As he came within reach of the torchlight, Bell saw that he was young. His complexion was somewhat dark, and he wore a sword at his waist. An arming sword, with three daggers lined up at his other hip. They looked entirely natural on him. In other words, he was armed, yet somehow looked as though he wasn't.

"I was hoping I might see him," the man said again.

Bell tilted his head, then straightened it and answered.

"We can't let outsiders into the city at this hour. Come back tomorrow during the day. And you can meet him tomorrow, too. It is tomorrow, right?"

That last question was for the comrade beside him.

"Yes, that's right," his comrade answered.

As it happened, Encrid would be recovered enough to come out tomorrow. For those sparring matches that had been going on lately. There were days he rested, but he would be out tomorrow. He wasn't badly hurt.

"You're in luck. You can meet him tomorrow."

At Bell's words, the man worked his lips for a moment before speaking.

"I'm only free tonight. Is there no way to see him now?"

Bell thought he was being stubborn, but the man did have a peculiar air about him.

'I should test him.'

Plenty of people sought the War-Ending Soldier, but few could overwhelm Bell. Quite a number turned back even after beating him.

"An ordinary soldier is this good?"

That was what they said.

Bell tapped his comrade on the shoulder.

"I'll go check him out. Ring the alarm if anything happens."

"I'll put an arrow in his forehead before I ring the alarm, so don't worry."

His fellow sentry tapped his own side lightly as he spoke. The man carried a bow everywhere he went. He knew how to use it, too. He belonged to Platoon Commander Vengeance's unit.

With that thought, Bell opened the postern and went out. Three or four sentries watched. At the edge of the torchlight, he spoke.

"If you knock me down, I'll pass along your message. Want to try?"

"Hmm. Very well."

Bell leveled his spear, but the man faced him empty-handed.

"... Not drawing your sword?"

Bell's voice deepened.

"A cut from this would kill you, and I don't think there's any need to kill you."

This bastard. Full of confidence, wasn't he?

Irritation surged through Bell, and he poured it into a spear thrust.

The fight was brief. His opponent seized the shaft as Bell thrust. Bell could see him move, but was half a beat too slow. The man closed the distance and struck Bell's stomach with his palm.

THUD!

The impact seemed to punch through his abdomen. Bell thought it had actually left a hole. His insides reverberated, and he barely stopped himself from vomiting before he heard the man's voice.

"You can take a hit."

"... I've got an instructor who flies into a rage if I go down after just one."

Bell exhaled as he answered. His legs trembled from the heavy impact. Still, Audin's fists hit twice as hard.

Bell made up his mind. The man was more skilled than him, and said he had no intention of waiting until daylight.

'I'll just pass it on, then.'

He would only tell Encrid. The decision was his.

Hadn't Encrid mentioned several times that someone like this might come? He had said himself that he wanted to meet everyone, even people stopping briefly on their way elsewhere. If their skills were proven, the late hour should not matter. He had already met several people that way.

"I'll be back."

Bell withdrew without protest. His opponent had shown neither murderous intent nor rudeness.

Bell went into the barracks and delivered the message to Encrid.

"I'll just go take a quick look."

Encrid immediately headed out.

"You're going alone?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, no, I suppose it should be fine."

Bell had been acting as gatekeeper for those who came seeking Encrid. In his estimation, this opponent fell short of the people currently staying in the marketplace. He felt neither an overwhelming presence nor any sense of intimidation. He conveyed that assessment as it was, and Encrid said he would go alone, his steps light.

"Let's go."

Encrid went out. The two exchanged a few words beneath the torches, then crossed swords.

CLANG.

Their fight continued. It was fierce, and full of life. Bell had the illusion that dawn was rising between them. It looked as though light was seeping in.

Then a strange scene unfolded before his eyes. The man's blade suddenly flashed out, seeming to graze Encrid's forehead, and the man shook his head as though something had gone terribly wrong.

Encrid's body shuddered, then he fell forward. Toppled over. Nose-first. He had lost all control of his body.

Bell blinked.

'Dead?'

Then the world warped, tore apart, and changed. Encrid's death was the pendulum that turned the day back. The curse had activated, and a day Bell could never remember passed.

Again, in the same today, Bell repeated the same actions, then went to Encrid and said,

"Independent Company Commander, someone's here to see you."

"All right."

Bell tilted his head. He had given no details, yet Encrid was already heading out. As he went, a smile spread across his entire face. It was a smile he rarely showed, his face alight with excitement.

"Someone you know?" Bell asked.

"No."

Encrid answered as he walked. He said he did not know the man, yet behind that answer lay boundless exhilaration and joy. He was so unable to hide his emotions that Bell could feel them plainly.