Chapter 103 - Is This Love?

'I think the goddess of fortune might have cursed me.'

On the newly started today, Encrid's gaze turned toward the sky.

The blue-looking moon filled his vision. It was still before dawn. Because he woke up early, he could see the same moon he saw before going to sleep.

The moon was truly bright.

'Come to think of it, isn't it true?'

The Boatswain in his dreams babbled about a wall or whatever, but regardless, he was just continuing to die out of sheer bad luck.

Even this time, it was the same.

He aimed for a gap in the surrounding forces time and time again, but every single time, his luck was brutally terrible.

He had aimed for a gap, stabbed a spearman's instep, and dug in, only for a pile of dirt to suddenly pour down on his head.

Why did part of the ceiling have to collapse at that exact timing?

And why did the falling dirt have to go right into his eyes?

It was the same after that.

He ran along the top of the wall aiming for the magician, but a part of the wall that had held up perfectly fine until then crumbled, taking away his footing.

Besides that, similar strokes of bad luck continued.

Maybe it was a mutant, but a werewolf's heart had even been on the opposite side.

Once, in the middle of a fight, he leaned against a tree to catch his breath, but it just had to be a rotten tree that couldn't support his back, causing him to lose his balance.

Well, it wasn't just once or twice that his luck hadn't held up.

Wasn't lacking natural talent a misfortune to begin with?

'Are you really messing with me, Goddess?'

Still, he wanted to ask this much.

Of course, there was no answer.

It wasn't a question he wanted an answer to anyway. It was just a means to remember this new today.

Today, he was starting his day by greeting the goddess.

He got up and began to train his body with the isolation technique.

It was a walk where he lowered his posture by bending one knee so the other almost touched the ground.

While he was in the middle of pouring his efforts into training, everyone else opened their eyes and started moving.

Timing it right, Encrid grabbed a Recon Party member and spoke.

"Can you make something like this? I'm going to use it as an emergency fund pouch."

Encrid added his words and explanation. It was a cloth pouch, but he wanted it made so he could slip it inside his sleeve.

He also mentioned it would be better if it could be secured in place.

These were people who even made ham when they had free time.

They were equipped with all sorts of tools, so there was no need to get materials for them.

"Yes? Well, I can do it quickly. But don't you have to leave right away in the morning?"

"I'd like it if you could make it before then."

At Encrid's request, the Recon Party member blinked before nodding.

"Sure, I'll do it. Hey, take over my shift for a bit."

The member was easygoing.

Encrid patted his shoulder to express his thanks.

After finishing the rest of his training, Pin approached.

"Are you treating me to a good show right from the morning?"

She said this because he was swinging his sword with his top off.

"Do you know how to use a crossbow?"

"Is that even a question? It's one of the basic skills of a Ranger."

If he asked 'Is that so?', she would ask why he was asking. Because he already knew this, Encrid answered in advance.

"I was just asking."

"... I somehow have nothing to say."

"What do you put under your boots to deaden your footsteps like that?"

"Ah, this? There are a lot of sensitive beasts around here."

Pin raised her left hand to point at her ear and continued.

"So I pad the bottom with a few layers of cloth and stuff the inside of the boots with cotton."

Of course, he wasn't asking because he didn't know.

"That's good. I'd like to do that to my boots too."

"It's not hard."

"Torres?"

"You want me to do it too?"

"She said there are a lot of beasts."

"Though we'll rarely ever run into those beasts."

Pin added that comment, but there was no real issue.

Two members got to work modifying their boots.

"These boots were made very meticulously. You can tell a lot of care went into them."

"Really?"

One of the members said while examining Encrid's boots.

It meant the shoemaker he met thanks to the corpse lover in the sewers had put effort into making them. It was nice to hear.

It didn't take long to pad the boots with cloth and line the insides with cotton.

He had finished his training, and he had made his silent boots.

"Here."

The pouch he requested earlier in the morning arrived too.

It was designed to hang on the wrist and tighten with a string; when slipped into his sleeve, it was invisible.

It was better craftsmanship than that booze-loving Squad Leader. The stitching was very tight.

Of course, he had asked because he already knew that guy had good skills.

He had already taken turns making everyone do it.

