Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 499

499
The rain was too thin to be called autumn rain. It would be more correct to say that it was still late summer.

The rain started to fall and then suddenly stopped.

It was neither rainy nor not rainy, it was ambiguous. The ground was not wet yet. The sky was getting darker, and it seemed like it was going to rain again.

“Who are you?”

As the three of them entered the territory boundary, a group of soldiers stopped them.

It was clear that Christ was not playing around.

The attitude of the soldiers blocking the way was suggestive of moderation.

At first glance, there are soldiers who seem like they would just let people go for a few coins, and there are also soldiers who are very strict and show off their military discipline, and now it’s clearly the latter.

That was the posture in which he held the spear.

Audyn’s traces could also be seen in the muscles of his forearms revealed by his short linen sleeves.

His secondary weapons were also substantial, such as a short shortsword at his waist.

It’s Encred, who recognized it just by looking at it.

It certainly seemed like my keen eye and speed of thinking had improved compared to before.

“What? Enki?”

Among them, a woman in light clothing pretended to know me. Sweat was dripping down her forehead and she was holding something like parchment in her hand.

The upper class of Lockfried was Leona.

“… …What are you doing?”

It was a new color that made Encred ask questions instead.

“Day.”

Leona answered with a smile.

It looked like they were building a new city.

As Leona nodded, saying that she was back and that it was time to go in, Rem’s face filled with joy appeared behind Encred.

With a smile full of anticipation.

“I see. I wonder where the idiots under me are.”

When you’re excited, you tend to talk a lot. When Rem spoke, Leona wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and looked straight at Encred.

Although he said he was under his command, Rem didn’t have any subordinates like that, so he was probably talking about his unit members.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Border Guard, so I don’t know much about it.”

It made sense. There seemed to be a lot of work to do here.

It seems like the city will be expanded based on the Border Guard, but that’s not an easy task.

The whole time I was settling down here, I had to fight off the monsters around me and bring stones to stack them up.

When creating a pioneer city, the first thing to do was to set up a fence to mark the territory and then defeat the surrounding monsters to see how it would go.

Why? If you’re trying to build a city and the monsters start coming in like crazy, there’s no answer.

It would have been a problem if the rain had poured down and the water had not drained and had pooled in the ground.

If there is land around there for farming, then there will be people living in the city.

The four letters ‘Trading City’ sound nice, but it is actually a trading city.

How many cities on the actual continent can survive solely on trade?

Since it is a kingdom that returns to a centralized system along with the feudal system, there are also direct territories under the kingdom, and food and supplies are poured into those direct territories.

‘In effect, a city is meaningless unless it is self-sufficient.’

Therefore, this city was probably founded with the goal of self-reliance.

However, there was no farmland nearby, and there was also a forest nearby where centaurs had once lived.

The forest is a treasure trove of resources for some, but conversely, it is also a good environment for monsters to inhabit.

However, it seemed that they had decided to make some efforts to tidy up the forest, even if they did not completely clear it out.

On one side, there were logs piled as high as rocks.

At this point, it’s not like I’ve been working on it for a day or two, right?

Encred looked around.

There were clear signs of deliberate effort.

I was just curious what Christ was thinking.

“The name of this city is Lockfried.”

Leona said with a smile. That was why she was here sweating and directing herself.

A trading city directly operated by the upper class.

Well, that was it.

Behind her, Mathis nodded and pretended to know.

“Are you back now?”

It didn’t seem like that until a while ago, but his face had more wrinkles than before. Next to him was a young swordsman I had never seen before.

Judging from the way he stuck close to Mattis, he seemed to be his disciple.

There were quite a few people fighting at the top of Lockfried, more than I expected.

Still, not quite as good as Border Guard.

Encred may be like that, but the Border Guard seen from the outside was a battle group of an infinite number of troops.

“Oh, it was the general.”

A group of soldiers who recognized Encred thanks to Leona saluted.

“Yeah, you’re working hard. How have you all been?”

Rem laughed heartily and patted the soldiers on the shoulder.

The soldiers remained upright and said nothing.

It was clear that someone had told him about Rem.

If you see a gray-haired, axe-wielding kid, just ignore him.

There must have been a warning to tolerate whatever the gray-haired brat did.

Encred knew it intuitively, but he wasn’t sure.

There was a time when I thought Rem had mixed blood with continentals, but I was wrong, so I learned that then.

