"The child who entered my land is crying, so there's no reason not to save them."
That was the reason for the request written in Krang's letter.
More precisely, it would be that he couldn't just ignore the wrongdoing he saw before him.
For instance, Krang has never tolerated any banditry within the kingdom's territory.
Of course, there might be those who turned to banditry because it was hard to make a living.
There might even be those who became bandits because they were oppressed by their lords.
But such cases were very rare, almost nonexistent, to be precise.
Living as a bandit in a land overrun by monsters and beasts was difficult unless one was extremely confident in their skills.
Therefore, choosing to be something other than a mercenary or bodyguard in Naurillia meant that stealing and robbing was simply more appealing.
At this point, there would no longer be any nonsense about a grand noble protecting a bandit group and having them invade another noble's territory.
Saying "I'll live by stealing and robbing as a bandit or marauder!", was the same as sincerely praying for someone to cut off your head as soon as possible because you wanted to die.
In fact, whenever Krang noticed even a hint of bandit activity, he'd mobilize the kingdom’s forces to crush them.
If that wasn't enough, he'd send out the Capital's security forces too.
As a result, it became almost impossible to find any bandit or marauder gangs terrorizing the vast kingdom lands.
All that remained were the crime guilds parasitizing the cities.
Even those, if caught involved in human trafficking, would all be executed. No excuse or bribe could save them.
And now they dared to kidnap a child and cross into Naurillia?
Could Krang possibly let that slide?
It was as if Krang was asking that question.
"Agreed."
Encrid quickly decided to follow Krang’s will. That was the initial reason for taking up this task.
In fact, that was all there was to it.
By this point, Encrid had already forgotten about the guests from the Empire and the great powers.
On top of that, Audin’s past had been layered in as well.
He had some enthusiasm from the beginning, but now it had become more proactive.
Encrid extended the thoughts he had been pondering on the way here.
Everything starts with a question.
What is required to wield a sword properly?
It was a certain level of strength. So, he trained his strength first.
After asking the question, he sought the answer and acted upon it.
It was the same now.
To solve this issue, Encrid asked a question.
‘Where should I start?’
It wasn’t the first time he had dealt with such things.
‘It’s been a while since I worked as a bounty hunter.’
Chasing a kidnapper wasn’t all that different from chasing a criminal with a bounty on their head.
In fact, once it reached the point where both were being pursued, they were almost the same.
Should you move without being seen by others?
Yes.
Should you avoid being recognized by anyone?
Yes.
Should you run away if you encounter suspicious stares or have a bad feeling?
Yes.
Should you eliminate all witnesses and then move on if things go wrong?
Yes.
Look, it’s the same, isn’t it?
So, Encrid could approach this task in a similar way.
"Then, what I'm thinking is. Hmm."
Encrid paused mid-sentence and looked at Audin and Sinar.
It was only right to gather the opinions of the group, as they might have better ideas than him.
"If you have any ideas, speak up. We don't even know the kidnapper's identity, nor do we know the appearance of the Saintess. It's the worst condition for a pursuit, but if you have thoughts, feel free to share them."
Audin responded first.
"I am waiting for the moment when the Father guides me."
He clasped his hands together, smiling and praying as he spoke.
There was no need to ponder the meaning behind his words.
He was telling Encrid to figure it out himself.
Encrid immediately accepted this.
He knew by now that Audin had experience capturing heretics, but none tracking someone across continents.
His heretic hunts had all been about finding those hiding in the corners of cities.
His primary task was to find them and ask if they were truly heretics.
In other words, Audin might be a master of interrogation, but not of tracking or hunting.
"So if there’s no revelation, we just leave it alone?"
Encrid asked once more, just to be sure. Wouldn’t it be better to confirm everything?
"We have the Caption of the brothers, don’t we?"
Audin was candid.
In a way, he was more carefree than Ragna.
After exposing his past and assuming all the weight, he was still asking Encrid to handle everything.
If he were lazy, Encrid would at least curse him, but the man prayed and trained while saying such things.
He appeared truly committed to waiting for the ‘moment’ he had spoken of.
When that time came, Audin would undoubtedly be the first to step forward.
In his determination, there was a hint of detachment from worldly concerns.
No matter how kindly he smiled, the large figure often mistaken for a bear-man still carried a heavy heart.
No one knew how this task would end.
It might conclude with nothing more than taking down a kidnapper, or perhaps Audin wouldn’t need to act at all.
But if something happened, Audin seemed willing to do whatever it took for what he believed in, regardless of what he gained or lost.
At least, that’s how it appeared.
Encrid nodded, letting it go, and turned his gaze to Sinar.
"Are you asking me?"
Her question, still devoid of any hint of a smile, was direct.
The autumn sunlight was pleasantly warm, the breeze cool, and wildflowers blooming on the ground caught the eye.
Even while gazing at those flowers, Sinar sensed Encrid's attention and spoke.
Her heightened senses allowed her to feel Encrid’s gaze without visual cues.
When it came to tracking and pursuing, Sinar was far better than Audin. Much better.
"As long as we find a trail, it won't be difficult to pursue."
Not all Fairies were swift or knew tracking, but Sinar did.
The problem was that she had never thought about the process leading up to finding the trail.
In other words, Sinar was excellent for short-term pursuits, but when it came to long-term tracking, where you had to estimate the target’s location, she wasn’t skilled.
You needed information to chase something, didn’t you?
If someone told her to start tracking from this forest, Sinar could become a swift Fairy and a master of tracking. But in this situation, she was of little use.
‘Just as I expected.’
To be honest, he hadn’t expected much from her. So, there was no disappointment.
Encrid remained calm.
The fortunate thing was that he had dealt with such tasks many times before.
