Eternally Regressing Knight
Chapter 476 - 476 - Those Who Are Deeply Impressed
Chapter 476 - Those Who Are Deeply Impressed
"Couldn't we have saved them?"
A man with black hair and blue eyes muttered while kneeling. His pupils were trembling, and his hands were shaking.
His skin was dry, and the area under his eyes was dark.
He looked like someone who hadn't slept properly for days.
He appeared to be broken, drenched in regret.
Underneath his kneeling form, the ground was filled with sharp gravel.
Despite the blood seeping through his pants, he didn't seem to care.
His only concern was seeking an answer with desperate eyes.
Then, the answer came.
"Yes, we could have done so."
The kneeling man opened his mouth again in sync with the response that echoed from somewhere.
"Right? Well, they say the number on the dice can't change, but what if I forced it to change? What happens then?"
"It would change. Then, it would be different."
There's nothing that can't be done with willpower.
It was a definitive answer.
But is that a good thing?
The man murmured to the air, yet an answer kept returning.
Before him stood nothing but a black wall, and yet, the answers kept coming.
"Then did I let Knight Oara die?"
"That's how it is."
Before he knew it, the black wall had disappeared.
In its place stood a man with black hair and blue eyes, lips tightly pressed together.
It was the same.
Two identical figures, yet they did not look at each other.
They simply spat out their words.
"Then was my choice wrong?"
The kneeling Enkrid's pupils shook, and his hands trembled more violently than before.
"Did you think it was the right one?"
The standing Enkrid asked with an indifferent expression.
Tears of blood flowed from the kneeling Enkrid's eyes.
At first, they dripped, then poured like a waterfall.
"Ah, ah, make that today repeat again!"
As he screamed in agony, the blood tears flowed desperately.
"You know it's impossible."
The indifferent answer came back.
Despite the blood rising up to his ankles, his demeanor remained unfazed.
"So, I hope you make a better choice next time."
The words of the indifferent Enkrid standing on the gravel field struck the kneeling Eknrid like a dagger, piercing the heart.
The physical manifestation of the blade truly penetrated between his ribs.
Then, blood began to pour from the chest of the kneeling Enkrid, flowing like a waterfall.
The blood clumped together, turned black, and became a river of dark blood.
When did it get there?
The river of blood was flowing, and a ferry appeared over it.
A purple lamp illuminated the surroundings, and a ferryman in black robes stood rowing the boat.
The real Enkrid, who had been observing everything, asked.
"What are you doing?"
Suddenly, the blood disappeared, and the two fake Enkrids vanished.
The ferryman had finished his one-man play.
"I was just in the mood to try it. Was it impressive?"
It was neither bad nor did it lead to any realizations.
Enkrid remained unchanged.
A perfect today is worse than a failed tomorrow.
If you don't move forward, you stagnate.
Better to lose your limbs and keep moving.
Of course, there may be something you can never compromise on.
But always seeking the best path at every crossroads is arrogance.
You just do your best with what is given to you in that moment.
Enkrid lived by this resolve, never getting trapped in today.
He had no regrets and was a traveler moving forward.
He found it interesting and asked, having never seen a ferryman talk about feelings.
"Why all of a sudden?"
What could possibly make him feel good?
"Don't you know?" the ferryman asked.
Enkrid, taken aback by the unexpected question, responded calmly.
"I don't know."
But it was still a decent conversation compared to the madness of his old unit.
He had fond memories of his time with them.
"You're adding strength to the curse I'm casting."
Enkrid looked at the ferryman's face that was revealed beneath the robe.
His skin was split with a grayish hue, and his eyes were colorless.
The lamp swayed, the river churned, and the strange one-man play continued.
Thoughts translated into reality.
Repeating today was a curse.
What he was doing outside was called an exorcism.
Normally, human exorcisms were forbidden, but technically, what he was doing could be considered a totem, not an exorcism.
In any case, it was a complicated matter.
But one thing was certain: there were two curses.
Sometimes, without considering the process, conclusions came intuitively. This was one of those times.
"Are you absorbing the curse in the tent?"
That's why the ferryman was in a good mood.
Instead of answering, the ferryman smiled. His lips curled upward, but it wasn't a pleasant smile.
It was a terrifying one.
