A Knight Who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 262

Chapter 262: CHAPTER 260
This was a conversation they had before leaving Martai.

“We need to deceive and hit.”

Whether it was the Black Blade or the priest, Krais had a firm belief in how to deal with idiots.

Encrid agreed with him.

“Let’s do that.”

“Yes!”

With a cheerful response, Big Eyes prepared a lot.

The result was this.

“Quick, kill them all!”

The fat priest, who had secretly passed on the movements of Encrid’s party, shouted.

Where did that fat priest get information about Encrid’s group?

‘Hmm, he was indeed foolish.’

The priest trusted a street kid who sold him information for a few coins.

Too easily, far too easily.

Afterwards, Krais also anticipated an attack from the Black Blade.

Specifically, they chose locations along their route that were good for ambushes and surprise attacks, and roughly gauged a cloudy day by looking at the sky.

It was good if it snowed, but a heavily overcast day would do.

Through several incidents, they made it so that the Black Blade group would find it easy to attack.

‘They seem quite foolish.’

Krais doubted whether the Black Blade group was really a formidable band of bandits.

Do such guys really do this?

Send a few mercenaries and hope this party dies?

Of course, this was due to a lack of information.

It’s not like the Swift Blade survived to pass on any information, and it was hard to gauge the strength of Encrid’s party based on rumors alone.

Especially when it came to understanding the skills of those under Encrid’s command.

Krais saw Rem lightly kicking the ground and moving forward.

Then, Rem disappeared.

Bang!

The ground he kicked split and cried out.

At the same time, a line was left behind, and that line severed the neck of a thug wielding a mace.

“Damn, it cuts well!”

Then came Rem’s voice. Krais couldn’t see all of the barbarian’s movements, but he could infer everything from the result.

His excellent brain made this possible.

‘The mace was coming down from above, and before it could land, he severed the neck with an axe.’

This happened because his hands and feet were several times faster than the swinging mace.

He said the axe blade was sharp because it split the mercenary’s helmet in half, the one that covered his face.

The blood of the mercenary wielding the mace splattered across the thin layer of white snow. The white snow began to melt in the red blood.

Fresh snow started falling over it again.

Encrid observed the battlefield. Krais inferred the process from the result, but Encrid saw everything.

“Don’t surrender!”

Rem was enthusiastically charging, with Dunbachel and Teresa moving alongside him.

One of the mercenaries, apparently familiar with Dunbachel, greeted her warmly.

“You treacherous bitch! Traitor!”

He shouted this as he thrust a long spear at Dunbachel. His skill didn’t seem bad.

At least it was better than Dunbachel’s previous level.

But that was all.

Dunbachel was no longer that foolish beast.

Her body seemed to twist and bend. For a moment, it left afterimages as if she had multiplied into three.

This was possible due to her excellent physical abilities. It was an afterimage created by short, rapid side-to-side movements.

At the same time, her scimitar was drawn, cutting through the falling snow and air, reaching the enemy’s head.

Every moment appeared fragmented and severed in Encrid’s eyes.

Thanks to his keen senses.

Thwack!

The scimitar smashed through the head and came out.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. What did you say?”

Dunbachel answered only after killing him.

‘She’s becoming more like Rem.’

Encrid was worried about it but left it alone.

After all, she was someone finding her own path, even if it was like that. Encrid couldn’t bring himself to criticize her for it.

While he stood with his arms crossed, watching, a few more mercenaries charged, and Teresa engaged two of them.

“Damn it, where did this monster come from?”

The opposing mercenary shouted. She was a tall female mercenary who had been throwing daggers.

Teresa blocked all her daggers with her shield.

One of them seemed to be enchanted or something, changing direction mid-air, but Teresa deflected even that with her shoulder guard by twisting her body.

Using her armor to defend was truly Teresa’s specialty.

Moreover, pressing with her shield and bashing opponents with a thick-bladed sword was another specialty.

And she did just that.

“Ugh!”

The female mercenary, who had survived until now by throwing daggers, had her head smashed by the flat of Teresa’s sword, causing brain matter and blood to flow from the crushed skull inside her helmet.

A clear liquid mixed with blood as her squashed eyeball burst and leaked out.

“I am Teresa the Wanderer. Come at me if you want to die.”

She spoke. The sight of a few bodies freezing in place at her short statement was visible.

No matter how experienced they were, feeling fear in the face of overwhelming violence was only natural.

The mercenaries quickly started dying.

It was about time for a fight to start up above as well, but they saw their leaders being slaughtered.

