Chapter 113 - Arrival
"Alright, I'm back."
"Today's quota is done."
On the third day since deployment, what began with a light provocation and escalated into a melee battle.
For three straight days, Rem went to the battlefield and returned the same way—his twin axes dripping blood, flinging crimson drops onto the ground.
Each time he stepped out, he killed exactly three enemies.
His vigorous ax swings left his foes looking like logs split apart.
Except, these "logs" were alive, spilling brains and guts when cleaved.
At the start of the skirmish, when allied and enemy forces clashed, Rem swiftly struck, split heads, and returned as if it were routine.
A commander who didn't feel a thrill watching such feats should hand in their badge.
To those with any discernment, he was a talent they couldn't afford to lose.
And yet, Rem wasn't the only exceptional soldier in their ranks.
"I can handle it alone. Why do they keep pairing me with others?"
This was Ragna, dragging his feet with boredom.
Initially, he drew no attention.
He barely fought, just holding out enough to return alive.
Unless someone actively provoked him, he didn't throw himself into the fray.
"Such a waste of talent."
The fairy company commander was among the few who recognized Ragna's potential.
She left him be, simply observing, until one day, Ragna got separated from the group while moving between battlefields.
"How do you even get lost here?"
Whether he'd taken a wrong turn around the mountains or secretly crossed a river to raid the enemy's main camp, no one knew.
What was certain was that Ragna wandered into enemy territory—a death sentence—but returned unscathed, casually carrying the head of the enemy commander.
"Ah, I just felt like going left back there," he had said, nonchalantly, the severed head swinging from his fingers as a bonus.
"You got lost?" the fairy company commander asked.
Ragna nodded.
That was the end of the conversation.
No one had brought him in expecting to enforce discipline.
Everyone in the Independent Unit had been recruited under similar conditions.
"Fill the gap left by your squad leader," came the order.
For them, Enkrid's name was synonymous with magic.
"Why does HQ send people to us and then tell us to make up for any losses?"
"If you slack off, it'll be seen as Enkrid's directive. Do you want to burden him?"
Without further argument, they began packing for deployment—a group that normally scoffed at orders.
"Three a day, no more," said Rem.
"Sounds good," replied Ragna.
Jaxen silently nodded, while Audin, the devout one, declared, "In the name of the divine."
As for Andrew, Mac, and Enri—they were accustomed to doing whatever they were told.
Krais, however, was absent, having taken leave.
Andrew, sporting a swollen black eye, seemed oddly excited to head into battle, and Mac, who bore a matching bruise on the opposite eye, was just as eager.
"War! Combat! Deployment!" they cheered, their enthusiasm unsettling.
"You're happy about this? You shouldn't be," remarked Rem with a sly grin.
For a moment, the fairy company commander swore she saw a demon in that smile, though it vanished with a blink.
These were the individuals he had brought together.
Jaxen and Audin were as skilled as the rest.
Jaxen, for instance, barely seemed to try during fights.
Yet, no matter how hard the enemy struck, they couldn't land so much as a scratch on him.
"Why can't I hit him? Just you wait, you!" one frustrated enemy soldier had yelled, but Jaxen didn't even reply, treating the threat like a dog barking in the distance.
Jaxen routinely returned unharmed, having killed no one but taken no damage.
Meanwhile, Audin had only entered battle once, but the sight of him casually snapping an opponent's forearm with his bare hands had sent shivers even through his allies.
Breaking bones wasn't impressive by itself, but the way Audin gently grasped his opponent's wrist, then snapped it like a twig, was otherworldly.
"Stay away! Don't come near me!" cried the terrified enemies who witnessed the scene.
Even allies found themselves unnerved.
Audin's towering frame—smaller than a giant but massive compared to ordinary soldiers—made him impossible to ignore.
"Less than ten men, but their combat power…" thought the commander. "It feels like I'm surrounded by versions of myself, multiplied tenfold."
Just "outstanding" didn't do them justice.
Properly utilized, they were a devastating force capable of wreaking havoc far beyond their numbers.
"That's probably why," she mused.
These soldiers had survived despite their many incidents and troubles because they were too valuable to lose.
The fairy company commander, having taken responsibility for them, continued to observe.
This was the extent of the fighting they allowed themselves to do.
But what if someone pushed them to go beyond that limit?
"Who gave you permission to fall back? Who ordered a retreat?"
A squad leader, newly assigned and clueless about their reputation, had dared to confront them.
