“Do you really need to take that longsword?”
It was just before departure from the campsite and the garrison.
Finn was pointing out the equipment of Encrid and Torres.
“Can’t I?”
“Have you ever climbed over a wall?”
Of course, he hadn’t. Climbing over a wall wasn’t an easy experience to come by.
“Let me say it again, go as light as possible. If you wear that thick gambeson, you’ll be exhausted before you even start climbing the wall.”
Finn was right.
Just getting over the rocky mountain was a task in itself.
When they finally crossed the rocky mountain and arrived in front of the wall, Encrid thought it was a good thing he had listened to Finn’s advice.‘Go as light as possible.’
That was the key.
Finn crouched low and clung to the front of the wall.
Encrid and Torres also crouched low and approached.
Torches flared up in the defense towers between the walls.
‘Can we really sneak in?’
He felt a chill. The grass underfoot barely reached up to their shins, offering no cover.
It wasn’t even a cloudy night with no moonlight.
If only it rained and obscured everything.
The surroundings were bright. Even without torches, spotting someone moving across the open plain seemed all too easy.
His heart was pounding.
He felt like he’d get skewered by an arrow long before climbing the wall.
If he didn’t have the Heart of the Beast, his legs might have been shaking.
He saw Finn’s back in the lead.
Crouched low, she moved forward without hesitation. There was no sign of reluctance in her steps.
‘Does she have something to rely on?’
He didn’t know. They had arrived in front of the wall after quite a nerve-wracking walk.
Of course, it would have been a quick distance to cover if they had run, but the shadows moving on the defense tower made it impossible to even think about it.
“Was this route supposed to avoid the defense tower’s line of sight?”
Torres whispered as soon as they clung to the wall, seemingly having similar thoughts.
Finn replied, and her answer was astonishing.
“No, if we got caught, I planned to run away quickly.”
“…What?”
“We didn’t get caught. That’s what matters. I noticed before that on bright moonlit nights, they tend to slack off a bit. If it were our guys, no way. Seriously.”
It wasn’t some great skill, it was just luck.
“This is crazy.”
Torres muttered.
Encrid felt the same way.
But with a bit of a change in thinking, it made some sense.
‘If we get caught, we run.’
To chase after a ranger’s speed, you’d need cavalry, but this land…
This land is one of monsters and beasts.
It’s the worst terrain for cavalry to move.
Imagine if a griffin, known for liking horse meat, attacked.
A griffin requires at least a platoon of well-trained elite soldiers if not knight-level personnel.
Whether there are griffins here, he didn’t know, but anyway, cavalry…
‘Not a chance.’
Then the answer is clear. Choose a night when you’re less likely to get caught and walk right up to the wall.
If you’re unlucky, an arrow might come your way.
But what marksman can accurately hit a shadow barely visible in the night?
It’s a bold approach, taking advantage of the enemy’s complacency on a bright moonlit night.
“So,Did you plan the whole day thinking about climbing the wall at night?”
It must have been intentional to come on a night like this when the dual moons are out.
When Encrid murmured, Finn turned her head.
The moonlight illuminated half of her face, making one side dark and the other shine silver.
Finn pursed her lips as if to whistle in admiration and said,
“Ho, sharp. On nights when the dual moons are out, they slack off. You saw the shadows lingering in front of the watchtower? There were only two at most. That means their numbers are low.”
Encrid nodded and turned his gaze.
There were four defense towers protruding from the top of the wall.
Two guards in each tower.
Not many.
‘If we go up, there should be a corridor-like passage.’
The passage on top of the wall wouldn’t be very wide.
The Border Guard and the Cross Guard walls were built in the same era.
‘So it should have a similar structure.’
He pictured it in his mind. What to do after getting up on the wall.
There’s a big difference between moving according to a mental plan and moving without one.
Encrid wasn’t the only one thinking it through.
“I hope we don’t get too exhausted climbing the wall.”
Torres was worried about the same thing. He was concerned about what came next.
Finn shrugged at that.
“Since we’ve come this far, we have to go for it. I’ll trust in your stamina and grip strength.”
Encrid looked up again to gauge the height of the wall.
It seemed about three to four times his own height.
“This way.”
Finn resumed leading them.
The place they arrived at could be considered the outskirts of the wall.
It was also where the moon created deep shadows as it passed the watchtowers.
