Chapter 235
‘Is he crazy?’
That’s all the rapier swordsman could think.
He really wondered if that guy’s head had finally broken for good.
To see someone raise their skill mastery so quickly meant an endless string of hardships mixed with luck.
Maybe all that compounded training and luck had wrecked his brain?
Rem had similar thoughts.
‘Are you out of your mind?’
His hand trembled reflexively. There’s a big difference between resisting and submitting to pressure.
Ragna gripped his sword.
He figured it was hopeless. He was about to charge in and try to “sever” with a single strike.
To be precise, he meant to cut through that thing called “pressure” his opponent was emitting.
Audin prepared divinity.
If Encrid didn’t die, he’d at least be able to heal him.
Jaxson silently drew his stiletto from behind the swordsman.
Stab and kill. No matter what the opponent tried, he could do it.
Jaxson was confident. Whether the opponent was a knight or not, Junior Knight or whatever.
Everyone was about to react—just as the invisible blade was about to reach Encrid’s body.
In that split second, Encrid turned his will toward the intangible thing settled inside him.
‘I refuse.’
The blade’s will said it would cut.
So, what was the will embedded in that pressure?
‘Step back.’
Encrid refused that too. He rejected all the intangible pressure pushing on his shoulders and the blades trying to cut him.
‘Will’ is projecting your will outward.
That’s what it means to exert intangible power.
If pressure is one way, refusal is another.
The pressure, which had once brought real pain, now felt like nothing but an invisible force.
Encrid could ignore it.
Honestly, resisting Shepherd Pell’s sword had been harder than this.
So, he was sure this wasn’t reckless.
Encrid showed it with his actions.
The incoming invisible blades scattered like dust. Blades that, until now, had existed only in the mind.
Step.
Encrid stepped forward, speaking casually.
“What are you doing? Ragna? Jaxson?”
Ragna was suddenly beside him, sword raised vertically; Jaxson had moved behind the rapier swordsman.
Both blinked in surprise.
Jaxson reacted first, slipping away soundlessly.
The rapier swordsman hadn’t even realized someone was behind him.
Ragna froze, sword still raised.
Maybe to cover, he offered an excuse.
“It’s a good day to be holding a sword.”
Maybe he was just impressed by Encrid saying today was a good day.
As soon as he finished, thunder rumbled and rain began to fall.
Drip, drop, drip.
“…Huh?”
The rapier swordsman seemed not to notice the rain, unable to take his eyes off Encrid.
He stood with his mouth open, unable to speak.
It was as if he’d gone mute.
“Huh?”
He kept repeating the same sound, full of bewilderment.
Encrid tilted his head.
“Anything you want to say?”
“Huh?”
The swordsman just kept repeating himself. Encrid had seen people struck speechless before, but never like this.
His opponent stood there, still with his mouth hanging open.
Encrid spoke cautiously.
“Better go find a healer.”
Mental wounds aren’t easily healed. Even if a healer came, they might just shake their head.
“Seems like your brain’s broken.”
Encrid added.
“Pfft.”
Rem burst out laughing at that. He hadn’t meant it to be funny, but—
He’d been serious.
“Huh?”
The rapier swordsman just repeated himself.
He really seemed utterly shocked.
“That sword’ll rust in the rain. Is this really a good day to be holding a sword?”
Encrid turned to ask Ragna. Since he’d already made his comment, Ragna still stood there, sword in hand, but nodded at Encrid’s words.
“Yes. I think that’s enough for today.”
“Yeah, you should oil your blade.”
Leave it out and it’ll rust.
“I’ll do that.”
Ragna sheathed his sword and stepped back. Behind him, three more people stood, just as shocked as the rapier swordsman.
All of them stared at Encrid, jaws dropped.
“How?”
The half-giant managed to speak, the only one halfway composed.
“Well.”
Encrid answered kindly. There wasn’t much else to say.
‘Will’ isn’t something you can explain.
“Will?” (T/N: Yes serrrr! Finally, our boy has awaken his [Will]!!!)
Swallow Blade muttered. It wasn’t a question, but Encrid answered anyway.
“Yeah.”
The bodyguard just furrowed his brow.
He couldn’t keep up with this, couldn’t find words.
The rain poured down, soaking his hair.
And, of course, everyone else’s too.
“Maybe we should get out of the rain?”
