WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 235: The Elven-Style Joke Echoed Through the Bathhouse.

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'Has he gone crazy?'

That was all the Rapier Swordsman could think.

Had that head of his finally broken for real?

To raise his mastery that quickly, he would have needed endless grueling training with luck on top of it.

Had all that stacked training and luck broken his brain?

Rem thought the same thing.

'Are you out of your mind?'

His hand trembled on reflex. Resisting that Oppression and yielding to it were two completely different things.

Ragna gripped his sword.

He judged this had gone too far. He was ready to rush in and use Severance.

More precisely, he meant to cut apart that force called Oppression.

Audin prepared divine power.

As long as Enkrid did not die, he could heal him.

Jaxon silently drew a stiletto behind the swordsman.

Stab and kill. Whatever trick the other side used, he could kill him.

Jaxon was sure of it. Knight, not a knight, squire, whatever.

Everyone was just about to react. The formless blade was about to touch Enkrid.

In that split second, Enkrid sent his intent toward the formless thing settled inside him.

'Refusal.'

The will in the blade wanted to cut.

Then what was the will in the Oppression behind it?

'Back off.'

Enkrid refused it. He refused both the formless pressure on his shoulders and the blade trying to cut him.

'Will' was willpower made manifest.

In other words, an intangible force.

If Oppression was that, then Refusal was that too.

The pressure that had once felt almost like real pain now felt like nothing more than invisible force.

Enkrid could ignore it.

This was easier than enduring cuts from Shepherd Pel's sword.

So it was clear that what he was doing now was not reckless.

Enkrid showed it through action too.

The incoming formless blade scattered like dust. It had only existed as a mental image in the first place.

Step.

Enkrid took one step forward and spoke as if nothing had happened.

"What are you doing, Ragna? Jaxon?"

Ragna had already moved up and stood beside him with his sword raised vertically, and Jaxon stood behind the Rapier Swordsman.

The two blinked in shock.

Jaxon moved first.

Without a breath or footstep, he retreated.

The Rapier Swordsman probably had no idea someone had been standing behind him.

Ragna froze with his sword in hand.

Then, as if he had found a decent excuse, Ragna said,

"It's a good day to hold a sword."

Maybe Enkrid saying today was a good day had made that much of an impression.

The moment he finished, thunder rumbled and rain began to fall.

Tap, tap-tap.

"...Huh?"

The Rapier Swordsman did not even seem to feel the rain. He could not take his eyes off Enkrid.

No, he just stood there with his mouth open, unable to speak properly.

He looked like he had gone mute.

"Huh?"

Only that confused sound came out.

Enkrid tilted his head.

"Got something you want to say?"

"Huh?"

The swordsman kept repeating huh. Enkrid had seen people go speechless from shock before, but never like this.

His opponent still could not keep going.

Enkrid spoke carefully.

"We need to find a healer."

People with mental damage did not recover easily. Even with a healer, they might still shake their head.

"Looks like your head is broken."

Enkrid finished.

"Pfft."

Rem burst out laughing. Enkrid had not said it as a joke.

He had meant it seriously.

"Huh?"

The Rapier Swordsman only repeated huh.

He looked thoroughly rattled.

"That sword will rust in the rain. Is this really a good day to hold it?"

Enkrid looked to the side and asked. Ragna was still holding his sword because of what he had said, but soon nodded.

"Yes. This is enough for today."

"Right. Oil your blade."

If he left it alone, it would rust.

"I will."

Ragna sheathed his sword and stepped back. Behind him stood three more people just as shocked as the Rapier Swordsman.

All three stared at Enkrid with their mouths open.

"How?"

The half-giant, the one still most composed, asked.

"Well."

Enkrid answered kindly. There was not much else to say.

'Will' was not something you could explain.

"Will?"

Swallow Blade said under his breath. It was not a question, but Enkrid answered anyway.

"Yeah."

The guard frowned.

He could neither accept nor understand what had happened, so he could not continue.

By then the rain was pouring and had soaked his hair.

Naturally, everyone else was soaked too.

"We should get out of the rain first."

Enkrid said.

"Huh?"

