"We need to leave the village immediately."
Though they called it a meeting, it was just gathering in the center around a large wooden round table and arguing.
Since it wasn't a very large village, the meeting content reached Brunhild's ears. Naturally, it reached Enkrid's as well.
Some who weren't participating in the meeting looked at him with wariness.
Force beyond a certain level was rather fearsome.
Especially for those hiding from the continent's laws, it would be even more so.
Knowing this, Enkrid kept his mouth shut. Though they hadn't included him in the meeting, he had no intention of joining anyway.
That didn't mean he had nothing to say, but bringing up opinions right now would be a burden to them.
'Still, wrong is wrong.'
So he only spoke inwardly.
The one saying they should leave the village immediately was a mild-mannered man with brown hair.
Compared to Harkvent, he was timid.
He had repeatedly babbled about how they'd all die at this rate.
One of the children had conveyed that man's words several times.
Asking if they were all going to die, if this was the end, if they'd go see mommy when they died.
'Spreading fear won't make things work out.'
Even if they actually chose to flee, it shouldn't be done this way. After a long meeting, they should at least pretend to have found a safe path before leaving.
'If mass panic occurs, everyone dies.'
If they scattered everywhere in terror, there would be no answer. No matter how skilled Enkrid was, he couldn't help beyond his reach.
"Be quiet. We've long known the magical beasts' movements were unusual. That's why we prepared too."
An old man stepped forward to restrain him.
The timid man tried to say something, but when Harkvent glared at him fiercely, he shut his mouth.
Still, his beard kept trembling. He probably wanted to babble about something due to his anxiety.
"There have been many crises until now, but we've overcome them somehow. This time will be the same."
This was said by yet another man.
But this was also wrong.
Even if it was spoken from a lack of crisis awareness, more than that.
'Vague hope.'
Not good. Kneeling and praying to god wouldn't make food fall from above. Without moving forward, there was nothing to gain.
"Quiet."
Harkvent made him close his mouth too. The subsequent meeting content had no answers either.
Five people attended, and among them, Harkvent had the most influence. It was obvious just from a glance.
"Thank you."
After watching that for a while, a man named Jerry approached and said this.
"Don't mention it."
"Thanks to you, I saved my life, but I have nothing to give."
If this were the military, Harkvent would be a commander and leader, while Jerry would be something like a reconnaissance captain.
Of course, he only had a few subordinates.
"At least this."
Jerry said while offering a blue stone. It was barely palm-sized and seemed harder than ordinary stone.
Though Valeris steel was said to emit a blue light, this was completely blue, and when placed on his palm, it gave the feeling of gently tickling his palm's skin.
Coolness? It was closer to a refreshing feeling.
"You can sometimes find these wandering the caves inside the mountain range. It's much better to carry when it's hot."
It was a precious item.
"Thank you."
Enkrid accepted it without decline.
Brunhild, who had been standing beside him long before Jerry, poked Enkrid's thigh.
"It looks like it'll take a while, so let's go back and you can teach me spear techniques."
Then other children also stuck their heads forward competitively.
"Can I join too?"
"Can't you teach me knife throwing?"
The village had as many children as grown-ups. Though it was a small village, they said there was an excellent midwife.
Both frontier cities and recluse villages were similar in that they both encouraged having children.
The number of people directly became labor and combat power.
That's why people like midwives and healers were respected as much as village commanders.
"Harven, you mustn't forget what's important."
The old man who had spoken up front was this village's midwife and healer. He was also the old man who had silenced that timid fellow earlier.
Influenced by Brunhild, several children kept wandering around Enkrid.
"Shall we?"
He didn't particularly step forward, but there was no reason to be mindful of others for everything he did.
Enkrid spent time mingling with the children.
"Why can't I do it like her?"
A child who saw Brunhild swinging her spear asked. Enkrid found some solid branches and trimmed them to use as clubs while answering.
"You'll get it if you keep trying."
He had nothing more to say.
An unbridgeable gap existed between this child and Brunhild.