His mouth was dark and empty, with no teeth.
But Enkrid didn't mind, watching it indifferently.
"There happened something similar before, involving a curse user trying to end you."
The ferryman laughed and continued.
"All the curses around you will gather to you. Do you know what that means? It means you can never leave this place. You're my toy. A sacrifice trapped in today. You'll never escape my grasp. Even in death, you'll stay here. So your best bet is to enjoy today."
The last words echoed in his head like a hammer hitting it.
Even so, Enkrid didn't furrow his brows.
He just thought.
So that's how it is.
It wasn't that he had some special power; it was just that he was cursed in a way that absorbed other curses.
It wasn't bothersome, but he had been curious as to why this was happening.
He remembered that back in Border Guard, Audin had mentioned someone who cast strange curses.
It must have been the same person the ferryman was talking about.
He had naturally passed away after touching him, but until now, Enkrid had believed the assassin sent by the cult had died of natural causes.
"So, will I be cursed for life?"
At Enkrid's question, the ferryman's gaze shifted to the man he had mentioned.
The smile that had risen on the ferryman's lips slowly faded.
Enkrid found the reaction amusing.
"That's about it."
"I see."
"Yes."
"Yeah."
"...Go on."
"Yes."
The dream ended.
When Enkrid opened his eyes, it was just before dawn.
He felt light and free, as though the curse had no effect on him.
'So, it absorbs curses...'
It seemed difficult to feel it physically.
Does this mean he can be a bit careless when dealing with spells?
"Man, I'm so tired."
Enkrid muttered as he entered the tent, glancing at Rem.
He had silently walked over and lay down about three steps away.
"What are you doing?"
"Can't you see? I'm going to sleep."
Enkrid hesitated, wondering whether to ask if Rem was sleeping at this time or if he had nowhere else to sleep, then chose the latter.
"Don't you have a home?"
"I do."
"Then?"
"Ayul isn't accepting it."
It seemed their relationship hadn't been restored yet. Should I really just cut his throat?
"Stop thinking about nonsense. I'm already thinking about it myself."
Rem made the first move.
"Tell me about your worries."
Enkrid, thinking it was hopeless, spoke. He was willing to help as much as he had been helped. And he was confident that he was more rational than this ignorant barbarian.
"Hmm."
Rem seemed to be thinking for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully.
Enkrid judged it right to speak out what he had already guessed in order to hear what Rem really meant.
"You can speak."
"...What?"
Rem blinked and asked. Enkrid, feeling it was time to speak frankly, did so.
"Isn't it about your birth secret? You can talk about it. What's the problem with that?"
Considering that he was raised to swear like a sailor, a birth secret wasn't much of a concern.
Westerners had similar appearances, but Rem's looked a little different.
Enkrid judged that Rem had some blood from the continent mixed in him. It was a guess, but it seemed correct.
The appearance was different.
That thought came up when he met Ayul.
That was the birth secret.
Could it have been a hindrance in their tribe?
Whether it was from the mother's or father's side, he was likely of mixed blood.
"Damn, what are you talking about?"
Rem widened his eyes in disbelief.
His eyes became triangular, and his tone was slightly annoyed.
Enkrid's intuition warned him.
He had made a misstep.
"Not so?"
Enkrid asked again and added a brief explanation.
Just to confirm, wasn't there some blood from the continent mixed in?
"I'm a pure Westerner, what are you talking about?"
Enkrid cautiously looked at the child lying below him. The child's name was Jiva, and when she grew up, she would surely be quite a beauty. Luagarne had vouched for her. Westerners, in general, had beautiful faces. Their cheekbones were prominent, and some had freckles, but by ordinary aesthetic standards, they had quite handsome and pretty faces. According to ancient myths, a bear had become a human and passed down its traits, and that bear was said to have been extremely handsome.
There were also rumors about fairy blood mixing in, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Enkrid could tell from seeing her.
The otherworldly beauty granted by fairies was different in aura.
These people exuded vitality, fighting and struggling to raise cattle and sheep.
Enkrid, sitting up with his back against the thick cloth on the ground, looked at Rem.
No matter how he looked at it, Rem looked more like a manly type than a beauty.
His muscular arms only accentuated his appearance.
His gray hair was tightly tied, and his eyes were fiercely wide.
