WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: Hydrogen B
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES
Chapter 225: Eyes That Don't Change
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“Line up!”
Enkrid was not the only one happy about this. Kraiss stepped in.
No, the moment he saw Enkrid arrive, he shouted without a trace of fear.
Even then, everyone else kept staring at Enkrid.
Their eyes were full of questions.
By reflex, Enkrid met each of their gazes.
The giant half-blood seemed to say with her eyes,
“Keep your promise. Fight me again.”
Swallow Blade took a posture that was almost a taunt. He shrugged and snorted, like Enkrid was nothing.
It was a crude provocation.
“I came to collect an old debt.”
Count Molsen’s son spoke in a commanding tone, as if he naturally deserved to go first.
Last of all, the rapier swordsman who had sucked blood like a mosquito at the Rockfreed Trading Company swept his gaze over Enkrid from head to toe.
He looked deeply shocked.
No, he did not hide it. He did not even try.
He said it out loud.
“No way. You really got stronger. I thought even if you died and came back dozens of times, it still would not be enough.”
That was true.
Enkrid had thrown away his life hundreds of times to get here.
This went beyond dying and surviving. He had literally died hundreds of times to reach this point.
Of course, nobody could know that.
Now it was Enkrid’s turn to think.
Who should I fight first?
“What line? Hey, I heard you fought that woman yesterday. Surprised you lived.”
That was Swallow Blade. He wore an irritating smile. He had one of those faces you disliked on sight.
Still, that was not important.
His stance, his lowered arms, every detail proved his skill.
He stood where he could take everyone in at a glance, and his hands hung where he could draw at any moment.
Enkrid found it strange, once again, that he could see all that now.
“Ponder.”
Think, and think again.
Maybe that was the right word for it.
This had happened while he kept turning Audin’s words over in his mind.
“I do not care who it is.”
Enkrid gave his answer after deciding.
“…You mean you are confident you can beat anyone!”
What was his name again? Enkrid had heard it just now, but it slipped his mind.
“Ah, sorry, what was your name again? Count’s son?”
The instant Enkrid asked, Edin Molsen’s face turned red.
Real provocation needed sincerity.
This was different from Swallow Blade’s clumsy taunt. Enkrid had really forgotten his name.
He had too much to harvest and had been busy taking it all in.
“What?”
Edin showed not just disbelief but rage, and he did not care who was watching.
“I will fix your manners.”
Edin stepped forward.
“No, I said line up.”
Kraiss, who had apparently left his fear back at the inn, opened his mouth again. Edin’s anger swung toward the Big Eyes squadman.
“If you want to die, interfere again, soldier.”
At Edin’s arrogant words, Kraiss shrugged and said,
“It will be a problem if this keeps going here. You are blocking the road where trading company wagons pass and people walk.”
“Fine. I will kill you.”
Edin turned toward Kraiss, clearly furious. His hand went to his sword and drew it. Srring, metal scraped against scabbard, and right after that sound rang out,
“Rem! Rem! Captain! Captain!”
Kraiss yelled as he backed away, then quickly hid behind Rem, who was nearby. Edin’s sword stopped.
“…Why do I sometimes find you so damn annoying?”
Muttering, Rem stepped forward. Two hand axes at his waist rattled. In his usual loose stance, he spoke again.
“He is right, though. Let us move somewhere else.”
As he said that, Rem swept his gaze left and right. He was speaking to everyone.
Then he found himself newly shocked.
That crazy captain bastard.
It was because of Enkrid’s behavior. Why was he so excited? Sure, Rem knew why, but this was too much, was it not?
“Against all three of us?”
The rapier swordsman said it.
Exactly as he said.
Enkrid was gauging distance against the Half-Giant, the rapier swordsman, and Swallow Blade.
In other words, he was acting like he would fight all three at once.
At this rate, he will not die in his own time.
Rem did not know it, but Enkrid had already failed to die in his own time plenty of times.
“That is greed, brother.”
