Chapter 63 - Knock

It was quick.

As expected of Jaxon.

They had left the base around the time the sun passed overhead, but Jaxon returned before the sunset could even drape the ground in its colors.

"That was fast."

It was right after they had polished off a meal of pumpkin soup and well-cooked steamed pork hind leg. Rem asked while patting his belly.

It sounded like he was teasing him about eating well.

Jaxon didn't even glance toward Rem, looking straight at Encrid as he spoke.

"I'll lead the way."

He looked ready to depart immediately.

"Sit down."

Encrid spoke while remaining seated. Jaxon faltered.

Even though he had found the location, as time passed, the fact that they were on their tail might be discovered.

The enemy might hide.

Or else, they might prepare themselves.

Wouldn't they harbor the intention of cleanly cutting off the ones chasing them rather than just hiding?

It was possible.

Was there a need to take an unnecessary risk?

If he were alone, if he were the one making the decision and executing it, these wouldn't even be things to worry about.

As all sorts of thoughts churned inside Jaxon's head, he heard the Squad Leader's voice.

"The pumpkin soup here is delicious."

Who wouldn't know that.

The inn's name itself was 'Vanessa's pumpkin soup'.

It was the place with the best food among the four inns at the market intersection.

"Krais paid out of his own pocket. Let's eat before we go."

Jaxon only sat down after Encrid repeated himself.

For some reason, Rem, Ragna, and Audin didn't say much either.

Jaxon roughly brushed off the snow covering his shoulders and head.

Thanks to the fireplace's warmth heating the interior nicely, the snow melted quickly.

His outerwear got a little wet as a result.

It wasn't to an unpleasant degree.

"Over here, give us one serving of pumpkin soup and the barbecue we had earlier."

"The companion you were waiting for has arrived! Okay!"

The waitress spoke in a cheerful tone. She was a lively girl.

Generally, the people from the base liked the pumpkin inn.

Because having good food meant exactly that.

It was unfortunate for the people in charge of cooking at the base, but to borrow Ragna's words, eating the base's food was like abusing one's mouth.

Sometimes it was edible, though.

But generally, that was the case.

In contrast, the meals at Vanessa's pumpkin soup inn went beyond just being excellent. It was often rumored that the best cook in the Border Guard was here.

"It's not good to drag things out."

Jaxon said as he sat down on the chair. Encrid nodded and replied.

"The snow hasn't stopped yet."

Why would Encrid want to do hard labor?

Especially when it wasn't swordsmanship training or physical conditioning.

To him as well, snow was the devil's dung powder.

No, everyone serving in the base likely felt the same way.

If they went to strike the Thieves Guild right now and returned, piled-up snow would be waiting to welcome them.

For this reason, Rem and the others hadn't said a word.

Krais had probably opened his purse for the same reason.

Jaxon realized everything.

"I see."

After that, he focused entirely on eating.

It was only when dusk had crept in that everyone, including Encrid, finally brushed themselves off and stood up.

"Let's go."

"Come again!"

The lively waitress said. Krais gave her a slight nod.

The two seemed to already know each other.

Throughout their time in the inn, they were often seen whispering to each other.

"You know her?"

Encrid asked.

"Her name is Leysa, seventeen years old, her father is a shoemaker and her mother is a weaver. Neither has ever joined a guild."

Shoemakers were people who made and sold shoes out of leather and other materials.

Weavers were people who wove fabrics.

Both were common professions.

Manufacturing guilds and woodworking guilds clearly existed within the city, so if they had never joined a guild, their skills were probably not exceptionally outstanding.

"Her dream is to one day go to The Capital and open an inn. Right now, her goal is to learn the culinary skills of Vanessa's pumpkin soup."

"That's an ambitious dream."

Rem chimed in with a remark. It made sense.

An inn is easier said than done; it's not something just anyone can run.

The crona it costs is one thing, but hiring armed guards is also essential.

When you sell alcohol and food, disturbances become an everyday occurrence.

Today was on the quieter side because there weren't many people due to the falling snow, but on a normal day, a few people would have already started brawling by now.

Even just a moment ago on their way out, hadn't the armed guard glanced at them?

To Encrid, he looked like a retired soldier.

Having an armed guard from the Border Guard would be convenient in many ways. They could quietly settle most disturbances through their connections.

If an even bigger incident occurred, there was nothing a single guard could do anyway, and they would have to call in the patrolmen from the base.

Having ties to the base would mean they could call for the patrolmen much faster.

