Encrid nodded. It wasn't a gift he had prepared, but somehow, there was nothing left to give to Ragna.
Krais thought the jeweled scabbard and the upcoming merchant guild were gifts in themselves.
Esther, who was sitting like a painting on one side, was holding one of the items Encrid had given her. It appeared to be a beast's fang.
"I got it."
She spoke even though no one had asked, and at that moment, Sinar entered the tent.
"Can I consider the dagger you gave me as an engagement gift?"
It was followed by a Fairy-style joke.
To be fair, neither Lawford nor Pel had received anything either, so Ragna wasn't particularly upset.
"Come on, barbarian. I'll take your head."
Ragna only thought that some barbarian brat had interfered in the middle.
Whether he became a Knight or not, something unpleasant was still unpleasant.
Just because someone is good with a sword doesn't make them a sage or a saint.
"Fine, bring it on."
Neither of them actually stepped outside. It was just their usual bickering.
"So, where have you been?"
Encrid asked the question to change the subject, and Ragna, taking his eyes off Rem, answered. He truly wasn't upset, so he answered calmly.
"I just went out for some fresh air. On the way back, I saw a odd-eyed stray and brought them along."
"Who brought whom?"
Rem laughed mockingly from the side. Luagarne nodded in agreement. Rem was right.
Jaxon remained silent, and Audin was still praying. Krais yawned, perhaps feeling drowsy.
It was peaceful.
Amidst the sound of the seasonal rain pouring down, Encrid finally asked the question he'd been wanting to throw out when everyone gathered.
"If you were suddenly dropped into the desert, how would you get out?"
It wasn't just a random question.
As Knights, what would they do if their physical abilities changed?
Encrid had managed to escape the desert, but he believed it was due to luck. So, what would they do if luck was not a factor?
He had been curious ever since he escaped the desert and woke up. How would they handle it?
Ragna was the first to answer Encrid's question. Finding paths was Ragna's specialty, after all.
"I'd find my way by looking at the stars in the sky."
It was the biggest lie ever told, but it wasn't wrong.
"That's a disease, you bastard. And you won't be able to see them. The sky there is blocked."
Rem added, and Encrid nodded. Ragna calmly continued.
"Then I'd rely on my instincts."
It was madness. Encrid hadn't expected much from Ragna in the first place.
Rem muttered that he was a crazy navigator and shared his thoughts.
"You just pick a direction and keep walking. Every place has an end."
It was something he could say because he somewhat understood deserts. Deserts weren't like legendary mazes or labyrinths. They were just land.
So, as long as you endured and kept walking, you'd be fine.
Rem had already planned to go search for Encrid if things went south. The bird of desire would show him the direction, and he would head that way.
"At my level, I could survive for a month without food or water, but there's no need for that. I could just run."
It was a method made possible by his sorcery powers. That was what Rem meant. By summoning the velopter spirit through divine possession, he could run for days.
Next was Audin.
"I would ask the Gods and receive their answer."
Audin possessed divinity, and his Divine Power could perform miracles, such as healing an ordinary person's body. To someone like Audin, miracles were a part of everyday life.
So, when he said he'd ask the Gods for guidance, it might sound absurd to others, but Audin was being sincere.
If such a situation arose, the Gods would give him a revelation.
Encrid listened to Audin's words and knew that he was completely serious.
Jaxon responded with a question instead of an answer.
"You said you couldn't find the direction. Was that truly the case no matter what?"
One cannot turn back the past, but by reflecting on and reviewing it, one could avoid making the same mistakes again.
That's what Encrid meant by asking the question. Although, he also just wanted to hear their thoughts.
Jaxon picked up on that point—was that truly the best you could do?
Jaxon crossed his legs in his chair and spoke.
Though the sky had darkened because of the rain, the flames burning at the center of the tent provided enough light.
The fire lit up the surroundings, and soon everyone was gathered around the fire's center.
"Didn't you hear any sounds? The sound of the wind? What was the wind like in the West?"
Upon hearing this, Rem thought to himself, indeed, Jaxon was a sly wild cat. There were, after all, guides who walked the deserts in the West.
Rare, but sometimes they existed.
Not that those guides had the skill to find people lost in the desert.
If they had navigated the desert as if it were their own home, Encrid would've persuaded them with the fist of desire, not the bird.
It was because such feats were impossible that they were left alone.
Those desert guides had a saying. They said they followed the path of the wind.
It was something only those born with exceptional senses, even beyond sharp intuition, could do.
"The direction of the wind, its smell—everything becomes a clue, so you can't get lost."
Jaxon could find his way even in a labyrinth. His senses weren't affected by most spells or magic.
His sensing abilities, drawn from his Will, were one of the weapons that brought him to his current position.
