Chapter 936. Nightmare
Enkrid placed his left hand on the little girl's forehead, grabbed her arm with his right, and turned her to the side.
The child, who had been running full tilt with her arms raised, stopped without even flailing.
Her arms dropped obediently to her sides.
The face was familiar, but the name didn't immediately come to mind.
'The child.'
Still, he knew who she was.
She was the girl who had suffered from that plague-like curse.
The one who, after getting better, had declared she would become his bride—a dream that was rather difficult to support.
The person looking at him with pitying eyes from behind was the child's mother.
What exactly was she pitying him for?
Enkrid shot her a passing glance.
"You haven't forgotten me, have you? Hubby?"
The child asked.
The situation and a few words exchanged back then came to mind, but the name completely eluded him.
Since Enkrid wasn't one to discriminate, he treated everyone the same.
He blurted out whatever came to mind.
"Ollie?"
He just threw out a random name.
The child nodded.
Her attitude suggested it was only natural.
"Good. It's fine. I'll forgive you."
Forgive what?
Leona watched with an amused expression, while Rem let out a deflated snort of laughter.
Dunbakel merely twitched her nose, observing her surroundings.
"Things have changed a bit."
Dunbakel muttered.
Just as she said, the scenery of Elder Bear Village was slightly different from before.
'More tents?'
It was thanks to the resources that had become abundant through trade.
He remembered seeing plenty of tattered tents before, but such shabbiness was gone now.
This region was the greatest beneficiary of the trade with the continent.
Naturally, they had to show at least this much prosperity.
Snap, snap.
When he turned his gaze elsewhere, the child in front of him snapped her fingers.
"Here, look. I'm definitely growing."
The child turned back around and shoved her head toward him as she spoke.
Enkrid placed a hand on the crown of her head and turned her to face outward again.
"Yeah, you've gotten a bit taller."
"Yes, I'm growing. I'm definitely growing, so wait for me."
Just seeing the child lunging at him like that made the reality obvious: regardless of giant attacks or whatever else, the Elder Bear was prospering.
It had gained more stability and breathing room than before.
There were still many women weaving ropes from tree bark on the streets, and plenty of children running around playing.
Baaah.
The bleating of a goat from one side and the moo of a cow from the other—the pastoral scenery itself remained unchanged.
It was simply more relaxed and affluent than before.
"Jiba, let's wait for the next opportunity."
The child's mother approached and said.
What opportunity?
Enkrid was about to say something, but stopped himself.
It was obvious it would only drag the conversation out unnecessarily.
"Impressive. He truly has a demonic charm."
Leona muttered.
It was a whisper with a lot of room for misunderstanding in many ways.
"Seeing not just patched tents, but actual stone houses built in the center, the city has changed a lot, Rem."
He could see the proper hall built of stone among the tents.
It was an astonishing sight.
A sight so surprising you couldn't possibly just walk past it.
Enkrid thought aloud, trying to draw Rem in.
It was a mistake.
Rem didn't agree with Enkrid's thoughts.
"So, after the old maid Fairy and the eyeball-plucking Witch, that kid is the third one?"
Having caught onto something to tease him about after a long time, Rem chuckled and sneered.
"She's still a child."
Even by the most conservative estimate, the age gap was over twenty years.
That child's mother was closer to Enkrid's age than the child was.
"In the face of love, age is just a number."
A female version of Rem approached the caravan and spoke.
In other words, it was Ayul.
Beside her were Geomnarae and Juol.
"There's a reason he's renowned as the Demonic Knight."
"Jiba is grown up enough."
Geomnarae and Juol chimed in with a few words each.
The West was definitely Rem's hometown.
He didn't like the way any of them flapped their gums.
"Come at me one by one."
Enkrid said to everyone.
Of course, no one actually charged at him.
He had been a formidable human even before, but now he was a man whose name was known across the entire continent just by mentioning it.
Demon Slayer. Beelrog Slayer.
Two titles representing him.
"I told you that you didn't have to come, but you brought two others with you."
Ayul said that, then completely dropped her playful tone and bowed her head toward Enkrid.
Among Western greetings, it was a posture shown only when conveying the utmost respect and reverence.
It meant she hadn't forgotten the past, when she touched her forehead to the ground, treated him as a friend, and called him their savior.
"I will pray that you do not lose your way this time."
She added.
It was spoken with deep reverence.
She might treat others casually, but she couldn't do that with Enkrid.
Ayul showed proper courtesy.
"You should welcome your husband first."
Rem grumbled from the side, prompting Ayul to laugh and throw a punch at him.
She spun her body swiftly, tightening and releasing her muscles in an instant.
