Chapter 380: No
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 380: No
The Ferryman continued.
"It only ends when you kill her with your own hands."
He meant that this wall would never crumble unless Encrid took Aisia’s life.
"Must I?" Encrid asked, the words escaping him before he could stop them.
"I gave you the clue at the very beginning."
At the Ferryman's words, Encrid closed his eyes and sank into thought.
What happened to Aisia beyond that hallway?
She must have died. Most likely.
It was a guess, but it carried the weight of certainty.
Does that mean Aisia's death itself is the trigger that resets the day?
Encrid recalled Aisia's death, which he had witnessed on the very first 'today.'
"That is correct," the Ferryman answered, as if reading his mind.
Instinctively, Encrid knew there wasn't a single lie in the Ferryman's words. The Ferryman had never toyed with him using falsehoods. He had always spoken the truth; it was simply that Encrid hadn't taken his words literally.
"Kill her. Then you shall cross."
With those words, Encrid’s vision blurred. Beyond his fading sight, the Ferryman's voice echoed one last time.
"Enjoy this one as well."
There was a distinct sense of anticipation in his tone.
*
Encrid opened his eyes. It was a new 'today.'
Must I kill her?
The Ferryman called her the wall, and insisted he had to cross it.
It was the dawn before daybreak. Encrid moved as he always did, heading outside to push his body. He practiced the Isolation Technique, falling into a deep trance of thought as he moved. Physical exertion always helped his mind work with greater clarity.
Should I kill her?
The question lingered, a stubborn shadow in his mind.
Encrid couldn't focus. Even though he was aware of his distraction, he couldn't shake it.
Why?
He asked himself why he hesitated. The answer seemed within reach, yet remained elusive. His agony stretched on. Andrew came by at one point and said something, but Encrid gave only a half-hearted reply, continuing his monotonous movements.
He began this 'today' with a cluttered mind.
"You there!"
He met the Sheriff, repeating the actions he had retraced countless times in previous loops.
If I kill her, I cross.
The answer was set. It was clear. All he had to do was cross. Had only one or two people died by his hands so far? In an era of war, killing could hardly be considered a sin.
Aisia stood in his way. She was an Order Knight and an Associate Knight. She knew that stepping onto the battlefield meant facing death. She would have prepared herself for that much, at the very least.
So, he just had to kill her.
“Kill her. Then you shall cross.”
He heard the auditory hallucination. The Ferryman's voice lingered, echoing in his ears.
Facing Aisia with such thoughts, the same opportunities as before failed to present themselves. His mind was too cluttered. He couldn't suppress her with sheer skill when his focus was fractured.
"You've lost your edge. If you don't want to fight, go back."
Someone of an Associate Knight's caliber could use at least a Fragment of Will. That was, in essence, a manifestation of willpower. A person with a complicated mind would inevitably wield a messy sword.
Aisia pointed that out.
"I don't want to."
He answered his opponent abruptly and drew his sword once more. He held on through pure technique, swinging reflexively. Thus, another 'today' passed.
A 'today' where he couldn't kill Aisia, but Aisia couldn't kill Encrid either. A day that felt utterly meaningless.
The guilt of wasting time in vain filled his chest. It was only once, but it was a 'today' where he had surrendered his body to familiarity rather than struggling and thrashing against his fate.
It felt as if someone had smacked him on the back of the head.
No—someone actually had.
Smack!
"...I believe I need an explanation for this," Encrid said, remaining in his slumped posture, his neck bent forward from the blow.
"I can tell just by looking that a curse has been planted in your head. For a curse like that, my palm is both the medicine and the divinity," Rem said, raising his palm toward the sky. The sunlight glinted off his skin. "Behold and bless the divinity dwelling in my hand."
It was the sight of a madman doing mad things.
"...Why is he even alive?" Sachsen remarked, a rare comment from him.
"If you want to die, come at me," Ragna added, kindly letting it be known that he was perfectly willing to kill Rem.
"You ignorant fools, shut your mouths," Rem shot back.
Watching this, a thought occurred to Encrid.
