It was a night filled with the gentle glow of the moon. After pushing his body through the same training as always, he had just washed up and returned. Even though the days were getting warmer, the nights were still cold, so steam rose from Enkrid’s shoulders as he entered their quarters.
He knew that in two days, they would have to cross the river and begin a terrain reconnaissance mission, yet the intensity of his training remained unchanged. In truth, there was no reason for it to change. Because no matter what awaited him, the fact that he had to build upon each day to move toward tomorrow never changed.
Enkrid's daily routine was the same. Just as the ferryman had called him a tiresome fellow. And so he returned to his quarters.
Enri, who had been speaking with Krais on one side, approached and then stopped. His eyes fell upon Enkrid’s bunk. Aster was already settled on Enkrid’s bunk.
She would play with her grimoire, but when it was time to sleep, she would settle in that spot as if it were her own designated place. Aster was lying on the bunk, her head resting on her front paws. Her gaze flickered toward Enri before returning to her paws.
It was a sign of complete disinterest. Enri treated the Lake Panther with a cautious attitude. He didn't even try to carelessly pass by her.
Hadn't he said that the Lake Panther was considered a guardian spirit beast in the Green Pearl Plains? With the bunk between them, Enri raised his voice slightly and asked.
“Have you ever received separate training as a Pathfinder? I noticed before that you seemed to have some knowledge in that area.”
He never had. He could barely manage to find his way. However, he knew why Enri misunderstood and could understand it.
‘I learned it all from him.’
There was no need to feel awkward. The other man couldn't remember it. He had once been aided by Enri's knowledge in a tall-grass field within the Green Pearl plains.
That was all—he had learned a few things while repeating that day. Enkrid scratched his forehead and answered.
“Not at all.”
“Then, do you know the paths upriver?”
Upriver from the Pen-Hanil would be close to the northern tribes. Even while working as a mercenary, he had never been there.
“It's spring now, so the ground is starting to thaw, but it will still be hard. I've traveled those paths a few times. Shall I share what I know?”
Enri was a thoughtful person. Was it this personality that made him a hunter? Or did living as a hunter make him think this way?
He was the type to weigh the pros and cons and do what was most necessary at the moment. As a result, he had naturally blended into the squad. Just now, he had stood up in the middle of a conversation with Krais.
Even Rem didn't particularly pick on Enri. Besides Rem, the others might ignore him, but they weren't the type to start a fight.
“They say you're a hunter. Looks like you've been around.”
Rem said, perched on his bunk. He was holding an axe, sharpening the blade with a whetstone. As he spoke, he cast a glance to one side, where Andrew and Mac were.
It was a corner of the quarters. Andrew flinched at the glance, his shoulders tensing and then relaxing.
“Stop it.”
Enkrid warned Rem.
“What, are you showing favoritism again? Taking care of the new guy? That's how you end up getting stabbed in the back, bringing in a new wife and treating the old one poorly.”
Doesn't that make no sense? And who was the old wife and the new wife?
“Crazy bastard.”
With a single phrase that summed up Rem's personality and life, Enkrid approached Enri. Because of Aster, Enri didn't dare approach Enkrid's bunk.
“Krrrng.”
As he passed the bunk, Aster nudged Enkrid's thigh with her paw and let out a cry. The pawing seemed to say, 'Finish your business and come to bed quickly.'
‘Are you jealous too?’
This isn't just a problem with Rem. A strange atmosphere flowed through the quarters. It was an atmosphere that had developed after Enri, Andrew, and Mac joined.
They weren't called the troublemaker squad for nothing. It was not a welcoming atmosphere for newcomers. Enkrid didn't try to force them to mix either.
He knew it wasn't something he could control. He also thought there was no need for them to move with one heart and one mind. When they went to the battlefield, they were men who fought on their own.
Trying to coordinate with them would be a good way to not die a natural death. Each man would look after his own life. This was the only guideline of the troublemaker squad.
“I'm breaking out in a cold sweat.”
