A Knight Who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 421



Only Noblemtl

421. Ominousness is coming

“Ominousness is coming.”

A purple lamp, a boat floating on black river water, and a boatman.

It was now a space so familiar that I could draw it with my eyes closed.

It was a dream, and I was on a boat with a ferry.

“What ominous thing do you mean?”

Encred asked, sitting on the edge of the boat. Can I cross my legs? As he thought about this, the boatman’s eyes turned to him.

“I can’t tell you any more.”

It was a reaction like that of a serious temperamental person.

That was the way Encred looked at the captain.

Every time I saw the boatman, his personality changed, his speech changed, and he would say whatever he wanted.

Encred had no difficulty dealing with these temperaments.

Because I have never traveled the continent to learn swordsmanship.

Fighters, mercenaries, noble escorts, swordsmen from the upper class, swordsmanship teachers from the academy, there were many unique and eccentric ones among them.

The most unique of these were the men currently under my command.

If it’s experience, it’s overflowing.

If we compare purely on personality, Sakong might be better than Rem.

In times like these, there was no need to agree with what the other person said or show emotion.

“okay.”

Encred agreed, paused for a moment, and then asked.

“How do you know that ominousness is coming?”

The boatman didn’t answer. It seemed as if he really had no intention of saying anything more. The boatman’s gaze fell on Encred.

Then, suddenly, my vision darkened.

When I opened my eyes, it was morning. The summer sun rose early, so it was already daylight even during the time I was practicing the technique of isolation.

Encred devoted himself to training as usual.

Saxon, who had been lost in thought about what was bothering him since the palace, suddenly started talking to his unit members in a friendly manner after sparring with him, but now he had returned to his original self.

No, it didn’t end with him coming back. He said he had something to do and was going out for a few days, so he wasn’t even at his desk right now.

It was a shame, because if there had been, we would have had to do the previous sparring again.

“Good morning, brother.”

A little later, Audin followed behind.

After that, Teresa, Dunbaker, Lawford, and Pell came out.

“It’s been horrible since this morning.”

Pel said a word.

You could tell just by looking at it. It wasn’t a training exercise to show off to someone, it was just something they did.

“When are you going to jump in?”

It was a chicken instead of a pheasant.

“Not yet.”

It was clear that he was possessed by an evil spirit because he couldn’t spar.

Feldo’s hands were itching. However, he didn’t want to rush in because it was obvious that he would lose.

Because shepherds always move efficiently.

‘Still, there is something that really gets people’s blood boiling.’

He was a person who made something boil in my chest when I looked at him.

Since it was impossible to force someone who did not want to fight, Encrid turned his head and began to torture his body with Audin.

Starting with the striking technique, he adopts a strange posture that stretches all the muscles in his body as if to tear them apart.

“A muscle that has lost its flexibility is just useless flesh.”

Audin’s teachings continued.

Teresa watches over Lawford’s training, while Dunbakel sweats profusely as he follows Encred’s training.

Morning training after a dream that is either a nightmare or the boatman’s prank, this is daily life.

After that, various things awaited Encred.

It’s been two weeks since I returned to the Border Guard. I’m slowly getting used to the days.

For example, a battalion commander calling himself general.

There was a lot of work to do, but since Christ was determined and rushed in, there wasn’t much for Encred to do.

“How about unifying the soldiers’ equipment? Then, divide the branches and train them.”

From training.

“That outpost will be expanded in the future. To the level of a gateway. It only has twenty people now, but we will make it so that at least a hundred people can be stationed there. If we give them names and give them a sense of belonging, they will be able to guard it better. That is my guess.”

police.

“The nobles keep sending me gifts, so I will take care of writing replies.”

diplomacy.

“The Rockfried Group, which has been doing a good job, is planning to open branches in the surrounding cities. Will you allow it? If you don’t, Leona might get angry.”

economy.

“I’ve raised the soldiers’ pay, and I’m planning to select a few people with good skills and make them landowners. There’s a lot of good land, but it’s a waste to waste it. However, since that land is Green Pearl, I think it would be a good idea to set up a few guard posts at the gate there.”

Even finances.

At this point, it seemed like even ten bodies of Christ wouldn’t be enough.

“Are you eating properly?”

Encred asked, wiping away his sweat. He was in the middle of a weapon control exercise with a training sword, which was five times heavier than an iron sword.