The Rapier Swordsman answered. He still looked out of his mind.

"Someone take care of him."

Enkrid said that and turned away. Rem and the others followed.

They had gotten used to their captain changing, but this had crossed into a different realm.

This was not just about using a sword well or controlling your body well.

"Is that Will?"

Ragna asked. He had Severance, a form of 'Will.' His voice was higher and faster than usual. He was shocked.

The downpour had plastered his blond hair over his eyes.

"You need a haircut. Yeah."

Enkrid answered as if it were nothing. He was happy, and he had no reason not to enjoy it, but this was not the end.

This was not the finish line he had been running toward.

A true knight's 'Will' was not Refusal alone. It was willpower expressed naturally.

Crushing an opponent with force, rejecting force, cutting with force, all of it naturally.

Once he understood part of it, he could see it.

Eisia's Oppression. The Rapier Swordsman's Oppression.

Both had developed by specializing in that direction.

From the same perspective, Ragna's Severance was similar.

Even if Lion Cut and Steel Cut reached full maturity, he still could not imitate Ragna's Severance.

In the end, the issue was realizing 'Will.'

"What is this? Where did you learn it? No, did you train until you died in your dreams?"

Rem was just as shocked.

Enkrid answered him.

"In dreams, that pervert Boatman shows up more than training does."

"Huh? Pervert Boatman? What is that supposed to mean?"

That was not a question he could answer, so he ignored it.

Rem would treat it like a joke anyway.

Then Audin said quietly,

"It feels like you alone are moving in a different time, brother."

Like the Rapier Swordsman, this religion-crazed bear had excellent eyes.

What he said was exactly right.

"Are you training somewhere with time stopped, brother?"

He looked dull, but he was sharp. Enkrid thought that and answered,

"Something like that."

Instead of replying, Audin quietly started reciting scripture.

He naturally assumed Enkrid's answer was a joke.

Who would suspect otherwise?

Jaxon looked as he always did. Silent. But his gaze was sharp. He kept scanning Enkrid's whole body.

"I trained normally, and I did not take drugs."

When Enkrid said that, Jaxon's shoulders twitched, a rare reaction.

"How did you know I suspected drugs?"

Jaxon asked.

"Your eyes are full of suspicion."

Enkrid had asked because Jaxon was skilled with drugs, wondering if that was why. It was.

"Hm, did you learn mind reading too?"

Not mind reading. The blade sense Jaxon had taught him had become sharper.

It had become easier to read an opponent's intent and emotions.

Especially what they hid.

Take Swallow Blade, who did not charge in at the end. He had smiled and said,

"I'm out. One look tells me I'd get beaten senseless if I jumped in."

But what had been hidden in those eyes?

Killing intent and malice.

And there was the opposite too.

The half-giant looked full of fighting spirit and competitiveness on the surface.

After being thrown, what had shown in her eyes?

Regret and disappointment, something like that.

Of course it was not aimed at Enkrid.

It felt self-mocking.

'Well, I might be wrong.'

That was just his rough impression. Enkrid was about to enter the lodging, then stopped and took off his clothes.

He set his gear aside under the eaves. Kraiss came out from inside.

"Wipe down and sort the gear."

When Enkrid ordered it, the others piled their gear on top too.

"Isn't this too much?"

Then Rem threw him a pouch.

"Service fee."

"Come by anytime, Kraiss Gear Maintenance Shop!"

His attitude changed instantly. Rem spent Krona freely, so there was probably a good amount in that pouch.

"If we go in soaked, the lodging becomes a mess. Let's go straight to the bathhouse."

That was Enkrid's suggestion. The Border Guard barracks had good facilities. There was the well, and after becoming an Independent Company they could also use the unit bathhouse anytime.

There were large wooden tubs already filled with water, and water was kept boiling constantly.

Which meant they could wash in hot water.

It was built over a well with a roof, so it never lacked water.

One side kept boiling water nonstop, so the place was always full of steam.

"Let's go."

Everyone headed to the bathhouse and stripped down. The attendants boiling water laughed and said,

"Wow, after staring at my husband all day, this side looks like heaven!"

At that rough-voiced attendant's line, everyone burst out laughing.

