The Elf Company Commander learned after the battle that the flag was the medium for the sorcery. Then who was it that broke this flag? Retracing the events of the battlefield, the answer became clear.
'The troublemaker squad leader.' That was the reason she was here. The battalion commander hadn't even given it a thought.
He didn't seem to care who broke the medium for the sorcery. He thought the foolish shaman had simply failed. In truth, many shamans on the continent were charlatans, so his assumption sounded plausible.
Even if that wasn't the case, the battalion commander would have found it hard to keep his wits about him right now. After all, a figure greater than his direct superior had arrived at the unit.
"What do you mean?"
The reply came to her question of whether it was him.
"Sorcery, flagpole, medium."
With three short words, she said everything she wanted to say. Enkrid hadn't intended to deny what he'd done, it was just that no one had asked.
"Yes. I did it."
"How?"
The short question returned.
"I held a spear like this and threw it with a whoosh."
"There were five decoys."
There were six flagpoles in total, with only one being the real one.
"I took a guess."
"And how did you know the flagpole was the medium?"
"I saw something when I went out on reconnaissance, and I had some prior knowledge about sorcery."
There was no hesitation in his answer. The elf's sharp intuition didn't judge him to be lying. However, one didn't need an elf's intuition to know he had no intention of telling the whole truth.
How should I put it... It seemed like he did it, but was reluctant to explain the details. The Elf Company Commander looked into Enkrid's blue eyes and nodded.
"I see."
"Is that what you came to ask?"
"Yes. And to see your face while I was at it."
Then, the company commander, who had paused for a moment, caught her breath and said, "It seems we are fated." The company commander left with those words and turned away. It was a statement ripe for misunderstanding.
Rem jabbed Enkrid in the side as he stood frozen in bewilderment.
"What's the secret?"
"What?"
"Tell me your secret to wooing elves. I'm all ears."
"Impressive," Ragna added.
"I don't think it's like that."
Even Big Eyes had to admit Enkrid was handsome. Even without trying, women would flock to him whenever he was in a city. It was only natural that he wasn't a virgin.
Enkrid wasn't so naive or dense as to misread the signals between a man and a woman. So it definitely wasn't what they were thinking. There were no signals.
If anything, it just left a strange, unsettled feeling. Moreover, she was his direct superior's superior.
"You wouldn't have even had time to meet privately... Ah, I know. Was it then? When you were in the medical tent? That's the only time!"
"I said no, you crazy bastard."
Rem chattered on about the same topic for the next four hours. Ragna left halfway through to take a nap. Jacksen, who came in later, nodded meaninglessly, which made Enkrid feel a little better.
Big Eyes came in later and was about to chatter about something when he heard what Rem said, sidled up close to Enkrid, and spoke.
"This is why I'm telling you to stop rolling around on the battlefield and open a noblewomen’s salon with me."
"No. You're insane."
Big Eyes's dream was to save up a lot of krona and open his own shop. His dream was to open a noblewomen’s salon, a shop where pretty boys would dally with noble ladies. He said he'd open a shop and sell alcohol and snacks.
Since the purpose was clear, he said people would come on their own even if he sold the drinks and snacks for several times the price, and he had asked Enkrid to join him. It was an offer he hadn't made in a long time, not since he almost got beaten up for saying the same thing to Rem.
"Don't you say that to me. I'll split your head with my axe."
Rem said with a grin from behind him.
"Ah, I won't." Big Eyes said in a dying voice.
"He only pretends to be a barbarian at times like this."
Big Eyes grumbled quietly. He didn't seem to have the courage to say it loudly. No, this much courage was quite remarkable.
There was no way Rem hadn't heard what he just muttered. Just as Rem was about to glare, Big Eyes clapped his hands.
"Oh, right! This is what I rushed over to say, but I almost forgot because of all the talk about the squad leader."
Forgot, my foot. He'd just blurted it out before Rem could retort. Enkrid played along, knowing full well what was happening.
Any topic was better than the story of his supposed romance with the company commander.
"He's coming."
"Who?"
"Ah, he's here."
