Chapter 357
Thud!
Encrid blocked Andrew’s first attack.
A straightforward vertical downward slash.
Blade met blade. Beyond the steel, Encrid’s gaze met Andrew’s.
His lips were clamped shut and his eyes were wide.
‘Has he improved?’
It was still hard to tell.
His memory of Andrew’s past level was already fading.
Instead of counterattacking, Encrid pushed the blade away and took a step back.
Andrew immediately thrust his sword. Encrid lightly deflected the incoming blade and shifted his stance.
He slid his left foot forward.
Andrew didn’t notice. The diagonal slash that followed, drawn back after the thrust, was blocked by Blazeblade in Encrid’s left hand and carried away.
Recently, Encrid had been training to deflect swords using only timing and sensation.
The movement resembled Elven Swordsmanship. Naturally so, since it was a soft sword technique that borrowed Sinar’s delicacy.
It wasn’t yet fully ingrained in his body, but the gap in skill was obvious, so deflecting the blade wasn’t difficult.
Andrew’s sword met Blazeblade—thud—and the flow of power was broken and knocked downward.
“Ugh!”
Andrew cut off his breath, inhaled sharply, and used all his strength just to halt the collapsing sword.
In that opening, Encrid dug in with the big toe of his left foot, kicking off as if he were gripping the ground.
Squeak.
Using his left foot as a pivot, he glided forward. He didn’t even need a flicker of [Will].
Closing the distance, he stepped in with his right foot, shifting his center of gravity. At the same time, he thrust his palm out in a motion that flowed from ankle to waist.
It was a strike that combined a Valaf Style Martial Arts Thrust with Audin-style Gather and Burst.
He didn’t use full force. If he had, Andrew’s organs would have burst and he would have died.
He didn’t add impact through his grip or tense and release every muscle in his body.
He simply included the knack of cutting off the strike at the last moment.
Encrid’s palm touched Andrew’s stomach.
Bang!
It sounded like a leather drum being kicked in.
“Cough!”
Andrew’s body flew backward, his feet lifting off the floor.
‘Was that too strong?’
It had been a little strong. Andrew, pushed away, vomited up his stomach’s contents. Even then, it took him a long time to steady his breathing.
Still, he didn’t drop his sword.
‘He has improved.’
Encrid was watching him when—
“Andrew!”
Mack rushed over in a panic. The former nanny was now a butler.
When positions changed and circumstances shifted, behavior had to change with them.
He had become a vassal serving Andrew.
Mack’s face went pale as he clung to his side, but Andrew waved a hand.
It seemed to mean he was fine, though he kept coughing.
“Are you trying to kill him?”
Rem asked.
“That’s not what I was doing.”
“Then why is he coughing like that?”
“Looks like he choked.”
“…Is that your excuse?”
Ragna added from the side.
Why did those two sync up so well only in situations like this?
After a few more breaths, Andrew waved Mack away.
“I’m fine.”
His voice was a little hoarse, but it wasn’t enough to be seriously alarming.
For Encrid, that had been a strike on the level of a cotton mallet.
Of course, that “cotton mallet” meant the mallet Audin wrapped in cloth before beating Encrid with it.
“It’s a shame to end it like this. Don’t you think?”
Andrew took a deep breath and waited for Encrid’s answer.
From that look alone, Encrid could see he was still hiding a trump card.
He was looking forward to it.
“Alright. Let’s go a bit more.”
“Yes, let’s.”
Andrew had already crossed the line and come this far.
He shifted into a diagonal stance and stepped forward.
They exchanged several more blows, but the result was obvious: Encrid won naturally.
At one point Andrew tried to close distance and slam his shoulder into him, but Encrid responded without difficulty.
“Did you learn wrestling or martial arts?”
“Do you remember Audin?”
“The soldier who looks like a bear?”
“Yeah.”
“So Audin taught you.”
Andrew knew very well how Encrid picked things up from the soldiers around him.
Even though the technique he had honed over years was broken, he felt oddly relieved.
Frankly, there was no one around lately who could suppress him like this.
Once he’d surpassed Mack, he’d lost any sparring partner he could go all out against.
Even as a Baron, the moment he chose Krang’s side, he’d turned himself into an isolated island.
Others mixed and formed factions. He was alone.
