The brown-haired woman's eyes became sharp.
"I agree."
Luagarne spoke from behind. He wondered what she was talking about after all the trouble they went through to bring her here.
Encrid wisely chose not to intervene.
He knew from experience that saying anything more in such situations usually made things worse.
"Do you have a girlfriend? Perhaps Asia?"
"She could be my spiritual partner, and I have a fiance and a panther back with the main force."
The brown-haired woman and Luagarne spoke without pause, with Encrid caught between them.
"That's too much, Sir, leaving me out."
Then, the man next to them opened his mouth.
He spoke in a deep voice, almost whining, which didn't suit him at all. It was a skill in itself to whine so bluntly.
The woman laughed loudly, patting the man's back with a playful smack.
To Encrid's eyes, it looked awkward.
The man was smaller than Audin but still had a large, solid frame, while the woman was barely half his size.
Her small hand looked even smaller as it patted his back.
But of course, that wasn't all there was to it.
Encrid's gaze shifted to the woman's palm as she patted him.
It was an observation without words, his gaze silently taking note.
There were calluses on her palm, the kind that wouldn't form unless someone had been gripping and swinging a sword for years.
Encrid then examined the man being patted.
A large build, a rough appearance, a whining tone, and a well-trained body with muscles as defined as a sculpture.
Finally, he looked at the woman with short blonde hair and sharp eyes.
Her eyes met Encrid's.
The brown-haired woman noticed the direction of Encrid's gaze and spoke.
"Is that your type? You like the dangerous ones? But she really is good-looking. Just looking at her must be a pleasure. The Border Guard kids must be lucky!"
She was someone who only cared about her own story, ignoring everyone else. As she spoke, she tapped the table with her glass, creating a sound that wasn't jarring but rather like a well-timed sound effect.
"I'm Encrid of the Border Guard."
Encrid introduced himself plainly.
He had long given up on clearing up the misunderstandings about what Luagarne had said. He didn't think they would listen anyway.
And it didn't really matter.
The brown-haired woman was someone who, if he had seen her on the street, he would have thought was a common, ordinary person.
Knight Oara leaned back in her chair, lifting the front two legs off the ground, and draped her right arm over the backrest as she replied.
"Oara of the Red Cape Knights."
Of course, she was a Knight.
Though she didn't exactly match the image he had in mind, the fact that she hadn't shown a single opening from the beginning confirmed she was indeed a Knight.
"Provocative, aren't they?"
The short blonde next to her spoke as she spun a metal cup in her hand.
For a moment, Encrid envisioned several scenarios of how he might react if that cup came flying at him.
It wasn't something he intended to do, it just instinctively appeared in his mind.
Having experienced this kind of situation a few times, Encrid quickly understood what was happening.
Why that cup was dangerous.
It was because the short blonde was displaying an intent to attack, albeit concealed, without showing any hostility.
It was a sly trick that Jaxon often used.
If he hadn't sparred with him countless times, he wouldn't have sensed the subtle threat.
And the cup wasn't the only thing threatening.
The man's right hand, which had slipped under the table, was the same.
He's holding a weapon.
Even so, he didn't look in that direction. His gaze remained fixed forward, toward Knight Oara.
Encrid intentionally added some force to his presence, turning instinct into intention.
It had been like this from the beginning. The two had responded to it.
But Knight Oara brushed it all off. Or more accurately, ignored it.
"Unless you're possessed by the spirit of a dead warrior who couldn't fight, just drop it. I know you can handle yourself, but so can these two."
Oara said.
"If it's sparring, I'm always open to it."
Encrid replied calmly.
"You sound like that punk Milio."
The man responded, meeting his gaze.
The woman who had been spinning the cup subtly withdrew her force.
Knight Oara smiled broadly as she spoke.
"But you really are handsome."
The direction of the conversation was impossible to predict, but Encrid had encountered many people like this before.
Rem, Ragna, Jaxon, Audin, and so on.
So, he was used to it.
"I get that a lot. May I request a sparring session with you?"
"Oho, a persistent fellow. That reminds me of the kind of guys in the novels I've been reading lately."
"I am persistent. I want to learn a thing or two from a Knight."
"You're relentless. I like that."
Knight Oara spoke her own way, and Encrid did the same.
Watching from the side, Asia felt like she was watching parallel lines that would never meet.
"Enough of this. Let's get to business, Master."
A Knight was the master of the entire Knightly order. Hence, they were called 'Master'.
"Ah, business?"