Would the child lose interest if they realized talent's cruelty?
He left it alone since he had nothing to say about it anyway.
Still, the children steadily swung their sticks. Several adults watched such children with worried eyes.
He was teaching the children various tricks and had made about five clubs when Harkvent approached and spoke.
"I have a favor to ask."
"I'll do it."
"...Without even listening?"
"You're asking me to lend my strength to protect the village, aren't you?"
"That's right."
"So I said I'd do it."
Though it was a simple answer, Harkvent's expression was complicated.
What could he give this stranger? There was no favor without compensation, but what did this fellow want?
Various thoughts would arise.
'It seems like he told Jerry to give me this too.'
The stone in his pocket wasn't an ordinary object. It was probably intended to show a precious item and check if he had greed.
Having dealt with so many sinister humans, Harkvent's tricks were completely visible.
'Should I be grateful to the Family Head and Heskal for this?'
Compared to those two, Harkvent was close to a country bumpkin who had just come to the capital.
"Then."
Enkrid turned around with the same simple greeting as the previous day.
Even if he said he needed nothing here, that he just wanted to help, would they believe him?
If he were someone who would believe, he wouldn't be suffering like that.
Living life, you sometimes see people who have never received kindness even once.
Someone leading a village of recluses would have lived such a life until now.
A life facing hostility instead of kindness, robbery instead of help.
Would a way of thinking accumulated through long years of experience change with a few words?
'Who knows, maybe Krang could do it?'
He randomly thought of his friend sitting on the throne. He could move people's hearts with just a few words.
Enkrid answered, washed, and slept. The village's location was good in that there was a small lake just a little into the forest, so unless there were magical beast attacks, they would never lack drinking water.
According to Brunhild, playing in the water there was fun in midsummer.
She said they played until their lips turned blue.
When Enkrid fell asleep, river water greeted him instead of a lake.
"Do you know what I'm going to say?"
Today's ferryman was also unique. He sat cross-legged on a high chair obtained from somewhere.
Light flowing from a purple lamp illuminated his face.
His face like a dry wasteland with pitch-black pupils seemed to insist this moment was a nightmare.
"You'll say that if I leave, they'll all die."
"Yes, they will."
"If you want to shake my heart here, you'd say this is the prepared wall. But it would be better to say there are no repetitions."
"You could be an excellent ferryman sitting in my place right now."
"Is that a compliment?"
"High praise."
The ferryman's lips rose, revealing pitch-black darkness.
Different from previous ferrymen. Definitely different.
Enkrid glimpsed one of the ferryman's secrets with instinct-based certainty.
'The ferryman isn't one person.'
Wouldn't this be a moment any non-fool should notice?
Even having glimpsed one thing, there would still be many curtains named secrets remaining.
'That's not my concern.'
Digging into unknowable things only creates headaches.
"It seems you thought something impious inwardly?"
"No."
"You will face nightmares. Your body is one and you won't be able to protect everyone."
The ferryman's words overlapped as they were heard.
Did he learn this from watching Dremül?
Enkrid heard the ferryman's words in one ear and let them flow out the other.
If you know how to listen well, you also know how to let things flow well.
The ferryman also knew Enkrid now. That bastard isn't listening. Even so, he said what he had to say.
"A month at most. You can't protect everyone."
Though it sounded like casting a curse, Enkrid thought this ferryman was being favorable.
'A month at most.'
He even told him the time to prepare.
"Face the endlessly changing nightmares. They will become your nightmares."
He also left words suggesting that magical beasts would keep changing tactics as they attacked.
Well, even if the ferryman didn't have such intention, it was enough if the listener understood well.
"Go, go and struggle in reality."
"Shouldn't you be telling me to repeat today here if you want that?"
Enkrid recognized that the ferryman had forgotten to say something.
Shouldn't he tell him to spend a fulfilling day here then repeat it?
That was the ferryman's purpose after all.
"...I was planning to do that next time we met."
Enkrid scratched his head. It was a gesture of apology.
"Get lost."
Wasn't it strange to feel the ferryman being embarrassed?