Audin spoke from behind, and the deadly pressure that had started with Enkrid eased a little.
“Whatever this is, I do not think it is worth damaging the city over.”
The rapier swordsman said that and took a step back.
“Fine by me.”
Swallow Blade also stepped back, and the Half-Giant silently lowered her pressure too.
“…I did clear out the area behind the inn a bit.”
That was the innkeeper Allen speaking. Maybe it was a merchant’s instinct. From the way he read the mood, all of them were likely staying in the city.
And none of them looked like the type to cling to a few Krona.
They had room to spare.
Lately, word had spread that Vanessa’s Pumpkin Soup and herb pies were delicious, so Allen had not been doing well in the competition for guests.
He chose space, not food, as his weapon to break that trend.
In short, he had built a pretty decent training yard behind the inn.
“Good.”
Enkrid nodded.
Soon, innkeeper Allen guided everyone over, saying this way. While they moved, Rem came up beside Enkrid.
“You trying to die? If your head got hit, you should rest.”
“At least I do not want to hear that from you.”
Kraiss, who had been listening, jumped in.
“How was that, Captain?”
He wanted Enkrid to admit his little trick had worked.
Enkrid had to admit it.
He had opened channels and sown seeds, and now he had a bumper crop.
“You can take this month too.”
He meant the tribute money from the Gielpin Guild.
It was not a small thing. He was giving up what mattered most in Kraiss’s life.
“Good.”
While they walked and traded nonsense, Edin, who had stayed behind to the end, finally erupted in fury.
“You bastards! How dare you treat a noble of the kingdom like this!”
If he were a dragon, he would have breathed fire.
Ah, I forgot.
Enkrid thought that, made up his mind, and said,
“I will go first with the count’s son, so why not head in?”
He was the son of a noble, and not just any noble, but Count Molsen, arrogantly called the King of the North. He should get proper treatment.
“You bastard. Fine, I will strip that arrogance off you.”
Edin went first, followed by two companions who looked like him, and finally the one standing stiffly in the rear. The three passed right by Enkrid’s group.
Whatever else, Enkrid was satisfied right now.
Everyone silently headed to the empty lot behind the inn. A whole building that used to be a warehouse had been torn down, and wide blue stone had been laid across the ground. A few chairs had been set behind it too. It was arranged like a proper training yard.
“The count’s son goes first! Everyone else, please wait!”
Kraiss stepped up and shouted like a circus hype man.
Enkrid thought someone might at least show some complaint, but nobody did. They only watched in silence.
Curiosity in some eyes, arrogance in others.
Enkrid stood facing Edin.
Edin lifted his sword and pointed it forward.
“Come first!”
Enkrid did exactly that.
He walked in, step after step, closing the distance. He did not even draw his sword.
“Looking down on me?”
Edin ground his teeth and spat the words as he brought his sword down.
Enkrid still did not stop walking.
How should he put it.
He wanted the ones watching to know.
How far he could go.
What his sword was.
What kind of man they had come to see.
From one angle, it was reckless bravado. From another, broad and daring spirit.
If he achieved what he aimed for, it would be boldness.
If not, it would be nothing but recklessness.
Confidence and arrogance were only a hair apart.
And Enkrid showed confidence, not arrogance.
He watched the descending blade to the very end, then drew the sword in his left hand.
Ching!
In one breath, he cut upward, receiving Edin’s sword not at mid-blade but at the Ricasso near the hilt.
Closer to the grip made it easier to transmit force.
Thunk.
A dull sound rang out, too blunt for such a heavy downward strike.
He bent his knees and let the force slide off.
Then, after deflecting it, Bind.
Once the blades stuck together, the rest was easy. He stretched his left leg far forward to close the gap, twisted his waist, and shot out his right fist.
Thud!
Defense and attack looked separate, but they happened almost at the same time, so it looked like one action.
“Ghk!”
Even through layered leather armor, Enkrid’s fist was beyond heavy. It was a weapon.
He had enough strength to make even the half-giant warrior inwardly surprised.
