Chapter 337 - Playing Tricks on the Ghouls
"What about the departure?"
Enkrid asked about the date.
"There's no rush."
It would take at least half a month, Krais thought.
The gray ghoul was a monster that had been lingering there for a long time.
Even if it were left alone for another month or two, it wouldn't cause any major problems.
"Understood."
"How many troops should we take?"
Krais estimated at least two companies. It was a task that required such a scale.
After a brief moment of thought, Enkrid responded.
"One independent company."
"...An independent company?"
Currently, the only independent company in the Border Guard was the Madmen unit.
Has this guy completely lost his mind?
This wasn't a joke; he was dead serious.
The low risk meant they could prepare adequately. With Aspen no longer a threat, it was
feasible.
Previously, Aspen's meddling had prevented them from mobilizing troops freely.
The increased number of irregular combat-ready personnel, including Enkrid, played a part. But
the clearer reason was that they now had the capacity.
All of Krais's bewilderment and emotions boiled down to a single word:
"Eh?"
Is this really something to be shocked about?
Enkrid had faced gnoll and centaur colonies.
If there was no need to hold defensive forces or protect a village, then—
Dealing with a monster colony was surprisingly simple.
The answer was rooted in accumulated experience.
"Take out the leader, and it's over."
A straightforward principle, and an accurate one.
Even scholars, considered the most rational thinkers, deemed eliminating the leader the best
solution for the gray ghoul's territory.
So, what was needed?
At the very least, knight-level combat strength. Having knights would be even better.
That was the ideal solution.
However, since there wasn't any severe damage right now, just inconvenience, the royal palace's
stance was to address it when resources allowed.
Thus, knights wouldn't be sent.
While the palace might overlook the issue, Krais couldn't.
The situation had changed slightly.
Rerouting the trade route caused losses—major losses.
Huge, staggering losses.
For the Border Guard, it was an issue that had to be resolved.
For the future, trade routes needed to be maintained and even improved. Krais had already
brainstormed ways to do so.
"Kronas are leaking."
Everyone knew that prolonged transportation meant losing silver coins here and there.
So, the matter would be resolved.
This mission would elevate Enkrid's reputation further, especially since the royal palace had
issued an official request.
This was, therefore, a mission that had to succeed—handled both successfully and stably.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Why?"
"Because that's all it takes."
"Did you hit your head during training or something?"
"Why are you still using informal speech?"
"I'm just so shocked. Truly shocked."
Will this guy ever act normal?
Enkrid smacked the disrespectful Krais on the head.
"That hurts."
"I could've split your skull open."
He probably wasn't lying.
Krais endured the pain.
Only the Madmen unit would be sent.
"Ah, well, it'll work out, right?"
Enkrid himself was going, as the commander, himself, had decided.
Krais could roughly understand the reasoning.
Expanding the scale and leading a larger force would result in casualties.
Injuries or deaths were inevitable.
That much was obvious.
But was that the only reason?
Not entirely.
There was a subtle fervor in Enkrid's eyes—a quiet intensity.
He was itching for a fight.
Krais felt oddly certain of this.
Enkrid asked,
"There was a request from the central government?"
"It was close, but yes, they sent one."
The palace's justification had been convenient, but the request turned out to be real.
A letter had come along with it.
[Good fortune.]
Just two words.
It was from the former lord, Marcus.
"Busy, I see."
Enkrid didn't bother sending a reply. That was the end of it.
Everyone checked their equipment, prepared their supplies, and that was all the preparation Krais
could help with amidst the commotion.
It took only two days to prepare for deployment.
If a full company had been sent, it would have taken at least ten days. But with fewer troops,
things moved quickly.
Krais questioned whether this was the right course of action, but strangely, he didn't feel a sense
of foreboding.
Not even all the unit members were participating.
"Do we really have to go?"
As preparations were underway, Ragna asked, his eyes drooping with exhaustion.
He was starting to resemble an old, worn-out dog.
"If you're tired no matter how much you sleep, just die already," Rem quipped, blessing him with
sarcasm.
"If you want to die, come at me anytime. You can even ambush me in my sleep—not that it
would help," Ragna replied, politely rejecting the offer.
"Do we really need someone like that?"
Enkrid pondered briefly.
As long as the strategy of a small, elite strike team held, it would suffice.
For Ragna, the most important task during the mission was not to get lost.
"Get some rest."
Enkrid left Ragna be.
What would happen if the gray ghoul's threat escalated enough to warrant summoning knights?
"Well, that'd be fun too," Enkrid thought.
He always craved new challenges, and this mission was like rain falling on parched land.
He wasn't worried about danger or what might come after.
Those concerns were left to Krais.
Krais gathered intelligence, analyzed it, and assessed the value of the gray ghoul's forest—the
now-ruined woods.
He concluded that the leader of the colony hidden within wasn't as threatening as one might
think.
"A ghoul with enough intelligence to lead a colony," he thought.
This was a creature that defied the saying, 'Ghouls don't have brains.'
A thinking ghoul, hiding in the forest?
Why? Was it because food was abundant? Or because its innate violence had been suppressed?
"Ridiculous."
The reason was clear—it knew it could lose if it fought recklessly.
So it held its position on advantageous ground, waiting.
Krais judged this to be the true nature of the gray ghoul.
"Well, if things go wrong, Enkrid will get us out of it," he thought, recalling how Enkrid had
once escaped traps purely by instinct. Trusting him felt natural.
Two days later, the departure day arrived, and Shinar joined them.
"Not busy?"
"I'm a fairy," Shinar replied.
Her point was that she couldn't overlook monsters desecrating the forest.
