The sky looked ready to pour down at any moment, but the rain had stopped again. It felt like a giant larger than a city was holding water in its mouth with puffed cheeks while looking down at the ground.
After seeing similar weather conditions for several days, he thought it would be better if it just rained heavily.
Enkrid struck flint and lit the lamp.
Click click—the sound came twice, and immediately the flame caught on the wick inside the lamp, illuminating the small room.
There was no fireplace or anything like that, just a table beside the bed and a wardrobe to store clothes and other belongings. It was a simple room.
"Haven't seen you for a few days."
Enkrid said as he sat down on the bed. Tri-Iron still leaned diagonally against the corner.
Grida lifted her oiled cloak and took it off. Though the rain wasn't heavy yet, even drizzle would soak through to undergarments if you stayed in it long enough.
As she removed her cloak, water droplets fell with a patter. The moisture mixed with dust was no different from muddy water.
"Looks like you've been wandering around quite a bit."
Enkrid said. He could tell just from Grida's appearance and demeanor.
"Yeah, something felt off."
Grida spoke while standing upright. She seemed to think for a moment about where to begin, then said suddenly.
"You know the saying that an excellent guide is a good hunter?"
It was something guides understood among themselves. Not exactly slang, but if someone was outstanding as a guide, they inevitably had to be excellent at tracking objects too.
It was obvious when you thought about it.
Guides weren't simply people who walked paths.
However, they could be good hunters but not excellent hunters.
This was close to wordplay, but it was well understood in this line of work.
Breaking it down, Grida's words had two meanings.
Among guides, there were bad guides, good guides, and excellent guides, and if hunters were classified the same way, she was saying that while she was outstanding as a guide and could become a hunter, as a hunter she wouldn't reach the level of a guide.
The premise was that "excellent" ranked above "good."
It was a remark made knowing that Enkrid had experience as a guide.
Brief, but it contained all the core of what she wanted to say.
What this meant was that while surveying the area as a guide, she had discovered something like a hunter would.
Additionally, it implied that she had lost track of those traces.
"What did you find? If it's monster traces, there should be plenty around here."
They'd said that beyond here was Empire territory, with the Fen-Hanil mountain range below and three villages positioned around them. This was a region where it would be strange if there were no monsters.
'It's not like they have the manpower to conduct large-scale monster extermination operations like the Border Guard.'
While they would fight monsters instead of actual combat, the truth was they lacked the hands to completely wipe out all surrounding monsters.
A Knight could kill a thousand men while controlling their stamina, but they couldn't replace a thousand soldiers.
'Against monsters, even killing a thousand wouldn't suffice.'
Monsters didn't attack in groups, and killing a thousand in a day was only possible on a battlefield.
Moreover, the people here didn't seem to have such intentions anyway.
While he was thinking.
"It's not just any monsters. What I saw were traces of large-scale movement."
"A colony?"
"Shit, yes. It would be a colony too. I did see several four-legged crawling lizards."
Lizards—the magical beasts that had attacked alongside Scalers.
Due to differences in size and strength, in terms of pure combat power, they might be more threatening than Scalers.
Grida, having found some composure, caught her breath and kicked away the cloak she'd removed before speaking.
"But that's fine. Colonies are routine here."
Routine—yes, that was routine for them.
These people competed with each other, taught, pulled each other up, and learned to improve their skills, maintaining their drive for betterment through atmosphere.
'Their geographical location also forces them to improve their martial prowess.'
Monsters constantly passed through where Zaun was located, and skilled outsiders frequently came to test their abilities.
Though not secret, this was part of the reason why Zaun was strong despite not being visible from the outside.
'The threat from surrounding monsters helps their swordsmanship.'
If what Enkrid was doing now was purely refining his technical system, Zaun did everything necessary to nurture "Knights."
It wasn't a matter of which was right or wrong.
Each could do as they wished.
"Have you heard of named monsters besides the Demon King in the Demon Realm?"
