Eternally Regressing Knight Chapter 625

625. Peace Made by Sword

“Ah, Krang.”

While walking down the street, Encred suddenly opened his mouth.

“yes?”

Pel asked back.

“You just came without even saying hello.”
“People are forgetful creatures, they can forget.”

Luagarne said.

“huh.”

Encred answered and walked.
He didn’t bring a horse. It wouldn’t be a problem if he had a single eye, but he had to cross mountains and rivers in the middle.
He didn’t take the well-paved road in the first place, but this was the fastest way.
Everyone could protect themselves without having to take the road.
Also, the number of monsters around them had been drastically reduced recently, so the danger of the journey itself was low.
Even if the danger had been high, there wouldn’t have been any monsters that were a threat to them.
The weather was clear, and when the sun passed over the crown of the mountain, he could feel unusually warm for winter.
It had been about half a day since he left the border guard. Since he had left at dawn and walked after seeing the sun rise, he could walk for a few more hours.
When the sun set, he would naturally prepare to camp.

“If you fall behind, we’ll leave you behind.”

Luagarne joked to Pel without answering.

“Do I look like someone who has lived by following the teachings and orders of the Knights Templar, eating only the bread they distribute? For shepherds, walking is more important than swordsmanship.”

As a shepherd of the wilderness, Fel was confident in walking. There was a time when he would often drive sheep.
Especially since these sheep were not just docile and gentle sheep.
Fel, but Ruagarne was also good at walking.

“okay.”

Luagarne was a Frog, and Frogs were originally a species specialized for traveling more than humans.
All of the food they carried could be replaced with dried bugs, so their luggage volume was reduced, and their bodies were strong enough to ignore most damage.
There was a disadvantage in that they had to drink a lot of water, but unless they were traveling through the desert, walking along a waterway was at least the third most important basic knowledge that a wanderer on the continent had to know.
The first was, of course, not to travel alone.
The second was not to go unless it was a well-maintained path.
Encred and his party blithely ignored two of these and continued on. That was possible because it was not unreasonable.
Encred watched the sun set and slightly adjusted his direction. He walked diagonally in the opposite direction of the setting sun, toward the southeast.
The path to the Elven City was down the Fen-Hanil Mountains.
If you look at the Border Guard from the perspective of the center, the former Molsen County that became the Border Guard territory, the city that was supposed to be named Encred but was later renamed Nol’s Lament, were all in the north.
Likewise, the Pen-Hanil Mountains were also in the north.
Geographically, the mountain range was in the shape of a mountain range blocking the head, so some geographers called the Pen-Hanil Mountains the Ceiling Mountains or the Roof Mountains.
Didn’t they say that the temperature here was lower than in the other central regions because of the mountain range? It was said
that it was due to the influence of the wind coming through the mountain range, but I wondered if Kreisna knew the details, and I didn’t care about the rest.
Most people just live thinking that it’s cold when it’s cold and warm when it’s warm.
Encred, who was walking now, had a similar mindset.
He knew the way and went because it was there, and he didn’t really consider the geographical location or why the fairy village was there.
In any case, he had to go south, so he did.
The first day was uneventful.
Encred spent his spare time training, and Luagarne and Fel sparred. Encred let out a small exclamation of admiration when he saw them.

“It’s grown.”

It wasn’t a word directed at Fel. Luagarne’s skills had improved beyond recognition.

“I literally overcame the excruciating pain.”

Luagarne smiled and answered.
It seemed so. Just a moment ago, in the sparring, Fel had swung his sword vertically, which was a strike that Fel had prepared by briefly hiding his sword behind his back and then releasing it.
Luagarne placed his left arm there and stabbed the Loop Sword diagonally.
Of course, neither of them ended up cutting each other’s arms or stabbing each other’s necks.
At that level, they should end it at a level where they can gauge their skills. If they did it sincerely, one of them would get hurt.

“I’m strong in real combat.”

Fel complained. Encred nodded. That was right. Fel’s sword was specialized for actual combat. It was disadvantageous in water combat.

‘For something like that, it seems like you’re well-trained.’

Even though he didn’t enjoy water fighting itself, the way to deal with it came naturally to him. He didn’t need to ask who it was because of. It must have been because he was always with Lawford.
Luagarne was second only to Lawford in terms of water fighting. So it was true that it would be difficult to win in a duel.
Encred set a small goal as he went to the fairy village.

‘Let’s fill in Pel’s shortcomings.’

It was a favor. It might not have been for Pell, though.
I had breakfast at the Border Guard, and lunch was a walk with preserved food.

“Did you know that a new seasoning was released when you bought it?”

Pel was amazed as he ate the seasoned jerky.

“I didn’t know. Christ took care of it for me.”
“Ah.”

Fel nodded. Kreis meticulously packed most of the things he needed for the trip. And whenever he received such things, he would feel grateful to Kreis for no reason.
Fel seemed to be the same.
Encred and Fel were too busy training to know about the newly developed sauce from the seasoned jerky shop that had hit the Border Guard market and even advanced into Martai.
They had only heard about it through rumors. They
had a proper dinner. They brought a pot and drew water from a nearby stream, then boiled dried vegetables like carrots and pumpkins and pieces of lucky fish that they had found on the roadside. After boiling it
for a while and watching the broth come out, Encred cut the bread that had hardened on purpose into square pieces with a knife and put them in.

“What is this?”
“When I was a mercenary and there was nothing to eat, I would boil water, put in some unmade bread, and boil it to eat. This is a modified version of that to make it a little more edible.”

It had been a long time since Encred had done field cooking, and while his skills weren’t great, they weren’t the worst.