Should I just kill this bastard? If I were told to kill Rem instead of Aisia, my mind might be a bit more at ease.
Of course, Rem wasn't the type to just die because someone wanted him to. And even if he were actually told to kill Rem, Encrid had no intention of following through...
A bolt of lightning struck his mind. The shock of the realization penetrated his skull and stirred his brain.
"A curse?" The word escaped his lips.
"I'm saying stop thinking useless thoughts," Rem said, tapping his own temple with his index finger. "Why make things so complicated?"
"Ah."
An exclamation escaped him.
Why did he feel guilty for wasting a day? Why couldn't he live today to the fullest? It was as if chains were bound around his arms and legs. Those chains had started with the Ferryman's words.
“Kill her, and you shall cross.”
He realized then: he hated that premise.
His heart would not move for it. He knew he was supposed to kill her to progress, but he didn't want to. And because he didn't want to, his Will would not stir.
This wall was not meant to be overcome by killing Aisia. He decided, right then and there, to make it so.
With that very mindset, filled with sincerity and truth, Encrid opened his mouth.
"No."
It was just a single word. It cut out all context. But it contained his sincere truth.
If words could hold power, it was only when they came from the mouth of one who had proven them through action. Every day Encrid had endured—today, and every loop before it—lent weight to his words now.
Thus, it resonated. It echoed. Spoken with a completely unified heart, it transcended his own chest and vibrated in the hearts of everyone around him.
Rem scratched his head with the finger he had been using to tap it, then sighed. "Then keep doing what you're doing."
How could anyone stop him when he said "no" with that much conviction? No one in the world was perfect. Even their captain would have moments where he needed to grapple with such dilemmas.
"Yeah. No," Encrid said, actually smiling.
"I said I get it."
"No." He said it with a bright smile, making direct eye contact.
"Ah, damn it. I get it!"
"No."
"No, I said I get it!"
"No."
"Fine, I get it. I was wrong. Hit me back." Rem offered the back of his head.
Encrid looked at it and said, "No."
"Fuck!"
Encrid burst out laughing. He hadn't actually been saying it to Rem, but it didn't really matter. Whether today repeated or not, what did Rem's misunderstanding matter? He was a guy who would forget it in an instant anyway.
Once again, the day repeated. He endured and struggled just the same. This time, too, an opening to kill Aisia appeared, but he let it go.
The Ferryman appeared in his dream again. "You were saying that to me, weren't you?"
Encrid nodded.
"Then you will remain trapped in today. Do you truly believe that is better? To abandon your dream just to save a single person, simply because your paths crossed?"
The Ferryman spoke of his dream. His words were a sharp blade, a strike aimed directly at the heart. But because Encrid's heart was protected by Frok's Heart Armor, the blade was blocked.
"I will simply suppress her completely and move on."
"What?"
Encrid's dream was to be a knight. And an old-fashioned concept of chivalry at that. What he had learned of knights came from poetry and songs. That was his standard. His line. His belief. His oath to protect the weak and his companions.
Had he not said as much to the Marquis?
“I came to reduce the monsters and demonic beasts. I came to protect those who know how to cherish their people. I came to punish those who oppress others with force. I came to protect the weak and safeguard the dreams of those who dare to dream.”
Aisia had her reasons. He had sensed this through the countless repetitions of today.
"I will suppress her without killing her, and then I will go."
"Do you honestly think that is possible?"
Why wouldn't it be?
Encrid spoke with his eyes, and the Ferryman said no more.
Once again, he closed and opened his eyes. It was the exact same today, but there was a change in his mindset. He now had a goal.
He would suppress Aisia, not kill her. He resolved to make it so.
I don't want to kill her.
“Crazy bastard.”
He heard the Ferryman's hallucinated voice again, but this time, he ignored it.
Thus, he once again faced the day that began with the Sheriff and ended with Aisia. In this manner, another two hundred and forty 'todays' passed.
*
"What?" Aisia reacted to the words he had just uttered.
"I am asking why you are doing this—why you are standing in my way."