Naturally, their will to fight vanished.

“Hey, surrender. There’s a shortage of manpower in the territory these days. If you prove your identity and serve diligently, you’ll regain your status within two years.”

Torres coaxed them. After all, they were mercenaries who moved for gold. If they had decided to clean up monsters and beasts, taking these guys as prisoners and using them as meat shields would be beneficial.

They could sort out the decent ones and accept them.

It was a quick calculation that led to the proposal.

“I surrender.”

A soldier, lowering his wooden longbow, said.

In the end, none of the soldiers ambushed on the hill fired an arrow.

Seeing the mercenaries being slaughtered, the fat priest immediately ran away.

He moved his legs as desperately as he ever had in his life.

It was amazing how fast his fat body could move.

A thick arm blocked his path.

“Ugh!”

The startled priest fell on his butt. The impact from his rear end shook his head. He propped himself up on the ground and looked up.

A soldier with the bulk of a bear was blocking his way.

‘This guy.’

Zimmer had hit him, but he had his own people in the territory.

They had told him the truth.

The one who had originally hit him was this guy.

However, with Zimmer glaring and threatening, he couldn’t do anything that resembled a threat to these people.

That had frustrated him.

Afterwards, those he thought were his people encouraged him.

Of course, it was all orchestrated by Krais.

From the start, they hired a few ruffians who lived off scraps around the idiot priest, a person whose character couldn’t even be discussed.

It was a ploy to lure the fat priest here.

Why? For one reason: it was much better to deal with a threat than to leave it be.

It didn’t matter how corrupt the priest was.

The problem was his status as a priest.

The best option was to kill and bury him.

So they deliberately brought him inside.

If the best way to deal with an idiot is to ignore them, the second best is to bury them.

So, from the moment Audin slapped him, Krais had envisioned this very situation.

Moreover, the Black Blade and the greedy priest were quite the fitting pair.

It was somewhat unexpected how easily things had gone according to plan. Their opponents were too foolish.

“The Master of Radiance says that revealing and illuminating is the task. Have you done so?”

Audin asked. The fat priest answered without hesitation.

“Of course, yes, yes, yes!”

His voice shook and his tongue twisted, filled with fear.

“You were supposed to illuminate the world, not just Krona.”

Audin murmured. The priest tried to say that he had always helped underprivileged children and raised orphans in the temple.

But Audin already knew through Krais.

This priest had illuminated Krona and also indulged in women.

He had taken some of the orphaned girls as his lovers.

Thwack.

Audin raised his palm and struck down.

The blow to the top of the priest’s head caused his eyes and tongue to bulge forward.

Blood poured from every orifice, including his ears.

Audin hated those who used their faith in the divine as an excuse for their vile deeds.

There were those he hadn’t punished before, out of doubt.

He had turned away from them.

‘No longer can I, no. I will not.’

With someone overcoming their own limits by his side.

He, too, could no longer turn away from truth, life, conviction, faith, and belief.

‘I will live, Father.’

I will not give up the life the Lord has granted me.

I will kill the enemies under the Lord’s permission and live that way.

And so, I will punish those who have broken my faith.

It’s not an easy task, and if things go wrong, it might end in a pointless death.

But he will not die in vain.

Every day is a day of learning.

Apart from teachings, Audin learned as well.

From Encrid, from Krais.

“Seeing the light you have shown, I too will shine my light.”

Audin prayed to his Commander, even though no one was listening.

It was a prayer not to God, but to a human.

It felt awkward, yet natural.

Encrid watched and let go of his hand.

‘Crazy bastards.’

And he cursed inwardly.

Shouldn’t they leave at least one opponent for him to deal with?

What’s got them so excited?

Even Audin, after breaking the priest’s head, looked at him.

There was a burning desire in his eyes, a gaze full of fervent fire.

‘A bear driven mad with the desire to fight.’

Because the meaning didn’t clearly reach him from a distance, Encrid misunderstood.

Rem, needless to say, was rampaging.

Ragna wasn’t idle either.

Normally, a spectator, Ragna suddenly stepped up and began swinging his sword.

That strike was more impressive than ever before.

A sword descending diagonally from above. It resembled an eagle diving towards its prey.

It was, of course, faster than an eagle, but the image evoked was that of a raptor.

And just as it struck downwards, it soared back up.

The spot where Ragna’s sword had moved left the man who was preparing his sword in three pieces scattered on the ground.

Ragna looked at his sword right after swinging it, uncharacteristically impressed.

“Ho.”

