Chapter 53 - The Turtles and the Frontier Slaughterers (2)

"Not thinking of transferring companies?"

It was before he had taken even five steps out of the barracks.

It was not common for someone to directly pull a soldier out from another unit within the army.

'Is this because I became an upper-grade soldier?'

That might be it.

There were not that many upper-grade or highest-grade soldiers within the army.

Or there could be another reason.

Spellbreaker.

It was the name being talked about the most within the army right now.

He was being noticed and given attention.

It was the first time.

But that did not mean he should get excited and run wild like a fifteen-year-old boy.

It was enjoyable, but because it was enjoyable, there were also things one had to simply let pass.

Encrid had experience.

The years he had spent living by the sword until thirty without dying had not gone anywhere.

"Do you mean to the 1st Company?"

"Then did you think I came here to put you in Palto's or Rayon's idiotic company?"

Palto and Rayon were the names of the 2nd and 3rd Company Commanders.

"Come to my unit."

Encrid's promotion sparring matches had left a strong impression in everyone's minds.

Among them, the 1st Company Commander responsible for the heavy armored infantry, Graham, had taken a particular liking to Encrid.

He was originally a man famous within the army for cherishing talent.

He was also someone being mentioned as the next Battalion Commander.

This was an offer from such a man.

It was not something to take lightly.

The 1st Company, famous for its heavy armored infantry, was a core branch of the Cyprus Division and also an elite track within the army.

But Encrid shook his head.

"I'm sorry."

It was a tactful refusal that required no deliberation.

"You're refusing? Why? If you're worried about falling out with your Company Commander, I'll block that for you."

"That isn't it."

Encrid's attitude as he answered was excessively plain.

There was not even a trace of hesitation to be seen.

Graham furrowed his brow, then relaxed it.

"You don't look like you have any regrets."

"Is that so?"

Graham stared quietly at Encrid.

Encrid met his eyes, wondering if there was something more he should say.

"You do."

This was not a problem to solve through pressure or coercion.

That was what Graham thought.

"Then."

Encrid pressed his left hand to his left waist and bowed his head in a military salute.

If one was receiving a military salute, one should at least nod, but Graham mirrored Encrid's movement like a reflection.

He pressed his left hand to his waist and gave a military salute.

Then he spoke.

"Thanks to you."

Thanks to him?

When Encrid looked at him blankly, Graham continued.

"I survived, I'm saying. I should at least say thank you."

Spellbreaker.

That fog had truly been dreadful.

Especially for a capable commander, its power was felt all too clearly.

The Fairy Company Commander had cursed the Battalion Commander endlessly during the battle.

Graham had cursed the Battalion Commander no less than she had.

"That dumbfuck, that shit-for-brains bastard!"

He had shouted that much in the middle of the battlefield.

When nothing was happening, it was enough for a person to look after his own bowl of food.

But when a crisis came, a commander's ability was bound to be revealed.

The Battalion Commander was a moron.

At least, that was what Graham thought.

And the most moronic thing of all was how he had subtly turned the credit for this battle into his own.

In the end, everyone in the army who was in a position to know did know.

They knew that the greatest contributor in the previous battle was not the Battalion Commander.

The two men who had been blankly giving each other military salutes relaxed their postures.

Graham extended his hand first, and Encrid took that hand and shook it.

It was a greeting mixed with several emotions, such as gratitude, lingering attachment, and regret.

"Go on. And don't forget that I'm really disappointed."

"Then should I send Rem in my place?"

Encrid tossed out a joke.

"That bastard is absolutely not allowed!"

Graham glared as he pretended to be angry.

The two soon smiled and parted ways.

'He seems like a decent person.'

It was the first time he had talked this much with the heavy armored infantry Company Commander.

Encrid felt goodwill toward him.

The barracks were right behind him, but he felt like walking a little more.

As he walked, he looked around various parts of the city for the first time in a while.

After walking like that, he eventually found himself at the edge of the market in the center of the city.

Even if it was a military city, it was only natural for merchants and farmers to come and go.

In truth, there were far more wandering merchants than people engaged in agriculture.

The Border Guard was a place called the military city of the border.

The number of stationed troops alone easily exceeded a thousand.

If soldiers made up ten percent of the population, then the number of civilians should have exceeded ten thousand.

