Eternally Regressing Knight
Chapter 477 - 477 - The Silent Escape
Chapter 477 - The Silent Escape
Ayul cursed under her breath.
It had been three days since Ayul arrived at the tent.
It was the moment the sun was just rising, and he was in the middle of moving his body using the Isolation technique.
While standing in front of the tent, he saw Ayul approaching.
Her sunburned brown skin, the markings drawn on her face, and her bright, shining eyes—her impression was different.
She seemed softer than before, and at least she didn't seem like someone who would swing an axe to decapitate anyone.
Her words reflected that too.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Ayul."
Her demeanor was completely different from the first time they met. She was calm.
Was she really a westerner?
Enkrid seemed to understand the habits of westerners well.
They were straightforward and didn't hide anything, much like Rem.
"This feels a bit awkward for introductions, doesn't it?"
Enkrid casually said, stretching his muscles.
He grabbed the tip of his left finger with his right hand and rotated his arm, stretching from the elbow to the wrist, loosening up his muscles and tendons.
Flexibility doesn't come overnight; it requires daily training.
Of course, Enkrid had been doing this for years.
As Enkrid stretched, Ayul's eyes scanned his body.
Despite his large frame and muscular build, his body was surprisingly flexible—tough and solid, yet elastic.
If cannibals saw him, they'd probably shake their heads in disapproval.
Cannibals tended to dislike tough, rigid bodies.
"That's true, but proper greetings are still necessary."
Ayul observed his body but showed no signs of emotion in her eyes.
She was calm.
"Well, I suppose so."
Enkrid nodded and Ayul asked, "Can we speak casually?"
"That works for me."
After settling into a more comfortable tone, Ayul seemed to appreciate Enkrid, who had become a human totem.
"I was thinking of showing you around a bit."
Ayul said while gently holding her colorful skirt.
Enkrid suspected there were probably two long daggers hidden under the skirt, near her thighs.
Even without seeing them directly, he could tell from her walk and gestures.
Her steps were uneven, with more weight on her right leg.
There was likely a heavier weapon concealed there.
Enkrid remembered how when he first saw Rem, it was clear she wasn't the type to wander around unarmed with her axe.
Ayul, too, was a warrior.
Her appearance and behavior suggested it.
The fluttering skirt seemed like it could be used to conceal something.
If she were Rem's wife, perhaps she would use that skirt to obscure her opponent's view in battle.
Ayul seemed like someone who would turn any situation into a fight.
Ayul, facing the rising sun, waited for Enkrid's response.
The warm sunlight that began to pour down with the dawn made the dry air more comfortable for movement.
Enkrid, having just finished his stretching, wiped the sweat from his brow and entered the tent to ask Hira if it was okay to clear the area.
"Will you be back before noon?"
Hira asked, her tone more like a request.
She seemed concerned, since it had been three days without proper sleep.
Enkrid nodded in agreement.
Some of the people lying nearby recognized him, and after three days, there were more people starting to recover.
One of them was the child he had first encountered.
"My name is Jiba. I'm planning to marry you later, mister."
The child was bold.
Luagarne, seeing that, puffed out her cheeks and stuck out her tongue while laughing.
"Get in line, little human."
"Huh?"
"There are already plenty of competitors in front of you."
Jiba sulked for a moment at her words.
She had just gotten up from the bed and immediately claimed he would marry.
She was a truly bold child. Her mother, however, just calmly listened
to her child's declaration.
"Should we follow?"
She asked, meaning she'd stay close if needed.
Enkrid shook his head and went back outside.
"Let's go."
Ayul said, and Enkrid followed her outside.
There had been a man staring at him strangely for days near the tent, but Enkrid ignored it.
The man's gaze was filled with a strange mix of love and hate.
He was someone Enkrid had never met before, but seemed to have no ill intentions, perhaps because he was close to Jiba's mother.
Ayul led Enkrid out from the tent.
Between the rows of tents, the sunlight greeted their steps.
"Did you cut off Rem's head?"
Enkrid stopped mid-step, widening his stride. Ants were crawling under his left foot, and as he moved, the ants scattered.
A dung beetle busily rolled a cow's dung nearby.
Would Luagarne eat that, too?
Unlikely, it seemed.
She appeared to be picky about food, just like humans.
"When a person's head is cut off, they die."
Ayul stated the obvious.
"Seems like he did something bad enough to deserve it."
Enkrid agreed but stopped himself from adding more.
Yesterday's events came to mind.
The day Rem stayed at Ayul's home.
"I want to have a child."
If there was something you wanted, you had to state it boldly, right?
Ayul did just that.
Her partner, however, was indifferent.
"Is that so?"
He looked the same as always—focused on axes, fighting, and cannibalism, with little interest in anything else.
Wasn't he more mischievous before?
Ayul pushed the thought aside.
They were a week away from their wedding.
Rem had been fully dedicated to battles and hunting.
Looking at him, Ayul thought:
'It feels like he's running away.'
It was just a feeling, but Ayul couldn't help but wonder.
Would Rem really want to run away?
He loved this land more than anything, more than himself.
Ayul liked that about him.
So, he wasn't running away.
She was sure of it.
One week after the wedding, Rem chose to sleep in the fields rather than at home.
As a warrior from the cannibal tribe had taken the life of another warrior from their tribe.
Under the low sky, the wide clouds looked like a white ceiling, with blood dripping from his axe, painting red streaks across it.
"Ahhh!"
Her partner let out a scream of victory.
That insane battle had been the turning point.
Rem left.
The reason?
Ayul didn't know.