For these reasons, hiring retired soldiers as guards was an essential requirement in the Border Guard.

On top of this, inns were heavily taxed, and by Border Guard standards, an inn had to be equipped not only with a hall for meetings, but also private rooms, a personal training ground, a dining area, and a tavern.

The Border Guard had no lord and no lord's manor, so both major and minor affairs were entirely conducted at inns.

There were actually meeting rooms inside the base, but those were military facilities.

It wasn't a place that let just anyone in.

Naturally, it was an environment where inns couldn't help but flourish.

To open an inn like this in The Capital... it was a tall order, indeed. Though that wasn't a reason to give up, either.

"You know quite a lot of details."

Encrid said as he walked behind Jaxon, who was taking the lead.

"Any pretty woman could be a future customer, after all."

Had Krais said his goal was to open a salon for noblewomen?

A salon that exclusively accepted women.

Naturally, he had said all the servers would be men, and handsome ones at that.

He was a remarkably creative bastard.

To think he planned to fleece noblewomen's pockets using men's good looks.

Perhaps feeling anxious, Krais kept talking.

"But will the lake panther be okay? Isn't he cold? I told him to follow along, so why wouldn't he move?"

"Are you still after his claws?"

"No. I don't think I'd die a natural death if I kept aiming for them. They're expensive for a reason."

Encrid chuckled at Krais's words. He was just saying that; it was obvious he was still after them.

"You should give him a name. It looks like you'll be keeping him around."

At Krais's remark, Encrid inwardly nodded. He couldn't keep calling it 'hey you' and 'that guy' without a name forever.

Chatting like this, they had long since entered a secluded alleyway and walked quite a distance. Having turned corner after corner, even Encrid, whose sense of direction wasn't bad, was at the point of getting confused.

"Did you gorge yourself on crona from the Thieves Guild and deliberately lead us into a trap?"

Rem sneered for no reason.

Jaxon cleanly ignored him.

"This bastard ignores me over every little thing."

Rem grumbled, but Jaxon ignored that too, maintaining consistency in his attitude toward Rem.

"Enough."

Encrid stopped Rem, who was about to say another word.

"Are you discriminating against me? It won't be fun if I get upset."

It was a good sign that he was picking on Encrid to hold himself back.

It meant he was going to end the argument here.

It was quiet after that.

Ragna walked along, lightly kicking the ground with his toes, as if he were bored.

"Winter is cold."

That single remark from Audin, after seeing a group of beggars lying on the ground in this cold, was all.

The snow had stopped, but a thin layer had piled up over the hard-frozen dirt.

By tomorrow daytime, it would melt under the sunlight and turn the ground into a muddy mess.

"It's here."

It was after they had wandered the alleyways for about half an hour. An old wooden door came into view.

It was the sort of door commonly seen anywhere within the Border Guard.

The sun had gone down, but the faint moonlight shone down, so there was no difficulty with visibility.

Just as Encrid was about to push the door open.

"Do you want the left?"

Rem said, having stopped dead with his back to the moonlight.

"I will take the right. I should earn my keep for the meal."

Audin followed up on those words.

"Suit yourselves. I don't care as long as they don't attack me."

Ragna yawned.

"You lazy bastard. Squad Leader, we have guests."

Encrid turned around at Rem's words. They were all bastards draped in things like straw mats.

Looking closely, they were the sprawled-out beggar bastards they had seen on their way here.

The Half Fairy came to mind, then quickly faded away.

'Since they're twice as big.'

Encrid casually brushed his hand behind his belt.

His fingertips caught on a single knife.

It wasn't a common item. He had swiped it from the Half Fairy's corpse after killing him, after all.

He also had a dagger sheath strapped securely to his chest.

Seeing what these Whistle Daggers were, it clearly wasn't something commonly made.

So what else was he supposed to do but promptly pack them away?

He had pocketed all of them, from the ones stuck in the ground to the ones on the Fairy's body.

"Looks like you didn't learn this when you were young, but you're not supposed to come into places like this after the sun goes down."

One of the beggars spoke. His front teeth showed as he talked, and they were so yellow they looked almost black.

He couldn't see clearly because it was night.

It was winter, and they were a few steps away, but it still felt like a foul stench was wafting over.

"Bullshit."

Rem replied and made his move. It wasn't a fast walk.

He merely closed the distance with long strides. The beggar who had stepped forward pulled a pocketknife from his sleeve.

It was a knife with a blade not even a span long. Holding it, he made a stabbing motion.

"You're dead. You."

