Eternally Regressing Knight
Chapter 263 - 263 - Change, Change, Change
For a long time, the continent's most renowned strategists, military leaders, and commanders sought to create magical divisions.
In other words, they tried to gather magicians and elevate them into military forces under their command.
"If we gather magicians to form an army, it could rival a knight's order in strength!"
The first fool who had this idea carried it out faithfully.
He traveled across the continent, gathering those who were skilled in casting spells, and promised them many things.
From providing them with locations and supplies to fulfilling the wishes of the magicians.
Dozens of magicians gathered and formed a collective.
Thus, the "Womb of the Demon" was born.
Of course, it wasn't named the Womb of the Demon from the outset.
"It shall be called the Tower of Wisdom."
That was what it was originally called, but in later years, historians would refer to it as the Womb of the Demon.
Why?
Because the magicians there summoned demons and twelve Beelrogs, so it was only fitting.
The nameless demon—at least as far as humans were concerned—was a being who had no name and swept through three neighboring territories, creating an undead army, and earned the title "Father of the Dead."
The twelve Beelrogs who served him, born for battle, fought as only monsters born for war could.
This is not myth, but a legendary event that happened between history.
That demon still exists today.
Eventually, to defeat the "Father of the Dead," the greatest knight orders from across the continent set out.
The demon fought fiercely and eventually retreated deep into the forbidden realm.
That is the history of how the demon known as "The Father of the Dead" or "The Last Door of Life" took refuge in the depths of the cursed land.
[Immortal, possessing a body and soul that cannot be killed by human hands, that demon.]
This phrase is often used to describe the demon.
From this, there should have been a lesson learned, but still, many attempted to organize magicians.
Some succeeded, but their ends were far from beautiful.
Rebellions, spells gone out of control, and magicians killing each other even when no one instructed them to.
"They are an uncontrollable threat."
Later, the Empire unofficially referred to magicians as such, and there was a time of witch hunts and magical repression.
Today, most people avert their eyes and fear or revere witches when they see them.
The same goes for magicians.
What lesson can be drawn from all this?
"Magicians are fickle, unpredictable, and troublemakers."
Yet, some still secretly cultivate friendships with magicians or make deals to establish positions like court mages in their kingdoms.
But the consensus is that it's more of a transactional relationship.
Enkrid thought this to himself as he looked at Esther.
Along with the fairy commander, they had just dunked a single frog, which was still unconscious.
And then there was Esther.
This leopard—what was it dissatisfied with? It just kept staring at him.
"I have a problem."
He could feel it without words.
The senses, muddled and intertwined, told him something new through his heightened instincts.
'What's with her?'
"Oh ho."
Just before parting, the fairy commander let out an incomprehensible exclamation.
"Until we meet again, onion fiancée. I shall peel your layers and one day, see you completely bare."
Why was that prayer directed at him?
Enkrid wondered, but since the fairy wasn't someone with whom ordinary logic worked...
"I'm leaving."
He waved her off.
He mentioned that the frog interrogation could be done together, and they agreed.
Back at the camp, Esther continued to give him strange looks, which reminded him of the historical tales of magicians causing trouble.
Was she also some sort of witch who might cause trouble?
"What?"
He asked directly.
Instead of avoiding it or letting things go wrong, he asked outright, which was typical of Enkrid.
But thinking it over, she was a witch.
A witch who could even transform into a leopard.
For some reason, she preferred to stay in her leopard form more than as a human.
But that was a misunderstanding.
Esther had to maintain her leopard form due to a curse, not because she enjoyed it.
Well, everything has its ups and downs; where there's good, there's also bad.
The curse of
transformation
wasn't necessarily all bad.
For a genius witch who had lived opening her own world of spells since she was young, it wasn't hard to pick out useful aspects from a curse.
Of course, all of this started because of the man in front of her.
'Why?'
At first, there were only questions.
As she nestled into the man's embrace, the power of her curse weakened. If the curse was a tangled thread, it was as if that knot had unraveled on its own.
If she had severed it by force, her world would have been tainted and ruined, but if she found the starting point and slowly untangled it, there was no danger.
The man was the type of person who could gently unravel the threads of a curse.
Because of him, she found herself in his arms, falling asleep and waking up, still here.
The questions continued. For a witch, such questions were poison.
Thus, she had to dig deeper.
She had to continue contemplating. That was the answer.
Of course, there was more to be done than just thinking.
She had also tinkered with the summoned creatures placed in her spell world and gathered various items to extend the time she can transform back into a human.
It wasn't enough, but unless she captured a master alchemist, she had acquired everything she could for now.
Afterward, there was the process of refining her spell world once again.
She wouldn't fall victim to such a foolish curse again.
Esther, too, had her own goals.
After overcoming the curse, there were two major tasks to complete.
The first was revenge.