Those eyes looked like they could wield an axe if provoked.
He drew his eyes into shapes, sometimes making them look triangular.
"Not so?"
Enkrid asked again. Maybe there was some ancestral connection Rem didn't know about.
"Are you looking for trouble? I'm busy right now. I need to sleep and go out again after waking up."
"Really not?"
Enkrid trusted his instincts. He was sure it wasn't true, but just in case, he wanted to confirm.
"Let's not talk, really. I'm sleeping. What do you know, saying it's fine? Did the curse break your head?"
Enkrid had nothing to say.
He had made a mistake.
Intuition wasn't always the answer.
So, he decided that today's schedule would focus on practicing and refreshing his sensory techniques.
Nothing too fancy.
It was all about warming up his body and listening to various sounds.
The sounds of birds, crying sheep, mooing cows, and the chirping of belopters.
He stepped out of the tent, ready to open his ears.
Through sound, he opened his sixth sense.
Luagarne followed behind without looking.
She quietly settled behind him.
Dunbakel joined as well, having nothing else to do, she joined the training when asked.
As Enkrid twisted his body to stretch,
Dunbakel stretched behind him.
She arched her back like a cat, pressing her hands against the ground.
There was no need to go far, so they spent time like that.
Training, occasionally speaking to those who were fully awake.
"Did you come with Rem?"
This person was one of them.
While training, Rem had left around noon, and by evening, someone had awoken from the curse.
Enkrid had been in the tent and heard a man speak to him when he returned.
He had silver hair, with some strands white, but the rest of his hair was as dark as Enkrid's.
"I'm Geonnara."
"Call me Enki. People say it's hard to pronounce with such a long name."
After exchanging pleasantries, the man spoke.
"That guy's not someone who listens to others."
It seemed the relationship between leader and subordinate sounded a bit strange to the man. The man's gaze seemed intent on observing Enkrid.
Enkrid replied, looking at him.
"If he doesn't listen, we can always use this to communicate."
He pointed to Aker. It wasn't a lie. If necessary, communication could happen through a beating. Of course, right now, it was possible to have that conversation without the beating.
"You fight better than Rem?"
The man acted surprised.
"A little. I win about nine out of ten times."
It wasn't true in the past, but now it was. To be precise, it would be hard to win nine out of ten, but sometimes one had to indulge in a bit of bravado.
The word "little" didn't quite match the following words, but the man didn't mind.
He had a mischievous look in his eyes, though he didn't express much admiration.
"Impressive. Even without magic, a guy who fights better than Rem."
"Does magic change things?"
"It would make things completely different. He'd be worthy of being called a hero. He's a man who resides in the dark sky by his own power."
Why didn't he use magic? It was anyone's guess.
"I heard from Hira. I got beaten by two giants and cursed, thought I was finished, but now I owes you my thanks."
Geonnara had purple veins sticking out on his limbs, looking as though they were wrapped tightly around them.
It was said to be a curse called Bora Mains' curse.
The name was quite descriptive.
The curse was said to be modeled after the appearance of the purple-skinned Mains.
Even if the curse weakened, it still seemed painful.
Enkrid knew this from the two days of seeing it.
Geonnara blinked his eyes, which were crusted with sleep.
Then he tried to get up but lay back down, still unable to move his body.
"I can't get up, so take my greeting in words."
This man was also an interesting person.
"Sure."
Enkrid casually accepted the words. They were just people he liked. Especially...
"When my body's better, we should spar. I'm curious about your skills."
It was a pleasant surprise to hear that.
"Do you know a way to get better quickly?"
Enkrid asked Hira.
"Think I should shut up and rest."
Geonnara laughed at that, then coughed a bit, still clearly struggling with his body.
But he didn't lose his sense of humor.
The next person to wake up was a woman around Hira's age.
She quickly grasped the situation and said,
"Thank you. I'd even want to give you my daughter if I could."
Geonnara quickly interrupted.
"You don't have a daughter."
"Exactly, that's why I'd give her to you."
The two of them laughed together. Their laughter sounded quite similar.
Enkrid also joined in the laughter.
It was a joke that was worth laughing at, unlike the typical fairy jokes.
Enkrid found these people quite enjoyable.
They were lively and pleasant.

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