Chapter 21 - Sparring and Review

RUMBLE.

Suddenly, lightning struck from a clear sky, and rain began to patter down.

"Ah, this ruined the mood."

"Hmm."

Rem and Ragna, who had been heated up, avoided each other's gazes and looked away.

With this, the fight was over.

The two of them went inside the barracks to avoid the rain.

To think it would suddenly rain when it was just so clear.

The weather was going absolutely crazy.

Since it was the tail end of autumn, it wasn't the season for rain showers either.

The sky during this weather was usually stingy with rain. A sudden shower without a single dark cloud was especially rare.

"Rain, all of a sudden."

Krais said as he looked at the lightning that had struck from the clear sky and the streams of rain.

Encrid also looked up at the sky together with him, reflecting on what had happened while he was away.

The curse was, as always, complete bullshit.

"Are they going to say this rain is a curse too?"

"Maybe they will. Anyway, over the past three days, Bo tripped and broke his nose, and Jack broke his arm. On top of that, Rotten got bitten by a snake."

All three were from the Reconnaissance Squad.

Bo was an agile soldier capable of doing somersaults, but since he did such a thing while wearing armor, one could say he was lucky only his nose broke.

Jack was a foul-mouthed soldier who normally overestimated his spear-wielding skills.

He supposedly broke his arm while sparring, but one could easily bet money that his opponent had broken it on purpose.

Lastly, Rotten was on the careless side for someone in the Reconnaissance Squad.

Right now wasn't the season for many snakes to appear, but there were specific areas in these grasslands that had an abundance of them.

Therefore, all three of those incidents made sense.

"Besides those three, someone else also burned their hand on a pot."

Big-eyes spoke as if he were excited.

If he truly thought this was a curse, there was no way he would be talking like this.

It was just a topic for gossip.

"On top of that, there was news that the Medical Barracks burned down. Oh, you were there, Squad Leader. Haven't you heard anything?"

Were they calling the burning of the barracks a curse too?

"Yeah. It did. It burned real well."

Krais suddenly turned his head right as he was about to head inside the barracks.

"Did you see it yourself? Did the fire really suddenly flare up? There were also rumors that a spy got in?"

Yeah. Nope.

'I did it.'

The one who set the fire was Encrid.

And a spy? There was an assassination attempt, but it was questionable whether it was truly an enemy soldier.

He didn't know Krang's identity yet, but since he seemed to be at least the illegitimate child of a noble.

Wouldn't that assassin be from the allied side?

As for the curse, there was no need to say more.

Command would soon step in to crack down on the rumors.

There would be no commander who welcomed such talk circulating within the troops.

"Huh? I asked if you saw anything."

Big-eyes pressed him.

Encrid briefly met those large eyes and thought.

Krais's mouth was far too cheap to tell him all of this.

Even if it wasn't cheap, there was no reason to tell him anyway.

He had decided to keep his mouth shut, so he would do just that.

"The barracks I was in burned down."

"Eh?"

"Guess you didn't know?"

"Not at all. So it wasn't an enemy soldier attacking? The fire really just suddenly started?"

"The night watchman dozed off, and the wind blew the torch stand over. As it happened, a canister of oil meant to refill the torch was right next to it. The fallen torch caught the tent on fire, and whoosh."

Encrid clenched and opened his fist, making a gesture with his hand to mimic flames spreading.

"So it wasn't anything special."

"You don't think about how I almost died?"

"You're perfectly alive right here."

What was this? Was he worrying about him or what?

"If you're not perfectly alive, does that make you a ghost, Squad Leader?"

Rem chimed in from behind and chuckled.

Did this bastard think that was a joke?

"The Lord spoke, commanding the lingering spirits to rest in peace."

And a squadmate deeply absorbed in religion performed a verbal exorcism.

Encrid thought it would be quite an unpleasant thing to hear if he actually were a ghost.

"Only my hair got burned a bit."