She needed to plunge a fiery arrow into the skull of the one who had done this to her.
The second, while a different path, was the ultimate goal of her magical pursuit.
'The world must be governed by magic.'
To create a new world through spells once again.
Even if thousands of humans and different races died, nations fell, the land decayed, and lakes turned black with the coming of an era of destruction.
'If that must happen, then so be it.'
When had she harbored such a goal?
Was it when she was called the Witch of Fire?
Or was it when she was known as the Sage with Blue Eyes?
Either way, it was a dream she had nurtured from then on.
With magic, with spells, and with mystery, the world would be reshaped.
Grin.
While lost in thought, Esther unconsciously bared her fangs.
Despite this, the man didn't seem to mind. He simply raised his hand and gently patted her head.
"Are you upset?"
The tone, however, displeased her, so she lightly bit his hand.
It should have hurt, but the blue eyes peeking through his black hair only smiled.
"That hurts, you brat."
Though she still didn't like his tone, she let it go.
Seeing that smiling face, she couldn't stay angry.
He really was strikingly handsome.
Esther harbored within her a strong will and a resolve to overthrow the world.
She had nurtured that belief until now, but recently, her thoughts had begun to change.
It was the first change she had encountered in over a hundred years.
If the curse was the beginning of the change, then this man was the end.
Why did she feel like she was rooting for him when she looked at him?
Why did she want to see his future?
Why did she want to help him?
Why did watching him wield his blade bring her joy?
While these thoughts swirled, the man left for a neighboring territory. She had expected him to return soon, but days passed without word.
If she went to look for him, it would feel like a bother, but waiting also made the time drag on.
She needed the man's embrace again. The power of the curse needed to be suppressed once more. But first, she needed to clear her thoughts.
'In the spell world, distractions are poison.'
This was a fact proven by countless magicians.
Poison that harms the body is dangerous, but poison that affects the mind is far worse.
As she stabilized her inner poison, the man finally returned after a few days, but he didn't even look for her before leaving again.
She heard that some frog had arrived, and it seemed to be playing with the big-eyed guy.
'Why do I want to hit him?'
Esther didn't know why she felt this way, but she didn't dwell on it either.
If something like this happened again, she would act on her instincts.
She was a witch, a magician.
She was by nature unpredictable, a selfish and unknown seeker of knowledge, with her spell world always taking priority.
It was perhaps inevitable that the man in front of her had entered her life, given her curiosity.
'How could he be like that?'
She had met dozens, maybe hundreds, of people who wielded swords.
But she had never seen anyone like him before.
From the very first time she was called a witch, until now, she had never encountered someone like him.
How could she not find him interesting?
"Want to go to the market? I saw a lot of things being sold there."
At those words, Esther stood up.
She cleared her thoughts from her spell world.
'According to my instincts.'
She decided to go with it.
Enkrid, noticing that Esther had stopped sulking, picked her up in his arms.
"Let's go together."
"What about the frog?"
"I'm not sure what he ate, but he's still out cold. That poison is strong."
"Did you figure out what it was?"
While carrying Esther, they stepped outside, where they saw Rem hitting Dunbakel, and Audin and Teresa sitting nearby, seemingly lost in thought.
Should they bring them along?
That thought crossed his mind, but when he asked, they all shook their heads.
"I'm trying to find the answer to the question the Lord gave me."
Audin muttered some nonsense.
"I'm wandering Teresa, it's time to train. I need to prepare for the next sparring."
Teresa was covered in sweat, fully committed to her training.
"I'm busy. You go on and have fun by yourself. You can't even go to the market if I'm not there, huh? Would people think I'm your father?"
Crazy Rem.
Enkrid, instead of emphasizing his own age, stared at Dunbakel.
"Give him a good one. You can do it."
With a word of encouragement, the beast-woman's eyes lit up with determination.
"I'll make sure to do so."
"Huh? You've lost it. Let's make this training session count."
Rem, seeing the fighting spirit in Dunbakel, broke into a broad smile. It seemed like he was looking forward to the fight.
Still the same crazy guy.
Jaxen was nowhere to be seen, and Ragna was swinging his sword, making it hard to approach him.
So, they headed toward the market.
Esther bought some of her favorite spiced jerky and marmalade.
They also heard that some artisans who made bread in Martai had joined, so there would be plenty to eat and see.
It wasn't all there was.
Until now, due to the rush of movement, she hadn't noticed it until she looked closely.
"Don't you think something has changed a lot?"
Enkrid asked as he scratched behind Esther's ear with his finger.
Esther, who had her chest puffed up and was wrapped in his arms, let out a contented sound.
Krais answered carelessly to his superior's words.
"Things have changed."
Things had changed.
He hadn't really looked closely at the market before, but now...
"Marcus, that guy... really a madman."
It was a compliment. Krais briefly summarized what he had heard and seen.
