A Knight who Eternally Regresses - Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Dream of Holding a Woman (1)

Whirr.

The world spun around.

When his back hit the ground with a thud, he gasped for breath.

“If I slam you a bit harder, your ribs and organs might get damaged.”

As he endured the pain and furrowed his brows, he heard the voice of the company commander, with its musical cadence, from above him.

“Enough?”

“One more time.”

Enkrid wanted to repeat this, even if it meant losing his head as he aged. He knew he couldn’t win. Rem had once glanced at the elf company commander and commented,

“That woman is a monster.”

Then there was Ragna’s evaluation,

“Among the company commanders, she’s the best.”

And Audin’s addition,

“Her body is well-built.”

Knowing he couldn’t win didn’t change anything for Enkrid, who gripped his sword with both hands.

“Come on.”

The elf company commander was the same as usual, speaking in a flat, emotionless voice. Naidhl curved inward. The Elf sword Naidhl slashed as if it were bending, and in an instant, it stabbed like a point.

Earlier, he had tried to avoid the stab but allowed the distance. This time, he stepped back and swung his longsword upward. He was undoubtedly stronger. By striking upward from below, he could create an opening by deflecting Naidhl.

In his mind, he mapped out the blade’s trajectory. Countless real-life battles, especially life-and-death ones, had naturally honed his combat predictions. He anticipated his opponent’s reactions and prepared accordingly.

While naturally talented individuals or those who perfected their martial arts through real combat could do this effortlessly, Enkrid had only acquired this ability after countless deaths.

Swoosh.

Just before the company commander’s Naidhl collided with Enkrid’s longsword, Naidhl smoothly curved. It truly lived up to its nickname, the Leaf Sword, moving as if it were a leaf.

The blade bent flexibly.

It was a trick performed by the company commander’s wrist. It bent and shook. Enkrid, seeing the blade bend, put more strength into his sword to match it.

Ultimately, the blade missed the upward swing and flowed past. Enkrid sliced through the air. It was swordsmanship that could only be called a feat.

Then, the elf closed the distance again. She moved in close. Enkrid, who was prepared, raised his knee.

Smack.

The company commander didn’t avoid it. Instead, she pressed down on Enkrid’s knee with both hands. Before he could fully exert his strength, the pressure threw Enkrid off balance.

He got caught knowing it would happen. Enkrid thought so. He knew she would attempt close combat.

As he attempted a headbutt, the company commander dodged and caught Enkrid’s forehead with her shoulder. What followed was similar to before. Only the striking technique differed. The company commander, with her hands clasped over his knee, struck Enkrid near his heart.

Thud!

His breath was cut off again, and strength drained from his limbs. If this were a life-or-death fight, he would have bitten his tongue and fought back, but it was just a spar. At this point, he had already lost.

“Ugh, hoo, hoo.”

Enkrid took a few steps back and knelt on the ground, catching his breath. When he finally looked up, he saw the company commander’s green eyes.

“More?”

She asked.

“Hah.”

Enkrid laughed, his heart aching. He was genuinely happy she didn’t stop because she won.

Thus, he continued to charge countless times. Getting hit and getting sprawled out again and again.

“Did you get beaten up because you didn’t clear the snow? Is that it?”

When he returned to the barracks, Rem, wrapped in heated leather, was the first to react.

“What?”

“Why do you look like that? Who did it?”

He sounded ready to rush out but pulled the heated leather tighter.

Yes, that thing was quite warm. Enkrid knew.

Today was particularly cold.

“What happened?”

Ragna also asked.

For some reason, Jaxon, who was in the barracks today, watched Enkrid closely. He seemed to be asking what happened with his eyes.

Audin quietly muttered,

“Why do you keep getting beaten up, brother?”

‘That makes me sound really weak.’

It made him seem like a foolish child who kept getting beaten up. Enkrid thought and then replied,

“I sparred.”

“With whom?”

“The company commander.”

“Our company commander?”

Nod.

“Why did you do that? If you want to get beaten up, I can do it.”

That bastard spoke so irritatingly. Enkrid didn’t bother answering. He had just washed himself with superhuman willpower. Fortunately, the barracks had a bath that produced hot water with just a few krona. If not, he might have given up on washing.

His whole body ached. He didn’t even have the strength to move a finger. But it was okay. He could rest. He could rest well for a couple of days. With no duties or training, he had plenty of time to rest.

