WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

A KNIGHT WHO ETERNALLY REGRESSES

Chapter 366: Not All Squires Are Equal

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The Red Cloak Knights had three knights, each with a unit named after them, so their fame spoke for itself.

But an order could not run on just three knights.

The real backbone of the order was its junior knights, and there were over twenty of them.

Of those, fewer than five had stayed in the capital.

There had also been over fifty apprentices, but fewer than ten remained in the capital.

That was how Eisia explained it.

"Well, there are a few people with junior-knight level skill. The Royal Guard commander came from the order too, and those famous twin escorts of the marquis."

"Were those two really twins?"

Enkrid asked in the middle of the conversation.

"You said you met the Marquis of Okto, right? Yeah, fraternal twins. They do not look alike, right? I was surprised too when I heard."

Eisia was easygoing. At least, that was how Andrew saw her.

Her orange hair had split ends, but if anything, that seemed to make her look even livelier.

Easygoing and bright. Like a farm girl who had grown up without a care.

That was the impression he got.

By looks alone, Esther the mage or Kin Baisar stood out more, but in terms of charm, this junior knight named Eisia looked like the kind of woman who could set many men burning.

"With looks like that and that kind of cheerfulness..."

It was intensely attractive.

She also acted close with people without caring about distance. The word bold came to mind right away.

She joined the table naturally, ate and drank, and behaved as if she had been there yesterday too.

"Pass me that bread."

What was funny was that the others, including Rem, treated her like it was nothing.

She was a junior knight of the Red Cloak Knights, after all.

Andrew thought it would be hard to adjust, but he soon dropped all seriousness.

"I do not even know anymore."

Once you got tangled up with Enkrid, everything went in directions that made no sense.

It was no different from the first operation he had gone on with the captain.

Back then too, everything had been unbelievable.

"He acted like he could read enemy positions from inside some bushes."

On top of that, they fought while setting the barracks on fire, and only after running away did Andrew realize it. This man was different.

Now the scale was bigger and their status was higher, but it was still the same story. Andrew decided to see it that way.

"Here."

Eisia sliced a round loaf and tossed it. Rem snatched it out of the air, spread marmalade on it, and bit in.

Ragna cut salted ham, trimmed off the rough crust of the bread, and ate only the soft inside.

"You picky bastard."

Rem muttered after watching him.

"If you are itching to get hit because you saw that woman fight, wait until we finish eating. You wild animal."

Ragna answered calmly.

"Not that woman. Eisia."

Eisia raised her hand and cut in.

"Ah, right. Eisia."

Ragna dropped into casual speech naturally. Eisia even thanked Andrew, the owner of the estate, for inviting her.

Of course, no one had ever invited her.

She had just barged in, sparred, and started eating.

Andrew answered, "Not at all," and spared her any awkwardness.

"That one over there has the kind of face I like."

Eisia said, pointing at Jaxon.

"Most women say that, but do not be fooled. He does not date just one or two."

Rem added.

"They are all friends."

Jaxon answered gently, which was rare for him. Eisia looked at him and thought women probably did flock to him.

Saying he was her type did not mean she had fallen for him on the spot.

Eisia looked at Enkrid across from her, chewing bread.

No matter how many times she looked, he was a strange man.

"I do not even have many women friends."

That odd man, Enkrid, said it as he felt her gaze.

"I did not ask."

"Yeah. Spar after this?"

Eisia nodded by reflex.

"After we digest."

During that time, she could sort out what needed to be done.

Eisia had not come here to hang out.

"We said we were going to catch the Moonlight Beast."

"You already named it?"

"It only appears under moonlight."

The capital was not full of idiots and fools.

They had identified the target's appearance, location, and time of appearance.

After hearing that, Enkrid asked, "Why have you left it alone until now?"

Eisia had said five junior knights were still here.

There were apprentices and city guards too.

This was the capital of a nation. Were there really no people who could handle this?

Of course there were. Still, they missed it.

There were several reasons.

First, they had underestimated the opponent.

Second, people outside the order did not want to reveal the military strength they held.