Grida asked. She sat on the edge of the small table, her well-developed glutes making her bottom firm as she perched there.
"Special individuals?"
"When those special individuals survive for a long time, they become known monsters with names."
Grida, who had traveled from the Demon Realm border to the south, knew well the danger of such monsters.
Creatures with martial prowess beyond normal standards were called "named monsters."
They were sometimes called "Named" for short.
It was the same principle as skilled individuals getting names when they became known. Because monsters fought so well and survived so long, people started calling them by names.
The Demon Realm was called the graveyard of Knights.
Some of the monsters existing within the Demon Realm were called Knight hunters. Such monsters existed in the world.
If humans could transcend their limits, then monsters had such individuals too.
"It started as a small snake, but I discovered traces of a monster that gradually evolved as horns grew on its head and it began using spells."
It was a story he'd heard many times before.
A monster with a human face and snake lower body.
"Lamia?"
That was the name of a monster evolved from snake magical beasts. Things with snake lower bodies and humanoid upper bodies.
Did they cast charm spells?
Though sexless, their appearance was similar to female forms, and they were monsters that tried to seduce human males with their looks.
And there were higher-level individuals in the Demon Realm too. Grida shook her head and said.
"No, Medusa."
A monster that wore dozens of snakes instead of hair and cursed anyone who looked at it with petrification.
Her eyes reflecting the lamp light as she spoke weren't frightened.
Whistle.
Enkrid whistled too.
Someone who reacted like this upon discovering the existence of a monster would be rare.
Grida wasn't surprised by Enkrid's reaction either. It would be a similar reaction within Zaun too.
A special monster appeared?
They'd immediately say let's go catch it.
The problem was that she had ultimately lost track of their traces while following them.
"There were clear traces of sorcery."
That interference had been sorcery.
The same sorcery he'd seen several times while coming here.
"What do you mean the family head is strange?"
This was truly the reason Grida had no choice but to come find Enkrid.
Grida threw the question back at him.
"Why would he do nothing in a situation like this?"
Hearing Grida's question, Enkrid nodded almost imperceptibly.
From the journey here until now, there hadn't been just one or two strange things.
'Schmidt smells of spells.'
Moreover, though his business was finished, he lingered and didn't leave.
'The existence of attackers targeting Anne was revealed on the way here.'
Yet nothing had happened since arriving here.
Was the reason that the enemy's reach didn't extend here? Or were they waiting for the perfect opportunity?
If it was one of the two, which should be given more weight?
That was why Ragna didn't leave Anne's side. Meanwhile, Anne had been wandering all around inside Zaun.
Enkrid synthesized what he knew with what he'd seen, heard, and gathered while staying here.
Was Zaun insensitive to outside information? Did they have no contact at all? Not at all.
Yet they claimed ignorance about Odinkar's disappearance or events happening outside.
It wasn't just the family head.
"Scalers? Sorcery? Spells? It's all news to me."
That's what came out when he casually asked Rynox during sparring.
"I haven't heard anything either."
Heskal was the same.
'This isn't because the enemy is skilled.'
There was someone inside deliberately contaminating information.
Grida had been wandering around trying to find that blind spot when she discovered the monster traces.
The Zaun family periodically organized patrol forces to survey the outside. It was information manipulation that couldn't be done without knowing the routes they traveled.
Grida had already reached her conclusion, which was why she sought him out.
Because she knew Zaun's interior better than he did, it had resulted in her current actions. Seeing her behavior made it certain.
Someone had blocked Zaun's ears and covered their eyes.
That was the conclusion. Also.
'The family head knows something.'
It was something you could naturally know by retracing the situation and making repeated predictions. If asked for reasons, he would say this:
'Because the family head, who should be the family's responsible party and must seek perpetual prosperity, is doing nothing.'
Even if he didn't know most of what was happening currently, several people had mentioned abnormal occurrences, yet he wasn't even trying to find out.
Not trying to find out meant.
'He already knows.'
Or he had no need to know because he himself had intended it.
"The family head is strange."