The ends of his bangs had gotten slightly scorched, so he cut them. The hair, roughly chopped off with a knife, clearly showed it hadn't been properly styled.

"Since your hair is black to begin with, it wouldn't even show if it got burned."

Rem said, continuously giggling.

"Is your hair a pile of ashes then?"

Rem's hair was gray.

"Ah, how did you know? My hair is indeed a pile of ashes."

Did this bastard seriously find this funny?

Even though he was the only one laughing inside the barracks, he kept going.

As if it truly was just a sudden shower, the falling rain quickly stopped.

The idle chatter was brief.

Once the rain stopped, Krais left, saying he had something to do.

Encrid lay down in his spot and fell asleep to the background noise of raindrops dripping from the edge of the tent.

It was a sweet nap.

After sleeping for a while, his aching head had completely cleared up upon waking.

His fatigue had vanished as well.

Encrid got up from his spot and twisted his waist from side to side.

He didn't feel any pain in his side at all.

Good. He felt refreshed.

There was no one inside the barracks.

When he listened closely, he heard the sounds of people passing by in front of the barracks, along with the disgruntled voice of a soldier from the neighboring tent.

"What kind of fucking rain keeps starting and stopping like this."

Encrid pushed the entrance of the barracks open with his hand and stepped outside.

The squad members were scattered here and there in front of the barracks, fully enjoying their personal maintenance time.

It was only natural that Jaxon and Krais were nowhere to be seen.

The rest were in their spots.

Among them, he approached Rem, who was scribbling something on the wet ground.

"You look like you have nothing to do."

"Does it look like it? You're right. I was just so bored I was wondering whose head I should crack open."

Picking fights with the surrounding squadmates using his nasty way with words was one of Rem's specialties.

And beating them up a bit if the person he picked a fight with lunged at him was one of his hobbies.

Although it had become less frequent since Encrid arrived, he hadn't completely abandoned that hobby.

"Then let's have a sparring match with me."

"Sparring?"

"Yeah. Sparring."

Rem obediently nodded.

It wasn't as if this was a one-time occurrence.

Encrid's requests for sparring were a daily routine.

"Sounds good to me."

The two of them headed to the empty lot behind the barracks.

Thanks to the shitty weather, there was no one around.

Even if there were, they wouldn't have cared anyway.

Encrid stood facing Rem, leaving a gap of ten steps between them.

Rem grinned as he rolled his wrists around and around.

Following the movement of his wrists, the axe blade he sharpened whenever he had a spare moment reflected the dry sunlight.

He'd heard the rain had been coming and going, but right now it was incredibly clear.

Instead of dry air, a humid atmosphere could be felt, and the smell of dirt pierced his nose.

Even so, the ground wasn't sludgy. It was damp, but the soft dirt ground was one where feet didn't sink in deeply.

A moderate amount of clouds blocked the sunlight, so it wasn't glaring, either.

"It's a good day for a fight."

"You think so?"

Encrid replied and awakened the Heart of a Beast.

As he repeated the same day over and over, he had strived not to waste any time.

Among those efforts were pushing his body and training his hearing.

But using his head was also included.

'The Valen Mercenary Sword Technique won't work.'

He knew this because he had fought Rem countless times while learning the stab.

Against Rem, the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique was useless.

In that case, what should he do?

The weapons he possessed, the oppressive presence given off by his opponent, and the experiences he had gathered so far.

If he fought with all of those in mind, what kind of attack would become an effective hit?

How would he land an effective hit?

After repeated contemplation, it was time to verify the answer.

STEP.

Rem stepped forward. There was no hesitation in his stride as he firmly planted his foot on the ground. His confidence stood out.

That was what Encrid thought.

"Am I supposed to go first?"

Instead of answering, Encrid stole his opponent's rhythm.

Inhale and exhale.

Rem's breathing was long and slow.

Right in the middle of that long exhale, Encrid closed the distance in a single breath.

