Chapter 94 - A Punishment or an Opportunity?

It was a night filled with faint moonlight, and he had just washed up and come in after rolling his body through the same usual training.

Even though the weather was warming up, the nights were still cold, so steam rose from Encrid's shoulders as he entered the quarters.

Even knowing that he had to cross the river in two days and set out on a terrain reconnaissance operation, the intensity of his training remained unchanged.

In truth, there was nothing to change.

Because the fact that he had to build up each day and head towards tomorrow, no matter what awaited ahead, remained unchanged.

Encrid's daily life was exactly the same.

Just as the Boatswain had evaluated him as a tiresome bastard.

This was the quarters he had returned to. Henri, who had been talking with Krais on one side, approached and stopped.

His eyes landed on Encrid's bed.

Esther had already taken up a spot on Encrid's bed.

Even when she played with the grimoire, once it was time to sleep, she would take her spot there as if it were her own place.

Esther was lying face down on the bed with her head resting on her front paws.

Esther's gaze turned toward Henri before returning back to her paws.

It meant she had no interest at all.

Henri treated the lake panther with a cautious attitude.

He didn't even dare to carelessly pass by her.

Hadn't it been said that lake panthers were regarded as guardian spirit beasts in the Green Pearl Plains?

With the bed between them, Henri raised his voice slightly and asked.

"Have you ever received Pathfinder training separately? Seeing you earlier, it seemed like you knew a bit about that."

He had never done so. He was only barely at the level of finding his way.

However, he knew the reason why Henri misunderstood and could understand it.

'I learned it all from him.'

There was no need to feel awkward. It was something the other party couldn't remember.

He had previously received help from Henri's knowledge in the Tall Grass Fields within the Green Pearl.

What he had learned by repeating that day was everything.

Encrid scratched his forehead and replied.

"Not at all."

"Then, do you know the paths up the river a bit?"

If it was up the Penn-Hanil River, it was closer to the northern region.

He had never been there even while working in the mercenary business.

"Since it's spring now, the ground is slowly thawing, but it will still be hard. I've traveled those paths a few times, so should I pass on what I know?"

Henri had a thoughtful personality. Was it because of this personality that he became a hunter?

Or did living as a hunter make him think this way?

He was the type to weigh the circumstances and do what was most necessary at present.

Because of that, he also naturally blended into the unit.

Even now, he had just gotten up after talking at length with Krais.

Rem also didn't particularly pester Henri.

Other than Rem, the rest would rather ignore him if anything, not exactly being the type to pick fights.

"You say you're a former hunter, so you must have played around quite a bit somewhere."

Rem said while sitting on the edge of the bed. With an axe in hand, he was in the middle of sharpening the blade on a whetstone with a *shhk, shhk*.

As he said that, he cast his gaze to one side, where Andrew and Mac were.

It was the corner of the quarters.

Andrew flinched at that gaze, hunching his shoulders before straightening them.

"Stop it."

Encrid warned Rem.

"No, are you discriminating again right now? Just to take care of the new guy? Treating your ex-wife poorly after bringing in a new wife like that is how you get stabbed in the back."

His words didn't make sense, did they?

And who was the ex-wife and who was the new wife?

"Crazy bastard."

Dismissing Rem's personality and life with a single word, Encrid approached Henri.

Because of Esther, Henri couldn't even dare to approach Encrid's bed.

"Purrr."

As he passed the bed, Esther tapped Encrid's thigh with her paw and cried out.

That paw strike seemed to be telling him to hurry up, finish his business, and come to bed.

'Are you jealous too?'

It wasn't just Rem who was the problem.

A strange current was indeed flowing through the quarters.

It was the current flowing after Henri, Andrew, and Mac had joined.

They weren't the troublemaker squad for nothing.

It wasn't an atmosphere that welcomed newcomers.

Encrid also didn't go out of his way to try and mix them.

He knew that it wasn't something that could be done as one pleased.

Because he also thought that there was no need for them to necessarily move with one heart and mind.

Once they went out to the battlefield, they were the types to fight on their own.

If they pointlessly followed each other around trying to coordinate, they would be perfectly set up to die before their time.

Everyone is responsible for their own lives.

Since this was the sole guideline of the troublemaker squad.

"I'm sweating bullets."