"He was crazy like a colt with its tail on fire, using Krona like mad."
The sky above was cloudless, and the sunlight fell from above. For a northern winter, it was truly great weather.
There were many more people wandering the market than before, and the inns were overflowing.
Vaness's pumpkin soup inn was in the middle of expanding. Workers were seen hauling lumber and stones.
It wasn't just happening at that inn.
The streets, the gates, the walls of the castle, and every building were bustling. There were workers swarming everywhere.
"I overheard..."
As Krais continued speaking, Marcus's actions began to form in their minds like a picture.
"Raise the watchtower."
"Huh?"
"Also, dig a moat in front of the inner castle gate."
"...We don't have enough manpower for that. And we don't have an outer wall."
"Then build one. Make it."
Marcus didn't get angry at his subordinate's words.
He had a lot of experience and didn't think everyone around him was clever.
'It would be weird if there were only people like Enkrid around.'
Most people were foolish. They were idiots. Marcus knew this well.
So he didn't bother to explain.
"Send the soldiers out."
"Don't we have a lot of mercenaries coming in from outside? Hire them, make them dig."
The work started in the office, but Marcus's will was firm, and his direction was clear.
No objections were entertained.
Both the moat and the watchtower construction went on at the same time.
The poor district outside the territory was pushed aside.
And all the poor were hired as workers.
"From now on, anyone who doesn't work doesn't eat or sleep."
If anyone dared to challenge them? How dare they?
One word from the Border Guard Captain could make the birds of the sky tremble. Even a dragon could lose a scale.
The battlefields he had been on with Enkrid gave him strength.
Most importantly, since they had recently stepped up as a trading territory, taxes within the area had sharply increased.
In other words, the territory was becoming rich.
Marcus didn't keep much for himself, but mostly invested it.
The moat was dug, but instead of doing something crazy like filling it with water, he just made it deep.
It was enough for preventing siege equipment or close combat siege weapons from getting close.
Bringing in water could be done later.
He had dug a few more wells as well. He had started that a long time ago.
It was something to do before the population increased, as you had to solve the water and food problems first. Marcus did just that.
He kept working relentlessly.
"Train archers. If there are any mercenaries who can shoot a bow, hire them and get them into the army."
He also had an aggressive recruitment strategy.
"They said they won't come unless they bring their mercenary group along..."
"Bring them all. Pay them in gold coins."
All they had left was gold coins. They had gotten Martai, and previously had won against Aspen.
They didn't need to worry about a sudden attack from Aspen anymore.
Naturally, merchants and traders gathered.
And mercenary groups that would guard them came into the territory.
Thus, Krona was in full swing. The lord of the territory became a rich man in an instant.
Radical archer training.
Along with cavalry training.
Adding more watchtowers and strengthening defenses.
Krona was used for all of this.
There were no shortages of capable people either.
"Didn't we have some that didn't leave after being beaten by Enkrid?"
There were many such people.
Those who came after hearing rumors and got beaten up.
Those who got scared after watching a battle and hesitated to leave.
The ones who stayed outnumbered the ones who left.
Normally, such people would become a problem for law and order.
"Bring them all in."
They were made into slaves of Krona.
They were immediately brought inside after being given Krona.
Naturally, the barracks expanded.
This was something that had already started, but they couldn't do everything on their own.
"Contact the northern division."
The Border Guard had two divisions.
One had gone to Aspen to set up a new garrison.
It was intended to lay the foundation for a new territory.
Within the range of gold coins, Marcus did everything he could.
Krais was astonished and shook his head. He was truly a master at administration, politics, and resource management.
"So now, here's what's happened."
The number of watchtowers increased to sixteen, and the repair work on the castle walls was underway, while the moat was being dug. He had also bought countless arrows.
Everything was being spent on fortifying and developing the territory.
"Someone must have died in the process."
Enkrid asked as he imagined what might have happened in Marcus's office.
Not every job gets done just because it's ordered. There's plenty of administration and organizing work.
Krais nodded.
"Of course. The heavy infantry squad leader collapsed two days ago. Even some of the nobles who could handle numbers and people were already on their last legs."
Marcus's specialty.
Neither Enkrid nor Krais knew, but that man's specialty was grinding people down to work.
He skillfully played to his strengths.
He was once called "Grinding Marcus" within his family, and he unleashed that talent fully.
The Border Guard territory was transforming in dazzling ways, day by day.
It wasn't surprising; it was expected.
It was the result of people, Krona, and capable individuals coming together.
As Enkrid looked around the now bustling market, there were indeed a lot of people.
And among them, there was someone sneaking a knife into his side.
Feeling the blade about to enter, Enkrid grabbed the wrist.
Esther, half awake, opened her eyes.
In front of her, there was a hunchbacked figure, appearing to bow.
An assassin.
TL here! Thank you for reading!
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