Nurat was the adjutant of the Battalion Commander stationed at Green Pearl.
What was that Battalion Commander's name again?
Encrid thought for a moment, but it didn't come to him. Instead, he just remembered that the man was good at composing poems and singing.
There were some things he forgot, repeating today over and over. No matter how good your memory is, it can't be perfect.
However, Nurat remained in his memory. Dark skin, a broad heart, taut muscles, and Krais's lover.
These memories overlapped, and a certain concept was firmly established over them.
Though it was a new realization, Frog's talent recognition eye wasn't perfect. No matter how sharp her insight was, it wasn't always right.
That being said, when looking at Nurat's stance and the way she walked now, it was clear she had surpassed a certain threshold.
"You've improved."
Encrid asked calmly.
"Me? Well, I've been training hard. Do I look a little better?"
Krais said, showing off his biceps, but Encrid didn't even glance in that direction.
Nurat had just lifted her left foot and pressed her entire sole into the ground. To be precise, she was spreading her center of gravity across her foot to react to any movement.
With that, it would be easy for her to react to the left or right in an instant.
Rem let out a small "Oh" in admiration, and Luagarne rolled her large eyes.
Even Luagarne could tell Nurat had exceptional talent. She was born with a body different from others.
His taut muscles, that physique, would be the envy of any beastman.
On top of that, she had stacked brick by brick of hard work and grueling training, reaching a peak.
Encrid stood up and brushed off his pants. Dust didn't rise.
The sky was heavy with dark clouds, and the rain came and went.
"Nurat is my lover, you know that, right?"
Krais said as Encrid stared at Nurat.
Ignoring the nonsense, Encrid spoke again.
"Not bad."
It could've easily been misunderstood, but Nurat didn't take it that way. In fact, Krais knew exactly what he was saying.
It was a joke, thrown after seeing him for the first time in a while.
Nurat bowed her head, giving a casual salute.
Rem and Luagarne had a rough understanding of the situation.
Rather than focusing on the sudden improvement of Nurat's skills, they understood what had transpired beyond that.
In conclusion, it must have been because of a stimulus. It was clear she had been motivated by the presence of a monstrous talent.
Encrid didn't know it, but his existence was a powerful stimulant.
Not just for Nurat, but all subordinates' level had improved because of him. No one trained as earnestly as Encrid.
There are people like that in the world. When you hear them speak, it makes you question whether you're living your life diligently.
Such people ignite a desire within others.
Through his attitude, actions, and the life he had walked, Encrid inspired everyone around him. He was a source of motivation.
'Come to think of it, I've worked pretty hard too, haven't I?'
Rem thought to himself.
He had trained and honed his skills like never before, driven partly by the desire to bash in the heads of those around him.
But in the end, it was from watching Encrid struggling and striving every day that made his hands itch.
This wasn't a feeling unique to himself.
It was a synergistic effect.
This was also the reason behind the creation of the Knights. To follow the Knights' example and move forward.
Of course, Knights were often seen as symbols of frustration and despair, as they were so tightly wrapped in talent.
But among them, there probably wasn't a lunatic so obsessed with swordplay as this one.
"Anyway, it's good to have you back."
Krais said, smiling once again.
"Let's have breakfast."
Encrid suggested. After moving around for so long, it was time to eat.
As they cleaned up the training ground and dispersed, they entered the dining hall attached to the barracks.
A large dining table, a separate room, and employees busily brought in food.
A dish of perfectly roasted whole pork barbecue, sliced and drizzled with lime, was served.
Rem and Jaxon began to bicker with their forks as they ate, and Encrid sat between them.
Watching the two fight was nothing new, so Encrid and Luagarne remained unfazed.
Sinar didn't care from the start, but the guards who followed Krais tensed up. They sat at the table next to them. Encrid noticed the tension in their shoulders and legs.
"Who are they?"
Encrid finally asked.
One of the guards sitting at the adjacent table shot up.
"Sir! My name is Ilan Bates from the Luabang region!"
It wasn't a name Encrid had heard often. His skin seemed naturally pale, but from being outdoors, it had tanned somewhat. Ilan Bates stood up and looked at Encrid with bright eyes.
"I respect you."
Half of the guards were like this, people who had been enchanted by Encrid's fame.