He had been desperate to clash with royal guard members or other skilled fighters.
Recently, he had started to feel like his skills were stagnating.
In that situation, Encrid’s arrival was like rain in a drought. Joy swelled beyond simple happiness.
“Stay a few more days.”
The suggestion came out naturally.
The eyes of the five trainees from House Gardner who were watching also lit up.
Just watching this spar was something they could learn from.
In reality, they couldn’t even follow it properly, but the fact that such a skilled fighter was connected to their head of house was enough.
Even scraps from that connection might fall their way.
Encrid swept his eyes over the five hopeful faces.
To him, their current level meant they should just be swinging training swords all day.
It wasn’t the time for technique. It was the time to build a foundation.
Should he pretend not to see their expectations?
Old memories rose unbidden.
More precisely, the memory from the last time he had come to the capital.
– “You want to learn swordsmanship? That’ll be ten gold coins.”
The swordsmanship instructor had done nothing but sneer.
In the mercenary world, he was just one step below platinum, and he boasted he would have become a platinum mercenary if he’d stayed in that line of work.
His skill, while not quite matching his bragging, was still impressive.
– “Hey, I’ll teach you a technique, so bring that waitress from earlier to Ben’s house tonight.”
He was living proof that skill and character weren’t proportional.
Encrid refused. He was beaten half to death that day.
No, the man had been trying to kill him, but Encrid had barely survived.
Luck had been on his side—a few passing guards had seen and intervened.
It had been sheer fortune that they happened to patrol that alley.
In those old memories, he saw his past self in these trainees.
As Encrid, he couldn’t just turn away from people hungry to learn.
Just as Andrew’s eyes burned now, the five Gardner trainees were also brimming with eagerness.
Encrid really couldn’t ignore that.
“Sure, why not.”
“What, you’re staying? Then ask him to make something delicious. He is a noble, right?”
Dunbakel reacted as soon as she heard.
The others didn’t seem to care whether they stayed here or went back.
And so they decided to remain a few more days.
Encrid honored their wishes. So he began immediately, to repay their passion and enthusiasm just as he had resolved.
“A thousand downward strikes.”
“…Yes?”
One of the trainees—a freckled girl with pigtails—repeated his words in disbelief.
“A thousand and one.”
Andrew had already experienced Encrid. People like this weren’t crazy for no reason. He showed quick understanding.
“…We’ll do as you say. Start.”
At Andrew’s command, the trainees each picked up a sword.
As they all reflexively swung their blades in clumsy motions, Encrid opened his mouth again.
What followed was something between guidance and instruction, with a sprinkle of harassment added in.
At least, that’s how it felt to the ones on the receiving end.
“You’re swinging to cut down an enemy, right? Then what is that posture? Your stance is a mess. You’re bracing with your thighs, right?”
Thwack.
He smacked their thighs with the flat of his gladius as he spoke. The trainee he struck let out a groan.
“You’re screaming over just that?”
Encrid knew the misery of wanting to learn and not being allowed to.
He decided to stay here and do something for these people.
Step one: build their basics.
The harsher it was now, the easier their next step would be. He knew that from experience.
Lacking mindset? That could be fixed.
With hands, feet, and Rem.
“Rem?”
“I’ll help.”
Dunbakel glanced around and grabbed one of the trainees.
“Hey, is this the time to roll your eyes? Want me to pluck them out?”
She imitated what she’d learned from Rem, pretending to jab at their eyes with her long, plucked fingernails. The trainee’s face turned ghostly pale.
“Th–Captain?”
Andrew couldn’t understand how things had suddenly turned into this.
He couldn’t quite accept that this counted as goodwill.
But he couldn’t tell them to stop now.
He looked over the trainees’ faces for a moment, then gave up.
Either way, if they endured the harassment, they would grow. They would develop.
He himself had been different before and after being beaten by that barbarian Rem.
And so, Encrid temporarily settled into Andrew’s residence.
—
Wake up in the morning, use Isolation Technique, then training and sparring.
Encrid immediately resumed his daily routine.
“Ragna, your turn. I’ve decided on you.”
“Understood.”
A large training ground had been built behind the mansion—likely the reason there was no garden.
It was excellent. Encrid was pleased.
The mansion’s chef served meals, and the taste wasn’t bad.
