Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 677

677. What to leave behind

“You’ve changed a lot.”

Ragnar turned his head at Grida’s words. It was the words of his sister who had been watching him train alone on a moonlit night.
He didn’t specifically ask why he had left his chair and sat on the floor. He probably thought it was annoying.

“Me?”
“Yeah.”

Ragnar nodded roughly at the question and then agreed. The sweat running down his face dripped down his chin.

“Everyone will be surprised when they see you like this.”

Ragnar simply nodded once more, as if he didn’t care whether others were surprised or not. He
nodded absentmindedly, as if anyone could tell he didn’t know.

“Anyway, I guess I’ll have to go back home in the end.”

Then he said.

“I’m not going back.”
“Then?”
“I’m just stopping by for a bit.”
“Why?”
“To get something.”

Is this real? After looking at Ragnar for a while, he stood up and shook his butt. He sat down on the dry dirt and when he stood up, a cloud of dust rose.

“Okay, you take care of your own business.”

It was amazing to see Ragnar change. Ragnar continued swinging his sword even after his sister left.
He decided to return to his family, but he would have to go further than he was now to get what he needed.
And.

‘Because I don’t have time.’

So, invest a little more time in training.
When you swing your sword, you can see the path. It’s been like that since you were young.
How far you can reach, and where you can reach if you keep training like this, you can see it all.
Even without doing anything, you can just see it.
Even without struggling, the path was already open.
So what’s the point of walking on that path?
Memories of the past surged in like a tide and pooled in my head.

“Become a knight.”

My father said so.

“Why should I do that?”

Ragnar asked back. His father had said this while looking at Ragnar with eyes that were like seeing a living creature for the first time.

“Do you need a reason?”

Those who are fascinated by the sword itself are the ones who are Jaune. Ragnar couldn’t do that. He didn’t enjoy swinging the sword at all.

“You don’t find this funny? Why?”

Everyone around me asked, but the answer was always the same.

“Why is it fun?”
“Is it exciting when you want to beat someone or surpass yourself? Well, it’s just fun.”

There were those who said so. Ragnar could not agree.
Beating someone? Even if you can’t do it today, you will win in a month. The result is obvious. It is an unchanging fact.

“What are you talking about? Are you some kind of prophet?”

Prove to those who are complaining. Even the process itself was extremely boring. The difference in talent determines everything. Ragnar knew that.
Even though he only gathered talented people from the beginning, Ragnar was outstanding.
So it is boring. It is a boring life. He will swing his sword and die. Even that death seems to know what it will be like.

‘Am I going to swing my sword my whole life and walk the path that was set for me before I die like this?’

A new swordsmanship? A new path? Nothing is visible. Only what is set.
The talent given by the heavens should be a blessing, but for Ragnar, it was a curse
. The god gave him talent and took away every last bit of his will.
That’s how he left home and met Encred.

“Why do you do that?”

I’ve asked that question before.

“Right now I swing my sword to survive. But I don’t want to live like that.”

There was a time when I thought I was making a mistake because I lacked the basics.
Even in those times, Encred’s will remained unchanged. It was a straight path. That was his will.
As if cutting through the thoughts of the dead, the real Ragnar swung his sword.

ping.

The sword swung horizontally to the ground disappeared into the line, leaving only a small crater.
The moonlight followed the trail of the greatsword. As he swung the sword without stopping, the moonlight followed the blade, and the blade ran while teasing the moonlight.
Dozens of silver lines appeared and disappeared in the air.
The words Encred had said permeated Ragnar’s mind, and they would come to mind at any time.

“I want to live as I think is right. I want to take up the sword for the poor and the sick, for honor, and for the people I love.”

Talent should have been soaked in the rain and crumbled. Limits should have been held by the back of the neck and made to kneel by the pursuer. That’s how Ragnar saw Encred’s future.
And Encred shook off all the futures Ragnar had seen. Even though he carried everything that was tangled like a curse, he walked steadily and eventually shook off the pursuer called Limits, and did not wear the clothes of despair and frustration.
The moment he saw the person walking right next to him like that, Ragnar felt a thrill.
Is it important to walk the set path? Have you actually walked that set path? Encred asked with his actions, his life, and his will. Ragnar could not answer. So he had to walk.
He had to confirm that his path was right, as the man before him had shown. At that moment, he began to enjoy swordsmanship.
It could be said that it was a series of strange experiences.
The memories of the past led Ragnar.