The punch that flew out with a thwack possessed enough power to shatter a jawbone if blocked incorrectly.
Thump!
It clearly showed that while he had been training, Ayul had also put effort into tempering herself.
The punch she threw was heavy.
Naturally, Rem caught her fist with his palm right in front of his face.
"Did the way we hug change while I was gone?"
As Rem smirked as usual, Ayul finally smiled and said.
"You haven't been slacking off, Hubby. If you hadn't caught that greeting just now, I would have cut that thing off."
As expected, Ayul hadn't changed.
It was wordplay fitting enough to call her a female Rem.
"What?"
When Rem asked back, Ayul continued with the smile still on her face.
"If your skills had stagnated, it means you were slacking off playing around somewhere, which is exactly the same as taking your eyes off me for another woman. So I'd have to cut it off, wouldn't I?"
"Does that even make sense? Absolutely not."
Listening from the side, Enkrid recalled when he first met Ayul and spoke up.
"If you need a testimony, I'll provide it."
He placed one hand on his hip, adding a firm expression with cautious eyes.
You could say he made a face that was the very symbol of trust.
Though whether the testimony itself would be advantageous or disadvantageous to Rem was unknown.
When they had met before, Ayul had yelled at him not to interfere, but this time was different.
"If you say so, I have to accept it."
It was an acceptance.
"Right. Very right."
"Indeed, it is. If you didn't fill your bellies on the way, I'll prepare some food."
Geomnarae and Juol nodded in agreement.
The Westerners were indeed like this, but they were truly amusing people.
People who enjoyed jokes and spent their time for today's happiness.
Juol still dreamed of becoming the best chef in the West.
Geomnarae was subtly observing Enkrid.
He seemed eager to see with his own eyes how much Enkrid's skills had improved.
Since Enkrid was more than willing to beat Geomnarae up, he subtly accepted it whenever the man revealed his fighting spirit.
"You said you had a strange dream."
Rem said to Ayul .
Ayul looked at her partner with clear eyes and answered.
"Is that a reason to come all the way here?"
"Since you were young, your dreams have been strangely accurate."
Especially the ominous ones.
That was what bothered Rem enough to come all the way here.
Even if it was nothing, he could just look around while he was here and go back.
That would be the end of it.
"We wiped out a giant bandit group on the way."
"You did all your chores before arriving."
Only then did Ayul fall into Rem's embrace.
The two met each other's eyes and exchanged a light kiss instead of a greeting.
They were a couple full of trust in each other—trust that, contrary to what came out of their mouths, they would each do what they had to do even if the continent split in half.
Afterward, Rem went to see his child.
Hadn't they said the newborn was squirming, clenching its fists, and swinging them around?
After spending some time, Rem evolved into a doting father.
"Well I'll be, the kid is really clenching his fists and swinging them. Looks like he'll be a big shot when he grows up."
It was a boy, and it was true that he was a very sturdy baby even by normal standards, but the newborn baby didn't swing its fists like Rem claimed.
He was just flailing his arms.
"It's not that much."
Ayul was ready to scold him.
Enkrid also saw the baby himself.
It was a child being raised by the hands of several women.
Hadn't they said one of the Western cultures was raising children all together?
Each of these elements was one of the reasons the West showed such concentrated solidarity now.
No matter what monsters or beasts attacked, they banded together and fought.
Why did their ancestors settle in such barren land?
He didn't know the details, but because they were here, the West was a land where people lived.
Purely instinctively, he felt they were like a fortress wall blocking the Demonic Realm known as Silence.
'Solidarity.'
As he focused on that single element, the realization he had previously chewed over regarding Inscribed Weapons mixed in his mind.
'What if I put a stage before engraving myself onto the weapon?'
Simply put, moving as if they had become one, rather than the weapon and the person acting separately.
"You should fight thinking of the sword as your hand."
The days when he first grasped a sword also came to mind.
Even going back to the basics, the fundamentals, everything applied, coincided, and blended.
It was proof that it was the right path.
"Hoo."
Enkrid let out an even breath.
It was after he had seen Rem's child and spent time with various thoughts.
The Chieftain brought out seven bottles, calling it precious liquor, and placed them in front of him.
"Liquor."
Dunbakel licked her lips seeing the bottles.
Next to her, Juol showed off his cooking skills.
"It's a dish mixed with barley, gopher nuts, minced meat, some vegetables, and a specially fermented and brewed sauce."
The dish was a mix of sour, spicy, and sweet, filled with a rich, fatty flavor in between.
It was a bit overly stimulating, but the taste was excellent.
"I'm thinking of opening a shop in the city following the next merchant caravan."
Juol said.
