Chapter 916 - The Banquet
"What do you mean by that all of a sudden?"
Enkrid was a knight with keen senses and an exceptional eye.
While he couldn't completely grasp Cypress's condition just by looking, he knew from his aura and gait that the man could still fight.
Yet, Cypress spoke with complete sincerity.
His casual words contained no lies.
Well, considering he had fooled the Great Emperor about his leg injury until the very end, he was a master of deception honed over many years.
A man capable of lying with the utmost sincerity.
Cypress spoke again.
"To be precise, I should say I cannot fight conditionally."
Enkrid listened to his explanation quietly.
Knight of Vows and Resolve.
That phrase would summarize Cypress's life.
There were countless times the Southern Front had nearly collapsed.
Each time, it was the exploits of Cypress and the Crimson Cloak Knights that held the line.
Especially Sir Cypress, who achieved feats worthy of the moniker 'One who accomplishes anything.'
"My Will is entangled and bound by restrictions. If I break them, using Will becomes even harder."
Knight Cypress had sworn oaths to his inner Will while overcoming several crises.
"I will not use Will outside the Southern Front."
That was his oath.
If not for that, the front would have been breached long ago.
If not for him, there was no one to stop it.
"Even when Knight Oara was in danger, even during the civil war, I was in no position to help anyway."
His power was limited to this front.
In exchange, he surpassed his limits and stopped what was unbearable.
Like a small dam holding back a flooding torrent alone.
Such was his life.
"Then just guard this place well."
Enkrid replied.
"Aren't you surprised?"
"I am surprised."
"Your face says otherwise."
"Should I have gasped in shock?"
He had guessed something was going on.
He just didn't know exactly what.
Hadn't they fought back-to-back, matching their breath and swinging their swords together?
When he saw Cypress unhesitatingly throw himself into danger at the final moment, Enkrid realized the knight before him was simply executing what he had imagined and prepared for countless times.
'Without having to die countless times.'
Even without repeating the day like Enkrid, the knight before him had died countless times in his head.
Every time Lihin-Stetten brought out a new strategy, he prepared for death.
Enduring every moment with firm will and strengthening his resolve.
'Density of Will.'
That was what Enkrid learned watching Cypress.
Not all Will has the same density.
Cypress had the densest Will among all the people Enkrid had met.
If compared to wine, it was like a vintage aged the longest on the continent.
A wine whose aroma would dye everything around it just by uncorking.
As he thought this, Cypress brought up alcohol.
"His Majesty gave me a few bottles of precious liquor, and I have some I saved to drink when the war with the Southerners ended. Care for a drink? I plan to hold a banquet this evening. A victory banquet."
"The other guys would shout cheers rather than me. Yes, I will attend."
"Thank you. A banquet without a war hero would be meaningless."
"Are you skipping the banquet?"
"I'm not talking about me."
A few trivial jokes, stories about burning the Great Emperor's corpse, and remarks that his son, though seemingly weak, didn't look like a man who would break easily, passed between them.
'Listen to what your body says.'
Cypress's words on the battlefield came to mind.
As expected, his explanation was a mess.
'Not listening to what the body says.'
He should have said to face and grasp the changes happening in the body and change the density of Will accordingly.
Meaning, change the way Will is used to match physical changes.
'This explanation is difficult too.'
If a layman heard it, they'd ask, 'Density? What's that?'
But the Madmen Knights would understand, so it wouldn't be bad to discuss this later.
Plus, having spent days refining the theory established while fighting the Great Emperor, he had plenty to say.
***
"Hey, spill even a drop of that and your head is gone."
A banquet in the army, especially in the field, was different from one in the city.
At this level, it was more accurate to call it a drinking bout.
Whole pigs were being roasted everywhere, and various alcohols from wine to whiskey and fruit liquor appeared.
The noble army unsparingly spread out the supplies they brought.
Was roasting a whole smoked ham and eating it on bread a traditional field dish?
The combination of dry bread and the aroma of greasy ham was quite edible.
The one who shouted in Enkrid's ear about not wasting the liquor was Rem.
It was directed at Lien, who was holding liquor from the South.
Lien wasn't a weak man.