Encrid suggested.
“Huh?”
The rapier swordsman replied, still looking like his mind was gone.
“Someone take care of him.”
Encrid turned and walked away. Rem and the others followed.
No matter how used they’d become to their captain’s changes, this went beyond anything they’d ever seen.
This wasn’t just swordsmanship or bodily control.
“Was that Will?”
Ragna, who had his own “Severance,” asked. His voice was higher and faster than usual—he was shocked.
Rain plastered Ragna’s blond hair over his eyes.
“You need a haircut.”
Encrid replied lightly. He was happy, sure, and enjoying himself, but he didn’t think this was the end.
He hadn’t come all this way just for this.
A real knight’s ‘Will’ wasn’t about refusal, but about expressing one’s will naturally.
Overwhelming with your aura, refusing, slashing—it all came naturally.
Once he realized even part of it, he understood.
Aisia’s pressure, the rapier swordsman’s pressure—
Both had developed their abilities in that specialized way.
By the same logic, Ragna’s Severance was similar.
Even if Lion Slash and Iron-Cutting reached perfection, his “Severance” couldn’t be imitated.
In the end, you have to awaken “Will.”
“What is this? Where’d you learn it? Did you train so hard in your dreams it almost killed you?”
Rem was just as surprised.
Encrid answered him.
“In my dreams, it’s usually that pervert ferryman, not training.”
“Huh? Pervert ferryman? What’s that about now?”
That was a question he had no intention of answering, so he ignored it.
Rem would treat it like a joke anyway.
Afterward, Audin murmured,
“It’s like you’re living in a different time all by yourself, brother.”
A bear obsessed with religion, but with eyes as sharp as the rapier swordsman’s.
He was right.
“Are you secretly training somewhere with time stopped, brother?”
He looked slow, but was sharp. Encrid thought so and replied,
“Something like that.”
Audin simply started quietly reciting scripture.
He naturally assumed Encrid was joking.
Who would ever suspect otherwise?
Jaxson was the same as always. He didn’t talk, but his gaze was sharp. He gave Encrid a thorough once-over.
“I trained normally. Didn’t take anything funny.”
When Encrid said that, Jaxson’s shoulders twitched—a rare sight.
“How did you know I was suspecting you used something?”
Jaxson asked.
“It’s all over your eyes.”
He figured maybe Jaxson suspected because he was good with medicine, and it turned out to be true.
“Hmm, did you pick up mind-reading too?”
Not quite mind-reading, just a sharper sense for reading intent—thanks to the sixth sense Jaxson had taught him.
It was easier to read people’s motives and feelings.
Especially when they were hiding something.
For example, Swallow Blade earlier, who hadn’t ended up fighting—smiling on the surface.
“I’m good. Even a glance tells me I’d get thrashed if I tried.”
But what was really hiding in those eyes?
Killing intent, malice.
And the opposite, too.
The half-giant, who’d shown fierce competitiveness, what had been in her eyes after being thrown?
A sense of regret and frustration.
Not directed at Encrid—more like self-reproach.
‘Well, maybe not exactly, but that’s the feeling.’
Encrid was about to head to the inn, then stopped to take off his gear.
He set his equipment under the eaves. Krys came out of the inn.
“Wipe down and put away the gear.”
At Encrid’s order, everyone stacked their gear.
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
Rem tossed a pouch on top.
“For your trouble.”
“Please visit again, Krys’s Equipment Service!”
His attitude changed quickly. Rem was generous with his krongs; there was probably a good amount in that pouch.
“If you go in wet, you’ll mess up the inn. Let’s just go to the bathhouse.”
Encrid’s suggestion. The Border Guard barracks had lots of good facilities. There was a well, but ever since they became an independent company, they had access to a dedicated bathhouse.
Big wooden tubs filled with water, always boiling water, too.
You could wash in hot water.
A roofed structure built over a well, so there was never a water shortage.
On one side, water was always being boiled, so it was full of steam.
“Let’s go.”
Everyone stripped down and headed to the bathhouse. The kitchen maids laughed as they boiled water.
“Wow, after staring at my oaf of a husband, seeing you lot is like paradise!”
Everyone burst out laughing at one brash maid’s words.
“Hey, be nice to your husband. It can’t be easy for him living with a woman bigger than he is.”
Rem teased with a sly grin, and the maid splashed him with cold water.