Henri, who had been stealthily reading the room as soon as he joined, had said that.

But did he know that this was a relatively better atmosphere?

Previously, when a new squad member arrived, the atmosphere had been truly cutthroat.

Some of them had ignored the Squad Leader, Encrid.

Those people would inevitably get something broken or severely injured a few days later and be evacuated.

There were times when it was Rem's doing.

Though there were also times when it was someone else's doing.

'It was probably mostly the work of the squadmates.'

Encrid was also extraordinarily quick-witted.

This time was fortunate, all things considered.

These were all familiar faces, and for whatever reason, they seemed to like him.

Then at least they wouldn't end up leaving with broken bones, right?

It was just a guess, but it was plausible.

"There will be a few things to watch out for up the Penn-Hanil River. You'll probably handle most of it on your own, but it's still better to know than not know. Do you happen to know about flat stone plates? There are a lot of those stones up the river..."

Afterward, everything he heard from Henri was practical knowledge.

Things directly experienced and gone through, tricks passed down since the days of previous hunters.

That all the flat stones, except for the ochre-colored ones, would explode if heated in a fire.

That there were times when venomous snakes hid under the ochre-colored stones.

That there were sections where the river's depth increased and the current became faster, and so on.

He couldn't memorize it all in one day, but there was a big difference between knowing it even roughly and not knowing it at all.

As he listened and memorized them one by one like that, it was suddenly time to get some shut-eye.

Before he knew it, Mac had occupied the seat next to him.

He approached and whispered.

"I have a favor to ask."

At those words, it felt like the gazes of the rest of the squad members, excluding Ragna who was out on duty, locked onto him.

It was a warning from the Sixth Sense.

'Should I tell him to leave it be?'

What would happen if he just left it like this?

He felt like he might see Andrew and Mac dried up and dead when he returned from the operation.

"Please request a transfer for me."

Mac eventually said what he had to say despite the fierce glares.

"Mmm, Brother. It's up to you when you come in, but it isn't so easy when you leave."

It was Audin. This was a joke. Acting mischievously after seeing the other person's reaction was like a tradition of the troublemaker squad.

However, from the listener's perspective, they would just wonder if it was a joke.

Mac muttered, 'Were they listening to everything?' at those words.

Before Rem could open his mouth to say something, Andrew stepped up first.

He jumped up and abruptly spoke as if shouting.

"It seems you don't like me, so come at me then! No matter what anyone says, I will learn under the Squad Leader, no, the Platoon Commander. I'm absolutely not leaving!"

It was vigor. The vigor of a soldier who could be called young, if not childish.

Was that vigor pleasing to them?

"Me first."

Rem jumped up. With the axe he had been sharpening in hand.

He stuck his tongue out and pretended to lick the axe blade.

"Where should I cut off for you?"

Even Encrid felt a chill watching that.

A foreigner's appearance, grayish eyes, and sincerity could be felt in his tone. If he attacked, it seemed he would lose at least one arm.

"If you go first, are you telling me to deal with a cripple? I'm first."

At those words, Jaxon shook his head and spat out his words. This was the first thing he had said to Andrew since he joined.

"Brothers, don't you know? I don't kill. I only massage. So I should go first."

All three were overflowing with motivation. And seeing that, Mac grabbed Encrid's sleeve and shook it.

"Fuck, stop them, what's with those guys. Sir Andrew, why would you say such a thing."

He had to stop it before Mac started crying. Since he couldn't bear to see a fully grown man whimpering in tears.

"Stop it."

But this also seemed fortunate.

Rem didn't deal with opponents he didn't like in that manner.

'Where should I cut off for you' was actually him saying he would give him a round of sparring.

So it was goodwill.

Jaxon was a person who consistently ignored others. So the fact that he spoke to him was goodwill in itself.

Audin was also the same. If it wasn't goodwill, he would just say something like 'Brother, please restrain yourself.'

In the first place, if they didn't like him, they wouldn't have made a joke like earlier either.

Good grief, how should he explain this?

"But kid, I'm a bit busy, you see? Should we wait until our dear Platoon Commander goes out on his mission? I'll have plenty of time on my hands then. When that time comes, I won't let you go even if you cry about wanting to leave."

Rem said, showing his usual smile. It was chilling, though.