Pushing off with his back foot, he surged forward.

At the exact moment the space narrowed.

SWOOSH!

He swung the sword in his hand, slashing horizontally.

Rem bent his waist backward, dodging as if leaning back to lie down.

It was a stunt he could pull off because he had perfectly predicted the range of the slash.

Even in a half-reclined posture, Rem's eyes never left Encrid.

Upon confirming that, Encrid reflexively pulled his sword back to guard his front.

SWOOSH.

CLANG!

Before he knew it, the axe had flown in and struck his blade.

The impact wasn't massive. No matter how strong he was, wasn't it an axe swung from a leaning-back posture?

Right from that posture.

SWOOSH, SWOOSH!

The axe came flying again and again.

CLANG! CLANG! CLAAAANG!

Gripping the sword tightly with both hands, he blocked and blocked again.

He had planned to fix his posture and counterattack if there was even a single pause, but Rem didn't stop.

Encrid felt as though he were standing beneath a continuously dropping guillotine.

The shower-like barrage of axe attacks ended as Rem fully raised his body.

A brief opening appeared, but Encrid didn't retreat. He didn't fix his posture either.

Having straightened his waist, Rem pulled his arm back.

Seeing that, instead of stepping back and catching his breath.

SWISH!

He took one step forward and thrust out the stab he had repeated countless times.

The blade shot out right from his blocking stance.

He harbored the resolve that he would undoubtedly pierce his target.

Everything happened in an instant.

He unleashed the stab, and the moment it was about to pierce around Rem's waist, the blue sky and Rem's face crossed Encrid's vision.

'Huh?'

Rem's face appeared upside down in Encrid's eyes.

SWOOSH.

The moment he thrust, Rem had kicked Encrid's ankle.

It was a split-second judgment.

Thanks to that, the tip of the sword cleaved through empty air.

Instead of swinging his axe, Rem let go of it, grabbed Encrid by the collar, and threw him to the side.

"Ugh!"

Rolling to the side, Encrid quickly realized how he had been outmaneuvered.

It was a feint.

He had only been measuring the timing of the axe being pulled back.

Rem had used that exactly against him.

"Phew."

Sprawled on the ground, Encrid inwardly shook his head.

It was a monstrous amount of strength.

Encrid also believed he wouldn't easily lose to anyone when it came to strength, but to think he could send a person flying with just one hand.

No matter how relatively light he was due to not wearing equipment, it was only right to call it superhuman strength.

Looking up while remaining seated, he saw Rem's face.

It was a strange expression.

Usually, he smiled constantly during sparring.

But not right now.

The corners of his mouth were straight. Tidy. He wasn't smiling.

"Tsk, have you been eating something good in secret?"

Rem asked with a serious face.

Come to think of it, this reaction was completely natural.

He wouldn't have any memory of helping him with his stab training.

After all, when he escaped that first 'today', he had only made Rem do meal duty.

"I thought about this before too, but your skills seem to have suddenly skyrocketed. Especially that stab, it was good. Wasn't bad at all."

"You think so?"

"I do. And I don't give empty praise."

"Yeah, right."

Coming from a guy who lived with bullshit in his mouth, passing it off as jokes.

"I'm serious."

"Got it. Let's do a review, then."

"... You're a truly consistent guy, Squad Leader. How is it that a person never changes?"

Post-sparring review.

This was also a daily routine. No matter how little there was to salvage, Encrid persistently hounded his sparring opponents.

It was to learn, acquire, and train even the most trivial things.

However, there were naturally many times when the opposing side had nothing to say.

Shouldn't his skills improve at least a little for them to have something to say?

That was how it had been up until now.

That was why, even after sparring, Rem used to say things like, 'Hey, try to build some grit.'

Were those words meaningless and worthless?

No. Rem knew. He knew the end that awaited those without talent.

That was why he had taught him what he needed to equip himself with if he didn't want to die.