“yes?”

Christ turned his head and asked back.

“Aren’t you busy?”

Even the genie that appears when you rub a lamp in one of the fairy tales of the Eastern Continent wouldn’t have worked this hard.

“I’m moderately busy.”

“Are you going to raise your salary too?”

“It’s already at its limit. If I receive more here, it would be like receiving more than the Border Guard Lord.”

I’m not the type of guy who can’t pick his own pocket, you know.

Encred nodded.

“And I do the work? I just have to check from above.”

Encred was doing that right now. The seal was also dug up by Crys somewhere and brought by him.

Although he was a general, he was not originally a nobleman, and he was not like the current Encred.

It was natural, since he had the power to slap even the most nobleman two hundred and eighty times.

The entire territory where the leader of the rebellion was located has been taken over, and he is known as a national hero, demon slayer, and friend of the king.

“I brought Gilpin and made him work. I’m using people here and there. The top of Lockfried helped me a lot with this too. He handles a lot of work related to numbers.”

Encred left it to him to figure out what to do. Honestly, he didn’t think he could do it to this extent even if he took the initiative.

Encred boldly delegated the work to Chrys, only examining a few of them in detail.

One was the soldier’s armament.

“Spearmen, swordsmen, and shieldmen. Divide them into three groups, and have them handle all weapons during basic training. And let’s arm them like this.”

The basic equipment of a swordsman consisted of a longsword, a dagger, a makeshift wrist-bolt that Chrys had made by roasting together several blacksmiths and workshops, a suit of body armor made of oiled linen and covered with leather, arm and shin guards, three throwing knives, a hatchet, a kite shield, a leather helmet lined with cloth, and a short club.

The portable crossbow was a weapon developed after recalling the ones used by thieves in the past.

Spearmen and archers were similar, except for their main weapons.

‘If you’re fully armed, isn’t carrying an extra backpack a form of torture in itself?’

Christ looked at his captain with that thought in mind. Encrid quickly replied.

“Send back anyone who says it’s this hard.”

There was a time when the Border Guard standing force was so short in numbers that they had to accept men as they came and send them into battle as soon as they could.

But now it was enough not to do that.

“It is better to train a certain number of elite soldiers than a large number of soldiers.”

Christ agreed with that statement. The things I am talking about now were originally designed to increase the fighting power of soldiers.

Although an office was built, it was not used, so the discussions held in one place on the parade ground were the moments that determined the soldiers’ future.

Swordsmen, spearmen, archers, shieldmen, cavalrymen, and even mounted archers.

Encred spoke the big picture, and Christ added his own wisdom.

“Since we’re already here, how about we reorganize our subordinate units by gathering some decent soldiers and putting them in? You know we can’t remain an independent company anymore, right?”

Nod.

Encred relayed the decision he had made to Christ.

“Rem, let’s pick out some good kids and form a unit.”

It seemed like it would be good to become a stormtrooper, someone who would strike and tear apart when war broke out.

“Huh? Are you serious about that?”

Encred hesitated for a moment. He might end up making his soldiers half-crippled instead of creating a unit.

“I told you to create a unit, not to harass them.”

“I will do my best.”

Rem said as she got up.

“Don’t try your best.”

Encred said this out of pity for the soldiers for no reason.

I made Ragna do the same thing.

“It’s annoying.”

“Cavalry is fine, and swordsmanship is fine.”

“It’s annoying.”

After returning from the palace, Ragnar devoted himself to training for a few days, then returned to dozing off and rolling around in the barracks like before.

Lawford was again as lazy as ever, except for occasionally showing up at the parade grounds, dragging him out in a sullen manner.

Lawford, fearless, repeatedly asked Ragnar to spar.

Naturally, he was often beaten or threatened with death.

“If you keep bothering me, I’ll cut off one of your arms.”

“I will work hard so that it doesn’t get cut off!”

Still, Lawford was undaunted. He was a man of extraordinary character. At least that’s what he seemed to be.

Ragnar is a man of his word, but he really won’t cut it.

That was probably the case.

However, I was worried about Encred too, so I said something.

“Don’t cut it.”

“I’ll do it after seeing it.”

But the dirty and disturbing words came back.

I felt a little relieved when I put a rope on a guy who was too lazy to do anything.

The composition of the unit was more skilled because Lawford had been trained and educated by the Knights.

