WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 237: What Is a Knight?

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'Not a spar.'

It was an offer, a recruitment.

'Feels like this keeps happening lately.'

Had Marcus not said the same thing?

'He told me to become a battalion commander.'

Enkrid had refused.

And this time, it was a knight order.

Enkrid looked at the man before him.

At a glance, he was clearly not a noble of Naurillia.

Did that make it a problem?

Not at all. It probably did not matter in the slightest.

Even if someone was born in Naurillia, what would a kid from a rural village know about kings and nobles?

The best people were simply the ones who kept your stomach full and did not torment you.

Most people had never seen the king even once in their lives, so they grew up thinking the local lord who ruled nearby was their king. Enkrid had been born and raised in that kind of village.

So his loyalty to the nation had never been especially strong.

That was why he did not answer right away, but not because of loyalty.

He also was not the type to reject help.

Without advice and help, he would never have come this far.

In that sense, Enkrid felt grateful to Rem, Audin, Ragna, Jaxon, and even Kraiss.

Still, separate from all that, hearing the offer honestly drained him.

It was hard to explain, but his pounding heart cooled all at once.

He had come out expecting to see the man in front of him fight for real, to judge his skill with his own eyes.

That was why he had ignored the pouring rain and come anyway.

"You did not even tell me where this place is, and you want me to follow you?"

"You will not regret it."

His eyes shone. It was the look of someone who truly believed his own words.

Enkrid knew that even if the other side had no bad intent, that did not mean it would benefit him.

Even a stone tossed without thought can kill a frog.

Whether the throw came from good intent or bad intent, whether it was meant to chase off a snake nearby or smash the frog's head, a stone was still a stone.

More than anything.

'Do I even want to join a knight order?'

Enkrid looked up at the sky for a moment and asked himself.

The heavy rain did not look like it would stop in a day or two.

For autumn rain, it was fierce.

The thought was brief. This was not the kind of question that could drag into long deliberation.

Becoming a knight and joining a knight order were different things. They always had been.

Just because he admired the Red Cloak Knights did not mean he would throw everything away just to wear that cloak.

It was the same now.

"I refuse."

"Refuse? If it is because I did not reveal my affiliation, rethink it. No one can offer you a better path than I can right now. If you want to climb higher than this, you must go where people of that level gather."

Could someone become a knight only by entering a knight order?

No. But the odds were higher.

People who reached what most called knight level existed among mercenaries and even among bandits.

Even so, it did not change the fact that most knights came from knight orders.

At least, there were more opportunities there.

To a soldier with nothing in a frontier territory, it really did look like a golden rope, a true chance.

"A better place than the Red Cloak Knights. I guarantee it."

The Rapier Swordsman said it again, but Enkrid still did not nod.

'A knight order.'

Right, it could be an opportunity.

But just by spending time training and drilling, and just by being in a knight order, could someone reach that level of skill? Could he get where he wanted? Could he become a knight?

Enkrid looked back on the path he had walked. Review was part of him. And on that path, what had there been?

What had brought him this far?

He had no need for a perfect environment handed to him without worry.

And there was one more thing.

'I still have not even seen the limit of my bastards yet.'

He had built his present by receiving from them, so he could not turn away.

Just as he was about to reject the offer again.

"Do you know what item of an elf you must never lay a hand on?"

Where had she come from?

Even Enkrid's sharpened senses had kept her presence vague until she spoke.

Before his refusal could come out, the Elf Company Commander's voice rang first.

She must have washed up, her face looked brighter than before. She was in casual clothes too. Long sleeves, but with a thin shirt that fluttered in the wind.

Then.

"Her fiance."

That was Jaxon. Had he answered the elf's question?

What were those two doing over there?

Both Enkrid and the Rapier Swordsman turned their heads.

"Correct, fiance. Do you know what happens if you treat an elf's fiance carelessly?"

"Execution, ain't it?"

That bastard Rem showed up too.

Was he not acting like he would never leave the lodging?

"My Lord, my Father. I ask again, please do not take away my small and precious company commander."

Audin popped out praying too.

Since when had they all been watching?

They were at one side of the training ground.

A group stood gathered around Audin.

Audin praying, Ragna quietly shining-eyed, Rem grinning while radiating killing intent, and Jaxon beside him.

At Jaxon's feet was Esther, and next to them stood the beastkin with golden eyes.

"If he goes, I will go with him."

That was Dunbakel. She was always direct, never someone who spoke in circles. If Enkrid went somewhere, she would go too.

The Elf Company Commander stood a step apart from them and stared straight at Enkrid.

Last, maybe because she came out late, Finn grumbled.

"So much for just watching. So, are you going?"

The last question was for him. Enkrid scratched his head.

Come to think of it, he had not done much for them, yet they stepped up for him. They fought, taught him, and stayed by his side until now.

'Who am I, anyway?'

What is a knight.

He believed it was one who protected honor.

What is a knight.

He believed it was one who held conviction.

What is a knight.

He believed it was one who set justice straight.

That was the chivalry Enkrid believed in, followed, and wanted to become.

To him, this was honor, conviction, and justice.

And his bond with them stood equal to those three.

"If you are not here to fight, go back. I am not joining your knight order."

