“Alright, we'll stay here for two days. If the issue isn't resolved by then, I've decided to escort both of you to the main unit." "After you've been escorted, if any witnesses or evidence are collected, we'll deal with the problem then.”
Torres concluded the matter. Polid tried to stand up, saying it couldn't be, but that funny bastard on Polid's side grabbed his shoulder and whispered something in his ear, stopping him. Leona was calm.
“Fine.”
As if this was what she had wanted, she readily nodded her head. Enkrid, watching the situation unfold, poked Jacksen in the side. Sensitive Jacksen blocked Enkrid's finger with his palm.
“What is it?”
“You have a hobby of collecting knives? I never knew. I've never seen that side of you before. What's more, all of Jacksen's belongings in our quarters are just standard issue supplies. A guy who doesn't even bother with personal items?”
“It's a stiletto by Carmen,” Jacksen answered.
As if that was the entire answer. Enkrid didn't know much about it. In fact, he had only heard that the Carmen Collection was famous and expensive.
Seeing Enkrid's attitude, Jacksen's mouth opened again.
“It's not something you can get even if you have dozens of gold coins. Do you know who Carmen is? He isn't called a master craftsman for nothing." "If just one of those knives appears on the black market, fights to the death break out. In fact, a few years ago, the assassin guilds caused a commotion when the third piece of the Carmen Collection, a katar, came out.”
Enkrid didn't know this either, but in reality, it wasn't just a commotion; several people who made their living as assassins died. Of course, it was a story unknown to those who lived in the light. All that remained was the story that it was recovered by Georg’s Dagger, the greatest assassin group on the continent.
“The stiletto is Carmen's fourth creation.”
The first was a pocket knife. Because it was the first knife he'd used to kill someone, it was named ‘First Murder’. It's said to have already been broken and lost.
The second was a thin, long Cane Sword. The third was the katar, the fourth the stiletto. For the fifth, he made a single-edged Hunting Knife, and for the sixth, a Sword Breaker.
For the seventh, he created the Invisible Blade, a knife whose blade couldn't be seen when drawn in broad daylight. Seven daggers, and seven stories. That's the reason Carmen's name has been passed down to this day.
He made exactly seven weapons for seven targets, and it was all for revenge. With ‘First Murder’, he killed the slave trader who was his master. With the second, the ‘Cane Sword’, he stabbed the soldier who had violated his sister in the back, killing him.
With the third, the ‘katar’, he killed the attendant of the noble who led the soldier that violated his sister. With the fourth, the ‘stiletto’, he pierced the heart of the noble, the attendant's master. With the fifth, the ‘Hunting Knife’, he slit the throats of every person who had taken the noble's pay.
With the sixth, the ‘Sword Breaker’, he completed his revenge by breaking the sword that the noble cherished. There are rumors that the final, seventh ‘Invisible Blade’ never fulfilled its purpose. Or, that the final target of his revenge was actually himself, so he plunged it into his own heart and died.
But the truth was something that could never be known. After all, wasn't this a story from decades ago?
“You walk around with that whole story memorized?”
Jacksen had recounted the entire story in one breath, in a calm, soft-spoken manner. Enkrid couldn't interrupt him. Though his tone was calm, a strange heat blazed in Jacksen's eyes the entire time he spoke.
A passion akin to madness. Since he couldn't stop him, he just listened to the whole thing and blurted out a single comment. Asking if he had it all memorized.
Jacksen replied nonchalantly.
“I just know it. It's not like I memorized it.”
Only then did he return to his usual self.
“Looks like we'll be tied down here for two more days.”
He wanted to rush out immediately, but the escort mission held him back. After all, he had to fulfill his duty. However, in Enkrid's eyes, his current attitude seemed like he was changing the subject.
‘No way.’
A strange thought occurred to Enkrid as he looked at Jacksen.
‘Is he... embarrassed?’
His face hadn't turned red, and there was no sign of panic, but the signs that he had changed the subject were obvious.
“I'd like to go catch him myself, but I can't just abandon the escort mission.”
It was as if he wanted to quickly move the conversation to this topic.
“Are you going to sell the Carmen Collection if you get it?”
Finding it truly amusing, Enkrid prodded him.
“Why would I sell it?”
Jacksen retorted, his eyes wider than usual. Wow, he must really like it. It wasn't about the krona; he purely wanted that stiletto.
What a unique taste. Sure, to someone, it could be a great item. Krais, especially, would be drooling over it.
Selling it would line his pockets. But looking at it purely for its collection value, wasn't his taste a little too unique?
