WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 327: By Instinct

= = =

"By instinct, waaaaaah!"

A roar burst out from behind Rem, Teresa, and Audin.

As expected, news from the Green Pearl garrison had flown to Border Guard like the wind.

The hero who drove back the Black Blade Bandits, the Cultists, and Azpen had returned.

It would have been stranger if no one cheered.

Enkrid saw something like flower dust falling over his head.

There was not much.

Dry petals drifted down in scattered flecks.

He spotted the ones throwing them.

A few little kids and a few women.

One child and one woman looked familiar.

The child's bright eyes stared straight at him.

So the kid really had dreamed of becoming a herb gatherer.

Since it was winter, the child must have searched for flowers that still bloomed in the cold.

Then found those petals, picked them, and dried them with care.

How much effort had gone into this one moment?

White and pink dried petals fell over his head.

There were not many, but the feeling behind them, that sincerity, came through so clearly that Enkrid smiled.

He let it show.

The child who had once spoken of that dream looked at his face.

Seeing his hero smile, the child felt a happiness never felt before.

Even blistered, split fingertips from gathering winter petals would remain a happy memory.

Enkrid passed by the child.

He walked farther inside.

As soon as he stepped forward, Rem moved up on his right.

"So, did you go have some fun?"

"Pretty much."

Even if the news had spread, no one would know every detail of what happened.

"Brother, your body is badly damaged."

Audin said it from behind.

Badly damaged? He had gone well past half-dead.

Quarrel Bolts had been hanging all over his back, and he had bled heavily.

Just when it seemed like he was recovering, a knight came and took another swing at him.

Even after eating and resting well at Green Pearl, this was the result.

"I just got a little banged up."

He answered with a half-joking tone.

"My Lord, my Father.
Why did You grant him such a frail body?"

Enkrid knew Audin was praying while looking right at him.

Objectively speaking, Enkrid's physique was developed enough to rival Beastfolk.

Beastfolk had that natural muscular build where abs showed even without training.

To match them meant his body was that solid.

Still, Audin might have seen only what was lacking.

That bear-like religious fanatic bastard Audin had a body like Beastfolk and Giants mashed together.

"There is still room to train."

Leaving Audin's muttering behind, Enkrid kept walking, and Ragna moved up on his left.

His right arm was still recovering, wrapped thick with bandages.

His thigh wound seemed fully healed already, his walk was steady.

Ragna was battered all over too, but aside from the right arm, he looked mostly fine now.

Dunbakel moved in behind Rem, Teresa limped at Audin's side, and as they all walked together, the cheers got louder.

"Undying Rem!"

The battle against the Black Blade Bandits and Cultists was still vivid in the minds of citizens and soldiers alike.

So a name like Undying Rem came naturally.

There were occasional cheers for Audin too, and shouts aimed at Teresa.

The nickname giant siblings sounded ridiculous, but Enkrid did not laugh.

Dunbakel even grumbled about not having a nickname.

Then, as they kept walking,

"Take me!"

Now and then, even a crazed woman's shout rang out.

"Take what!"

Rem shouted back.

"Not you!"

"Wouldn't take you even if you begged!"

If someone could hold a full yelling conversation through all that cheering, she was no ordinary person.

When he looked, the woman shouting was a market merchant who had raised two children alone.

He had seen her around before.

That desperate will to survive had not gone anywhere.

That grit and toughness deserved respect.

The cheers went on, and people all around chanted Enkrid's name.

Half of this triumphal road had been prepared by the castellan, and the other half came from voluntary participation by the people of the city.

In truth, even the castellan's part was almost voluntary.

This welcome came from the heart.

Watching Enkrid return to Border Guard, the castellan had thought about it.

What if Azpen had won?

How would he have handled that horrific outcome?

What would people think of him, the man who got beaten bloody right after becoming castellan at the royal palace?

No, what measures would they have taken?

He would have been lucky if he escaped losing his head over the defeat.

"Wooooo!"

That was why even the castellan was cheering like a beast now.

"He's handsome!"

"Blade of Endurance!"

"Captain's Blade!"

Hearing all those nicknames, Enkrid was reminded again that words from people's mouths ran faster than horses.

News had arrived before the wagons.

Of course, an advance group had returned to Border Guard first, so it was obvious they spread the story.

A healthy unit, separate from Enkrid's group, had come back ahead of time, so the tales spreading fast made perfect sense.

As he walked through the cheers, Enkrid patted the head of the child who dreamed of becoming a herb gatherer.

After that, he gave a small nod to the middle-aged woman who sold seasoned jerky.

And when innkeeper Vanessa shouted, "Marry me!"
he shot back, "Are you insane?"

