"That's really childish."
It was Anne.
She tilted her head slightly, one corner of her mouth twisted up. A gleam shone in her eyes.
Beneath the slanting sunlight, the alchemist wore a lopsided, sinister smile.
Though, in truth, it wasn't malice—it was a shield, a facade to withstand the hostility directed at her.
"Did you really think this would stop us from drinking water? Seriously?"
There was no enemy right in front of them, yet Anne spoke as if there were.
"You miserable bastard with neither power nor wit. You think a petty trick like this will stop us? Make us back down?"
Was this the desperate outcry of the weak clinging to defiance, or the roar of someone whose will had been forged unbreakable?
'Let's call it a roar.'
Enkrid decided on the latter.
"Think about it, Captain. Do you really believe I made it to Border Guard alone, relying on nothing but luck?"
At first, he had thought so.
She herself had admitted as much.
But this was a girl who knew nothing of swordplay, who had no faction to rely on, yet she had crossed the continent and reached Border Guard—the city of vigilance.
Reaching even the outskirts of the continent was an improbable feat. By sheer probability, her survival was near impossible.
'She must have had some means.'
Enkrid had seen enough of Anne to know better.
Even when she arrived at the training grounds of the Madmen unit, she never came empty-handed.
During her research, wherever her hands rested, there were always a few vials of reagents, medicinal concoctions, or small, round pills meant to be chewed.
Enkrid always kept a sword by his side, even when sleeping.
It didn't have to be the weapon given to him by Aetri—any blade would do, so long as he had one.
'If my sword is my weapon, then that bag must be hers.'
Anne undid the clasp of the bag slung across her waist and back, reaching inside. What she pulled out was a small, round, blue pill, no bigger than a pinky fingernail.
"I am an alchemist and a healer."
She spoke the words like a minstrel reciting a ballad. With the right melody, it could have been a song.
Her voice had a rhythmic precision, each syllable falling perfectly in place. Then, she dropped the pill into a canteen of tainted water.
Before one could even take a full breath, a blue smoke rose from the water's surface and quickly dissipated.
Anne raised the canteen to her lips and tilted it back. No one stopped her.
What Anne was doing now was no different from Ragna's swordplay—it was an act of absolute conviction.
Even if the path was wrong, she would keep pressing forward until it became right. All eyes followed the movement of her throat.
Gulp, gulp.
The water went down.
"Haah."
After taking a deep swig, Anne spoke.
"It's safe to drink. What a pathetic trick."
Accepted.
Enkrid acknowledged it and took the canteen from her. Gulp.
The taste was fine.
Anne had not reached Border Guard with just water-purifying pills alone.
There must have been other medicines—ones to mask scents from monsters, or to put people to sleep.
"There are too many to explain them all."
That was the last thing she said about it. Enkrid didn't press her for details.
He noticed her hands trembling faintly.
Would being surrounded by knights give her a sense of relief? Facing hostility and malice like this, it was unlikely.
'She won't take it lying down, though.'
And when she fought back, she'd make it clear she wasn't to be trifled with. But their enemy was proving, again and again, to be just as insane.
"Everyone, stop."
It had been less than half a day's journey through the mountain path when Enkrid caught a sharp, acrid scent with his nose.
"A poison mist? It seems to be a type of spell." He glanced ahead.
"Yeah, I see it." Magrun responded.
Ragna merely stared, indifferent.
The enemy wanted to slow them down, and that alone irritated him. Before them, a murky green fog sprawled out, blocking the path.
Enkrid took one look and made his decision. No need to waste time analyzing.
"Is there a detour path?"
"There is."
Magrun answered immediately.
At Enkrid's signal, Ragna turned his back toward Anne.
"Get on."
"Okay."
She had already prepared herself.
She climbed onto Ragna's back without hesitation. Ragna tossed his greatsword to Enkrid, who caught it.
It was a weapon meant to be worn on his back, so he couldn't carry it while giving Anne a ride.
"Let's pick up the pace, Magrun."
"Understood."
No need for extra words.
Normally, they would have only needed to cross the nearest ridge, but now their route was being extended sideways.
Magrun led the way, while Grida moved to the right to maintain spacing, watching for ambushes. And, unsurprisingly, there was another trick waiting for them.