Enri, who had been cautiously observing the situation since joining, had said so. But did he know that this was actually a better atmosphere than usual? Before, when new squad members arrived, the atmosphere had been truly murderous.
Some of them had ignored Enkrid, the Squad Leader. Those men would always end up with something broken or seriously injured a few days later and be sent to the rear. Sometimes it was Rem's doing.
Other times, it was someone else.
‘Most of the time, it was probably the work of the squad members.’
Enkrid was exceptionally perceptive. This time, it was a relief. These were all familiar faces, and for some reason, they seemed to like him.
So at the very least, they probably wouldn't leave with something broken. It was just a guess, but it seemed plausible.
“There are a few things to be careful of upriver on the Pen-Hanil. I'm sure you know most of them, but it's better to know than not. Do you know of any flat stones? There are many of them upriver…”
Afterward, everything he heard from Enri was practical knowledge from the wild. Things he had directly experienced, tips passed down from previous generations of hunters. That all the flat stones, except for the ochre-colored ones, would explode if heated over a fire.
That venomous snakes sometimes hid under the ochre-colored stones. That there were sections where the river became deeper and the current faster, and so on. He couldn't memorize everything in one day, but there was a big difference between knowing the gist of it and knowing nothing at all.
As he listened and memorized each point, it soon became time to sleep. Mac had come over at some point and was standing next to him. He came closer and whispered.
“I have a favor to ask.”
At those words, it felt like the gazes of all the squad members, except for Ragna who was on duty, were fixed on him. A warning from his sixth sense.
‘Should I tell them to leave him alone?’
What would happen if I just let this be? I might come back from the mission to find Andrew and Mac withered to death.
“Please request a transfer for me.”
Despite the fierce gazes, Mac managed to say what he needed to say.
“Hmm, brother. Coming in is up to you, but leaving isn't so easy.”
It was Audin. This was a joke. Acting mischievously based on the other person's reaction was something of a tradition in the troublemaker squad.
However, to the one hearing it, it was hard to tell if it was a joke. At that, Mac muttered, 'Were they listening to everything?' Before Rem could open his mouth, Andrew stepped forward first.
He shot to his feet and suddenly shouted.
“You must not like me, so come at me! No matter what anyone says, I will learn under the Squad Leader, no, the Platoon Leader. I'm never leaving!”
What spirit.
The spirit of a soldier so young you could call him a child. Was that spirit admirable?
“I'm first.”
Rem shot to his feet, holding the axe he'd been sharpening. He stuck out his tongue and pretended to lick the axe blade.
“Where should I cut you?”
Even Enkrid felt a chill watching it. His foreign appearance, his greyish eyes, the sincerity in his tone. If he charged, it seemed he would lose at least one arm.
“If you go first, are you telling me to fight a cripple? I'm first.”
At that, Jacksen shook his head and spoke. It was the first thing he'd said to Andrew since he joined.
“Brothers, you know, don't you? I don't kill. I just give a good massage. So I should go first.”
All three were overflowing with motivation. Seeing this, Mac grabbed Enkrid's sleeve and shook it.
“Shit, stop them, what's with them. Sir Andrew, why would you say that.”
He had to stop them before Mac started to cry. He couldn't watch a grown man sniveling.
“That's enough.”
But this seemed to be a relief in a way. Rem doesn't deal with people he dislikes like that.
‘Where should I cut you’ was actually his way of offering a sparring match.
So it was a sign of goodwill. Jacksen was a man who consistently ignored people. So the fact that he spoke to him was in itself a sign of goodwill.
Audin was the same. If it weren't goodwill, he would have just said something like, 'Brother, control yourself.' In the first place, if he didn't like them, he wouldn't have made a joke like that earlier.
My goodness, how should I explain this.
“But hey, kid, I'm a bit busy, you see? How about we see each other when our esteemed Platoon Leader goes out on his mission? I'll have plenty of time then. At that point, I won't let you go even if you cry and beg to leave.”
Rem said with his usual smile. It was chilling. Andrew's face turned pale, but he didn't back down.