But ten thousand was naturally impossible, and in fact there were not even five thousand.

Even so, the city ran just fine.

Because this place was a domain directly under the king.

Because there was support from the kingdom, the military city of the Border Guard could be maintained.

But they could not depend on the kingdom for everything, so they farmed, and merchants came and went.

Among those efforts, he had heard that the business of attracting merchant companies had gone quite well.

Moreover, he had recently heard that several merchant companies had entered the city by the king's order, and perhaps because of that, the market was more crowded than ever before.

Thanks to that, Big-eyes had gone on for quite a while about how the innkeeper's smile was reaching the ceiling.

'Of course she'd be happy.'

It really was crowded with that many people.

When merchant companies increased in a city, an innkeeper's joy was bound to increase as well.

Moreover, one of the Border Guard's major businesses was lodging.

'A trading place for major merchant companies.'

One of the advantages created by having a far greater number of professional soldiers within the city was that public order was solid.

There were more than enough troops for patrols and guard duty.

Because of that, it often became a major trading place for each merchant company.

A city with few residents, but many people coming and going.

A military city, but also a place with the aspect of a trade city.

That was probably the Border Guard's true face.

Encrid glanced toward the entrance of an alley at the edge of the market, where buildings had been built in a disorderly fashion and made the structure complicated, then turned around.

For some reason, he had felt as if someone was looking at him, but when he looked closely, there was nothing there.

Encrid turned and returned to the front of the barracks.

After he left, a beggar with a filthy blanket pulled all the way over his head crawled out from inside the alley.

The beggar sat down on the ground as he was and began begging.

The eyes beneath the blanket he wore over himself were sharp.

So sharp that, if someone saw them, he would not look like a man merely begging.

* * *

Before he even entered the quarters, Rem's voice struck Encrid's ears.

"Our Squad Leader is preparing to abandon us. Everyone, get ready."

That crazy bastard.

"Is that true?"

As soon as he entered, Big-eyes, who had been in the quarters, came running over in quick little steps.

"No."

He denied it outright and was about to explain, but everyone's eyes were ominous.

Ragna spoke with his eyes half-open.

"If you're going, let me come with you."

His tone was utterly calm.

It might be one thing if he said that while properly following his superior's orders, but Ragna was lazy by nature.

He was not the sort of man who readily listened to someone's commands.

Was there any unit that would welcome a Ragna like that?

"Mm. Unit transfers are common enough."

Jaxon agreed as he looked over his belongings.

He looked ready to pack up and chase after him if things went wrong.

Jaxon was better, at least.

'But he's still...'

He was not in the troublemaker unit for no reason.

He kept his duty hours well, but he too often skipped training.

It was common for him to suddenly vanish without a word, so there were many times they had to ask where he had gone and search for him.

He did treat people affably, but still.

'Even that has limits. He picks and chooses people.'

He made it blatantly obvious on the outside that he picked and chose people.

No matter how one looked at him, he was not the type of person to blend well into a unit.

Naturally, there was no way many commanders would welcome Jaxon.

"You crazy bastards, where do you think you're following him to? They might accept the Squad Leader, but do you think they'd accept you? You're poison to the Squad Leader's future. So don't come. I'll be the only one to follow him. Trust me. I'll knock all those bastards aside and go with him."

Rem blocked Encrid's path, puffed out his chest, and spoke loudly.

'No, you're the biggest problem.'

Looking at Rem's broad back, Encrid let out a hollow laugh.

The heavy armored infantry Company Commander might accept someone else, but he would never accept Rem.

Not when Rem had beaten up a superior in the 1st Battalion.

There were many in the army who went beyond disliking Rem for assaulting a superior and outright hated him.

It did not seem likely they would accept Ragna or Jaxon either, but if one had to rank them, Rem was by far the greatest poison.

"You definitely seem to have a sickness in your head. I've seen plenty of guys like that in my life, and every one of them died before making it past thirty."

Ragna spoke while lying on his side.

Seeing him scratch roughly at his head, it looked as if he had not washed his hair in days.

"Then I guess it's about time for him to die."

Jaxon took up those words.

Why those two achieved such fantastic harmony only at times like this, he truly could not know.

But was Rem thirty years old?