It was the most terrible when Pin did it.

If she had no skill, it would have been better if she hadn't blindly jumped in to do it.

The pouch she sewed was too hideous to be called a pouch, and it was so small not even a single finger could fit inside.

Naturally, it ended up being a useless item.

"Haha, it's been a while since I've sewn."

There had been a today like that too. Truly, it had been a tough start.

Pin, who had gifted him a tough start with her sewing in a certain today, approached Encrid as he reminisced and tapped his shoulder.

"Let's go now."

Breakfast was over, and their preparations were complete.

They were on their way to the Smuggler's Hole once again.

'Seventy-ninth.'

Repeating the number of todays he had gone through, Encrid walked diligently.

He didn't hesitate because it was a path he had already taken countless times.

Pin occasionally glanced back, and upon seeing Encrid's stride, she tilted her head and asked.

"Did you work in a Recon Party for a long time?"

"Me?"

No.

Torres asked back, then turned his gaze to Encrid.

"No."

Encrid answered as he walked.

"Really?"

Torres might not know why she was asking that, but Encrid knew better than anyone.

Because he already knew what Pin would say if pressed.

"Your stride is different, it's a Ranger's walk."

That would be her answer.

What else would he have done while following right behind Pin all this time?

He watched her gait and copied it. A Ranger's walk, walking silently using the cloth padded beneath the boots.

Aside from their idle chatter, while quietly walking along the dirt path where patches of grass occasionally appeared, Encrid asked.

"What do we do if enemy forces are waiting at the Smuggler's Hole?"

It was a sudden question, but a valid one.

"We have to fight."

Torres answered first. As he spoke, Torres lightly kicked a pebble in front of his foot.

With a tap, the rolling stone hit a flat, yellowish-brown rock and bounced off.

Encrid carefully watched the spot where the stone Torres kicked had struck and listened closely.

"The chances of that are low, but if they are there, we just run."

Pin answered as if she had been waiting to do so.

"I see."

It was when Encrid, having given a vague reply, arrived with the group at a hill full of bushes.

"Then, what if our retreat path is blocked?"

Encrid asked again.

Torres, who was just stepping onto the hill, looked at him, wondering what was wrong with him.

Their mission was simple.

Go inside and check the status of the cat planted by their allies.

Of course, they were free to run away if things went wrong along the way.

But what was the reason for him constantly raining on their parade before they even started?

"We're making sure that doesn't happen."

Since a similar question came up twice, Pin seemed bothered by it too. Her tone hardened.

"How high and wide is that tunnel?"

"Huh?"

"If we get blocked from the front and back, are there any other side paths?"

They hadn't even taken a few steps on the hill, but the questions kept coming.

'Why the hell is this bastard acting like this?'

Torres tilted his head.

He had followed silently until now, and he's doing this here? Why?

It probably wasn't out of fear.

If he was a guy afraid of just going into a Smuggler's Hole, he wouldn't have charged into the middle of a pack of human-faced dogs.

And he definitely wouldn't have swung a sword at a harpy dive-bombing toward the ground.

"Why? Do you have a bad feeling?"

Torres didn't believe in superstitions, but he respected Encrid's intuition.

Because there was a similar guy in the Border Guard.

Guys with strangely good intuition.

"It's not that."

They had to go in anyway. If he said his feeling was bad, the route would be changed.

Encrid answered calmly.

Pin looked back at Encrid.

Is this bastard picking a fight with me right now?

That was the look on her face.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"I was just wondering what we should do if enemies show up."

Tilt.

Pin leaned her head to the side and then straightened it. She felt uncomfortable inside, but she didn't know why.

Was it because this punk kept finding faults?

"The Smuggler's Hole is a main route for black market dealers, not a path used by cats or our side. That means it's one of the safest paths right now."

Pin explained to Encrid, reminding herself of the reason she chose this path.

Torres nodded next to her.

He wasn't on the level of a Ranger, but he had participated in all sorts of missions.

'It should be safe enough.'

Pin was right.

Encrid nodded his head. It was when they stepped onto the ramp inside the Smuggler's Hole and took three or four steps in.

"By any chance, if armed forces are waiting up ahead, are we all dead meat?"

