WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 236: The Path to Becoming a Knight

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Enkrid's 'Will' was neither whole nor perfect.

It was a shard, a fragment, only one piece.

Even so, it was still 'Will.'

That was why Marcus was shocked, and why the elf company commander came right back after leaving, whether she had gone on business or vacation.

She did not even deny that she came to enjoy the view while he was in the bath.

"Nice view."

That one line was admission enough.

"Did you have something else to say?"

"No."

She had come for only one reason, to confirm whether he had truly endured Oppression.

What a strange thing. That was what Enkrid thought.

He knew what he had done was remarkable, but was it really enough to cause this much uproar?

Especially when even he knew it himself.

It was only a part, only a fragment.

Still, that alone filled him with both ecstasy and joy.

Nothing else could have given him this kind of satisfaction.

And even as he felt satisfied, another hunger rose in him.

'If this is the start.'

Then he could go further.

It felt like more than patching up a faded, torn dream, like everything had fused into one through something almost magical.

'No, that is exactly what happened.'

He scratched his cheek as he thought.

The curse that repeated today had stitched that torn dream into one cloth.

Enkrid did not deny it.

"Then."

The elf company commander turned and walked straight into the pouring rain.

Enkrid watched her for a moment, then ran a hand through his hair.

That elf really did have a strange personality.

* * *

No matter how nimble an elf was, she could not dodge rain. Getting soaked was unavoidable.

As she walked, Sinar checked the wound at her side.

'It hurts.'

A day or two of rest and medicine would be enough. It was not light enough to ignore, but she could still move.

As she walked with her wound closed up, the elf thought of Enkrid.

Those blue eyes staring straight at her from inside the bath.

She had liked his face from the start.

So what? Had she marked him from the beginning? No. At first, he had only been a target for jokes.

Yet somehow, he had become a man who made her mouth water.

'It would be nice to pull him in.'

Still, that would not be easy.

She had just returned from handling work for a guild formed to restore the kingdom's language.

The elf judged that it would help her future, help what she wanted.

If it did not, there would be no reason for her to stay here.

So yes, she had just finished rough, dangerous work, and the first thing she heard on returning was that Enkrid had collapsed.

No, more precisely, that he had once collapsed, and now he had endured without collapsing.

Those who did not know would miss it, but those who knew would understand exactly what that meant.

'Oppression.'

'Will' could only be blocked by 'Will.' Without power on that level, resistance itself was impossible.

And if he had gone beyond resistance and endured it.

'Will.'

That man, that former joke target, had awakened 'Will'?

Sinar was so shocked she forgot even her own wound.

How could she not be?

She had eyes too. Maybe she could not read talent perfectly, but she still knew what state Enkrid had been in.

Even being struck by lucky lightning again and again would not have made this possible.

Yet whether it was hardship or crisis, he kept crossing whatever stood before him, again and again, and got back up each time. How could watching that not be fun?

'He is a man I want to show to the idiots back home.'

When she said she wanted to take him to her parents, half of that had been genuine.

Was that not how an elven-style joke worked in the first place, hiding true intent inside it?

"This is fun."

Sinar moved her red lips and muttered to herself.

Shaaah.

The rain came down hard, with no sign of stopping soon.

Rumble, crack!

Thunder rolled through it.

Without realizing it, the elf smiled.

Tedious, painful work with a bleak end, but work that still had to be done.

She had rarely smiled while doing that kind of thing.

Yet now she kept smiling because of one man.

Even while thinking that was ridiculous, the elf was satisfied with this moment.

Was that why she had not left yet, even though she should have gone long ago?

'Even if I have to make excuses?'

Maybe.

The elf, Sinar, kept walking.

Pain could not hold her now, and neither could the work she wanted to accomplish.

She only congratulated him silently.

For something Enkrid had achieved.

For now, that was enough.

* * *

'She looked hurt.'

Enkrid had eyes too. His sharpened sense of smell caught blood mixed into the dense scent of steam.

He could see it clearly too.

If he noticed it, everyone else surely had too.

"Looks like she took a hard fall."

Rem spoke up.

"What did?"

"I'm talking about the captain. Well, if you've got that thing, no wonder you've got devilish loins."

They had just gotten out of the bath and splashed themselves clean of sweat and everything else.