He didn't know about Rem, infamous for attacking superiors, or Audin, who would break bones without hesitation if "divine guidance" told him to.
He didn't know about Jaxen's silent lethality or Ragna's strange, infrequent bursts of action.
The first to step forward was Andrew, noticing how irritated Rem already looked.
"Leave it be, or there'll be bloodshed," he thought grimly.
If things escalated, Rem might split the man's skull with his axe.
"We belong to the Independent Unit," Andrew stated.
"Operational orders come only from our direct superior."
"What? So, you're just going to sit back and watch?"
The new squad leader couldn't accept it.
How could these soldiers lounge in camp while others risked their lives?
Independent Unit or not, such behavior was intolerable.
In the squad leader's defiance, Andrew saw a reflection of his younger self—an ignorant fool who hadn't understood the weight of his actions.
Sighing deeply, Andrew looked to the sky before resigning himself.
"My name is Andrew Gardener, eldest son of the Gardner family. This unit consists of nobles. Just leave us alone," he said, his voice calm but devoid of sincerity.
His face, though composed, betrayed a sense of exhaustion.
Mac silently approached and gave Andrew a reassuring pat on the back.
"You think being a noble means you can get away with this?" the squad leader shot back.
At that, Rem moved as if to speak, causing the squad leader to hesitate.
"Maybe I should take a closer look at his insides," muttered Rem, his tone cold.
To prevent further chaos, Andrew challenged the squad leader to a duel and swiftly knocked him down.
It was enough to satisfy Rem, who refrained from swinging his axe.
However, Andrew himself received a thorough beating afterward.
"This is the army, noble or not," the fairy company commander scolded Andrew, though her words were accompanied by a consoling pat on the shoulder.
The Independent Unit under Enkrid—now infamously known as the Madmen Unit—owed much of their restraint to Andrew's efforts to keep the peace.
There were plenty of reasons, of course.
The current position of the 1st Infantry was northeast of Border Guard.
They were stationed in a gravel field, with the Pen-Hanil River on their left and a series of small hills that could be crossed within a day to their right.
Here and there, blades of grass peeked shyly through the gravel, and near the riverbank, weeds that reached an adult's waist were scattered sparsely.
On the Green Pearl Plains, part of the knights and the main army were engaged in a standoff against the enemy's main force.
The role of the 1st Infantry from Border Guard was to hold the line here, acting as a wall to block the enemy's forces or any detached units trying to flank around.
In a way, their fate was tied to the outcome of the battle between the main forces.
If their allies struck first, part of the knightly order would sweep through the enemy stationed here.
On the other hand, if the enemy moved first, they might find themselves facing enemy knights without support from their own.
That's how things started, at least.
But with both sides hesitating, this battlefront inadvertently became the opening skirmish—the vanguard clash.
One infantry battalion and one independent company.
Both forces were evenly matched in strength and conditions.
The main armies of both sides remained stationed on the Green Pearl Plains, watching this battlefield closely.
So far, it had been the Naurilian forces that were consistently pushed back.
Rumors spoke of giant soldiers among the enemy ranks.
Some enemy soldiers even stood out, taunting, "Come fight me if you think you're stronger!" to provoke their opponents.
All of this chipped away at the morale of their allies.
Under such circumstances, what they needed was a variable—something to tip the scales of victory.
And that variable was clearly visible to the battalion commander.
The Madmen Platoon—undeniably a force that stood out.
"If they fight properly, that's enough. Do they have any demands? If we push too hard, they'll just reject us entirely."
The battalion commander was wise.
He immediately recognized the state of the Madmen Platoon.
Though the fairy company commander had somehow managed to bring them along, they were still an uncontrollable group.
She could subdue them by force if necessary, but that wasn't the time for it.
'The battle hasn't been lost yet.'
The fight was only just beginning.
Battalion Commander Marcus was a battle maniac, not a fool.
He knew that persuading them through reasonable means would raise their morale far more than coercion.
"We need their platoon leader."
The fairy company commander's response was direct, and the battalion commander granted permission without hesitation.
"Bring him here."
That was the end of it.
The company commander saluted and turned away.
***
Earlier that morning, Rem had declared, almost as a demand:
"Bring our platoon leader here. Fighting without knowing whether he's dead or alive doesn't feel right."
It had sounded more like a threat to stop killing three enemies a day if they didn't comply.
Immediately, a swift reconnaissance messenger was dispatched.
Three days later, the platoon leader, Enkrid, stood before the company commander.
