Chapter 72 - Because I Trained Every Moment (1)

Because it was a choice that required no deliberation, I chose Jaxon.

For a request, it was only right to bring along the person with the highest capability.

Within the troublemaker squad, Jaxon had taken on the most requests.

It meant he had a lot of experience. He was sought after just as much.

And to say that his sharp five senses were helpful for escorting would just be a waste of breath.

Compared to the other squadmates, the chances of him causing friction with the escort target were also low.

"I suppose I will."

Jaxon nodded as if it were a given, and seeing that, Rem threw a fit saying it was unacceptable.

Then Ragna chimed in, saying he thought this was a bit strange too.

Audin questioned if it didn't go against the will of God.

As expected, Ragna and Rem got into an argument.

When Jaxon scraped at Rem's nerves from the sidelines.

Ragna backed out, and Rem and Jaxon started fighting.

Encrid tried to stop them over and over until later, he just told them to not even make eye contact with each other.

"If you want to spar, do it with me."

Adding that final remark, Encrid finished the day by taking turns sparring with his squadmates.

He could have felt mental fatigue, but there was no such thing. This was just the everyday life of the troublemaker squad.

Above all, for Encrid—who had endured a long time swinging his sword despite struggling with a lack of talent—this much was nothing.

If he took mental damage from something like this, he would have dropped his sword and picked up a plow a long time ago.

"As expected of the Squad Leader."

Krais watched this and gave a thumbs up again.

It was a thumb praising the Squad Leader's mental fortitude anew. Encrid gave a rough nod in response.

The escort request was for tomorrow.

It involved the succession issue of a mid-sized merchant association and was an escort mission within the city.

Three personnel were assigned.

It was the Fairy Company Commander, Encrid, and Jaxon.

There was no need to move out at the crack of dawn. The escort target was said to be entering the city around lunchtime.

* * *

The next morning, after waking up from a deep sleep, Esther was already in his arms before he knew it.

"Why were you like that yesterday?"

When he asked with sleep still in his eyes, Esther lightly tapped his chest with her paw.

He didn't know what she was angry about, but it seemed like a sign of reconciliation.

"Right, have a good time lounging around today too."

What else would Esther have to do?

When night fell, she came into his arms to sleep.

When morning came, she would rub her eyes, wake up, and roll around; that was her routine.

Seeing as she occasionally went out and came back, it seemed like she caught and ate rats or something near the city.

He didn't really prepare separate meals for her, but he often gave her jerky as a snack.

Surprisingly, all the squadmates took good care of Esther.

Krais, in particular, looked after her diligently.

"A lake panther sheds its claws when the time comes. She won't say anything if I take them then, right?"

Just like shedding fur, she apparently shed claws. So, Krais was treating her well for a logical reason.

"You little rascal, you."

"Purr."

The way she coyly turned her head was so cute and fascinating that he scratched the crown of her head a couple of times with his nails before getting up.

It was breakfast time.

"Let's see how well you do after abandoning me."

The morning duty fell to Rem. The bastard glared at him, and upon seeing that, Encrid threw a punch without even realizing it.

SMACK!

Rem blocked the fist with his palm.

"Would it not matter at all if you went with a broken arm? A challenge first thing in the morning, really."

"No, seeing your face just made it come out reflexively."

"That pisses me off even more, though?"

'I suppose it would.'

Even though he said that, Rem didn't attack back.

It was the day of a mission, after all.

If he went out with a busted body, even things that would normally work out wouldn't.

For breakfast, a dish of flattened, grilled pork tenderloin mixed with boiled potatoes was served, but it tasted awful.

"It is good for your body. Meat hardens the muscles, Brother."

The isolation technique was about building the body, and the completion of building the body was eating, wasn't it?

At Audin's words, Encrid also crammed it down. Even without Audin saying it, he knew very well that eating properly was important.

After using the remaining time to heat up his body with the isolation technique, it was time to depart.

Encrid washed himself at the well and gathered his gear.

He put on the leather armor he had obtained from robbing the Gilfin Guild the other day.