In that situation, Rem said it while looking between Enkrid's legs.

"You crazy bastard."

At that answer, Rem shook his head.

"I lost. Can't beat that."

That guy was never normal.

Enkrid kicked Rem in the side. Rem dodged, of course.

"She came to see you even while hurt. That really is wicked charm."

Ragna added.

"With that face, you should open a salon with me, and damn, especially that part."

Kraiss said it too, also staring between Enkrid's legs.

"The battalion commander is right here."

Enkrid warned them to watch it. Marcus laughed loudly beside them.

"I envy that too."

What exactly he envied was anyone's guess.

Then everyone finished washing and headed back.

"Looks like that elf has fallen pretty hard. But it does not seem serious, so you can stop worrying about your fiancee."

Jaxon said it right before they reached the lodging.

Enkrid listened, then corrected what needed correcting.

"She is not my fiancee."

"Yes."

Jaxon answered flatly and opened the lodge door. Inside, Dunbakel and Esther looked over.

No, Finn had returned at some point too.

"Is it true?"

Finn asked. Enkrid knew the question was for him.

Is it really Will? Did you really overcome Oppression? It was clearly a question about whether the rumor was true.

"I got lucky."

There was not much else to say.

"Wow."

Finn just stood there with her mouth open in pure shock.

"Are you actually going to become a real knight at this rate?"

She had thought Enkrid was not normal from the first time she saw him, but this, this was really 'Will.'

Enkrid did not reply to Finn.

Becoming a knight was his dream, and he moved forward for that dream.

He had never thought about whether he would achieve it or fail.

He just moved forward, even if he had to crawl.

Now that forward motion had finally come back to him as results.

Then everyone started settling down, saying they should sleep.

Pointless jokes, Rem needling Dunbakel, Enkrid asking where Finn had gone, and Finn spitting out nonsense about hanging around lunatics obsessed with language.

Finn shook her head and said she could not explain the details, and no one cared enough to press.

Enkrid had asked too, but he did not really listen either.

"Then why ask in the first place? Why does none of you care about me? There is a beautiful woman staying in this same lodge, you know?"

Finn said. Her hair was a little dry and rough, but her face was not ugly.

Thanks to repeating today, Enkrid could no longer remember faces anyway, but compared to the woman bandit of the Black Blades, Finn was definitely a beauty.

"Hrrng."

Esther snorted from the side. It was unmistakable mockery.

"Even the panther is laughing at you. Go wash and sleep."

Rem snickered as he mocked her, and Finn cursed, then glared at the pouring rain outside for no reason.

"Fucked up rain."

With that, Finn was about to go wash. She reached for the lodge door, Jaxon grabbed her wrist, and Esther, who had gotten up at some point, moved to her feet.

Rem, Ragna, and Audin all turned their heads too.

Then Enkrid stepped in front of Finn and blocked her.

Even Dunbakel seemed to feel it with that beastkin instinct, twitching at her spot and baring her fangs.

"...What is it?"

Kraiss was the only one who had noticed nothing, and he asked.

"Guest."

Enkrid answered.

This was Border Guard barracks. It was not a city inn, so uninvited people could not easily come here.

And yet, a guest.

"Can I see you for a moment?"

While everyone stared at the door, a voice came from outside. Enkrid stepped forward and said,

"My guest."

He opened the door, and a soaked middle-aged man stood there, like a drenched rat.

The Rapier Swordsman, the man who had once served as an escort for the Rockfreed Trading Company. The man who had shown Oppression to Enkrid earlier that day, been rejected, and then stood there in shock repeating only, "Uh."

"Looks like you finally came to your senses."

Rem sneered from behind. Maybe that was a racial trait at this point.

His tongue just never stopped. The Rapier Swordsman ignored him.

"I took the liberty of being rude because I wanted to see it one more time."

He said only what he had come to say. That showed how deeply the daytime incident had shaken him.

His condition made that obvious at a glance.

Not only was he drenched, but the skin under his eyes was dark, and his cheeks had hollowed in less than half a day.

"As much as you want."

Enkrid did not refuse.

"You just washed. Aren't you annoyed?"

Kraiss asked a practical question. Enkrid shook his head lightly and answered.

