Chapter 63 - A Knock

It took no time at all. Just what one would expect of Jaxon. They had left the barracks around noon, yet he returned before the sunset could clothe the earth.

"That was quick."

They had just finished a meal of pumpkin soup and thoroughly cooked braised pork haunch. Rem patted his stomach as he spoke, as though taunting Jaxon with how well they had eaten.

Without so much as a glance at Rem, Jaxon looked at Encrid.

"I'll show you the way."

He seemed ready to leave at once.

"Sit down."

Encrid spoke without rising. Jaxon hesitated.

He had found their location, but given time, they might discover he was on their trail. They might go into hiding. Or they might prepare for an attack. Might they decide to sever the trail cleanly rather than hide? It was possible. Was there any need to take an unnecessary risk? If he were alone, making the decisions and carrying them out himself, these questions would not have merited a moment's thought.

As all manner of thoughts churned through Jaxon's head, he heard his Squad Leader's voice.

"The pumpkin soup here is good."

Who didn't know that? The inn was called Vanessa's Pumpkin Soup, after all. Of the four inns at the market crossroads, it had the best food.

"Krais is paying out of his own pocket. Let's eat before we go."

Only after Encrid spoke again did Jaxon sit. For some reason, Rem, Ragna, and Audin offered no objections either.

Jaxon roughly brushed the snow from his head and shoulders. The fireplace kept the room so warm that the snow soon melted, leaving his outer clothes a little damp, though not unpleasantly so.

"Pumpkin soup and the barbecue we had earlier, please. One serving."

"The friend you were waiting for is here! Coming right up!"

The waitress answered brightly. She was a cheerful girl.

Most of the soldiers liked the pumpkin inn. Good food had that effect. No offense to the cooks back at the barracks, but to borrow Ragna's words, eating their meals was an act of cruelty to one's mouth. Sometimes the food was decent, but that was how it generally went.

By contrast, the meals at Vanessa's Pumpkin Soup went beyond excellent. People often said that Border Guard's finest cook worked here.

"We shouldn't delay."

Jaxon spoke as he sat down. Encrid nodded and answered.

"It hasn't stopped snowing yet."

Why would Encrid want to do hard labor either? Not when it did nothing to train his swordsmanship or unarmed combat. To him, too, snow was powdered demon shit. In fact, everyone serving in the unit would feel the same. If they struck the thieves' guild and returned now, piles of snow would be waiting to greet them.

That was why Rem and the others had said nothing. It would also explain why Krais had opened his purse. Jaxon understood everything now.

"I see."

After that, he devoted himself to eating.

Only when dusk had begun creeping over the ground did Encrid and the others finally rise.

"Let's go."

"Come again!"

The cheerful waitress called after them. Krais gave her a slight nod.

The two seemed to know each other already. They had been seen whispering together often during their stay.

"You know her?"

At Encrid's question, Krais replied,

"Her name's Leysa, seventeen years old. Her father's a shoemaker and her mother's a weaver. Neither has ever joined a guild."

A shoemaker made and sold shoes using leather and other materials. A weaver wove cloth. Both were common trades. The city did have manufacturing and carpenters' guilds, so if neither parent had ever joined one, they likely weren't exceptionally skilled.

"Her dream is to go to the capital someday and open an inn. For now, her goal is to learn the cooking here at Vanessa's Pumpkin Soup."

"An ambitious dream."

Rem chimed in, and with reason.

Running an inn sounded simple enough, but it wasn't something just anyone could do. Aside from the Krona it took, armed security was essential. Sell food and drink, and disturbances became a daily occurrence.

It had been relatively quiet today, with few customers thanks to the snow, but on an ordinary day, a few people would probably have started scuffling by now. Hadn't the armed guard eyed them as they left just moments ago? To Encrid, he looked like a retired soldier.

Hiring an armed guard who had served in Border Guard would be useful in many ways. He could settle most disturbances through his connections. Anything more serious would be beyond a lone guard anyway, requiring him to call in guards from the garrison. With connections there, he could summon them sooner. For those reasons, hiring a retired soldier as a guard was a necessity in Border Guard.

