Chapter 71 - Rumors Take Wings of Light

"That body of yours is finally looking respectable, brother." "Your fundamentals aren't bad now." "An ordinary stray blade won't kill you now. Your responses are decent. That's about all I'd say." "Heh heh, you're finally worth sparring with. Getting a feel for that sword? And the heart of the beast is coming along?" Those were the words of his squad members. There was no need to mull them over. They all meant he had improved. For Encrid, improvement held a very special meaning in his life. It was the thread that would keep his dream alive, the moonlight illuminating the dark night, the dawn bringing morning. A ray of light had seeped into his faded, tattered dream. That single ray had become the foundation on which he could set that dream on its feet again. A knight was a title built on honor and completed through skill. Encrid did not want to be a mercenary or warrior as strong as a knight. He wanted to be a knight. Asked why, he would have struggled to answer. Something stirred in his heart, but the words would not readily come. He could have made up an answer, but he did not want to do that, either. In matters like this, Encrid was a stubbornly earnest man. The injustices he had witnessed as a mercenary were part of what kept him from abandoning his dream, but they were not the whole reason. What made a dream a dream? 'Simply wanting it.' He wanted people to cheer for him. He enjoyed the time he spent honing his swordsmanship, and the time he spent talking with those around him. He also wanted to meet the people who had once dismissed and rejected him, and show them how he had changed. His desires were tangled and intermingled. The human heart was not simple. For Encrid, all those desires came down to a single word. 'Knight.' That was his dream. Even if his skills were lacking and he still had far to go, if a path toward that dream had opened, he wanted to walk it. And so building his honor was something he had to do as well. He also wanted to put himself to the test. 'How far can my sword take me?' All his sparring was with his squad members, day in and day out. He had defeated Mitch Hurrier on the battlefield, fought an advancement match, and survived the mixed-blood Fairy's assassination attempt. But the man he was today was different from the man he had been then. Encrid clenched and unclenched his hand. 'I want to fight.' He wanted a chance to prove himself through his sword alone. Under the soldier grading system, he had become a high-grade soldier. But there were differences in ability even within that grade. His growing skill had brought a competitive spirit and boldness: the desire to test his abilities in real combat. That was when the assignment came in. The Company Commander would even be joining them. It could not be an easy job. 'But why is the Company Commander coming in person?' That was Encrid's question. And why wouldn't others have the same question? The Company Commander had only intended to stop by on her way past, but the other Platoon Commanders found it strange. It seemed particularly odd to the Fourth Platoon Commander, Encrid's immediate superior, who should have been the one to relay the assignment. It was mere coincidence, but some people could not see a coincidence for what it was.

* * *

Border Guard's standing army often lent its armed strength to the city's residents and trading companies. This stemmed from one of Naurilia's two major policies: the soldier grading system and the soldier-for-hire system. The latter had soldiers carry out commissions in place of mercenaries, and, alongside the grading system, it was one of the kingdom's successful policies. People often said things like: "You can trust Border Guard's standing army."