Should I say his mental fortitude was at least top-notch?
“Come at me anytime! I am Andrew of the Gardner family. I will not run!”
It probably wasn't just Enkrid's imagination that he seemed resolved to risk his life. Watching this, Krais just shook his head. Enri took a step back to watch.
Rem created an atmosphere of fear with his eerie smile. Audin just muttered, 'Calm down, brother, it's something you'll have to go through anyway.' As for Jacksen, he just scanned both of them with a blank expression.
He did whisper very quietly.
“Wouldn't it be okay to cut off a few fingers?”
It was even more chilling because he might be serious. Enkrid thought for a moment before speaking.
“Don't hurt them. You are squad members. And you will soon be heading to the battlefield.”
It was both a warning and a way of securing a promise. But he couldn't just stop them from doing anything. He didn't have the ability to do so, either.
“And don't make a lot of noise while you're sparring.”
“Don't you worry. I'll cut out his tongue first.”
I told you to stop with that joke.
“Come on! I said come on!”
By the time he calmed down the panicking Andrew, it was past bedtime. After Enkrid somehow managed to settle the situation and went to bed, Aster came into his arms and patted his chest. It felt like she was scolding him for coming to bed late, so he stroked her forehead with his finger and said.
“I'm sorry.”
At that, the panther immediately purred and burrowed into Enkrid's embrace. He could feel her warmth. Just because he was Enkrid didn't mean he was completely without worry for the future.
Especially when the ferryman would utter terrible words in his dreams. Today was another such day. When he closed his eyes and fell asleep, he saw the winding black river.
“Be trapped and wail, for your cries shall be my nourishment, my delight.”
Kkakakaka!
How can someone laugh with such a sound? Being trapped in today is agonizing and frightening. What would happen if he could no longer move on to the next day?
Just thinking about it made his chest ache with anxiety. But what could he do about it? Waking from sleep, Enkrid shook off the nightmare.
And that was the end of it.
‘What's bound to happen will happen anyway.’
He had to do what he had to do. And he would continue walking his path.
“Good morning.”
Waking at dawn, Enkrid muttered to himself and began the same day all over again. Starting with the Technique of Isolation, then Balaph-style bed combat. After that, sparring with Rem, and sword training with Ragna.
And with Jacksen, practicing emitting killing intent and training his Sixth Sense.
“In some ways, intuition is a dangerous weapon. If your opponent knows how to deceive you skillfully, you'll be fooled just like that.”
Those were Jacksen's words. What must he do to avoid that? It was the same as always.
Train, experience, and hone his skills through real combat. Andrew, Mac, and Enri got along reasonably well, at least while Enkrid was around. From Enkrid's perspective, though their methods were insane, all the squad members seemed to be showing goodwill.
But for those on the receiving end.
‘It must be quite exhausting.’
But perhaps they would gain just as much from it. Just as he had. Two days passed like that.
“Let's go.”
At dawn, he passed between his sleeping squad members and stepped out of the quarters. It was the day he would cross the Pen-Hanil River for the terrain reconnaissance mission. A direct order from the battalion commander.
Failure would be a headache. But success would bring a fitting reward. Hadn't they said the new battalion commander was that kind of man?
It was something Krais had chattered about excitedly.
“His name is Marcus, and they say he's a warmonger. But he always rewards those with merit and punishes those with faults. In a way, he's like a monster created by the military policy of the Naurilia Kingdom.”
To those who achieve merit, a fitting reward. To those who commit a crime, an unforgiving blade. He was a commander who perfectly suited the kingdom's army.
So, what was this mission he was heading out on now? What was its purpose?
‘Is this a punishment?’
Or is it an opportunity? Enkrid thought of it as an opportunity. To prove himself and build his reputation, no matter the task.
Wasn't that what he wanted as well?
“We meet again.”
Before leaving the fortress gates, he met the person who had joined the river-crossing mission. To be precise, it was Enkrid who had joined them. The man appointed as the platoon commander for this mission was Torres of the frontier garrison.