When they clung tightly to the wall, everything turned pitch black around them.
Far off, torches burned atop the watchtowers.
And right next to him, he could sense Torres and Finn.
A distant owl hooted.
Beyond that, there was only the bright moonlight illuminating the ground ten steps away and the contrasting darkness filling the surroundings.
In the pitch-black, Finn’s eyes were visible.
During the day, they had a brown hue, but now, all that could be seen was something glinting in the darkness.
“The wall isn’t guarded as thoroughly as you’d think. It’s rare for anyone to specifically prevent someone from climbing over. You just have to avoid the patrol’s eyes.”
“Do you know the patrol’s schedule, or have anyone on the inside?”
“Do you think we would?”
“Leaving it to luck again, I see.”
Finn and Torres whispered.
For Encrid, this didn’t seem like a plan entirely reliant on luck.
‘Moonlight.’
Complacency. They just had to climb over the wall and hide in the city.
“Beyond this is the slums. If we hide well, we’ll be fine.”
The patrol frequency here would be significantly less than other places.
Of course.
Who would enjoy patrolling among the stench and the constant begging?
Moreover, at night, a half-crazed vagrant could attack.
Therefore, this entire operation, even if not entirely calculated, was based on experience.
“You’ve done this before.”
“You really are sharp.”
Who would easily imagine climbing over the wall?
That’s why it was so lax.
Not to mention, if they had dug a tunnel to make a hole.
Few would choose to climb the wall to infiltrate the Cross Guard.
So, it became the safest method.
Of course, it would be tough.
From crossing the rocky mountain to preparing to climb the wall now.
Nothing had been easy.
“Spit.”
Finn spat on her hands and rubbed them together, then slung a leather pouch from her waist.
The pouch was filled with powdered chalk.
Finn sprinkled it on her hands and began to climb the wall.
She found crevices to hook her fingers and kicked off the ground, clinging to the wall.
Even though the wall was built straight, there were plenty of gaps between the stones.
As Finn climbed, she began to wedge spikes she had tucked into her belt into the crevices at an angle.
Angling them from top to bottom.
After securing the spikes, she looped a rope around them and let it dangle, then continued climbing the wall with her bare hands.
“Can we do that?”
“Me? No way.”
Encrid and Torres whispered, their heads tilted up, hiding in the shadow cast by the wall.
Finn climbing the wall looked like a monkey or a nimble squirrel.
She did her job, letting down the rope.
Encrid and Torres grabbed the rope and started climbing.
The angled spikes creaked, shedding dust, but didn’t come loose.
They didn’t just rely on the rope.
Whenever they saw a gap between the stones, they used their toes and fingers to hold on.
They coated their hands with the chalk powder they had prepared, sometimes gripping the rope, sometimes wedging their feet and fingers into the wall’s crevices, and resting after each exertion.
Looking up, it seemed like they would climb it quickly.
‘This is going to kill me.’
It was harder than expected. Even Encrid, trained in The Isolation Technique, felt the strain in his limbs.
His forearm muscles ached, especially.
Despite the constant training from wielding his sword daily, it was tough.
“Different movements use different muscles.”
Audin’s words came to mind.
Considering that, climbing the wall could be a good way to practice The Isolation Technique.
Looking up, Finn was climbing briskly.
If there is a beginning, there is an end.
After struggling and finally reaching the wall, which was about three to four times the height of an average man.
Carefully, Encrid hooked his hands and feet onto the wall, pulled himself up, and climbed over.
When he set foot on the ground, Encrid thought there was no one around.
His instincts and senses told him so. He felt somewhat reassured by that.
“You’re working hard, climbing up here at night.”
A voice spoke as if it had been waiting.
It was a clear and melodious female voice.
Then, there was a snap-
Fwoosh.
Several torches ignited between the torches already lit by the moonlight.
Who knows what trick she used.
With just a snap of her fingers, she lit the torches.
It was amazing, like something you’d see in a circus.
But no time to marvel.
“Huff.”
As the torches’ light stung his eyes, Encrid, catching his breath from the climb, immediately threw his hands forward.
A dagger flew from his waist.
Not a whistling dagger, as its sound was a disadvantage, but a regular throwing knife.
Though his throwing technique was sharp as ever.
Thud!
Another dagger followed with a whoosh behind Encrid’s.