"No way I'd be annoyed."

If this kind of thing annoyed him, he should have put down the sword long ago.

The man in front of him was valuable.

He could use Oppression, and his base skill was likely excellent too.

Enkrid had already been thinking of asking to cross blades again tomorrow.

"Something came up, so I have to leave tonight. My apologies. I know this is rude, but I still came."

He had climbed over the barracks wall in the middle of the night.

That meant he had made it past the guards unnoticed. Impressive skill.

Separate from that, Enkrid decided he would increase his soldiers' training intensity.

It would not do for someone to cross the wall this easily.

Still, in this moment, he felt secretly pleased.

"His sickness flared up again."

No matter what Rem muttered behind him, someone had come looking for him to spar.

Was it Ibarn the Choker?

Not some piece of trash like that. That trash had left such a strong impression that even though Enkrid forgot the name Edin Molsen, he still remembered those three letters, Ibarn.

This opponent used 'Will.' In a sense, that meant he was a true squire.

The rain still had not stopped. It had lightened, but that did not change the fact that they would get soaked.

Enkrid had just washed, but he soaked himself again.

He did not care.

So what if he got a little wet?

When they stood in front of the dedicated training ground, the floor was muddy.

A dirt ground usually reduced injury risk when people fell, but on rainy days it pulled at your feet.

Of course, for the two men standing there now, the ground was not much of a problem.

* * *

"I'll go alone."

That was what Enkrid said as he stepped out.

Everyone mostly agreed, but Jaxon distrusted humans by default.

'If things go wrong.'

They stab you from behind. That was why Jaxon disappeared from the lodge alone.

Rem noticed and did not move, and neither did the others.

Esther felt a strange change in Enkrid's presence.

'What is it?'

She could handle weapons too, but unless it was related to magic, she was not usually this sensitive.

Had the power blurring her curse weakened?

No.

Had his attitude changed? No, he was still the same mad human.

Even so, Esther felt something odd. But that was not enough reason to stand in pouring rain and watch.

Esther closed her eyes. She was sleepy. Lately, by turning human several times, she had been refining her World of Spells more and more.

Through repeated experiences, she too had learned about the world.

She was no longer just a mage trapped in her own world, thanks to rolling through battlefields as a panther.

This was what she had realized.

In life, you never knew what might suddenly happen.

So you had to prepare in advance.

Mages were creatures who prepared by nature.

Esther rested her head on her own leg. Enkrid was not going to die, so she stopped caring.

She sank into her own world.

"That alley cat left, so I'll just sleep."

That was Rem.

"Oh, seriously. Jaxon vanished in no time?"

Kraiss replied after noticing late.

They had all decided to spend their own time in the lodge, yet before enough time passed to drink even one cup of tea, Rem stood up.

"I'm bored."

That was probably everyone's feeling.

They were going to go watch, even if they had to make an excuse.

* * *

Facing each other in the training ground, Enkrid rejected Oppression again.

"So it is real."

The Rapier Swordsman spoke.

He was shocked again. Naturally. Who would have expected someone to awaken 'Will' and come back like this?

A line of blood ran from the left side of Enkrid's nose.

'Easier than a sword.'

Even so, it was not something he could use recklessly yet. Still, he felt one thing clearly.

"The more you use it, the more it will be trained."

The Rapier Swordsman said that while looking at the faint nosebleed mixing with rain.

It was exactly what Enkrid had felt.

It would grow stronger the more he used it.

He was already feeling that in his body.

The two stared at each other for a long while. Rain grew heavier again, and the Rapier Swordsman looked straight into those blue eyes and spoke.

What came from his mouth was this.

"I cannot reveal my affiliation, but I am a member of the Jeongmyeong Knight Order. This is all I can tell you now, but would you consider following me?"

The rain rushed down between them.

Rrrrrumble, crack!

The rain that had seemed ready to stop came down harder, and thunder split above them.

A blue-white bolt cut across the sky and lit the world.

The Rapier Swordsman's eyes met Enkrid's.

'Not for a spar.'

He had not come because he wanted to fight. He had come to measure him again and win him over.

And he had said he was a member of the Jeongmyeong Knight Order.

Which meant this.

"Join the knight order. I will show you your path."

A path to becoming a knight.

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