When Rem said something, he sneered and openly spilled the liquor.
Seeing that, a murderous aura dwelled in Rem's eyes.
Not that he spilled it to actually fight.
"Cheers."
Lien, having done something strange, smiled brightly.
How should one put it.
'That guy too.'
Wasn't normal.
Lien pretended to spill the liquor but caught it all in a cup.
A petty trick.
Seeing not a single drop splashed, seemed he even used Will to catch it.
Finally, as Rem took the bottle from Lien's hand, a man resembling a bear beastkin next to him said with a smile.
"A bold and interesting brother. You use Eil Karaz style martial arts?"
"No."
"Yes?"
"Not use, but master. You can call me a Martial Arts Master."
Lien boasted of his arm muscles revealed by wearing short sleeves in the chilly weather.
Veins stood out vividly over the dense muscles on his forearm.
The bonfire cast colors over his arm, and his tone had the air of someone who rolled in city back alleys.
"Truly an interesting brother."
As Audin spoke and tried to grab Lien's wrist, Lien turned his wrist and aimed for Audin's wrist instead.
Both holding cups in their other hands, they tapped their knuckles and fingers against each other with their free hands.
Seemed like light play, but both were knights.
The force in their gestures was substantial.
Still, no one stopped them or said anything.
"So you mean you two are best friends?"
Ingis spoke to Fel and Ropord.
"What? Want to die?"
"Sir Ingis, please retract those words. This rustic fellow is one of the members I teach."
"Who teaches whom? Wanna die?"
Ropord and Fel bickering looked quite friendly.
To Ingis's eyes, at least.
Well, they deny it to death with their mouths, but rarely are there people as coordinated as those two.
"I have a fiancée. So courtship is forbidden."
Shinar aimed to solidify her position here as well.
She was shouting as if giving a speech in front of a group of soldiers.
"My fiancée is over there."
Her finger naturally pointed at Enkrid.
"If you visit the Border Guard later, there is a witch who will gouge out your eyes just for looking."
She was in quite high spirits.
Seeing her add trivial words, it was certain.
'Because of the demon's death?'
Must be.
Fairies hate demons.
Most Fairies Enkrid knew were like that.
The liquor brought from the South was sweet yet strong, and strong yet fragrant.
How to put it, should say the scent was hot?
Just smelling it felt like heat was transmitted to the esophagus.
At the same time stimulating the salivary glands.
"I suspect the royal family originally has a tradition of stashing a bottle or two of precious liquor."
Krang laughed and said from the side.
Enkrid nodded in agreement.
Amidst the burning bonfire, loud laughter was heard here and there.
"Sir. Please spar with me later."
Meanwhile, several Crimson Cloak members showing interest in Ragna displayed envy and competitiveness simultaneously.
"How did you polish your divinity like that?"
The priesthood dispatched from Legion showed great interest in Audin and Theresa.
Before anyone knew, several priests gathered closely in front of the two, and Audin and Theresa spoke in unison.
Seemed like they practiced taking turns speaking.
"In a healthy body."
Audin said.
"Dwells a healthy mind."
Theresa received.
"And outstanding divinity resides."
Audin finished again.
Even the bright smile was perfect.
On top of that, Theresa started humming.
"Pardon?"
The priest who asked tilted his head.
"We will teach you the training method."
Probably, from tomorrow until they left this place, they would suffer from hellish muscle pain.
It was when Enkrid was looking around and drinking a few cups.
"Excuse me for a moment."
Krang left his seat, and another filled it.
Sitting with a rustling sound, she threw kindling into the bonfire.
Sparks flew.
The red firelight cast color on her face.
A woman whose scars looked like part of her beauty.
Her name is Aurelia Everhold.
Aurelia, who acted as if staring down the bonfire for a moment, opened her mouth.
"Thank you for saving Master."
She didn't hide that Cypress would have died if not for Enkrid.
To her, the Master was family and the grandfather she relied on since childhood before being a Commander.
If the Master had died in this battle, she would have felt like vomiting blood from guilt.
Therefore, she couldn't help but express gratitude to the one who saved her grandfather and Master.
Enkrid stared at Aurelia's face.
