Eternally Regressing Knight
Chapter 256 - 256 - How to Handle Fools (1)
"'The Lord who bestows radiance upon this land speaks thus,'" announced the bald-headed man.
Enkrid tilted his head at the remark.
"I am a servant of the Radiance," the man added.
This meant he was a priest, one of those who replaced greetings with the words of their holy scripture.
"What brings you here?" Enkrid asked.
"I have come to bestow blessings," the priest replied with a serene smile.
"A blessing out of the blue?" Enkrid mused silently.
"Isn't this the sort of thing one typically receives before a battle?"
The priest, however, was undeterred and carried on with his sermon.
"The hand of Radiance that protects this land has sent heroes to this domain. Ho ho ho!"
Krais's Krona's finely attuned senses began to pick up on the priest's intent.
He had merged his advanced sense of smell into an instinctive ability, almost like a sixth sense, allowing him to discern the disposition of others.
Or perhaps it was simply that this man wasn't trying to hide anything.
The priest rambled on, eventually claiming that the recent protection of the land was entirely thanks to his three days and nights of unceasing prayer.
Rem paused as he adjusted her fur cloak, raising his head in disbelief.
What did he just say? His face showed her incredulity.
"Don't," Enkrid said, cutting him off.
Even Ragna, who had been heading into the lodging, stopped in his tracks.
Enkrid noted the shift of weight onto Ragna's left foot.
The man's unique sensitivity had been triggered.
Enkrid raised a hand, palm out, toward Ragna. A clear signal to stop.
While Rem might give some visible warning before acting rashly, Ragna was the type to act first, usually with fists flying.
Of course, the most dangerous one here was Jaxen.
That man could strike without warning, with chilling precision.
"Nobody do anything," Enkrid said again.
Though he felt the same irritation and anger as the others, he was the only one keeping his composure.
They were, after all, in the heart of the domain, right in the middle of a military camp.
Beating—or worse, killing—a priest here was not an option.
Although... a little beating might not be too bad, he thought.
"This is troublesome," Krais said, his voice cold.
His tone suggested he wasn't worried about the situation itself but rather pondering how to cover it up if the priest ended up dead.
It wasn't about Krona, nor about Krais's aversion to unnecessary conflict.
Krais had fought on battlefields.
But if victory was due solely to prayer—if survival came purely from divine intervention—what did that mean for the soldiers who bled and fought for it?
Enkrid reached a conclusion:
This guy is an idiot.
And the first rule of dealing with fools? Ignore them.
The first step in avoiding filth is to steer clear of it.
But contrary to expectations, someone typically passive stepped forward.
Audin's movement cast a long shadow across the plump priest in the late afternoon sun.
"So, since victory came through prayer, are you asking for a victory offering?" Audin's usual title of "Brother" was absent from his words.
Enkrid knew Audin well.
Though deeply religious and skilled in sacred arts, Audin kept these facets of himself private.
He also avoided violence, even against corrupt priests or those driven by greed.
This made his current actions all the more surprising.
"Yes, precisely! For the temple, the domain, and its people. Make an offering, and I will ensure your generosity is widely praised," the priest replied.
Enkrid understood the implication.
A few gold coins, and they'd be praised.
But praise was not something this group sought.
"Since Radiance's will is so lofty, what of the funerals for the fallen?" Audin asked suddenly.
Enkrid hesitated, considering whether to stop him.
"That will come in time," the priest said dismissively.
His tone betrayed his disregard for the soldiers who had died.
This was a world rife with monsters and beasts, a place where war threatened at every turn.
The specter of another cataclysmic conflict like the Holy Demon War loomed over them.
In that historic war, humanity and its allied races had suffered losses so vast that rivers of blood were said to have flowed, and mountains of corpses were left behind.
Even now, the continent remained embroiled in chaos and strife.
Life, though fragile, was no less valuable for it.
A warlord might see their troops as mere numbers.
A general might view them the same way.
But should a priest?
"You've brought many fine goods, haven't you? Ho ho, if you make an offering in goodwill, blessings will follow," the priest said.
There was not a shred of divinity in this man.
The words "blessing" sounded more like "extortion."
Audin looked at the priest.
It was a common occurrence. There were plenty of idiots in the world, and this territory seemed to have more than its fair share.
A fool, intoxicated by drugs and hypnosis.
A fool belonging to a group called the Black Blades.
And on top of that, a fool wearing the guise of a priest.
"A common sight."
Audin knew this wasn't anything special. After all, how had he dealt with such people before?
Even though there were no clergy in Border Guard, wandering priests occasionally appeared.
Hadn't they seen them committing robbery under the guise of collecting donations?
Everyone had turned a blind eye.