"They are all too busy protecting themselves. Well, I get it."

Eisia said it bluntly, then added, "One apprentice got hit. Severe wounds. I do not know if that friend will live."

If even an apprentice, an actual member of the order, got taken down, that proved the Moonlight Beast was seriously dangerous.

"What about a priest?"

Getting injured was one thing, but why was treatment lacking?

An apprentice was someone chosen from hundreds, thousands, recognized for talent.

A knight was a symbol of military power.

And the order was made up of those preparing to become knights.

Naturally, they were treated well. More than well.

Having a personal cook assigned was standard, and they could receive a priest's prayer.

If divine power was available, even severe wounds could be treated. At least they could be stabilized and kept alive.

"Right now, even the priests who were in the capital are gone. And the royal palace's dedicated priests say they cannot use divine power for other reasons."

Enkrid remembered the temples he had seen around the capital.

They were there. More than one.

Naurillia did not persecute religion, so Nauril, the capital, had several temples.

It was not like Legion, the holy city, but still, there were quite a few temples here.

And none of them had even one priest?

"To be exact, there are no priests who can actually wield divine power. One of them already got hit by the beast."

When the Moonlight Beast first appeared, the response had been slow.

It immediately targeted a priest who had awakened divine power.

As a result, that priest, a woman, was now barely breathing.

She was hanging on day by day, at death's door.

Some of the other priests who could use divine power had gone to the border.

"Divine power is rare to begin with."

At least a royal-palace healer was doing what they could.

There were alchemy potions too.

"She will not die."

Eisia said it flatly. That only made her resentment sound deeper. No, deeper than resentment, her will to catch it no matter what came through clearly.

"We will catch it."

Rem put weight behind her words. His tone said it was obvious. That made sense. This kind of hunt was familiar work for him.

"Right, thanks. You are Rem, right?"

Enkrid found Eisia pretty strange.

Had she always been this friendly?

Before, there had not even been time for a deep talk, and the situation had not allowed it, so he had not known.

Still, even back then, she had not felt unpleasant.

"The weather is cloudy again today."

Jaxon said it in a detached tone. He was right.

The moon would not rise tonight either.

More importantly, even when the moon rose, it did not appear every time.

Why?

No one knew. But it was worth thinking about. If they kept thinking, they might form a hypothesis.

"Anyway, it killed an apprentice and ran. A junior knight chased it and still lost it. It is insanely fast. I think it will be hard to catch if we keep chasing from behind like before."

"Any reason the order itself did not move?"

Enkrid had roughly finished his meal. As he cleared what remained, a maid brought tea in front of him.

Eisia split an apricot in half, popped it into her mouth, and frowned.

It was too sour.

"What else would it be?"

There was no need to ask twice. It was the situation inside the palace.

"We serve the queen."

Guarding the queen was not left only to the Royal Guard. They had to protect the throne itself.

"Then what about you?"

"With the marquis's power, pulling away a few junior knights is easy. He has raised so many snakes in his gut they call him Hydra's innards."

At those words, Andrew flicked a glance.

See, everyone calls him that.

That was the meaning of the look.

Enkrid gave a rough nod.

He had known at first sight that the marquis was not a man who showed his true thoughts easily.

So what did that change?

What mattered was that this Moonlight Beast was tied to the Black Blade, and they had to find the Black Blade leader.

"That is Jaxon's enemy."

Catch him, kill him, keep him alive and torture him, carve him into jerky, whatever. That was for Jaxon to decide.

But finding him was something Enkrid intended to commit to.

This was a squadmate's matter. He had not said it out loud, but it was the same as accepting a request.

That was the first reason to catch and beat down the Moonlight Beast.

The second was for the people suffering losses.

The third, maybe, was the marquis's request.

Whether the opponent was Hydra's innards or some sly snake's genitals, he did not care.

"Then that means we are free until tomorrow?"

Enkrid asked. They had to at least wait for moonrise.

Unless the clouds suddenly broke in the middle of the night, Eisia could not do much either.

"Yeah."

"Then?"

"Let's do more."

Eisia's eyes flared as she spoke.

