"Adopt my disciple as your son."
Baron Philip was the lord governing this region, though he had no particular talents and yet wasn't entirely without ambition.
'Someday.'
He would become a lord with a vast estate. However, his ambition was more akin to a dream.
But things changed after Lorenzo, the swordsmanship master, appeared.
He told him to adopt his disciple as his son, and Philip decided to do so.
Rumor spread that the adopted son was being trained by a swordsmanship master, but the truth was different.
The disciple was a genius spearman. He fought with a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, capable of swiftly defeating over a dozen ghouls.
"Amazing."
The lord couldn't help but utter these words.
It was the first time he had seen someone this skilled in front of him.
None of the soldiers, known for their strength in the territory, could match him.
Lorenzo, the teacher and now father of the disciple, fought even better than his disciple, Cavern.
These two had promised to become his strength.
"I have long admired the Baron's benevolent and upright character. Recently, I thought this would be a suitable haven for a wanderer without a home, but if you reject us, we will leave quietly."
This was what Lorenzo said when he first approached.
Due to the civil war that had shaken the entire Naurillia region, rumors had circulated about skilled individuals seeking new masters.
It seemed that this was his chance.
Why shouldn't he seize it?
Philip believed that he was no less capable than Encrid, who was at the center of these rumors. After all, Encrid wasn't even a true noble. He was merely a mercenary who had secured a position through luck.
'Just a drifter with a sword. He made a name for himself during the civil war. Was I jealous? Yes, I was jealous. Then I just need to steal that fame. Quietly gather the surrounding nobles and threaten them, salivating over the plump prey that is the Border Guard.'
Philip acted accordingly, and this was the result.
"There's a smell. That one's a noble."
Rem, who had once gained fame as a noble hunter, said, wrinkling his nose in a way that resembled Dunbachel.
It wasn't as though he could literally smell nobility, but the person was clearly dressed as one.
The feathered hat, the puffed-up shirt, and the leather boots wrapped up to his calves were all dead giveaways.
So, Rem's comment was meant to mock him, fully aware of who they were dealing with.
"Who are you? This is Baron Philip's territory."
Three of the men facing the sword-wielders were on horseback. Since their height differed, Encrid had to look up as he spoke.
"Encrid of the Border Guard."
There was nothing more to say after that introduction.
Baron Philip blinked several times.
Who?
Like it or not, there was no one in the region who didn't know the name Encrid.
Even those who disparaged his achievements could not claim ignorance of the name.
"An imposter?"
The Baron asked suspiciously, and Encrid ignored him entirely, speaking his mind.
"Are you picking a fight?"
"...What?"
What is that bastard saying right now?
"I asked if you're picking a fight."
There was a limit to the respect he would show a noble. Encrid knew full well the intangible power he held.
A noble? A Baron? How ridiculous.
He had already been granted land in the surrounding territories as a civil war hero and held the rank of General. If a noble's title became an issue, a single letter would resolve it.
Even if problems arose, it would all end at Marcus's level.
He had also heard from Krang's letter that dealing with a few of them wouldn't be a problem. They wanted it, after all.
"You scoundrel!"
The Baron exploded in rage.
Shouting from atop his horse, he pointed a trembling finger at Encrid.
Regardless of whether he was a General, how dare this non-noble insult him!
"Cavern!"
Lorenzo shouted.
Cavern, his adopted son, dismounted his horse. Squinting his eyes, he gripped his spear and shield—his constant companions.
Cavern's gaze swept over the two opponents. They didn't seem easy, but he didn't believe he would lose easily either. At the same time, murderous intent welled up inside him.
He had settled here with such intentions from the beginning. The internal chaos in Naurillia—that was his goal.
But his opponent was far worse than expected.
As soon as Cavern felt his killing intent, Rem reacted.
"Ugh, what a nuisance."
Rem muttered, stepping forward. The sole of his foot bent, with the front half touching the ground while the back half lifted. Then Rem disappeared.
To Cavern's eyes, it seemed like that.
It wasn't even a real fight.
Before Cavern could even thrust his spear, Rem had closed the distance and swung his axe.
It was a speed beyond Cavern's perception range.
Rem's axe passed over Cavern's head just as he clumsily tried to raise his shield.
Thud!
His skull shattered.
"Cavern!"
His teacher, Lorenzo, belatedly screamed.
Leaping from his horse, Lorenzo suddenly found Rem in front of him.
Rem grabbed him by the neck with one hand and slammed him to the ground.
The sheer strength made Lorenzo's body look like a kite fluttering in the wind.
Among the dirt, there was a small stone poking out, and Rem smashed Lorenzo's head against it.
Crack!
