A Knight Who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 261

Chapter 261: CHAPTER 259
“Did they say idiots end up sticking together? Or not?”

Rem spoke, looking at one of the people blocking their way.

Although they wore a black robe to hide their appearance, the bulging belly and exposed mouth gave away who they were.

“Hmph!”

The fallen priest snorted.

Rem had mentioned it before setting off. They had encountered that fat fool at the market, and their gaze had seemed odd.

Rem had also said that idiot might join hands with another idiot.

This was the moment the prophecy came true.

Of course, some schemes were employed to make the prophecy come true.

“Call me Prophet Rem.”

Though they had tripped and fallen, with an arrow whizzing overhead, Rem managed to act smugly.

After all, things had turned out as Rem had said.

Encrid called Rem as he wished.

“Idiot Rem.”

“Is your hearing broken? I said the Prophet.”

“Idiot and Prophet are the same word.”

“Did you just make that up?”

“No.”

Encrid was confident and honest, while Rem, thinking ‘Damn it, let’s stop talking’, gave up on the prophet title.

“The world is full of confused and foolish people. It’s our duty to send them to God, make them repent, and be reborn anew.”

Audin recited a prayer. It sounded like he intended to kill them all.

He always seemed to want to kill that fallen priest whenever he saw him.

Encrid took a step forward.

He was the leader of this group. He placed his left hand on the pommel of the sword at his waist and stood with one leg bent.

To an untrained eye, his stance seemed relaxed, but to those skilled in swordplay, it was a well-prepared posture.

From the opposing side, a man stepped forward from behind the fat fallen priest.

Overall, he appeared solid and unyielding.

“The client asked one last question: Have you considered joining the Black Blade Bandits?”

An attempt at persuasion in this situation? How naive.

Krais inwardly snorted. He closely observed the man who had stepped forward.

He was a head taller than the fat priest.

Like Encrid, he had stepped forward, indicating he was the leader.

He had a fierce look in his eyes. A long sword, fierce eyes, an attitude that seemed indifferent.

A mercenary known for planning his kills.

Krais guessed his identity based on his appearance alone.

“The Ready Sword?”

Encrid heard it too.

He thought it might be a somewhat famous mercenary. He felt a flicker of interest. The relaxed arms, the slightly spread legs, eyes fixed on his own feet and legs.

He also slightly adjusted his body to the optimal position for drawing his weapon.

A skilled fighter. That was Encrid’s assessment.

“Do you know me?”

The mercenary asked. His voice was flat, making his tone sound rough.

“I didn’t know you had fallen enough to take a job from the Black Blade Bandits.”

Krais feigned surprise.

It wasn’t a great provocation, but the mercenary frowned. He seemed offended.

“…You have a sharp tongue.”

“And you have the skill of selling yourself for a few gold coins.”

A mercenary with fierce eyes, tall stature, and a sword as big as himself.

Commonly said to be stronger than a baronial-level Knight.

Could even be considered a Junior-Knight.

He was especially famous for always being well-prepared in every fight.

That’s how he got his nickname.

Krais taunted him. An enraged opponent is easier to deal with than a calm one. It was a simple strategy.

“I told you, those idiots wouldn’t think at all.”

The fat priest babbled behind.

Krais wanted the mercenary to get angry and charge, but it didn’t go as expected. The Ready Sword simply raised his left hand.

Then, heads began to appear from the hills on both sides.

These were troops that had been lying in ambush for two days. Some were from the Black Blade Bandits, and the rest were the mercenary’s own men.

The Ready Sword had heard a bit about his opponent.

He had heard that Swift Blade had been defeated.

Moreover, the Ready Sword thought of himself as different from idiots like Swift Blade.

Relying on Scrolls? Why do such idiotic things?

Unless you’re a Knight, you can’t survive a barrage of countless arrows.

That’s why he prepared fifty archers. The hills on both sides are steep. There might be some who can climb those hills.

To block them, he positioned two heavily armed squads around the hills.

To capture less than ten people, they moved over seventy troops.

Is that all? Including the Ready Sword himself, a formidable group of mercenaries stood solidly behind him.