He didn't earn the titles of 'Master of Geor's Dagger' and 'Owner of the Morning Dew' from a card game.
"An interesting topic."
Sinar joined in. She knew the desert. It was the opposite of the forest. But would such a place lack vital energy?
Handling vital energy meant being able to see spirits.
Sinar was born with the talent to receive the blessing of such vital energy. The desert surely had spirits as well. Or at least traces of energy.
"The desert isn't devoid of vital energy. I'd follow the path of that energy."
"Must we really get lost in the desert? I feel like I could avoid such a situation altogether."
"Don't say something so foolish. The premise of this story was that you'd already entered the desert."
No sooner had Sinar finished her sentence than Lawford interjected, and Pel retorted. Lawford smiled, though the smile seemed a bit stiff.
"Which is why I'm saying I wouldn't get lost."
"Which is why I'm saying the premise is wrong. Shepherds don't get lost, so I'd find a way out. I also always carry enough food for a few days."
"Which is why I'm saying you wouldn't have gone in to begin with!"
Lawford repeated once more, this time without smiling.
"That's foolish talk."
Pel said, crossing his arms.
"You wanna get smacked?"
"The Idol Slayer doesn't discriminate. You know that, right?"
"Then I just won't get hit. Simple."
When did it start?
Perhaps it was after Pel's crack began to form. Lawford and Pel had a terrible relationship.
It might've been because their goals were different.
Lawford thought it was important to calculate every move, while Pel believed in the importance of split-second decisions.
Their different perspectives on swordsmanship only strengthened their respective arguments.
And Shepherd Pel didn't know how to choose his words, while Lawford, as a member of a Knightly order, was inexperienced in dealing with someone so disrespectful. For various reasons, their relationship became horribly strained.
Encrid watched them silently for a moment before speaking.
"Enough."
One word was enough. Both of them backed down. They didn't even glare at each other. In this way, they were surprisingly similar.
They didn't waste energy on useless matters.
Pel suppressed the bubbling emotions inside him. Whatever cracked with the fissure in his heart, it was breaking.
But for now, all he wanted to do was smash Lawford's head in, the brat who had learned swordsmanship with such ease.
There was nothing he couldn't do. Catching up to a guy who'd only gotten a head start due to luck was possible.
Lawford felt the same.
That brat has no manners. He doesn't know how to respect others. He needed education.
To win a fight, all he had to do was live like Encrid every day. Now that Ragna was back, there would be more opportunities to train and learn swordsmanship.
Lawford had completely forgotten about returning to the Knightly order.
Encrid looked at them and thought it would be nice if Rem, Ragna, Audin, and Jaxon would listen as well.
'Fat chance of that.'
He had asked the question and heard their answers. Encrid realized that everyone's thoughts were different.
Some would stubbornly push through, while others would utilize the skills they had.
'Could I have smelled the wind too?'
Jaxon had said that if you couldn't hear, you could at least smell.
He wouldn't be able to see the vital energy or spirits like Sinar, but hadn't there been anything he could sense with his intuition?
He didn't know.
Maybe there had been.
"If I had studied in advance, it would have been helpful."
Luagarne's comment from the middle of the conversation was also right. Knowledge is power. Encrid organized his thoughts.
Everything they had said had been helpful. His thoughts connected, and he remembered the soldier who had attacked as soon as he entered the tent.
Encrid recalled the nameless soldier, Marco.
He had used his Will.
What was his method?
The soldier had bolstered his mental strength by refusing to back down.
By warning his opponent, he solidified his resolve, and by launching his first attack with his most confident strike, he aimed to gain a psychological advantage.
Even if the first thrust didn't win the fight, it would at least make the opponent remember how sharp his spear was.
His first strike would be the strongest and fiercest.
The warning, the thrust, even the posture and attitude—it was all part of his tactics.
Everyone had their own tactics, and Encrid realized he had learned something from them.
"There isn't just one method."
Encrid muttered to himself.
"When your Will is full, your stamina changes too."
What Ragna had said was true.
From the final step in the desert onward, every step he took was imbued with Will.
Encrid organized his thoughts and engraved what he had learned one by one. Anu, the Mercenary King of the East, had said to experience many things.
Why?
Encrid saw differences in everything he saw and experienced. Did he only see differences? He saw commonalities as well.
What he realized after escaping the desert, what he learned now, and what he had gained through asking questions. It all resembled moonlight.
That's how Encrid felt. It looked like moonlight but couldn't be grasped. It meant there was still a missing piece. Thinking about it right now wouldn't bring clarity, so there was no need to rush.
"Since we're all here, tell me a story, my fiance."
Sinar spoke, pulling one knee up onto the chair, and Encrid looked up.
"What did you do to earn the titles of the savior of the city and the pioneer of the West?"