When Grida said this and showed deeply anxious signs, if her inner thoughts were expressed accurately, it could be said:
"Isn't this something the family head intended?"
But would the family head have reason for that?
That was Enkrid's question.
Actions required reasons.
But right now, he couldn't understand that reason.
Through the humid air, Enkrid blinked.
"Magrun also said he couldn't move for a while due to treatment."
Grida continued.
"Who said that?"
"Mileschia."
That was the name of a healer within Zaun. She didn't know how to use swords, right? That's why he'd never even seen her face.
Strange things were abundant. What he knew was little, and the mastermind was hard to guess.
During his mercenary days, Enkrid had seen several problem solvers.
They were unique among mercenaries—people who found missing persons or lent a hand in solving incidents.
If a murder occurred in a city and someone wanted to find the culprit, problem solvers would step forward.
'Is this exactly the time when a problem solver is needed?'
But even if there were problem solvers, while they might handle cases involving nobles or merchants with plenty of kronas, they probably couldn't touch incidents involving Knights.
In any case, someone was interfering with the family, and Grida suspected the family head.
No, she suspected not only the family head but others too. That was why she had come to him.
"This is ominous, Enki."
Rumble.
With Grida's words, thunder struck and light flashed into the room. The light quickly disappeared. In Enkrid's eyes, he could see Grida's face shadowed by the lamplight.
The worry shown on that face was as deep as the shadows created by the lighting.
Though thunder had struck, no rain came. There had been several such occurrences during this time, and Alexandra had passed by saying such phenomena were called dry lightning, a precursor to storms.
"It seems like there's something going on inside Zaun."
Enkrid agreed with what Grida said, but he didn't nod.
Wasn't this something to investigate carefully from now on?
However, looking only at what had been revealed so far.
'There are mages and sorcerers.'
They had also targeted Anne.
Outside, monsters including Medusa had made their nests.
'Blocking it with sorcery means they still want to hide.'
People who knew how to think complexly sometimes didn't know how to view situations simply, but Enkrid wasn't like that.
"Why would those monsters gather?"
He asked.
Grida lowered her head, then raised it.
"Hm?"
"They must have gathered to attack, right?"
"Well, I suppose? Though it definitely smells like they were artificially gathered."
"Then those things will attack sometime, right? Unless they're going to the Empire territory?"
"Of course."
"Then we can just deal with them when that happens, can't we?"
Monsters could be handled that way. Simply and clearly.
"And there's someone interfering within the family. It's not only the family head who's suspicious, right?"
Though she had been away from this place for some time, this was her home. Even if trivial things changed, certain core internal elements should rightfully remain unchanged.
She had stepped forward because something that shouldn't happen was happening.
That thing that shouldn't happen was her certainty that someone was ruining the family.
That's how Enkrid judged it.
"...While wandering around the area for days, I even suspected whether I myself had been caught by confusion magic."
That's how carefully she had viewed the situation. Though it was only three days, she had roughly organized her thoughts.
"There are a total of five people within the family who could control the surroundings to this degree. It would be seven if Magrun and Odinkar were included, but those two are currently out, and I was away for a long time, so it couldn't be me."
To Enkrid's ears, it sounded like Grida had put even Odinkar and Magrun, who had traveled the return journey with them, within the scope of suspicion.
"So."
At the appropriate response, Grida raised her right hand and spread it. More precisely, she showed the five fingers attached to her right hand.
"The family head and his wife, Rynox and Heskal, and Andante."
Among these, Enkrid had met everyone except someone called Andante.
Beyond meeting them, they had been his sparring partners for three days.
The conversations and sparring with them—all of it remained vivid in his memory.
"That would be difficult."
Enkrid said.
"I can't trust them."
Grida answered. She didn't hide her complex feelings, and Enkrid thought her inner state had good reason to be complex.
Everything she had said so far amounted to saying that those influenced by Zaun's will or those born and raised in Zaun had betrayed Zaun.
And it was one of the people who corresponded to the core within the family.