979. Nephir and Seriana
It was a dream. Even though I was fully aware of it, the sensation of the wind brushing against my skin felt all too real.
The sorceress Eudokia emerged, accompanied by thousands of steel golem troops behind her, and asked.
“Can you really defeat this many golems all by yourself?”
I described it as thousands because that was how it felt; to be honest, it was difficult to count.
To roughly gauge the size and density, one would need to occupy a high hill or something to look down on it.
Therefore, the number of golems blocking Encred’s path might have exceeded tens of thousands.
“Really? Do you think that’s possible?”
The voices overlapped. Encred pondered the question and, after much thought, found the answer.
Even if there are many golems, there is only one person controlling them.
Is it really necessary to take them all out? I just need to kill you.
He spoke as if it were no big deal. Possessing the skill of spell-slaying, he could now afford to be confident in dealing with wizards.
So, he could have simply replied that he would just slice through thousands of those golems with his core, but Encred did not. He sought out and chose another unseen path from the forked road. The following thought underpinned his decision.
Whatever I have, I am careful about what needs to be careful about and prepared for what needs to be prepared.
Even among the Frogs, Luagarne must be a genius. Her words lingered in so many places, giving strength to Encred.
“The moment you are most confident is the moment you let your guard down the most. When you think you know the most, that is when you know the least. I am not saying you should get scared right away, but rather that you should be careful about what needs to be careful and prepare for what needs to be prepared.”
Going out defenseless, believing you will win at all costs, leads to unnecessary damage. This happens simply due to a change of mind.
If you intend to straighten your resolve, strengthen your determination, and achieve an impossible goal, you must not miss even such a small fragment.
Do your best even in small things.
It is the foundation of one’s mindset. Instead of thinking of it as an easy golem, one must consider whether it is necessary to expend one’s strength.
Luagarne was right.
Eudokia’s face contorted at Encrid’s answer. She crumpled like paper and exploded with a bang. At the same time, the golems also fell one after another and vanished. One could
say this was an opponent with whom reasoning was impossible.
The opponent—Eudokia, no, the being presumed to be the boatman’s scheme—was discussing abstract concepts. It
was a statement that no matter what one did, there would be no end to it, and that ending one’s life was tantamount to squabbling with a golem. Since
golems had no life and were beings that resurrected hundreds of times even after being killed hundreds, it was a symbol that a wall was ultimately just that. Once
you cross one wall, the next one simply appears.
That was what the boatman had said, but Encrid countered it with his own tactical thinking.
And that, too, was the correct answer. It was the only way to break through the path blocked by dead mages and golem armies.
Sagong discussed a problem with no correct answer, but Encreed answered by going beyond the very contradiction inherent in the problem.
How are you going to kill a golem that keeps coming back to life? Are you going to keep slashing it?
No, I’m going to find out why that golem keeps appearing and then slash it.
To summarize the conversation, it was this:
a purple light intruded through the pitch-black darkness, the ground transformed into a rippling river, and a boat rose from beneath their feet.
The boatman, holding an oar in one hand, asked indifferently.
You must know that the end is set.
Encreed recalled the boatman he had seen before. Seven remained after excluding those who had been pestering him to grant their wishes. Since
one of them was presumed to be Zaiden the Spellslayer, it must be one of the remaining six.
They are a group, yet one, and yet the whole, so there is no particular need to divide them.
How is it determined?
Do they, too, have something they desire, just like Zaiden?
He craved tranquility because he regretted the time he had lived in madness. One must be happy to be unhappy, and one must be unhappy to know happiness.
That was Zaiden’s life. That is why he longed for an immutability that did not know happiness. For he never wanted to be unhappy again.
Then, what about them? That thought crossed my mind while I posed that short question.
“You’ll end up staying in this painful today. If that’s the case, I told you to stop here. You’re really short-sighted. It’s not going to work anyway. Do you think you can when no one else can?”
It is a pessimism that seems to be a combination of misfortune and anxiety. Encred quietly gazed at the boatman. Only his gray skin, cracked like drought-stricken land, his jet-black eyes, and the purple lamp flickered dimly.
“What were you?”
Encreed did not retort to the boatman as usual. In the past, he would have brushed it off with something like, “Yes, I see,” or “Yes, next loser,” but this time, instead of saying that, he asked, and the boatman revealed the color of his eyes from within the black eye sockets against his gray skin.
“what?”