Sinar, while looking at the wildflowers, spoke of their meanings, saying that these flowers had honey, while Audin commented that bees and butterflies would tirelessly seek that honey day and night.
In short, they had lost interest in the task and were now chatting idly.
The surprising part was that Audin and Sinar seemed to connect in some way.
"You don't seem to desire the honey."
Sinar remarked.
While Encrid idly watched them, still mulling over his thoughts, that line stuck in his mind like a burned-in brand.
"The honey belongs to the bees and butterflies. If a passing bear-man takes it, there will be none left."
"Bears prefer tree honey over honey from wildflowers."
There’s a type of conversation between the devout called ‘Koan’.
It’s a dialogue exchanged to explore truth, where the words might seem vague or meaningless to the uninitiated, but to those who understand, it brings enlightenment.
Encrid thought this was similar to a Koan.
Moreover, it was Sinar who started it, and she was leading it.
It was a rare sight to behold.
For someone who usually showed no interest in others’ affairs, Sinar, who could easily match Ragna in indifference, seemed to be imparting some form of teaching to Audin.
The Fairy who usually spouted jokes now appeared completely different.
As the wind blew, the holy gold field blossomed before their eyes.
Under a clear sky, it looked as if the bright orange sunset had descended to the earth.
It was a beautiful sight, filled with flowers, and they walked through it.
There were some traces where beasts or monsters had eaten away, but overall, it was a pleasant landscape.
The local townspeople called this place the field where the Holy Mother stayed.
Amidst this scene, the two appeared like a painting.
One of them, still walking briskly, spoke again.
"Yes, bears eat honey hidden between the trees."
Audin, speaking, suddenly paused and looked at the flower field. His pupils seemed to blur, yet he did not stop walking.
It seemed as though he was deep in thought while continuing to walk.
He muttered again.
"If there is someone who desires honey, give them the honey."
It was likely a verse from a holy scripture. The way he spoke made that clear.
"If someone hoards all the honey for themselves, that person is one who has been consumed by evil. Rebuke the greedy one harshly and send them to the side of God."
To be sent to God's side was synonymous with death, so it meant to kill such a person.
There’s an old saying that after serving three years as a servant in a noble’s house, you naturally learn table manners. Encrid felt the same applied to himself.
After hearing so many of Audin’s fervent prayers, he could now grasp the meaning behind them.
"But that must be done by someone worthy."
Audin spoke emotionlessly, like a doll devoid of feelings, and then fell silent.
It was unlikely that Sinar felt any particular sense of responsibility for what she had said. She wasn’t bothered by Audin's response.
She simply let it pass without dwelling on it, continuing to look at the flower field.
"Dear fiance, that flower bed looks like a bed prepared just for us."
She tossed out a Fairy-style joke.
"Go take a nap then."
Encrid casually replied, deciding to finish his own thoughts.
No matter Audin’s thoughts or feelings, there was nothing to be gained by probing into them now.
The important thing was to focus on the task at hand, and that’s what Encrid did.
He continued walking, looking at the flower field, thinking about what was needed for the pursuit.
'The most important thing is information.'
Yes, information.
Where the target was, what condition they were in, what they looked like, and so on.
The request had come, but the pursuers from the Holy Nation hadn’t provided any of that information.
That was understandable.
To be honest, it wasn’t like those people really wanted help in the first place.
So how should information be obtained?
The solution Encrid came up with was based on his own experience, but also on Krais’s opinion.
They had discussed this just before leaving after receiving the request.
“I gathered some rumors through the Gilpin Guild. Do you remember that city we went to before? The one where you told me to hold a knife to the neck of the village chief or headman or whatever? The village that wanted to name the city wall after the Captain?”
It felt like a long time ago after doing this every day, but it wasn’t an event easily forgotten.
Who could forget the cultist's knoll colony?
"Why do you ask?"
"The kidnapper seems to be heading towards that village."
The first destination for the Border Guard was set.
But Encrid still didn’t know what the kidnapper or the Saintess looked like, not even their age.
So was there no way?
No, there was.
If you didn’t know the target, you could always follow the pursuers.
This was one of the first things Encrid had learned from a senior hunter during his bounty hunting days.
"Hey, where do people like us get information and move around? With all the competition, how do we survive? Use an information guild? Cut the nonsense and instead memorize the faces of famous people. If you see one of them, just follow them closely."
It was a brilliant tracking technique.
Everyone coveted the same targets, so there were always pursuers following them.
And if the target was hiding perfectly?
Well, such people weren’t worth chasing in the first place.
"And if you’re chasing them alone, can you catch them yourself?"
What kind of skill would someone on the run with a bounty have?
Could a person who couldn’t even fight survive in a place where bandits, monsters, and beasts wandered around playing together?
No.
It was an obvious answer.
So, if there was a bounty, it was likely that the person was a formidable fighter. Almost certainly.
"What we get are the leftovers. If you want to live long, follow the hunter's rules."
That was what they taught.
Of course, Encrid had never really followed those hunter's rules, nor did he intend to, but they went like this.
Don’t risk your life on a hunt. If you can’t win alone, go with a group.
Even if you see someone bleeding profusely, throw a crossbow or throwing knife first.
The hunter's rules were full of similar advice.
The first senior hunter Encrid met had been a good person. But the ones he met later had no such rules, instead pushing him forward, saying if he caught the target, they’d give him seventy percent of the bounty.
It was obviously a lie. It was clear they intended to kill him if he got injured while stepping up first.
"Sorry, sorry, I was just in a bit of a rush."
One time, when he did get injured, they had said those words while brandishing a dagger.
Encrid decided to apply the lessons he learned from those days.
Since he didn’t know the target, he’d pursue the pursuers instead.
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.. 🤔