WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 329: A Hero Emerged at Jiraa Border Guard!

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"Hear ye! In Border Guard, a hero has appeared. He defeated Azpen and crushed the Cultists!"

"He might become a Knight!"

"Let us discuss his qualifications as a Knight."

That alone made Enkrid the hottest name in northern Naurillia.

"I need to see his face at least once."

Of course every nearby noble turned their eyes toward him.

An unmatched hero born in the frontier. The story itself was too good.

The public loved it.

If you kept him close, was that not a perfect way to show your power to everyone around you?

And would the gain stop at prestige?

Then what, did they truly believe he would become a Knight?

Very few believed that having the qualifications meant he would actually become one.

Only a tiny, tiny handful truly acknowledged Enkrid.

In reality?

"A Knight?

Ridiculous."

That was the usual reaction.

Still, even if he never became a Knight, that did not really matter.

There were plenty of uses for Enkrid even without that title.

Too many to count.

His martial strength alone was already too high to ignore.

He had not become a Knight, but he had proven real ability at a junior-knight level, unlike the usual riffraff.

Had he not saved Pioneer Village from crisis, to the point they said they would put his name on the wall?

Had they not said he could stand shoulder to shoulder even with those called platinum mercenaries?

Even if he never became a Knight, he was more than enough to keep as an escort.

And the rumors were not only about skill.

"They say his face is outstanding too?"

His face was destructive in its own way.

How could only his ability become a rumor?

Naturally, a few highborn ladies with restless hearts got excited too.

They said one look was enough to pull you in, and that was how he got the nickname, the Alluring Squad Leader.

"I should see him myself."

How could people not be curious after hearing that?

On top of that, Enkrid was neither castellan nor lord, only a mere company commander by rank.

At least on the surface, he looked easy enough to draw into a noble house.

For all those reasons, talk spread fast.

And uniquely enough, a man like Enkrid also offered political leverage.

'If we bring him in.'

Could they lightly stick a fork into Border Guard as it swallowed Green Pearl and moved toward becoming a trade city?

It was more than possible.

For all kinds of reasons, Enkrid's name flowed out from every direction.

It spread far and wide.

It reached the capital quickly too.

His name came up in a salon, then reached the queen's ears.

Under the stars, in the outdoor court of a star-viewing palace.

"What do you think, Rua?"

At the queen's question, Ruagarne the Frog puffed her cheeks.

Grrr-rurk.

It was the purest expression of joy and delight.

What made that Frog puff her cheeks like that?

"So, have you fallen for him too?"

The queen already knew Ruagarne had met Enkrid, known him, and worked with him.

Ruagarne answered.

"I liked him from the first time I saw him."

Though she belonged to the kingdom, a Frog was not human.

No one forced human etiquette on her.

That was why Ruagarne spoke so casually even to the queen.

Besides, this was a private gathering.

They were talking over expensive wine touched by elven hands.

A few attendants stood nearby, but each stayed silent and did only their own task.

"Because his face is handsome?"

The queen asked as she moistened her throat with a sip.

An unusual answer came from Ruagarne, from a Frog who normally did not covet human beauty.

"More than his face, he is a human whose heart holds something worth desiring."

"I see."

The queen nodded.

"And his qualifications as a Knight?"

"He has none."

She answered sharply, yet the queen's expression did not change at all.

Ruagarne did not try to read what lay inside the queen.

The woman ruled a nation.

How could someone like that reveal her heart so easily?

Besides, reading hidden intentions and projecting them into politics was never Ruagarne's talent.

More than anything, she was wrapped in pure joy.

'Will you really keep going?'

He had no qualifications as a Knight.

He had seen that himself.

Yet he kept moving forward.

He kept changing.

He kept developing.

He ignored other people's eyes and opinions.

'Do you really believe you can become a Knight?'

Her reason said no.

Yet before she noticed, Ruagarne was cheering him on.

Beneath that feeling was also the news that he had beaten a Cultist bishop to death.

Whenever the topic of Cultists came up, she could puff her cheeks three times bigger than now in raw displeasure.

For a human, it would be like grinding their molars hard.

"I see."

The conversation with the queen was short.

The news traveled in circles and reached Marcus too.

"Wow, this is really..."

He was openly cheering for Enkrid as a man.

To the point he almost felt sorry he could not help him directly.

When he heard the Black Blade Bandits and the Cultists were marching on Border Guard, he had wanted to snatch out a few talents immediately, including Enkrid.

But they had won.

The damage was not even that heavy.

The letter Graham wrote by hand was full of only two things: that he wanted to quit being castellan, and that man, Enkrid.

'If Enki wasn't there, it all would have collapsed.'

