Chapter 97 - Is He Really Sick in the Head?

It was almost night by the time they arrived at the encampment.

Thanks to the moonlight, it wasn't a very dark night.

The surroundings had seamlessly changed from a gravel road to a grassy field.

It was land where the green of the grass was slowly starting to show, proving that winter was coming to an end.

Of course, since it was night, it only shimmered like a violet hue.

'The moon is bright.'

Looking at the moon hanging overhead, Encrid shoved the stone he was holding into his pants pocket.

The muscles in his right arm trembled.

They had walked for over half a day to get here, and he had been practicing Torres's hidden knife technique the entire way.

His forearms felt numb and stiff.

Opening and closing his hand a few times, Encrid knew it would be fine by tomorrow.

Having pushed his body to its limits with the isolation technique, he naturally knew the extent of his muscle recovery.

No, he might be fine after just a little rest, without even needing until tomorrow.

"Playing with a stone all day. What a weird guy, really."

That was what Pin said as soon as they arrived. Encrid had also felt her constantly stealing glances at him the whole way.

"My hands get bored, so it's a habit."

Encrid answered vaguely and examined the encampment.

It wasn't a place where a fire was lit and tents were pitched like a regular encampment.

To be exact, it seemed more appropriate to call it a burrow rather than an encampment.

There were several burrows made by digging holes here and there.

"You just need to find a hole you like, go in, and cover it with a camouflage net. It'd be nice to have something like thermal leather to sleep comfortably, but those are rare so we don't have any to share."

One of the members brought over a wide cloth and spoke.

At a glance, it was an earthy yellow color so similar to the ground that one wouldn't even know there was a hole here.

'Thermal leather.'

Encrid actually had one in his backpack.

'I wonder if Esther is doing well.'

When he was about to leave her behind, she hissed for a long time.

She seemed to be displeased with something.

But he couldn't take her with him, so he left her behind.

"It's cold, so two people will share one burrow. You're the new guy, so you can sleep with me."

Pin said.

The one she pointed her finger at as 'you' was Encrid.

Encrid had thermal leather in his backpack, and the burrows didn't look very spacious either.

It might be fine for two people with small builds.

If it were someone around Esther's size, for instance, it would be perfectly fine to sleep together.

However, while not comparable to Audin, Encrid's body wasn't exactly on the smaller side either.

In other words, it would be uncomfortable.

Let alone the fact that his partner was a woman. It would be even more uncomfortable.

'If someone finds out about this, there'll be another uproar.'

Seeing the speed at which rumors spread within the unit, it felt as if someone was watching him and blabbing about it.

Sure enough.

He could see Torres staring intently at him from the side.

"It's fine. I brought something."

Pin looked disappointed.

"What about me? I have to sleep alone?"

Torres raised his hand in that opening and spoke.

"A Platoon Commander of the Border Guard came empty-handed? I'll assign one of my members to you."

"Why do I get a member?"

"The burrow is narrow."

At those words, Torres looked at Encrid once and then looked down at his own body.

No matter how he looked at it, his own build seemed smaller.

"What the."

Anyway, Torres only earned himself a scolding.

While watching Pin roughly organize the group and take various things out from the spot she designated as her burrow, Torres approached Encrid's side.

"Why do I feel like I'm in a bad mood?"

Why was he asking that here?

"Because you're tired?"

"Is it because I'm tired? Hmm? The Devilish Squad Leader who captivated even the Company Commander—no, I guess it's Platoon Commander now. Does the Devilish Platoon Commander really think so?"

"Yeah."

"You bastard."

Torres said playfully and turned around.

The burrow wasn't that narrow.

It was dug diagonally from the ground, and cloth was even laid down inside to keep the dampness out.

Going inside while covering it with the camouflage net gave off an unexpectedly cozy feeling.

Stepping back out to grab and wrap the thermal leather around himself before going back in, it was quite bearable.

"You're thoroughly prepared. Want some?"

One of the Recon Party members approached and offered him some beef jerky.

"No, I have my own."

The jerky he had been offered the other day was so perfectly suited to his taste.

He had tracked down where it came from and eventually ended up getting a few more pieces.

"It's my mother's secret recipe."

He remembered the soldier who had said that with a plain smile.

That soldier's mother ran a small restaurant. It was located behind the inn, and the food was excellent.

Their main dish was just any kind of meat coated in sauce and grilled, but the taste of the sauce was superb.

As a skewer restaurant, it had a good reputation in the neighborhood.

'I should get some more when I return.'

Since it seemed like a good idea to buy their jerky regularly if possible, he had actually left a similar request with Krais before leaving.

Anyway, he took the jerky out of his backpack and bit into it.