It was meant only to cover the torso, and because it was thin and highly elastic, it wasn't uncomfortable.

As he strapped on the sheath for the Whistle Daggers over the armor, Jaxon asked from the side.

"What's that?"

"I took it after killing that assassin a while ago."

"How frugal of you."

'Is that how it comes across?'

Anyway, he had brought it along because he thought it was a pretty useful tool.

Since it's always better to have more weapons of this kind.

After completing his arming by throwing on a thick gambeson, he stepped outside.

He walked side-by-side with Jaxon to the inn within the city. Throughout the walk, Jaxon explained things like how to listen well and how to look well.

And then.

"You are dull."

He didn't forget to add that single remark.

Encrid still paid it no mind.

The fact that he was dull was something he had always known.

Upon arriving at the intersection centered around four inns, the Company Commander was already there.

"Has the escort target arrived?"

Encrid asked after giving a brief military salute.

"Not yet. They should be here soon."

There was talk that the escort target's personality was quite something.

It was something Krais had passed on.

After taking charge of the guild, it seemed his ears had become twice as sharp as before.

'Did they say they came to decide a successor?'

He was only curious about how prickly their personality might be, but he didn't worry much. A loose cannon on Rem's level wasn't common.

Just try spending a month in the troublemaker squad.

Any kind of loose cannon would start to look cute.

Encrid was carefree.

Jaxon didn't have much on his mind. To him, a request was just a request.

Protect them for three days. Once the merchant association's succession meeting ended, the request would end too.

They just needed to guarantee their safety within the city.

The details were already inputted into his head, so there really wasn't much else to think about.

The Company Commander looked at the back of Encrid's head and recalled the reason she had brought him along.

The troublemaker Squad Leader, this man was Aspen's assassination target. That was proof he had a clean background.

Above all, the way he handled the Thieves Guild, as well as his subsequent response, were to her liking.

Maintaining the bribes.

And transforming a criminal guild into an information guild.

Thanks to that, there was no friction with the Battalion Commander.

She had let him do it, even knowing that eliminating the criminal guild would cause problems.

If the bribes had been cut off and the higher-ups made an issue out of it, she had planned to pull some strings here and there.

But that Squad Leader hadn't even given them a reason to.

'It did go a bit differently than I thought, though.'

This wasn't bad either.

While waiting for the escort target, the Company Commander opened her mouth.

"Were we in a physical relationship?"

Encrid had his hand resting diagonally on his sword grip.

His entire body seemed to freeze for a moment.

Having become a well-crafted statue, he slowly turned his head to the side and asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"If it's loud enough to reach my ears, I figured you'd already know."

"It's a misunderstanding. A baseless rumor. Things have been so quiet and slow lately that some guys are just killing time with nonsense."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"So you're saying there's nothing between us?"

"It is a relationship between a superior and a subordinate."

"I see."

He had to brush it off as nonsense. The rumors had truly spread far and wide.

"Ahem."

Jaxon let out a dry cough from the side. Peeking over, it looked like the corners of his mouth were twitching. A sign he was holding back laughter.

'You think this is funny?'

He asked using only the shape of his mouth.

'I wasn't laughing.'

Jaxon also replied by mouthing the words.

The Company Commander was a Fairy. Just by glancing slightly to the side, she read the conversation passing between the two.

Lip-reading wasn't a difficult trick for a Fairy.

"You must have found it troubling."

"Not at all."

Encrid's immediate reply came back.

"You seem troubled, though?"

"I am not."

"Then did you like it?"

'Why is she acting like this?'

"Noooo, not at all."

His pronunciation strangely dragged out as he answered.

It would be nice if he said that and at least laughed, but he was completely expressionless.

He wasn't even making eye contact, casting his gaze away towards the other side of the city.

'A Fairy's jokes are...'

It was hard to get used to.

"They are coming."

Encrid escaped his predicament thanks to Jaxon's single remark.

He could see the escort target approaching.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE.

As a two-horse carriage approached, the ground shook.

Encrid felt that dealing with the escort target would be several times more comfortable than dealing with the Company Commander.

"That was fun."