Marcus stroked his chin as he sat.

Looking at the surrounding political climate, Enkrid looked like he would become the eye of the storm.

Why would he not?

He did not represent the city itself, but people were already calling him a hero.

'If we secure Enki...'

They could exert influence over Border Guard.

Only an idiot would not covet that.

How could he stop it?

The more tools he prepared, the better.

First.

'Block that Molsen bastard.'

Among nearby nobles, who was the most dangerous?

Count Molsen came to mind first, and it was not just because Marcus was narrow-minded.

A dangerous man who called himself king of the frontier.

That was why rumors of civil war at any moment kept circulating.

'Molsen isn't the only problem either.'

Marcus decided to borrow his family's power.

Their finest beauty was already out there, closest to the scene.

It would be nice if she and Enkrid fell for each other, but he did not even expect that.

Either way, they could start by checking Molsen.

"If only I had piled up some gold coins."

The words slipped out.

If Border Guard had enough power to save itself, many problems would become easy to step over.

The brain of a political operator, hidden behind the nickname war maniac, spun tight and fast.

How could he stop those noble bastards from eyeing Border Guard, more precisely, from touching Enkrid?

'Merit.'

He was not lacking now, but past merit and merit accumulated from now on would carry different weight.

Each one would become a wall protecting Enkrid.

To do that, they would need to move at the center.

The Soldier-Mercenary System could be used.

'We'll place direct commissions and have the royal palace acknowledge his value.'

Then it would also serve as a warning. The palace has marked him, so small fry should not even think about laying claim.

And if Border Guard grew on its own in the meantime, even better.

'He fits a lord better than a castellan.'

After drawing even the final picture, Marcus stood up.

"I will meet the head of house."

He would support him from behind in every way he could.

Enki, go wild as much as you want.

Marcus stepped out in high spirits.

It was the most fun thing he had done lately, so his feet felt naturally light.

* * *

Junior Knight Eisia heard the news too, and she was surprised.

'He did seem like an unusual one.'

Qualifications as a Knight?

Was he really at that level?

Being impressed that he pushed through Eisia's pressure and advanced did not mean he could become a Knight. That was too much.

Still, she felt a strange expectation.

'Will I see him here someday?'

Would Enkrid stand with her as part of the knight order, as a junior knight?

That would not be bad.

She had not seen him many times, but she remembered him as someone who left a good impression.

* * *

Unlike Ruagarne and Marcus, the head of the Black Blade Bandits felt like his stomach was tearing apart.

'Enkrid.'

How could his gut be at ease when the one he had to kill no matter what was rampaging like this?

The head of the Black Blade Bandits moved his remaining members.

One noble whose business had been ruined before moved as his hands and feet.

He wrote letters.

Those letters were sent to Count Molsen and several others.

That was not the end either.

Enkrid would clearly be called to the capital someday, so he intended to use every method possible before that day came.

* * *

Clear skin, blond hair, a mustache, a trained body, and this time a soft fur draped over it.

"It's been a while."

Count Molsen.

He spoke with a calm smile.

He looked like he had come to meet an old friend.

Enkrid thought that if it came to thick skin, this man might be number one on the continent.

'Ah, right, there's Rem.'

Then second place.

No, actually Ragna was thick-skinned too, and Jaxon and Audin were no joke either, and when Krona was involved, Kraiss could compete for first on the continent as well.

Enkrid naturally excluded himself from that list and found that entirely reasonable.

If his subordinates heard that thought, they might swing blades at him.

Anyway, the other man's skin was thick.

Before, he had secretly sent that man called Blade of Elite-Hunters, who died after a few swings, to pull tricks, and in this latest battle he had sent no reinforcements.

He turned away.

Yet after coming face to face, he tagged on "it's been a while" and followed it with this masterpiece.

"You should show gratitude to me. Thanks to me, you avoided half your troublesome affairs."

The count smiled as he said it.

Who managed that mustache for him?

Seeing it shaped so neatly every time, the skill had to be top-tier.

Enkrid thought his own hair had grown long and his beard needed trimming too, then replied.

"Should I be grateful?"

"Have you swung swords so much your head has gone stiff?"

The count spoke while half ignoring the person from House Baisar at his side.

It made sense in one way.

The marquis had not come in person.

The one sent from that house was only a member of a branch line.

Still, ignoring her was not normal.

That only showed how arrogant Count Molsen was.

"Even if Your Excellency had not come, a member of the marquis house has come, so I think that would have been enough."

Enkrid already knew interest had gathered around him because his name had spread.

Had he not kept hearing it the whole time he stayed shut in the barracks resting?

Kraiss passed news without rest.

Of course, he slipped in his own opinions between reports too.