It was hard to get here undetected, but the actual fight would be easy.

That’s ‘preparation’.

With his hand raised, the Ready Sword spoke.

“Those who don’t value their lives.”

How long will they last against the Black Blade Bandits?

A mercenary has to be smart and perceptive to survive long.

He was such a person.

And Krais, peeking from behind Encrid, spoke.

“Good thing. I wondered what we’d do if a bunch of wizards showed up, but it’s sloppier than I thought. Didn’t get paid much, huh?”

Krais made a circle with his thumb and index finger as he spoke.

Encrid admired Krais for his sharp tongue.

He knew how to provoke the enemy properly.

“I’ll personally skin that damn bastard alive.”

The Ready Sword said.

Krais widened his eyes in feigned fear and stuck out his tongue, replying.

“Go ahead.”

Sometimes childishness can be a fatal move.

This was such a time.

“That damn dog…”

Krais had indeed driven the enemy commander mad.

‘Hmm, not bad.’

It was a brilliant move. Encrid was impressed.

And even in that moment, Krais kept thinking.

Spells always create variables, so he was cautious.

‘Well, no matter how powerful the Black Blade Bandits are, they wouldn’t have dozens of wizards.’

Seeing them use Scrolls last time naturally led to such a disturbing thought.

However, Krais thought the enemy troops were too sloppy. Their quality was low and their numbers were few.

‘Why?’

The answer came with the question.

‘They don’t know our true strength yet.’

Encrid and all the platoon members had fought well enough to spread their reputation.

They performed well on the battlefield. They destroyed colonies.

‘But if this spreads by word of mouth?’

That’s how rumors are. They grow and get exaggerated. And fools who think they’re smart would strategize based on the rumors’ exaggeration.

If it were Krais, he would first madly verify the truth of the rumors as they spread.

It was understandable for the Black Blade Bandits to feel wronged.

Trying to dominate the night streets of the Border Guard, they were met with the influence of the Gilpin Guild.

And planting spies inside the fortress was difficult due to Marcus’s remarkable skills.

Contrary to his reputation as a war maniac, he meticulously controlled the interior.

Since he arrived, there were even rumors among merchants that the Border Guard Reserve Unit’s duty intensity had increased.

Of course, this was also a misunderstanding.

Encrid’s training was so grueling that those who found it unbearable dedicated themselves more diligently to their duties, spending as much time as possible at the gates or on patrols.

In any case, the Black Blade Bandits were unaware. They not only misjudged Encrid and the others’ abilities but didn’t even recognize Krais’s existence.

On the other hand, Krais recognized the enemy’s stupidity, and in some ways, it was understandable.

‘Indeed, where else would you find Junior-Knight level monsters gathered in such a group?’

It’s not like they were a Knightly order.

The lack of information was something Marcus had leveraged to gain significant advantages on the battlefield.

Furthermore, there would have been repeated doubts about Encrid’s abilities afterward.

‘More importantly, the abilities of the platoon members wouldn’t have been rumored at all.’

One Junior-Knight level fighter, a group of archers, and other combat-capable mercenaries.

While not all Junior-Knight level, they were at least at the level of a baronial-grade fighter.

So, it wasn’t really sloppy. The Black Blade Bandits just didn’t know about them.

‘Maybe I over prepared a bit.’

Krais thought, snapping his fingers.

Snap!

Naturally, nothing happened. There was no way a finger snap would be heard beyond the hills.

“…What?”

Ragna, watching from the side, asked.

“Do you need to go to the temple too?”

Rem asked. Krais cleared his throat and said,

“The timing was a bit off.”

Krais felt no embarrassment. These things happen. He spoke confidently, and right after he finished speaking, the top of the hill became noisy.

“What the hell?”

“It’s an ambush!”

It was the cry of the ambushed enemy troops.

Some archers turned around.

It was already too late to perform a coordinated volley from above.

Some of the armed soldiers next to the archers turned immediately. They then charged at those who had flanked them from behind.

“How dare you!”