“Ah, that’s cold.”
Rem didn’t flinch, just smiled, and the maid answered with a grin.
“You, gray-haired one, have a sharp tongue.”
Clearly, they knew each other.
Later, while soaking in the bath, Encrid asked how.
“Dunbakel keeps fainting and rolling around in the dirt, so I’ve had to throw her in the bath a lot. She’s a big, hearty lady.”
That Rem could banter like this was impressive.
Or, if you think about it—
‘Rem, that bastard…’
He’s kind to women. He’ll pick fights with anyone, but it’s rare to see him hit a woman.
“So what about Dunbakel?”
“Dunbakel? She’s a warrior, not a woman.”
Rem replied immediately when asked.
“Anyway, to take on the captain now, you really have to go all out.”
Rem said this while soaking up to his neck in the bath.
Encrid ignored the glances from the kitchen maids and looked at Rem.
What was in those gray eyes?
Rem also had competitiveness, fighting spirit.
He’d never shown that before.
No matter how wild Encrid got, had Rem ever looked at him like this?
Had he ever shown this kind of spirit?
He’d once said he couldn’t go all out for fear of accidentally killing him.
“If you go all out?”
Thunk.
Rem flicked water and answered,
“It’ll be fun.”
Encrid grinned at that. The eyes of the crazy training maniac and the crazy axe maniac met.
Now was the time when new energy surged between them. Jaxson watched and said,
“Is everyone here insane?”
Audin just smiled as usual, and Ragna said nothing.
But his eyes kept flickering; he was clearly deep in thought.
“Was that really Will? Really? Honestly? Not a trick?”
Krys, who joined late and stripped in a hurry, asked as he got into the bath.
Big-eyes never slacked on training; there was a lot to see.
A few of the kitchen maids joked that their tastes actually leaned more that way.
“One coin each if you want to look!”
Krys’s joke got a laugh.
He got along with everyone, as always. And then, the question he brought up:
Through the swirling steam, everyone’s eyes were on Encrid.
Word had spread that he’d overcome pressure.
Maybe not a full-blown rumor, but anyone who knew would have heard.
At first, Encrid told the truth.
“I just repeat the same day over and over again.”
“Next. Skip the fiction.”
Jaxson answered. It was just that unbelievable.
Encrid scratched his head, then spoke again.
“Just lucky.”
Same answer as always. Honestly, there wasn’t a better excuse.
Rem and the others held their tongues.
Is he really calling that an excuse?
Was this bastard secretly a genius all along?
No way.
They’d tried teaching him. If anything, he was the furthest thing from a genius.
There was doubt in everyone’s eyes, but not suspicion.
After all, aside from luck, there really was nothing else to say.
“Maybe he’s been sleeping with the goddess of luck.”
Rem muttered, which was pretty much the truth.
Then more guests arrived in the bathhouse.
“Will? Is it real? Really?”
It was Markus in his everyday clothes.
His face was red. Looked like he’d been caught in the rain—his clothes were soaked.
“Since you’re here, why not join us?”
Encrid said casually, and Markus stripped down and dove into the bath.
He was more muscular than expected, with scars here and there.
Of course, not as many scars as Encrid.
“Is it real?”
Markus’s eyes shone. There was a hint of: What are you? How far can you go?
“Yes.”
Encrid nodded.
He’d said he wanted to become a knight, called it his dream, showed his resolve and will.
But could Encrid really become a knight?
Was there anyone who hadn’t wondered that?
Markus was the same.
He believed Encrid would go far, but now, hearing it had actually happened, he couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Heh.”
A hollow laugh.
“Fiancée?”
The Elf Commander barged into the bath.
“It’s just men in here. Confident, aren’t you? Care to join us?”
Krys welcomed her, but the Commander shook her head.
“If anyone but my fiancé sees me naked, I’ll have to gouge out their eyes. Are you all right with that?”
A elf-style joke made the whole bathhouse ring with laughter.
(T/N: Damn! It was a very satisfying chapter! After 200+ chapters, Encrid is finally on his way in becoming a knight!!)
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(T/N: i apologize for the super delayed chapters, baby time was so rough. baby is currently on a sleep regression phase. good news though, i should be back to our regular release rate (or even faster) by the end of this month. we’ve got everything arranged, so we’re all set. )