Perhaps because of the bonfire, her cheeks seemed slightly flushed.
Yet her straight back and posture were upright.
A posture without disarray even after drinking a few cups.
Hard things break easily.
Rigid things are not flexible.
Just like her posture now.
'That's why it's difficult.'
People don't change with a word of advice.
He knows.
However, in some moments, inspiration surges like a river flooding open floodgates, and the path becomes clearly visible.
Like now.
The path for this friend named Aurelia was visible before, but now it entered his eyes more clearly.
Enkrid drew a few paths she would take in his head.
'Not deciding the path.'
But teaching how to walk.
If intending to lead her to be a knight, it must be so.
It was when Enkrid was about to open his mouth with such thoughts.
Still looking at Aurelia.
"Don't."
The Fairy's voice was heard from right behind as if she approached when he didn't know.
The Dragonkin also sat opposite the bonfire, and Luagarne stuck her butt next to him.
Wondering what not to do, the Dragonkin said.
"Watched you all along, you have a habit of charming everyone in sight."
"We decided to call that demonic charm."
Luagarne said those words.
"...It's not like that."
Aurelia denied.
Naturally, Enkrid had no such intention whatsoever.
"My partner and fiancée, do you intend to live as a philanderer for life?"
Shinar threw a joke consecutively.
"Seems like the word most unsuited to me."
When Enkrid answered, Shinar's eyebrow twitched.
"Partner? Fiancée?"
"I mean philanderer."
"You give this Fairy a big laugh."
Though not a joke, the Fairy let out a laugh.
Expressiveness hard to see from a Fairy who doesn't show emotion.
Well, Enkrid had seen it occasionally, so leaving her be, he spoke to Aurelia.
"If you want to know the path upward, come find me."
The banquet ended with eating and drinking.
Enkrid was pestered a bit by the three including the Dragonkin, Rem put a couple of Crimson Cloak Knights to sleep with his fist in the middle of it, and Ropord met an old colleague and left a lecture.
"If you don't want to stay in place."
"If not?"
"Effort. Effooooooort."
Although he and Fel insisted they weren't friends, they were teasing people in the same way.
"...This bastard?"
Building cultivation didn't mean not getting excited.
That day, Ropord deepened friendship by exchanging fists with three knights.
And the next morning, Aurelia came to find Enkrid, and the first to greet her was Rem.
"Confessing in the morning? Should wipe the sleep from your eyes first."
"It's not like that."
Aurelia's gaze headed beyond Rem, and Enkrid nodded his chin instead of a greeting.
Both went out letting Rem's nonsense flow indifferently.
"Why do I feel like I'm being ignored?"
Rem muttered, but didn't intervene further.
Enkrid faced Shinar who was already waiting and her.
"Then Shinar."
Enkrid called, and the Fairy asked Aurelia.
"Right, do you know how to dance a bit?"
Shinar taught Aurelia how to dance.
To teach how to ride the rhythm and enjoy the flow.
Also, this was strictly for relaxing the tense body.
The next was the real thing.
"I intend to teach you how to change your muscles to be flexible."
Audin teaching training methods to loosen a stiff body.
'Perfect.'
Relieve tension with dance and cultivate flexibility with the body.
Thoughts are stiff and attitude is rigid?
That's the problem so fix it first?
'No matter how much you talk with your mouth.'
Learning with the body is faster.
Especially at Aurelia's current level.
She didn't have to become a knight from a semi-knight, but go through a process of crossing from a squire to a semi-knight level.
Moreover, what is learned now would be ruminated later and become good assets.
Of course, from Aurelia's perspective, maybe not.
She had to endure a bear beastkin tearing her legs and tearing muscle grains one by one, and learn steps of unknown meaning from a Fairy.
She was flustered and hurriedly looked for her Master, even screaming.
"Grandfather! Master! They are trying to kill me."
Because it really felt like dying.
Of course, Cypress just laughed aloud.
Enkrid stayed a few more days after that.
To wait for body recovery as well.
Like that, it was the night he decided to leave two days later.
Having seen Krang's speech during the day which was so impressive, sleep didn't come easily, so he went for a night walk.
***
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