Everyone has something they wish for.
Whether it's called a dream, a goal, or a long-cherished desire.
The man in front of him dreamed of a life other than a warrior's.
The trade route opened through the merchant guild was an opportunity that showed him what he truly desired.
"I'll support you."
Enkrid said.
He supports anyone's dream.
As long as it isn't wrong.
Juol laughed.
The smile spreading across his face made even the onlooker feel good.
"Thank you. Sir."
Juol bowed his head with utmost courtesy.
***
It was the third day since they entered the city.
Enkrid had nightmares the entire time.
"Now, who shall I kill? What is your choice?"
The Ferryman still forced a choice upon him on that bridge.
***
'Another bad dream.'
Waking up, Ayul turned her head to look at the child's face.
The child was sleeping soundly.
On the other side of the bed lay her husband, who was scheduled to leave in a few days.
As she turned her head, Rem asked with his eyes closed.
"What?"
"You're not asleep yet?"
"I'm going to sleep."
"Did I wake you?"
Did she talk in her sleep?
She had heard that she muttered a few times while sleeping.
It was what a few women who occasionally came to take care of the child had told her.
"Same dream?"
Rem asked, his eyes still closed.
Ayul wasn't a prophet. But since childhood, her ominous dreams had been exceptionally accurate. For example, after dreaming of falling and scraping her knee more than three times as a child, she actually fell while hunting and broke her leg. Considering she fell from a galloping Vellopter, it was a minor injury. Because the experience in the dream felt like actually falling, her body had reacted reflexively. It was such a strong memory that she hadn't forgotten it even now. She had experienced similar things several times since then. Not every dream came true, and in fact, the majority passed without incident, but...
'It feels ominous.'
The feeling was worse than ever before. Whatever the case, this nightmare was a dream that required interpretation. In the dream, Ayul died. She burned to death, she died sitting still with her head bowed, she died thrashing around while vomiting blood. The strange thing was that all those deaths happened at once in one place. She saw herself dying while taking down laundry, and she saw herself dying while swinging an axe. When she died while weaving a rope, her forearms felt strangely thin, and when she fell while running, her legs felt strangely short.
'An ominous and strange dream.'
She had only written that much in the letter.
Rem reached out and wrapped his hand around Ayul's head. She hated speaking of nightmares because it felt like they would really come true if she voiced them, but if necessary, it was something she had to do.
Ayul had already told him everything about the dream previously. Rem had pondered it from various angles, but couldn't understand the dream's meaning. However, he made only one thing certain.
"Don't worry. You won't die before I do."
Hearing that, Ayul slammed her head into Rem's jaw.
Her skull struck his jaw cleanly.
Stars flashed before his eyes.
"Ouch."
"Instead of saying you'll die, why don't you say you'll save everyone?"
"Uh, it means the same thing."
"You're joking. It means something completely different. You crazy bastard."
"Is that how you talk to your husband?"
"Don't forget we were childhood friends before we were husband and wife, alright?"
He had nothing to say.
Rem had never beaten Ayul in an argument since they were kids.
But using an Enkrid-style provocation?
'That's only used when you're going to kill the opponent.'
Enkrid used that kind of stuff casually without caring, but that was because the man was a madman.
The morning of the fourth day dawned, and Rem sought out Enkrid to say:
"I need to go check on the state of Silence."
The name of the Demonic Realm settled in the West is Silence.
According to the shamans, it wouldn't react if you didn't look into it, so it was a place rarely visited unless absolutely necessary.
Waking up in the morning, Rem acted and moved purely based on his ominous intuition.
The Chieftain had already sent people several times and said there was nothing wrong with the Demonic Realm, but seeing it with his own eyes would put his mind at ease. It was a place that took over twenty days to reach even riding a Vellopter.
"Okay."
And yet, Enkrid and Dunbakel naturally followed.
"I'll guide you."
Juol volunteered as a guide, saying he had found a faster route.
"It will take ten days now."
He said they had fixed up the road a bit so the Vellopters could run better.
Seeing the Stone Road created by the continent, the Westerners hadn't learned nothing.
And so, exactly eleven days later, when they reached Silence, the four of them saw black clouds hanging overhead.
It was a cloud created by the Demonic Realm, Silence, spreading black soot.
"The last check was a month ago."
Juol muttered.
The Demonic Realm, Silence, had opened.
The reason?
There was no need to even question it right now.
"Shit."
Monsters had emerged from Silence twice before, and both times they had dealt a severe blow to the West.
Right now, it wasn't just monsters; the Demonic Realm itself was expanding its territory.
"We have to go in."
Rem said.
There was no need to ask where he meant to go.
***
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