Chapter 436
Rem watched Encrid struggle desperately, but he did not particularly step in.
He also rarely joined the sword-related conversations that came up during sparring.
“If it hurts, rest.”
He never involved himself enough for Encrid to hear something like that from him.
“Mind your own business.”
Even when faced with that, Rem only drew the line just enough not to seem offended.
After Ruagarne stepped in, he no longer put much effort into sparring with Encrid the way he used to.
With Encrid, he only crossed blades from time to time.
“Want to fight? Come on.”
Only then would he teach.
It was still instruction where action came before words.
In Rem’s eyes, Encrid was still much the same. He grew at a frustratingly slow pace. But at least he was no longer regressing.
He was moving forward.
Rem stopped there. He limited himself to watching.
Even without him, there were plenty of guys who could stay by Encrid’s side.
He had no need to force his way in just to spar.
He only helped to the extent of working a few breathing methods into Encrid’s body.
And even that, once Encrid had settled down to a certain extent, he withdrew his hand.
So lately, all Rem did was swing his axe alone and occasionally torment Dunbakel.
Or head to the Pen-Hanil Mountains whenever his body felt sluggish, as if going out for a stroll.
Though a single stroll from him was enough to soak the soil of the Pen-Hanil Mountains with the blood of the Fiends living there.
It was on one such stroll.
“Since you’re going anyway, take care of the Human-Faced Hound pack too.”
Krys approached the sluggishly walking Rem and spoke. He wore a feathered hat from who knew where. It was the kind of hat that would look ridiculous on anyone else, but it suited Krys perfectly.
“Got it.”
Rem gave a rough nod.
Watching Rem’s back as he walked away, Krys asked his adjutant and lover, Nurat, who had just come up to stand beside him.
“Did something happen lately? Why is he so quiet? It’s unsettling. Very unsettling.”
“Isn’t quiet a good thing?”
His dark-skinned lover tilted her head. Wasn’t it worse when Rem was noisy?
“Hey, I’m bored. Let’s fight.”
He would constantly harass soldiers or commanders from neighboring units.
“Is that what you call swordsmanship? Come here. I’ll teach you from the beginning, step by step. It’s an honor, right? I am the immortal Rem. Now, shout ‘immortal’ on the first swing and ‘Lord Rem’ on the second. Hahahaha!”
He also cranked up the intensity of training to a ridiculous level.
“Is this cooking? The chicken’s so undercooked it might start laying eggs any second. Come out. I’ll show you what cooking is.”
He even boiled a Western-style hodgepodge stew and used it to torment the soldiers’ taste buds.
According to Encrid, Rem normally made food that was pretty decent, so that was just him being spiteful.
Of course, Encrid still ate it well.
“It’s highly nutritious. Health food.”
Along with those words.
Ragna overturned the pot the moment he smelled it.
Audin said, “Is this also a trial?” then prayed, took a few spoonfuls, and kept his mouth shut after that.
Jaxson would simply slip outside on days Rem pulled that kind of stunt, and Krys did the same.
Having watched all of that from the side, Nurat naturally thought this.
At least this is better than before, isn’t it?
Her saying that quiet was a good thing was not without reason. Recalling everything Rem had done, she asked that question.
Krys let out a short hum and said,
“That may be true, but just watching him makes me think the next incident’s going to be a little too big, you know?”
Even though Human-Faced Hound packs had been increasing lately, they were no problem for Rem. They were no threat.
Regardless of Krys’s concerns, Rem simply carried out the task.
Even while he was lost in thought, balancing the handle of the axe on his forehead as a trick.
It was the same when the Human-Faced Hounds in the Pen-Hanil Mountains formed a Colony and attacked.
“Kraaa.”
With an irritating metallic shriek, the Human-Faced Hound that had become the Colony leader spewed fire from its mouth.
As if it had swallowed a flint by mistake.
Rem read the direction of the flames and dodged. It was not difficult.
This was merely a Fiend without the eyes to measure its opponent.
‘I miss the West.’
Among the Fiends and beasts there, many used cunning as a weapon.
These things were merely good enough for warming up.
With that thought, Rem measured the Human-Faced Hound’s flank and swung his axe.
The falling axe cut the Fiend’s neck clean through.
The blade, forged from steel from Lewith Mountain, split hide, muscle, and bone.
Squelch!
Black blood splashed everywhere, and the severed head rolled down the slope.
“Kraaa!”
He swung his axe a few more times at the remaining Human-Faced Hounds charging in and killed them.
It was not difficult.
Rem turned the axe in his hand a few times for no reason, then returned to the barracks.
By coincidence, Encrid had received a letter titled Request and was deciding who to take with him.
“Let’s go together.”
By coincidence, the destination of the request was near the West.