It was a sword that pleased him more than he had expected.

Truly, the craftsmanship of the dwarves.

Encrid also wanted to use his newly developed sword technique in actual combat and to test the sword he had received from the dwarf, but…

“It ended quickly.”

As Krais’s somewhat hollow words suggested, it ended very quickly.

Rem had already cut down five or six, and the flames hadn’t even ignited on his flaming axe.

There was such a vast difference between the two groups.

In reality, Krais, who specialized in ominous imaginations, had over-prepared.

Even if there had been archers, the outcome of this fight was already decided.

During the killing and dying process, Jaxon also stepped forward and captured a mercenary.

He was a young man with a handsome face.

He was also someone with a known name.

“I’ll do anything if you spare me.”

The man said, his thigh bleeding profusely, as he made some proposal to Jaxon, though Encrid didn’t know what it was.

“I’ll take this one.”

It was rare for Jaxon to make a request. Encrid owed him a lot.

“Take him.”

He didn’t ask or inquire about the purpose.

To be honest, no one cared.

Dunbachel clearly felt the change in her abilities.

Teresa said,

“Let’s have a match when we get back.”

She looked at Encrid with an intense gaze, her blood boiling.

“Sure.”

It was a welcome request, so Encrid nodded and looked around at everyone, thinking to himself.

‘Crazy bastards.’

He resented them for not leaving any opponent for him.

The first assault and ambush by the Black Blade ended in vain.

Krais blamed it all on their enemies.

‘They were too kind.’

Of course, from now on, they would surely do things far from kindness.

If even one of those plans hit the mark, someone’s life would be in danger.

Krais’s ominous thoughts spread wildly, and he thought of countermeasures.

What else could he do? It was an unavoidable issue as long as he went to battle and followed Encrid.

At the same time, Krais made up his mind.

‘I can’t afford to make a losing deal.’

His goal remained the same: The Salon of the Noblewoman.

Even if it was a short-term contract, bringing Encrid to the salon at least once.

Hosting him as a guest.

The thought of it alone was exciting.

The group cleaned up the traces of the battle.

Torres and Zimmer, who had previously greeted them, came back to meet the group again.

“Good job.”

Encrid said, and Torres nodded.

“Take care.”

The snow soon stopped, and the group walked diligently. As they stood in front of the Border Guard, a wild horse nudged Encrid’s shoulder.

“Why?”

“Oh, are you just looking around?”

“Sure, do as you please. It’s dangerous to come to the territory on your own, so come when you’re called later.”

“Go ahead. Look around and have fun.”

Encrid kept muttering to the horse.

Watching this, Rem murmured, “I still think that thing can turn into a human. Let’s have Esther ask it.”

No one answered.

After entering the Border Guard, the group headed straight for the barracks.

It was already late afternoon.

Since they decided to walk in and rest instead of camping out for another night, they arrived late.

Naturally, there was no fuss at the castle gate.

“Welcome back!”

A soldier, familiar from training, opened a small gate.

They were not entirely pleased to see Encrid.

Since the training they had been missing would resume, their faces were gloomy.

“I’ll check tomorrow morning to see if you haven’t been slacking off.”

Encrid, as someone belonging to the unit, fulfilled his duties.

Thus, he did not forget his role as the Training Company Commander.

“…Yes, sir.”

The soldier would be sure to spread this joyful and exciting news to everyone. His face reflected an overwhelming joy that was hard to contain.

His cheeks trembled slightly, as if the joy was too much to bear.

“Ah, I’m tired! Let’s rest a bit!”

Krais said as he headed into the barracks, while Teresa continued to look at him with fiery eyes.

“How about we spar and then wash up?”

Encrid suggested. Teresa nodded.

They sparred, and although Teresa lost, she was satisfied.

He was a man worth following because he provided this level of challenge.

There was also an inexplicable sense of satisfaction whenever she fought with him.

The next morning, after a brief report to the Battalion Commander, Esther had fallen asleep in his arms the night before.

The panther and human form had nothing to say and slept quietly.

“Let’s begin training.”

He started the day as the Training Company Commander and had lunch later.

“A guy named Gilpin is here to see you. He seemed urgent.”

Encrid tilted his head. Was there any reason for Gilpin to visit at this hour?

As soon as he heard this, he recalled a past incident.

It was when a certain Frog had come to see him.

When he went to meet this friend named Gilpin, he also saw the Fairy Company Commander standing beside him.

“Wherever you go, Fiancé? Without even saying hello.”

The Company Commander asked.