For a long time, the excommunicated priests had ignored every problem in sight, placing someone who was said to break through walls above them, someone who was called the limit.
Recently, though, he had seen a human defy its fate.
That human's name was Enkrid.
The words spoken before the one who defied fate were before Enkrid himself.
A lot of thoughts flashed through his mind.
It was the end of the thoughts he had concluded while watching Enkrid.
Audin faced his own change.
"Was I told to watch something wrong?"
No, his father, the god, and his lord hadn't asked him to do that.
So Audin responded to the wrong, moving because his lord, who now resided within him, had steadied him.
This priest was a fool. Enkrid knew it. It was the moment when he decided to ignore it and turn a blind eye.
Whoosh.
As the air shifted and something brushed against his sixth sense, Enkrid reacted. What if Rem couldn't hold back and threw an axe? That would cause chaos.
He reached out and tried to block it with his body. The one who moved was a person. And the one who moved slipped like a snake under the arm that Enkrid had stretched out, swinging their palm.
Clap!
There was no groan. No final cry.
The one who moved was Audin.
He had swung his palm, and it landed on the priest's cheek.
Enkrid turned his body.
In that moment, Audin's movement caught his keen senses, and he asked, "What was that?"
"Snake steps," Audin answered.
To anyone else, it would surely sound like a conversation between madmen.
After satisfying his curiosity, Enkrid watched Audin's actions.
"Is he dead?"
"Almost dead, I'd say."
Rem responded to the question.
Ragna, silently observing the situation, muttered under his breath as he looked at Audin.
"Troublemaker."
Jaxen then said flatly, "Was it really necessary?"
Wouldn't it have been easier to just sneak by without being seen?
Finally, Rem looked at the priest, who was sprawled on the ground, wriggling, or more precisely, having been thrown a few steps to the side of his previous position.
It didn't seem like he was dead, but his body was trembling.
"People should learn to endure a little," Rem muttered.
Was that really something he should be saying?
Enkrid, thinking this over, gestured to Krais, who moved in to check the priest's breath.
"Luckily... No, not exactly luckily. He's breathing."
His cheek was swelling red immediately, but he was alive. The fact that his eyeballs hadn't popped out or exploded was fortunate.
Now, the problem remained.
Enkrid was the leader of the troublemaking squad.
This kind of accident was familiar to him.
"No, I think this is the first time I've hit a priest."
There were no priests in Border Guard.
It wasn't because of any special reason, but more of a series of coincidences.
The first commander had distanced himself from religion, and those who came after him followed his lead. Most recently, before Marcus came, the commander had despised the fat pigs who coveted their own portion.
So, he hated the corrupt priests.
Whether they had a strong sense of sacrifice or not, they were still receiving donations, and that alone made them disliked.
The current battalion commander, Marcus, was the same.
He believed in the gods and donated to temples.
But when a temple tried to establish itself within his territory, he didn't allow it.
He would cut anything that didn't benefit the territory.
It was also strange that the priests who visited the territory seemed to only care about Krona.
Sure, if someone were dispatched from the temple, a new temple could easily spring up, but so far, there had been no temples in Border Guard.
But had this been the first time encountering such a fool?
No, it hadn't.
The real question was why he had chosen to strike now.
Enkrid, looking at Audin with this thought in mind, saw him clasp his hands together in front of his chest and said as if praying.
"I have no regrets. It is merely that my lord commanded this, and I, as a servant, must follow."
He meant that he wanted to hit him.
Enkrid completely understood.
"Let's just kill him and bury him."
Rem spoke. That didn't make sense. There were already many eyes watching the commotion outside their lodging.
Instead of responding to this meaningless question, Enkrid once again examined the priest.
He was definitely not dead.
Squatting down to inspect, one of the soldiers watching spoke.
"...Why does it feel so refreshing?"
"Right?"
"Foolish pig."
A few thoughtless soldiers snickered, and a smarter soldier called for their commander.
The commander quickly arrived and, upon hearing the situation, immediately reported to the higher-ups. Soon, Zimmer appeared.
"Let's say it was me who hit him."
"Hm?"
Enkrid looked at Zimmer as if questioning him, and Zimmer spoke, his eyes gleaming.
"I think it will be easier to deal with this if I take the blame instead of you."
"Appreciate it, but..."
"You are the heroes who defend this territory. Surely I can handle something like this."
Zimmer spoke proudly.
What happens when a priest is beaten?
It would be reported to the higher-ups immediately. The temple would send someone to claim that their god had been disrespected, or use this as an excuse to extend their influence over the territory.
If Border Guard and Marta were becoming a "trade territory," as they knew, the temple might try to bring some of their offerings here to claim a portion of the profits.
