Chapter 334 - What Do You Have Inside That Skull of Yours?

What do you have inside that skull of yours? Upon waking each morning, Encrid practiced the Isolation Technique with Audin. Then he swung his sword slowly, training to control every movement of his muscles, before continuing his sparring with Rem. He made time for meals along the way, sometimes snacking on herb pies and the like. With his extraordinary level of activity, even his eating and shitting were extraordinary. Eating enormous amounts was a given. Outside the time he spent eating, shitting, and sleeping, he drove his body like a madman. The first thing he had done upon fully recovering was demolish the barracks. And afterward? Knowing how to observe himself, he returned to thinking things through and training. Krais really must have pulled something off, because the visitors stopped coming. Encrid was delighted. So much so that he had just declared he would forgo even the Gilfin Guild's tribute. Then he was asked to meet just one person. When he went out to the entrance of the barracks compound, an unexpected face awaited him. "Have you gotten even better-looking?"

She murmured it with a smile. Both the smile and the face were familiar. Leona Roquefried: the owner of a trading company, and a friend with whom he had once spent a night talking. When Encrid simply looked at her, she asked with a smile, "You haven't forgotten my name too, have you?" "How could I forget?" She had left quite an impression. She had suggested they become friends. Friends. Hearing that from the woman who had eliminated the former company head's son and taken over the business had been refreshingly unexpected. They had eaten herb pies, drunk pumpkin soup, and explored the market together. They had stayed up all night, trading jokes and talking about this and that. Simply suggesting friendship couldn't make two people close overnight. But the fondness remained. Fondness for her as a person, unrelated to attraction between a man and a woman. Now the head of the company, Leona had arrived in neat leather trousers, a white shirt, and a fur vest. The shirt was unusually thick, too. In truth, Encrid had never seen that fabric before. Looking at it, he thought a thicker weave would make a good lining for a gambeson. Typical of a man who thought of nothing but fights, battles, and swords. As the two faced each other outside the compound, Krais muttered from the sidelines, "What about that makes you think he's better-looking?" Encrid hadn't shaved, and he hadn't washed after working up a drenching sweat. His hair was overdue for a cut and lay in an untidy mess, half-dried after being soaked with sweat. In short, he was filthy. Krais twitched his nose. He didn't even smell good. In Krais's opinion, a handsome face wasn't the best way to seduce a woman. First and foremost came one's air. Even a handsome man with exceptionally large eyes, a high nose, and full lips couldn't beat that. So what created that air? It was a combination of things. 'Scent, gaze, manner, looks, a well-trained body.'

Appearance was part of it, of course, but not everything. That was how Krais saw it. Was Encrid's current air devastatingly attractive to women, then? To some swordsman obsessed with sparring, perhaps. But this wasn't a moment that would win women over. Absolutely not. He was putting the name Irresistible to shame. "I told you to wash before coming." "Waste of time." Encrid answered without even turning toward Krais. He was recalling the past, revisiting what he had experienced then. More accurately, he had no attention to spare for turning his head. 'A night's rest.'

There had been no romantic signals and no physical contact. They had simply talked. Rested. What had he gained at the end of that rest? He couldn't forget it if he tried. A physical understanding. After reviewing the arc of his sword swing, the step that preceded it, and the movement of his shoulders, he had learned to draw the line connecting those points quickly. That was when he had grasped a part of the concept of speed. What he had grasped wasn't what mattered now. The process was. Remembering that process brought back the sensation. That didn't mean he intended to do anything right this instant. This was closer to a slight adjustment in direction. He was already walking the right path; it would merely help him along a little. Right now, he thought, it was time to welcome the friend he hadn't seen in so long. "You really have changed," Leona said, gazing into his eyes. She was a trading-company head. A merchant. Naturally, she had a discerning eye for people. Her remark about his improved looks had been half a joke, but the other half was sincere. It wasn't his appearance. There was something different about him from the last time they had met. 'How strange.'

He had changed. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. She merely felt it intuitively, both as a woman and as the head of a trading company. Well, surely that change was what had allowed him to achieve such great feats and spread his name far and wide. From the capital to the surrounding cities, there was nowhere his name hadn't reached. "Have I gotten more wrinkles?" Encrid joked, perfectly straight-faced. "You're saying that to tease me, aren't you?" Leona shot back. Their eyes crinkled as they smiled at one another. Should they go somewhere for tea? No sooner had Encrid thought it than Krais gestured, and a few soldiers brought out a table and chairs. What was with all this preparation? Encrid was perceptive. It occurred to him that Krais had a reason for specifically calling him here. "You can't stand around talking forever, and the Captain is a busy man."