Andrew's face turned pale, but he didn't back down.

Should he say his mental fortitude, at least, was top-tier?

"Come at me anytime! I am Andrew of House Gardner. I won't run away!"

It wouldn't be just Encrid's delusion that it looked like a life-risking resolve.

Watching that, Krais shook his head in dismay.

Henri took a step back and watched.

Rem created an atmosphere of fear with his smirk.

Audin merely muttered, 'Brother, calm down, it's something you'll experience anyway.'

As for Jaxon, he expressionlessly scanned both of their bodies. Though he whispered very softly.

"Wouldn't it be fine to cut off a few fingers."

It's even more chilling because that might be sincere.

Encrid thought and opened his mouth.

"Don't hurt him. He's a fellow squadmate. And he's about to head out to the battlefield soon."

It was a warning, and a way of securing a promise.

However, it wasn't like he could stop them from doing anything at all.

He didn't have the ability to do so either.

"Make sure you don't make loud noises while sparring."

"Don't worry. I'll cut off his tongue first."

He told him to stop with those jokes.

"Come at me! Come at me, I said!"

The time to sleep passed by while calming down the panicking Andrew.

When Encrid somehow managed the situation and went to bed, Esther came into his arms and hit his chest.

Feeling like she was scolding him for coming in late, he stroked Esther's forehead with his finger and said.

"I'm sorry."

Then the panther soon purred and burrowed into Encrid's embrace.

A warm heat could be felt.

It wasn't that Encrid didn't worry about the future at all either.

Especially when the Boatswain sometimes spat out terrible words in his dreams.

Today was the same.

When he closed his eyes and fell asleep, he saw a black, winding river.

["Cry out while trapped, for your cries will be my sustenance, and my joy."]

CACKLE!

How could someone laugh to make a sound like that?

Being trapped in today is painful and terrifying. What would happen if he could no longer move on to the next?

Just thinking about it made his chest ache with anxiety, but.

So what was he supposed to do about it?

Encrid, waking up from his sleep, shook off the nightmare.

That was all.

'What will happen will happen anyway.'

What needs to be done must be done.

Walking the path remains the same.

"Good morning."

Encrid, who opened his eyes at dawn, muttered to himself and started the same day.

Starting with the isolation technique, followed by Balaf's bed combat technique.

After that, sparring with Rem, and swordsmanship training with Ragna.

Even practicing exuding killing intent and training his Sixth Sense with Jaxon.

"In some ways, intuition is a dangerous weapon. Because if the opponent knows how to skillfully deceive you, you'll be completely fooled."

Those were Jaxon's words. What must be done to prevent that?

It was the same as always.

Training, experiencing, and polishing it through real combat.

Andrew, Mac, and Henri got along reasonably well as long as Encrid was there.

Because from Encrid's perspective, even if the methods were totally fucked up, it seemed all the squadmates were showing goodwill.

From the perspective of the one receiving it, of course.

'It will probably be quite exhausting.'

Wouldn't they gain that much more out of it?

Just as he had.

Two days passed like that.

"Let's go."

At dawn, he passed through the sleeping squadmates and stepped outside the quarters.

It was the day to set out on the terrain reconnaissance mission across the Penn-Hanil River.

It was a direct order from the Battalion Commander.

Failing it would be a headache, but.

Succeeding would bring a corresponding reward.

Hadn't it been said that the Battalion Commander who arrived this time was that kind of person?

It was what Krais had excitedly babbled about.

"His name is Marcus, and I heard he's a warmonger. But instead, they say he absolutely rewards those with merit and strictly punishes those who commit offenses. In a way, he's like a monster created by the military policies of the Naurilia Kingdom."

A corresponding price for those who achieve merit.

An unforgiving blade for those who commit offenses.

It meant he was a commander perfectly suited for the kingdom's military.

Then, what was the mission he was setting out on right now? What was its purpose?

'Is this a punishment?'

Or is it an opportunity?

Encrid thought it was an opportunity.

Proving himself in whatever matter and building his reputation.

Wasn't that what he also wished for?

"We meet again."

It was the personnel who had joined the river-crossing mission before heading out the city gates. To be precise, it should be said that Encrid had joined and met him.

The person who stepped forward, appointed as the Platoon Commander, was Torres of the Border Guard.