All through the wagon ride, he had been busy reviewing what he gained and learned in these "todays."

That was why he had not expected this reaction.

Maybe that was why it felt even more welcome.

If he said he had never dreamed of a moment like this when he first wanted to become a knight, that would be a lie.

There was a child he had protected.

There was that child's mother.

There was someone who thanked him for saving her son.

There was even a craftsman who gifted him boots.

Inside this city's walls, there were people.

People living out each day.

It was his sword that had protected them, and if he said that gave him no satisfaction, that too would be a lie.

Even so, the world would remain cruel.

Demon Creatures would keep pouring out of the Cursed Ground without end, and Demon Creatures would give rise to Magic Beasts, while wars born from tangled interests among different races would always demand death as collateral.

War's End, a knight who ends fighting.

The End, a knight who stands at the end of the world.

Repeating his dream to himself, Enkrid walked into the barracks.

It was around the middle of winter, and spring was still some time away.

For others, these days were not that long, but for Enkrid, this return from the battlefield had been truly long, with three todays layered together.

* * *

"So, did you finally dump that wildcat?"

That was the first thing Rem said as soon as they entered the barracks and sat down to rest.

Before Enkrid could answer, Rem nodded to himself.

"Well done.
Well done."

He was talking about Jaxon. Would Rem get even more excited if Enkrid said he really had dumped him?

Of course, Rem did not look like he would believe that anyway.

He looked like he did not care and had asked just to ask, so Enkrid answered casually too.

"What is there for me to dump?"

"Then if you didn't dump him, where did that prickly cat bastard go?"

Esther, an actual panther from the cat family, was not around either.

She had disappeared in a flash as soon as they got back, probably busy with something.

"Maybe he's dead?"

Enkrid asked because he wanted to see Rem's reaction.

Why was death never even an option?

How many times had he himself already died while fighting Azpen? Too many to count.

Rem snorted.

"Like that bastard would die so easily."

He said it indirectly, but it meant he acknowledged Jaxon's skill.

"Hm."

Seen that way, did Enkrid believe the same thing too?

That Jaxon would not die easily?

Before Enkrid could finish the thought, Rem kept talking.

"The captain's in that kind of relationship with the goddess of fortune, right?
So I figured you'd live."

It was absurd, but from another person's point of view, it was not entirely wrong.

How had he made it back alive?

If someone asked that, Enkrid had very little he could answer cleanly.

"Got lucky."

This time, he could not just smooth it over with one phrase like usual.

Rem dropped his interest in the wildcat, Jaxon, almost instantly.

Instead, he poked Enkrid in the side and told him to spill what happened.

Enkrid explained everything in order.

Audin kept cutting in here and there.

"Dislocation?
You lacked muscle, Brother."

"You should build back muscles that Quarrel Bolts can't pierce, Brother."

What was a muscle arrows could not pierce supposed to be?

Unless someone had hardened skin like a Giant, was that even possible?

It was not just Rem and Audin listening.

Everyone was paying attention.

Even Ragna seemed to be listening carefully.

Unexpectedly, the one listening most intently was Kraiss.

For Kraiss, that was natural.

He had wanted to ask back at Green Pearl, but there had been no chance.

That bastard Garrett Gairo had latched onto the captain and never let go.

Kraiss tried asking in the wagon before they arrived, but Enkrid had his eyes closed the whole time.

The mood was impossible to interrupt.

So now was the moment.

How did he get out?

Kraiss mentally retraced the battlefield Enkrid had escaped from.

He dug through it.

He examined every inch.

What had the Azpen commander done before withdrawing?

Kraiss read the traces, followed them backward, and pieced it together.

Sorcery, magic.

He had not heard every detail, but he had heard enough.

The conclusion was simple.

They had thrown everything in to trade for one man's life.

Kraiss had not predicted that, and he blamed himself for it.

My own plan nearly got the captain killed.

Was he not the one who insisted they create variables?

Of course, the captain was the one who stepped forward, so the final choice had been Enkrid's.

Still, Kraiss knew he had been completely played.

Read perfectly.

The other side had seen all of his intent.

He got hit hard.

Whenever he thought about it, he felt embarrassed.

Had he not often wondered what was inside the heads of commanders in this unit?

Sometimes, no, often, he thought this. If someone only looked at the front and back of a situation, it was obvious, so why could they not see it?

At first he thought they were pretending not to know on purpose, but now he knew better.

People had different ranges of thought.

He had been arrogant.

That self-reflection did not last long.

Enkrid was fine, so Kraiss did not cling to negative feelings.

Even so, one question remained.

"How did you get out?"

Kraiss asked it.

