"Is it alright to just leave him?"
Lord Graham's adjutant asked, looking at his superior.
He wondered if this was really okay.
They had just left Encrid to some noble or merchant Lord, whoever that person was.
They had found him, so perhaps it was the right thing to do, but wasn't this something that could have been handled by the Lord himself?
Since he couldn't voice all of his thoughts, his question remained brief.
Lord Graham answered while gripping his sword.
"And if we didn't leave him? For now, I'm still the Lord. If he doesn't like it, he'll come to cut off my head."
The adjutant thought the Lord had been too reckless with his own life lately, but he couldn't say anything.
Even from his perspective, if Encrid set his mind to it, becoming the Lord would be no big deal for him.
More than anything, Graham seemed full of resolve to offer his head willingly.
"Understood."
The adjutant agreed.
There was nothing more to say.
Instead, he looked at his Lord.
For the first time in a long while, he saw a sense of passion in him.
Graham, with his eyes half-closed, slowly lowered his sword.
'The Crushing Sword?'
Had the swordsmanship that Encrid displayed only influenced Esther?
No.
For the first time in a long while, Graham's heart raced.
His heart throbbed wildly.
An irresistible urge and desire spiraled within him, becoming fuel for a fire.
His emotions became the fuel that drove his body.
'Ah.'
As he continued to swing his sword, a small realization struck him.
Graham recalled the training he had done yesterday, the day before, and the entire week.
He had not neglected his practice.
He hadn't neglected it, but had it been his best?
Had he truly given his all?
No.
He hadn't.
He had grown complacent, merely settling for the present.
He had been preoccupied with maintaining the status quo.
Had he used the excuse of being too busy because he became a Lord?
Had he thought there was nowhere left to ascend?
Where had the ambition he had when he first picked up a sword disappeared to?
Could he speak of that in front of that man?
That man was none other than Encrid.
The one who claimed to dream of becoming a Knight.
Now, the one walking that path.
When he had first joined the unit, Graham had nothing but ridicule for him.
Rumors circulated that Encrid had sold his body to his squad members, rumors that disgusted him.
He had been nothing more than a low-ranking soldier.
It was only natural for Graham to feel a sense of rivalry when he witnessed Encrid's transformation.
Through the sword, Graham gained clarity, and it made him reflect on his entire life.
'Just because I'm a Lord doesn't mean I have to put down my sword.'
Graham knew that he wasn't particularly smart.
Which is why he handed over most of his duties to his adjutant.
He even entrusted tasks to Big Eyes from the Madmen Platoon, whose cunning was notorious.
He minimized interactions with others whenever possible.
But now, he was so eager to swing his sword that it drove him mad.
The adjutant couldn't stop his Lord.
He wasn't so different himself.
"Would you like a duel?"
He, too, was part of the Heavy Infantry unit, a veteran, and regarded as an elite soldier.
Now, he was not only the Lord's adjutant but also his bodyguard.
Naturally, he had also seen Encrid.
He had witnessed Encrid's transformation, seen his current state, and even watched his recent battle.
It would be a lie to say he didn't feel anything.
"Let's fight. I'll show you the difference between you and me."
The Lord nodded.
It wasn't something that only affected the two of them.
It had impacted the entire unit.
Even the Fairy Company Commander wasn't an exception.
Sinar repeated the same motion over and over with her Naidil.
She was honing her precision and meticulousness.
What had inspired her was Encrid's back when he faced the Knight.
'He blocked.'
The vivid emotional blade composed of those three words—Sinar had seen it.
Her sensitivity allowed her to feel emotions, and sometimes that served as a means of reading the opponent's intent.
While she couldn't read everything, strong emotions, like a gust of wind, were surprisingly easy to perceive.
The stronger the opponent's will, the more apparent it became.
That's why Sinar could feel the emotion when Encrid blocked the Knight.
'Even if I die, even if I'm told I'll die, even if my heart is torn apart.'
'I will block.'
What kind of human could be like that?
A human who focuses solely on one thing, forgetting everything else.
Moreover, what was the fleeting emotion that had slipped in during the act?
It was nothing but the exhilaration of having forgotten fear.
It wasn't that he had no fear.
It wasn't that he didn't know pain or suffering.
He simply wrapped it all in the euphoria of enjoyment.
He forgot pain because he lived in the moment.
He pushed aside the looming pain to remain committed to the present.
He seemed like a man who only lived for the now.
'He's insane.'
Sinar could say that firmly.
She could say he was mad, that his mind was broken.
And yet, she couldn't help but feel a thrilling sensation when she thought of him.
Fairies are supposed to control their emotions and not feel things like thrill.
But now, she forgot such control.
The Naidil in Sinar's hand began to dance.
