It was almost night when they arrived at the campsite. Thanks to the moonlight, it was not too dark. The gravel path had given way to a grassy field.
As if to prove winter was ending, patches of green were starting to show on the ground. Of course, in the night, it just shimmered like a violet light.
‘The moon is bright.’
Enkrid looked at the moon above and shoved the pebble he was holding into his pants pocket. A muscle in his right arm twitched. He had walked for more than half a day to get here, and he'd spent the entire time practicing Torres's Hide Knife.
His forearm was numb and sore. Enkrid clenched and unclenched his fist a few times, knowing it would be fine by tomorrow. Having pushed his body to its limits with the Technique of Isolation, he naturally knew the extent of his muscle recovery.
No, he might not even have to wait until tomorrow; it might be fine with just a little rest.
“Playing with a rock all day. What a strange fellow, really.”
Finn said as soon as they arrived. Enkrid had felt her furtive glances the entire way.
“My hands get bored. It's a habit.”
Enkrid replied casually and surveyed the campsite. It was not a typical campsite with fires and tents. To be precise, it seemed it should be called a burrow rather than a campsite.
There were several burrows, holes dug here and there.
“Find a hole you like, get in, and cover it with a camouflage cloth. It'd be nice to have some heated leather to sleep cozily, but that's too rare to share.”
One of the squad members brought over a wide cloth and said this. At a glance, you would not even know there were holes here, as the cloth was a similar earthen color.
‘Heated leather.’
Enkrid had one in his pack.
‘I wonder if Aster is doing okay.’
She had hissed at him for a long time when he tried to leave her behind. She seemed to be displeased about something. But he could not bring her, so he had left her.
“It's cold, so two of you share a burrow. You're new, so you can sleep with me,” Finn said.
The "you" she pointed at was Enkrid. Enkrid's pack had heated leather, and the burrow did not look very spacious. It might be different for two people with small frames.
For example, he could sleep just fine with someone Aster's size. But while not comparable to Audin, Enkrid's own body was not exactly small. In other words, it would be uncomfortable.
Moreover, his partner would be a woman. It would be even more uncomfortable.
‘If anyone found out, it'd cause another uproar.’
Seeing how fast rumors spread within the unit, it felt as if someone was constantly watching him and reporting back. And sure enough. He could see Torres staring intently from the side.
“It's alright. I have my own preparations.”
Finn looked disappointed.
“What about me? Am I supposed to sleep alone?”
Torres raised his hand and spoke up.
“A Platoon Leader of the Frontier Guard came here empty-handed? I'll assign you a squad member.”
“Why do I get a squad member?”
“The burrows are small.”
Hearing that, Torres glanced at Enkrid, then looked down at his own body. No matter how he looked at it, his own frame seemed smaller.
“What the.”
In any case, Torres only got a scolding. While Finn was tidying up the unit and taking things out of her designated burrow, Torres came up next to Enkrid.
“Why do I feel like I'm in a bad mood?”
Why are you asking me that here?
“Because you're tired?”
“Is it because I'm tired? Huh? You, the Enchanting Squad Leader who captured even a company commander—no, a platoon leader now. Does the Enchanting Platoon Leader really think so?”
“Yes.”
“You bastard.”
Torres said playfully and turned away. The burrow was not that cramped. It was dug at an angle from the ground, and cloth had been laid inside to prevent moisture buildup.
Covering it with the camouflage cloth and crawling inside, it felt surprisingly cozy. He came back out, took out the heated leather, wrapped himself in it, and went back in. It was quite livable.
“You're well prepared. Care for some?”
One of the reconnaissance team members came over and offered him some jerky.
“No, I have my own.”
The jerky he had been given before had been so addictively delicious. He had found out where it was from and managed to get a few more pieces.
“It's my mother's secret recipe.”
The soldier had said with a simple smile. The soldier's mother ran a small eatery. It was behind an inn, and the food was excellent.
Their main dish was any kind of meat, marinated and grilled, and the marinade was superb. It had a good reputation in the area as a skewer restaurant.
‘I should get more when I go back.’
It seemed like a good idea to buy their jerky regularly, so he had left a similar request with Krais. Anyway, he took some jerky from his pack and put it in his mouth. The sweet and spicy marinade swirled in his mouth.
Whatever the secret recipe was, it was also tender. Enkrid had no talent for cooking. So, he could only marvel when he ate things like this.