A human skull could hardly be harder than a stone. Lorenzo's scalp split open, his skull shattered, and blood and brain matter spilled out.
Rem tossed aside Lorenzo's body and dusted off his hands.
They weren't even worthy of using his axe. Despite Encrid's nickname as a Demon Slayer, all sorts of pests still came crawling.
'Good thing I brought this hand axe.'
On the way, he had picked up an axe meant for chopping firewood from a blacksmith.
Using his primary weapon for this would've made his axe sulk.
Killing the two of them wasn't a big deal.
Drawing weapons in silence meant they had the intent to kill, which also meant they were prepared to face death.
That was the way of a swordsman.
It was a common occurrence. Be it spear, sword, hammer, or axe, violence between armed people often ended in death.
Baron Philip's mouth hung open.
To him, Cavern and Lorenzo were exceptional. He doubted if there was anyone who could face them, unless they were Knights.
He had no idea.
There were higher powers, and there were worlds beyond his knowledge.
The curtain fell on the stage of his futile ambition, an ambition so weak it couldn't even be called a dream.
"Did you pick a fight? Did you send assassins?"
Encrid asked again.
None of the soldiers dared to make a move. They were all frozen. It wasn't even close to winter, yet it felt that way.
".....Huh?"
The ambition and delusions deep within Baron Philip's heart vanished, replaced by the instinct to survive. The thought of standing before a noble vanished completely.
He was facing the Demon Slayer.
"Let's just chop off his head. That would be faster."
The barbarian beast beside him remarked.
"Don't chop his head off. I'm not a murderer. If I killed everyone who picked a fight, they'd start calling me the Demon General."
Encrid replied.
"Please, spare me."
The Baron quickly spoke, pouring every last ounce of courage into his words.
He didn't trust the soldiers behind him. It was the right choice. The soldiers were already on their knees, disarmed.
What fault did the soldiers have in this?
"From today, you'll work the land yourself."
Encrid said, observing the soldiers. It wasn't as though they were well-fed and eager to be here.
Philip's estate wasn't impoverished, but it wasn't rich either.
This entire situation had started because he trusted those two idiots, Lorenzo and Cavern.
The Baron nodded.
His estate had originally been founded by reclaiming farmland.
Just standing in front of Encrid made his legs tremble.
And that was only natural.
Opposing him meant fear would follow.
Encrid had toned it down, but his will inherently influenced those around him.
Facing an enemy could feel as though one was standing at the edge of a cliff.
"Thank you."
Baron Philip bowed his head.
Becoming a vassal under a great lord wasn't something to be ridiculed.
"Weren't there a few others?"
Encrid asked casually, looking down at Philip.
"Are you visiting them all?"
"Since I'm out here anyway."
This was the conversation between Encrid and Rem.
Philip wasn't the only noble who had crossed Krais.
Since he was out, Encrid decided to meet with all of them as if on a tour.
Some nobles had supporters like Lorenzo, while others were just swept along with the current, aligning themselves with friendly nobles.
No one expected Encrid to step in personally, though those who knew him might have anticipated it.
Krais had somewhat expected it.
In the process of dealing with the nobles, those who were utterly useless—like the ones who stole the wives or daughters of their people—were executed by Rem under a fitting pretext, while the rest were absorbed.
Even if the nobles had challenged them to fight, and even with Krang's permission, you couldn't just go around beheading nobles all the time without causing chaos, but there were always excuses.
"Are you insulting my honor right now?"
The local nobles, when first encountered, always spoke harshly, and these types of people would always throw tantrums.
Rem, hearing such words, picked up an old glove and threw it at the noble's face.
Throwing a glove was a symbolic gesture of a duel.
"Yes, I'm insulting you."
Thud.
Some ended up with bloody noses after being hit by the soaked leather glove, and others cursed angrily.
"Your mother is a ghoul!"
They'd throw out insults like that. Rem paid it no mind. After all, what's the point of talking to corpses?
"Fight in his place!"
The noble would then call forth their champion.
"You're betting your life on your champion? Then I'll bet our Captain's life."
Of course, by 'Captain', he meant Encrid.
Whether Encrid revealed his identity or not, things usually played out the same way.
You couldn't go around beheading nobles without any excuses.
There was still order in the Kingdom.
What Encrid and Rem were doing could be considered using the system. Exploiting a simplified duel trial within the bounds of the law.
This was all just a casual outing, really.
While this incident did renew the notorious reputation of the noble-slayer Rem, it wasn't a big deal.
Rem didn't care either.
Back at the Border Guard, Encrid resumed his normal life.
One day he played with Odd-Eye, and on other days, he went around asking his subordinates questions.
