"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"I'm curious now."
Encrid still didn't know the old man's identity. But he seemed to understand why he was here.
It was something felt in the realm of instinct and senses.
The old man was assessing him. So, he let it be. There was nothing to hide, nothing to conceal.
There was nothing to be gained from hiding or concealing anything.
Everyone knew it.
Krais, Jaxon, and Rem too.
So, Encrid let things be as he always did.
The old man didn't reek of blood, nor did he seem prepared to kill anyone, so why chase him away?
The old man might become an enemy. It wasn’t a prophecy or foresight. It was just a feeling.
But why not chase him away anyway?
If the other sees you, you can see them too.
Luagarne had taught him that.
By watching, he felt something. That old man had something in his heart too.
It was probably similar to what he himself had.
And probably similar to Krang’s as well.
A great and difficult goal, something people often called a dream.
Cynics might call it delusion, but if one is in the process of achieving it, it can’t be dismissed as delusion.
"In my younger days, I wanted to change the world."
The old man spoke first, but it sounded like a lie.
He was truthful about wanting to change the world, but the part about ‘in my younger days’ was not.
Talking as if it was only in the past was the lie.
He still wanted to do so now.
Encrid could sense the clear determination, not the faint will of before.
Something seemed to be pushing away the moonlight behind the old man.
He stood there, in the night under the watchful moon and stars, asserting his Will. Knowing it was genuine, Encrid stopped in his tracks too.
"Can you answer what you're trying to do?"
If the promise was to protect whatever was behind him, no matter the foe.
The dream of becoming a Knight and achieving it was something else entirely.
There was nothing to hide, so Encrid ignored the old man’s lies and replied.
"I'm going to erase war from the continent."
Encrid said it as casually as ever.
It wasn’t a speech, nor a declaration. It was just something he was going to do, something he believed in.
He didn’t even raise his willpower to emphasize his words, nor did he react to the old man’s sincerity.
His tone was calm, his attitude nonchalant, and what was in his heart the same.
Encrid spoke plainly and simply.
His words sounded no different from saying he would have bread and soup for breakfast tomorrow.
It seemed so natural.
"I’ve heard that one before."
It wasn’t time for everyone to sleep yet.
Even though it wasn’t particularly cold, Rem, already draped in a heated leather like a cloak, opened the door and stepped out.
The old man ignored Rem’s words. He also ignored Jaxon, who was showing subtle killing intent.
Instead, he raised his cataract-clouded eyes and continued speaking to Encrid.
"Do you really think it’s possible? Do you really believe it can be done?"
The old man questioned, and Encrid stared at him.
He was curious about the old man’s identity, but he didn’t ask. Not that he would have gotten an answer.
The old man had many secrets, but there was much to learn from observing him.
The old man’s skill in wielding willpower was incredibly refined.
Encrid had spent days observing and sparring with him, learning his techniques.
When asked, the old man was also quite willing to answer.
From this perspective, it didn’t matter to Encrid who the old man was or where he came from.
He had learned much, from the method of willpower utilization through resonance alignment, to various other techniques.
Meanwhile, the old man had been observing Encrid, growing more curious, perhaps wanting to say more.
Or maybe, he had things he wanted to share.
"You must not lose to any named monster or beast labeled as a disaster. You must be stronger than the unnamed creatures lurking within the Demon Realm."
"Can you really do that? Truly?"
Once again, Encrid just stared at the old man without responding. The old man, as if in a fervor, continued his speech.
"You must be cautious yet bold, possessing intelligence while mastering strength. You must become a hero, perfect in every way. A person that could only exist in a storybook. Could such a person even exist?"
Could there be such a person?
Encrid didn’t know. But he could give an answer. Such a person wasn’t necessary.
"I will do it."
His tone remained calm as ever.
"And…, why do you think that?"
The old man tilted his head slightly, his cataract-clouded eyes reflecting the light of a distant lighthouse in a reddish glow.
The old man asked for a reason, and the reason was simple.
He had never met anyone else who said they would.
"I'm the only one willing to."
Encrid replied.
A grand and foolish dream.
That’s what the old man thought, but he also realized he couldn’t dismiss what this man, Encrid, was saying.