Fairies loved the forest. Though plants didn't display emotions, the vitality of the woods
brimmed with life.
This vitality nourished fairies in unique ways.
With a healthy and lush forest, even fatal wounds could heal simply by spending time in it.
"I won't forgive them, in the name of the fairies," she declared.
Her dry determination earned a nod from Enkrid.
It didn't seem entirely like she was stepping in just to protect the forest's peace, but as a member
of the elite team, she wasn't lacking.
"Let's go."
After traveling a day by carriage, they set up camp, laid stones for cooking, set a pot on the fire,
and prepared sleeping arrangements.
A squad escorting them handled camp maintenance, lit the fire, and stood watch through the
night.
On their way, they encountered three ghouls.
"I'll handle this," said a soldier from Greenpearl who had joined them.
The squad engaged the ghouls in a coordinated attack.
As spring arrived, ghoul numbers had increased to the point they appeared even near roads. This
made trading routes more perilous, as rumors had suggested.
"Hyah!"
The soldiers let out battle cries as they fought.
Without sustaining a single scratch, they left the three ghouls sprawled on the ground.
The first two were decapitated. The third, more agile, had its legs severed before a stone was
hurled at its head from a distance, crushing its skull.
The third ghoul was faster and more cunning than the others, proving that not all monsters were
equal.
The squad's tactics reflected this understanding. Two skilled soldiers distracted the agile ghoul
with spears while the others attacked.
The combination of short spears and shields proved effective.
Enkrid evaluated their performance as solid.
"With more training on the basics…" he thought.
His version of "basics" began with sprinting beside the River of Death, which bordered the
Greenpearl plains. Running there offered a view of the ominous river—a sight that was anything
but comforting.
After resting for a night and traveling a few more days, they approached the gray ghoul's
territory.
Everyone, including the squad members, had managed the journey well.
"Well then, we'll take our leave," the escort squad leader said.
The squad leader saluted, and Enkrid nodded in acknowledgment before dismissing the troops.
He then surveyed his surroundings. The forest loomed ahead, filled with an ominous energy that
seeped into the clearing where they had set up camp.
"We'll move out at dawn," Enkrid declared.
Fighting monsters at night was a fool's errand.
"Agreed," Rem replied. No matter how confident one was in their skills, taking unnecessary risks
just for a single night's rest wasn't worth it.
Enkrid wasn't one to gamble recklessly.
At sunrise, he, Rem, Audin, Dunbakel, Teresa, and Shinar entered the Gray Ghoul's domain.
A faint mist veiled the ground, obscuring their vision, while gray-hued trees narrowed their field
of sight even further. Sour and musty smells mixed with the mist, filling the air with an
oppressive dampness.
"Just breathing here feels like it'll make you sick," Rem muttered, his boots crunching against the
gray leaves.
He wasn't wrong. Each breath carried a faint sense of poison, detectable to their finely tuned
senses. Prolonged exposure would surely accumulate toxicity in one's body.
'A ghoul that uses its brain, huh?' Enkrid thought.
There was a reason the creature had made this place its stronghold. If it hadn't found it this way,
it likely altered the environment itself. Of course, they had prepared for this beforehand.
However, the air's toxicity was heavier than expected.
For weaker individuals, two days here would lead to respiratory illness. But Enkrid and his
company were far from ordinary. Their robust health, honed through rigorous training, ensured
they could endure weeks in such conditions without succumbing.
"Grrrooaahhh!"
The foul air heralded the arrival of ghouls.
Enkrid's instincts informed him there were six. They charged through the trees, their bodies
tearing through the undergrowth with heavy footfalls.
Standing at the front, Enkrid naturally took the lead.
Ting.
With a flick of his thumb, he loosened the clasp on his sword sheath. Grasping the hilt, he
opened his senses further.
The ghouls came into view—flat nostrils, dark gray skin, muscular legs, and long arms ending in
curved claws designed to rend flesh. Their black, pupil-less eyes left dark trails through the gray
forest as they charged.
Enkrid calculated their speed and trajectory. There was no need for elaborate techniques—just
precision. His silver blade would suffice. Besides, their mission to confront the Gray Ghoul's
king meant conserving energy.
His movements were calculated to maximize efficiency and minimize effort.
The first came from above.
Thunk!
The ghoul leaped, crashing through branches as it descended.
Enkrid moved.
Pivoting on his left foot, he unsheathed his sword with his right hand. The first ghoul was split
vertically, a clean strike from head to chest. As its black blood sprayed, Enkrid adjusted his
stance.
With a fluid motion, he redirected his blade to the left, slicing through the heads of two more
ghouls. One had its skull cleaved diagonally, the other lost its crown entirely.
By the time the remaining three ghouls closed in, Enkrid had switched to his gladius. A quick
thrust dispatched two, while the final one fell to a precise strike to the head.
The entire sequence occurred in a single breath.
It was a masterclass in refined combat—every move deliberate, each strike calculated to control
the ghouls' actions. He forced them into predictable patterns, limiting their options and sealing
their fates.
'Sparring with Rem has paid off,' Enkrid thought.
The technique he employed was one he had recently developed—a style he called the "Capturing
Blade." It restricted an opponent's movement through precise footwork, body angles, and sword
placement.
"Are you just playing tricks with ghouls now?" Rem quipped, his tone half-teasing.
Enkrid nodded, unfazed. "Let's keep going."
Though this new technique was still budding, he intended to hone it further through repeated
practice.
"Save some for me," Dunbakel grumbled.
But in the six subsequent ghoul encounters, none of the others had a chance to raise their
weapons—Enkrid handled them all.
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