The ostensible reason Anu, King of the East, had come to Border Guard was Martai. Naturally, he had another motive.

"Has Naurilia gone mad, or is it the newly crowned king? I'll have to find out. But first, I want a look at this Demon Killer."

Anu was a hero who had made his name killing a lion on the eastern plains at eighteen, then gathered his people in the East and founded a nation before he turned fifty. He had one bad habit: whenever he saw someone promising, he tried to take them east. He coveted talent.

Not that this necessarily brought them misfortune.

"Regret becoming my brother? Then you're free to go back!"

Was there anyone on the continent more magnanimous? Once he brought them over and they went through enough together, they invariably became easterners. They fell for his charm, intoxicated by his ambition and dreams.

His dream was vast and lofty, even outlandish, but he was making it come true. By now, it was fair to say that every settled corner of the eastern frontier bore his touch. From eighteen to the present, he had devoted his entire life to opening up the East. Anyone who knew his life and met him would acknowledge his charm.

'Though he is a little stubborn and overbearing.'

The brown-skinned adjutant Asalluhi adjusted his turban. Whatever anyone might say, he respected his king's generosity and refusal to hold grudges. He believed it was his duty to make up for the king's shortcomings.

"Let's go see this fellow who dreams of killing demons."

Somewhere along the way, the rumors about Encrid had become distorted, but the King of the East had no prejudices. So the fellow was mad to kill demons? Well, why not?

Martai was an excuse. Clearly, he had spotted talent he wanted. Recent events in the East had kept the king frantically busy, but he was enjoying a lull now. The timing was good.

Once they reached Border Guard and entered the city with a suitable excuse, finding this Encrid was no trouble at all. Getting to the training ground inside the barracks wasn't particularly difficult, either.

"He accepts requests to spar? From anyone?"

At Asalluhi's question, the soldier studied them both, but seemed to have no intention of stopping them by force. The general had issued personal orders: anyone who made it this far was beyond an ordinary soldier's ability to stop. Let them through.

Whether they were assassins or challengers, if the soldiers couldn't stop them anyway, there was no point in attacking them. Granted, the general had added that he wouldn't stop anyone who really wanted to fight, but soldiers that desperately, utterly, terribly eager for a fight were rare indeed.

Intending to let them through, the soldier replied.

"Yes, but..."

Anu laughed heartily and went in first. The soldier didn't stop him. A raw recruit might have, but he was something of a veteran. These men had already made it past Meellun, the Frog who guarded the city, hadn't they? The general had also said that anyone who wasn't confident of putting Meellun on his back had best not think of attacking them.

"Well, the lad certainly has spirit."

The king murmured to himself as he passed the soldier, continuing unimpeded. Watching him, the soldier thought the visitor looked rather excited, though he couldn't say why.

The king entered the training ground.

'Interesting.'

He was enjoying himself.

He let his presence show for a moment as he looked at the Demon Killer, and the man responded with an eagerness to fight. It had been a very long time since he had felt such combativeness from someone. And such pure, upright fighting spirit, at that.

Ordinarily, he wouldn't have immediately resorted to blows, but the man's presence stirred something in him.

"I don't know either."

More precisely, the man's stubborn insistence had delighted him. That was how they came to exchange blows.

* * *

And so the Mercenary King of the East came to stay with the unit.

'Now, let's see.'

Time and again, his covetous gaze wandered over its members.

First, Rem.

'Excellent natural instincts.'

He wielded two axes with extraordinary skill.

The king called those he acknowledged his brothers. It came from the name his band had used when they first entered the East: the Ochre Hood Brotherhood. The custom had stuck.

Even among those brothers, such skill was rare. Not that it was a level he had never seen before.

The East was a harsh land, as dangerous as the Demonic Realm. Wasn't that the nature of unexplored lands? Giant monsters appeared frequently, and there were plenty of beasts more dangerous still. If only that were all. There were flying demonic beasts, and demon bastards who toyed with people, too.

At any rate, the East was the East, and Rem's skill would stand out even there. Men like him were uncommon in those lands, too. And he was only the beginning.

What about this Audin fellow?

"Let's try strength against strength!"

Anu abruptly clasped hands with him during their spar to test his strength.

'He's stronger than a bloodhide bear!'

Anu was privately impressed. Above all, this bear in human form called Audin didn't rely on strength alone.

'I've seen plenty of strong men, but...'

When he tried to twist Audin's wrist, the man responded with a display of exquisite finesse. Had he ever met someone with both this strength and this technique? Even among his brothers, the man would rank among the best.

Then there was the swordsman named Ragna. Someone with exceptional talent was called a genius. This bastard was unquestionably a genius. A bundle of heaven-sent talent. He imitated the essence of every technique Anu showed him on sight.

His fundamentals weren't bad, either. The swordsmanship he demonstrated with his black greatsword was both swift and heavy. Someone who had barely stumbled into knighthood wouldn't stand a chance against him.

All of this whetted Anu's appetite, but it wasn't surprising. Exceptional instincts. A honed body. Frightening talent. Rare. Truly rare, but nothing he had never seen before. So there was little reason for surprise.

That didn't mean he didn't want them. There was a Beastman with considerable potential, too. He coveted the half-Giant named Teresa just as much. The others as well: Roford, and the Shepherd called Pell. Every one of them possessed talent that stirred his greed.

'Interesting.'

Anu felt another surge of enjoyment. There was even someone outside the usual mold.

"A mage, too."