One of the enemy soldiers bravely stepped forward and swung his sword. He was a mercenary wielding a bastard sword.

Gripping the sword with both hands, he swung it down. His skill wasn’t bad.

The person facing him was unarmed.

He ran forward as if to meet the incoming sword, entering the enemy’s range.

Thud! Stab! There were sounds. The mercenary swinging the bastard sword fell forward, and the man who had been in his range pushed him aside and emerged.

Torres wiped the blood from the drawn dagger on the clothes of the man he had just killed.

A thin leather armor over a gambeson bore the insignia of the Border Guard.

“Oh, we’re not late.”

On the opposite side, a man swiftly moved among the enemy soldiers.

With a swift movement, he drew his sword and thrust it in. His speed was like lightning. The distance closed rapidly, and the drawn sword pierced so quickly that by the time it was visible, one enemy soldier already had a hole in his neck.

“Gah!”

One of the mercenaries staggered, clutching his neck before falling to his knees. Red blood poured through his fingers.

With a pierced neck, there was no hope for survival.

Zimmer stopped, having displayed his specialty.

“Idiotic thieves.”

He spoke, and his face was fully visible on the not-so-high hill.

“Hmm, looks like it’s over?”

Krais muttered irritatingly.

For a mere band of thieves, hastily assembling such a force was impressive.

It showed the resources of the Black Blade Bandits.

Especially since they weren’t just any ragtag group, they had even hired a Junior-Knight-level mercenary.

This wasn’t a trivial matter. While there’s a gap between an actual Knight and a Junior-Knight level, how many of such skilled individuals could there be?

In the north, they were likely very few.

However, the enemy knew far too little about their opponents.

Well, it’s hard to believe until you see it for yourself.

Krais thought so.

“It’s a bit disappointing.”

Encrid muttered.

Krais ignored him.

He often had ominous thoughts and prepared accordingly.

That’s why they were prepared.

The Border Guard and Martai’s army began occupying the area near where they had ambushed.

The archers of the Ready Sword, caught from behind, fell into a state of panic.

‘Damn, attacked from behind? Then what about the front? Is there an escape route?’

There was none. From the initial positioning, everything was anticipated and predicted.

Torres, flanking the archers, inwardly admired Krais’s intellect.

‘The Big Eyes isn’t ordinary either.’

The measures the Ready Sword had prepared on the hill were exhausted.

Those who took the hill were the elite of the elite, the Slaughterers of the Frontier, overshadowed by the presence of Encrid.

The Ready Sword’s face remained expressionless.

Instead, the faces of the mercenaries holding out behind him changed in real-time.

“Damn it.”

Some felt anxiety.

“Screw it, if we kill them, it’s over.”

Some felt a fighting spirit.

“Shouldn’t we be retreating?”

Someone spoke up with a practical alternative.

“So, who’s the idiot now?”

Krais asked, and a deep crease formed on the forehead of the expressionless Ready Sword.

“We should have resolved this with force from the beginning.”

A large man stepped forward beside the Ready Sword. Looking behind him, there were about twenty men, none of them lacking in skill.

Of course, that’s compared to regular soldiers.

“Only those who are confident should come at me. I’ll kill them all.”

The iron mace in each hand of the man who charged forward was quite threatening.

If they could seize the victory on this side before the battle on the hill began, it would be over.

Despite his dull appearance, he was a sharp mercenary. Wandering the battlefield for a long time, he had likely developed a keen sense for these situations.

“I also agree with him.”

Next to him was a woman licking her lips. Her tongue was so long it seemed it could reach her chin.

Not just her tongue, but her face was also unnaturally long vertically, giving her a bizarre appearance.

She held three throwing knives in each hand.

They were imitations of the Whistling Knife.

Rem growled as he watched them approach.

“I’ll go first. Just try stepping forward, and I’ll chop the back of your head with an axe.”

Encrid, about to step forward, let him go ahead.

A change in perception and insight, a new evolution of the sixth sense beyond the five senses.

With the help of all that, Encrid momentarily played the fool.

In other words, he predicted the future.

Among the ones charging, none could withstand Rem’s axe.