WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 206: Tap Tap, Then Thwack (3)

= = =

Tactics start with knowing exactly what weapons you have.

In that sense, both Enkrid and Kraiss stayed true to the fundamentals.

Audin was huge, so the moment he stepped onto a battlefield, he stood out.

If that same Audin started raising hell in broad daylight, could the enemy really ignore him?

He was the kind of visible threat they would be desperate to kill, especially after he had smashed their siege engines.

For drawing attention, his size was perfect, and the timing was perfect too.

"Audin."

"Yes, brother. Leave it to me."

Enkrid left the long explanation to Kraiss.

The core of the plan was simple.

If Audin moved in daylight, everyone would be too busy watching him.

Make noise and threaten from the east, then strike in the west.

"Ha ha ha, this will be fun, Big Eyes brother."

After hearing the full briefing, Audin laughed loudly. If things went wrong, he could be surrounded and beaten to death, but if he feared that, he never would have lasted in the Madmen Company.

On the third day of battle, Enkrid intended to show another "tap" in this operation.

Of course, the blade he drove in would probably be a "thwack," not a "tap."

When he laid out his strategy to Kraiss, Kraiss tilted his head and said:

"What kind of bullshit is that?"

The tone was so rude that Enkrid smacked the back of Kraiss's head.

Smack.

Maybe he put in a little too much force, because Kraiss's head snapped forward.

Kraiss straightened back up like a roly-poly toy and spoke again right away.

"I get the gist. Tap and thwack."

"Right. Tap and thwack."

Listening from the side, Dunbakel seriously doubted both of their sanity.

What kind of nonsense is that?

Still, she was in no position to jump in and say anything, so she kept her mouth shut.

She was an uninvited guest to begin with.

All she could do was stand there and read the room.

Even when things happened, they took that little panther instead of her.

That could have made her miserable, but...

"Grrr."

The panther did not even look at her. It seemed busy grooming its front claws.

That indifference was almost comforting.

More than anything...

Is this place a flower garden?

Every one of them was crazy in the head, but every one of them looked absurdly good too.

Enkrid, Rem, Ragna, Audin, Kraiss. They were like flowers arranged for different tastes.

Dunbakel was not especially obsessed with looks, but food that looked good usually tasted good too.

They were good to look at.

She did not want to leave this flower garden. She wanted to stay.

So if she wanted to survive here, she had to work harder and prove her worth.

"I'll go with him."

Dunbakel stepped forward with resolve. She meant she would accompany Audin.

"You want to? Fine."

Enkrid answered casually. As long as she stayed near Audin and hovered around, there would be no problem.

After that, the operation began at once.

Sneaking out of the city was easy.

"What do you take the Gielpin Guild for? We have at least three secret dog holes."

Because the enemy had fully encircled the walls, even leaving through the opposite gate was difficult.

Scouts kept roaming there too.

Mounted scouts, at that.

They were easy to spot and hard to catch because they were on horseback.

So they just had to slip out in secret.

They pulled a few stones from the path beside the south gate, and a half-underground tunnel opening appeared.

The problem was:

"It's narrow, brother."

Audin was just too big.

This insane religious soldier even had to angle his body to get through side doors.

"Ah, didn't expect that."

That came from Gielpin, who had guided them there.

"Widen it."

Enkrid gave the answer plainly. If it was narrow, make it wider.

"Then this won't be a dog hole anymore... it could become a good route for the enemy to come in."

Bald Gielpin muttered beside him. Every word was true.

"Then make sure they never get near the wall."

Enkrid replied. He did not say it because he had some grand plan, but Kraiss, listening from behind, nodded anyway.

Right. If they did this properly, the enemy would not even get close to the walls.

That was the flow of this battle.

Border Guard was a fortress city, but with no moat, the walls themselves were not especially strong defensively.

There were plenty of watchtowers, so they could pour down arrows.

But that alone was not enough.

What if the enemy committed fully and rushed with shields up?

Arrows alone could not stop that.

Pouring oil over their heads, dumping boiling water, throwing stones, each had clear limits.

What if ladders started going up everywhere? If the numbers were against them, those tactics would fail. The wall advantage would collapse in an instant.

They would also be vulnerable to siege engines like mangonels and trebuchets.

Even if the enemy brought siege towers or similar strategic equipment, there was no real answer.

That was why moats mattered.

People did not dig and flood the front of gates for no reason.

