Chapter 68: Dreaming of Holding a Woman (1)

*Whoosh.*

The world spun.

*Thud!* He landed flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him.

“If I throw you harder, your ribs and insides might get hurt.”

Encrid grimaced, trying to endure the pain, as the melodic voice of the company commander rang out from above him.

“Enough?”

“One more.”

If it was possible, Encrid wanted to keep repeating this, even if it meant getting his neck sliced by the *Naidel* blade.

He knew he was no match.

Rem had taken one glance at the Elven commander and remarked, “That person’s basically a monster.”

Ragna followed up with his own evaluation.

“Best among the commanders, no doubt.”

And Audin added, “Her body is well-trained.”

Knowing he was outclassed didn’t change anything, so Encrid gripped his sword with both hands.

“Let’s go.”

The Elven commander’s demeanor remained the same—calm and emotionless as usual. The *Naidel* blade came slicing through the air.

The *Naidel*, forged by elves, moved like a flowing line, slashing through space and becoming a pinpoint thrust at the last second.

Earlier, Encrid had tried to dodge the thrust but ended up giving too much distance.

This time, he stepped back and raised his longsword to meet the blade.

He had more strength.

If he could knock the *Naidel* upward with an upward swing, it might create an opening.

His mind mapped out the flow of battle.

After countless real combat situations—many of them life or death—he had developed an instinct for predicting the flow of a fight.

He anticipated his opponent’s response and prepared accordingly.

Gifted individuals or those who had perfected their skills through actual combat would naturally do this. For Encrid, it was a weapon hard-won after dying numerous times.

*Swish.*

Just before his longsword collided with the *Naidel*, the Elven commander’s sword curved gracefully.

It lived up to its nickname, the “Leaf Blade,” bending and curving like a leaf in the wind.

The commander’s wrist performed a trick, twisting and shaking the blade. Even as Encrid watched the blade bend, he pressed harder, trying to meet it with his sword.

But the *Naidel* slipped past without clashing with his blade, leaving Encrid swinging at empty air.

It was an elegant technique that could only be described as a mastery of flexible swordsmanship.

The elf closed the distance again, stepping right into Encrid’s space. Encrid raised his knee in preparation.

*Thud.*

The commander didn’t avoid it. Instead, she pressed her hands together and pushed down on his knee.

Before he could put full force behind it, she destabilized his balance.

Knowing didn’t prevent him from being overpowered. Encrid thought bitterly.

He had anticipated the close-range attack, yet still couldn’t stop it.

In desperation, he tried a headbutt, but the commander easily dodged it, catching his forehead on her shoulder instead.

From there, the fight played out like before, only with different techniques.

The commander locked her hands together and delivered a blow to Encrid’s chest, right near his heart.

*Thwack!*

Instantly, his breath was knocked out of him again, and all the strength drained from his limbs.

If this had been a real fight to the death, he would’ve bitten his tongue and fought to the last, but this was a spar.

At this point, he had already lost.

“Hurk… huh, huh.”

Encrid stumbled back a few steps, then fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

When he finally looked up, he met the green eyes of the commander.

“More?”

She asked.

Despite his aching heart, Encrid laughed.

He was genuinely happy that his opponent didn’t stop just because she was winning.

And so, he kept charging in again and again.

Getting hit, getting knocked down—over and over.

—

“You didn’t clear the snow, so you got beaten up? Is that it?”

When Encrid returned to the quarters, Rem, wrapped in a heated hide, was the first to comment.

“Huh?”

“Why do you look like that? Who did this to you?”

His words made it sound like he was about to charge out and seek revenge, but his hands just pulled the heated hide tighter around himself.

Yeah, that hide was really warm. Encrid understood.

Today was especially cold.

“What happened?”

Ragna asked.

For some reason, even Jaxson, who was rarely in the quarters, was looking at Encrid with curiosity. His gaze seemed to ask what had happened.

Audin muttered quietly.

“Why do you keep getting beaten up, Brother?”

‘The way he says it makes me sound like I’m just a punching bag.’

He felt like a scolded child who kept getting into trouble.

Encrid thought about it briefly, then responded.

“I had a spar.”

“With who?”

“The company commander.”

“Our company commander?”

He nodded.

“Why’d you do that? If you wanted a beating, I could’ve given you one.”

That guy had a real knack for annoying comments.

Encrid chose not to answer. He had just barely finished washing himself a little while ago with superhuman willpower.

Luckily, their barracks had a bath that provided hot water as long as you had enough Krona to pay.

Without that, he might have given up on washing entirely.

His whole body ached. He didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger. But it was fine. He could rest.

A good two days of rest would be enough.

No duties, no training—plenty of time to recover.

“Due to your efforts in maintaining the city’s security, we’re giving you four days of leave. No reward money, though.”