The boatman asks back. In the meantime, his eyes have changed. They are blue, no, sky-blue eyes. The light blue eyes shone.
“What did you want?”
At the question that crossed the boundary, the boatman’s skin crumbled and crumbled away, falling away. Pristine white skin was revealed beneath.
Eyes that bordered on turquoise or sky blue beyond deep blue, clear white skin, a nose bridge razor-sharp, and a face that seemed sculpted by a god beyond mere balance.
Should one describe it as a face so clear it floated in the breeze?
Encreed had a rough idea of how his face appeared to others. Yet, despite knowing that, he felt he fell a step behind in the appearance revealed before his eyes.
“Your face…”
“Why, do you think being born like this is a blessing? You know very well that it could actually be a curse.”
For a commoner woman, beauty is not a weapon but a weakness. Such exceptional beauty is bound to attract bandits or dog-like nobles.
Men were not much different. Encred knew this, too. When he wandered through the mercenary ranks, women were not the only ones targeting him.
“Still, your looks are quite something.”
“Yeah, they are outstanding. Just like you.”
“No, right now you are even more so than me.”
Objectively speaking, they possessed a somewhat different charm. To put it simply, if Encred’s face and aura were those of a man, the boatman in front of them was like a boy. Both were equally handsome, though. If Rem had overheard their conversation from the side, she would have told her to shut up. After all,
praising each other’s looks was indeed bullshit.
So what do you want?
Encred asked again.
“Do you want to know? Even though there’s no benefit in knowing? It’s obvious you’re going to meet your end in this miserable, wretched present, so what’s the point of knowing?”
The boatman remained the same. That pessimism could not be undone with a single word. Encreed merely spat out a part of his thoughts that had been organized in the present.
I am also curious about your dreams.
Everyone has the right to dream and fulfill it.
Then what about those who are bound to today after death?
It is a serene silence. Even the river did not ripple, as if eavesdropping on the conversation between the two for a moment. The boatman broke that brief silence.
“You will become just like us anyway.”
The boy, who could shake an entire nation if he dressed as a woman, shook his head. The boatman’s robe had already shrunk to fit his body.
His stature was noticeably smaller than Encred’s. His head barely reached his chest.
“If you are still curious, well, there will be a chance to tell you someday. However, for now, I will tell you this.”
“What is it?”
“Since you are going to hit a wall anyway, you might as well stay in today’s good days. There is no reason to face painful things.”
“A boatman is just a boatman.”
It urged him to stay where he was today rather than wallow in despair and tremble with anguish. It was a phrase he had heard often. That was the end of the dream. It was not a dream with a pleasant ending, but Encreed easily shook it off.
It was early dawn. As he got up and prepared to train as usual, Rearban approached.
“You’re here?”
“I’m going along as the King’s bodyguard.”
“Then I suppose my skills should improve at least a little, shouldn’t they?”
Although those words were truly frightening, Reavan nodded.
Encred intensively trained several Royal Guards, excluding Reavan, and remained diligent in his own training as well.
“Not forgetting to train every day is a good habit.”
Balfir Balmung also joined the crowd.
“Hey, Mr. Beast, let’s play with me too.”
Rem called out to him. The two agreed to spar. They weren’t fighting with their lives on the line, but rather holding back slightly.
An axe grazed their heads, and Balmung struck right next to Rem’s foot, but for the two of them, this was just a light warm-up.
“Do you use sorcery? I’ve never seen sorcery of this caliber before.”
“You certainly have something interesting hidden away.”
Even though they were sparring while concealing several moves from each other, they were gauging one another with insight. It was an interesting situation.
Encred observed their duel without missing a beat. Just watching high-level competitors spar was helpful.
Balmung used similar techniques whether facing him or Rem, and his skill in handling blunt weapons was truly exceptional.
That was how the morning went, and it was time to have lunch when the sun was high in the sky.
“Ester, when we go to the Empire, let’s live just researching magic as we please.”
The scheming wizard was pulling another stunt.
What was this bastard’s name again?
Encreed watched him as he sipped the broth, which was labeled a nourishing stew with ground meat.
It was called “Bloody Stew” because the greasy, reddish broth resembled human blood.
Since it was actually made by mixing the blood of sheep and veal, it was a fitting name.