Big Eyes said in a whisper. His expression was so serious that Enkrid couldn't help but lean in.
"A Squire from the order of knights."
"... The Red Cloak Knights?"
Enkrid asked again.
"Yes."
The name of the division Enkrid and his comrades were currently in was the Cyprus Division. That was also the name of a knight belonging to the Red Cloak Knights. Usually, a military unit was named after a knight, and that knight belonged to an order of knights.
Of course, not many were worthy of being called knights. After all, knights were possessors of a talent rare even on the continent. That was why the kingdom's orders of knights didn't consist solely of knights.
There were those with the potential to become knights in the future. Attendants who followed knights, their disciples, the Squires, or Apprentice Knights. After their apprenticeship ended and they were acknowledged by a knight, they would become apprentice knights.
That was the structure through which they joined the order of knights to serve in the army. Normally, Squires do not participate in battle separately from their knights. For such a person to come to the battlefield now meant one thing.
'He's about to become an apprentice knight.' What is a knight? A bard once said, "To see a knight as the same as an ordinary person is a very grave mistake.
Yes, that's right. They are beings who have surpassed human limits, who are beyond a certain category. If not, how could they possibly face beings like the Frokk?"
A knight is said to be a being who has surpassed human limits. Then what is an apprentice knight? It refers to those who have the potential to become knights, before they actually become one.
An apprentice knight is an expert in combat and battle. If knights are those who have overcome human limits, apprentice knights are those who have reached them. A Squire who would soon become an apprentice knight and join the order of knights.
He wanted to see. He was curious about their skill. The knight he aspired to be wasn't just a position of honor.
In this era, a knight was a symbol of martial power. A piece of that symbol had come here.
"You look like you're dying to see him."
Rem said, looking at Enkrid.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I heard he's already finished preparing to march," Big Eyes said.
"Did he come alone?"
Rem asked, crossing his arms. Big Eyes nodded.
"Yes, he said he alone was enough."
Hearing that, Enkrid understood why their forces hadn't retreated. 'If Azpen prepared sorcery...' Their side had prepared martial might as their trump card.
Both Naurilia and Azpen. They had introduced a variable into a place where they repeated the same tedious local skirmishes every year. 'Is their intention to swallow up a part of the plains with this?'
If the sorcery had worked properly, there would have been nothing for an apprentice knight or anyone else to do, even if they had come. But not now. The sorcery was blocked, and conversely, their side had seized victory.
If the Squire had arrived just a day or two earlier, they probably would have pushed their advantage. 'He's a little late.' By now, the enemy would have finished regrouping.
"Prepare to march! The entire army moves out now!"
Enkrid pushed aside his thoughts at the sound coming from outside. It was the Platoon Leader's voice. Then, the Platoon Leader suddenly poked just his head into the tent.
"Hey, did you hear? Oh, you must have."
The Platoon Leader asked, then saw Krais and answered his own question.
"Everyone's marching out. They say we're taking this chance to push our position on the Green Pearl Plains way forward."
"Are you supposed to be talking about the operation so openly?"
Enkrid asked, looking at the Platoon Leader.
"There's nothing to hide. We're heading out right now, you know? You going too?"
"I'd like to watch."
Enkrid pushed his aching body up. His injuries hadn't fully healed yet. Normally, he should refrain from going to the battlefield, but...
"I will stay by his side."
Krais said, raising his hand. He was a man who always looked after his own skin in the rear. Enkrid just had to stick with him.
The Platoon Leader didn't cherish Enkrid like family. He was also quite old, which could be burdensome at times. Moreover, as the leader of the troublemaker squad, they often clashed.
Still, the thought of Enkrid dying bothered him. A hard worker who swung his sword every day, never letting a single moment go to waste, sometimes earning the scorn of those around him. Seeing such a person become a corpse was not a pleasant thought.
"Take care of yourself."
The Platoon Leader said and left.
"If you want to go watch, you should go."
Rem nodded.
Ragna began to slowly get ready to march. Jacksen strapped on his sword and picked up a few throwing knives. Equipment he didn't usually bother with.