The Company Commander's whispering mutter from behind gave Encrid the chills.

Even though he was wearing a cloak lined with thermal leather, he suddenly felt a cold shiver.

Soon, the carriage stopped and people stepped out.

It was a little different from what Encrid had expected.

'Not a chubby-cheeked, greedy toad.'

But a woman with striking beauty. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes tinged with red.

One could definitely call it an eye-catching beauty.

*CLACK. * The sound of her boot heel stepping on the ground rang out. The woman who stepped down from the carriage looked directly at the Fairy Company Commander and spoke.

"I look forward to working with you."

There was no need for a separate introduction stating they were escorts from the standing army.

From then on, she only spoke with the party she had arrived with.

A middle-aged woman sticking by her side, referred to as her nanny, was the only one to convey the escort target's wishes.

The blonde woman was said to be just turning twenty, and it was impossible to tell if her personality was eccentric or not.

'I'd only know if we actually talked.'

They hadn't even made eye contact once, so what could he say?

"This job should be easy."

Jaxon remarked. Encrid nodded as well.

They had wondered if she was coming completely alone since she requested an escort, but five swordsmen had tagged along as the merchant association's own guards.

He could see that three of them carried shields, and two carried thin rapiers.

Encrid put what he had learned to use.

"Age, posture, positioning, the look in their eyes—everything is information, Brother."

Just as Audin had said, he was outlining the shapes of their bodies based on their postures and making deductions.

'Will I be right?'

He had no certainty. It was said that a Frog could instinctively gauge an opponent's skill, but...

Because humans couldn't do that, they needed knowledge and experience.

"It comes with practice, Brother."

Audin had said so, but it didn't seem like something that would happen overnight.

He felt no impatience. Encrid was busy calmly observing the others.

Among the five, one was left-handed, and seeing how the chair let out a creak when he pulled it out to sit at the table, it seemed he was wearing heavy armament.

Even so, there was no one wearing chainmail.

The season was winter. Wearing iron armor in the bitter cold, known as the end of the four seasons, the final season? There would be no reason to do that.

Furthermore, if they were walking after a carriage for escort purposes, a thick gambeson would be perfect.

And so it was for them.

His past experiences and common sense meshed with what he had learned through Audin.

Gauging their skills by looking at the state of their armaments and their posture.

Even if he wouldn't be right ten times out of ten.

'All five of them.'

Looked worse than members of the Border Guard. In terms of the soldier grading system, it meant they were below special-grade.

Encrid reflected on what he had realized.

'Not bad.'

Gauging skills just by looking at posture and armament was one of the things he normally wouldn't have even dared to attempt.

Having felt such a change in himself, Encrid enjoyed the joy of growth again today.

He could never get sick of this kind of joy.

It was always fresh and thrilling.

His swordsmanship, along with other combat techniques and martial arts, improved, and his skills advanced.

The euphoria continued. It was fun. Truly, incredibly fun.

Even if there wouldn't be any specific need to draw his sword and fight on this mission.

He felt joy in the fact that he could utilize the things he had newly learned and practiced right from his seat.

"Would you like to play a fun game?"

Jaxon's proposal struck him right then. It was an interesting idea—no, a training method.

"It is a game of guessing sounds."

"Let's do it."

Just like Rem, Ragna, and Audin, his passion for teaching was also fierce.

Though it was a cold, invisible flame of passion.

There was no way he could fail to recognize it.

Because he was the one benefiting from that heat.

Therefore, he knew that this time too, he wasn't really just suggesting a game.

Encrid's guess was correct.

What Jaxon proposed was one of the training methods to temper the Sense of the Blade.

Of course, it wasn't an easy method.

* * *

"The sound of clicking a tongue."

Jaxon spoke, and Encrid furrowed his brow.

"You are slow."

Escort missions were generally on the boring side. Furthermore, this was the Border Guard.

The reason they had called the three of them when the merchant association already had its own personal guards was obvious.

If they attacked us even after we were paid crona and called in as escorts, it meant they were willing to pick a fight with the standing army of the Border Guard as well.

The Border Guard was under the king's direct domain.