Sinar asked again, her expression more relaxed than usual. That's how she appeared to Encrid.
Encrid wasn't aware, but due to his actions, various nicknames had popped up.
Since there was no reason not to tell, Encrid began his story.
From a Demon Slayer to the Savior of the City and a Pioneer of the West, he explained how it all happened.
He spoke well. Before anyone knew it, everyone was swallowing their saliva, deeply focused.
"You should have been a minstrel instead of a Knight."
Krais suddenly commented.
"Not bad."
Luagarne added with puffed cheeks. Though Encrid had experienced it all himself, hearing it from his own mouth made it even more entertaining.
Yes.
Though he wasn't exactly the best storyteller on the continent. Krais aside, his storytelling skills were terrible.
In the middle, Krais added some witty remarks, making the story even richer.
Of course, what surprised everyone the most was the story of Rem's wife and child.
"Trash."
Krais's witty remark was on point.
Many children were abandoned by their parents when they were young. Krais was one of them, and he despised parents who abandoned their children.
"Do you want to die?"
"Leaving behind your wife and child..."
"Ayul is a strong woman. And she has her own desires."
In fact, Ayul had even encouraged Rem to leave. She was a remarkable woman who knew how to support someone with big dreams.
"Marriage? Did you blackmail her?"
Ragna asked, and Rem answered by swinging his axe.
He scratched his ears a few times, thinking he had misheard.
Though an axe flew at him as well, he easily dodged it.
Audin offered a blessing in prayer.
"Even a bat without wings will find its mate, so the Gods will bless this union."
It seemed like his personal opinion was mixed in with the blessing, though.
"Is that a blessing?"
Rem cursed in the middle of the outburst.
They chatted until dawn. Even Sinar, uncharacteristically, shared a story about the forest of energy, which ended in a labyrinth made by demons.
"If you get lost in there, you'll die. They all died."
The story had started as a heartwarming tale of the forest, but...
In retrospect, Sinar was terrible at telling stories too.
Audin told the story of how Teresa devoted herself to the Gods.
Though Teresa could never forget her past, she had learned to look forward to tomorrow rather than dwell on yesterday.
As he said this, Audin looked at Encrid, and the intensity of his gaze was unmistakable. It wasn't love, but gratitude mixed with a sense of rivalry toward the one who had taught him.
"It's only right to kill cultists on sight."
Luagarne also remarked.
Lawford and Pel ended up saying something as well.
Pel talked about shepherds, and Lawford commented that even if you joined a Knightly order, you'd rarely see an actual Knight, then looked around.
Somehow, there were three people here who fought at the level of Knights.
Jaxon shared a story about the Carmen Collection, and despite the lingering summer heat, the story sent chills down everyone's spine.
It was the tale of one person's desperate revenge.
But Jaxon was surprisingly articulate.
Despite being quiet most of the time, he was quite good when he did speak.
"I cut down a few who were decent with a sword while on a walk."
Ragna summed up his lost path story with that one line. There was nothing else to say since all he did was train, sleep, and laze around.
The reason he had even gone for a walk was that Encrid wasn't around.
His motivation seemed to fade, so he forced himself to go out and stimulate himself.
"Is he crazy?"
Rem chimed in, and this time, Ragna threw a punch instead of swinging an axe.
Of course, Rem didn't get hit. He tilted his head and dodged, then began swinging punches from his seated position.
At some point, Audin, who was sitting between the two, broke them up while still seated. Naturally, he used his hands.
Whether they were Knights or not, masters of close combat were a cut above the rest.
Between laughter and conversation, a few soldiers brought several bottles of alcohol and food.
Krais had ordered it. Everyone ate and drank. It was an impromptu feast.
Encrid felt as if he had truly returned.
Silly jokes, stories, everyone's words.
Talking about such things, the night deepened.
Even the scuffles eventually stopped. Now, it was just real conversation.
"The Balrog, huh? A troublesome opponent."
At some point, Ragna muttered these words. It was after hearing the story about Oara. Of course, it was under the assumption that Encrid would go kill the Balrog.
No one told him to give up. No one said it was too dangerous.
If it was a task to be done, they would do it. They all shared that mindset.
"Not right now."
Encrid responded in kind.
Krais sighed in the middle of the conversation.
"Why don't you try stopping him? A Balrog, really?"
Isn't it a creature most people wouldn't even hear about in their lifetime?
What? It wields a fiery whip and a flame-igniting sword?
The hidden God of the Demon Realm.
It was a night filled with stories about the Cult of the Demon Realm, childhood memories, the Western encounters with Ziba and her mother, the man who admired her, and the fragments of what Oara had left behind.
Late into the night, rain fell, drinks flowed, and the burning fire chased away the dampness.
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