“In recognition of your efforts to maintain the city’s security, you are granted a four-day leave. There is no bonus.”

The company commander had said this while ending the sparring as the sun set. There was no duty. She also said there was no bonus, but Enkrid considered the sparring as a reward. Moreover, there were treasures obtained from the Thieves’ Guild.

‘It felt like more than ten times.’

The number of times he had sprawled on the frozen ground. His body had suffered, but he had learned something.

‘What I’m lacking right now.’

The company commander spoke with her sword and fists instead of words. Refining swordsmanship, the point of focus, the heart of the beast, and the sensation of the blade were a given. Those were basics.

However, Enkrid realized he needed to fill something within himself first.

“You’re dull. You.”

The company commander’s last words pierced him like a dagger, but they didn’t hurt much. His previous teachers had said much harsher things.

“Do you really need to learn this?”

“Stop and go back to your hometown and farm.”

“I can’t teach someone who will die as a third-rate swordsman.”

The better the person, the harsher the words they spoke. The company commander had called Enkrid dull, but he got what he wanted even in that dullness.

‘A lack of technique.’

Specifically, a lack of body control techniques.

The elf company commander had thrown him down in the same manner repeatedly. She taught with her body, and Enkrid also accepted the lessons with his body.

He never missed a chance to learn, like a hawk eyeing its prey.

‘What I need.’

Wrestling, martial arts, fighting techniques, and hand-to-hand combat. Just because you wield a sword doesn’t mean you only fight with a sword. It includes using your hands, feet, and body.

Enkrid had used such tactics before but…

‘It was evident I had never properly learned it.’

The company commander’s skills were exceptional. Especially when she ran low and took down his balance in one move, then locked his knee. There was no way to counter it.

If he pulled out a dagger to stab down?

No, if it were the company commander, she would dislocate and break his knee joint before he could draw the dagger.

‘Not easy.’

The point was the difference in technique. While there was a difference in skill level, the knowledge and training were fundamentally different.

‘But it was fun.’

Even though his whole body ached and he felt like he was going to die, he had learned something. That learning had opened a new path, making Enkrid happy. When he tried to lie down on his bed, the panther raised its head and looked at him with blue eyes.

‘I said I’d give you a name.’

It would be problematic not to have a proper name to call it. As he lay down on his bed, the panther snuggled into his arms. He felt its warmth. For some reason, that warmth made his aching body feel a bit better.

“Should I name you Heater since you’re warm?”

“Is that supposed to be a name?”

Rem chimed in from the side. This bastard couldn’t stay out of anything.

“Is it weird?”

“Do you call that naming?”

From the opposite bed, Ragna replied. Lying on his bed. Too lazy to get up but still talkative.

“Brother, do you dislike the panther?”

Even Audin joined in.

“Do you hate it?”

When Enkrid asked the panther, it slapped his cheek with its paw.

“Seems like it really does.”

Enkrid mumbled as he hugged the panther and fell into thought.

What should he name it?

He hadn’t thought he’d be worrying about this.

Blackie?

No, that sounded like a puppy’s name. Since its eyes were blue and like a lake, should he call it Blue Eyes?

That sounded decent. The panther tapped his chest with its paws, as if saying it disliked all his ideas.

You don’t like Blue Eyes either?

Then, what should I call you?

Should I call you Black Panther? That seemed convenient.

Press.

The panther pressed its paw on his chest. Rubbing repeatedly, it seemed to really dislike it.

‘Can you read my mind?’

On an external mission, he had once spent the night with the comrades of those he had killed. It was strange that Rem, who had snored through it, or Ragna, who slept as if dead, were the odd ones.

Some degree of tension was necessary.

Because of that, he couldn’t sleep soundly in the thieves’ base. He dozed off lightly and barely closed his eyes for a moment. After returning, he reported immediately and then sparred right away. Several times rolling on the frozen ground, it was a spar that exhausted his body.

Thanks to that, his body felt fatigued. After washing with hot water, he returned and wrapped himself in heated leather and a blanket, feeling the warmth seep into his body.

The panther’s warmth also helped. Its rhythmic pressing with its paws made him sleepy.

Enkrid was thus half asleep.

‘What’s your name?’