It would be. It was strange. Enkrid opened his eyes in reality.
'A month, huh.'
Wasn't that more than enough time?
Enkrid got up at dawn and went outside.
"See, I told you he comes out at dawn."
Brunhild's voice was clear and lovely like a mountain bird. The other children's voices weren't bad to hear either. Brunhild wasn't alone.
"Really?"
"I'm sleepy."
"But why do you get up so early?"
"Our father doesn't sleep either."
"Mother didn't sleep either and worked on leather all night."
Six children, excluding those who had matured enough at sixteen or seventeen.
They all wanted to learn something like Brunhild.
"The staff I gave you yesterday?"
"I brought it."
"They said I shouldn't forget it, so I slept hugging it."
Enkrid looked around at the children. Among them, one girl was undoubtedly a genius.
Someone might harbor envy and jealousy seeing the child's talent, but Enkrid could only admire it.
Additionally, seeing the child's ideas made him realize things anew, which was also interesting.
Well, that was that, but magical beasts were magical beasts.
Magical beasts targeted the village and his body was one.
If he left to eliminate threats, magical beasts would attack the village.
Conversely, if he only protected here, he could never escape this place for life.
"Live there. If you won't repeat today, I'll make sure only such days are given to you."
Wouldn't the ferryman's unfinished words include something like this?
It seemed plausible.
Or not.
Anyway, the nightmare the ferryman spoke of was a variation.
If the original piece was to remain in today through death, now it was binding his feet here even without repeating today.
"Protect to the end. Don't leave."
The phantom ferryman giggled and spoke. Enkrid ignored the phantom and put his hand on Brunhild's shoulder.
"You said you wanted to fight better?"
"Yes?"
"Try teaching those children."
"Eh?"
Geniuses advance three or four steps when others take one step with their talent.
Therefore, they don't know how to look back. Enkrid knew that going properly was as important as going fast.
It was one of the things he had realized through experience and a method he had developed meeting Brunhild.
Spending days touring the village and facing magical beasts, he had systematized swordsmanship in his mind.
Methods for handling five swordsmanship styles and training fundamentals.
'Teaching will make her realize parts she hadn't recognized.'
Teaching was a way to make one understand more deeply what they had learned.
"Really?"
She looked annoyed.
But the kids didn't say much.
There wasn't much entertainment in this small village. Why else would they play in the lake in summer until their bodies shook from cold?
For such children, learning something while holding clubs would also be one form of entertainment.
It wasn't hard to guess that was why these children had come here at dawn.
Children could do that. But adults couldn't.
Enkrid left the children and departed.
Where he headed was a responsible southern man whose under-eyes were black from not sleeping properly for days.
"Gather everyone who knows how to fight."
Speaking to him suddenly, Harkvent asked.
"What's this about?"
Enkrid thought of Andrew Gardner.
Specifically, the moment when he had knocked him down to make him listen.
Should he give a long speech to persuade here? That might be possible, but it would just be a waste of time.
Enkrid changed his tone and manner. He roughly imitated Rem.
"Just shut up and do as you're told?"
If he was anxious, he might as well use that anxiety.
Harkvent gripped his spear. No matter how scary the opponent, his spirit wouldn't be broken...
Thwack.
A light low kick landed on his thigh. Since the movement wasn't properly visible, he couldn't dodge or prepare. Harkvent's serious face twisted mercilessly from the sudden surging pain.
"Listen when I'm talking."
What was needed now was fear. There was no time to persuade one by one, and doing so would actually be more dangerous.
Harkvent learned that when it hurts too much, you can't make any sound at all.
He sat down on the ground and let out a groan.
It really hurt too much.
"Hey, do I look like I'm making a nice proposal right now? Or do I?"
No need to copy the speech pattern too.
Harkvent couldn't resist. The stranger had personally shown that a blade more dangerous than magical beasts was right beside him.
If the magical beast pack had colored this place with fear.
'Wouldn't it be fine to make them forget such thoughts?'
Such was Enkrid's resolve.