Encrid asked yet again.

"No, fuck."

Eventually, a curse flew out of Pin's mouth.

No matter how much she pretended not to be tense, this was the path into an enemy city.

What was his reason for saying this kind of crap?

"Do you not want to do this? If you don't, then drop out."

Listening to him had made her lose her temper. Seeing Pin lash out in anger, Encrid shook his head.

"It's not that."

"What's wrong with him?"

The arrow of her anger was directed at Torres for no reason.

Even good words get tiring after a time or two, yet he was only picking words that grated on her nerves.

Was he always like that?

No.

Torres had nothing to say either.

"Let's go."

When Pin stopped in irritation, Encrid now took the lead instead and spoke.

It was the moment the furious Pin was about to say another word.

Torres and Pin suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Both of their gazes were drawn to Encrid without them realizing it.

Why?

A heavy aura—yes, something like that was radiating from Encrid.

Torres was a special-grade soldier, and Pin possessed skills that didn't fall behind his.

The two of them felt Encrid's aura.

"Just a bit."

Encrid suppressed them with his atmosphere and opened his mouth.

"Let's just be careful."

At his punctuated words, Pin gulped.

What's with this bastard?

He was definitely acting like an annoying prick just a moment ago, but why did he look so cool right now?

A miracle occurred for Pin where her surging annoyance suddenly vanished.

'Is this love?'

As all of Pin's Recon Party members acknowledged, she was a woman who fell in love easily.

Even so, she didn't neglect her work, so that was a relief.

Love is love.

A man is a man.

And work is work.

Pin admitted it. It was true that she had let her guard down a little.

Just because the cat got caught didn't mean their whereabouts would be exposed.

Although entering the city was dangerous, in reality, she was confident in getting herself out.

Because for that purpose, they decided to take the 'path' she had been saving all this time.

"Alright."

Pin acknowledged it first. She immediately shifted her stance. She started taking her steps more cautiously.

Torres was the same.

Although he stared at Encrid with a strange look for a moment.

"Of course we have to be careful."

He soon spoke and started walking.

'This should be enough.'

Encrid felt that the attitude of the two had changed.

He hadn't been nagging for no reason.

The same went for projecting his aura.

To slit the throats of the guys waiting up ahead and survive, he had to open a gap.

Conversely, their side couldn't afford to show even the slightest opening.

Elite soldiers armed with long spears and shields who had set a trap.

And archers blocking the rear.

Combined, they numbered over forty.

Wasn't that a level where mistakes couldn't be tolerated?

That was why he did it.

So they would brace themselves and focus hard without making any mistakes.

Sure enough.

The caution of an ordinary soldier and the caution of a Ranger were different.

"Strange."

Relying on the torchlight, Pin walked with her head bowed deeply the entire way.

The Ranger with abilities that could slap the cheeks of pathfinders and hunters back and forth found strange traces, just as she said.

"The footprints are strange."

Pin said. Yes, he had babbled on enthusiastically specifically for her to do this.

The enemy had erased their tracks.

However, it was impossible to completely avoid the eyes of a Ranger who was actively suspecting her surroundings.

From the beginning, Encrid hadn't considered a head-on clash when breaking through here.

How many todays had he repeated by now?

There were things he had learned through those todays.

That there was no need to force a breakthrough head-on was one of them.

"I feel uneasy about our rear."

As soon as Pin finished speaking, Encrid spat out the line he had prepared.

Outstanding acting skills weren't necessary.

Because he had already done it countless times.

Up to this point, it was actually a moment he had faced time and time again.

So he was just doing what he needed to do.

"It really feels like there's something up ahead."

Pin said.

"Damn it, what are you saying."

Torres, growing tense, began to turn his head back and forth.

Encrid thought it was the right time and opened his mouth.

"Let's secure our retreat path first."

Which meant turning back to clear the way.

To be exact, it meant crushing the rear where the archer unit would be waiting, but of course, these two wouldn't know that fact.

Pin and Torres's gazes turned to Encrid.

"If someone blocks our retreat path from behind..."

There was no need to finish the sentence.

"Got it, let's go."

"Is it just a bad day for us?"

Torres and Pin spoke one after another and turned their bodies.