He never said a word.
At first, it was shocking.
'This guy?'
Rem had said before that he had never thought of any woman other than his partner.
They had grown up together, using similar techniques and developing similar temperaments.
"I don't doubt your mother, but you two seem like you're from the same womb."
At that time, his father, who wasn't yet the clan leader, would often say such things.
"Really?"
Ayul found those words pleasing.
Had Rem felt differently?
Was his partner, the person he was meant to live with for life, not like him?
Was there a misalignment of hearts?
'Was it just me?'
Had he been the only one to harbor such feelings?
Rem left.
After a month, the shock turned to anger.
Was it reasonable to leave without even a letter?
"Forget about it."
Her father, who had become the clan leader, said that.
Many things happened after that.
The sun set, and traces of the four seasons remained on the fields.
Amidst the summer winds, Ayul made a decision.
'If you come back, I'll cut off your head.'
Beyond shock and anger, what remained was a murderous intent.
And then Rem returned.
"You said you wanted a child, didn't you?"
After avoiding Ayul for several days, Rem approached and said these words.
His shadow stretched long in front of the tent.
Ayul looked at the shadow and spoke.
"Right now, I'd rather cut one of your limbs off and hang it on the wall."
It was a harsh remark.
She probably wasn't referring to cutting off his arms or legs. She must have been talking about something unnecessary, something not even useful.
Rem scratched his head.
He couldn't act shamelessly in front of Ayul, unlike with everyone else.
He had abandoned his responsibilities and thrown away his duties.
The worst of all was leaving his partner in such a way.
Rem admitted his faults.
That was why, standing here now, he could say it.
"What kind of world do you think the child should live in?"
He had once thought of the western lands as stagnant, believing the people of the west were those who had lost the will to move forward.
'Wouldn't it be better to be like the immortal bastard who lived madly without fear of fire?'
But no, that wasn't the case.
He wasn't comparing himself to a madman who defied the laws and broke taboos. It was just that frustrating.
Was it a step taken to achieve something?
No.
It was just an excuse, a reason.
Rem had realized that after leaving the western lands.
More specifically, after seeing someone like Enkrid.
There had been something he had once given up without even knowing what it was.
'I will change it.'
That was his resolve—to change the west.
But before he could recognize that, he had abandoned it, forgotten it, and thrown it away.
Rem had been a failure and a runaway.
He had accepted it and therefore couldn't receive divine blessings.
The moment he did, he would die.
That would be the end.
There would be no chance to change, no opportunity for life.
He couldn't walk into the valley of death like that.
Rem became a fugitive who indulged in the pleasures left in the world.
He could no longer see Ayul.
He couldn't show her his pathetic side, nor could he ask her to live with some fool as his partner and lifelong companion.
So, he ran away.
Ah, how embarrassing.
Really.
Rem was ashamed, but he didn't run any further.
Now he had learned and understood.
He knew how pathetic he was and how he should live.
'Running away doesn't solve anything.'
It was better to walk a path where death might be waiting, than to live as a puppet continuing an insignificant life.
And so, he would walk that path.
But he didn't believe he would die.
In this unfair world, he would shout.
This wouldn't be a hindrance.
If there was something he wanted, he would go after it.
Enkrid had done just that.
When Rem first saw him, he was just a reckless man about to die.
Later, he became someone amusing to watch.
Afterward, he was someone too valuable to die.
As time passed, the captain who had struggled in front of him appeared in his mind.
He spoke with his hands, feet, and body.
He would not give up, nor would he despair.
He would walk through whatever stood in his way.
He was that kind of person.
Rem learned.
He realized.
He looked back at his life.
He thought of what he had left behind.
Everything had been an excuse.
The lost fool and the stray cat had just given him a trigger.
Only then did Rem turn his head and look at the western lands.
He faced what he had abandoned and given up.
And now, he could say it.
"It's embarrassing, but I ran away."
Rem spoke honestly and plainly.
His words came steadily, without hesitation, and he could now speak clearly, thanks to the improvement in his ability to articulate.
The reason he ran away, and if his child were to be born, he hoped the world they would live in wouldn't be like it is now—that had become his goal.
Ayul continued to look at Rem's shadow. Both Rem, speaking, and Ayul, listening, were calm and composed.
"If it's enough for you, I'll cut whatever you want and give it to you."
If that was his atonement, Rem was willing to do so. Ayul raised her head, and her gaze moved from Rem's feet to his knees, from his knees to his waist, from his waist to his chest, and finally to his face.
At the end of that gaze, gray eyes met hers.
Rem had always been honest, especially with himself.
Was this the moment she had been waiting for?
It would have been better if he had said it earlier, but now that she had heard it, she could at least refrain from killing him.
"It took a long time. I'm sorry."
Rem spoke.
Ayul couldn't forgive the past version of Rem.
But she could feel the torment of the person she had chosen as her partner.
Without realizing it, a single tear fell from Ayul's eye.
It was because of dust.
Though today was as clear as any day, with no dust in the air.
Under the bright moonlight, Ayul reached out her hand.
"Hold it."
Rem grabbed that hand.
"I'll let you sleep inside tonight."
Ayul said. Perhaps not just tonight, but for many nights to come.
They talked.
Rem laid bare his inner thoughts, and Ayul expressed her lingering frustrations.
After their conversation, Ayul felt a little uneasy.
"Well, there's still something I want to do."
"So, as soon as you come back, you beg for forgiveness and then say you're leaving again? Just taking the magic with you?"
This damn bastard.
Ayul couldn't help but curse.

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