Only then did Encrid sit down and hear something resembling an explanation.
The unpredictable Knight Oara abruptly brought up the prohibition on drinking.
"With so much to do right now, who has time to drink? We don't even have enough people to clean up after the mess."
"And why are you drinking, then?"
Frog, unable to hide her curiosity while exploring the unknown, asked a question. Come to think of it, no one here seemed particularly surprised to see Frog standing behind Encrid.
"I am both the overseer of this city and its lord."
Oara declared confidently.
Luagarne thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. It was possible.
When people reach a higher rank, some tend to act a bit more freely. She was well aware of human nature.
Encrid felt like he was witnessing a free spirit that had broken out of the typical mold of a Knight.
Yet, he wasn't flustered.
After all, how could everyone in the world be the same?
Most importantly,
'Does it really matter?'
He thought to himself. What mattered was that she was a Knight, and that her skills were genuine.
Moreover, though it wasn't mentioned, she was doing something for the sake of this city.
These were things he couldn't learn just by observing Knight Oara, but he could tell by looking at the attitudes of Asia and the others.
Even though they were clearly exhausted, they treated her with respect and reverence.
Both as a Knight and as a person.
There was a visible respect that stemmed from a genuine place, a kind of respect that even Krang rarely showed.
The other two were the same.
It went beyond respect, it seemed they also trusted her.
Even though she drank and spoke recklessly, even though she called him handsome and acted foolishly, neither their gazes nor their attitudes changed.
One could tell what kind of person someone was by looking at the behavior of those around them.
It was a lesson learned from wandering the continent. Encrid was someone who lived with such lessons ingrained in him, so naturally, he didn't underestimate others.
He focused solely on the fact that she was a Knight.
Moreover, he hadn't forgotten the reason he had come here.
"The situation seems worse than I thought, doesn't it?"
Encrid was quick to assess the situation. If he hadn't been able to do that, he wouldn't have survived until now.
After all, he had repeatedly risked his life, taking on near-suicidal challenges in pursuit of his dream after taking up the sword.
To survive, he had to use everything in his surroundings.
Not only to stay alive but also to somehow make dangerous and difficult tasks possible.
The experiences from those times often proved useful to Encrid. Those experiences also sharpened his ability to assess situations.
"It's not good."
Asia nodded, summarizing the situation.
"The deserters are a problem, but there are three new colonies that have formed while we were busy holding back the monster waves."
It was no wonder they had encountered that spell-casting harpy earlier, and it made sense why they had spotted that intelligent beast.
After all, colonies are known to increase the level of monsters and beasts.
Oara, meanwhile, was munching on some perfectly grilled broccoli.
She acted as if none of this was a big deal.
As she chewed on the broccoli, she opened her mouth again.
"There are more deserters than usual this year."
"More than just 'a bit more', we're on the verge of being short-handed."
Asia responded, voicing her concerns.
In the midst of all this, Encrid pinpointed the most critical issue.
While desertions and colonies were problems that needed solving, all of this hinged on them being able to withstand the waves of monsters coming from the Demon Realm.
Looking at the situation, that was the most dangerous and crucial aspect. Beyond the western gate lay the border with the Demon Realm, and this city existed to protect that border.
"How are you holding back the monsters that are swarming from beyond the western gate?"
So he asked.
"I handle it."
She replied.
Oara's straightforward response came back.
Encrid genuinely wanted to witness her fight.
Standing before him was a Knight who claimed she could hold back the waves of the Demon Realm on her own.
Could the Knights of Aspen, the Mercenary King of the East, Ragna, or Sinar do such a thing?
At least at this moment, it didn't feel that way.
It seemed like something only the seemingly ordinary Knight before him could do.
"May I watch?"
"Finish your tasks first, and I'll give you a front-row seat. But you'll have to take care of your own life. I feel like if you died, half the women in the world would become my enemies."
Oara quipped.
Encrid, having gotten used to her manner, replied,
"So you won't protect me if things get dangerous?"
Oara burst out laughing at his unexpected answer.
As she laughed, the man beside her rounded his lips into an 'O' and said,
"Not bad, huh?"
It seemed that in this group, jokes were a way of measuring one's skills.
By that standard, Encrid might just become the greatest Knight on the continent.
"Not bad at all."
The short blonde Junior-Knight, smaller in stature than Oara, nodded in agreement.
"Asia, give him the rundown of the tasks. I'm getting drunk tonight."
Oara said, finishing her words as she emptied her glass.