Enkrid's only meager talent was swinging a sword. He had learned various odd skills since his mercenary days, but he could not do any of them properly. It was only the sword, and he only dreamed of becoming a knight.
After chewing and swallowing a few pieces of jerky, drowsiness washed over him. The land of beasts and monsters. As he fell asleep, Enri's warning came to mind, but his first day in the front yard of the Cross Guard passed without incident.
He had even thought he might die in the middle of the night. But really, nothing happened. Since it was his first day, he was exempted from night watch duty.
Before dawn, Enkrid's eyes snapped open reflexively. He went outside and took off his shirt. The cold air enveloped his body.
The coldness awakened his mind. And an awakened mind becomes the driving force that moves the body. Wearing only his pants, Enkrid began to perform the Technique of Isolation.
He started by placing his hands on the ground, rising onto the tips of his toes, then pulling his knees to his abdomen and kicking out, followed by a variety of other movements.
“... What are you doing?”
The last night watch, who was leaning against a tree between the burrows, asked as he watched.
“Morning training.”
“Do you know where you are?”
“The front yard of the Cross Guard.”
“And you know that?”
No one in the reconnaissance team here knew Enkrid. So it was understandable that they were baffled. As Enkrid, who had pushed his body to such an extreme, soon drew his sword and began to swing it.
Finn also woke up and saw it. So did all the other squad members. Everyone except Torres stared with an expression that said, ‘What in the world is he doing?’
“Is he really in pain?”
Finn asked, as if to herself. Torres, who had come up beside her wearing a thick cloak instead of a blanket, said.
“For that fellow, this is his daily routine.”
“He does that every day?”
As she spoke, Finn recalled Enkrid's body. It was just yesterday, was it not? It was still vivid in her memory.
The chiseled muscles, the powerful legs, and that heavy thing between them.
‘Ah, that's not something you can get through training.’
She pushed aside the thought of that heavy thing and retraced her memory of Enkrid's body. She felt like she understood how that body was made. Life in this land was harsh on the body, so everyone's physical training was naturally on another level.
Among them, what did one have to do to stand out so much? One just had to live twice as hard as others. Just like that.
But, even if you knew, could you do it so easily?
“Will you have any strength left to fight if we run into a monster this afternoon?”
Seeing what he was doing, she asked, worried he might get a muscle cramp.
“He sparred with me more than ten times after doing that, and then we marched here yesterday.”
As Torres spoke, he subtly implied that he had also expended a similar amount of stamina. Finn's eyes never left Enkrid.
Why?
Because it felt like he was burning his very soul with every swing of his sword.
“He seems like a madman.”
Though her words were such, Torres could hear not a hint of malice in Finn's tone. Only admiration and fondness filled it.
‘What did he even do?’
Torres once again felt he was witnessing the majesty of the Enchanting Platoon Leader. All he had done so far was bathe, walk, sleep, and train in the morning. And had a commander-level soldier leading a reconnaissance team in this harsh land not already fallen for him?
‘Is this how he seduced the company commander too?’
No, was the physical condition the truly important part? Was it because of the impression he left by the river? Torres's idle thoughts were quickly cut short.
Everyone's fascination with Enkrid was only temporary.
“Let's go fill our stomachs.”
The sun was rising. Finn's reconnaissance team could not carelessly light a fire. But they did not subsist solely on jerky and dried fruit every day either.
From their campsite, it was half a day's journey east to the Cross Guard. A short walk to the northwest led to a small forest. That was their dining hall.
“Aren't you going to eat? We might even catch a rabbit if we're lucky.”
Finn's reconnaissance team numbered eight in total. It was not a large number. Their meals could be handled hunter-style.
Living off the land, that is. Since only two more had joined them, their meal pattern did not change.
“There's a stream inside, so you can wash up there.”
Finn said, looking at Enkrid.
“Can I wash my clothes too?”
Enkrid asked, his gaze casual. Now that he was an Independent Platoon Leader, the two of them could be considered equals. But in reality, it was a little different.
Separate from the soldier ranking system, a Recon Platoon Leader with the title of ranger was considered an intermediate rank between a company commander and a platoon leader. Meaning, similar to Torres. Just like how the rank of a Platoon Leader of the Frontier Guard was special.
“Washing, eating, and taking care of personal affairs when you have time is a soldier's duty.”