Both daggers, however, rebounded in mid-air with a sound like hitting a poorly made drum, despite not being blocked by a shield.
Both daggers.
“This is some bad luck.”
Torres said, his tone exasperated.
“Why?”
Without turning, Encrid asked, slipping daggers back into his hands.
“She’s a wizard.”
A wizard?
A wizard here?
That was Encrid’s first thought.
Only then did he see the figure standing between the torches.
A woman standing, her silhouette crossing the moonlight and torchlight.
Her long wavy hair and eyes resembling a vertically slit snake’s were visible.
The distance was less than ten paces.
There were fewer than ten soldiers surrounding them, all aiming crossbows.
‘This is bad.’
Naturally, that thought crossed his mind.
Just as the wizard opened her mouth to say something.
“Get down.”
Finn’s voice rang out.
Encrid instinctively ducked and pressed himself tightly against the narrow wall.
Then.
Whoosh!
A loud whooshing sound came from behind. Something heavy passed by Encrid’s face, pushing the air away.
He felt it clearly on his cheek.
‘She threw an axe.’
Realizing the situation in an instant, he looked ahead, and only then did he see the transparent barrier reflecting the moonlight.
Upon closer inspection, it was a barely visible barrier.
Clang!
The spinning axe struck the barrier harshly.
Unlike when it blocked the daggers, the sound was different, and cracks began to appear on the barrier.
The axe seemed to be embedded in the barrier, as it stopped mid-air.
“Jump!”
Finn shouted again.
The axe, stuck in mid-air, immediately shattered.
Crunch.
The blade broke, the handle crumpled, and it splintered to the ground.
Clink, clatter.
The wizard, who had disassembled the axe in mid-air, raised one corner of her mouth. It was a clear sneer.
It seemed to be a mocking smile, as if daring them to do whatever they could.
Torres was the first to jump at Finn’s command.
He moved swiftly, grabbing the rope tied outside the wall, using it to slow his descent.
Finn followed, jumping off the wall as if flying.
Properly executed, a fall would prevent leg injuries.
But it was equivalent to jumping from about the fifth floor of a building.
A misstep could mean death.
Yet, there was no hesitation.
And Encrid…
‘If we have to escape anyway.’
He decided it was advantageous to land a strike on the wizard.
Lowering his stance, he gathered strength in his thighs.
Recalling the squire’s technique he once tried to imitate but never mastered.
Bang, thump!
He kicked off the ground.
In an instant, he closed the distance, reaching for the wizard’s neck. In his hand was a broad-bladed guard sword.
If the barrier could be broken by an axe.
‘Then I’ll break it with force.’
Splitting the head.
How had he killed the wizard he encountered before?
Get in close and slice.
Dodge invisible spells by instinct.
This confidence came from having faced wizards before.
He still had crossbow bolts left, but that was a problem for later.
As Encrid closed the distance, he saw the wizard’s eyes.
Eyes slit vertically.
The moment their eyes met, he almost lost strength in his limbs.
Thump-!
The Heart of the Beast gave him strength, holding his muscles firm.
A thought came to him simultaneously.
‘Got you.’
But sometimes, confidence could be a poison.
“There are those who deceive your instincts. Be wary of them. Wizards are like that.”
Jaxon’s words came to mind.
Thud.
A piercing sound.
Accompanying pain.
“You idiot!”
Finn’s voice shouted from above, indicating she hadn’t fallen to her death.
“Ugh!”
In the sharpness of senses that comes just before death, Torres’s cough was audible.
When Jaxon had discussed wizards.
Having already killed a wizard before.
Having dodged spells by instinct.
He hadn’t listened carefully.
‘I did something stupid.’
Not all soldiers are of the same caliber.
Not all knights are of the same level.
So, what about wizards?
They’re all different.
Encrid looked at the thorny vine that had wrapped around his arm and pierced his neck.
The moment he thought he’d overcome the wizard’s gaze, something from the ground had wrapped around his arm. It was a thorny vine.
“I am Resha of the Thorny Rose.”
With the wizard’s words, Encrid closed his eyes.
It was the end of the second day.
When the third day began, Encrid trained his body and swung his sword as usual.
After practicing with Torres’s hide knife, he replaced the practice stones.
It was an act to remember the third day.
And then,
“You said we could disguise ourselves as a caravan at dawn?”
He asked about the third method of crossing the wall.
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