The road to becoming a knight, Enkrid had already chosen it.

Here, in this place, from this present to the next.

"Well, not like I planned to stop you if you said you were going."

At those words, Rem spat out nonsense again. He was not going to stop him anyway, so why was he even here?

"Mm, I am better."

Ragna suddenly said something out of nowhere.

"Better than any knight order, that is what I mean."

Arrogant, wild words, but Enkrid knew Ragna's genius, so he had nothing to say back.

Audin only smiled softly.

"It is your choice, brother."

Had he not just prayed to God earlier, asking not to have him taken away?

Even so, if Enkrid had said he was leaving, these people would have accepted it.

They really were strange people.

Either way, he had decided, chosen, and had no intention of looking back.

That was the kind of man Enkrid was.

Krrrang.

Thunder crashed again, and blue lightning cut over their heads, lighting the surroundings.

The Rapier Swordsman stared into Enkrid's eyes, then nodded.

"Does not look like you will change your mind."

He gave up. The swordsman dusted off his hands. He wandered the continent, found promising people, and guided them to his base.

Normally, he would have revealed his affiliation.

But.

'He looked like he would refuse.'

So he had not said it. Even if he had, nothing likely would have changed.

Still, should he say it now, just in case?

No point. Compared to everyone he had seen, the boy's talent looked poor, yet from the beginning, he had rated those eyes highly.

Was that not why he tried to recruit him?

Back then, though, it was not his sword that had caught his eye. It was something else.

"Be careful of Swallow Blade. He is not a tame one."

"Understood."

Enkrid nodded.

"Do not overuse Will. If a child who just started walking keeps running without rest, the knees and ankles both break down. First strengthen the ankles, then run."

"I will."

Good advice, and useful extra words.

"Then I am leaving now. Not sure if we will meet again."

It was an unnecessarily honest farewell.

"See you again."

Enkrid answered in kind.

The Rapier Swordsman turned away. In the end, there was no spar.

That was the only thing Enkrid regretted.

"You upset that you cannot fight him right now?"

Rem nailed the thought. Already bothered, Enkrid flared with fighting spirit toward Rem.

"Since we are soaked anyway?"

"Hah, damn, fine. I am telling you now, I cannot go easy like before."

"I never once went easy on you."

"That part is obvious. Seriously, that damned tongue."

On a rainy night, Enkrid stood with sword in hand. Rem pulled out his axe in front of him.

Rain between them, both ignored darkness and the downpour as they charged each other.

In the end, Enkrid lost again.

"Now I really cannot go easy on you."

That was what Rem said under the rain.

At least both of them had held back enough to avoid blood.

'Rem.'

He could go higher. There was a hint that he was limiting himself on purpose.

Enkrid felt it, but he did not ask.

Everyone handled their own business.

He only resolved this, that if his conviction, justice, and honor meant his bond with them was here, then he would protect that bond.

"What now, one axe broke?"

Enkrid's sword was sturdy. One deliberate swing shattered one of the axe blades.

Rem had used that as bait to decide the match.

"So you are buying me another one, right?"

"I do not have krona."

"Me neither."

They had recently handed a lot to Kraiss because he had done something useful.

Now there was not even enough krona to fit one suit of armor.

From the start, neither Enkrid nor Rem was the type to save krona carefully anyway.

Their eyes naturally turned toward the lodging.

"Big Eyes, you bastard."

No krona meant they could just hassle Big Eyes Kraiss.

That was Rem's judgment, and Enkrid did not stop him.

"Will starts now."

Ragna said that while watching the spar.

That lazy bastard had stood in the rain just to watch.

At Enkrid's feet, Esther, soaked through, jumped into his arms.

"I know that too."

He knew because he had felt it and realized it.

He was just deciding whether to go to the bathhouse again or wash quickly and sleep.

"Independent Company Commander!"

From the barracks entrance. It was already deep into the night. A soldier was calling for him.

Everyone's gaze turned that way.

Even Rem, who had gone inside to hassle Kraiss, came back out.

"No, you are all drenched. At least wipe off before coming in."

Through Kraiss's grumbling.

"Something happened!"

A soldier came looking for Enkrid.

What now, he thought.

* * *

The Rapier Swordsman's original companions closed in beside him as he left.

"That was a pointless trip."

One of them sneered.

"If it was fun, that is enough."

"You sure? You are leaving that guy alone too? He looked like he was plotting something."

Each of them had their own specialty. The one being pointed at was that lunatic called Swallow Blade.

The swordsman ran a hand over his chin.

A habit that remained even after the beard was gone.

"He will handle it himself."

It was not his business to begin with. And that guy was not someone who would lose to Swallow Blade anyway.

'Though he is the type to use his head.'

"But was it real?"

A subordinate asked. The Rapier Swordsman nodded without hesitation.

"It is a talent my eyes cannot read."

That was very high praise.

In truth, Enkrid had reached this point by dying and dying again, but there was no way they could know that.

"Oh."

The subordinate looked shocked. Those were not words that came easily from his superior's mouth.

"So where do we go now?"

"Back. To the Empire."

At those words, color returned to the subordinates' faces too.

They were finally returning.

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