Chapter 33 - Goal

Hearing the Platoon Commander's report, doubt filled the Company Commander's emerald-green eyes.

"With just ten men?"

Everything that happened in the other squads during the reconnaissance mission was ordinary.

The only thing that happened was running into Aspen's infantry reconnaissance squad on the plains, and parting ways at a distance instead of fighting each other.

Naturally, Aspen would also be operating reconnaissance squads, so running into them on the plains wasn't a rare occurrence.

In fact, it was strange that they only ran into them once.

But what Encrid's unit did was on a completely different level.

The enemy had ambushed them in the Tall Grass Fields.

The enemy forces were pulling some kind of trick.

She could understand figuring out that information.

But they infiltrated the enemy camp and set it on fire with just ten soldiers.

'What the hell is this bastard doing?'

Encrid was at the center of all those events.

It was the same with the previous assassin incident.

Strangely enough, wherever things got twisted, that Squad Leader named Encrid was always there.

Should she consider him purely unlucky?

But for that to be the case, he was incredibly resilient against bad luck.

He wasn't just present; time and time again, he pulled off unexpected feats.

His actual skills were mediocre, but the results of everything that happened always exceeded expectations.

Even during the assassin incident, wasn't they able to protect the target because that Squad Leader held out?

What he did this time went without saying.

Just infiltrating the enemy camp and finding out information was something that wouldn't be adequately rewarded even if he was given a hundred prizes.

"Yes, that's what they said."

The Platoon Commander replied.

Ten men infiltrated the enemy camp, only five died, and the remaining five returned after achieving a ridiculous feat.

This wasn't an elite special unit raised by the Cyprus Division, but a ten-man reconnaissance squad led by a lowest-grade soldier.

The Company Commander felt intrigued.

'Encrid, Encrid.'

Just what the hell was this bastard?

His skills were nothing special, so how was this possible?

It wasn't something to think too deeply about.

'Luck.'

She just thought luck followed him.

If this wasn't luck, what else could she call it?

Unless he had memorized the unit locations as if he had been inside the enemy commander's head.

That made even less sense.

The hypothesis that he was a spy raised by the Principality of Aspen would be better.

But that didn't make any sense either.

What kind of idiot would raise and send a spy like this?

A mere Squad Leader, a single soldier with terrible skills?

"Should we call the Squad Leader and verify the truth?"

"If he were stupid enough to lie about something like this, he would have died a long time ago."

The Company Commander rested her chin on her fist where she sat and thought.

Assuming that Squad Leader named Encrid was just lucky.

What were those Aspen bastards aiming for?

First, she had to pass this on to the Battalion Commander.

That was the order.

She finished her thoughts and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

Who had chosen this idiot to be a Platoon Commander?

The Company Commander pushed the moron aside and spoke.

"I'm going to the Battalion Commander's barracks."

Since this had happened, reporting it was the top priority, wasn't it?

* * *

Rem was bored.

There were no minor battles, and he didn't really have anything to do.

Currently, both armies were busy glaring at each other and holding out in their respective camps.

Rumors began circulating within the unit that the war would end just like this this time.

"Well, it is what it is. It's almost winter, and the battle on this plain isn't something that will end in one go, right? So they'll probably put it off until next year."

These were the words of the sharp-eared Krais.

Rather than his own opinion, it was probably a conclusion he had drawn by gathering the circulating rumors.

Rem didn't care about this kind of thing, no matter what Krais babbled about.

Whether this battlefield repeated every year.

Or that Aspen and Naurilia were on good terms in the past.

What did any of that matter?

'There's fucking nothing to do.'

He spent time adequately sharpening his axe blades and juggling them, but it didn't change the fact that there was nothing to do.

Rem found this time maddeningly boring.

Everyone except him seemed to have things to do.

"No, you want cigarettes at that price? Are you crazy? Do you have an arrowhead stuck in your head?"

On one side, Big-eyes was constantly busy selling things.

He said something about needing to earn a lot right now because profits would drop for a while once the battle ended.

He really lived diligently.

"What? An arrowhead?"

Sometimes there were guys who glared at Big-eyes after seeing his small build.

Rem sometimes took it as a minor hobby to threaten those guys.