Verification is always necessary.

And although it’s rare to let your guard down, isn’t there something new you’ve learned?

‘Everyone has a gap.’

That’s what made me admit it.

I flew into the desert and almost died, or rather, I came back alive and repeated the day while still insane. I couldn’t forget what I learned from that experience.

‘Anyone can let their guard down.’

So, we need to acknowledge that and move immediately even if there is a gap and our defenses are breached. In other words, we need to place importance on our actions after the gap.

Anyone can fall down, but not everyone who falls gets up right away.

But is getting up right away the answer?

‘Keep possibilities open, judge, and act.’

In the future, the first will-use skills that a knight learns will have to be accompanied by this kind of judgment.

Encrid found his way through small things.

It was a good habit.

It was an old habit, but it was something like a talent he had that was finally coming to light.

Insight and the habit of reflection are personal habits that we have had since long ago.

For example, I had similar reflections when I first wandered the continent and got stabbed in the stomach by a child.

‘Do I really have talent?’

And that’s when I learned how to find the answer.

You’ll know once you try it out with your body.

He did the same thing now, checking to see if his insight was accurate.

“Who told you to be careful?”

Rem passed by, tapping the soldiers on the shoulder, and Encred followed behind, whispering.

One soldier rolled his eyes and answered.

“Your Excellency, Drill Instructor Sir Lawford.”

The instructor was given the title of Kyung. It could be because he knew he was a squire, or it could simply be a sign of respect.

The title ‘Kyung’ usually carries the meaning of respect.

“See you later.”

Encred spoke to the soldier and waved at Leona.

Leona immediately asked Encred.

“Do you want to marry me?”

As Encred blinked and stopped, Leona opened her mouth with an expressionless face, not even blinking.

“joke.”

Have you been hanging out with Shinar lately?

Encred thought as he walked through the city construction site towards the Border Guard.

After walking a while more, the castle walls began to appear in the distance.

It’s a distance you can get there in no time if you ride a horse, but it will take some time if you walk.

Encred figured that at his own pace, he would arrive before noon, even though the sun had risen.

In terms of time, about three hours?

It was relatively close for a distance connecting two cities.

There must have been a reason why Christ built a new city nearby.

It started to rain again, and as I approached the castle walls, I was hit by the falling raindrops.

“warlord?”

He’s the platoon leader of Vengeance. No, he’s a company commander now?

On top of the wall. He pretended to know me. I thought I recognized him from afar, but Captain Vengeance had a good eye.

Encred looked at the soldiers standing guard on the wall. He saw some familiar faces. There were also quite a few unfamiliar faces.

The area in front of the castle walls looked a little complicated.

Those lining up to pass through the wall, and those living in tents next to it.

Fairies were seen occasionally, and dwarves were also seen. There were quite a few of them.

There was even a place where steam was rising under the tent. People were settling down and even making food to eat.

I just glanced at it, but it didn’t look like it was a poor place.

“Come in.”

Vengeance was a gentleman. Personally, he was my life-saver, and publicly, he was my unit’s highest-ranking officer.

Everyone tilted their heads as they watched Encrid enter.

What’s with that guy? Why did he pass right through?

However, no one stopped him or started a fight.

It was partly because I saw Vengeance come down and guide me, and partly because I felt hesitant to speak to Rem or the Procks following behind.

The black-haired man walking in front also had an unusual appearance and an air of authority.

Now, it was at a level where Will was naturally spreading around.

As Encred entered and walked the familiar path, it seemed that much had changed in just a few months.

First of all, there are now a lot of people selling things.

Basically, the Border Guard was a strategic point with a lot of merchant traffic, so this could be possible. And the barracks grew larger.

The walls were widened and several new buildings were built, peeking out toward the sky.

“Isn’t that what you built in haste?”

Rem was also a little surprised.

How long has it been since the scale increased like this?

If anyone saw him, they might call Christ a wizard.

When you know the circumstances, it wasn’t that great.

Christ eliminated all unnecessary work in construction and other work and made direct contact with the stonemasons’ guild and the craftsmen’s guild.

When a nobleman starts a job, he orders his subordinates to do it, and those subordinates then come back to the guild, and some people even take a commission in the middle, and that’s the normal route.

Then, of course, the work process would be slower and the amount of Crona consumed would increase.

“Let’s settle the guild in the city.”