The enemy had prepared a prison no one could escape.

A hunting ground where the land itself became a net.

A thousand soldiers, plus terrain work set up in their favor.

No one could escape that.

Unless they were a knight.

So did that mean Enkrid was a knight?

That was not it either.

After all, an opponent had appeared, swung a sword once at Enkrid, and left.

Kraiss felt relief when he saw that knight leave with a refreshed expression, but even now, he kept worrying the knight might go half-mad and turn back at any moment.

Anxiety gripped his heart.

How many knights did Azpen even have, that one came all the way here?

Did they even have three?

And one of them came just to slash at the captain?

It was hard to believe.

So he wanted to hear it clearly.

How did he escape?

He was not a knight, and it was not as if he had predicted every move in the enemy commander's mind.

He had walked straight into their setup.

He had fallen into the trap.

Could luck alone have gotten him out?

Unless the goddess of fortune herself had grabbed his wrist and run with him.

It made no sense.

Kraiss had always been realistic from childhood, and his cold mind looked straight at reality.

Luck was not enough.

His eyes were serious.

It was not some great secret anyway.

Enkrid had no reason to hide it, so he answered honestly.

"By instinct."

Silence fell.

A winter wind howled outside the barracks.

Rem reacted first.

He started snickering.

"Heh heh heh.
Knew you'd say that."

The others reacted too.

"...Instinct?"

Kraiss tilted his head, and Audin started praying.

"Father, was it Your care?"

Dunbakel twitched her nose and asked in a cautious tone.

"How do you train that instinct?"

Of course, no one answered.

Teresa only stared at Enkrid.

Since meeting him, that man had never lied to her once.

So this had to be true too.

Amazing, once again.

Where exactly was that man's limit?

Could someone really escape a battlefield like that by instinct?

Despite her injuries, desire boiled up inside Teresa.

She wanted to swing a sword.

She wanted to face him with a shield in hand.

The moment her fighting spirit started to leak out,

"Sister."

Audin stopped her in a soft tone.

He added a hand too.

Pressing her shoulder, he made the meaning clear. Hold back, or get beaten down.

In her current state, Teresa could not fight as she wanted anyway, and she had no desire to get pummeled by Audin for nothing.

She was not a beast, only a giant hybrid.

"Yes, I know.
Wandering Teresa endures very well."

Referring to herself objectively, Teresa recognized this was a moment to hold back.

Ragna had fallen asleep in one corner before anyone noticed.

For a moment he seemed to listen, then he went right back to his usual self.

They had just entered through thunderous cheers, and people had even shouted Ragna's name, yet his attitude never changed. He still looked uninterested in everything.

Kraiss, still deep in thought over Enkrid's words, opened his mouth.

"Tell me in more detail."

A single word like instinct could not be the end of that story.

Enkrid explained willingly, step by step, and Kraiss understood.

"You mean a sense that detects danger, and a sense that sees the flow of the battlefield?
That can really be done?"

At that mutter, Enkrid almost nodded to himself.

It really could be done.

Not easily, though.

For that instinct to settle into the body, he had needed to die in all kinds of ways.

That did not mean he had complaints.

Was he not satisfied with what he gained through it?

All through the half-sleeping ride back, he had been busy organizing what he had.

That process brought more realizations and lessons too.

"That's incredible."

Kraiss's eyes shone even though no Krona were on the line.

That was strange in its own way.

No gold coins at stake, yet he was interested.

After Enkrid returned, several days flew by.

There was talk of holding a feast and talk of not holding one, but everyone was too busy with immediate post-battle cleanup.

First, they had to process the corpses of the dead and the Magic Beasts.

Wolf Magic Beast hides could be turned into Krona if skinned well.

They needed tanning, but Border Guard had a leathercraft guild firmly established inside.

Even so, it was labor-intensive work.

Compensation had to be delivered to dead soldiers' families, bodies had to be buried, bodies had to be burned.

For quite a while, the fires on Border Guard's outskirts never went out.

Graham sincerely wanted to hold a feast, but there was no opening.

Letters kept pouring in, and unexpected visitors started showing up too.

Two of the biggest came looking for Enkrid.

The problem was this.

"They said they can't come now."

At his lieutenant's words, cold sweat ran down Graham's back.

"Why?"

"His unit members are blocking them.
They said he can't be disturbed right now."

Damn it.

Graham decided to buy as much time as possible.

Once those mad bastards started rampaging, there was no stopping them.

Better for him to block things here than watch that disaster happen.

Playing castellan was no easy job either.

"...Sigh."

For a brief moment, Graham missed his days as commander of the heavy infantry company.

The sigh came out on its own.

= = =

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried