"What about Odin? Didn't he come first?"
Magrun asked.
It must have been a question that came from the same line of thinking as Enkrid's.
Odin was Odinkar's nickname. He was also Magrun's closest friend. His complexion grew darker.
"He went with you, so why are you asking me?"
What could one read from the family head's face or tone?
For instance, the truth or falsehood of what he had just said.
'It's impossible.'
Enkrid didn't think that man was like a Fairy who knew no lies.
He couldn't say for certain that what the family head was saying now was necessarily the truth.
But could he say it was a lie?
'No.'
He couldn't read him. That would be the honest answer. Since he couldn't read him, he naturally tried to read something hidden in the family head's words.
He couldn't read anything at all? This was the first time he had experienced such a situation.
'Why?'
He retraced what he had seen with his sixth sense and intuition through calculation. The process was extremely brief. It had become all too familiar now.
'I feel nothing at all.'
Neither worry nor doubt could be read or seen. There was no emotion in the family head's words.
"I sent you to bring Ragna, and you came back after having a good time."
"Yes, it was quite fun to watch. So Odinkar didn't come. Is there nothing wrong with the family?"
"Every day is the same. What would be different?"
Enkrid felt like he was listening to a band playing different tunes. It was dissonance.
'Nothing has happened to the family.'
But outside, sorcery had blocked the path, mages had attacked, and they had seen special individual monsters.
According to Grida, the Scalers themselves were creatures she had never seen around here before.
"The people coming and going from the villages also have no problems?"
Zaun had dealings with three villages: the Hunter's Village, the Retiree's Village, and the Broker's Village, and they constantly went back and forth to this family.
If there had been problems, something strange would have happened to them too.
"Since you keep talking about problems, something must have happened on your way here. Looking at Magrun's expression hardening at the fact that Odin didn't come, it must be something serious. If it's something that happened recently, it would be the few village elders who came up. Heskal was in charge of their escort."
The family head seemed to not even see Ragna, Enkrid, or Anne. Anne couldn't even open her mouth under the strange pressure, and Enkrid was busy observing.
'It's still hard to read anything from his tone, but.'
He could tell that the family head's insight was extraordinary. Didn't his answer change after perceiving the situation with just a few changes in complexion and questions?
And here, there was someone who didn't care about other situations and did as he pleased.
"I came to get the Sunrise."
Ragna announced the prodigal son's return.
The family head answered without surprise or confusion.
"You wouldn't not know how to take it?"
"Yes, so I came before father dies. That seems to be meaningful."
If someone who didn't know the circumstances heard this, it would seem like watching a moment when one turns away from the natural duties of being human. In other words, it was a scene of unfilial conduct.
But whether this was everyday life in Zaun, the man called the family head continued to answer nonchalantly.
"That's right. You've come well."
Was it right to say 'you've come well' here?
Even if such thoughts arose, he couldn't interfere. It seemed to be a family and clan matter.
"You crazy bastard, was that your purpose? What did you say you were coming to get?"
Grida made the normal reaction. Magrun was also surprised and muttered,
"Then where did Odin go?"
before looking at Ragna.
It seemed to be a statement worth being shocked by. Of course, Enkrid kept his mouth shut since he knew nothing. He was also busy continuing to observe the family head.
He stood in front of the gate between the fences without moving a finger.
Then at some point, he placed his hand on his waist, and Enkrid missed that brief movement.
It was because his attention was momentarily diverted elsewhere.
The family head moved his Will, tensing his muscles as if he would move his left hand, and Enkrid noticed it with his innate senses.
It was a perceptual ability that arose from his sixth sense.
"Good instincts."
The family head said and drew his sword. There was no awkwardness in any of those movements. It was like hair fluttering when the wind blows.
It was so natural that it made one just watch quietly.
There wasn't even a sound of the sword being drawn, and that sword immediately approached above Enkrid's forehead.
He might have flinched, but Enkrid didn't move.
He only reacted the moment he thought the sword had crossed a certain line he had in mind.
Ch-ring.
Tri-Iron was drawn and shot upward. Speed befitting the name Flash. At the same time, he calculated dozens of paths the family head's sword might take.
He read and grasped the movements. There were hundreds of attacks derived from that sword.
'If I calculate everything, I'll get tired first.'
The transition to Wave-Blocking Sword was also instantaneous.
The Tri-Iron that shot out like lightning split the air.
Clack.
The family head had already sheathed his sword at his waist. Enkrid also spun his extended sword around and thrust it back into its sheath.
Tiring.
Aside from the noise, there didn't seem to be much difference in their movements, but.
'I lost.'
Enkrid knew it was a defeat.
The family head hadn't extended or swung his sword to the end, but he had swung his.
'And that was what the opponent intended.'
Would it be different if they actually fought?
Fighting spirit boiled up. There are some people who get intimidated first when they meet an opponent stronger than themselves, but Enkrid had crawled and walked desperately among people superior to himself to get here.
Moreover, even after becoming a Knight, he had never been intoxicated by a sense of omnipotence. He just enjoyed, advanced, and dreamed.
So he wasn't intimidated.
"A round?"
Ragna wasn't the only one who didn't care about the situation.
Grida and Magrun, who knew what that "round" meant, just briefly thought about wanting to chase these crazy bastards away again.
But the family head actually twisted his lips to show something like a faint smile.
If you asked why it was "like" that, it was because it was a smile with no emotion felt in it.
"You brought an interesting friend, Ragna."
"He's the captain of the Knights unit I belong to."
"The Knights unit you belong to? You're not even the captain, and he's above you?"
Normally, those words should have contained surprise too, but it was still emotionally restrained speech.
'More precisely, it seems like emotions have been severed. Anyway, won't you just have a round with me?'
He was simultaneously having insolent thoughts and analyzing.
"Welcome. I don't refuse duels, but looking at your state, it doesn't seem like you're at your best right now. Shouldn't you get yourself together first?"
"This is my best condition."
Enkrid said.
"You crazy bastard. Do it later. We need to figure out where Odin went first."
Magrun said, and Enkrid had no choice but to agree. That didn't mean he thought something had happened to Odinkar Zaun.
It was simple logic.
Was it possible to detain such a Knight without any commotion?
Second, Odinkar had also passed through the path they had taken, and if there had been a battle to kill or subdue him.
'Could there be no traces left at all?'
That couldn't be. There was no spell or sorcery that could fix a broken tree to make it whole.
"Spells ultimately pursue change, but that doesn't mean they can do everything. Audin would be better at performing miracles than me."
These were things Esther had taught him during sparring.
Then how did Odinkar disappear?
There was only one method.
'He disappeared voluntarily.'
Enkrid drew a logical conclusion with minimal information.
Everyone else was just mentally overwhelmed by the fact that such a thing couldn't happen and the series of attacks followed by the suddenly peaceful situation upon arriving in Zaun, but if anyone looked at the situation objectively, they could deduce it.
"Come inside and explain the situation. It would be good if the guest came along too."
The family head said and turned his body inside. It was footsteps that made no sound to an amazing degree.
Even though his build was larger than Enkrid himself.
'Jaxen would be surprised if he saw this.'
Should it be called such quiet body movements?
Moreover, not even a jingling sound came from the sword hanging on his sword belt.
There was almost no sound of stepping on the floor, whatever was laid under his boots.
When facing him, his spirit felt like facing a mountain.
'Looking at him like this, he feels like an imperceptible mountain breeze.'
Following behind him, such thoughts naturally arose.
"The family head is strong, right?"
When he asked while walking, Grida scratched her head as if troubled and said.
"One says he came to get the Sunrise, the other suddenly says 'a round?' You're all crazy, right? And what? The family head is strong? Of course he's strong, you bastard. Even three of me would lose."
Enkrid nodded slightly.
If there were three Gridas, he would also have to fight for real. In other words, he would have to fight with the intention to kill to win.
In sparring, victory and defeat were easily decided, but that was because Grida didn't care about winning or losing.
Magrun hated losing, but if he were told to bet gold coins on a fight between that Magrun and Grida.
'I'd bet on Grida.'
Having experienced it directly, there was a difference between the two. This might be why Magrun, who had attacked Rem, survived.
If he had been truly threatening, Rem's axe would have split his head in two.
"An outsider?"
"It's been a while."
"Have you seen Heskal? He was supposed to watch my swordsmanship today and went to work again, right? How petty!"
As he turned his head occasionally, he could see the faces of those speaking.
There weren't many people in the clan village situated in a basin.
Those standing along the path were roughly within twenty.
Among them, one woman caught his eye. She was a woman wearing armor made of thick iron plates split to cover her forearms, thighs, abdomen, and chest.
'She's bigger than Teresa.'
When their eyes met, the woman tilted her head and grinned.
Humans and Giants were similar in appearance except for their size, but if you looked closely, there were subtle differences.
Giants had larger features and exuded a kind of power that couldn't be felt from humans.
Just as humans could crush ants to death with their strength at any time, Giants had the kind of power that seemed like they could crush humans to death at any time.
"Wow."
The woman said with her mouth open. Grida, feeling the gaze, raised her hand in greeting and said to Enkrid.
"Anahera, the most beautiful woman in our family, limited to her race."
While evaluating people by their appearance was distasteful, it was common sense that protruding cheekbones and jutting fangs were not the conditions of beauty.
Above all, the thickness of that neck seemed thicker than an ordinary man's thigh.
The flattened ears made her appearance shine even more.
"A Giant."
Enkrid said, retracing what Grida had said earlier and what he had observed with his own eyes.
"You're too quick to notice, so there's no fun in teasing you."
Meeting the family head, Grida seemed to have let go of some of her worries.
Well, it was a mindset that the family head would take care of things somehow.
Though it was called a clan village, the built houses each had wide courtyards without exception, and a spire that rose like a castle could be seen in the center.
It wasn't a real castle, but rather in the form of a mansion.
The family head led the party to that central castle-mansion.
While doing so, he listened to the situation from Grida and Magrun and said without thinking long.
"I think he disappeared by his own judgment."
It might be easy to know if you heard from the side, but if it was something related to oneself, it was difficult to see objectively.
But the family head easily accomplished that.
"But why would Odinkar do such a thing?"
Magrun asked, walking in step with the family head's pace.
"I don't know that either."
The family head answered simply.
"The guest seems to have already noticed, so why didn't you tell us?"
"I was going to say it when we went inside. Well, I'll say it if you ask."
The family head looked at Enkrid briefly, but Enkrid still found it difficult to read anything from those eyes.
'Just the right personality for hiding things.'
Enkrid thought so and followed behind the family head.
"Who came?"
When they reached the front of the castle, a blonde woman approached and asked. She wore an apron, but Enkrid, with his characteristic insight, noticed that the woman in front had two short swords in her skirt.
And that her skills were also extraordinary.
He could tell just from her walking steps and the trained muscles visible on her exposed forearms.
"A guest, and this one is my son."
"Since he's also my son, I wouldn't fail to recognize him, would I? You managed to come back? I thought you'd wander lost for life?"
The mother spat out a welcoming greeting toward the son she hadn't seen in a long time, shedding tears.
Of course, in reality, even passing ants didn't shed tears, and it was what the woman presumed to be Ragna's mother said with a snickering laugh.
"Finding my way is my specialty."
Ragna responded to the greeting.
"Sure it is."
The mother raised her hand as if to welcome her son.
Ching.
With a sword drawn in that hand. Moreover, since there were two swords in both hands, this might be called a double-sword welcome.