Christ spoke as if he was notifying Graham, the Lord in charge of the Border Guard, and did as he was told.

There is no one to stop it and no reason to stop it.

People also gathered there because the reputation of a man named Encred was not small.

“Isn’t that the general who blocked Azpen and took over Markai and the former Molsen territory?”

Most of the guild leaders asked questions like this.

It was natural for people to gather in the stonemason guild or the artisan guild.

At first, there were fighters who wanted to test Encred’s skills, then there were nobles who coveted his future, then there were merchants who coveted the trade route, and now there were technicians.

Kreis gathered his technicians and put them to work.

Of course, that wasn’t all.

“The person in charge will be responsible for everything. I will give you the right to choose five people. You can use those five people as you wish, and I will give you half of the money in advance.”

We picked one person who was good at his job and asked that person to pick five other people who were also good at his job, so that things would run smoothly, and we also created an inspection team.

It wasn’t meant to be a place to find and find fault with others.

They were the ones who went there and fixed things when things went wrong.

The inspection team was set up like a united guild with each guild leader, which made it possible for things that shouldn’t have happened to happen.

“Why doesn’t this work?”

“I need to use glue, but the Hunter Guild guys are selling the leather for a high price, so things aren’t going well.”

“You get what you pay for. Do you think it’s easy to get a demon skin?”

Well, when problems like this arise, Christ immediately mobilizes his troops.

Instead of hunting the beasts at an untimely hour and selling their skins for cheap, he traded them with the hunters’ guild.

By trying to stabilize prices and dealing with problems as they arise, everything is bound to happen quickly.

That’s why a new barracks appeared in front of Encred now.

Rem looked at the new barracks, said something, and went straight inside.

The first thing that came into view was a wide parade ground.

There were at least twenty soldiers sweating there.

Even though it was raining, everyone was training without taking off their tops.

So, to Encred, Rem, and Luagarne, it’s training.

To those who were directly involved, it just seemed like torture.

What kind of training is this, running around and rolling around with your upper body exposed?

Most of the soldiers in the actual training ground had similar thoughts.

“colon!”

In front of them, on the platform. Lawford, who was alone taking shelter from the rain under the roof, shouted.

He called Encrid cheerfully.

Encred waved his hand and Rem took the lead.

“Where is Gilchi?”

Rem was already in battle stance.

His right hand was at his waist, already holding the axe handle.

He looked ready to throw his axe at Ragnar as soon as he saw him.

We came here after sparring several times.

Encred couldn’t tell who would win if Ragnar and Rem fought.

Rem, who had the power of sorcery, was definitely of knightly rank. He even showed something similar to coercion through sorcery.

Fear instillation, you say?

At Rem’s question, which was full of anticipation, Lawford laughed. It was an awkward laugh.

“What’s going on?”

Encred asked. The soldiers did not stop rolling even after seeing the group that suddenly appeared.

One of his training attitudes was top-notch.

There were probably repeated demonstrations of force.

“that is.”

Lawford answered, scratching the back of his head.

“He went out for a walk and hasn’t been seen for four days.”

ah.

“Are you crazy?”

Rem did not hide her bewilderment.

Why would a kid who can’t even find his way go out for a walk?

“where?”

Encred asked calmly.

“You said you were going to take a quick look inside the mountain range.”

“Why did you send me alone?”

“He said he would kill me if I followed him.”

He must have been stubborn. It was obvious even without looking.

Would Ragnar have died because he got lost? That’s impossible.

But did you really go to the mountains?

If we had started from the barracks, we might have entered the eastern lands by now.

Oh, four days is too short a time for that.

Encrid put his worries aside.

Because he’s not the kind of guy who would die.

“What about the wild cat?”

“I left for a while because there was a problem in another city.”

“Ah, sir.”

Rem complained.

Besides that, two more were not visible.

That’s probably why Lawford is standing here.

“Christ is in the city of Green Pearl.”

It was added that the Green Pearl outpost was turned into a fortress city and the city was named Green Pearl.

“Sir Audín and Sir Teresa went to the mountains to fast and pray.”

Encrid was not embarrassed.

Originally, they were people who didn’t know where to go.

Well, I guess you’ll come back on your own.

That’s what I ended up thinking.

More importantly, what stood out was the change in Squire Lawford.

It was a different vibe than when I saw it before. To Encred, it seemed like his skills had improved significantly.

So naturally my eyes went there.