‘It's a dagger an assassin used to kill people.’
Apart from it being famous, what kind of thought process made him want to keep it? It wasn't like the bad taste of some idle rich man. Still, he didn't press the matter or ask any more questions.
Enkrid just maintained his usual attitude. Don't get too involved in the squad members' personal lives. That was the secret to how he had maintained his position as Squad Leader until now.
Enkrid left Jacksen to it and turned his gaze. Towards Polid's group. In a corner, he could see the plain-looking man, that funny bastard, and a swordsman with his arms hanging loose, talking.
The two were whispering, and among them, his eyes met with the man wearing a rapier. The man's eyes brushed past Enkrid. Enkrid looked back at the man.
He still felt that this was an opponent he wanted to fight.
“Things have gotten complicated.”
“Seems we chose poorly.”
“It was an unavoidable choice, though.”
“Is that so?”
The swordsman questioned the words started by the plain-faced man. His tone was bored. It was because he had little interest.
His eyes scanned the elf and her party.
‘An interesting bunch.’
The elf wench is particularly interesting. Their ‘Naeidel’ is said to be a sword of speed. The thought of testing his skills against her arises.
Before that, the ones beside her look quite capable too. What if they were under his command?
‘They would have been worth raising.’
Both of them aren't bad. Especially the one with reddish-brown hair; even his gait is to my liking. He's quiet and always ready to draw his sword, anytime, anywhere.
“What do we do now?”
“When things get complicated, what have we always done?”
At the swordsman's question, the man gave a slight smile. It wasn't an unlikable smile.
“We solved it with brute force.”
“Then, let's do that.”
The swordsman looked at the opponent whose eyes he had briefly met. A soldier with a pretty face. He didn't seem that young.
But it felt like looking at a little kid who just picked up a sword and got excited. To show his fighting spirit so openly. It would be a lie to say he wasn't drawn to it.
When an opponent shows such spirit, isn't it a swordsman's destiny to want to face them?
“I'll be counting on you.”
The brown-haired man gave a slight bow and then went over to Polid to start placating him.
“Don't get worked up. There's nothing to worry about. If there's no evidence, then it's over, isn't it? More importantly, when we return to the city, whose side do you think the people of the guild will take?”
“But, but, what if they catch him?”
“It's still fine.”
The brown-haired man smiled with his eyes. Polid was still anxious, but having no other choice, he forced a smile.
“Trust me.”
At his words, Polid squeezed out some courage and added, “Once we get back, it's over. They're all my father's people, so they'll all back me up. Then, that whore is just gonna die.
Since that's a bit of a waste, I might even take her as my concubine.” Is that really so? The brown-haired man thought Polid was an idiot, but he didn't show it.
The woman named Leona watched the two of them silently. She wasn't close enough to hear their conversation. The brown-haired man trusted in the brute force the swordsman had mentioned.
The swordsman was wondering if he could fight the elf after knocking down the soldier who showed such fighting spirit towards him.
Jacksen heard their conversation but wasn't interested. It seemed like a play to reassure the idiot named Polid. He just wanted Carmen's stiletto.
‘Krais.’
He hoped that Krais had properly won over the guild members by now. He secretly believed it too. Though he was useless in a physical fight, Krais's skills were exceptional.
He had seen it for himself while living in the same squad. It wasn't something to worry about.
‘If things go south.’
He could just get the dagger by other means. As Enkrid respected Jacksen's hobby and backed off, Torres, who had wrapped things up, approached him.
“Been well?”
“No reason not to be.”
“That's true. Looks like we're stuck killing time at this inn for two days, huh?”
It was just as Torres said. But did they really have to spend their time idly? Enkrid believed that Krais would do his part.
The back-alley world had its own rules. And you were supposed to leave the job to the experts. What kind of guy was Krais?
He was the kind of guy who willingly set foot in the troublemaker squad.
The reason?
There might be several, but there was one clear one. In the troublemaker squad, he didn't have to fight himself. The atmosphere was completely different from other squads.
He had found his place well. When he said he would take over the guild, he must have had his own plans. Enkrid believed that.
Sure enough, around evening that day, a person sent by Krais arrived.
“Is there someone named Enkrid here?”
It was a boy who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen. His voice had just started to break. Frightened, he rolled his eyes, looking left and right as he asked.
A soldier guarding the inn gestured with his eyes towards the inside. Enkrid, who was already in the hall training his body with the Technique of Isolation using chairs and tables, heard this and went out. He had taken his shirt off, so he had a large cloth draped roughly over his body.