Starting from precision, she advanced, forgetting form and structure.
The energy within her body, which she had stored for so long, began to move on its own.
She let it be.
She didn't control it.
Right now, she just wanted to wield her sword.
Encrid's back had made her feel that way.
* * *
"Why wouldn't I be able to do it too?"
It was only natural that Encrid's exploits had inspired the soldiers in the unit, especially those who prided themselves on their swordsmanship.
In fact, many soldiers who had witnessed his prowess on the battlefield had followed him from Green Pearl all the way here.
After joining the Border Guard, they openly boasted about their fighting skills and demanded to be part of the Madmen Platoon.
It was something that drew attention.
Naturally, one of the original soldiers of the Border Guard confronted one of them.
"You think you're a tough guy? You sure talk a lot."
The soldier from Green Pearl didn't back down from the provocation.
To be precise, it was one of the soldiers who had been talking up Encrid.
His name was Janson.
Turning his head, Janson responded.
"I'm pretty decent."
He had fought on the front lines in the last battle.
He had also been training hard every day after watching Encrid.
He had undergone rigorous training, something he had never done before.
His confidence wasn't unwarranted.
"Bell, go easy on him."
A soldier behind him said, glancing at Janson.
That somehow rubbed his pride the wrong way.
The opponent in front of him, a guy named Bell, nodded and stepped forward.
He had the look of someone ready for a fight.
"You're going to get hurt."
Janson said.
"Yeah, let's see who gets hurt."
Bell responded.
He was a soldier who had undergone the intense training of the Madmen Platoon, including occasional focused drills.
The soldier from Green Pearl ended up seeing stars in broad daylight that day.
He took Bell's punch with his forehead, only to be knocked flat by the follow-up blow to his temple.
A difference in skill.
More than that, a clear difference in mindset.
"Does it hurt? There are plenty like me around here."
Bell said this while rubbing his forehead, and the fallen soldier lifted his head.
"My name's Janson."
"Alright, welcome."
Janson promptly joined Bell's squad.
This didn't only happen to Janson.
Everyone who had seen Encrid's fight became intensely focused on their training.
They all poured out sweat like madmen.
Even though there were no formal training drills from the Madmen Platoon, they took it upon themselves to push hard.
In a way, the entire barracks seemed filled with nothing but madmen.
Of course, not everyone was training. Some took the opportunity to rest, and a few managed to avoid the drills altogether.
Everything was done by free will, so nothing was forced.
However, even those resting knew instinctively: 'If I'm the only one slacking off while everyone else is training.'
It would be natural to fall behind in the battlefield.
And so, the motivation spread throughout the ranks.
Rem was no different.
He, too, had started swinging his axe.
Even though it was the tail end of winter, seeing Rem without his heated leather gear was a rare sight.
"Are you hurt somewhere?"
Krais, who was hurrying by, showed enough concern to ask.
"If you don't want an axe decoration in your head, get lost."
Krais quickly backed off.
Following Rem's lead, Dunbachel also began training like a man possessed, as if someone were chasing her.
Although Rem didn't go out of his way to torment her like before, he mixed sparring, training, and advice when necessary.
"Are all beastmen as dumb as you?"
"That's a racist comment."
"So what? You wanna die?"
At times, it seemed like Rem was just venting his frustration, but all in all, it was working out for the better.
Dunbachel, after all, learned a lot despite the beatings.
Audin, too, noticed the changes.
Ragna had changed, and so had his Commander.
What did he feel from this?
A lot.
Thus, Audin found himself deep in thought, even if only for a brief moment.
He was grateful that it was Ragna.
'If Rem had changed.'
The barbarian would have jumped in without hesitation, demanding a spar and enjoying the situation with his superior strength.
But Ragna didn't act that way.
He remained lazy as ever.
Now, unlike before, he would occasionally swing a sword and even spar with the Commander, but he didn't engage in provocations just to weigh down on Rem or Audin.
Most of all, he now seemed lost in thought, often staring blankly, barely stepping outside the barracks.
Still, it was uncomfortable.
'He's surpassed me.'
Audin thought.
'Has the time come to lift the seal?'
If—though it was only a slim chance—Rem had truly changed, Audin would have seriously considered it, but now was not the time.
Audin had sought answers of his own, though he didn't think they would resonate with those who had placed restrictions on him.
And so.
"Retrace your steps, for within them lies the answer to what blocks your path."
Audin recited the holy verses and prayed.
That's what he did.
In the rest of his time, he devoted himself to retraining his body, step by step.
Stacking strength upon strength, that was the source of Audin's power.
He recalled the entire process, from the beginning until now.
He retraced each change in his body.
As Encrid progressed, so did those around him, and the motivation spread, stirring up the entire barracks.