He also wandered around the city, but after cutting down some nobles and raising the Border Guard's reputation, others began targeting Encrid in different ways.
For instance, groups of noblewomen began persistently attempting to 'attack' the Border Guard.
With thick makeup and voluminous dresses, women who were considered beauties in their regions cast their nets, trying to reel in the big catch that was Encrid.
But fishing lines are meant to be cast into the sea, lake, or river. These women didn't realize they were casting into dry land.
"Once he meets me, he'll fall for me, for sure."
"Do you think any man could resist my face?"
"Rowen, if anyone can do it, it's you. If he doesn't fall for you, he's not a man but a eunuch."
Supported by their parents and relatives, the noblewomen were met with two unfortunate obstacles.
The first was a black-haired beauty who, while constructing a new spell realm, had recently been studying people, observing their lives, and gaining a fresh understanding of them.
Esther, with her black hair and blue eyes, was a witch who made some of the women blush.
Even women would fall for her beauty.
"The Black Flower, Esther."
That was how the nickname, spread by someone, began circulating.
"I give up."
"I'm going home."
Some left, while others persisted, believing they had at least one advantage over the Black Flower Esther.
But what they faced next was the Fairy, Sinar.
"The Golden Witch."
She was a being of inhuman beauty. They couldn't even bring themselves to show their faces.
Why was a Fairy even here?
Encrid, meanwhile, wasn't paying attention to any of this. Because of this situation, rumors spread that the master of the Border Guard had both a witch and a flower by his side.
This was also why the number of love letters significantly decreased.
"That's how things ended up, or so I've heard. They're calling Commander Sinar the Witch and Esther the Flower."
Krais shared the story with Encrid, who merely nodded.
He thought, what's so important about that?
There were far more important matters for him to reflect on, ponder, and contemplate.
He had warned those who picked fights, or more specifically, those who had harmed his people.
That was one thing off his to-do list. He had done it on impulse, and now he felt at peace.
That was enough.
"I'm leaving."
Krais was always a busy man. He said his piece and left.
"Alright."
Encrid, still seated, answered before returning to his meditation. He was reflecting on something his subordinates had mentioned to him.
"Hmm? How do I use sorcery?"
Rem had been the first to ask.
"How do I use it? I just use it. The only difference might be... well, something like this: when I invoke a spirit, its energy resides within me. For example, the bear's energy resides in me, the wolf's legs reside in me. That's how it works. They say they can only summon this energy when needed, but I always have the spirit residing in me."
Encrid remembered Rem saying this with a grin. After returning from the West, Rem had dueled with Ragna and revealed that he had reached a new level.
Jaxon had subtly avoided confronting him.
Audin had admitted defeat.
"I'd lose if we fought now, brother. It's pointless."
He had emphasized the word 'now', so despite saying he lost, it didn't sound that way.
It came across more as a challenge for a future duel.
Encrid asked Sinar a similar question and received a response.
"There's a flow in the world, and I entrust a part of my body to that flow."
That was the answer to how she had risen to the rank of Fairy Knight.
"It just happens."
He had also asked Ragna, but his explanation was nonsense.
Still, it helped Encrid in a way.
The experiences that the Mercenary King of the East had spoken of could be seen as an invitation to notice differences, but they could also be an invitation to find similarities.
Just as Knights used their presence to intimidate, Rem used a similar technique. It was a spell to instill fear.
Were they different? Yes.
But they were also the same. The effect was the same: it crushed their opponents.
His thoughts spread and scattered before gathering and solidifying again.
Oara had said that instead of relying on special techniques, it was enough to just swing the weapon. How was that possible?
If one's Will was imbued in the weapon, then just swinging it could result in an unstoppable strike.
Training muscles, honing technique, strengthening the mind, and setting one's spirit straight—these thoughts flickered through his mind.
What made a Knight's Will different?
Encrid, seated on a tree stump, felt the wind, listened to the birds, and the shouts of training soldiers as he immersed himself in a single thought.
'Not only pulling it out when needed, but keeping it open at all times.'
There was a door, and it was always open. Normally, he only opened it when necessary. Since fierce winds would blow in from outside, he had no choice but to do so.
In fact, it was impossible to keep the door open without holding it in place.
But if you could endure the wind, how could you keep the door open at all times?
An idea came to him, and Encrid opened his eyes. Luagarne was watching him, expressionless.
The eyes he opened were calmer than ever, as if he had completed a form of preparation.
"I'm going to the dining hall. Want to come with me?"
Encrid asked as he rose lightly. Luagarne shook her head.
"No, I'm not hungry."
Encrid headed to the dining hall. It was time to eat.
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