Their enemy seemed intent on wasting their time with nothing but nuisances.
"My sense of direction is off."
Grida came to a halt.
Three trees with jagged, spiky leaves stood ahead, tangled together like conjoined triplets.
The incline continued upward, and the increasing number of trees made it clear—they had fully entered the depths of the mountain.
There were no proper paths here, yet since Ragna was carrying Anne, they had little choice but to make one.
Magrun led the way, slicing branches apart with his sword to clear the path. They had been making good progress—until Grida stopped.
Enkrid turned, about to check the north—then stopped himself. 'This feels like the time I was lost in the desert.'
Even looking at the sky, he couldn't get his bearings. Neither his gut nor his instincts could sense the direction.
"A curse."
Enkrid spoke.
Grida and Magrun nodded, while Ragna tilted his head and said,
"You can't get a sense of direction? I'm perfectly fine."
Grida shook his head and responded to the remark.
"Little brother, it's sorcery. It's messing with our sense of direction. It may be hard to understand, but try."
"What nonsense. Magrun, isn't it just north from here?"
"That's right."
Magrun answered, but there was unease in his gaze. And why wouldn't there be?
He had heard all about Ragna's feats and legends.
The stories about him getting lost even while watching the sun rise were almost awe-inspiring. A guy like that actually exists?
Wasn't he the one who, after setting out to meet someone, ended up lost and only returned a month later?
"This is it. North."
Ragna spoke with certainty.
Behind him, Anne, looking pale, barely managed to speak.
"Please… don't take the lead when finding the way."
Sorcery couldn't be countered with alchemy, nor could a knight's senses break through it. In a way, they had fallen right into the trap.
'So this was the real purpose of the poison mist.'
Enkrid briefly glimpsed into the mind of whoever had cast this sorcery—whether it was a mage or a shaman.
'Block the path with poison mist.'
Should they take the risk of pushing through?
Anne likely had an antidote, but… 'They probably expect us to avoid it.'
The mountain was vast, with multiple paths leading up. On top of that, they had four knights, all highly mobile.
With quick enough movement, they had no reason to take the risk of encountering poison. 'They predicted we would avoid the poison.'
If their route was thrown off, where would Magrun, who was leading, take them? 'The fastest path.'
And if the enemy had anticipated that, they could use pre-prepared sorcery to ensnare the group. Enkrid realized one more thing.
'Whoever set this up knows these paths well.'
They were intimately familiar with the routes between Yohan and the continent. In other words, it had to be someone from the Yohan family.
"Not many people pass through this area, right?" Enkrid concluded his thoughts and asked.
"Do you even have to ask? If you're not from the Yohan family, you have no reason to be here. I never thought the way home would be this rough."
Magrun replied without even looking in the direction Ragna had pointed. No one seemed inclined to follow Ragna's directions.
Even though they had lost their sense of direction, they still didn't trust Ragna. Only Enkrid thought differently.
"How do you know that's north?"
Ragna, holding Anne up with one hand, tapped his temple with his left index and middle fingers.
"Instinct."
"Lead the way."
Everyone's expression shifted to pure horror as they turned to Enkrid.
"Are you insane?"
"You're just giving up?"
Magrun and Grida spoke one after the other.
Even Anne, clinging to Ragna's back, looked shaken.
"Are you okay? Did the poison get to you?" Anne asked.
Enkrid didn't bother giving them some comforting excuse.
"If it turns out to be wrong, we can just find another route. Or do you want to stay here? For how long? Until the sorcery fades?"
Stopping here was exactly what their enemy wanted. So, they would take the path their enemy didn't expect.
Besides, hadn't they all learned from the last time they wandered through the desert? How to find their way.
"Look to the stars to navigate." That's what Ragna had said.
If there were no stars, he relied on instinct.
Jaxen had mentioned following sounds and smells, and Rem had talked about desert guides who walked the wind's path.
'Ragna isn't that kind of guide.'
But if necessary, he knew how to find his way. Just like he had in Naurilia.
Enkrid trusted Ragna's instincts.
"I expected the commander to believe in me. Hand me my sword." Ragna said, stretching out his hand.
He lowered Anne to the ground and took back his greatsword.