He had already decided to go, but his heart had not been fully settled on leaving so suddenly. Now it was certain.
If things kept going like this, he would just keep getting pushed around by that bastard Ragna.
‘I can’t stand that.’
===
Krang sat in the conference hall, lost in thought as he watched the ministers clamor about saving Krong.
‘Was it something that happened once every few years?’
He had heard it from Markus, and Krang had seen it for himself.
The Demonic Borderlands were dangerous in many ways, and there was always a shortage of manpower.
It was a place starved for talent and people, and dangerous on top of that.
Who would want to go there?
‘In a way, it’s like a cracked jar that only devours money.’
If it were just an ordinary jar, that would at least be one thing. But this was a magic jar that spewed poison if you did not keep pouring water into it.
If left alone, they would lose part of the land to the surging Fiends and Magical Beasts.
That was also why they could not pull out the Knight trump card during the civil war.
‘Southern Liechtenstein is a problem too.’
So it was not only the Demonic Borderlands that lacked people. Other areas were in the same situation.
Naurilia’s circumstances were worse than Krang had expected.
If things went badly, they had to worry about being devoured by the South or facing a demonic invasion, and since Azpen had not fully lowered its tail, it remained a nuisance.
“So?”
For some reason, Encrid’s question seemed to echo in his ears.
‘Right. So what?’
The throne was already occupied. Krang had to do what he had to do.
Oara, the Knight guarding the Demonic Borderlands, had sent the usual request.
Send people who can fight because we’re short on hands.
“‘If possible, send five hundred troops. If not, then at least three or four combatants at the level of a Junior Knight, along with trained Ranger units.’ It is a difficult request to grant. Consider the current situation in the capital. Both are unreasonable. Sending ten soldiers attached to Lady Aisia should be enough.”
Encouraged by the Border Guards’ public security policy, they had begun paving the surrounding roads and were lining them with outposts. It was simple work, but labor-intensive.
While doing that, they also had to suppress the surrounding Fiends and Magical Beasts and keep the bastard bandits, who kept popping up like fresh bread from nowhere, in check.
There was no room to spare troops.
And was that all?
Although he had gained the support of the masses, idiots with ulterior motives were beginning to show themselves.
Is it right for a bastard to hold that position? That was the level of it.
Of course, half of them were those who had suffered losses at the hands of foreign dukes.
All the actual nobles and officials, however, were on Krang’s side.
Krang set aside his tangled thoughts.
He forced his mind back to the urgent matters before him, the things that had to be done right away.
If he did not take large strides, he would die before he managed even a few steps.
‘Is my dream bigger, or is yours?’
It was something he wanted to ask Encrid.
Krang looked out through the stained-glass window. Dark clouds made the sky gloomy.
“Or there is this method.”
It was Marquis Vaisar.
“What?”
Krang turned his gaze from the window to the marquis.
“The Border Guards have combatants stronger than Junior Knights, do they not?”
“Would he go just because he was told to?”
“If it is the King’s order, should he not naturally go?”
“But that is the Demon Slayer, is it not?”
“Are you saying he would defy the King’s command?”
At the marquis’s words, the nobles hurried to add their own remarks.
“Naurilia has a system for hiring soldiers as mercenaries, Your Majesty.”
Markus chimed in.
“Make it a request and offer compensation.”
The marquis continued.
“The royal treasury is empty.”
The moment the marquis finished, Krang spoke.
The words of the three came one after another like lines in a play.
“Even if we secure trade rights and earn Krong, it is still difficult to produce food independently when even fine breeding stock and crop seeds are precious. Even if things seem to run smoothly on the surface, there are shortages everywhere.”
The marquis spoke again.
“Coincidentally, there are people here with deep expertise in that area…”
Markus took over, and the marquis added a few more words.
Watching them, Krang thought they really did resemble each other.
Did their coordination not fit together perfectly?
Of course, he himself fit perfectly into that coordination as well.
One of the Southern nobles, whose family had bred fine stallions for generations, listened to the conversation and tried to go along with it, but something felt strange.
‘We’re the ones paying all the compensation?’
It was right for nobles to work for the country, but the recognition of noble private property was a longstanding legal principle.
In the end, he agreed to provide breeding stock, while other nobles agreed to share irrigation management techniques for farmland.
No one had forced them.
Somehow, as they kept talking, it had simply turned out that way.
“Then we should send the request letter, Marquis Vaisar?”
“Yes. I will send it.”
With that, the meeting ended.
Since the support request from the Demonic Borderlands came from a lack of hands rather than actual danger, Krang thought it would not be a bad thing for Encrid either.
‘Wouldn’t he want to meet a Knight?’
He knew Encrid had already met Anu, the Mercenary King of the East, but a Knight from the royal guard would be different.
Krang did not know that Encrid was already closely associated with Ragna and Sinar.