Dunbakel was attached to Rem.

If you harass Dunbakel, his subordinates will harass you less.

I told Audin too.

“Okay, brother.”

I readily agreed. I was a little uneasy about that, so I left Teresa behind.

I believed that this would be a good way to train elite soldiers.

There is no need to have a lot of troops.

Encred was not the type to turn away from a task given to him. He did everything he could without reducing his training and discipline time.

Thanks to Christ, my training time hasn’t really decreased.

“Let’s go watch the training. Do what you always do.”

Luagarne made a request to the royal palace and officially came under Encred’s command.

After that, Encrid followed around like a duckling following its mother duck.

After joining the Gilpin Guild, he beat up anyone who attacked him, and he even encountered the city-dwelling Prok Meelun, but they were completely unaware of each other.

They didn’t seem to have any interest in each other.

When I asked why.

“I am a prok.”

“So why is that?”

“Everyone will be living according to their own desires, and that prok’s desires are not of interest to me?”

As I’ve felt before, Prock didn’t bother to learn about things that weren’t of interest to him.

It was unusual for a prog to know as much as Luagarne.

Her desire was to explore the unknown, and it was possible because she was, strictly speaking, an academic prog.

“What do you think is the point of the inspection?”

Luagarne was helpful in many ways, especially the content he taught, regardless of skill level.

A great sparring partner isn’t necessarily a great teacher.

You can easily tell by looking at Rem, Ragnar, Audin, and Saxon.

Even if they were asked to train soldiers, they were poor at teaching.

Geniuses are all of that kind of people.

In that respect, Luagarne was a truly outstanding teacher.

“calculate?”

“It’s hints and restraints.”

This is the gist.

You don’t necessarily have to swing your sword, you just have to give a few hints to make your opponent move in the way you want.

“Swinging a sword is nothing more than a gesture that is shown after confirmation has already been made.”

“Even if you force them into a proper stance and then attack, Rem counters right away. What is that?”

“That axe is a monster.”

Luagarne’s eyes read talent. In her eyes, Rem was a monster.

“What about Ragna?”

“That kid is a sword-wielding monster.”

“What about Audin?”

“He is a monster from the start.”

“What about Saxony?”

“A sinister monster?”

Although Luagarne’s vocabulary was not that great, Encred actually agreed.

“And you are an incomprehensible monster.”

“Yes, is that so?”

Sometimes, Shinar would come and be my sparring partner, and she would show me techniques that would make my heart shiver every now and then.

Even that made her think that it wasn’t all she had, and that she seemed to be controlling something.

“Why? Did you think I could just win, fiancé?”

“I think it’s time to change the way you call me at the end of every sentence.”

“The General’s fiancée?”

“Let’s not change it.”

Crys was able to infer Krang’s inner thoughts just by looking at what Encred was asking for.

“Prepare for war.”

“maybe.”

“Hmm, is your opponent Azpen?”

“maybe.”

Encred gave a vague answer and moved on, but it seemed like Crys had already noticed.

He was a guy who you never knew what was in his head.

Even as I spent each day like that, the boatman came out every time I slept.

“Ominous things are coming.”

It was Encrid who had been hearing the same thing for two weeks. Perhaps the boatman wanted to hear the words “tired” from his own mouth.

Because whenever he saw himself, he would say that he was a terrible and boring guy.

But I never really felt bored.

“Don’t you know how far it has come?”

“I can’t tell you.”

I was just curious. It must be a wall, since that’s what the boatman said. That’s what I felt.

Even the captain couldn’t figure out exactly what the ominous feeling was.

When things happen and today repeats itself, you can see the predetermined future, but you cannot know everything that has not happened.

That’s something even God can’t do.

The boatman thought to himself.

‘No, even today, which is repeated, changes.’

The man in front of me showed it to me.

That was the price.

“Ominousness is coming.”

The boatman did him a favor.

“Yes, I would like to see it soon.”

Looking at the master of the curse who answered calmly, the boatman felt a little, just a little, upset, but he did not withdraw his kindness.

“Ominousness is near.”

“Yes, is that so?”

Encrid was as calm as ever.

“Take it seriously. You foolish one who has walked the path of mortality and will eventually reach today’s destruction.”

“Yes, I am serious.”

It didn’t look serious at all and seemed full of expectations. The boatman was not happy about that.