He had observed him for days and knew. This man wouldn’t stop. To break his will, one would have to kill him.
It wasn’t that he was showing any killing intent. Though, for a moment, he had considered the idea, that thought quickly faded.
This man, Encrid, was ultimately like him. The direction was different, but the result was the same.
It amused him, and the old man chuckled quietly before speaking again.
"I was curious. I heard you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble. So, I wanted to speak to you directly."
"Did you have fun?"
Rem interrupted with a question.
"Ah, you kept me company the whole time."
The old man skillfully responded to Rem this time.
"You give off a weird smell, old man."
Rem, with an axe slung over his shoulder, spoke as if ready to split the old man's head at any moment should he try anything funny.
If Jaxon had sensed something wrong through his keen senses, Rem had sniffed out the old man’s foul stench through instinct.
Ragna, Luagarne, Sinar, and even Audin were similar.
But the reason they had left him alone was because of Encrid.
He hadn’t intervened, the old man hadn’t harmed him, and on top of that, he had been teaching him.
"That one over there is always watching me. Amusing friends indeed."
The ‘one over there’ was obviously Jaxon. Jaxon continued to stare intently, whether the old man called him or not.
The old man spoke and then turned on his heels. It was the stride of someone leaving.
"We’ll meet again."
The old man said as he walked away. Jaxon briefly thought about doing something but didn’t act.
"Let him be."
Encrid intuitively knew. The old man hadn’t shown everything he had.
Yet there was still much to learn.
Where was his allegiance? Who knew?
But he wouldn’t be an ally. That much, Encrid’s instinct told him.
* * *
"I need to erase the sorrows of the world. That is my dream."
In his younger days, the old man had shouted those words, and he had done many things to achieve that goal.
And that work was still ongoing.
"How amusing. Truly amusing."
Life rewards the long-lived.
The old man, one of the apostles of the Sacred Cult of the Demon Realm, thought as much.
Having lived for so long, now only waiting for death, to find such amusement and joy.
The will of that friend, Encrid, was something to behold.
And seeing how Jaxon reacted to his techniques, it showed he was no less of a technician than himself.
The old man walked away from the Border Guard. After a long night, he walked towards the light of dawn.
Not everyone in the Sacred Cult of the Demon Realm shared the same mind.
The old man fundamentally walked a different path from the Cult’s direction.
But just because the process differed didn’t mean the destination would be different.
That was the difference between the Cult and the old man.
And that difference was the value of life the old man pursued.
‘Dreams belong to the dreamers.’
It felt as though the words he had shouted in his youth were echoing back to him.
Clack!
Resonance alignment unfolded as the old man walked through the night. Only darkness lay ahead of him, so it didn’t matter whether it was day or night.
Then, far ahead, he saw a merchant’s cart. A very diligent merchant group.
As he walked, more people began to appear around him. The old man rubbed his cataract-clouded eyes with his hand.
White powder-like dust flaked off.
At the point where the merchant group and the old man crossed paths, the old man’s figure disappeared.
Whether he ascended to the sky or sunk into the earth, he vanished in an instant.
* * *
"Lost him."
There were a few people in Geor's Dagger who specialized in tracking.
Two of the guild members, acting on Jaxon’s orders, shook their heads.
There was no trace to follow, nothing in sight.
The old man had simply vanished.
* * *
Frrrrrt.
"Why are you drinking this?"
Encrid asked with a tone of bewilderment. The odd-eyed creature just shook its head with a ‘frrrrrt’.
It had been a while since the old man left, and now Encrid was playing with the Odd-Eye.
But out of nowhere, it suddenly pounced on him.
Encrid had thought it was a playful tussle, but then the creature pulled out a glass bottle of sacred spring water and crushed it, drinking the contents.
"...Don’t swallow the glass shards."
Encrid didn’t feel bad about it. After all, he didn’t even know what the spring water was good for.
But he wondered how Odd-Eye had known to drink it.
‘Nothing significant.’
Though it was an absurd situation, Encrid didn’t think much of it.
As he patted the creature’s back after a long while, he felt its spine protruding slightly.