Just licking the freshly sharpened axe blade with his tongue and staring at them was enough.

In the first place, he didn't sharpen his axe blades that sharply. If you sharpened them enough to cut a finger at a touch, the blade would chip easily.

Unless magic or a master craftsman's touch was involved, this was the correct way to maintain it.

So licking the axe blade didn't mean his tongue would get cut.

"... I did get hit by an arrow in the helmet during the last battle."

He dared to challenge when he was just going to tuck his tail so quickly.

"Cigarettes are hard to find, you know. So, how many do you need?"

Krais quickly raised his voice.

He looked exactly like a merchant.

That Jaxon guy, who was like a sneaky wildcat, wandered outside rather than sticking around the barracks.

The religious freak was busy smashing his head against the floor with a very depressed face while praying.

He was always muttering, 'Oh God, give me an answer' while doing so.

Just watching him made you reluctant to get close. Didn't his actions alone give off the strong stench of a crazy fanatic?

Why the hell was that bastard always like that?

The last remaining one, Ragna, spent his time doing nothing and sleeping at the drop of a hat.

As if he wasn't bored, he would just space out all day, sleep, space out, and sleep repeatedly.

Was that fun?

'It's too boring without the Squad Leader.'

Rem thought, venting his complaints inwardly.

Thoughts like whether the Squad Leader had died.

Reconnaissance missions were dangerous. And although the Squad Leader's skills had improved a lot, from Rem's standards, they were still embarrassing to show off anywhere.

What if he died?

If so, it would be a bit—no, a lot—disappointing.

'Tsk, did I get attached to him in the meantime?'

From what he had observed so far, he was truly a human too precious to let die.

But following him around and protecting him was also funny, wasn't it?

What was that human to him anyway?

He was nothing.

Just a human he happened to meet and took a liking to.

'A human I took a liking to?'

Come to think of it, such humans were truly rare. How many of those humans had there been in Rem's entire life?

He thought it would be nice if he came back alive.

Even so, he wasn't anxious.

Since he wasn't the type of person to be done in by pathetic bastards in the first place.

At the end of all these trivial thoughts, Rem couldn't stay still anymore out of persistent boredom.

Whether the Squad Leader was dead or alive, he had to resolve the boredom of this very moment.

"Do I maybe want to kill you right now?"

Rem chose a simple method.

He lightly kicked Ragna, who was lying down idly, and spoke.

Ragna stared up at Rem.

With a look that clearly said, 'What the fuck is this bastard doing right now?'

"Are you doing this because you want to die?"

Ragna was serious.

"I'm bored. Let's go a round."

Long words weren't needed. Jaxon, who briefly stopped by the barracks, saw the two and ignored them as he walked past.

The religious freak was busy smashing his head against the floor with his usual depressed face.

Krais had left his seat.

The two went outside by mutual agreement.

CLANG.

After lightly clashing their axe and sword to announce the start of the fight.

They began swinging their sword and axe at each other.

WHOOSH!

Rem's arm bent as his axe slammed down fiercely. Ragna dodged the axe blade and twisted his body to thrust his sword.

A sharp attack with twice the perfection of the thrusts Squad Leader Encrid had shown countless times aimed for Rem's abdomen.

Rem put a lot of strength into his toes and jumped back.

THUD.

A footprint was left where his foot had been.

An exchange of attacks and defenses went back and forth at a level that would have shocked anyone with an eye for it.

Encrid arrived right when the battle between the two was reaching its climax.

* * *

"Kill him!"

An excited soldier shouted.

Before they knew it, a large crowd had gathered to watch the two.

Why was the troublemaker squad the troublemaker squad?

Because it was a gathering of people who had problems in many ways.

Then why did the unit keep such a group of troublemakers around?

Naturally, it was because of their skills.

With two such people showing off their skills, how could this not be a spectacle?

CLANG!

The sword and axe met, raising a cloud of dirt and dust centered around the two.

SWISH!

Even so, the two didn't take their eyes off each other.

SCREEECH.

The axe blade seemed to drop from top to bottom before scraping the ground.

Small stones sparked as they were scraped by the axe blade.

