A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

The Company Commander’s emerald green eyes showed confusion as he listened to the scout platoon leader’s report.

“With just ten men?”

Everything that happened during the scouting mission of the other squad was ordinary.

The only notable event was encountering an Aspen infantry scout team on the plains and parting ways without a fight.

Naturally, Aspen would also operate scout teams, so encountering them on the plains wasn’t unusual.

In fact, it was more unusual to have only encountered them once.

However, what the Encrid squad did was entirely different.

The enemy was ambushed in the tall grass.

The enemy was up to something.

It’s understandable to gather intelligence.

But to infiltrate the enemy camp and set fire to it with just ten soldiers?

“What the hell?”

At the center of all this was Encrid.

Just like the previous assassin incident.

Wasn’t the squad leader Encrid always involved in these peculiar situations?

Could it be sheer bad luck?

But for that, he had a strange resilience to bad luck.

Not just being there, but repeatedly making notable achievements.

His skills were mediocre, yet the outcomes of his actions were consistently beyond expectations.

Didn’t the squad leader endure during the assassin incident, protecting the target?

What he did this time was even more impressive.

Infiltrating the enemy camp and gathering intelligence was worthy of countless awards.

“Yes, that’s what happened,” the scout platoon leader replied.

Of the ten who infiltrated the enemy camp, only five died, and the remaining five returned with incredible achievements.

They weren’t elite troops raised by the Cyprus division but a scouting team led by the lowest-ranking soldiers.

The Company Commander was intrigued.

‘Encrid, Encrid.’

What the hell is this guy?

His skills are mediocre, yet how does he manage this?

It wasn’t something to ponder deeply.

‘Luck.’

She thought it was just luck.

If it wasn’t luck, what could it be?

Unless he had memorized the entire position of the enemy forces as if he had entered the enemy commander’s mind.

That made even less sense.

The hypothesis that he might be a spy nurtured by the Aspen Principality seemed more plausible.

But that was equally nonsensical.

What kind of fool would send such a spy?

A mere squad leader with poor skills?

“Do you want to call the squad leader and confirm the facts?”

“If he’s dumb enough to lie about this, he’d be dead already.”

The Company Commander sat, resting her chin on his fist, thinking.

Assuming the squad leader Encrid is just lucky.

What are the Aspen bastards planning?

First, he needed to inform the battalion commander.

That was the proper order.

She finished her thoughts and stood up.

“Where are you going?”

Who chose this fool as the platoon leader?

The Company Commander pushed the idiot aside and said,

“I’m going to the battalion commander’s tent.”

Given these events, reporting was the top priority.

* * *

Rem was bored.

No minor skirmishes, nothing to do.

Currently, both armies were busy glaring at each other from their respective positions.

Rumors began circulating within the unit that the war might end just like this.

“Well, that’s how it is. Winter is coming soon, and the battle on this plain isn’t going to end abruptly, right? So, they’ll probably postpone it until next year.”

That was Krais, with his sharp ears.

It was more of a conclusion he reached by synthesizing the rumors rather than his own opinion.

Rem didn’t care what Krais said or about these matters.

Whether this battlefield repeated every year,or that Aspen and Naurillia were once on good terms,what did it matter?

“Nothing to do, damn it.”

Sharpening his axe blade and juggling it to pass the time didn’t change the fact that he had nothing to do.

Rem was incredibly bored during this time.

Everyone else seemed to have something to do.

“Are you asking for that price for the cigars? Are you crazy? Did you get an arrowhead stuck in your head?”

Over on one side, Big Eyes was busy selling things.

After a battle, profits decrease for a while, so he was trying to earn as much as he could now.

He was really living diligently.

“What? Arrowhead?”

Occasionally, there were guys who would glare at Big Eyes because of his small stature.

Rem sometimes took it as a small hobby to intimidate those guys.

Just licking the recently sharpened axe blade while staring at them would do the trick.

In the first place, he never sharpened the axe blade too finely. If it was sharp enough to cut a finger upon contact, it would easily chip.

Unless touched by magic or a craftsman’s hand, this was the proper way to maintain it.

So licking the axe blade wouldn’t cut his tongue.

“…I did get hit by an arrow on my helmet in the last battle.”

These guys would back off quickly.

“Cigars are hard to come by. So, how many do you need?”

Krais raised his voice again.

He was every bit the merchant.

The sneaky street cat-like Jaxon was more often found outside wandering around than inside the tent.

The religious nut was praying, looking incredibly depressed, with his head on the ground.

He kept muttering, “God, give me an answer.”

Seeing that, one would feel reluctant to approach him. Just watching him gave off a strong smell of a mad fanatic.

Why the hell is that guy always like that?

Lastly, there was Ragna, who spent his time sleeping whenever he could.

Wasn’t he bored? He just spaced out all day, slept, spaced out, and slept again.

Is that fun?

“It’s too boring without the squad leader around.”

Rem silently grumbled to himself.

He wondered if the squad leader had died.

Scouting missions were dangerous. And although the squad leader had improved a lot, from Rem’s perspective, his skills were still embarrassingly lacking.

What if he was dead?

He would be a bit, no, very disappointed.

“Geez, have I grown attached to him?”

From what he had observed so far, he was a person worth keeping alive.

But following him around to protect him would be ridiculous.

What was so special about that guy?

Nothing.

He was just a person he happened to like.

‘A person I like?’

Come to think of it, such people were rare. How many people like that had there been in Rem’s life?

He hoped he would come back alive.

But he wasn’t anxious.

He wasn’t someone who would be easily defeated by amateurs.

At the end of his various thoughts, Rem could no longer stand the lingering boredom.