In a way, it was strange for only two people to come as reinforcements, and the fact that both were platoon-leader level was also not ordinary. Finn thought so but did not delve deeper. She was just a ranger who worked on the front lines.
Soon reaching the forest to the northwest, they set up camp by the stream and gathered dry branches. They encountered two beasts along the way, but Enkrid just watched.
“Kieeeek!”
A beast is a mutated form of an animal. An animal that has been monstrously transformed in some way. So things like this could happen.
A deer beast. Its hide was peeled off in patches as if it had a contagious disease, and its skin was bluish. The moment its vacant black eyes, pupils indistinguishable from irises as is typical of beasts, stared at Enkrid.
Pik, pik, pik. The sound came from behind. Three reconnaissance team members simultaneously raised their shortbows and fired arrows.
Two hit the deer beast's forehead, and one struck its neck. Whether beast, monster, or human, getting your head pierced means death. The deer beast collapsed to the ground with a final scream.
The three members approached the deer, which had buckled at the knees and smashed its head on the ground. They nudged it with the tips of their boots, and after confirming it was dead, they retrieved their arrows. Then one of them clicked his tongue.
“Tch, it broke.”
As the deer beast fell, the shaft of the arrow lodged in its neck had snapped.
‘They look experienced.’
What if he fought them to the death, excluding close-quarters combat? It would be hard to say he would win unconditionally. He would definitely win in a head-on close-quarters fight.
‘If it's many against one.’
It would not be easy. It was proof they were not a unit that survived in the land of beasts and monsters for nothing.
“I hear you're a high-rank soldier? Do you have any hunting experience?”
“A little.”
There was what he learned from Enri, and other things he had picked up while working as a mercenary and wandering the continent. Of course, he was not particularly skilled at hunting. He was skilled in other areas instead.
And then.
One of the reconnaissance team members who had gone ahead came back.
“Aish. Ghouls. Should we move the camp?”
“How many were there?”
“I counted up to ten, but more were coming from behind, so I pulled back.”
The appearance of ghouls. It was not a common occurrence, but it did not seem particularly rare either. They had just gone to the trouble of lighting a fire and making preparations at the camp.
Ten ghouls were a formidable enemy for the reconnaissance team. Especially since the ghouls here were fast. If it was not a number that could be stopped with a few arrows, they would have to engage in close combat.
A quick scan showed three soldiers armed with shortbows. So what should they do when they see a pack of ghouls? The best course of action was to avoid them.
“Damn it.”
Even Finn was showing her irritation when Enkrid stepped forward.
“Which way?” he asked.
It was a question that could have been awkward, but his eyes were fixed on the soldier who had just seen the ghouls. The soldier blinked. He had not grasped the intent of the question.
“The ghouls.”
Torres stepped up and added an explanation. Torres had a rough measure of Enkrid's skill. Above all, his specialty was the Northern Heavy Sword technique.
Compared to himself, who mainly used daggers, one could say Enkrid was specialized in hunting monsters. Besides, had he not seen him take down man-faced hounds and harpies before?
“The ghouls around here aren't the docile type.”
Finn, having read Enkrid's intention, said worriedly.
“I do not think you need to worry.”
Torres added, standing beside Enkrid.
“I just need to provide support, right?”
To Torres's question.
“Just tie up their feet.”
Enkrid replied.
It meant he would not let a single one escape.
“Alright then.”
Enkrid intended to prove his abilities. Finn and the few remaining reconnaissance team members exchanged glances. For them too, combat was a part of daily life.
However, ten agile ghouls were truly a tough opponent. If they were hit by the poison that seeped from their claws, that alone would be a loss of combat power, would it not?
“Hey.”
Finn spoke up to stop him, but Enkrid was already twitching his nose.
‘The smell of rot.’
By heightening his sense of smell, he could roughly tell which direction the ghouls were coming from. Could he hunt like this? It seemed he could find prey with his nose and ears.
Anyway.
Now was the time to cut down ghouls. Enkrid kicked off the ground.
“Uh, hey!”
Finn, Torres, and the reconnaissance team members rushed after him. Enkrid's attitude and actions. Everything about him had a power that made you want to watch and see what he would do.
So, whether he lived or died, whether they helped or not. They wanted to go and see for themselves first. What exactly the fellow who had been showing off his body since morning was up to.
Naturally, Enkrid did what he had to do. And seeing it, Finn's eyes went wide.