Krais mimed gripping a sword in both hands and swinging it. Leona knew perfectly well how obsessed Encrid was with training. Hadn't he even gotten into an impromptu spar back when the company had business in Border Guard? After that, she had watched him train herself. Encrid glanced at Krais. Big-eyes was even supplying a plausible excuse. There was definitely something going on. Apparently unbothered, Leona took the chair the soldiers had provided without taking her eyes off Encrid. Behind her stood Mattis, the bodyguard he had met before, and another man. The newcomer was strikingly handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes. By Krais's standards, he also knew how to carry himself. His lips curved in a gentle smile as he stood in attendance behind Leona. "What brings you here?" "Would you believe me if I said I came to see a friend?" "Hardly." "You're right. Company business. But seeing a friend while I'm here is a pleasure too, you know?" Leona smiled, and Encrid smiled back. It really was quite a pleasant meeting. The tea, however, was atrocious. This was the tea they used to drive visitors away. The sort served to say, Drink your shit and leave. And they were serving it here? 'On purpose?'

Of course. He could see Krais's intent. Even when their eyes briefly met, Krais pretended innocence with an insufferable shamelessness that was somehow hard to dislike. Encrid turned his attention to Leona. They exchanged a little conversation about miscellaneous pursuits. "It really is astonishing. Do you know how famous you've become? I knew this would happen. I should have done whatever it took to bring you into the company back then." "Does a trading company need swordsmen that often?" "Very often. We're not a settled trading company." It was miscellaneous knowledge, but interesting to hear. Trading companies came in two forms: itinerant and settled. Most combined the two, but the Roquefried trading company's itinerant side was far stronger. That created plenty of problems, but from the previous head's time to the present, they had had nowhere in particular to rely on. They had been left with little choice but to make traveling trade their main business. Encrid wasn't a fool; he understood what lay beneath her words. It wasn't that they had nowhere to rely on, but that they had no mutually beneficial relationship. Even if they had found one, the other party would have tried to swallow the company whole or stab it in the back. All those circumstances had made Roquefried what it was today. Having no permanent base meant it was difficult to exercise influence in any region. They would often need to work with the local trading companies to turn a profit anywhere. To make money under those conditions, they must have created the Roquefried Trade Route Map and opened trade with the Glacier Rangers, the Black Leather Guild, and the Shepherds of the Wastes. Companies that traded with those three groups could hardly be common. That was Roquefried's history. Did its future have to be the same? No. They needed a base too. They needed steady profits, especially with such ominous currents sweeping the continent. Then where should they establish themselves?

'Somewhere things are changing rapidly.'

Somewhere ripe for profit. With the nation's affairs unsettled by the possibility of civil war, a city whose value was soaring. Somewhere like Border Guard. It was an ideal base. Encrid broadly understood the situation, but he didn't bring it up. Neither did Leona. If Krais had summoned him to gain the upper hand in negotiations, he had miscalculated. The two were here as friends. "Married yet?" "No." "What about that Fairy?" Leona whispered. "She mostly jokes about calling me her betrothed." "Tsk. How boring." "What about you, Leona?" "I've pledged myself to the company." "Really?" "I'm lying. I do have a betrothed, but I'm still not sure. It's closer to a marriage of convenience, so if other things work out, it might not happen. That doesn't mean I'm going to flirt with you, Enkie. Once I'm rejected, that's that. So you'd better be regretting not giving in to my charms back then." "Yes, I'll do that from time to time." "You're supposed to regret it bitterly, all the time." "I'm busy." "Swinging your sword?" "You know me well." They both chuckled as they traded jokes. For a moment, Encrid felt young again. Leona knew how to put people at ease. Was that a merchant's talent, or an expression of consideration for another person? It didn't matter. He was simply enjoying himself. A few remarks later, Krais cut in.

"A marriage of convenience? How can that be right?" Here? Out of nowhere? "Oh, exactly. I really don't want it." "That's what I'm saying. Don't you agree, Captain?" "... With what?" Krais gave Encrid's foot a kick. Then he feigned thirst and took a sip of tea. This was the same Krais who had sworn never to drink it because it tasted like actual shit. Encrid more or less understood.

'They need to make a deal.'

That was where Krais and Leona stood. The awful tea wasn't there for nothing. It was a signal of what this meeting was. Roquefried needed a base. Border Guard needed a shield to keep the surrounding nuisances at bay. Their needs aligned. What a ridiculous bastard, Encrid thought. He could see why Krais had called him here. The old handsome-man ploy, using a friendship to gain the advantage. Come on, your friend's right here. Are you really going to be like that? What a petty trick. There was only one reason Krais acted this way.