Inns also paid fairly heavy taxes, and in Border Guard, they needed not only a hall for meetings but suites, private training grounds, a dining room, and a tavern. Border Guard had neither a lord nor a lord's manor, so all kinds of public affairs, great and small, were conducted at inns. The barracks did have meeting rooms, but those were military facilities, not places open to just anyone. It was an environment where inns were bound to flourish.

Opening an inn like that in the capital really was a tall order. Not that it was any reason to give up.

"You certainly know a lot about her."

Encrid spoke as they followed Jaxon at the head of the group.

"Every pretty woman could become a customer someday."

Hadn't Krais said his goal was to open a ladies' salon? A salon catering exclusively to women. Naturally, he intended to staff it entirely with men—handsome men, at that. Creative bastard. He meant to empty noblewomen's purses with male beauty.

Perhaps uneasy, Krais kept talking.

"Will the Lake Panther be all right, though? Doesn't she get cold? Why wouldn't she budge when we told her to come along?"

"Still after her claws?"

"No. I don't think I'd live out my natural lifespan if I tried. They're expensive for a reason."

Encrid chuckled. Whatever Krais said, it seemed obvious he was still after them.

"You should give her a name. It looks like you'll be keeping her around."

Encrid inwardly nodded at that. He couldn't keep calling her this or that forever without a name.

As they talked, they found themselves well into a deserted alley. They had taken so many turns that even Encrid, whose sense of direction was decent, was becoming confused.

"You haven't pocketed the thieves' guild's Krona and started leading us into a trap, have you?"

Rem sneered for no good reason. Jaxon ignored him completely.

"This bastard never fucking answers me."

Rem grumbled, but Jaxon ignored that too, remaining consistent in his treatment of him.

"Enough."

Encrid stopped Rem before he could say more.

"Playing favorites? You won't like me when my feelings get hurt."

It was a good sign when Rem dragged Encrid into things to rein himself in. It meant he would end the argument here.

After that, they were quiet. Ragna scuffed his toes against the ground as he walked, seemingly bored.

"Winter is cold."

That was all Audin said when he saw a group of beggars lying on the ground despite the chill.

The snow had stopped, but a thin layer covered the frozen earth. By midday tomorrow, the sun would melt it and turn the ground to mud.

"Here it is."

They had spent about half an hour winding through the alleys. Before them stood an old wooden door, the sort one opened and passed through anywhere in Border Guard. The sun had set, but the soft moonlight was enough to see by.

Just as Encrid was about to push the door open, Rem spoke, standing still with the moonlight at his back.

"Want the left?"

"I'll take the right. I ought to earn my meal," Audin replied.

"Suit yourselves. As long as they don't come at me."

Ragna yawned.

"Lazy bastard. Squad Leader, we've got company."

Encrid turned at Rem's words. They were all draped in rags. On closer inspection, they were the beggar bastards who had been sprawled along the way.

The mixed-blood Fairy came to mind, then quickly faded.

'They're twice his size, at least.'

Encrid casually ran his hand along the back of his belt. His fingers found a knife. It wasn't an ordinary item; he had swiped it from the mixed-blood Fairy's corpse after killing him. The throwing-blade sheath also sat reassuringly against his chest.

One look at those whistling blades told him they weren't something easily made. What else was he supposed to do, then? Snap them up, of course. He had collected every last one, both those stuck in the ground and those on the Fairy's body.

"Guess nobody taught you as kids. You don't come into places like this after dark."

One of the beggars spoke, revealing front teeth that looked beyond yellow—almost black. It was too dark to see clearly. Even in winter, from several paces away, one could almost imagine the foul smell.

"Bullshit."

Rem answered and moved. He wasn't particularly fast; he simply closed the distance in long strides. The beggar who had stepped forward drew a pocketknife from his sleeve. Its blade was less than a handspan long. He made a stabbing gesture with it.