His strength training had not gone to waste. That one strike made Edin spit something from his mouth.
Edin Molsen was better than when he stood beside his father.
Still,
Not enough.
His real combat experience and many other things were sloppy. If this had turned into a pure sword exchange and a battle of moves, it would have taken time, but he was weak against irregular patterns. That was Enkrid’s judgment.
In one way, it was very crude.
Approach while exposed, block the enemy’s attack, then throw one punch?
If he had made even one mistake, Enkrid would have been the one to lose momentum.
But in battle, nothing mattered more than results.
Leaving Edin collapsed on the ground, Enkrid lifted his head.
“Are you only going to watch from behind?”
Then he asked.
More precisely, he asked Edin’s guard.
At that question, the guard knight’s expression hardened. His gaze turned sharp on Enkrid.
Grinding his teeth, the guard shook his head.
He did not seem like the type to avoid a match, so was he thinking not yet?
It did not matter.
There were plenty more to fight besides him.
* * *
The rapier swordsman was truly shocked.
He got stronger?
There was always a gap between judging from posture and seeing real combat.
Enkrid was seasoned, bold, and knew how to enjoy a fight.
How should he put it.
He had never imagined that guy would change this much.
He improved by an absurd amount.
What should this even be called.
A place that had clearly been wasteland, and when you looked again, it had become a green field.
“Amazing.”
A mutter slipped out before he noticed.
No matter how he looked, Enkrid did not seem like a genius, and yet his skill had grown at an abnormal speed.
“You have plenty to be surprised by.”
The female warrior beside him spoke. She was several heads taller than him.
“You do not know what he was like before.”
“Only the present matters.”
She said it with bright eyes. Who was this now? She was no ordinary fighter.
The female warrior looked at the rapier swordsman and showed something like a question too.
What are you, exactly?
That was all.
They both lost interest in each other.
No, they simply could not care right now.
For both of them, someone else mattered more than the person beside them.
The rapier swordsman felt a surge of curiosity for the first time in a long while.
He was once called Frog’s reincarnation.
He was weak to any curiosity that stirred him.
So he wanted to fight. Cross blades, measure the opponent.
But the female warrior stepped out first.
“My turn, right?”
Not a chance.
“Sister, why not spend the day sparring with me? Looks like that brother over there has itchy hands, and that is the problem.”
With Audin’s words, the swordsman called Swallow Blade stepped out.
“You have a good eye, big man.”
He was right. Watching that fight had made even Swallow Blade’s blood boil.
Just watching him made you want to slice him up.
“Tch, he is exactly the type to drag around and play with, but I will yield.”
Those were the words heard while Swallow Blade walked toward the center of the yard.
It was probably not meant for him.
A gray-haired bastard with oddly irritating eyes stood there.
The one who had stepped out first and said his captain’s head was broken.
He looks sliceable too.
With that thought, he faced Enkrid.
“You punch pretty well?”
“I think I am better with a blade.”
Look at this bastard talk.
Swallow Blade did not smile anymore. His outside and inside were different by nature.
When he smiled on the outside, he was not happy.
When his expression hardened, he was deeply delighted.
I should cut off at least one arm.
Then those eyes will change, right?
Straight and proper. His opponent’s eyes told him that temperament.
Swallow Blade was good at reading an opponent’s temperament.
He was also good at changing it.
When eyes that straight and clean drowned in fear and gasped, he felt pleasure.
The thought alone sent excitement surging through him.
I want to cut him already.
He would press him slowly, like preparing a dish. Please do not collapse after only a few scratches.
Swallow Blade sincerely hoped for that.
* * *
Their fight ran long. Petty tricks kept flying at each other one after another.
In the end, Swallow Blade carved sixteen cuts into Enkrid’s body.
Among them, the hole in his abdomen would have been fatal if it had landed a little to the side.
Even then.
“Damn, you are something.”
His opponent’s eyes did not change. Swallow Blade smiled.
Because this situation was not enjoyable right now.
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