Quiet, yet burning.
Burning, yet subtle.
A transformation within the barracks.
There had been others before who were similarly motivated, but this time, even the Lord was affected, changing the entire atmosphere of the city.
* * *
"Could you ever ask for better conditions than this?"
Encrid had forgotten the other man's name.
He briefly considered looking at Graham, but the Lord was nowhere to be found.
When big shots like Count Molsen had arrived, Graham had shown his face, but now that someone like this had come, he had shoved the task onto Encrid.
'Is this how you treat a war hero?'
Even if calling himself a hero felt embarrassing, it still irked him that he was being made to handle this.
Is this what a Lord does?
Encrid suddenly had an overwhelming desire to spar with Graham.
There seemed to be a lot he could learn from him.
Like how to fall gracefully, how to take hits, and how to pass out without feeling much pain.
"She may be my daughter, but she's the most beautiful woman in our domain."
The toad-like nobleman and merchant said.
The woman, who was slightly more human-looking than a toad, shyly smiled, making eye contact with Encrid before quickly looking away.
'Should I just kill him?'
Of course, that wasn't an option.
'Beat him up, then?'
Krais's nagging voice echoed faintly in his mind,
"Are you Rem? Is the Captain Rem?"
Sinar was busy with something today, so there was no help from her either.
Esther was holed up, meditating, with no intention of coming out.
'Should I have brought Rem?'
If he had, things would have been wrapped up quickly after controlling Rem's inevitable rampage.
He should have sparred with Rem that morning.
Even the disruption to his schedule bothered him.
Still, this wasn't the place to vent his frustrations.
Outwardly, Encrid engaged in conversation, but inwardly, he began an imaginary sparring session.
In his mind, he was busy fending off Rem's axe.
'He used a sling, right?'
How should he dodge that?
He didn't know.
But he would do his best.
There was a process of learning through experience awaiting him, and he was eager to dive into it.
Regardless of his patience, Encrid felt the utter pointlessness of this situation.
Surely, enough time had been wasted.
Hadn't they already spent enough time for at least a cup of tea?
Of course, he had gulped down the tea in one go, but still.
"Well, what do you think?"
Whatever the offer was, it didn't matter.
"Well, I'll be going now."
With a crisp reply, Encrid rose from his seat.
"Huh? Wait, I'm a noble and the head of the Trade Guild in this region!"
The man recited his credentials, but Encrid didn't even give him a glance that said 'So what?'.
He was itching to get back and swing his sword at Rem's axe.
Whether the man was important or not, wasn't that the Lord's responsibility?
If this person had been someone truly significant, Graham would have handled it himself.
So Encrid felt no obligation.
It was a maddening justification, but it wasn't wrong.
As Encrid made his exit, the merchant and noble left behind was completely dumbfounded.
No, he was beyond dumbfounded.
This shift in emotion wasn't unique to him.
How many people had Encrid driven away before?
Plenty.
Some of them even held grudges against him.
"You insolent wretch."
The noble and merchant gritted his teeth, his jaw muscles standing out sharply against his skin.
His daughter, who had come along, was on the verge of tears.
Seeing a man who hadn't even made eye contact with her once filled her with sorrow.
Krais witnessed all of this from the doorway of the reception room.
"Let's go!"
The uninvited guest was leaving.
Krais knew that if things were left as they were, something close to a disaster would unfold.
How could it not?
It was so obvious.
Too obvious.
And yet, the people who were supposed to fix this were all collectively losing their minds.
It was the kind of thing that would usually make someone furious, but instead, Krais found it rather amusing.
There was only one reason why he was so pleased, and that reason was Krona.
This was all about the gold that was at stake.
"We'll see about that!"
The noble and merchant exploded in anger, but Krais wasn't the least bit concerned.
From behind him, a woman peeked out and asked:
"Are you saying they want you to be the shield for the nearby merchants?"
Krais blinked his large eyes, feigning surprise.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Playing dumb, are we?"
The woman's unspoken words seemed to include an insult under her breath.
Krais continued to look away, refusing to engage further.
Because she was right.
If the local Merchant Guilds were making noise because they were vying for control of trade and commerce in the city of Border Guard,
And if it seemed like that power was up for grabs.
Then all it took was for someone to hand over that opportunity to someone else.
And word had come the night before that the most suitable person had arrived in the city.
News from the Gilpin Guild traveled faster than that of the city guards.
"I should formally introduce myself, but I'm late in doing so. Lady Leona Rockfreed, Guild Master."
"My, what a swift introduction that was."
Leona gave Krais a playful smile in response to his greeting.
Both of them had their own hidden agendas.
So even if negotiations began, they wouldn't wrap up easily.
Of course, Krais wasn't planning on investing too much time in this matter.