"How much did they promise you?" Encrid asked. The lord must have promised him something. Encrid's question cut straight through it all, but Krais wasn't flustered. When gold was at stake, he could be a superb actor, a brilliant schemer, and an outstanding wit. "Pardon? What do you mean?" "She came here as a friend." If he wanted to use a friendship to gain the upper hand, he ought to consider its obligations too. Encrid was also Leona's friend. "If you say things that could be misunderstood..." "Oh, it's fine. A deal should be clean and straightforward." Leona was taking Krais's side instead. To Encrid, it sounded like she was saying she wouldn't fall for petty tricks, but wouldn't resort to them either. "I'm leaving."

Encrid rose. From this point on, he felt it was none of his business. "See you next time."

Leona smiled brightly and offered him her hand, its back uppermost. Encrid took it, brushed his lips lightly against the back, and turned away. Perfectly proper etiquette. He had picked things up here and there, and learned it during a period when, despite being a mercenary, he had earned gold escorting noblewomen at parties. "A salon really is the way to go," Krais muttered at the sight.

Someone else stopped Encrid as he turned. "Er, you there."

It was Mattis. He tried to conceal his expression, but his astonishment was plain. He hadn't been able to believe the rumors. He had met Encrid in person, after all. This man was winning such fame? He had thought half of it was a lie, but seeing him now, there was a remarkable ease about him. He truly looked like a formidable fighter. Unless Mattis's eyes were deceiving him. "Would you spar with me?" Mattis asked. Encrid had come straight from training. Three swords still hung at his waist: the gladius, the silver-bladed longsword, and Spark. "Anytime."

There was no refusal. Leona didn't stop them either. She knew Mattis. If he was stepping forward before she even said anything, something must have stirred him. TING. Swords drawn, they sized each other up, then lightly brought their blades together at the same moment. The two swords met neatly in the middle, as though by prior agreement. CLANG, CLANG-CLANG. Three probing exchanges. Since this was a spar, Encrid was also courteously giving his opponent time to warm up. Immediately after the third exchange, Mattis committed to a slash. He was a city-level fighter who knew how to project his presence. ["A city-level fighter? Bullshit. They die when a blade hits them, same as anyone else."]

Rem might scoff, but Mattis was undeniably a fighter of recognized ability. And yet. TING. The moment their steel met, Mattis knew his opponent's sword was no slower than his own. He tried to press it down. It was a form combining Flowing Sword and Heavy Sword to subdue the opposing blade. But Encrid's sword moved faster than Mattis could react. It knocked his blade aside and slipped forward. A strike that blocked, deflected, and attacked at once: Snake Sword. The optical illusion made the sword look as though it truly bent toward him. Mattis stared at the silver-shining blade that had stopped just short of his throat. Just like that, without even seeming to exert himself? And the refinement of his swordsmanship seemed greater than Mattis's own. "Hah."

All he felt was a hollow sense of defeat. Compared with the last time they had met, he could have believed this was a different man. The gap in their ability was clear. Even if he hadn't let his guard down, he would still have lost. The difference made holding out longer meaningless. "Well, then."

Encrid didn't know how to soothe a defeated opponent. He simply turned away. At the same time, he believed Mattis would find his feet again somehow. He wasn't a knight, but a warrior of the trading company. Once he remembered his duty, he would do what needed doing. Behind him, Krais began the negotiations. Hearing their words, Encrid thought:

'That bastard.'

He finally understood what Krais had intended all along. "Now, then. We've settled what you'll do for us and what Border Guard will give you." Krais had never intended to spend long haggling with merchants. By calling Encrid out and getting him to take Leona's side, he had invited them both to lay their cards on the table. Otherwise neither would be able to face Encrid, so they would deal with each other in good faith. In short, he had called him in to referee. 'When it comes to cunning little tricks...'

He might truly be the best on the continent. No wonder he managed so many different tasks without ever getting stuck. Afterward, the Roquefried trading company opened a trading house in Border Guard. Naturally, the local merchants objected, but the company established itself by accommodating what it could and rejecting what it had to. A month was all it took. Throughout that time, Encrid swung his sword. For an entire month, as though he were repeating today. He was the sort of man who could do that even without feeling any progress. But now he could feel himself advancing. That month was not spent in vain. "Having fun?"

Rem asked during a spar, and Encrid answered with a smile.

"Obviously." How could he do this if he didn't enjoy it? Rem conceded the point. His captain was definitely insane. Hadn't his axe nearly sent him to the next world just moments ago? It could easily have led to an unintended repetition of today. The ferryman seemed to have caught a glimpse of Encrid's death, yet he hadn't died. It was astounding. After watching it all, the ferryman had no choice but to bestow lavish praise for the third time.

"What do you have inside that skull of yours?" What could be in the head of a man who did nothing but swing a sword for an entire month? It was a question he already knew the answer to.