Even if poor upkeep made them stink, one moat made castle defense much easier.

Then add some traps.

Maybe use collapsing outer-wall tactics too.

That was simply Kraiss's instinct. Just as Enkrid half-lost his mind when he saw a sword, Kraiss had a habit of imagining the worst-case scenario and then picturing the best way to stop it.

He had drifted from tunnel widening to full castle construction and defense infrastructure, then shook his head.

Either way, this time they would keep the enemy away from the walls.

That was enough.

"Are you bringing bread again this time?"

Kraiss asked Enkrid, who was crawling through the widened dog hole.

Thanks to Audin, Enkrid only had to duck his head to get through. He looked back in that posture.

Kraiss, usually anxious, was watching him with a bright, refreshed expression.

"We'll see."

That was his farewell. Once he got out and cast his gaze into the distance, he saw smoke cutting across the sky.

For some reason, the enemy was still lighting their field ovens. What was that, confidence?

"The Lord says there are times when His side grows quiet and lonely."

Audin recited a prayer line. The meaning was obvious.

He meant he would send a few souls to the Lord. In other words, he would beat a few men with his fists until they knocked on heaven's gate.

"Moderation. Too much attention is a problem too."

Enkrid reminded him of the objective.

"Do not worry, brother. I was once recognized as a man of neither excess nor deficiency."

Was that true?

It did not sound like something a man who always demanded extreme training should say.

"Your eyes are disrespectful, brother."

That giant noticed even that. Enkrid nodded and said:

"Let's go."

Jaxon followed behind Enkrid, while Audin moved with Dunbakel.

Rem and Ragna sat this one out today.

A small team was enough.

"You are going without me? Without me? Just me? You're leaving me behind?"

Rem had a fit, but when the goal was to move unseen, Jaxon really was the best.

Esther followed too, without rest.

"Kyar."

They hid in brush below the wall and watched as the panther let out a small cry.

The panther had disappeared for a few days, but now it looked more energetic than ever.

"Jaxon."

"Match your rhythm with mine. Kill your sound, kill your presence. We walk to the target point."

Sneaky Alleycat. That was the nickname Rem and others kept using for Jaxon.

There was a reason.

Even Rem had said Jaxon's presence could not be read if you were not paying attention.

Jaxon proved it himself.

He muffled his steps, used brush and uneven ground, and whenever he spotted a boulder, he crouched behind it.

At one point, a Martai scout group passed within barely twenty paces while he was behind a rock, yet exactly as intended, no one detected them, and they reached a position overlooking the rear supply base again.

Perfect terrain reading, full awareness of scout behavior, and silent footwork on top of that.

He puts assassins to shame.

Thinking that, Enkrid took position in a tree.

Esther and Jaxon were on his left and right, both watching the supply base.

Now all they had to do was wait for a commotion.

* * *

Greg, the 1st Battalion commander under Olf, was a man worthy of being called a fierce general.

He was also an assault commander who led with his own martial strength.

What was an assault unit? The formation at the very front.

"The bear bastard who smashed the siege engines has appeared!"

That report reached Greg's ears.

The giant who had broken a mangonel.

The sight had been memorable. That monstrous strength had barely looked human.

But so what? Did pure strength decide everything on a battlefield?

No chance.

Battle outcomes were never that simple.

Still, how did he get out?

Did they open the gate? No.

The city was under full encirclement. The Reconnaissance Team had been moving nonstop. If a gate had opened, they would have known immediately.

Did he sneak out?

Just because a city was surrounded did not mean there were no exits.

Bravery was not stupidity. Greg caught the enemy's intent.

He had sneaked out and gotten spotted.

They're targeting the supply unit again.

Repeated attacks on supply lines were the only way those people could survive.

Hadn't the 2nd Battalion commander, Zimmer, said it?

"If we keep the siege and hold, we win. A war maniac can only do such obvious things. I won't fall for the same trick twice."

Zimmer had ground his teeth when he said it.

A giant spotted while sneaking out, likely sent because their available manpower was limited. For a mission that needed a small strike force, they could not afford to hold back a powerhouse like that.

Greg moved with complete confidence.

He was wrong.

Audin was only moving in plain sight, busy drawing attention.

"Brothers, are you on your way to greet the Lord?"

He kept spouting nonsense and swung his fists at approaching enemy troops.

Each punch looked terribly slow and heavy. To enemy soldiers, it looked like all they had to do was avoid being hit.