That was his last word.

Rem didn't stop walking, and the bastard thrust his knife.

The beggar aimed for his belly and thrust, but Rem snatched the opponent's wrist with his left hand.

Pulling the beggar inward just like that, Rem smashed his right elbow into the bastard's skull.

SMACK! CRACK!

It was a bold and decisive blow.

The neck of the beggar whose skull was struck by the elbow snapped at an abnormal angle.

CRACK.

At the same time, on the opposite side, Audin was seen grabbing and twisting a beggar's jaw using only his thumb, index, and middle fingers.

Twisting a jaw with just three fingers yet snapping the neck. It was a stunt performed with sheer, ignorant brute strength.

"You crazy bastard!"

"Fuck!"

Of the remaining three, two popped their veins in anger, while one read the room and quickly tried to bolt backwards.

Rem and Audin's fights were short.

Closing the distance, ignoring things like knives, and delivering a single blow; that was all.

Rem struck a beggar's Adam's apple with the edge of his hand, then snapped a punch into his temple.

With that, one beggar's consciousness flew away.

Audin was even simpler.

He lightly stepped forward with his left foot and thrust out his left fist.

SWOOSH, WHAM!

His fist was like a cannonball.

It was a strike that followed the twisting of his waist, starting from the tips of his toes.

The nose of the bastard hit by the fist that extended straight from the shoulder disappeared. With his face caved inward, he slumped to his knees and collapsed to the side.

A facial cave-in from a single blow. It was only natural that he fainted and collapsed.

Meanwhile, Encrid took care of the bastard who had fled to the rear.

THWIP, THUD!

"Gah!"

The fleeing bastard pitched forward, wearing the dagger lodged in the back of his neck like a decoration.

Rem, who had just put power into his toes to chase after him, snapped his head back around.

Audin blinked a few times as well, and even Ragna, who had half-sleepy eyes, opened them wide.

Jaxon's brow narrowed, then relaxed.

Amidst the heavy, cold air wrapping around their bodies.

"Wow."

Krais let out a short exclamation of awe.

Encrid lowered his hand from a posture with his right fingertips fully extended forward and spoke.

"What? Chasing him is a waste of time."

"Since when did our Squad Leader throw a dagger so well?"

Rem asked.

"I improved as I kept doing it."

"It's quite fascinating, I tell you."

"Isn't this not the time to be focusing on the knife I threw?"

It was true. Rem nodded.

Even though five beggars had attacked, there wasn't a single person who was surprised.

Much less Krais, who was also calm.

"Are you not surprised?"

Encrid asked.

He had already known from looking at the bodies and hands of the beggars lying there as they walked over.

He didn't make a living doing mercenary work for nothing. What was needed to survive for a long time with mediocre skills?

Sharp wits.

Encrid's sharp wits were also exceptional in their own way.

He knew through the beggars' presence that Jaxon was leading them down the right path.

If there were bastards standing guard, didn't that mean there was something to guard up ahead?

"What? Ah, no, I wasn't surprised. What kind of beggar attacks an armed soldier? Their excuse was shoddy. So, it just made it certain that what's ahead is either the criminal guild's headquarters or they're hiding something."

Was it something anyone could have noticed?

Or was Krais just smart?

It seemed more likely to be the former.

Still, he was quite bold. Even though he scurried away well when stepping onto the battlefield, Krais was also a soldier who had watched the battlefield right before his eyes.

Something like this was nothing to him.

"It is surprising for a criminal gang, though."

"What is?"

"Seeing what the bastards who attacked us did, it looks like they were working in shifts. For a mere gang, they're too meticulous. This guy named Gilfin must be incredibly capable."

Krais was also clever. He knew how to look at one facet of a matter and deduce what lay behind it.

"That's also true."

While the two exchanged a few words, Jaxon tried to open the door, then stepped back. Seeing him grip his sword hilt soon after, it looked like he was going to slash it down.

At that, Audin stepped forward.

"I will try knocking."

It was the headquarters of a criminal organization. There was no way they would open it just because he knocked.

BANG!

However, Audin's knock was a little different.

"Pfft, nicely done. Our zealot friend."

Rem expressed his admiration. Encrid inwardly admired it as well.

Audin pulled his right shoulder back and twisted his body with his left foot as an axis, smacking the door with his palm. No, he pulled his hand back the moment he smacked it. It was a snapping strike.

Then, the door's hinges gave way, and the door caved inward.

So, it opened. Or in other words, he smashed it.

It was an exhilarating knock.