Messing with the kingdom's soldiers within the direct domain?

Even if it wasn't the escort target's mid-sized merchant association but the Rengadis Merchant Association, the most successful on the continent and famous for its blank promissory notes, it would still be a burdensome endeavor.

"It is the third man at the left table."

'How does he know so precisely just by listening?'

Encrid felt like he had reached the level where it seemed he had eyes on the back of his head now, too.

It was a simple yet difficult game.

Even though it was just Encrid guessing while focusing on the surrounding sounds after Jaxon spoke.

"The sound of grinding a blade."

'Is it the kitchen? No. It's higher than that.'

Encrid even activated Concentrate on a Single Point.

To the point that drops of sweat ran down his forehead. Even if the warmth of the fireplace heated the interior, the place where Encrid sat was still filled with a chilling draft.

"Above."

"The direction is correct. Which floor is it?"

The inn they were currently in went up to the third floor.

'Should I guess? No, that wouldn't be training.'

"It must be Room 102."

Jaxon gave the correct answer. The core of this game was time. It meant you had to answer in time.

After going back and forth a few times, the Company Commander approached.

"Let me join in."

The opponent was a Fairy. A race whose five senses were twice as superior as a human's.

In Encrid's eyes, she seemed even better than Jaxon.

"The sound of drawing and sheathing a short blade, repeatedly."

Another question was presented.

Encrid repeatedly missed it.

The Fairy Company Commander answered without even taking a breath.

"In front of the inn's entrance."

"The sound of breathing with a covered mouth."

'No, how the hell do you know something like that?'

Encrid was dumbfounded, but the Fairy Company Commander's smooth voice continued to deliver the correct answers.

"Outside the window."

"A guy holding his breath while sitting down."

"Under the right table, facing the entrance."

"A guy stealthily looking around."

"Behind you."

From the middle, Encrid tilted his head. Because at some point, these were no longer questions simply asking about sounds.

The escort target was the successor to the merchant association.

The merchant association had even brought their own separate guards.

They had taken up one side of the inn's main hall as if they had rented it out.

And.

"Ambush anticipated."

"I agree."

The moment Encrid understood the words exchanged between Jaxon and the Fairy Company Commander.

Jaxon stood up and shoved the chair he had been sitting on backward.

SCREECH! THUD!

"Ugh."

Encrid's eyes caught sight of the guy whose thigh had been struck by the backrest of the chair Jaxon pushed.

He could see the panicked look in his eyes and the blade held in his hand. It was a dagger painted black.

The sound listening training—his nerves had been on edge the entire time for it.

Looking at Jaxon, Encrid also spun his body around. He saw the guy holding a dagger.

He was right on the verge of wildly thrusting it.

Seeing Encrid suddenly turn around, the opponent's eyes widened in surprise, and his body froze for a split second.

In that opening, Encrid reached out and grabbed the opponent's wrist.

CRACK.

Gripping it, he twisted and pulled it outward while raising his opposite elbow at a right angle.

"Ghk."

With his wrist twisted, the opponent was helplessly dragged forward by Encrid's pull.

Just like that, Encrid drove his elbow straight into the center of the opponent's chest.

CRUNCH.

The opponent's chest bone shattered, and he dropped the dagger. Snatching the falling dagger, Encrid ducked his body. A dagger flew right through the space he had just occupied with a sharp swish. The flying dagger embedded itself into a wooden pillar with a loud thud.

If anyone else saw it, they would say he narrowly dodged it.

But it was exactly as Encrid had anticipated. Meaning, he dodged it easily.

'Should I say that all sorts of things end up being helpful?'

During the assassin's attack at the Medical Barracks, it was an attack targeting Krang, but it had to go through Encrid.

He fiercely survived it every single time.

By repeating today.

After that, he clashed with the Half Fairy assassin's Whistle Daggers. Furthermore, this was a recent event.

He repeated today for this as well.

He experienced through countless repetitions what someone else might face only once or twice in their lifetime.

In other words, it was the sum of all the experiences he had gone through thus far.

Now, he was able to easily counter these kinds of surprise attacks.