That’s what the company commander had said after their spar, just as the sun was setting.

No duties, in other words.

She also said there would be no reward money, but Encrid considered the spar itself a reward. Besides, there was also the loot they had taken from the thieves’ guild.

‘I must’ve been knocked down at least ten times.’

He had rolled across that frozen ground countless times. His body had suffered, but he had learned something.

‘What I’m lacking right now.’

The company commander didn’t say it aloud but communicated it through her sword and her fists.

Of course, sharpening his sword skills, focusing his concentration, and honing the Heart of the Beast technique were essential. Those were basics.

But Encrid realized there was something else he needed to fill within himself.

“You’re slow. Dull.”

The commander’s final words had cut deep, but he wasn’t hurt by them.

After all, the people who had trained him before had said much worse.

“Is it even worth teaching you?”

“Just give up and go back to farming.”

“I don’t train third-rate swordsmen who are destined to die.”

The more skilled his teachers were, the harsher their words.

Though the commander had called him slow, Encrid had still gained what he wanted.

‘A lack of technique.’

Specifically, a lack of knowledge in handling his own body.

The Elven commander had repeatedly thrown him to the ground in the same way. She taught with her body, and Encrid learned with his.

He never missed an opportunity to learn, like a hawk going after prey.

‘What I need now…’

Wrestling, grappling, hand-to-hand combat—combat skills involving the whole body.

Just because you wield a sword doesn’t mean you only fight with it.

Using hands, feet, and your body was also part of combat.

Encrid had employed such tactics in the past as well.

‘But it was clear I never properly learned them.’

The commander’s skills were exceptional. Her ability to knock him off balance, grab his knee, and bring him down in an instant was unmatched.

What if he tried to stab her with a dagger?

No, before he could even draw the dagger, she’d break his knee joint and slip away.

‘Not easy.’

The difference was in technique. While experience mattered, the real gap lay in what she had been taught and mastered.

‘Still, it was fun.’

His entire body ached, and it felt like he was on the verge of being bedridden, but he had learned something.

Moreover, that learning opened a new path for him, which made Encrid feel happy.

As he prepared to lie down on his bed, the panther peeked out from under the covers, staring at him with its blue eyes.

‘I did promise to give it a name.’

It wouldn’t be right not to have a proper name for it.

As Encrid climbed into bed, the panther nestled against him, radiating warmth.

That warmth seemed to soothe his aching body a bit.

“Should I name you ‘Stove’ since you’re so warm?”

“Is that really a name?”

Rem chimed in from the side. This guy couldn’t leave anything alone, could he?

“Does it sound weird?”

“You’re calling that a name?”

From the other side of the room, Ragna answered, lying in his bed. Too lazy to get up, yet his mouth was still working.

“Do you hate panthers, Brother?”

Even Audin joined in.

“Do you dislike it?”

Encrid asked the panther, and the beast swatted his cheek with its paw.

“Looks like it really does hate it.”

Encrid muttered to himself, holding the panther close as he pondered again.

What should he name it?

He hadn’t expected to be troubled by something like this.

Blackie?

No, that sounds like a dog’s name.

Its eyes were blue like a lake. Should he call it Blue Eyes?

That sounded like a good name.

The panther, resting in his arms and tapping his chest with its paw, seemed to disagree, as if it could read his thoughts.

You don’t like Blue Eyes either? Then what should I call you?

Maybe “Black Panther”? That would be simple.

*Thump.*

The panther pressed its paw firmly into his chest. The way it kept rubbing against him made it clear it wasn’t happy with that either.

‘Wait, can you actually read my mind?’

The night before, when they were out on a mission, Encrid had spent the night with the comrades of the men he had killed.

Given the circumstances, it was strange that Rem, snoring away, and Ragna, sleeping like the dead, were so relaxed.

Some tension was necessary.

That’s why he hadn’t slept deeply at the thieves’ hideout, only managing to doze off lightly.

Then, right after reporting back, he’d gone straight into a spar.

A spar that had him rolling on the frozen ground multiple times, exhausting his body.

That’s why he was so weary now. After washing with hot water, bundling himself up in heated hides and blankets, he felt the warmth seep into his bones.

The panther’s warmth helped too.

The rhythmic tapping of its paws against his chest lulled him into a deeper drowsiness.

Encrid was half-asleep.

‘What’s your name?’

In that state, somewhere between dream and reality, he asked the question.

And then, he dreamed.

In the dream, a beautiful woman with silver-blonde hair and blue eyes appeared.

Her wide-open eyes were large and vivid, and her high nose hinted at her strong personality.

An arrogant beauty, he thought, who was upright and unyielding.

In the middle of a field filled with white, red, yellow, and blue flowers in full bloom, she stood like a shining star.