He worried it might be sick, but seeing it run faster and stronger than usual after drinking the spring water, it didn’t seem like there was a problem.
In fact, it seemed to be running better than ever.
As if its feet barely touched the ground, it ran so fast it looked like it was slightly floating.
"Neeeiiigh!"
Odd-Eye, as if its goal had been the sacred spring water all along, crushed the bottle, sucked up the water, and left behind only the glass shards before continuing on its way.
"It didn’t come here just for a drink."
Well, that was all there was to it.
After the usual training, meeting Odd-Eye, and returning to his quarters, Encrid found a letter waiting for him. It was left by the old man.
-I am an apostle.
The letter contained the old man’s confession, along with a blatant proposition that he was a member of the Sacred Cult of the Demon Realm.
-Perhaps you would join me? Seeing you reminds me of my younger days. Especially your face. That’s why I’m saying this, I don’t want to make an enemy of you. So, join the Sacred Cult of the Demon Realm.
"What a load of nonsense, written so sincerely."
Rem, glancing over at the letter, commented.
"A cult?"
Luagarne showed brief anger.
Jaxon muttered that they should have killed him.
Encrid didn’t think much of it.
He hadn’t known the old man was part of a cult, nor did he expect to receive such a proposition from one.
But this was just the beginning.
As his reputation grew and as evidence of what Encrid had accomplished became clearer, more and more visitors arrived.
"I'm Bianca Conti. You may address me as Countess."
An envoy from the Empire arrived.
And the next day, another visitor arrived discreetly, holding a letter.
"I was sent to deliver a message and this letter."
The man had sharp eyes and an intelligent look.
It was unclear whether he was of noble birth, but his attire was luxurious, and his manner of speech refined.
He brought a letter and message from the King of the Southern Great Nation.
The man was from the South. And his purpose didn’t seem all that different from the Imperial envoy’s.
Additionally, an invitation arrived from a trade city.
They had apparently set up a festival to celebrate the fall season, inviting Encrid to come before winter arrived.
It seemed they were trying to emulate the ‘Day of the Border Guard’ that Krais had established.
And as for Encrid…
"A request?"
Officially, the Border Guard was under the Kingdom’s direct command, and so were its forces, but in reality, it was essentially under Encrid’s control.
The Mad Knights even more so.
Krais didn’t exert any direct control over them.
Instead of giving them orders, he left them to their own devices.
He only used the mercenary system for tasks that required them.
And this time was no different. Krais made a request.
"A saintess?"
Encrid, hearing Krais’s words, asked again.
It was a matter that was causing a stir across the continent. A saintess had been kidnapped, and they were asking for her rescue.
The Holy State had officially requested Naurillia to intervene, as the kidnapped saintess and the culprit had supposedly entered Naurillia.
There were all sorts of political angles mixed in, and by all accounts, it wasn’t something Encrid needed to get involved in.
At least, that’s how Krais saw it. But for some reason, Krais specifically requested the Border Guard’s involvement.
"I’ll go."
When Encrid volunteered, Audin followed suit.
"Let me accompany you, brother."
Whether it was curiosity about the saintess or something else, Encrid didn’t stop Audin.
"Don’t go getting beat up without me around."
Rem was busy with his unit’s training, but it was clear he just found it amusing and wanted to skip out.
Next, Ragna stepped forward, but there was no way he could take him along.
"Do you need a guide?"
"Rest."
One calm refusal.
"If you leave me behind this time, I’ll cut something off."
Sinar joked as she tried to join in. No one asked what she would cut off.
So, while the Empire’s and the southern nation’s envoys were causing a ruckus, Encrid made his escape.
"Seriously? He’s just leaving? Hey, Enki, you bastard! You should deal with those two before you go!"
Krais grumbled, but it was too late to complain to someone who had already left.
It wasn’t good news for the imperial and southern visitors.
But what did it matter?
That was Encrid’s thought.
"Well-handled."
Hearing the situation, Sinar sided with Encrid.
Thanks for the Chapter Bro!!! :DD
Thanks for the Chapter.
Is it updated regularly? Also what is release schedule
Creo que he leído el manhwa, talvez lo esté confundiendo.. 🤔