The sweet and slightly spicy sauce swirled in his mouth. Whatever secret method was used, it was also quite tender.

Encrid had absolutely no talent for cooking.

So whenever he ate things like this, he could only marvel at it.

The only meager talent Encrid possessed was swinging a sword.

He had picked up various miscellaneous skills since his days as a mercenary, but he couldn't do any of them properly.

It was only the sword, and he had simply dreamed of being a knight.

After chewing and swallowing a few pieces of jerky and lying down, drowsiness washed over him.

Land of the Monsters and Beasts.

Henri's warning came to mind as he was falling asleep, but his first day in the front yard of Crossguard passed without incident.

He had thought he might perhaps die during the night.

But truly, nothing happened.

Since it was his first day, he was even exempted from night watch duty.

Before dawn broke, Encrid reflexively opened his eyes.

He soon came outside and took off his shirt. The cold air wrapped around his body. That coldness awakened his mind.

And that awakened mind became the driving force to move his body.

Wearing only his pants, Encrid began to perform the isolation technique.

Starting with planting his hands on the ground, raising himself on his toes, and kicking his knees up to his abdomen, he then performed various other movements.

"... What are you doing?"

The final night watchman, who had been leaning against a tree between the burrows watching him, asked.

"Morning training."

"Do you know where we are?"

"The front yard of Crossguard."

"You know that and you're still doing this?"

None of the Recon Party members here knew Encrid.

So it was understandable that they were dumbfounded.

As Encrid, having rolled around pushing his body to the limit, soon drew his sword and started swinging it.

Pin also woke up and saw it. All the other members did too.

Excluding Torres, everyone stared at him with an expression of, *'What the hell is he doing?' *

"Is he really sick in the head?"

Pin asked as if talking to herself.

Torres, who had approached her side draped in the thick cloak he brought instead of a blanket, replied.

"For him, that's just his daily routine."

"He does that every day?"

As she spoke, Pin recalled Encrid's body. It was just yesterday, after all.

It was still vivid in her memory.

The sculpted muscles, the burly legs, and the hefty thing between them.

'Ah, that's not something you can get through training.'

Rather than that hefty thing, she traced her memories and recalled Encrid's physique.

She felt like she understood why that body was forged.

Life in this land inherently pushed the body to its limits, so naturally, everyone had an exceptional level of physical conditioning.

What did one have to do to stand out exceptionally even among them?

You just had to work twice as hard as others.

Just like that.

However, just because you knew that, could you easily do it?

"Will he even have the strength to fight if we run into a monster this afternoon?"

She asked this because seeing what he was doing made it look like he would suffer muscle cramps.

"Even after doing that, he sparred with me over ten times, and then we marched yesterday."

Torres said this, subtly implying that he had also depleted his stamina to a similar degree.

But Pin's eyes wouldn't leave Encrid.

Why?

Because it felt like he was burning his soul with every single swing of his sword.

"He looks like a madman."

She said that, but to Torres's ears, there wasn't a hint of malice in Pin's tone.

It was only filled with admiration and interest.

'What did he even do?'

Torres once again felt like he was witnessing the majesty of the Devilish Platoon Commander.

All he had done so far was bathe, walk, sleep, wake up, and do his morning training.

Yet didn't it seem like a commander-grade soldier leading a Recon Party in this harsh land had already fallen for him?

'Is this how he seduced the Company Commander too?'

No, was his physical condition actually the important part?

Was it because of the impression he left by the river?

Torres's trivial thoughts were quickly cut off.

Since everyone staring at Encrid in wonder only lasted for a moment.

"Let's go fill our stomachs."

It was sunrise. Pin's Recon Party couldn't just light fires carelessly.

But they didn't just substitute their meals with jerky and dried fruit every day either.

From where they set up their encampment, Crossguard was a half-day's journey east.

If they walked just a bit to the northwest, a small forest appeared.

That place was their dining hall.

"You're not going to eat? If we're lucky, we might even catch a rabbit."

The Recon Party, including Pin, totaled eight.

It wasn't a very large number.

Their meals could simply be resolved hunter-style.

Meaning, local procurement.

Two more had simply joined them, so their meal pattern didn't change.

"There's a stream further inside, so you can wash up there."

Pin said, looking at Encrid.

"Can I wash my clothes too?"

Encrid asked, shifting his gaze casually.

Since he had become an Independent Platoon Leader, the two of them could be considered equals.

In reality, however, it was a bit different.

Separate from the soldier grading system, a Recon Platoon Commander holding the title of Ranger had to be seen as an intermediate rank between a Company Commander and a Platoon Commander.

Which meant it was similar to Torres.

It was just like how the rank of a Border Guard Platoon Commander was exceptional.

"Washing, eating, and tending to your personal gear whenever you have time is a soldier's duty."

