Chapter 281 - Black Blade Is Good at Scheming (3)

"Big-eyes."

Encrid called to the rambling Krais. Krais blinked and looked at him.

Why was anxiety eating away at him? Because life had battered him since childhood. One wrong step meant he was dead, or left with wounds nearly as bad.

'I've heard there were even bastards who'd go after his ass if things went wrong.'

Encrid scratched his cheek.

The world did not welcome the untainted. The innocent were easily stained. Spill ink on a white canvas, and there was no erasing it. Krais was no different.

He always anticipated the worst to avoid the worst. And because he imagined the worst, his mind stopped working when he was cornered. It simply would not function properly. He had been the same when he first stood blankly on the battlefield, moments from getting himself killed.

Encrid knew from experience. This bastard's brain had broken down again. Well, it was all speculation, but if he was wrong, so be it. If he was right, Krais would be easy to persuade.

"You're noisy. If we fight, we fight. If we die, we die."

Dunbachel spoke up from beside them, blunt in both manner and speech. It must have grated on her, hearing him talk as though they were all about to die.

Well, that could happen. Wasn't dying to a stray blade on the battlefield all too common? Encrid knew that too. They might die, but they might not. Nothing went exactly as one wanted. All one could do was try to make things turn out as close to one's wishes as possible.

For that, they needed Big-eyes too. More precisely, they needed a Big-eyes whose brain worked.

"Bastard's out of his mind. Smack him across the face. Knock some sense into him."

Rem spoke from his bed off to one side, bundled up like a caterpillar. Winter turned the barbarian into a caterpillar. It happened every year.

It sounded reasonable enough, but there was no need for violence. Encrid had already tried that. Even slapping Krais on the battlefield hadn't brought him to his senses.

Beside them, Audin clasped his hands.

"Pray. Prayer will see everything done."

Of course, prayer wouldn't solve this either. Even Holy power could do nothing about Krais's current condition.

Fortunately, Encrid knew what would, and put it into practice. He opened his mouth.

"Yeah. If things go bad, we'll run together."

"... Huh?"

Krais stopped blinking and stared at him in bewilderment. His trembling legs went still too.

"If things get as bad as they possibly can, getting you out and running will be nothing. Never mind Rem and the others. Do you really think the rest of them will die here?"

What he needed in place of anxiety was reassurance. The fingers hovering by his mouth, uncertain whether to bite his nails, dropped. Krais turned his head. His gaze traveled from Rem to Ragna, Jaxon, and Audin. However he looked at it, he couldn't imagine them dying.

And what about Teresa? Would a half-Giant who wore an iron mask even inside the barracks and muttered, "I am Teresa the Wanderer," die easily?

Finally, Dunbachel. Well, she might die.

"One Beastman dying has nothing to do with you."

Encrid's words came at just the right moment. Krais's brain, driven mad by anxiety and endlessly examining the worst possible outcomes, began returning to normal.

His vision cleared. The fog before his eyes dispersed. His trembling legs and restless hands stilled, and his blinking eyes began to sparkle as usual. His quivering pupils settled back into place and focused. At the same time, his light brown eyes curved gently.

"Ah, that's true. Still, hang in there, Dunbachel. You'll have to try hard if you don't want to die."

He said it with a smile.

"Should I kill you first?"

Dunbachel extended her claws.

"Rem, the Beastman's picking on me."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Krais was himself again. Big-eyes Krais chided Rem, asking how he could treat him like that, then hid behind Encrid when the caterpillar began wriggling as though about to rise.

"Captain, aren't you going to the war council? Battalion Commander Graham's head must be about to burst."

"I am."

"Let's go together."

"Sure."

Leaving Krais behind might earn him a splendid pattern of claw marks on his face. Encrid promptly left with him in tow.

Of those who remained, Audin was the first to speak, chuckling.

"Our brother the Company Commander is truly a remarkable man."

When had he realized that he should pray, but prayer could not accomplish everything? It had not been during his time as an Inquisitor. Everything had begun here, on the battlefield, in the barracks. It had begun with one man.

A man who would not back down, yet knew how to look after those around him. His sword was not for himself alone.

'What is a knight?'

What was a priest? What did it mean to be a servant of God?

The unexpected realization led Audin into deep contemplation.

None of the soldiers here was agonizing over the coming battles or war. Someone was coming at them? Then they would fight. That was how simply most of their minds worked.