Esther was enthralled by the wool cushion.
She turned into a panther and refused to get off it.
The one-eyed horse seemed to like it here as well.
He was acting as the leader among the horses and, at night, appeared to be circulating among the mares.
He was very much a stallion.
Encrid’s days were simple: eat, drink, relieve himself, and train.
During this time, more than one trainee considered deserting.
“Opportunities like this don’t come often.”
Andrew coaxed them, pale-faced as he trained alongside them.
That was only natural, since Encrid had been working his body over since dawn.
His words, spoken with trembling arms, carried weight. And sincerity.
The training Andrew was enduring was by no means easy.
It had all started with a single offhand comment from Encrid.
“Your body seems a bit soft. You’ve put on some flab.”
It was nonsense, but Andrew couldn’t refute it.
When they’d showered together, Encrid’s body had been a weapon.
Especially that third leg—that was practically a weapon in its own right.
“What the, this is just unfair.”
The words slipped out of Andrew’s mouth on their own.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
After that, it was nothing but training.
Two days passed like that before Rem asked,
“But is it right to just keep training after coming all the way to the capital?”
Honestly, Rem knew the answer already. Encrid was exactly the sort of bastard who’d do just that.
So why bring it up?
“Why?”
“Aren’t you going to look around the capital?”
“I was thinking of going out for armor this afternoon.”
Ragna added on.
Wasn’t it fun enough just to train and spar?
Encrid thought so, but he respected everyone’s wishes.
“Ragna, make sure you take a servant with you. Don’t stray more than five steps away from them.”
“It’s a hassle.”
“I’m saying that because if you go out now, who knows when I’ll see you again.”
“Even if the capital is complicated, I’ve already memorized the streets.”
Ragna shook his head, trying to refuse.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Is he crazy?”
“Did you smack your head somewhere?”
Jaxson, Rem, and Dunbakel spoke in that order.
“If I tell you to take them, then take them.”
Encrid was firm. Ragna had no choice but to accept.
“I’m going to go have some fun. What am I doing, coming all the way here for this.”
“Do as you like.”
Encrid planned to stay here for three or four more days, then leave.
Jaxson had gone out on the very first day, saying he had business.
Dunbakel quietly watched and then moved as well.
“I’m going to go get a sword.”
The blade of her scimitar was badly worn. It had reached the point where a whetstone could no longer fix it.
Since they were in the capital, there would be good metal and weapons.
Even if she couldn’t forge a new one, she might at least find a blade that suited her hand.
Encrid, on the other hand, doubted he’d find a better weapon than the one he already carried.
Besides, today wasn’t the only day.
It was more important to invest time in these people, whose passion and hunger mirrored his own past.
“You lot live here. You don’t need to go out, do you.”
Encrid handed the remaining trainees something akin to a death sentence.
“Aren’t you going to see the capital?”
One of them mustered the courage to ask.
“I’m not going.”
Encrid’s answer was unwavering.
‘Diligence.’
He was moving forward. Just because he was teaching them didn’t mean he was neglecting his own training.
On the contrary.
They said you learn while you teach.
‘Basics.’
He wasn’t about to forget the importance of fundamentals.
The last time he came to the capital, he’d heard it until his ears went numb.
– “Without basics, what are you going to do?”
The foundation had to be solid for anything else to follow. Encrid lived by that.
He taught the five trainees and simultaneously reviewed his own basics.
It was an unexpected stroke of luck.
Teaching and reviewing at the same time was far better than sitting alone in contemplation.
Moreover, lately, he had picked up Audin’s Gather and Burst, Ragna’s fast and heavy sword, Rem’s ability to wield any weapon, Dunbakel’s Fluid Sword Technique, and Teresa’s shield work.
There was a lot he’d learned. No time to digest it all.
But did he really have to digest everything?
His thoughts chased their own tails. Just as he was about to sink fully into them—
Ping.
Perception of Evasion activated at the sound of something slicing through the air.
He didn’t need to turn his head.
It was an arrow. He gauged its path from the sound alone and twisted his body half a step aside.
Clack.
The incoming arrow landed neatly in Encrid’s hand.
He looked up at the wall.
One crazy bastard stood there brazenly, even in broad daylight.
“Who are you?”
Encrid asked.