A star that gave light to all the flowers.

“You’re quite beautiful.”

Encrid spoke. His voice seemed to travel across the field and reach her, as dreams sometimes allow.

And then.

“My name is Esther.”

She responded.

Her voice, too, traveled across space and time to reach Encrid.

Then, both the field and the woman faded away. Still half-asleep, Encrid mumbled in his sleep.

“Esther. Let’s call you Esther.”

“…Dreaming?”

Rem replied from the side, but Encrid, already fast asleep, didn’t answer.

Rem glanced at the sleeping squad leader and tilted his head in confusion.

As exhausted as Encrid was, it wasn’t like him to fall asleep so quickly, as if he had passed out from fatigue.

“Must’ve really worn him out.”

Rem muttered. It seemed like the commander had pushed him to the limit.

He didn’t like it.

The Elven company commander was an inscrutable type, someone whose true motives were hard to grasp.

And why had she put his squad leader through such an ordeal without permission?

From whom?

*Purr.*

In response to the name “Esther,” the panther let out a contented sound from Encrid’s embrace.

“Alright, fine. Esther it is.”

Rem joked and then closed his eyes as well.

He was content with the warmth.

He hated the cold. Absolutely despised it.

They said they wouldn’t have duty for three days?

Rem decided he wouldn’t leave his heated hide except for meals and the bathroom during that time.

—

The lake panther, Esther, caught a familiar scent from the man named Encrid.

A scent of magic, mystery, and a hint of curses.

Though, upon closer inspection, it was more akin to a curse than anything else.

‘But it only lingers on the surface.’

The mystical power, which might have been called a curse, hovered around Encrid without taking hold, leaving only traces.

From her experience, it seemed like a trap spell someone had set had activated.

But it had failed to take effect.

She had a guess as to why the curse had remained on the surface without doing any real harm.

Of course, it was only a guess. In her current state, there was nothing she could confirm.

As much as she wanted to investigate further, she couldn’t.

More accurately, it wasn’t something she needed to investigate at this point.

Savoring the scent of the lingering spell around Encrid, Esther absorbed the residual energy that had failed to affect him.

What remained was pure energy, or mana, as the curse’s malevolent intent had already dissipated.

Esther savored it.

It was a delightful aroma. She hadn’t tasted anything from the world of magic in such a long time.

And as she did, she projected herself into the dream of the man who had so carelessly tried to name her.

“My name is Esther.”

She made sure to tell him her real name. There was no way she could leave such a thing unchecked.

In the world of magic, names held special meaning.

Especially now, in her weakened state.

If she had accepted a new name in her current form, the curse would have deepened.

That’s why she had to reveal her true name.

That was the reason she had gone through the trouble of appearing in his dream.

Perhaps because of the lingering mana in Encrid’s body and the fact that she had projected herself into his dream, Esther briefly returned to her true form.

She found herself naked in the arms of the man she had chosen.

“Mmm.”

The man held her tightly. Never before had Esther allowed herself to be embraced by another being, so her face turned bright red in embarrassment.

Not that anyone saw it.

His firm chest muscles were right in front of her.

Esther barely breathed, not daring to move a muscle. This was no time to cause a scene.

Her true form had only returned for a fleeting moment.

His eyelids fluttered open slightly, heavy with sleep. His gaze wasn’t clear, but in that instant, their eyes met, and Esther was so startled she forgot to breathe.

“Huh?”

The man looked at her with a sleepy, confused expression. He blinked slowly, then closed his eyes again.

In that short moment, Esther had transformed back into her panther form. The magic had worked.

The man blinked again and fell back into his sleep.

“Esther… Esther.”

He murmured her name in his sleep.

He won’t remember, right?

Esther was relieved that she had returned to her panther form. After all, being naked in the arms of a man, even though it wasn’t technically their first encounter, was something she couldn’t bear to imagine.

And yet, Esther regretted her thoughts.

‘Thank goodness for the curse.’

She certainly hadn’t meant to think that.

But this was the first time she had ever been held in a man’s arms.

The panther, wanting to push the man away, hesitated for a moment.

Instead, she stayed still.

The lingering mana on the man’s body continued to entice her.

She convinced herself it was just because of the mana and snuggled back into his embrace.

Just as Encrid felt the warmth of the panther, Esther also felt the warmth of the man.

Having regained enough strength to momentarily return to her true form, she would now be able to function in her panther form as well.

It would take time for her to fully recover her original appearance, but…

‘Soon.’

It was only a matter of time.

As long as she remained by this man’s side, it would happen. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have sought him out in the first place.

‘He does have a nice face.’

Even Esther had to admit that Encrid was a rare specimen of male beauty.

Though she didn’t consider that important.