He had passed down the Heart of a Beast for the exact same reason.

But what about now?

Things had changed, and by a lot.

The fact that he had a lot to say just from this single sparring session was proof of that.

"First off, it was way too obvious that you were waiting for my axe swing. No matter how hard it is to fool me, shouldn't you at least put in the effort to try?"

Rem opened his mouth.

Encrid nodded his head.

As always, with an attitude of proper attentiveness.

Seeing that, Rem chuckled softly.

Pointing out the core issue right away and leaving the minor details for later. That was Rem's method.

Encrid listened closely to every single word.

* * *

There was no battle for three days, and during that time, Encrid sparred with Rem three more times.

"It'd be better for you to train your lower body. Your balance is oddly off."

Even though he usually spouted endless nonsense, Rem was someone who saw right through to the core.

Encrid reflected on those words and chewed over them.

After that, he dedicated himself to training once again.

He did so even during everyone's break time.

During personal maintenance time, everyone had their own private time.

Some wrote letters.

There were soldiers entirely focused on resting.

Excluding eating and sleeping, Encrid poured everything into his practice and training.

Anyone looking at him would likely call him relentless.

But the person actually doing it was calmness incarnate.

He felt an overwhelming sense of fulfillment above all else at his skills improving day by day.

Thanks to that, he didn't feel any anguish even from physical conditioning that only added to his pain.

"What a relentless guy. He's at it again the moment he gets back from the Medical Barracks."

"He'd been a bit quiet lately, too. That guy's caught fire again."

"If I had trained like that, I would have reached at least the very bottom rung of being a knight ages ago."

"Huh? Why are you spewing shit out of your mouth?"

He focused on his hearing while pushing his body. Whenever his muscles screamed, focusing on his hearing would often make the pain fade.

The trivial chatter of two soldiers from another tent reached Encrid's ears.

They were in the same platoon, but they were from the 3rd Squad, which felt rather distant.

Afterward, he tried extending his hearing even further away.

He listened to the rustling of clothes behind him and even tried to guess what action was being taken.

He also tried guessing who it was just by listening to their footsteps.

He got five out of ten wrong, but he could still figure out who the familiar footsteps belonged to.

Light and fast, yet the sound of stepping on the dirt floor rang out cheerfully.

'Big-eyes.'

He was right.

"Training again? Sickening. Truly sickening."

Krais approached and spoke.

Encrid ignored him.

As he repeated sitting halfway down and standing back up, his legs began to tremble.

Sweat flowed through his scalp and formed drops at the tips of his eyebrows.

The sky that had been so fickle also cleared up, returning to its original weather with a dry, arid wind blowing.

On a day like this, sweating enough to soak one's entire body probably wouldn't look normal.

Not to mention, this place was a battlefield.

To think he was training in a place where they didn't know when they would fight.

Even so, everyone just accepted it as usual.

It wasn't as if Encrid had been like this for only a day or two.

This was their daily routine.

"Isn't that exhausting? It's a wonder you do that every day."

Krais said as he plopped his rear down on one side and roughly chewed on a flat piece of beef jerky.

*Drip. * The sweat flowing down his forehead brushed past the tip of his nose and fell to the ground.

A heavy pain surged up from his thighs. His muscles trembled violently, and nausea welled up.

He had reached his limit.

Encrid collapsed, drenched in sweat.

Closing his eyes while remaining seated, the wind coolly swept over his damp forehead and ears.

Today's training, complete.

Just as he was enjoying the wind with that thought.

*STEP, STEP. * The sound of forceful footsteps reached him.

The sound of footsteps stopped behind Encrid.

"Still working hard, I see."

He tilted his head back and looked at the person. Blocking the sunlight, a long shadow covered Encrid's face. He couldn't see the face well due to the backlight, but he could tell it was a man with a bushy beard.

"Shall we have a little chat?"

It was the Fourth Platoon Commander.