"Hey, treat your husband well. It can't be easy for him either, living with a woman bigger than him."

Rem grinned and teased her, and she immediately splashed cold water at him.

"Ah, cold."

Rem did not flinch at the cold water. He just smiled as he said it, and she smiled back.

"You gray-haired brat, your tongue's sharp."

They looked like they knew each other.

Later, once they were in the bath, Enkrid asked how they knew each other.

"Dunbakel kept passing out and rolling in the dirt, so I kept tossing her into the bathhouse and got to know her. She's a hearty lady."

The fact that she could banter with Rem like that was impressive.

Then again.

'That bastard Rem.'

He was kind to women. He picked fights with anyone, but he rarely beat women.

'Then what about Dunbakel?'

"Dunbakel? She's a warrior, not a woman."

Enkrid asked just in case, and that was Rem's answer.

"Anyway, if I want to fight captain now, I think I'll really have to use proper 'power.'"

Rem said it with bathwater up to his neck.

Ignoring the attendants' sideways glances, Enkrid looked at Rem.

What was in those gray eyes?

Rem now carried competitiveness and fighting spirit too.

Enkrid had never seen that before.

No matter how wild Enkrid got, had Rem ever shown him those feelings?

Had he ever shown that kind of force?

Rem had once said it was hard to use his full strength because he might kill him by mistake.

"If you do it properly?"

Plop.

Rem flicked bathwater and answered.

"It'll be fun."

Enkrid smiled too. The eyes of a training-mad lunatic and an axe-mad lunatic met.

A force that had not existed before pointed at each other. Watching them, Jaxon said,

"Are you all insane?"

Audin smiled as usual, and Ragna said nothing.

But his constantly shifting eyes made it obvious he was deep in thought.

"Will, right? Really? For real? Not lying? Not a scam?"

Kraiss stripped and joined the bath late, asking as he stepped in.

Big Eyes had also never stopped body training, so there was plenty to look at.

A few attendants chattered that their taste was actually that one over there.

"One copper coin per look!"

A few attendants giggled at Kraiss's joke.

He was still friendly with everyone. Then came Kraiss's question.

Through the warm steam filling the bath, everyone's eyes turned to Enkrid.

He had overcome Oppression.

Maybe it was not a full rumor yet, but it was enough for people in the know to hear about it.

At first, Enkrid told the truth.

"The day repeats. The same day repeats every day."

"Next line, not from a novel."

Jaxon answered. That was how unrealistic it sounded.

Enkrid scratched his head, then said again,

"I got lucky."

Same answer as always. Truthfully, he had no suitable excuse beyond that.

Rem and everyone else swallowed their words.

Was he seriously using that as an excuse?

Was this bastard actually a genius?

No way.

They had taught him. Genius, my foot. He was a man with no obvious talent.

There were questions in everyone's eyes, but no real suspicion.

In truth, there was not much to say beyond luck.

"Did you sleep with the goddess of fortune or something?"

Rem said under his breath, and that was basically the right answer.

Then more guests stepped into the bathhouse.

"Will? Is it true? Really?"

It was Marcus in casual clothes.

His face was red. He was soaked, probably from the rain.

"Since you're here, want to bathe with us?"

Enkrid said casually. Marcus stripped quickly and splashed into the bath.

His body was better trained than expected. Scars were scattered here and there too.

Still, fewer scars than Enkrid.

"Is it true?"

Marcus's eyes shone. What are you, how far are you going? Those questions seemed to be in them too.

"Yes."

Enkrid nodded.

He had said he would become a knight, said it was his dream, and shown that intent and will.

But could Enkrid really become a knight?

How many people had carried that question?

Marcus was no different.

He believed Enkrid would move forward, but hearing it was becoming reality still shocked him.

"Hah."

After a hollow laugh.

"Fiance?"

The Elf Company Commander stormed into the bathhouse.

"It's all men here, but your confidence is overflowing. Want to come in with us?"

Kraiss welcomed her, and the company commander shook her head.

"Anyone who sees me naked except my fiance has to lose their eyes. Still okay with that?"

The Elven-Style Joke rang through the bathhouse.

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