The Madmen Platoon had been brought to the rear to welcome Enkrid back, which was why they had managed to meet him within three days.
"If you've returned, shouldn't you report in immediately? Didn't you miss me?"
The company commander greeted Enkrid with a fairy-style joke.
Enkrid's expression twisted in response, much to the commander's delight.
Seeing that scowl washed away the frustration she'd felt from dealing with Enkrid's unruly platoon members.
'Thick-headed fools.'
The commander's gaze landed on Enkrid's right wrist.
"Injured?"
"I had a scuffle with some thugs in the city."
"Were those thugs Frogs, by any chance?"
At those words, both Krais and Esther turned their gazes sharply toward the commander.
Enkrid remained calm—it was likely just another joke.
"It's not a serious injury."
The wrist wasn't broken.
While the bone was damaged, it wasn't enough to stop him from gripping or wielding a sword.
Treatment was necessary, but it wasn't a critical wound.
His dedication to wrist training through isolation techniques had paid off.
"In any case, welcome back to the team."
The green-eyed company commander spoke, and Enkrid saluted.
The fairy returned the gesture with a slight nod.
"Now, off you go."
Enkrid headed straight to where his platoon was gathered.
He had been eager to return.
Even though they caused trouble when he was with them, the chaos they stirred when he wasn't around was on a completely different scale.
***
"Should I just quit?"
Initially, even platoon leaders had tried to provoke him.
Now, not even those kinds of people were coming around.
Playing around with Andrew had become tedious as well.
"There's no reason to stay here anymore."
Leaving would be simple.
Rem wasn't thinking about an honorable discharge like others.
No, he'd just disappear without a word.
The longer he was apart from Enkrid, the more this thought grew.
"If he doesn't show up today, I'm leaving."
Yet, Rem continued to repeat the same dull routine each day—a monotonous cycle of meaningless battles that didn't even stir his interest anymore.
"Die!"
It was tedious, so tedious.
If they were going to kill someone, they should just stab with their spear already.
Why waste time shouting?
The distraction caused their breathing to falter, making the spear tip waver without them noticing.
Rem swung his axe vertically.
The axe blade struck the spearhead.
Clang!
"Guh!"
The enemy soldier lost their grip on the spear, their hands torn apart. Losing a weapon in the middle of a battle?
This guy didn't have a fraction of the platoon leader's skill. No, comparing them was an insult—a sin.
Crack.
The axe split the enemy soldier's skull.
Still, it was just as dull as ever.
After killing three enemies, Rem returned, caught in the same repetitive cycle of boredom and tedium.
Even after being moved to the rear, where there were no battles, he found himself with even less to do.
Ragna was in a similar state.
He lacked motivation above all else.
"Did he die?"
Otherwise, why was there no word from him?
With the platoon leader absent, everything felt stagnant.
Ragna spent his days aimlessly, doing everything half-heartedly.
Apart from slaughtering a dozen enemy soldiers when he got lost once, he hadn't done anything.
Audin prayed to his god and asked:
"Is it time for me to leave?"
As always, his god answered with silence, respecting Audin's free will.
The decision lay in Audin's heart.
"To leave or not to leave."
Audin asked himself but had yet to decide.
Jaxen, meanwhile, had joined the military with a purpose.
Now that the purpose was almost fulfilled, there was no reason to stay.
It was time to leave—lingering here was pointless.
Logically, that's what he thought.
Unnecessary and meaningless tasks.
Days of inefficiency that would've been unthinkable before.
And yet, he remained.
"Tonight."
Jaxen resolved to leave, though it was the third night in a row he'd made that decision.
As another ordinary day passed with everyone lost in their own thoughts, the sun began to set, casting dark shadows across the camp.
Someone entered the tent of the so-called Madmen Platoon, now cloaked in silence.
"I'm back."
The voice was calm and steady.
As always, Enkrid had returned.
Everyone in the tent fell silent, their gazes shifting.
Unexpectedly, the first to react was Andrew.
"Ughhhhhh! Whyyyyyy! Why did you take soooo loooong?!"
Tears streamed from Andrew's face as he rushed to greet him, his tear-streaked face a testament to his pent-up emotions.
His sobs conveyed everything he'd been holding inside.
Enkrid, seeing Andrew's face, couldn't help but laugh softly.
"Why is he faster than me, and why is he throwing a fit? You back?"
Rem's voice came from behind Andrew. Beyond him, Ragna, Audin, and Jaxen also appeared.