Chapter 237 - What Is a Knight?

'Not a spar.'

It was an offer of recruitment.

'This seems to be happening a lot lately.'

Hadn't Marcus said something similar?

'He told me to become a Battalion Commander.'

Encrid had refused. And this time, it was a knight. Encrid regarded the man before him. He plainly wasn't a noble of Naurilia.

Was that a problem?

Not at all. It wouldn't be any problem whatsoever. Even if they were born in Naurilia, what did people born in rural villages care who their sovereign or nobles were? Whoever kept their bellies full and left them in peace was best.

Most grew up without ever seeing their sovereign even once, so they lived thinking of the lord who ruled the surrounding lands as their king. Encrid had been born and raised in just such a village.

Consequently, his loyalty to his country was hardly fervent. Loyalty wasn't what kept him from answering immediately. Nor was he reluctant to accept help. Without advice and assistance, he would never have come this far.

For that, he was grateful to Rem, Audin, Ragna, and Jaxon. Even to Krais. But quite apart from all that, the offer had honestly left Encrid feeling deflated. How could he put it? His racing heart had cooled into disappointment.

He had come out expecting to see the man before him fight properly, to see what he could really do. That was why he hadn't cared about the pouring rain. "Should I follow you when you haven't even told me where we're going?"

"You won't regret it."

The man's eyes shone with genuine belief in his own words. Encrid knew that even without any ill intent on the other man's part, the offer wouldn't necessarily benefit him.

Even a carelessly thrown stone could kill a frog. Whether it was thrown with good intentions or bad, to drive off an approaching snake or to strike the frog's skull, a stone was still a stone. More importantly...

'Do I want to join a knight order?'

Encrid briefly looked up at the sky and asked himself. The torrential rain didn't look likely to stop in a day or two.

Heavy rain for autumn. His deliberation was brief. This wasn't something he could agonize over for long.

Becoming a knight and joining a knight order were different things. They always had been. Admiring the scarlet cloak didn't mean he would abandon everything to wear it.

That hadn't changed. "I refuse."

"Refuse? If it's because I haven't revealed my affiliation, think again. No one can offer you a better path than I can now. Especially if you intend to climb higher. You'll need to go where people of that caliber gather." Did one have to join a knight order to become a knight?

No. But it improved the odds. There were mercenaries and bandits who had reached what people commonly called knight-level.

Still, the fact remained that knight orders produced the most knights. At the very least, they offered more opportunities. To a soldier with nothing, serving in a remote frontier territory, it certainly looked like a lifeline made of gold. An opportunity.

"It's better than the Scarlet Cloak Knight Order. I guarantee it."

The rapier swordsman pressed him again, but Encrid did not nod. 'A knight order.'

Yes, it could be an opportunity.

But would spending hour upon hour training and practicing grant him that kind of skill simply because he belonged to a knight order? Would he reach his destination? Could he become a knight? Encrid looked back over the path he had traveled. Review was part of him. What did he see along that path? What had brought him here?

He didn't need the finest surroundings, provided with nothing to worry about.

And on top of that...

'I haven't even seen the full extent of what my men can do.'

What they had given him had made him what he was. He couldn't turn his back on them. Just as he was about to refuse again, a voice spoke.

"There is one possession of a Fairy's you must never touch. Do you know what it is?"

Where had she come from? Even to Encrid's heightened senses, her presence had been indistinct until she spoke.

The Fairy Company Commander's voice had beaten his refusal to the air. Her face looked fresher than before, as though she had washed. She was in casual clothes, wearing a long-sleeved shirt thin enough to flutter in the wind.

Then came another voice.

"Her betrothed."

Jaxon. Was he answering the Fairy's question?

What were those two doing over there?

Encrid and the rapier swordsman turned their heads. "Correct. Her betrothed. Do you know what happens when someone takes liberties with a Fairy's betrothed?"

"Execution, ain't it?"

That bastard Rem was there too. Hadn't he acted as though he wasn't leaving the quarters? "My Lord, my Father. Once more I beseech you: let no one take away my small, precious Company Commander."

Audin emerged as well, praying.

How long had they been watching? They stood to one side of the training yard, gathered around Audin.

Audin prayed. Ragna's eyes shone quietly. Rem grinned, radiating killing intent, with Jaxon beside him.

Esther was at Jaxon's feet, and the golden-eyed Beastman stepped forward too. "If you're going, I'll go with you."

Dunbachel. She always meant what she said and never spoke in roundabout ways. She meant she would go wherever Encrid went. The Fairy Company Commander stood a step apart from the others, looking straight at him.

Lastly, Pin's grumbling voice reached him, as though she had come out late.

"You said we were just going to watch. So, are you going?"

The last question was for him. Encrid scratched his head. Thinking about it, he had done nothing for them, yet they stepped forward for him. They had fought for him, taught him, and stayed by his side all this time.

'Who am I to deserve that?' What was a knight?

He believed it was someone who upheld honor.

What was a knight?

He believed it was someone with convictions.

What was a knight?

He believed it was someone who set injustice right. That was the chivalry Encrid believed in, followed, and wished to embody.

To him, this was honor, conviction, and justice. His loyalty to these people was all three. "If you're not here to fight, go back. I'm not joining your knight order."