“It’s not bread, it’s just dough?”

Pel, who had been expressing his doubts, ate the soup and the garnish, held his breath for a moment, and then exhaled as if shouting.

“Ugh.”
“I’ll add beef and cook it to make it tastier tomorrow, so just eat it.”
“Didn’t you say you’re not good at cooking?”

It was an expression of admiration.

“I said I only know how to do a few things.”

Encred answered nonchalantly.

“Is it tastier than bugs?”

Luagarne intervened from the side.

“You call that talking?”

Pel said with a look of disbelief.

“Would you like a handful of this too?”

As Luagarne spoke, she took out a dried larva, but Pel refused it with an expression that showed no particular interest.

“It’s fine. I know it’s a precious food if you don’t have it, but right now.”

And I kept slurping down the soup and picking at the torn, soft, half-cooked pieces of bread or wheat dough that I couldn’t tell you were eating.

“It fits my mouth perfectly.”

Pel kept giving a thumbs up. Then he muttered, “Is this a talent?”

“okay.”

The group ate dinner and set up camp. There was no particular need for a cave, so they just slept under a large tree under a wide cloak.
The meals on the second day were similar.
Breakfast and lunch were preserved food.
The seasoned jerky was tasty, but they would not be able to eat it for three days at most, and after that, they would have to eat only salted jerky.
Of course, it was not bad because it was prepared in the city, but it was a little lacking compared to the ones that were heavily seasoned.
However, no one complained about eating it.
On the second day, they passed by the place where a group of harpies had attacked and fought before, and the atmosphere of the place that had previously been filled with a bloody smell and coldness completely changed.

“Are you here?”

The first day, they didn’t meet because they crossed the road, but this time, there was a guard post.
In front of the guard post, a soldier wearing a thick gambit recognized Encred and saluted.
Encred pictured in his mind that there were three guard posts surrounding the area in a circle.
The center of the area would be beyond the small hill.

‘Since the waterway is too vague for a city to be built here, perhaps it would be a good idea to open a makeshift market?’

I heard that recently, trading cities are trying to actively use not only waterways but also overland trade routes.

‘It would be nice to have a field market around there to utilize that.’

In the past, it was something I couldn’t even dream of.
If you were planning to throw a wine party with your blood every night for the monsters, then how could you set up a field market in a place without walls? The only
thing you could block with tents and makeshift fences would be wild animals.
But of course, the situation was different now.
The Border Guard standing forces had killed all the monsters in this area.
They even set up outposts and patrolled regularly.
This made it difficult to see monsters or evil spirits. In this situation, there was no way that thieves would come out.
It was really stupid to steal in the Border Guard territory.
Why steal when you could make a living just by carrying bricks to build a wall?
Of course, there were many crazy people in the world, so there must have been some who formed bandits or brotherhoods.
At least they couldn’t come out openly.
However, there really couldn’t be a single monster that didn’t come out.
When it snows heavily in winter, ice demons appear, and sometimes yetis, giants made of snow, come down from the Pen-Hanil Mountains.
But for now, it was peaceful.
A small peace made by pouring swords, power, politics, and Crona.
Should we call this a forced peace?
We can’t say that. Right away, four peddlers were walking in a group behind the soldiers.
They didn’t even look at me. Even though there were three of them with proks and weapons.
In the past, if I had met someone with weapons on the road, I would have run away.

‘In the first place, the four of them wouldn’t have wandered around alone.’

They were walking around talking nonstop, and from what I could hear, they were talking about things like what they saw, how they were scared, and how they barely made it out alive.
It seemed like they were talking about bragging mixed with stories of bravery.

“I will prepare for you to stay at the outpost tonight.”

The soldier suggested, but Encred shook his head.

“I have a long way to go, so I’ll just go. Is everything okay?”
“Nothing unusual on duty. But lately, there’s been a lot of talk about seeing a giant. Just in case.”
“A giant?”
“Some peddlers passing by have said they saw a giant snoring under a tree, and others just stared blankly at my face and said, ‘Your eyes are a different color.’”

The soldier was not called the outpost leader for nothing. His reports were detailed.

“I will keep that in mind.”

When Encred patted his shoulder, the soldier responded with a proud face.

“thank you!”

To the Border Guard Standing Force, Encred was not just a superior in charge of the land, but a hero.
He was a man who had become a knight from the bottom.
He had suddenly risen in status and was being served here and there, so people could have been jealous, but only to a certain extent. Now, the time for jealousy had passed, and the scale had changed. Perhaps
because of this or because they knew his character, Encred was respected by most of the soldiers. It was the same for those who knew him and those who had newly joined the standing force.

“Okay then.”
“I wish you good luck.”

As it turned out, he appeared to be inspecting the outpost leading south.
It wasn’t bad to watch.
It was the result of the sword swings he had been wielding.

“It is said that it is a tradition for shepherds to protect themselves, but I don’t think that method is a bad one either.”

As we passed the outpost and crossed the dry fields and two hills, Pel spoke. He had a thoughtful expression on his face, and it seemed he was recalling something he had seen earlier.

“Okay. Let’s spar.”

Encred heard that and answered.

“Now?”
“Now.”

It was just beginning to sunset. The sun set early in winter. Fel nodded and carefully aimed his sword.
Encred was refining his swordsmanship in several ways. He pulled out one of them.

‘The iron wall was meant to be a barrier.’

A full-power strike was a single blow that poured everything out.
Encred recently wove together what he had learned and pulled out one of the techniques of the Valen-style mercenary sword.
The Valen-style mercenary sword.

‘Scare without a knife.’