Perhaps it was only natural that the soldier-for-hire system, which put soldiers on commissions instead of mercenaries, won the support of residents and trading companies. Mercenaries were rough and unruly; soldiers were less so. Like any disciplined military unit, they faithfully followed orders. They also cost less than the large mercenary guilds. "Isn't providing escorts part of keeping the city safe? Don't you think it's a bit much to demand Krona for every little thing?" Occasionally, a trading company representative would grumble like that. But after using a military escort even once, the complaints vanished. Border Guard's standing army fought local wars twice a year. It was the army of a military city close to the battlefield. With men dying one after another, the riffraff were naturally weeded out, raising the overall standard of the soldiers in the standing army. Cost, skill, safety. Those three things kept everyone highly satisfied, which was why the policy was considered a success. The commission the Company Commander had taken was one such job. 'Why bother?' Still, that was what everyone was thinking. A job of this scale did not call for the Company Commander herself. The Platoon Commanders all had eyes and ears. They kept their mouths shut for their own good, but they knew their commander was no mediocre fighter. 'She might even stand a chance against the border defense captain.' The border defense captain was Border Guard's strongest fighter, excluding the Battalion Commander, who was only there temporarily. 'I think she'd beat the heavy infantry Company Commander.' The Fairy Company Commander had already proved her fighting ability on the battlefield. "I'll take this commission." And now that same Fairy Company Commander was taking one of the written requests. What could they say when their superior volunteered to do it? They could only agree. "Why are you handling it personally?" the Fourth Platoon Commander asked. "I'll take the troublemaker squad's leader." That was her answer. It was only a commission. What was the big deal? If anything was an issue, it was the person she was taking: Encrid, the Spellbreaker, now a high-grade soldier. The Fourth Platoon Commander had risen to his position purely by reading the room. As soon as the Fairy Company Commander left, he began thinking back, turning things over in his head. Information was the basis of such perceptiveness. Being slow to grasp what was happening around him could hurt his chances of promotion. For the sake of his future, he diligently searched his memories. 'Didn't she go to see him in the Medical Barracks, too?' The Fairy Company Commander had gone to see Encrid herself, right after taking up her post. She had gone out of her way to visit him in the Medical Barracks, and met privately with him several times afterward. Yet she almost never met privately with the other Platoon Commanders. They were lucky to get a proper answer out of her. The Company Commander had also intervened in Encrid's advancement match. The Fourth Platoon Commander had seen it himself. 'That was when he fought the border defense soldier.' At the time, it had looked to him as though she had stepped in to protect Encrid from danger. And on a day of heavy snowfall, she had even ordered only the troublemaker squad out on a mission. They had not returned until morning, after all the snow had been cleared. 'With warming hides, no less.' Where had they been, and what had they done? They had only said it was a classified operation. The report had gone straight to the Company Commander, so he did not know, either. He had also heard that she and Encrid had sparred alone at the private training ground. Why would she do that? The Medical Barracks, the private meetings, the advancement match, the mission on a snowy day, the sparring, and now this commission. All the information mixed together, forming a conclusion in his mind. The Fourth Platoon Commander's own deduction gave him goose bumps. Of course, he was barking up the wrong tree, misunderstanding everything in one foolish thought after another. But he caught the strong scent of certainty in his conjecture. Naturally, the thought followed: 'Could those two be...?' He pictured the Fairy and the troublemaker squad's leader standing side by side. They made a better match than he had expected. "Nah, surely not?" He was so certain that goose bumps rose all over him, but he muttered the question anyway. "Surely not what, sir?" A subordinate beside him asked. They were in the middle of a dull guard shift. The Fourth Platoon Commander cautiously shared his theory. Had the man called it nonsense, that would have been the end of it. "... Holy shit." His subordinate's reaction was peculiar. His eyes wavered. He, too, seemed shocked. Border Guard was no small city, but rumors spread quickly. Some rumors, in particular, traveled faster than a winged horse. Those with little to do around the base, especially the women who tended the baths and prepared the meals, went wild for this sort of gossip. Through them, the rumor sprouted wings of light and began spreading through the unit in no time. In less than a day, there was scarcely anyone who had not heard it.

* * *

"Squad Leader! I hear you're going to be a father. Is it true?" Krais asked, returning to the base after three days away. Where had it all gone wrong? Encrid thought about it, but he had no way of knowing. The rumor had already spread. At Krais's question, Rem clutched his stomach and snickered beside them. He laughed so hard that his warming hide slipped, letting his bare feet poke out. "Pfft, heh heh! That's right. A father. Big-eyes, did you hear who the mother is?" "Well, yes. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I thought maybe it was true. I knew the baby part was an exaggeration, but when did you win the Company Commander over? That's our Squad Leader for you." Krais gave him a thumbs-up. Encrid took hold of the thumb and folded it back down. "It's a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?"