That was how slow it seemed.

The beastkin beside him looked more threatening instead, swinging a scimitar.

She was no ordinary fighter, thrashing around with white hair flying.

So what? Unless you were a Knight, overturning a numbers disadvantage was brutally hard.

Greg's Assault 1st Company moved immediately.

Armored infantry charged in with spears and shields.

It was one of Martai's proud assault units.

Relatively light armor, large shields covering half the body, and spears in hand.

An infantry type built for charges.

"There are too many!"

Dunbakel shouted. Audin gauged their number.

Roughly forty to fifty.

Even if they clashed head-on, it would have been fine. They were only fifty infantry.

Dodge the long spears and rush in. Claim distance first, then one heavy straight punch.

No need for Valaf-style martial arts. One honest strike would collapse part of the infantry formation.

After that, jump into their ranks. Those long spears would only get in each other's way.

Naturally, they would try to pin him down with shields, but that would have been pointless.

Push them back by force and break them one by one. Done.

But Audin did not do that.

He slapped away incoming spears with the back of his hand, dodged, and swung his heavy fists slowly.

Sometimes he picked up rocks from the ground and threw them.

Whooom!

Boom!

A rock exploded against a shield, scattering broken shards everywhere.

"He's just a dumb brute with strength!"

An enemy infantryman shouted. Exactly what Audin wanted. He had worked to look that way.

Just this much.

Draw eyes, induce carelessness.

Right before departure, Kraiss had stressed it about sixteen times.

"Absolutely do not kill all of them. Match pace properly and come back."

I'm not the Barbarian brother, after all.

Audin followed Kraiss's words.

The intent was obvious. The enemy was underestimating them, so they would use that to the fullest.

Audin had years of combat experience before coming here.

Reading Big Eyes brother's intent was easy.

"Are you going to hide behind shields and fight, brothers?"

Audin deliberately spoke with an angry face.

"You lump that only trusts your strength!"

One company commander under Greg shouted. He thought they could keep tightening the fight and finish this safely.

The commotion spread.

The rock-like stones Audin threw could become lethal.

More than that, getting grabbed by that monstrous strength would end badly.

The enemy did not recklessly close in and only kept thrusting spears.

Audin performed his role perfectly. Frontline chaos, giant visible target. Eyes gathered naturally.

That was enough.

* * *

Enkrid raided the supply base again.

He also wanted to check something that had been bothering him.

"Jaxon. Circle the entire rear of the supply force and check where enemy troops are concentrated, and what their organization looks like."

Instead of answering, Jaxon only blinked.

Me? Really? Do we have to?

Saying that so clearly with just his eyes was a talent.

"Do it."

Enkrid pushed anyway, as he had realized before.

These people followed his orders better than expected.

"Fine."

Jaxon still looked blank, but moved as told, and Enkrid stroked Esther's head and said:

"Want bread?"

This was a pure two-man strike on the supply base. The enemy had prepared an ambush, but Enkrid's sharp senses caught it, and he forced his way through with strength.

Instead of killing everyone, he moved quickly again, set tents on fire, and stole bread.

Audin was already raising chaos in front. Enemy defenses were tighter than before, but that was all.

Audin was making such a scene up there.

Some of the guarding troops were subtly pulled toward the front.

That made things much easier here.

Watching that, Jaxon quietly began circling behind enemy lines.

Since he was moving anyway.

"Esther, let's go."

While he was at it, Enkrid smashed a few field ovens too.

"You bastard!"

An enemy soldier shouted in rage, more precisely a man who looked like a commander.

Should I kill him?

He thought about it briefly, then let him live. If he fought seriously, he would only sharpen their alertness.

Enkrid slipped out again. Hit and run. He had done it several times against gnolls, and this was twice as easy.

Audin was drawing their eyes.

His own skill had improved since then.

Esther was in excellent condition too.

The panther's contribution was more than useful.

"Grrr!"

With that chilling cry, it broke enemy shins and raked with claws, and on top of that, its movements were unbelievably quick.

This one has improved too.

The thought came naturally.

On the way back, Enkrid automatically watched the movements of the soldiers he had faced. He memorized them, recalled them, reviewed them.

There was something to learn here too.

No, learning was only natural.

Jaxon would confirm the parts that still bothered him.

So...

There was room to breathe.

Enkrid returned once more to his natural stance.

Alongside swords and training, measuring the road ahead. That was the path of tempering.

= = =

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