974. Leading the atmosphere
Passing through this incident, Encreed thought it would be good if the standing military forces within the capital were strengthened. Since
he was not a man who merely thought about it and stopped, he took immediate action.
To summarize, he had dealt with the henchmen, and with some time remaining before the Empire’s envoy arrived, Encreed stepped forward during that spare moment to defend those protecting the kingdom. And
now is the first instance of that.
That’s terrible.
Seeing that, Aisia said
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. To think that she stepped forward with good intentions… though I don’t think Rem did.
Andrew answered.
I can hear it.
Asia expressed concern.
I said it so you could hear me. I’m not the kind of person who acts harsher just because you heard me, or lets you off the hook just because you didn’t.
Andrew knows Rem. Naturally, upon hearing this, Rem nodded in delight and spoke.
“That’s the right answer. Let’s see how much he’s improved. Watching him fight before really made me sigh. To think the guy I once taught is only at this level.”
Rem spoke to Andrew.
It was an absurd remark to hear, especially to Rearvan of the Royal Guard or the others.
Andrew Gardner was a noble and the Captain of the Security, and one of the most powerful figures in the capital, second only to Asia.
A Royal Guard who understood honor spoke up.
That’s harsh.
Another Royal Guard who likes to discuss strategy and tactics said.
Is the purpose to humiliate and unsettle you?
Rearban thought this.
No, it seems like you’re just saying whatever comes to mind.
Among them, he had the best insight.
“next.”
Enkrid said.
It’s better to get the bad news over with first.
Another Royal Guard stood before him, muttering. The man with the unassuming face who had not lost his smile even when his captain had collapsed.
rice cake!
This time, a single punch sent the soldier, who had been holding his spear, dropping it and collapsing to the ground. With a split second of light, sharp punch that closed the distance, another soldier rolled on the dirt ground. He lost consciousness completely.
“Lack of tension, a training course for surprise attacks.”
“Oh, good.”
Rem showed satisfaction. Training for surprise attacks involved beating someone while they stood still, making sure they didn’t pass out.
As for strength training, he didn’t even need to use his hands, as he just had to abuse his body with a boulder placed on one side.
Rem preferred training where he could get a feel for the physical impact of beating someone up. Of course, he only liked it when he was the one doing the beating.
“That’s excessive. I came to have my skills tested and learn a thing or two, but you just beat me up. Just because you’re a knight, aren’t you acting a bit too recklessly?”
Someone might have been expected to blurt out such words, but ironically, everyone kept their mouths shut.
The reputation the Mad Knights have built up so far is too high to utter such nonsense.
Moreover, hadn’t they recently demonstrated a battle in front of the castle walls that struck like lightning, startled the heavens, and shook the ground as if by an earthquake?
Few people present here had failed to witness that fight.
It’s been a long time.
Next was Leervan. Encred remembered his name. He was the man who had stood by Encred’s side and fended off enemies when Encred was begging for swordsmanship in the kingdom, and Encred also remembered the spirit of devotion shown during their sparring matches while going through the civil war and various other events.
hook.
Rearban barely caught a glimpse of the blade Encred was swinging. He probably swung it at a speed perfectly suited to him.
Bang!
As soon as he blocked the blade, he shook from his wrist through his elbow and shoulder to his head. The vibration was more intense than
when he used the Wave-Blocking Sword. He could have gagged and collapsed right then and there, but Leervan cut off the vibration by exhaling short, sharp breaths and tensing his wrist. At the same time, he balanced himself, steeled his resolve, and pulled Will up.
As Will concentrated on his wrist, the spearhead he held scattered the vibrations transmitted by Encred.
spills.
He lets things flow smoothly and sustains his strength with his well-trained body.
He, too, has worked hard since sparring with Encred. He built up today.
Passed.
I was glad to finally hear those words from Enkrid’s mouth.
Enkrid moved his feet as he spoke. Thinking it was another low kick, I concentrated power in my leg, but his foot flew like a swallow.
The angle changed from bottom to top and struck my head.
Thump.
The instep grazed the crown of his head, and Rearban collapsed, but managed to brace himself once again by thrusting the shaft into the ground. “
Overall, your training has improved,” Encred thought.
“By honing technical response.”
“Oh.”
Rem spoke, curling his lips.
Encred continued to spar without rest, quickly clearing out twenty and welcoming Andrew.
It seemed to have increased a bit.
Enkrid said. Holding today at an angle.
It’s still a long way off.
Andrew answered, enduring and shaking off the subtle intimidation creeping in. “
Interesting,” Encred thought as he watched Andrew’s technique.
He lets things slip and slip again. He lets anything slip to look for an opening in his opponent. He is the type who focuses entirely on his swordsmanship by not deceiving.
Guys like this eventually break through the wall. That was what his intuition told him, and now, it was a well-established theory to say so.
By recognizing my own walls and focusing on what I have.
Focus on a single path rather than multiple diverging paths. It is about advancing by concentrating on one’s specialty. This is the foremost attitude one must adopt before becoming a knight.
If one’s skills improve rapidly, one reverts to aligning with one’s specialty by drawing a circle to enhance overall technique and physical training. After solidifying one’s art through this process, one returns to utilizing a single specialty.
From then on, it is a repetition. That is the path toward becoming a knight. The reason
his swordsmanship is currently focused on softness is that his primary sparring partner is Asia.
Encred saw through the process and glimpsed the future. And he pressed down on the sword with brute force.
There is no reason to spare him for admiration. A strange sound burst from the lips of Andrew, who had failed while trying to let that heaviness flow.
“Quack.”
It was the inevitable noise produced by the force pushing and the air trapped in the lungs flowing out.