"It is hard even to greet you.

I waited two days, yet Your Excellency struck first like this."

Seeing a gap, the woman from the marquis house stepped in.

"So you have a complaint?"

At the count's words, the woman from House Baisar shook her head.

"Not at all."

Their exchange was full of mutual checking.

The atmosphere between the two was stiff.

"So.

You said you were looking for me."

Enkrid had no interest in whether they fought or not, so he brought up the main point.

The count's gaze and the Baisar woman's gaze both turned from each other to Enkrid.

The woman from House Baisar was named Kin Baisar.

She had come here with two goals.

First, stop the count from pressuring Enkrid.

Second, if possible, bring Enkrid into her house.

The first was a request from Marcus Baisar, the prodigal son who had returned.

The second was a decision from a family council.

But looking at Marcus's attitude, should this Enkrid not be favorable toward them?

Right now he looked blunt.

Not rude, but not particularly concerned either.

"So this means you know more than how to swing a sword."

The count spoke again.

Enkrid wanted to shrug, but held back.

There was no reason to expose his feelings to this man.

Would a mere shrug scratch even a little at that shameless bastard's mood?

Probably not.

It was instinct, and certainty.

"The nobles around us covet me.

They are dreaming that if they secure me, they can seize Border Guard, which is clearly going to become the biggest city in this rapidly growing region."

'Smart?'

Kin thought inwardly.

He was reading the surrounding situation accurately.

Had he not supposedly been shut away for two days chasing some mad realization and not coming out?

Naturally, this was what Kraiss had briefed him on in advance.

Even without time to analyze, hearing it made understanding easy.

Enkrid continued.

"I have no interest."

"No interest?"

"Yes."

"Are you then offering loyalty to the royal palace?"

"Do I look that way to you?"

"I hope not."

It was a small reception room.

Count Molsen's eyes seemed to shine.

He was sitting on a sofa, one leg crossed over his thigh, but he lowered it, straightened himself, and sat upright.

Kin felt as if the count's pressure had changed.

Enkrid looked at him and remembered Crang.

It was the same as then.

The pressure changed.

The count placed his hand on his thigh.

He fixed a proper, straight posture.

"There is a threat to the nation, and yet we fail to break that threat.

Then whose fault is that?"

His voice was not loud.

Yet it landed heavy, like it pierced through skin.

In an instant, the room's mood changed.

"Those who die to Demon Creatures, those who die to Magic Beasts, and those left behind."

The count kept speaking.

"When you look at them, do you truly feel nothing?"

For a moment, behind the count, Enkrid envisioned them.

The ones who had died.

The ones who had survived.

A child who dreamed of becoming an herb gatherer.

A woman who made seasoned jerky.

A mother who had sent her child to the army.

A soldier holding a spear to protect his family.

The soldier collapsed, bleeding from eyes, nose, and ears.

"So I ask.

If I want to bring you in, what must I give you?"

There was persuasion in the count's words.

Kin watched and could not speak.

If you wanted it, he would give you anything.

And if you wished to walk the straight and right path, this was the right path. The count said that with his whole body.

It was not entirely wrong either.

Kin knew Molsen's territory was richer than any nearby domain.

He was a man who stood by his words.

A man who moved people around him by speaking and listening alone.

"If you wish to save people, can you say the road you are walking now is the right one?"

The count's voice filled the reception room.

Completely.

To remain in this room, it felt like you had to agree with him.

Cold sweat ran down Kin's back.

The count showed force instead of his usual composure.

It felt like they had to give him the answer he wanted.

That he was right, that they would follow his words.

It felt like they had to.

And Enkrid.

"Jiraa, ah, pardon me.

I drifted off for a moment."

Jiral?

Kin thought she had heard something like that.

He did not finish it, but that was what it sounded like.

Enkrid disliked what the other man was doing.

His gut twisted.

Those were words from someone hiding their true intentions.

If one had to call something hypocritical, it was men like this.

If it had been Rem rather than an ordinary person like him, he might have swung an axe and smashed the place up. Enkrid was not that kind of man, so he replied in polite language.

If that could stir even a small ripple in the other man's heart, his own mind would feel a little better.

There were moments when you had to act a little as your feelings pulled you.

Only then could your heart settle.

Only then could you keep certainty in the road you walked.

What people called chivalry was not empty wordplay. It meant keeping what had to be kept.

Among those things was Enkrid's own heart.

Sometimes that too had to be protected.

This was that moment.

Still, he could not suddenly start a fight, so converting his heart into polite words was the best he could do.

The moment Enkrid opened his mouth, the illusion woven by the count's charisma shattered.

At the same time, Count Molsen's smile deepened.

Kin stopped breathing for a second.

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