The other half seemed like regular mercenaries just there to do their jobs, but even they showed proper respect to Encrid.
"Where do you find these kinds of people to follow you around?"
Rem asked, and Krais, chewing on barbecue, answered.
"People keep picking fights with me, so I had no choice."
"Fights?"
Despite his appearance, Rem was sharp. Given the city's size and the King's protection, there shouldn't have been anyone stupid enough to pick a fight with Krais.
This guy had even taken the city's crime guild under his control. Did he lose that?
"It's a trivial matter, really. Some of the neighboring nobles were annoyed that the King was favoring the Border Guard's territory too much, so they started stirring things up."
Governance is about ruling. And ruling means appeasing people's emotions. You can't just cut down everyone who annoys you, or you'll be seen as a tyrant.
During the civil war, Krang had ousted Count Molsen, and many nobles had fallen.
Some new nobles had risen, while others had rebuilt their power after a fall, but more had died.
So, it wasn't a failure of governance.
Krang had done well with internal management, but there will always be those who can't keep up.
If Rem understood it, there was no way Encrid didn't. He grasped the general situation.
Just one fool stirring up trouble.
A fool who, despite being an idiot, had figured out key resources in the city.
Targeting Krais.
Or was it aimed at Graham but failed to bite?
That must be it.
Encrid sorted out his thoughts as he chewed. The meat's juices burst in his mouth, delighting his tongue.
Krais had tried to balance noble factions and use the King's name to create competition, even to downplay the Border Guard's focus. But he had failed.
Krais was clever, but clever doesn't mean perfect. Everyone makes mistakes.
And with recent city expansion efforts, it was hard not to stand out.
Of course, Encrid hadn't noticed Krais's failure.
He simply recognized one fool stirring up trouble. More precisely, he knew the guy was some cousin of a great noble and roughly where the city was. That was enough information.
It wasn't Krais's fault, but the troublemaker who was out of line.
"The city has grown, hasn't it..."
When Encrid tossed out the thought, Krais immediately responded.
"Do you think it's just grown? The substance is different, the substance."
Krais dipped his finger in his water glass, then drew a line across the tablecloth. A line was traced, avoiding the food remnants.
"We're connecting the roads from here to here. This is the Border Guard, and this is the Capital. And below this, we'll connect to Martai and other cities."
From the place he called the Border Guard, the road stretched out. While Encrid had been away, Krais had been busy growing the city.
At the same time, Krais was nurturing his dream.
'It would be a waste to just end it as the City of Pleasure.'
If there were only one salon in a city, it would be hard for wealthy people from far away to visit. There was a better way. Krais's sharp mind had found the path.
Build large-scale salons in every city.
Connect the roads and establish outposts along them, ensuring safety, and then set up salons in all the cities. The size of the salons would depend on the size of the city.
He even had a name in mind.
'Krais's Happy Bathhouse?'
Piping in water to wash, eat, play, and sleep inside the salon.
"When the safe roads are connected, merchant groups will flock like moths to a flame. Then we'll charge tolls on the main roads. It'll be a paid road."
It was a fresh idea, and Encrid nodded along. Meanwhile, Rem and Jaxon went outside to fight again.
Luagarne left, and Sinar followed. Before long, only Krais and Encrid were left at the table.
"We won't build the walls too high on the Aspen side."
Krais continued.
"Why not?"
"Because of Aspen."
"Building walls in front of Aspen would be like pointing a sword at his neck."
Even a defensive action could be interpreted by Aspen as an offensive move. Krais wasn't willing to give him any pretext.
Instead of building high walls, he had been slowly expanding the border.
From what Krais had been saying, it was clear he had gone through a lot of trouble. But Krais didn't see it as hardship.
He'd filled his pockets along the way and found it enjoyable.
Sure, carrying around a bunch of guards was annoying, but moving from city to city because of troublemakers was inevitable.
"As long as we move in groups like this, no one will bother us."
Any minor trouble could be handled by Nurat. Krais didn't want to waste time on unnecessary fights, so he chose to travel with a large entourage.
In the midst of all this trouble and tension, Krais had even formed a new unit.
In every sense, Krais was a genius.
He had created a cavalry unit called the Scouting Interceptor Corps.
Raising cavalry was a difficult task. Just breeding and raising warhorses was an immense challenge.
A horse that runs across a battlefield can't just be fast. It needs to be properly trained to withstand fear.
Krais had managed to start breeding warhorses by bringing in experts in horse breeding. But cavalry?
Cavalry had to handle those horses like an extension of their own bodies.
Forming a proper cavalry unit in a short time was impossible.
It wasn't something that could be done in a few months.
So what did he do? Krais flipped the idea.
He gathered people from all over the army who were good at riding.
Then, he drilled them relentlessly to raise their combat capabilities. Some dropped out along the way, and obvious troublemakers were weeded out, so the numbers weren't large.
So, rather than a traditional cavalry unit, it became an interception force. That was the Green Pearl Cavalry Scouting Unit led by Nurat.
The name was just temporary, or so Krais said. At that moment, Encrid remembered Enri, who he had met in the west.
The friend who had switched from being a hunter to a merchant. He would be bringing resources soon. He would be passing through to use the safe roads built by the Border Guard, but some of those resources could be sold here.
'Wasn't there an obsidian spear among them?'
It wasn't a commonly used item on the continent. The obsidian spear was effective as a throwing weapon because of its brittle blade, but it was too fragile for direct combat.
However, the cavalry unit the Border Guard had formed relied heavily on archery and javelin throwing.
So, was this cavalry unit extremely powerful? Not exactly. But if you faced them, they would be a real headache.
Riding around, jabbing here and there?
'That would be annoying.'
The Scouting Interceptor Corps had value simply because of that.
"Let's call them the Obsidian Spear Cavalry."
"Huh?"
"The name."
"Oh, dyeing the spears black?"
Krais guessed the meaning behind the name and asked.
Names carry power. Some names strike fear just by hearing them, boosting morale before a fight even begins.
The nickname 'Persistent Lovers' given to Aspen's Gray Hound unit was created that way.
It hinted at the idea that once they marked you, they wouldn't stop until you were dead.
"Obsidian Spear Cavalry wasn't a bad name."
Listening to Krais mutter, Encrid mentioned a few things about the supplies coming from the west.
"That's good."
Obsidian spearheads, cavalry armed with javelins — the beginning of a mounted unit that would dart around the battlefield.
Western resources, horses born from the Green Pearl grasslands, Krais's brain, and soldiers who had endured rigorous training.
All these combined to form the unit. Still, it was just a Scouting Interceptor Unit.
"What about the rest of the scouts?"
"Finn leads them. She said she's turning them all into rangers."
Specialized soldiers.
Encrid approved of Krais's large-scale reorganization of the military. They had unified equipment, and units were divided into swordsmen, spearmen, archers, shield-bearers, cavalry, and mounted archers.
Everything had been progressing smoothly even in his absence.
As they finished their conversation and stepped out of the dining hall, a wild horse with different-colored eyes tried to butt Encrid with its head.
Encrid caught the horse's head with his palm, flowing with its strength. It had mismatched eyes, and of course, it was just playing around.
It was like how an old friend might greet you with a joke.
"Yeah, it's been a while."
Encrid welcomed the beast, grabbing its mane and shaking it playfully, while the horse snorted happily, tossing its head.
The city was too small for the wild horse. It often roamed outside, and on its way, it had met Encrid's companions, who brought it back here.
As he petted the horse's mane, Encrid noticed a shadow blocking the sunlight.
Behind him stood a man with a black sword slung over his shoulder. He had blonde hair and red eyes and wore a thin leather outfit speckled with blood.
Did he not wear any armor out there?
His appearance was shabby, but his swordsmanship was anything but.
"When did you arrive?"
He greeted Encrid casually as if they had seen each other just yesterday. Encrid smirked and replied.
"A while ago."
"I must've missed you while I was out for a walk."
The man muttered.
Seeing the blood on his clothes, it was clear he hadn't just wandered off but had been fighting somewhere.
He hadn't bathed in days, nor had he eaten anything from the looks of it.
Well, that wasn't anything new.
"Let's fight. You barbaric northern swordsman with no sense of direction."
"...Why are you talking to me like I'm a savage?"
Ragna stiffened momentarily before replying.
Being provoked like this was something only Rem would do, so it irked him a bit. Even knowing that Encrid was doing it on purpose, he couldn't help it.
"Are you that good at fighting? Follow me to the training ground."
Encrid ignored him and said anyway.
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