When Encrid subtly shifted his foot to the side and looked at Rem, he saw the corner of the foreign man's mouth from the west twist upward crookedly.

His face was full of anger.

"Squad Leader, it's okay if I kill those two and we go by ourselves, right?"

Go where, and kill who in the first place?

"No."

Stopping them before it became a big fight was the best course.

"I'm not going anywhere."

When he said that roughly and tried to settle the situation, Big-eyes nodded and said, "Really?"

Everyone did not calm down easily.

He was about to try talking them down, and if that failed, physically put himself between his squadmates, when someone knocked on the door.

The only one not present was the religious squadmate, but he would never knock when coming to his own quarters.

Therefore, it was a guest.

When Encrid gave a look, Big-eyes opened the door.

"Who is it?"

At Krais's voice, Encrid also turned his body back.

Beyond the flimsy wooden door stood a member of the Border Guard.

It was Torres, wearing an eagle insignia.

"We meet again."

He raised his hand in greeting, and Encrid gave a military salute with his left hand pressed to his waist.

"Let's talk for a moment."

"With me?"

"Who else?"

Encrid pointed at himself with a finger and blinked a few times.

Then he soon nodded.

Encrid turned around to tell everyone, including Rem, to stay calm, then flinched in surprise.

At some point, Rem, Ragna, and Jaxon had risen from their places and were standing behind him.

Their movements had been so agile and quiet that he had not even sensed them.

"That's the gentleman with bad hands from back then."

Rem said.

Ragna and Jaxon only stared in silence.

Torres raised both hands.

"I didn't come here to fight."

Glances passed between the three and the one.

The air inside the quarters seemed to grow thick.

Torres broke the silence.

"They said you were the troublemaker squad, and you really do charge in without thinking about what comes before or after."

Torres showed a hint of displeasure.

It felt as if, if anyone picked even the slightest fight, blades would come out at once.

At that moment, Encrid pushed himself between them.

Hiding the gazes of his three squadmates with his back, Encrid said,

"Let's go outside."

If an incident happened for no reason, it would only be hard to clean up.

As he left the quarters, he heard Rem snort behind him.

When they came outside and started walking, Torres furrowed his brow and said,

"What's wrong with all of them? Are they all pent-up? If they're that worked up, tell them to go to the red-light district. Not think about drawing blood."

Torres had seen something Encrid had not.

The moment the door opened, the superior-assaulting offender named Rem had moved first.

With one step taken lightly, he loaded killing intent into it and stood behind Encrid.

Next was the one who had been lying askew on the bed.

Just as Torres thought he was getting up, he strode forward soundlessly and also stood behind Encrid.

At that moment, Torres saw the illusion of a shield placed before Encrid, one that could not be pierced no matter what he did.

The last one was someone even Torres lost sight of.

He was a man with reddish-brown hair, and before Torres knew it, he too was standing in place and staring at him.

Killing intent stabbed, raked, and sliced through his whole body.

It was only natural that Torres became sensitive.

It hurt his pride, but at that moment, if he had moved even a single fingertip wrong, he might have been the one to die.

'To just three ordinary soldiers?'

The skill of the troublemaker squad members was famous.

Even so, he had not known it was to this extent.

If Encrid had not stepped in, would the situation have become ridiculous?

When Torres had faced Encrid before, he had shown only half of his skill.

That had been enough.

Then could he have done the same against one of those three?

Excluding the knight orders within the military, the directly commanded unit was evaluated as having the best training and talent.

In particular, the Border Guard was a unit that had fully proven its majesty until now.

It was enough to wound his pride.

Still, work was work, and what had to be said had to be said.

Torres steadied himself by taking a few breaths.

"I'll get straight to the point."

He had received a mission, and he carried it out exactly as given.

"Come to the Border Guard."

The direct military, the Border Guard, was an offer even greater than the Turtle Heavy Infantry.

It was, after all, the kingdom's direct military.

A unit that received orders directly from the royal army, not from the Cyprus Division.

There was no doubt it was an attractive offer.

"What do you think?"

Torres's attitude was full of confidence.

His pride in being a member of the Border Guard was also visible.

Encrid looked quietly at Torres, then opened his mouth.

"What does the Border Guard aim for?"

What could he do if he became a guard?

As one soldier, where would he be heading?

Encrid asked.