And so Rem became a caterpillar again and quietly sank into a nap, while Ragna drew his sword once more. He felt he could not bear to go without swinging it right now.

It wasn't as though he had seen the Captain training like a madman. He had merely watched him soothe Krais with a few words and leave. That was all. Yet he felt something. Something he could not put into words tickled his chest.

Each was lost in their own thoughts. Teresa's desire for battle surged anew.

'I want to fight.'

For now, it didn't have to be Encrid. Giant blood drew her toward the battlefield, and the gradually changing atmosphere stirred every fine hair on her body.

"What's the big deal?"

Dunbachel still appeared to be thinking of nothing, but just now that seemed rather a good thing.

Jaxon remained expressionless as ever. Inwardly, of course, he agreed with Audin.

'A remarkable man.'

Esther had slipped into the barracks at some point and watched the exchange from where she lay in a corner. Of everyone present, she was the most astonished by the mystery of Encrid. A few words had restored a person's mind. If what he had just said was not a spell, what was?

PURR.

Esther licked a forepaw, a habit acquired after becoming a panther. Then she stretched her forelegs out and lay at full length. The heat rising from the warm fur beneath her pleasantly warmed her body.

* * *

Every member of the Company could feel the atmosphere in the territory changing. No, the entire garrison could. But it changed nothing. Anyone who would back down and flee the coming battle had already run.

That was plain upon entering the council chamber.

"There seem to be some empty seats."

Battalion Commander Graham had reorganized the heavy infantry Company into an Independent Company under his direct command. In its place, he had appointed Palto First Company Commander and appointed commanders for the Second and Third Companies as well. That had made Vengeance the Third Company Commander.

Their earlier large recruitment drive had given them room to reorganize, enough to transfer the core of the heavy infantry Company into an Independent Company. The newly appointed Vengeance had spoken as soon as he entered. More than half the people he had seen at the previous meeting were absent.

"They ran."

"Pardon?"

"Took their fortunes and fled in the night."

The answer came from Palto, the Company Commander currently responsible for maintaining order in the territory.

"You just let them leave?"

Vengeance questioned him. They'd let that slide? Shouldn't they have killed the bastards, made them pay? Nobles abandoning their territory in a crisis. And they'd let such scum go.

Repay a grudge tenfold. That was Vengeance's motto.

Palto's eyes narrowed at that. Was he finding fault with how Palto did his job? The room was already thick with tension. One spark looked likely to set it ablaze.

A cheerful voice rang through the sharply confrontational atmosphere.

"Of course you should let them go."

It came from behind Encrid. All eyes turned to Krais. He saw no need to waste time with pointless arguments or conversation.

'The Captain said he'd save me if things went wrong.'

He wouldn't die. At the very least, his safety was assured. In fact, even without the Captain, he had already devised a way out of the territory. His anxiety had simply spiraled as he imagined the worst possible moment.

'They were ridiculous ideas, really.'

Imagining dozens of wolf demonic beasts guarding the escape hole he had secretly dug. Imagining a spy with secret orders from Black Blade waiting there to kill him.

'None of it made much sense.'

But at the time, foreboding had shaken and battered his mind. Now? He was fine. Thanks to that, his brain was working at full speed.

"Will the three of them really join forces?"

"What?"

From the fleeing nobles, he abruptly thrust the blade of the central issue into the conversation, then returned to the earlier subject. Encrid thought Krais had an unusual way with words.

"If they undermine our unity, we're right to let them leave early. Battalion Commander Marcus wanted to kick them all out. Didn't you know?"

Vengeance hadn't. He wasn't particularly bright, though he was tenacious, loyal, and knew how to repay a kindness.

"He's right."

Graham nodded. He looked as though he had slept poorly for days. There were dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked at Krais.

"You're with the Independent Company."

"Krais, sir."

Encrid's Independent Company was famous for many things, but its fighting strength left the greatest impression. Overshadowed by that strength, Krais was a face familiar only to those in the know. Graham did know him, but that was all. Now, what had he said a moment ago? Graham's interest turned to Krais.

Krais spoke calmly.

"Aspen won't move just yet. Breaking through every palisade and other defense we've built up at Green Pearl would cost them too much."

"The battalion commander stationed at Green Pearl requested reinforcements, saying he was in immediate danger."

Krais stepped naturally out from beside Encrid. Marcus was gone, and the situation was very, very, very, very, very, very bad. Krais had to do his part to avoid the worst of the worst. That was why he was here. At the very least, he needed to know what the army's leaders were thinking.