Anne, still trembling, placed her hands on her unsteady thighs and gave Enkrid a look that screamed, Are we really doing this?
Ragna, in his own way, started walking.
Up until now, Magrun and Grida had avoided obstacles like fallen trees and blocked paths by going around them.
But Ragna wasn't a man who cared about such things.
The moment he determined that this was north, he went straight ahead.
"That's a cliff, you crazy bastard!"
Grida shouted, but it was pointless.
Ragna ignored her completely and swung his greatsword at the trees blocking his path.
Boom!
Massive trunks were severed and shattered, crashing down and taking smaller trees with them, smashing and pushing through.
Several of the smaller trees, as if embarrassed, exposed some of their hidden roots from beneath the soil.
"This is north."
He cut down trees and pushed forward relentlessly. When a rock stood in his way, he leaped over it.
When a tree blocked him, he cleaved it apart. At last, he reached the edge of a cliff.
And without hesitation, he began sliding down.
"...We're going down there?"
Anne asked.
Her face was so pale, it looked as if someone had poured blue dye all over it.
"Get on."
Ragna cleared the path, and this time, Enkrid carried her on his back.
"I feel like my resolve is slowly being chipped away," Anne said in a solemn tone while being carried.
It sounded like she was filled with doubt.
"As long as we get out of the curse's influence, it doesn't matter whether it's north or not," Enkrid whispered in reply.
The enemy's goal was to steal time here, so doing the opposite was the right move. Ragna navigated the steep cliff without issue, using his physical strength.
Every now and then, he drove his large sword into the wall. They were knights.
There was nothing that would cause them to fall or tumble. It was a given.
"Is this really the right way?" Grida muttered.
As a guide, Grida had been taught to stop and carefully assess the direction in cases like this. However, that was no concern for these lunatics.
Ragna led without hesitation, and when the sun began to set, the surrounding area lost color and was swallowed by darkness, they had finally broken free from the curse's influence.
After descending the cliff and climbing a short one, cutting down over twenty trees, and scaling a small rocky mountain, they reached a point.
Naturally, it wasn't north. They had ended up in the west.
They would need to retrace their steps, but even so, it was impressive.
If it had been anyone else, they would have lost their sense of direction and wandered aimlessly.
Even as knights, they would have taken much more time, but Ragna's decisive actions saved them from wasting any.
"Maybe it's impressive after all," Grida muttered in awe, and Ragna nodded as if it were obvious. Looking around, it seemed like he didn't even know where he was.
It was time for Magrun to take the lead again.
"The original destination was the hunter's village, right?" Enkrid asked Magrun. Yohan had several villages around it.
Among them was the hunter's village, along with the retirement village and the merchant village. Their destination was the hunter's village, located southward.
While not the fastest route to Yohan, it was still a necessary detour.
"Yes," Magrun replied, and Enkrid immediately asked, without hesitation, "Is there no way to head directly to Yohan?"
If he were a magician or a shaman, he would have set traps along the way. If they had time to prepare, there would be dozens of traps waiting for them. So why should they take that route?
When they saw the poison mist and the curses, there were no traces of Odincar passing through there.
'If Odincar had come first...'
The poison mist or curses would have already activated, leaving only traces. Nothing in this world was perfect.
Neither curses nor spells were flawless.
'They would have been one-time effects that disappeared after activation.'
Both the poison mist and the curses that disturbed direction were quite powerful
. They weren't suitable for continuous use.
Therefore…
"Let's change the route."
The conclusion was that changing the route would take them out of the enemy's expectations.
Magrun looked at Anne as Enkrid spoke again, "It's going to be a rough path carrying her, isn't it?"
The issue wasn't the one carrying her, but rather if Anne could endure it. Anne answered directly.
"If I take medicine, I'll fall asleep, and Ragna can tie me securely on his back." Her determination to continue was unwavering.
"Indeed," Enkrid shrugged.
This changed the destination and the path slightly.
Ragna stopped scanning the surroundings and finally spoke.
"We've deviated a little."
Damn.
If this is considered a slight detour, going further would probably lead them to Lihinstetten in the south, not Yohan.
Magrun almost cursed but kept it in.
Well, they had managed to get out of the situation.