Whether the squad leader was dead or alive, he had to solve the current boredom.

“Do I want to kill you?”

Rem chose a straightforward method.

He kicked the lounging Ragna lightly and spoke.

Ragna stared up at Rem.

With a look that said, “What the hell is this guy doing now?”

“Do you have a death wish?”

Ragna was serious.

“I’m bored. Let’s have a fight.”

No more words were needed. Jaxon, who had briefly entered the tent, saw them and walked past, ignoring them.

The religious nut was busy with his head on the ground, looking as depressed as usual.

Krais was absent.

The two agreed and went outside.

Clang.

With a light clash of axe and sword, the fight began.

They started swinging their weapons at each other.

Whoosh!

Rem’s arm swung, and the axe came down with terrifying force. Ragna twisted his body to avoid the axe blade and thrust his sword forward.

The sharp thrust aimed at Rem’s abdomen was far more refined than the countless stabs shown by Squad Leader Encrid.

Rem put all his strength into his toes and jumped back.

Thud.

A footprint was left where his foot had been.

Anyone with a discerning eye would have been astonished by the level of skill displayed in their exchange.

Squad Leader Encrid arrived just as the fight reached its peak.

* * *

“Kill him!”

One excited soldier shouted.

By now, a crowd had gathered to watch the two of them.

Why was the troublemaker squad known as the troublemaker squad?

Because it was a collection of individuals with various issues.

So why did the unit keep such a troublesome group?

Because of their skills, of course.

With the two of them showing off their skills, how could this not be a spectacle?

Bang!

As the sword and axe clashed, dust rose around them.

Even so, they didn’t take their eyes off each other.

Screech.

The axe blade seemed to drop from above, scraping the ground.

Small stones flew as the axe blade scraped them.

Ragna avoided the axe slashing the ground and brought his sword down from above.

Whoosh.

The sword’s trajectory was invisible even with eyes open.

The sword, which was above, suddenly dropped to slash Rem’s neck.

Bang!

The axe and sword clashed again.

Sparks flew from the weapons they held.

“Crazy.”

The Platoon Leader of the 2nd Platoon, 4th Company, muttered to himself.

It was obvious that their skill levels were several times higher than his own.

Even a few soldiers who were confident in their abilities were astounded.

Among them were those who were almost at the level of senior soldiers.

They all felt the difference in skill level.

Of course, there were also those who tried to gauge the abilities of the two fighters.

‘I could do that much too.’

‘If it were me, I would have finished it by now.’

These thoughts were possible only because they mistakenly believed they were seeing everything the two had to offer.

Meanwhile, Encrid stood still, eyes wide open, oblivious to the surrounding chatter.

At this moment, Encrid’s eyes were entirely focused on tracking their movements.

His mind was fully occupied with countering their sword and axe.

Sweat dripped from the tip of Encrid’s nose.

Just watching and concentrating was enough to soak his entire body in sweat.

Sometimes, just observing can improve one’s skills.

Though no one intended it, Encrid realized what he needed to do at that moment.

‘This method won’t work.’

Everyone has their own way of learning, whether it’s swordsmanship or physical training.

Encrid had something others didn’t.

The curse of a repeating day.

The endlessly appearing walls the faceless ferryman spoke of.

If that were the case, he needed a new method that suited him, not just ordinary training or practice.

Watching their sword and axe, the method suddenly came to Encrid’s mind.

Excitement and realization struck quickly and faded just as fast, like a pot of cold water being poured.

Watching their sparring match, Encrid had to admit it honestly.

He had never drawn out such skills from either of them.

Neither Rem nor Ragna had ever shown such abilities when sparring with him.

Beyond strength and speed, he could tell from their expressions.

Rem was smiling.

It looked so joyous.

Ragna’s expression was also full of life.

It was a face rarely seen from him.

How many times had he repeated today?

How many times had he narrowly escaped death?

Even so, he couldn’t seriously contend with either of them at the moment.

That was his current position.

But he wasn’t discouraged.

If he were the type to give up so easily, he wouldn’t have started in the first place.

Instead, he found it amusing.

He now had a goal.

‘Those expressions.’

Watching them, he resolved to make them show those expressions while fighting him. Encrid found that deeply satisfying.

He saw a new path ahead and had the time to walk it.

He was immensely, truly immensely, joyful.

Ting.

The axe and sword clashed, creating a strange sound.

At the same time, Rem and Ragna distanced themselves.

Both were sweating heavily. Sweat was running down Ragna’s forehead.

Rem exhaled and grinned.

“Not bad for someone who just sleeps all the time.”

Ragna scoffed at that remark.

“And where do you get off judging, you barbarian who only bullies the weak?”

Despite the sharp words, they both lowered their weapons.

They didn’t need to speak to know each other’s state.

If they continued, they would have to fight to the death.

While they might have done that if they were more excited, this wasn’t the time.

It was a sparring match with some energy left in reserve.

While fighting, they noticed a familiar face among the onlookers. It was the squad leader.

It was proof that they had the presence of mind to look around even during the fight.

“Here to watch? If you’re going to keep watching, why don’t you join in?”

As Rem spoke abruptly, the crowd of onlookers quickly dispersed.

Among the dispersing crowd, only the scruffy-looking Encrid remained.

“You’re back?” Rem greeted Encrid. Ragna also acknowledged him with a glance.

The fight was over.

And Encrid had returned safely.

Soon, Jaxon came out, running his hand through his tousled red hair, and Krais ran over when he saw the squad leader.

“You’re back?”

“Squad leader!”

“God has watched over you.”

Even the religious squad member acknowledged him.

A total of six, they were supposed to be a ten-member squad.

Encrid, now one of the six, announced his return.

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