'Though they don't seem to have been thinking at all.'

At least, they hadn't been using their heads properly.

In truth, Graham had done his best. He had gathered troops, quashed rumors to maintain morale, increased patrols, and deployed scouts. If a soldier responsible for maintaining order said something out of line or spread rumors, he had them beaten with clubs on the spot. Beyond maintaining order, hastily assembled squads were still observing the surrounding area. Apart from that, all he could do was wait.

"Of course the commander at Green Pearl would say that, with Aspen right in front of him. But our situation here is more urgent than Aspen. And, well, I don't think those three are particularly friendly with one another."

Before they knew it, the council revolved around what Krais was saying. Encrid pulled up a chair and sat beside Vengeance.

"What's with him?"

Vengeance asked. Encrid answered with his arms folded.

"Krais."

"Wasn't he the fellow who sold things?"

To Vengeance, he was a soldier who made small change dealing on the black market.

"That's right."

The tenacious Vengeance merely tilted his head and watched with a sullen expression. Fine, let's hear what he has to say—that was probably his thinking. Most of those present were much the same.

Only the furrows between Graham's and Palto's brows deepened. Those two, at least, had working brains.

"If the three aren't friendly, they'll be watching one another. What we need to do at a time like this is, well, make ourselves look a little bigger."

It was time to show the enemy where they stood. Were they cowering before Black Blade, the evil cult, and Aspen? If so, they would merely become prey as their enemies crept in bit by bit. But what if they were sharpening their fangs? What if they were waiting, hidden blades in hand?

"They won't attack us lightly."

"And what can we accomplish with the time that buys us?"

Krais blinked his large eyes, then smiled at Graham's question. Dimples appeared, his mouth and eyes curving gently. With a smile that had left many women in tears, he spoke.

"We can gain combat experience. And we might be able to take the head of whoever's holding them together."

What was Krais thinking now? Encrid, too, judged it necessary. Combat experience. There were men here who had become iron, heated again and again in training. Their combined strength was not weak.

Marcus hadn't scoffed at Black Blade's assembled forces for nothing. He had thought slitting Tarnin the Pig's throat was only a matter of time. But many of their men had no battlefield experience.

Border Guard's standing army had suffered through Encrid's training. They were strong soldiers forged by merciless drills. Krais knew that well too. Their only weakness was their limited battlefield experience.

There were veterans who had survived battles against Aspen, but there were also former mercenaries and men who had enlisted after hearing of Encrid's Independent Company's exploits. Many recruits still had little battlefield experience. And the battlefield was a place where men died all too easily as it was.

'You have to know your weaknesses.'

Only then could you cover them and fight with your strengths. Just like swordsmanship, Encrid thought as he listened. Fighting by hiding one's weaknesses and putting one's strengths forward was obvious enough, but difficult in practice.

Few people could think this clearly in a situation like theirs. Didn't tactics on the continent amount to little more than pushing through with force or planting spies? Krais went a step further. If they lacked experience, let them gain it. If they had a weakness, eliminate it.

"We'll divide the troops into two forces. A day force and a night force. The day force fights while the night force rests. Then the night force fights while the day force rests. They'll alternate, but avoid committing to a full engagement."

"... You're proposing only small, localized engagements?"

Graham interrupted with a question. His tone was grave. Perhaps fatigue merely made it seem that way.

"If we go straight into a large-scale battle, we'll suffer heavy losses. We need to 'prepare' first."

Krais had placed a hand on the table. His fingers spread, then pointed to a spot on the military map.

"We fight here. We withdraw here."

He was simply laying out what was in his head. His words came without hesitation. Encrid found himself drawn in too, and realized what his own role would be. There was nothing for him to do in the small, localized engagements. More precisely, nothing for the Independent Company.

"The Fairy's Company and the Lunatic Company will operate separately."

Tormented and consumed by anxiety, he had imagined the worst of the worst. Those imaginings had been based on information. Using that information, he had predicted what would happen and how their opponents would react.

A curious fervor began to enter Krais's words. This was his first real foray into directing troops, but he never faltered.

"One more thing. There's something you'll need to do, Captain."

Krais addressed his final words to Encrid. Encrid nodded. Whether it meant wielding his blade or going out alone to cut down dozens of demonic beasts, he intended to do whatever was needed.