Encrid had already chosen his path to knighthood.

Here, in this place, he would move from the present to what came next. "Well, wasn't planning to stop you if you went."

Rem responded with nonsense. If he wasn't going to stop him, why was he even here? "Hmm. I'm better."

Ragna spoke out of nowhere.

"I mean I'm better than any knight order."

An arrogant, audacious addition, but knowing Ragna's genius, Encrid had little to say to it. Audin merely smiled.

"It is your choice, brother."

Hadn't he just prayed to God not to let someone take him away? For all their words, they would have accepted it if Encrid had decided to leave. They really were remarkable people.

In any case, he had decided, made his choice, and had no intention of looking back.

That was the kind of man Encrid was. KRA-BOOM!

Thunder sounded again, and blue lightning flashed overhead, illuminating their surroundings. The rapier swordsman stared into Encrid's eyes, then nodded.

"You don't look likely to change your mind."

He gave up and brushed his hands off. His work took him across the continent, seeking promising people and guiding them to his home. Ordinarily, he would have revealed his affiliation.

But...

'I thought he'd refuse.'

That was why he hadn't. Revealing it probably wouldn't have changed anything.

Should he tell him anyway, just in case? Pointless. Encrid's talent was worse than anyone's he had ever seen, but he had thought highly of the look in those eyes from the start.

Wasn't that why he had tried to take him along?

Though back then, it had been something other than his sword that caught his attention. "Watch out for Swallow Blade. He's not a tame one."

"Understood."

Encrid nodded. "Don't overuse Will. If a child who has only just learned to walk runs without resting, he'll ruin his knees and ankles. First strengthen your ankles. Run after that."

"I will."

Sound advice, and a useful addition. "Then I'll be leaving now. I don't know whether we'll meet again."

An unnecessarily honest farewell.

"See you again."

Encrid offered that in return. The rapier swordsman turned away. In the end, there had been no spar.

Encrid couldn't shake his disappointment.

"Disappointed you didn't get to fight?"

Rem had put his finger right on it. Still disappointed, Encrid turned his fighting spirit on Rem. "Since we're already wet?"

"Well, fuck, sure. Fair warning, I told you I can't go easy on you like before."

"I've never gone easy on you."

"No shit. That fucking tongue of yours." Encrid stood with his sword raised in the rainy night. Rem drew an axe before him.

With the rain between them, they charged at each other, heedless of the darkness and the downpour.

In the end, Encrid lost again. "Really can't go easy on you anymore."

Rem spoke with the rain beating down on him. At least neither had drawn blood, since both had shown a measure of restraint. 'Rem...'

He could go higher. There were signs that he was somehow limiting himself.

Sensing it didn't mean Encrid asked about it. That was for Rem to handle himself. Encrid simply resolved to follow his convictions, justice, and honor. If loyalty to these people meant staying here, then he would honor that loyalty. "What are you going to do about that broken axe?"

Encrid's sword was sturdy. One deliberate swing had shattered an axe blade.

Rem had used it as bait to settle the match. "Weren't you buying me another?"

"I don't have any Krona."

"Neither do I." Rem had lavished his money on Krais for doing a few commendable things lately. He didn't even have enough Krona to have a suit of armor made.

Neither Encrid nor Rem had ever been the sort to save diligently and spend wisely.

Their eyes naturally turned toward the quarters. "Oi, Big-eyes."

If he had no Krona, he could just pester Big-eyes Krais for it.

That was Rem's conclusion, and Encrid didn't stop him. "This is only the beginning with Will."

Ragna had been watching the spar. The fellow who indulged his laziness to the fullest had even stood in the rain to watch.

At Encrid's feet, a thoroughly drenched Esther sprang into his arms. "I know."

He knew because he had felt it and understood it.

He was considering whether to go back to the baths or simply wash up and sleep when a shout rang out. "Independent Company Commander!"

It came from the barracks entrance. It was already the middle of the night, and a soldier was calling for him.

Everyone turned toward the voice. Even Rem came back out from the quarters, where he had been pestering Krais. "Come on, you're getting everything wet. At least dry off before you come inside."

Over Krais's grumbling, the soldier called for Encrid.

"Something's happened!"

What was it this time?

* * *

As the rapier swordsman left, his original companions fell in beside him.

"Made the trip for nothing, then."

Such snide remarks.

"It was entertaining. That's enough." "Are you sure? And you're just leaving that bastard alone? He was up to something."

They all had their particular talents. The bastard one of them was referring to was that lunatic Swallow Blade. The swordsman stroked his chin. A habit that persisted even after his beard was gone.

"He'll handle it."

It wasn't his business to begin with. Besides, Encrid wasn't someone who would fall to the likes of Swallow Blade.

'Though the bastard does know how to use his head.' "Was it real, though?"

His subordinate asked, and the rapier swordsman nodded without hesitation.

"His is a talent my eyes cannot see."

It was the highest praise.

In truth, Encrid had gotten where he was by dying over and over, but they would never discover that. "Oh."

The subordinate was astonished. Those were not words his superior offered lightly.

"Then where are we going now?"

"Back. To the Empire."

At the swordsman's words, his subordinates' faces brightened too. At last, they were going home.