Enkrid also wanted to face her sword again.

"I want to fight the rest of you too."

That made Eisia's fire blaze even higher. If Sinar saw her now, she would probably throw water on her.

Rem and Ragna reacted to that heat.

"Sounds good."

"As much as you want."

Neither of them was the type to avoid a fight.

"Leave me out, please."

Jaxon shook his head.

"I am in too."

In the meantime, Dunbakel joined them in a lower tone than usual.

"Great!"

Eisia shouted boldly and went outside.

That meant sparring right away.

Everyone moved. Andrew went with them too.

The five trainees were rolling around in one corner, but once these people started sparring, they were too busy watching.

Even Mack made time to watch.

This was sparring between junior knights. Missing it would be a loss.

Of course, watching would not instantly improve their skill.

Still, watching let them experience imagined outcomes in advance.

That alone was a huge difference.

In the end, that meant luck for them.

Enkrid was serious about everything.

Eisia, more excited than ever, sparred, ate, drank, and practically took over a room in the estate.

The sky kept darkening, and rain finally poured down.

For a while, moonlight looked hard to see in the sky.

In the middle of all that, Enkrid kept learning and learning again.

"Hey, do you think all junior knights are the same? Are all knights the same? Were mercenaries all the same? Want me to put it in terms of Naurillia's soldier rank system? Were all low-rank soldiers the same just because they were low-rank?"

No, they were different. Even among low and mid-rank soldiers, skill gaps were obvious. The higher you went, the clearer those gaps became.

"Once you get to junior-knight level, those differences can get pretty wide. And I am around the middle."

Her talent had been recognized, but by pure skill she was middle rank.

"Among real junior knights, there are clumsy ones, and there are ones who can trade a few exchanges with a knight."

Eisia's eyes shone as she spoke. They looked like eyes saying she would keep moving forward without stopping.

"Yeah, I did not know."

It had been too far and too high to see.

Only after climbing up did he begin to see the differences among them.

From Andrew's perspective, Eisia, Enkrid, Rem, and Ragna were all the same kind of monsters.

Yet during sparring, Eisia had never beaten Rem or Ragna even once.

And when Rem and Ragna fought now and then, Rem had never beaten Ragna either.

And Enkrid...

"Is it right to insist on the Correct Sword to break the Illusionary Sword?"

He kept getting broken by Eisia.

Enkrid judged that beating her in sparring would be difficult.

"Illusionary Sword."

He knew what technique she had. Through thought and replay, he had even understood the method.

It planted illusions and locked the opponent's sight. It scrambled their sense of distance. Then it layered speed on top.

No, not just speed. He had aimed for that before and been hit by her Flowing Sword.

Inside her Illusionary Sword hid another blade, one that could pop out at any time.

That itself was deception.

She had truly mastered the Illusionary Sword and forged it into a weapon.

Enkrid smiled whenever he saw it. The harder it was, the more motivated he became. That was one of his core traits.

The rain fell for four days.

Thinking, replaying.

Sparring, training.

When those four days passed, the weather cleared, bright and clean.

They rolled in mud, sparred, washed up, and chatted.

As they discussed how to catch the Moonlight Beast, Eisia somehow became close with everyone.

"Whoa, a mage? That's cool."

She did not even end up awkward with Esther.

"Is this your horse? Why are its eyes like that? What, do you understand me?"

She even got acquainted with Odd-Eye.

This was beyond friendly. It almost seemed like her special talent.

Enkrid heard bits and pieces of her story from time to time.

"I am from commoner stock. Typical story. I happened to pick up a sword when I was young. Realized I had talent."

"I have one more wish besides becoming a knight."

"Not something I usually tell people. I am saying all kinds of things. You are kind of strange. You have a talent for making people let their guard down."

Then, on the fourth day, in the late afternoon just before sunset.

"The full moon will rise."

Jaxon said it. It was the sky before dusk. In the middle of the training ground, Enkrid looked up. The sky was high, clear, and cloudless.

Jaxon was right. The sun had not even set yet, but the moon was already faintly visible.

It was the shape of a round full moon.

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