“Is it a duck?”
Upon hearing that, Rem spoke, and a few of the Royal Guards who had managed to hold on without fainting burst into laughter.
It was a laugh that came from Viscount Gardner, who usually had a gruff impression as the Chief of Security.
“You’re smiling?”
Rem raised his axe at the sight of those laughing. “Dejected brats. Laughing?
” The last one was Aesia. The will contained in the three slashes was sharp and heavy.
Encred kicked her in the shin and spoke.
“You have only one thing to do. From now on, use Will even when you eat and drink.”
“What?”
“You can start by filling your three fork strokes with Will instead of three knife cuts.”
“Are you telling me to use Will while eating salad?”
Encred didn’t even nod. His tone was as if to say, “Why state the obvious?”
“Damn it. If they tell me to do it, I have to do it.”
Aisia was not far from becoming a knight, either. She did not know if it would be one step or two, or if she would ever reach it, but Encred believed that she, too, would eventually become a knight.
Only after pestering those who came looking for her for three days did the envoy from the Empire arrive.
* * *
“I should start by asking why you seem so agitated, considering you didn’t come here to fight. I just came from a rough battle, you know.”
The one standing at the forefront of the Imperial delegation was an old acquaintance of Encred. It was
Balfir Balmung, the master of an intimidating aura akin to a spiked club. They had briefly accompanied him when he left the Zaun family previously, and together they had hunted down an Imperial deserter.
A knight who had transcended the Wall, he was a true powerhouse for whom classifying him as a beginner, intermediate, or advanced was meaningless by Encred’s standards.
Krang, Marcus, and Octo came out together to greet the delegation, supported by the Royal Guard; thanks to the training they had received from Encred for several days, their spirits were sharp.
That was the reason for the remark. “Yeah, anyone watching would think they were challenging you to a fight.”
Encred shared the same thought. Balfir Balmung narrowed his eyes. He did not appear to have any intention of
backing down if challenged to a fight. Crys observed that the delegation was not particularly large, that they had not arrived with a caravan or anything similar, and that their clothes were torn, suggesting a battle had taken place.
Setting aside the minor details, one fact caught his eye. What do the dirty clothes and the smell of burnt clothes tell us?
They were also attacked on the way.
“Who? What’s the point of asking? It must be either Astrail or a minion of the devil.”
Valfir Balmung raised his spirits to the fullest, then let them go. As he did so, he opened his mouth.
“If I were going to attack, I would have attacked together long ago. I ask you frankly, King of Naurilia: Are you on the side of the Demon Realm?”
Encred did not know the man named Balfir Balmung well, but he knew that he was not good at weighing the pros and cons.
He asked as if swinging a club, and Krang answered.
I’m on my side.
What is the meaning embedded in such a simple answer?
It is the determination not to easily bow down to the pressure of the Empire, and to protect what is rightfully theirs no matter what the Demon Realm does. That resolve was like a blazing flame.
“Looks like you’ve been through a bit too.”
Duke Marcus spoke. Balmung shrugged his shoulders. It was as if he were saying, “Can’t you tell just by looking?”
The head of the Royal Guard listened to the conversation, remaining tense yet not displaying a particularly aggressive attitude.
As the Knight of the Empire had said, their King did not define them as enemies.
They hadn’t come to fight, and Krang hadn’t stepped forward to fight right now either.
It was just a brief exchange.
Another fight?
Behind Balmung, a dapperly man with curly blonde hair spoke. He
had drooping eyes, wore a shirt and coat, and held a straight black cane that was black yet seemed to gleam and reflect light.
Orderer.
He is a wizard. Encred recognized him at a glance. He looked at me, showing signs of fatigue. Then, our eyes met.
“you.”
The man’s eyes widened as he looked at Esther. “
We’ve met before,” Encred thought, gazing at him silently.
“Were you still alive?”
Esther asked with genuine curiosity. Because the question seemed to imply why a guy who should have obviously died was still alive, Encred’s hand touched the sword grip, wondering if this bastard was the same one who had previously attacked Esther calling her a star or whatever.
“hey.”
Balmung sensed that and placed his hand on his club. Rem, who was second to none in fighting spirit, chimed in.
“If you pull that, you’re dead.”
Krang said just before the situation turned into a complete mess.
“Lady Esther, is the opponent an enemy?”
First of all, shouldn’t the regulations be clear?
“no.”
Esther answered.
She kept her mouth shut, as she had no particular intention of asking about the relationship between the two, but the curly-haired blonde wizard spoke.
“Esther, we are indeed meant to be. I told you I knew we would meet again. We are destined to be together. We are a pair chosen by the goddess of fortune.”
Encred lowered his hand from the sword grip, then raised it again. It definitely seemed like a provocation. The constant talking of “fate, fate” sounded like foul language.
“Hey, what do you want to do?”
Valfir let his guard down, then looked at Encred with annoyance. This annoyance contained a truly diverse range of emotions.
His original reason for stepping forward as a member of the delegation was to use military force to tip the scales in their favor.
This bastard.
Encred’s aura had grown sharper since I last saw him.
Unwavering in the face of anyone, he manipulated the atmosphere flowing between the two groups as he pleased.
It was a feat accomplished solely by the movement of his hand on and off the sword grip.
At this very moment, in this very place, he held the greatest influence. For Balmung, this was unexpected. He
hadn’t felt this refined and solid as recently as when they parted ways in Zaun. Just as
Balmung was about to glare at him again, Encred naturally let his guard down.
Then let’s go inside and talk.
At the same time, Krang spoke. Enkrid’s calm change of attitude was as if he had anticipated what his king was about to say.