With that, the meeting ended. As they stepped outside, Luagarne asked,
"What do you think?"
Though her words were brief and to the point, Encrid quickly understood that she was asking about his impression of the Knight.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I need to see it to know."
He was curious about her fighting style. He was even more curious about her swordsmanship. What kind of tactics would she use? How skilled was she as a Knight? Knights are not all the same, each has their own distinct approach. He had learned that by now.
So,
'I can't even guess without seeing it.'
He was eager to see the sword of a Knight who, on the surface, didn't exude a single ounce of Intimidation.
His desire was boiling over.
Even after facing the swords of four Knight-class warriors, his thirst remained unquenched.
Yet, instead of showing impatience, he allowed the flower of enthusiasm to bloom.
'If this is a talent...'
As Luagarne watched Encrid, she wondered what would happen if this man truly became a Knight, if he learned to wield his Will like a Knight.
It was something she couldn't predict at all.
At this very moment, he seemed to be on the brink of his limits.
And that made it all the more exciting. To turn what hasn't been done into something possible, with an outcome that defies imagination.
Luagarne felt a thrill that would have sent shivers down a human's spine.
Her skin turned red instead of getting goosebumps—a characteristic of Frog. She was overwhelmed with emotion.
She resolved to do her best for it.
Luagarne made up her mind.
Asia, though tired, didn't offer any excuses about Sir Oara.
She knew Encrid.
This wasn't someone who would dismiss or underestimate others based on such behavior.
If anything, he would show curiosity and want to learn from them.
And, as expected, he was showing that very attitude.
Dunbachel, who had been listening nearby, asked,
"Are you going into the Demon Realm?"
She didn't seem scared, but there was a subtle sense of worry. However, she tried to appear even more composed, as if to conceal her fear.
"If the opportunity arises."
Encrid said flatly. If he hadn't expected this, he wouldn't have come this far.
Dunbachel swallowed, making sure no sound escaped. She hadn't even done anything yet, but the urge to flee was strong.
"Well, here's the list of tasks to resolve. It's not just one or two. Even if we manage to take care of half of them, it would feel like a breath of fresh air."
"Let's hear it."
Asia followed Encrid's lead.
The tasks were mainly divided into two categories.
One was dealing with deserters.
This year had been particularly bad, they said.
To Encrid, it was no surprise that there were so many deserters. The battles were life-threatening, and the supply lines were neither secure nor well-stocked, and the pay wasn't particularly good either.
Compared to the Border Guard conscripts, it was less than half.
Even so, it was supposedly better than what soldiers in other regions received.
In this situation, they might as well lock up the soldiers to prevent them from escaping.
"Those who stay won't fight properly anyway, right? That's what Sir Oara said."
Encrid had a rough understanding of Sir Oara's approach.
Only those willing to fight would remain. Those who passed through the sieve were the ones who knew how to fight and had strong minds.
Otherwise, they'd end up broken and unable to fight properly anyway.
The human mind isn't that resilient.
Standing on the brink of death for too long eventually breaks a person.
Living in constant fear that you might die tomorrow, while the comrades beside you keep changing.
To prevent that, adequate rest is necessary.
The Border Guard didn't rotate two battalions with Aspen in the past just for fun. It was to avoid continuous combat. Combat fatigue eats away at the mind before it does the body.
They hadn't even gotten to the second issue, the monster colonies, when Asia voiced her frustration.
"There are two troublemakers among the deserters, but the most notorious one is that bastard, Knife Jack. He attacked the rear supply caravan."
Thousand Bricks was barren land, not producing a single grain. Hunting or finding other food was tough, so they had to rely entirely on supplies. Yet, a group of deserters had ambushed the caravan sent from the Capital.
Some deserters just flee quietly, but these crazy ones are rare.
They were the types who would try to steal something and run.
The reason for this became clear: more than half of the soldiers dragged here weren't volunteers but conscripts, many of them criminals.
Among them, the bold ones quickly formed gangs, raided supplies, and then fled.
"It would be good to deal with that bastard first."
Asia gave details on Knife Jack, and Encrid responded.
"I think I killed him on the way here."
[T/L: Please support me AND read further chapters here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans.]
[T/L: Subscribe for a membership on my Buy Me a Coffee page and receive 15 extra chapters upon joining, along with daily updates of one chapter: buymeacoffee.com/revengerscans ]
[Additional Info: If anyone is facing the issue of payment on Ko-Fi, please contact me on [email protected]]