Esther, in human form, took one look at the king and paid him no further heed. She wouldn't even acknowledge him. She seemed utterly uninterested.

All of this might have seemed wondrous enough, but something else struck Anu as stranger still. There was one man who led them all.

'Defeat.'

What did it mean to lose? Everyone with any real skill had towering pride. They were all alike. Rem, Ragna, Audin: none of them should have been far outside that category.

Yet what was this?

'What is this fellow?'

One man overturned all that negativity.

"Could we spar?"

To lose was to have one's abilities denied. Before the urge to win came the sense of defeat. It lingered longer, gnawing and eating away at a person like a demon's whisper. That was the nature of negative emotions.

It was especially true of those Anu had utterly crushed. He had indulged the man's obstinacy, but not kindly. He had dismantled every technique the man threw at him.

And yet.

"Are you busy?"

He kept coming back for more.

Defeat ate away at a person, and the more skilled they were, the worse it was. But not this man. Anu wasn't fond of the concept of proto knights, but even by that measure, the fellow was formidable. Wouldn't he rank among the ten best of Anu's brothers? A man that skilled paid no heed to losing.

'Does he have no pride?'

Or did he possess something greater than mere pride?

Anu recalled his own past defeats. They certainly hadn't felt good, but he hadn't had time to dwell on them. He had needed to move forward. This man was the same. Anu caught the scent of a kindred spirit.

"Let's spar, then."

King Anu nodded. The man who gave defeat no thought raised his sword.

Encrid lost, and Anu won. The result was never going to change, and yet...

"My thanks."

That was what the loser said. Looking at the desire and ardor in his eyes, Anu could see that losing wasn't meaningless to him. He simply dreamed of something greater.

"I'm going to open up the East," Anu said.

Encrid stared at him, wondering what he meant.

"Let's have a talk sometime."

Anu laughed heartily. How delightful it would be to cart the whole lot of them off to the East.

* * *

After a few days, there was no need to ask anyone why the King of the East had come.

"Impressive skills. How about joining me on the path of exploration?"

He coveted talent, and made no attempt to hide it.

Rem blinked at the remark. He had cut down a thick tree and was making a chair out of the log to get used to his new axes. Each swishing stroke sliced and shaved away green wood. Sawdust and wood chips lay piled around him.

Anu could tell just from watching him make a wooden chair.

'This bastard's skill with an axe...'

At first, he had thought it was a level of skill he'd seen before, but the more he watched, the more extraordinary the man's instincts proved to be.

"If I'm impressive, what does that make you?"

Rem's manner was insolent. He wouldn't have been Rem if he cared whether the other man was a king or a knight.

"You can't compare yourself to me."

Anu shook his head. What was the point of comparing anyone to him?

"Somehow, you sound even more insufferable than our Captain."

"... Asalluhi, is this an insult? An offense against the royal house?"

It was a joke. Not that Rem would have cared even if he had genuinely made a fuss about being insulted.

'Time for a trip west.'

Rem renewed his resolve. Without his spells, he would hesitate to swing first no matter what this King of the East did in front of him. That irritated him no end.

Well, if he fought for real, he wouldn't go down easily, and he had learned something from their spars. Still, it rankled.

'Let's go west.'

His resolve strengthened once again.

The king was no fool. He knew how to exploit a man's weakness. With Rem, he traded banter like a comic double act. With Ragna, he said exactly what the man most wanted to hear.

"You know, there's plenty of pathfinding to do in the East. Wouldn't you come help?"

"You need a guide?"

"Of course I do."

"Finding shortcuts and making new paths are my specialties, but I'm busy right now."

Once Ragna grew obstinate, he was worse than Rem. Having decided he wouldn't listen, his mind was now like Audin's fist. Steel.

The king never tired. He kept making similar offers to everyone. To Dunbachel in particular, he made a proposal that seemed downright audacious.

"Want to be my daughter?"

"Why would I?"

Dunbachel retorted in Rem's style.

"Would you rather be my wife? Sorry, but I have no need of a mate."

"What are you talking about? I don't like old men."

The King of the East wasn't hurt by such words. He merely laughed heartily. Everyone had much the same thought: how was a bastard like this the King of the East?

Krais outdid them all.

"Your Majesty, King of the East! Is that really true? There are mountains of gold piled up in the East?"

The king laughed heartily again before replying.

"I don't need you, though."

He was very clear about whom he needed: people who could fight. Adjutant Asalluhi remained unperturbed, evidently accustomed to such scenes.

* * *

Ragna watched the two men who had just finished sparring.

'Changing the tempo makes an ordinary stab look like an incredible technique.'

What was technique? Ultimately, nothing more than a way to stab and cut what lay before you. Ragna sank deep within himself.

His talent went beyond excellent. It was extraordinary, superior enough to make one wonder whether anyone possessed greater talent than he did. The fights he had witnessed so far had stimulated it. He was a man who could advance even without a catalyst. What would happen with one right before his eyes?

He revisited everything he had learned, discarded it, then called it to mind again. All the while, he lay on his bed, looking outside.

He could do so because the lunatics' training ground directly adjoined their quarters. It stirred up some dust, but Encrid liked having it close. Krais had anticipated that preference and designed it this way.

Thanks to that, Ragna could watch the training ground and lose himself in the sword. Thanks to that same layout, anyone looking at him now would think he was just sleeping his ass off.

"That bastard's slacking off again. Knew it wouldn't last."

Rem had finished his log chair and was now making a table.