In that half-dreaming state, he asked. In his dream, a beautiful woman with silver blonde hair and blue eyes appeared. Her wide-open eyes were large and clear, and her high nose seemed to reflect her personality. She appeared as an arrogant beauty, straight and unyielding.

In the middle of a flower meadow filled with white, red, yellow, and blue flowers. She stood alone, like a shining star among the flowers. A star that gave light to all the flowers.

“You’re pretty.”

Enkrid said. His voice reached her across the meadow. He knew because it was a dream.

And then,

“My name is Esther.”

She said.

Her voice also reached Enkrid, crossing distance and space. The meadow disappeared, and she vanished. Half asleep, Enkrid mumbled.

“Esther, let’s call her Esther.”

“…Were you dreaming?”

Rem replied from beside him, but Enkrid, already asleep, didn’t answer. Rem tilted his head, looking at the sleeping squad leader. No matter how tired he was, it wasn’t like him to fall asleep so deeply.

“He must be really tired.”

Rem murmured. It seemed the company commander had pushed him hard. He didn’t like it much. The elf company commander was the type whose intentions were hard to read.

Moreover, why did she push their squad leader so hard without permission?

Who did she think she was?

“Grumble.”

The panther purred contentedly in Enkrid’s arms at the mention of Esther.

“Fine, let’s call you Esther then.”

Rem joked and closed his eyes. The warmth was satisfying. He hated the cold. Absolutely.

Didn’t they say there were no duties for three days?

Rem decided he wouldn’t leave the heated leather except to eat and relieve himself.

The Lake Panther, Esther, smelled a familiar scent on the man named Enkrid. A scent related to spells, mysteries, and secrets.

It was practically a curse.

‘It only lingered on the surface.’

The curse-like mystery left no real effect on Enkrid, only lingering around him. From her experience, it seemed someone had set a spell trap. It had activated, but it hadn’t worked.

She had a guess as to why the curse lingered. Of course, it was just a guess. In her current state, she couldn’t prove anything. She wanted to delve deeper, to know more, but now was not the time.

To be precise, it wasn’t something she could pursue. As she deeply inhaled the scent of the spell around the man named Enkrid, she absorbed the energy that had merely lingered on the surface.

With the intentions and will that could be called curses gone, only pure energy, mana, remained. Esther savored it.

It was a sweet scent. It had been a long time since she had tasted a part of the spell world. Meanwhile, she projected herself into the man’s dream as he tried to name her.

“My name is Esther.”

She conveyed her name properly. She couldn’t just let it go. In the spell world, a name held special meaning. Especially in her current weakened state. Receiving a new name in this form would deepen the curse.

So, she had to reveal her original name. That was why she forced herself into the man’s dream. Thanks to the mana lingering on Enkrid and projecting herself into his dream, Esther briefly regained her original form.

Naked in the arms of the man she had chosen.

“Mm.”

The man hugged her. Having never allowed anyone into her embrace, Esther blushed quickly.

But no one saw it.

His solid chest muscles were right in front of her nose. Esther let out a thin breath, not moving at all. She wasn’t in a position to make a fuss. Her original form lasted only a brief moment.

His eyelids slowly opened. He was half-asleep. His eyes were not clear. When she met his eyes, Esther was so surprised she forgot to breathe.

“Huh?”

He looked at her with a dazed expression, then slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. Still half-asleep. In that moment, Esther returned to her panther form. It was the mystery of magic.

The man who had reopened his eyes closed them again, falling asleep.

“Esther, Esther.”

He mumbled her name in his sleep.

You won’t remember, right?

She was relieved to be back in her panther form. To be naked in the arms of a man she barely knew, no matter how familiar, was unthinkable.

And then Esther regretted it.

‘Thank goodness for the curse.’

She didn’t intend to think that, even by mistake but being in the man’s arms for the first time made her feel uneasy. The panther tried to push the man away but stayed still. The mana scent still lingered, tempting her.

She convinced herself it was because of the mana and snuggled into his arms. Just as Enkrid felt the warmth of the panther,

The panther also felt Enkrid’s warmth. Having recovered enough to briefly regain her form, she could now act somewhat in her panther form.

Though it would take time to regain her original form,

‘Soon.’

It was only a matter of time. Being by Enkrid’s side made it possible. If not, she wouldn’t have sought him out in the first place.

‘I do like his face.’

To her, Enkrid was an exceptionally handsome man. Of course, Esther didn’t think that was important.