“Did you go to Julie’s house?”

Anne, the healer and alchemist, asked.

“uh.”

I answered obediently, since I had nothing to hide. Anne, who was choosing her words, suddenly met my eyes and asked.

“Are you interested in Julie? Or is it because you like kids?”
“What do you think of me as?”

This is a little unpleasant.
Anne said as she grabbed her neatly tied hair and pushed it back in response to Ragnar’s reaction.

“No, not really. Then why did you go?”
“To see the sights.”
“What?”
“Do you think that a person has to want to do something?”

Ragnar asked. Anne thought about it carefully and then answered.

“I don’t know.”

She was so busy taking care of her own future that what did she care what other people did or didn’t do? Anne’s interests were limited.

“Yeah. That’s just it.”
“What are you talking about? That.”
“Tell me about yourself.”

Ragnar has changed. He has changed since the time Grida Jaune knew him, and he has also changed since Encred first met him.

“……What are you talking about?”
“You were surprised when you saw Magrun.”

“You can’t find your way, so you’re not clueless, are you?” Anne muttered, still looking straight into his eyes.

“It’s not a curse, it’s a disease. It’s a disease that spreads like an invisible powder. And it killed over a hundred people in the city where I lived.”

Anne lost her parents, relatives, and friends at that time. She survived because she was lucky. No, more precisely, because of her talent.
She had already learned the basics of alchemy from Laban when she was young.
Thanks to that, she survived. But now she knows. Laban was Anne’s enemy. No, her teacher was the real enemy. There was someone who raised the alchemist Laban. He was the one who created this bottle.
Anne knows that.

“What was spread in the place where I lived was still under research. So it disappeared without a trace. Word of the plague spread, and dozens of people, even those who didn’t get sick, ended up getting burned to death.”

People who were born with a disease were supposed to die then.
Anne saw them. People like her parents, born with a disability from the beginning. Seeing her father, who was crippled, and her mother, who could not speak, burn to death, Anne knew that she had two choices:
seek revenge, or take a different path.
Anne chose a different path. Her target was too poor to take revenge.
Fearful poor people secretly set fire to straw tents in the middle of the night. It wasn’t just one person. Some of the poor people saw it and ignored it. There were those who incited it. They
pretended not to know, incited it, acted, and knew it and let it go.
Who should she blame? The world? The nobility? The wealthy commoners who just watched? The guards who guarded the area?
Some of the guards, sick or not, even brought water and helped put out the fire.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

He was one of those guards. He even showed tears.
Anne didn’t even know his face, but she didn’t think he should be asking for forgiveness.
Anne found her way at that moment. It was the path she would walk for the rest of her life.

‘I won’t give in to illness.’

I made up my mind and built a tower of will in my mind. I also decided to get rid of the fear of illness.
Recently, thanks to the immigrating city of fairies, I had acquired many precious materials. It was a chance to spur on the research I had always thought about.
So I did. It was no exaggeration to say that I stayed up for several nights with Ragnar.
Is there a medicine that can cure all the diseases in the world? Anne asked herself. It was a difficult question to answer, but in fact, she already knew the answer.

‘There’s no such thing.’

No, there is.
There isn’t, but there is. There is no medicine. But there may be someone who can cure all diseases. Let’s become healers.

‘That’s what I want.’

The goal was clear and the destination was clear. There was no room to look elsewhere. This was why Anne couldn’t care less about others.

“We have to go to where the disease has spread. Maybe it started with mushrooms or flowers? We have to find them and identify them. Then we can make a cure.”
“Does everyone die if they get the disease?”
“In any case, long or short, yes, I think they will.”

Anne answered firmly and continued.