When he stepped outside, the cold wind quickly cooled the sweat on his forehead. The day was very cold.
“That's me.”
The boy, wearing an overcoat made of thin, layered cloth, stared at Enkrid and said, “I've come on an errand.” The boy's speech was sharp. Enkrid took a few bronze coins out of his pocket.
Seeing him scared, watching his surroundings and trembling, it seemed he could use a few coins. He also liked his sharp way of speaking. But instead, the boy refused the krona.
“No, sir. I get my pay from the guild.”
The boy who refused handed over a small note. It was quite impressive. It made it seem like Krais had complete control over the guild.
For an errand boy to refuse krona.
“Who is it?”
One of the soldiers surrounding the inn approached and asked. Enkrid honestly said it was a kid sent by Krais.
“What's he up to out there now?”
Krais was a resourceful man who dabbled in this and that, handled information, sold tobacco, and called for prostitutes. Hiring a kid to run errands was a normal thing for him. Enkrid went back inside and unfolded the note. -Before the morning of the second day.
The message was short, but the meaning was clear enough. It meant they would catch him soon.
“May I ask what you're doing all day?”
As he threw the note into the fireplace, Torres asked from behind him.
“Training.”
“During an escort mission?”
“I don't think anyone will attack us right now.”
“Still, doesn't the client say anything?”
“As you can see.”
“It's a nice view.”
Leona was also watching. Enkrid didn't care who was watching. Didn't Audin say it?
“The Technique of Isolation is adding one day to another. Think of it as painstakingly building the fortress of your body based on today's work.”
He thought it was a cool way of saying not to skip a single day. He decided to follow those words as much as possible. Enkrid was the type of person who did what he set his mind to.
He mixed the Technique of Isolation into his daily sword training.
“Don't you get sick of it?”
Not a chance. It was only fun. The fun of seeing himself change day by day.
While training, he maintained his Sense of the Blade. He also used Single Point Focus. Only Heart of the Beast was a skill he couldn't easily use while training.
So he was again performing the technique with his shirt off.
“Is it because you're the daughter of a guild master? You're not shy.”
Torres said with a chuckle. He was sitting with a chair turned backward. Leona answered with a light smile instead of words.
And she admired Enkrid. That face and that body. Even the sweat that flowed as he trained.
He fit her tastes perfectly. Enkrid continued to move, still ignoring everyone's gazes. Watching this, the Elf Company Commander, sitting on the inn's stairs, asked Jacksen, “Does he normally enjoy the attention?
The soldier's Squad Leader?”
“I don't know.”
Jacksen was prickly, and the company commander didn't ask or press any further. She too was now closely watching Enkrid. A handsome face and a trained body are always welcome, aren't they?
Enkrid pressed down on the chair with both palms, extended his legs straight forward, and put his weight on his forearms. Every time his body went down below the chair and came back up, the muscles on the outside of his forearms twitched. As Torres watched him, two more members of the frontier garrison joined his side.
“Is that friend the friend?”
“The Spellbreaker who insulted us? That's him.”
The two spoke as if they wanted to be heard. Enkrid had just finished one round of the technique, so he made a suggestion to Torres.
“If you're bored, how about a round of sparring?”
They had time to kill anyway. There was a large open space behind the inn. All of it was a facility for the inn's guests.
A space for the mercenaries or swordsmen hired to escort guilds. A place where fights would sometimes break out when arguments started. So it was a perfectly good place for a round of sparring.
“The young lady is quite generous.”
Torres said, looking at Leona again, and Leona nodded without hesitation.
“I'll have a good show to watch.”
Torres had been indirectly asking if it was okay, and Leona immediately gave her permission. Torres was itching for a fight too. More than anything, the two frontier garrison members behind him were even more welcoming of the idea.
“They say he's a high-rank soldier.”
“Is Captain Torres going first? Shouldn't these things start from the bottom up?”
Everyone seemed very interested in Enkrid. Enkrid was pleased to have more opponents.
“Let's all have a go.”
From then on, an unexpected sparring craze began. Since drawing real swords could end up with the sparring not ending as sparring, they broke off suitable tree branches to use as substitutes for swords, but everyone was serious.
“I'll join too.”
Even the company commander joined in, and everyone inside the inn became spectators.
“They're crazy.”
The only ones clicking their tongues were Leona's escorts. These people were all crazy. What kind of sparring was this during an escort mission?
Of course, they couldn't stop them. Their master, Leona, had already given her permission.