But what about Zimmer, who had beaten the priest?
He would suffer consequences in the form of fines or punishment.
If things went wrong, it could become a bigger issue.
If they pursued it, he might even be imprisoned.
That's what it meant to hit a priest sent to the territory.
But Zimmer, in this case, would fare better than Audin.
It was different when an outsider hit the priest compared to a conflict with someone they already knew.
There was also the difference in influence within the territory.
Enkrid scratched his temple thoughtfully.
He looked at Audin, who was hiding his divinity.
What troubled him the most was:
"Should I really associate that bear-like person with a priest?"
It didn't seem like a good idea.
He was hiding his divinity, staying in a territory without any priests.
And he was part of a unit.
He was a fugitive. Enkrid could sense that without being told. It was a clear problem.
Whether he believed in heresy or had sinned against the temple—both could be true.
"Everyone here will be a witness," Zimmer said confidently.
He was from the East and was the commander of this territory.
It wouldn't be too hard to influence the divided group of soldiers.
The soldiers from Border Guard were friendly to Enkrid, so there was no need to persuade them.
"Let's do that."
Krais nudged Enkrid with his elbow.
Enkrid decided to accept the offer.
"Thank you."
Zimmer nodded in response.
He was the same bold character in battle, even after a defeat.
"That settles it."
Zimmer had a soldier carry the fallen priest inside.
The next day, the priest, with his memory lost, started yelling and complaining.
Enkrid happened to witness the scene during his morning routine in the barracks.
"How dare you lay a hand on the servant of the gods? Do you think this will just be forgotten? The Radiance is watching! Huh? I'll report this to the temple and make sure this is dealt with!"
It was near the outer edge of the barracks, where the thick brush grew.
Enkrid overheard the conversation and was relieved to find out the priest didn't know it was Audin who had hit him.
From the rest of the conversation, it seemed that Zimmer was even more bold and carefree than Enkrid had realized.
"You won because of prayer? Damn, you pig."
The priest's words faltered. The once smooth tongue now stammered.
"What? What did you just say?"
The tremor in his voice was unmistakable—he was "scared," to put it simply.
"Damn, have your ears gotten fat? How about I just cut that ear off?"
Zimmer drew a dagger. The morning sun gleamed off the blade, making it sparkle.
"Or maybe I should cut off the tongue that's spewing nonsense?"
Zimmer's movements radiated menace, the kind of threat that felt like he might actually follow through.
The priest hesitated to respond, but after a moment, he attempted one last defiance.
"I'll report this to the temple..."
"If they hear it, you'll end up as the midnight meal of a ghoul that suddenly attacks during a prayer. Or, maybe you'll be a proud casualty from the battlefield in the previous centaur colony. You were charging into battle and got seriously wounded, couldn't be treated, and died. Everyone would believe it was because you were a priest and tried to heal yourself with divine power."
Not every priest could use divine power, but that was not something to boast about.
The priest was silenced.
It was a wonderfully bold scene, one that left a deep impression on Enkrid.
It was also curious—why was Zimmer the one making the threats?
Surely, Enkrid could have done the same, but it would not have carried the same weight.
Zimmer had the freedom to do so in this territory.
It was an amusing thought—Zimmer, that Eastern man.
Back at the barracks, Krais yawned and said,
"Come to think of it, they're kind of nice people."
"Who?"
Enkrid hadn't broken his routine, preparing to go back out and practice with his sword before his sweat dried.
He moved as usual.
Krais answered from behind him.
"The Black Blades."
"...How are they nice?"
"Heh, it's getting chilly. Can't you ask Rem for his fur coat?"
"You think I won't stick an axe blade into your neck if you're wearing it?"
"Even if the commander stops you?"
"Absolutely."
"Ah, I should've bought one myself."
Krais talked like that, but it was clear he would never buy one. He was a tight-fisted man when it came to things like fur, especially regarding the Krona.
"Let's go. You're going to swing that sword, right?"
Krais spoke as they headed outside. The sun was warm, but the air was cold—it was the drop in temperature that signaled the arrival of winter.
Enkrid grabbed his sword and stepped outside.
They had to stay here until the day the dwarf had promised, so for now, he focused on his training.
Meanwhile, Krais mused about why the Black Blades were so "nice."
Enkrid considered this, thinking that, since coming to Martaia, he had been encountering more fools and such groups than usual.
Now that the Black Blades were drawing their swords, and the priest had been struck by Audin, it left him wondering how to deal with such people.
The answer was simple.
"Just beat them all."
The answer was clear, but it was Krais who would now decide how to carry it out. Since Enkrid had given the command, Krais would follow it to the letter.
TL here! Thank you for reading!
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