"I'll be by his side."
Jacksen said.
"By my side?"
Rem joked.
Jacksen shook his head.
"You stink so bad it's hard to even share a tent with you."
Rem was good at subtly getting under people's skin, but Jacksen was also good at making someone's displeasure skyrocket with a single comment.
"Squad Leader, I think I want to split that bastard's head open before I deal with Azpen. What do you think?"
"Hold back. Let's just go watch. Aren't you curious how well the Squire will fight?"
"He'll fight damn well, I'm sure."
Rem replied and grabbed his axe. As Enkrid limped to get in formation to march out, Benzens approached him.
"Are you crazy? Do you want to die?"
After the battle, when Enkrid had conveyed his thanks, Benzens had grumbled but came all the way to his tent. Then he'd rambled on excitedly about how his debt was repaid, how it was all settled now, and how relieved he felt.
When Enkrid asked what debt, Benzens had replied, "The fire at the medical tent back then, have you already forgotten?"
"Of course not. How could I forget?"
He had forgotten. It was a side effect of repeating the same day over and over. Still, it was something he couldn't completely forget.
Krang, the assassin, and the fire. Enkrid was the one who had set the fire. Benzens thought he had saved him from burning to death, but in truth, he had saved him from the assassin's hands.
'A save is a save.' A debt was a debt. It was easier if the other party thought of it that way.
Thanks to that, hadn't he rushed over to save him the moment he saw him? Looking at Benzens who was glaring at him on the battlefield, asking why he was here, Enkrid opened his mouth.
"Who in the world wants to die?"
"Then why are you out here?"
"I want to watch."
"Watch what?"
"I heard a Squire came."
"Ah, hey, don't get too carried away. I won't save you a second time."
Benzens said that and returned to his own formation.
"Why is that bastard suddenly acting all friendly? Wasn't he the one who used to pick fights at the drop of a hat?"
Rem asked from beside him. There was a time like that. Benzens used to really hate Enkrid.
He couldn't remember when that was.
"He's not a bastard, he's a platoon leader. He turned out to be a decent guy once I got to know him."
"Don't be so soft on people. It'll be too late when you get stabbed in the back and start crying about how much it hurts."
"Worry about yourself."
The troops fell into formation and began to move in an instant. The lines weren't neat. The march began with the formation spread out wide in a radial pattern.
Someone could be seen standing alone at the head of the march. A red cloak fluttered in the wind. The person at the front could be seen trudging along, wrapped in a cloak.
From his appearance alone, the greatness of a Squire, an apprentice knight, was not apparent.
"Hmm, from the way he walks, he looks like he can fight a bit."
Rem said from the side, frowning with his arms crossed.
"More than a bit. His posture is solid. Unless the other side has, uh, a Frokk or something, this is going to be a boring fight."
Ragna also commented. Jacksen also cast his gaze forward. His eyes seemed to be scanning the back of the red cloak.
Big Eyes, next to Enkrid, brought up something else.
"Let's fall back to the rear now. We have to fall back now. Otherwise, we'll get swept up."
Big Eyes was gauging the right time to retreat. And at that moment, the red cloak fluttered with a snap. The cloak billowed back on the wind.
Its owner dashed forward. Enkrid had to blink to make sure he was seeing correctly. An afterimage lingered behind the person running ahead.
How fast does a person have to run for that to happen?
"Looks like he's put his will into his legs."
Ragna muttered upon seeing it. Enkrid didn't understand what he meant, but he didn't feel like asking right now. It was time to shut his ears and focus.
The enemy, surprised to see the owner of the cloak running, fired arrows. It seemed they hadn't deployed crossbowmen separately like before, as a cluster of arrows flew overhead. It looked as if at least a hundred archers had drawn and released their bowstrings.
A rain of arrows poured down on the cloaked knight. The Squire, instead of drawing his sword and swinging it, accelerated.
Boom!
The ground, the earth, shot up like a fountain, and the owner of the cloak was suddenly within a stone's throw of the enemy. He had escaped the arrows' impact zone simply by running. It was definitely a movement that surpassed human limits.