"Someone started a strange rumor." The Fourth Platoon Commander had started it, but Encrid did not know that. Neither did Krais, who had lately grown thoroughly accustomed to handling information through various dealings. It would not have been impossible to trace the source if they made a determined effort, but this hardly warranted that. No one's life was at risk. "Hmm. Not a bad idea. Make her your partner and your swordsmanship teacher." Ragna put in his own contribution. What the hell did that bastard have in his head? Sometimes it seemed worse than whatever was in Rem's. Was he suggesting marriage as an opportunity to improve his swordsmanship? "Hoo, heeee!" Rem, who had been laughing nonstop beside him, was now making sounds like the cries of a demonic beast. "Don't get too attached. It'll hurt when she dumps you." That was Jaxon, folding his clothes off to one side. 'So me getting dumped is a foregone conclusion?' Wasn't there something seriously wrong with that premise? "Blessings upon you, brother." They all knew the truth and were teasing him anyway. They knew his daily routine, didn't they? His days were far too packed for him to get intimate with someone and do anything of the sort. "I'm not even going to bother." It was just an idle rumor. With that thought, he reached for Esther. HISS! Today, of all days, Esther refused his touch. "I'm not Krais." Encrid protested at the unfairness, but Esther merely shot him a fierce glare and stretched out on the warming hide. She had spent all day nestled in his arms. Why was she suddenly acting like this? "Looks jealous. Give her a little reassurance, why don't you?" Rem made the comment beside him, then clutched his stomach and laughed like a lunatic again. He really was a crazy bastard. "Ahh, thanks for the laugh. So when are we leaving?"

"For where?"

"The escort mission. I hear you can only take one person."

"And?"

"Obviously, you've got to take me." He half rose, flaring the hide out as he spoke, and pointed proudly at himself with his thumb. The warming hide spread wide above his shoulders, then dropped onto them and hung like a cloak. "Is this because I teased you? Let's think objectively, Squad Leader. That icy bastard Jaxon over there? One little wisecrack from the client and all hell will break loose. Want to see that sly wildcat claw up the person we're guarding?" He was one to talk. Encrid was dumbfounded, but his expression did not change. His attitude said, Go on. Say your piece. "The lazy one won't even be interested." Ragna rarely volunteered for commissions in the first place. If he went, it was reluctantly. "And you're not taking Big-eyes, are you? Unless you want another person to guard." That was true. Krais had never been an option. "The big lump, sure, let's say he'd be useful. But what if he starts muttering prayers next to the client? All day long? Don't think the client would be too happy about that." The big lump meant Audin. For a foreigner raised among the western settlers, that bastard Rem had a remarkably smooth tongue. He made it sound as though he were the only choice left. Except... 'You're the biggest problem of all.' Why had he assaulted a superior officer? Because of his temper. If the person they were escorting had to be beaten up to keep them safe, then sure, Rem was a good choice. He might be, anyway. But what if they couldn't beat the client up? What if the client had even a slightly shitty temper? They could not put Rem with that person. Disaster would strike within a day. No, within half a day. Unless the goal was to rack up penalties for breach of contract rather than merit for completing the job, Rem was the first person to rule out. "Not you. Absolutely not." There was no need even to pause for breath. He spoke firmly. "... Wow. That hurt. Especially the 'absolutely' part. What are you going to do about this? Leaving a scar like that on a grown man's heart?"

"Still no."

"I'm going to go bad." Encrid ignored him. Rem always spouted strange nonsense, as though his skull were full of gravel. He looked around at the others. "Well, if you insist." Ragna spoke when their eyes briefly met. What a joke. If Encrid took him along, he'd be lucky if Ragna didn't sprawl out asleep instead of guarding anyone. Waking the late-sleeping bastard every morning would be a trial, too. 'And I couldn't send him anywhere alone.' He would get lost. Ragna had an unbelievably terrible sense of direction. That left two choices: Audin and Jaxon. There was nothing to deliberate over, so I spoke. "Right. I choose you."