Ragna dodged the axe that swept low and slashed his sword downwards from above.

SWOOSH.

Even with eyes wide open, the trajectory of the sword blade couldn't be seen.

The sword that was up high had already fallen and slashed at Rem's neck.

CLANG!

Right there, the axe and sword collided once again.

Sparks flew from the center of the weapons they held.

"Crazy."

The 2nd Platoon Commander of the 4th Company muttered.

Just by looking, their level seemed several times higher than his own.

Besides him, a few soldiers who were confident in their skills clicked their tongues in awe.

There were also a few who were close to reaching the level of a high-grade soldier.

They all felt the difference in level.

Of course, among them were also those who tried to gauge the two's skills.

'I could do that much too.'

'I would have finished this by now.'

These were thoughts they could only have because they mistakenly believed that what they were seeing now was all the two had.

And Encrid stood frozen in place, his eyes wide open.

No matter what chatter was happening around him, none of it entered his ears.

In this moment, Encrid's eyes were solely busy following their movements.

In his head, he focused purely on facing their sword and axe.

Beads of sweat rolled down the tip of Encrid's nose.

Just by watching and concentrating, his entire body was soaked in sweat.

Sometimes, one's skills could improve just by watching.

Although no one intended it, Encrid realized what he had to do in this moment.

'My current method won't work.'

Everyone has a form that suits them. Learning the sword and training the body are the same.

And Encrid had something that no one else had.

The curse of repeating today.

The endlessly appearing walls that the eyeless Boatswain had spoken of.

If so, he needed to choose a new method suited for that, rather than ordinary training or practice.

Watching their axe and sword, that method came to Encrid's mind.

Excitement and realization came in an instant, and then quickly cooled down like a pot splashed with cold water.

The moment he saw their duel that wasn't exactly a duel, Encrid had to obediently admit it.

He had never managed to draw out their true skills yet.

Neither Rem nor Ragna had ever shown him anything like that while sparring with him.

Strength and speed aside, he could tell from their expressions.

Rem was smiling.

He looked so incredibly excited.

Ragna's expression was also overflowing with vitality.

It was a face he couldn't easily see normally.

How many times had he repeated today?

How many times had he overcome the moment of death?

Even so, he couldn't seriously compete with either of them right now.

That was his current position.

But he wasn't discouraged.

If he was going to give up over just this, he wouldn't have even been able to start.

Instead, he found it amusing.

Because he now had a goal.

'That expression.'

While watching them, the resolve to make them show that expression even when facing him stood firm. Encrid was deeply satisfied with that.

He saw a new path, and he had the time to walk it.

He was boundlessly, truly boundlessly delighted.

SHIIING.

The axe and sword brushed against each other, spitting out a bizarre sound.

At the same time, Rem and Ragna widened their distance.

Both were sweating quite a bit. Sweat could be seen flowing down Ragna's forehead.

Rem let out a breath with a huff and smirked.

"You're pretty decent for a guy who just sleeps all the fucking time."

Ragna snorted at those words.

"Where do you get off judging me when you're just a barbarian who only bullies weaklings?"

Contrary to their sharp words, the two put away their sword and axe.

It was because they knew each other's conditions well without having to speak.

If they went any further than this, they would have to risk their lives fighting.

If both were riled up, they might have done so, but not right now.

It was a duel where they left some strength in reserve.

While fighting, the two spotted a familiar face among the spectators. It was their Squad Leader.

It was proof that they had kept enough strength in reserve to look around their surroundings even while fighting.

"What's there to look at? If you want to keep watching, you can play with me instead."

When Rem abruptly spoke, the crowd of spectators quickly dispersed.

Among the scattered people, only Encrid remained in his grubby state.

"You back?"

Rem welcomed Encrid. Ragna also acknowledged him with his eyes.

The fight was over.

And Encrid had also returned safely.

Soon, Jaxon came out, combing his messy red hair with his hand, and Krais also ran over upon seeing the Squad Leader.

"Have you returned?"

"Squad Leader!"

"God has watched over you."

The religious freak squad member also acknowledged him.

A total of six members, the entirety of what was originally supposed to be a ten-man squad.

Becoming one of those six, Encrid announced his return.