Encreed took a few spoonfuls of the stew, chewed the meat, and crushed and swallowed the clumps of blood before turning his gaze away. He caught sight of
a wizard whose drooping eye corners he found extremely displeasing. His name was Nephir Tesher. When I engrave “The Flirting Wizard” on his tombstone, I should engrave his name as well.
That is the least courtesy owed to the deceased.
“What? Are you really upset?”
Rem chuckled beside him and spoke loud enough for only Encred to hear. Instead of answering, Encred just kept moving his spoon. “Why is this so delicious?”
“Surely you aren’t pushing me away because of that ignorant swordsman?”
Nephir Tesher followed Esther around. He was a wizard, and wizards are highly intelligent. No matter how clueless he was, there was no way he wouldn’t know who Esther was following. If
he hadn’t noticed after seeing her cut the meat pie served with the stew, plate it, and arrange it nicely in front of Encred right before his eyes, it wouldn’t be a matter of cluelessness; it would be like he didn’t have eyes at all.
“uh.”
Esther’s answer was simple. She didn’t even turn her gaze. She, too, was engrossed in eating the bloody stew.
“why?”
Nephir gritted his teeth and asked. His voice was filled with a sense of injustice. He was just as anyone usually does when faced with something incomprehensible. Enkrid considered warning him that his teeth would shatter if he kept at it, but decided against it.
The bowls are different.
A reply comes back.
A vessel? What? Nephir Tesher is a promising mage. The Empire does not train only knights. There exists a Tower of Wizards there. Although
a group of mages who previously organized the Tower of Wisdom on the continent failed miserably, the Empire learned from that failure and successfully established the system of the Tower of Wizards.
In other words, the Tower of Wizards is a gathering of those who research spells under the support of the Empire.
Nephir Tesher himself was considered one of the prodigies within that tower. His pride was hurt by the remark about a “vessel.”
He had crossed paths with Esther in the past, worked together as a mage and colleague, and even helped her when she was being pursued.
Of course, he had received more help in return, but Nephir believed that there was something special between him and Esther based on the experiences they went through together and the time they spent together.
“bowl?”
Nephir asked back.
Esther had kindly answered a few times due to past memories, but now she found it truly bothersome. To her, even this brief response was a significant favor.
To an outsider, it might have looked like she was dismissing her with a simple answer, but
in any case, even that vague goodwill had been completely exhausted.
“You, wizard, stop bothering me.”
Esther spoke. “
I can’t even remember his name.” Nephir Tesher’s eyes filled with jealousy and sorrow.
“This must be all because of that ignorant swordsman, right?”
The wizard Nephir turned his gaze away. Toward Encred, the swordsman with black hair and blue eyes.
He was watching him nonchalantly, fiddling with his spoon. He hadn’t said much or made any gestures, but he seemed to be ignoring him.
Yes, I’ve held back a lot.
Nephir opened his mouth with determination.
“I challenge you to a duel. Let’s meet at the training grounds this evening, you swordsman.”
He spoke to Encred, and Balfir Balmung, who was eating beside him, mumbled, looked at the wizard, and then looked back at Seriana.
After the meal, they had to discuss the route into the Empire and formulate a plan. He had looked at her thinking he should quietly subdue that hot-blooded youth, but Seriana was actually looking at Encred, not Nephir.
“Kyung, may I ask you a favor?”
“Are you telling me to accept the challenge to a duel?”
A hint of mischief flickered in Seriana’s eyes as she spoke. It was a rare sight for someone known as the Iron-Blooded Executor. Usually, she was cold and only spoke her mind.
If Encred refused, well, I could just step in then.
Balmung thought with a light heart. He, too, was by nature a man far removed from political maneuvering.
I will.
Encred answered calmly.
“Kyung, you are a truly charming person. You are different from what I heard.”
At Seriana’s added remark, the witch’s gaze turned toward her.
She was a human woman overflowing with charm, with pure white skin, brown hair, and rosy cheeks that were both restrained in her movements and full of life.
“Acquaintances?”
Esther asked as she swallowed the pie.
“no.”
Encred answered, putting the accompanying grilled asparagus into his mouth and chewing.
I only heard about it secondhand, too.
Seriana spoke as if tossing it out. The person she had only heard about was Enkrid. Her eyes did not leave him.
That was the end of the conversation they had over the meal. A strange atmosphere, the kind anyone might sense, flowed through the air.
I’m looking forward to the next episode.
Rem, sensing the atmosphere, showed interest. It was a perspective befitting a mad barbarian.