In a way, it was awkward enough that only two of them came as reinforcements, but those two being Platoon Commander-class wasn't ordinary either.

Pin thought this, but didn't pry any deeper.

After all, she was just a Ranger running on the front lines.

Soon arriving at the northwest forest, they set up their base by the stream and gathered dry branches and the like.

Along the way, they encountered two beasts, but Encrid merely watched.

"SCREECH!"

Beasts were mutants of animals.

They were animals that had become monsterized in some form.

Thus, things like this could happen.

It was a deer beast.

Its skin was peeling in places as if it had caught a plague, and it had a bluish hue.

The moment its unfocused black eyes, indistinguishable from the irises typical of beasts, stared blankly at Encrid.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

The sound came from behind him.

Three Recon Party members simultaneously raised their shortbows and fired arrows; two pierced the deer beast's forehead, and one struck its neck.

If their head was pierced, it didn't matter if they were a beast, a monster, or a human—they would die all the same.

The deer beast collapsed to the ground with a death throe.

The three members approached the deer, which had buckled at the knees and slammed its head into the dirt, nudged it with their toes to confirm it was dead, and retrieved their arrows.

Then, one of them clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, it broke."

The arrow shaft lodged in its neck had snapped as the deer beast fell.

'They look experienced.'

What if he had to put his life on the line and fight a Recon Party member, excluding close-quarters combat?

It would be hard to guarantee an absolute victory.

If it was a head-on clash in close quarters, it would be a guaranteed victory.

'But if it's multiple against one.'

It wouldn't be easy.

It proved they weren't a unit that survived in the Land of the Monsters and Beasts for nothing.

"I heard you were an upper-grade soldier? Do you have any hunting experience?"

"A little."

He had learned some things from Henri, and there were other things he had picked up while working as a mercenary and wandering the continent.

Of course, he wasn't exactly skilled at hunting.

Instead, he was skilled in something else.

Right at that moment.

One of the Recon Party members who had scouted furthest ahead returned.

"Dammit. It's ghouls. Should we move the base camp?"

"How many were there?"

"I counted up to ten, but more were coming from behind, so I fell back and returned."

An appearance of ghouls. It wasn't a common occurrence, but it didn't seem too rare either.

They had gone through the trouble of lighting a fire and making various preparations for this base camp.

Ten ghouls was a burdensome number of enemies for the Recon Party members.

Especially since the ghouls in this area were fast on their feet.

If it wasn't a number they could suppress with a few arrows, they would have to engage in close-quarters combat.

Glancing around, only three soldiers were holding shortbows.

So what should they do upon seeing a pack of ghouls?

It meant avoiding them was the best course of action.

"Fucking annoying."

While even Pin was expressing her irritation, Encrid stepped forward.

"Which way?"

He asked.

It might have been an awkward question, but his eyes were directed at the soldier who had just seen the ghouls.

The soldier blinked.

It was because he hadn't grasped the intent of the question.

"He means the ghouls."

Torres stepped in and added a supplementary explanation.

Torres had roughly gauged Encrid's skills.

Above all, his specialty was the Heavy Sword Technique.

Compared to his own reliance on shortswords, Encrid's style could even be called specialized for monster hunting.

Besides, hadn't he already seen him take down human-faced dogs and harpies earlier?

"The ghouls around here aren't exactly docile."

Pin, having read Encrid's intent, said with concern.

"You probably don't need to worry."

Torres added as he stood beside Encrid.

"I just need to assist you, right?"

At Torres's question.

"Just pin them down."

Encrid replied. It was a statement that he wouldn't let a single one escape.

"Sure then."

Encrid intended to prove his capabilities.

Pin and a few of the remaining Recon Party members exchanged glances.

For them as well, combat was an everyday occurrence.

However, ten agile ghouls were truly formidable opponents.

If someone got hit by the poison oozing from their claws, that alone would already be a loss of combat power.

"Hey."

Pin spoke up to stop him, but Encrid was already twitching his nose.

'The stench of rot.'

Sharpening his sense of smell, he felt like he could roughly tell which direction the ghouls were coming from.

If he did it like this, would hunting become doable?

It seemed he could just track down prey using his smell and hearing.

Anyway.

Now was the time to slice down ghouls.

Encrid kicked off the ground.

"Uh, hey!"

Pin, Torres, and the Recon Party members all rushed after him.

Encrid's attitude and actions.

All of it had the power to make them want to watch what he would do.

So whether he lived or died, whether they helped him or not.

They just wanted to go and see for themselves first.

To see exactly what that guy, who had been showing off his body since morning, was going to do.

Naturally, Encrid did what he had to do.

And seeing that, Pin's eyes went wide.