"You're dead."

Those were his last words.

Rem kept walking, and the man thrust his knife. As the beggar stabbed at his stomach, Rem caught his wrist with his left hand, yanked him inward, and slammed his right elbow into the man's skull.

CRACK! CRUNCH!

It was a bold, decisive blow. The beggar's neck bent at an unnatural angle under the impact of Rem's elbow.

CRUNCH.

At the same time, on the other side, Audin could be seen twisting a beggar's jaw with only his thumb, index finger, and middle finger. He gripped and twisted the jaw with three fingers, and the neck snapped. It was a feat of monstrous strength.

"You crazy bastard!"

"Fuck!"

Two of the remaining three men bristled with rage. The third sized up the situation and swiftly tried to flee.

Rem and Audin's fights were brief. Close the distance, ignore the knives, and strike. That was all. Rem chopped a beggar's throat with the edge of his hand, then snapped a short punch into his temple. That knocked the man unconscious.

Audin was even more straightforward. He stepped out with his left foot and drove his left fist straight forward.

WHOOSH, CRASH!

His fist was like a cannonball. The strike began at his toes and followed the twist of his waist. Driven straight out from his shoulder, the fist struck the man and made his nose disappear. With his face caved in, he dropped to his knees and toppled sideways. One blow had crushed his face. Naturally, he collapsed unconscious.

Meanwhile, Encrid dealt with the one fleeing.

THWIP, THUNK!

"Ghk!"

The fleeing man pitched forward, a dagger adorning the back of his neck.

Rem, who had just tensed his toes to give chase, turned his head. Audin blinked several times, and even Ragna's half-lidded eyes widened. Jaxon's brows drew together, then smoothed out.

With the heavy, cold air wrapped around them, Krais let out a brief exclamation.

"Wow."

Encrid lowered the right hand he had extended straight ahead.

"What? Chasing him would be a waste of time."

"Since when did our Squad Leader get so good at throwing daggers?" Rem asked.

"I improved with practice."

"You really are a wonder."

"Is this the time to focus on the knife I threw?"

Fair point. Rem nodded.

Not one of them had been surprised when five beggars attacked. Even Krais had remained calm.

"You weren't surprised?" Encrid asked.

He had known on the way in, after looking at the bodies and hands of the beggars lying there. He hadn't made his living as a mercenary for nothing. What did it take to survive so long with mediocre skills? A sharp eye for trouble. Encrid had an exceptional eye in his own way.

The beggars had told him Jaxon was on the right track. If someone was standing guard, didn't that mean there was something ahead worth guarding?

"Sorry? Oh, no, I wasn't surprised. What beggar attacks armed soldiers? Their pretext was pathetic. So now we know for certain that either the criminal guild's headquarters is up ahead or they're hiding something."

Was it something anyone would notice? Or was Krais clever? Probably the former. Still, he had nerve. Krais might be adept at dodging about and running away on the battlefield, but he was a soldier who had witnessed war firsthand. This was nothing to him.

"It is impressive for a criminal gang, though."

"What is?"

"Judging by how those men acted, it looks like they take shifts on guard duty. That's far too meticulous for some ordinary gang. This Gilfin must be incredibly capable."

Krais was clever, too. He could see one aspect of a thing and consider what lay behind it.

"That's true."

While the two exchanged a few words, Jaxon tried the door, then stepped back. From the way he reached for his sword hilt, he seemed about to cut it down. Audin stepped forward.

"Let me knock."

This was a criminal organization's headquarters. They weren't going to open up just because someone knocked.

BANG!

But Audin's knock was a little different.

"Ha! Nicely done, our pious friend."

Rem was impressed. Inwardly, so was Encrid.

Audin drew back his right shoulder, pivoted on his left foot, and slammed his palm against the door. No—he pulled his hand back the instant it struck. A short, snapping blow. The hinges lifted, and the door buckled inward. In short, it opened. Or, to put it another way, he broke it down.

It was a gloriously forceful knock.