“The timing of death will be left to chance. You said that Magrun vomited blood and that Gaju fell ill, right? Some will be fine, while others will groan and be unable to exert themselves. This is because the effects of the disease are all different. It is not a curse.”

Ragnar nodded and said.

“Sometimes when I go to Jury’s house to visit, the kids greet me.”

It was a random remark. I said it as it came to mind. Anne accepted even that remark well.

“So?”
“So go.”

Julie’s house was also a place where children were taken care of. Anne had asked me earlier why I was going there, and I had just now given my answer.

“You answered quickly.”

Anne muttered and felt relieved. She had nothing to worry about. Weren’t you surprised that you and the marmalade seller, Julie, were lovers? As
long as that wasn’t the case, that was fine.
Anne muttered and left.
Ragna jumped over his thoughts, shifting his foot positions and stabbing and cutting.
Starting with a horizontal upper cut, he curled and cut diagonally, then slashed with a sidelong glance at the imaginary sword. Then, he swung his sword as if to hit the opponent’s head, who was pushed back by his strength.
All of these movements ended with a counterattack.
The imaginary opponent changed his steps. He dragged his feet and brought his sword down. Ragna read the trajectory of the opponent’s sword. The imaginary enemy attempted a horizontal upper cut in a ceiling position.
Ragna assumed a situation where his sword would be tied to the opponent’s sword, pulled his sword, closed the distance, and struck the opponent’s face with his fist.

humming.

Of course, it is a fist striking the air. After all, it is a sword and fist swinging against an imaginary opponent.

“I think it must have been caught by my flash.”

I heard the words. It was the author who had been making noises since a while ago. He was also the person I called the captain.

“You will know the difference when you actually try it.”

Ragnar answered, dropping his sword.

“Because there are also cases where the match is decided before the bind state.”

Encred had come before we knew it. There was no trace of sweat on his face, as if he had just washed up after finishing his night training.
The spring night breeze was cool and had a faint floral scent. That kind of night breeze blew.

“The saint said that there is already a person in the city who does what he wants. It is called Julie’s house.”

Encred said the last.
A woman named Juri who sold marmalade took in war orphans, orphans, and children abandoned by their parents and raised them.
At first there were only a few children, but now the number of children has increased and the number of workers has increased.
Because of that, there was always a shortage of Crona. Someone periodically gave Crona to Juri’s house.

“Yes.”
“You gave all the gold coins you took from Christ to that place?”
“It must have cost Crona a lot to take care of a child.”
“That’s how it is with all things raising a person.”

Ragnar did so.

“why?”

Encred asked Ragnar, who had his mouth shut, with pure curiosity.

“Those kids didn’t necessarily have anything they wanted to become or do. I thought that those kids could live like everyone else.”

Do you have to have a dream? Do you have to live with a longing?
Ragnar was saying that there are those who don’t. Just like when he was a child.

“Are you saying something obvious?”

Encred took those words calmly.
There are those in the world who simply wish for peace in their later years, and those who wish for a day like today to continue tomorrow.
On the other hand, there are those who wish for a day like today not to be repeated tomorrow.

“I just wanted to help.”

Ragnar added.

“There’s a saying in the West that when a person changes, it means it’s time for them to die.”
“Is it a curse?”
“No, it’s just like that.”
“I’ll come back when I find just one thing.”

The meaning of Ragnar’s sudden words was clear. He was not going back, his home was now here.

“I wasn’t worried. See you tomorrow.”

Encred spoke and turned around.
Ragnar nodded nonchalantly.
There was no one left at that moment. Ragnar put away his sword, covered his mouth, and let out a small cough.

‘Luck.’

Ragnar’s hand was stained with red blood. Should I say that his insides were throbbing? Anyway, he felt uneasy.
It was a sign of illness.
It was as if fate was asking him.
How long will he live?
I thought I would walk the set path, but this was an unexpected path. That’s why I was happy.

‘If my life ends like this, what will I leave behind? What can I leave behind?’

It was after this question arose within Ragna that he began helping Juri’s house.

‘What will be left behind me?’

It wasn’t known yet, Ragnar thought.