It was something he had felt from the very beginning. Was Aisia here because she wanted to be?
Fifty-fifty.
If she had truly turned into an enemy, she could have just watched him die after striking him down. But she didn't. She blocked his path again. She claimed there was no need to kill him, yet she staked her own life on the confrontation.
She had even brought up her younger sibling before dying in a previous loop. He remembered that. Above all, there was the feeling he got while clashing swords with her.
The things he had seen, heard, and judged while repeating this day—Encrid mixed them all together. The process of untangling and organizing the truth proceeded in silence. As Krais always said, Encrid possessed a natural gift for intuition and the sixth sense.
"Is your sibling being held hostage?"
Aisia's hand flinched. She was an Associate Knight; he knew her skill well from their countless bouts. She was not the type to be shaken by mere words or provocations. Yet, her reaction was distinct. It meant her sibling held immense significance to her.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a wave of murderous intent seeped from Aisia's body. It was a far denser energy than anything she had shown before. Her Intimidation activated on its own, exerting crushing pressure.
Naturally, the Will of Rejection within Encrid's body activated in response. Shaking off the pressure, he squared his shoulders and looked her in the eye.
At that, Aisia's momentum faltered slightly. Her intensity remained, but the dense murderous intent faded. It was replaced not by a desire to kill, but by a pure fighting spirit.
"Right... there's no way you would have associated with bastards like them. How did you know?"
"A hunch."
"...You certainly have a quick mind."
Aisia remembered mentioning her sibling while staying at Andrew's mansion. She assumed he had deduced it from that. Of course, he had only found out because he had repeated this day hundreds of times. There was no way Aisia could know that.
"That's half of it," Aisia continued.
Encrid also believed she wasn't here solely because of a single hostage. She must have had other choices. Yet, why did she block his path like this?
"And the other half?"
Aisia hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. It was a reaction more full of life than in any other 'today.'
"If you don't want to die, go back. That is all I have to say." Her tone was stiff, as if she were forcibly suppressing her emotions.
"Why? Because if I go, you'll just die?"
This, too, was a guess, but he had hit the mark again.
"Did you learn mind reading or something? That would be troublesome."
"Not quite."
He only knew because he had repeated today. Behind Aisia was that pulse-severing bastard. His skill? He was likely on the level of Rem and Ragna. If not, no matter how exhausted she was, he wouldn't have been able to capture Aisia so easily. That was likely why Aisia kept dying.
What he needed to do first was reach that point.
Encrid adjusted his grip on his sword. Seeing this, the trembling in Aisia's eyes stopped.
"Just go back," she said. "Consider it half a request."
Another half? Encrid thought, looking straight into her eyes. "And the other half?"
"A threat."
Encrid nodded. "I respect your decision, Associate Knight Aisia."
He meant it. As always, his words were filled with absolute sincerity. And because he respected his opponent's decision so deeply—so utterly—Encrid decided to surpass it.
"Even if I let you go, you will die," Aisia spoke again as his momentum shifted, but Encrid did not listen.
Instead, he steadied his breath and adjusted his sword belt. He shifted his stance and committed everything in his sight to memory. He had repeated this day over three hundred times. He could remember the positions of every object with just a glance. The decorative practice sword on the wall, the window, the placement of the vase—everything.
"You cannot stop me," Encrid said, settling into his stance.
Even if it wasn't this specific loop, he would cross this wall in some other 'today.' In the end, she truly couldn't stop him.
In Aisia's memory, there was only the Encrid who couldn't even get past her Sword Tip Aiming.
"Prove it."
A smile formed on her face in spite of herself. That kind of confidence, that absolute refusal to back down—wasn't it a fine sight? To have become an Associate Knight of the Order meant living with that level of intensity. Above all, this man named Encrid possessed a passion that stimulated everyone around him.
Naturally, that influenced Aisia as well. Because she truly wished for this man not to die here, she would not let him pass. Nor would she kill him.
She thrust her sword forward and aimed.
It was Sword Tip Aiming.
If he couldn't overcome this, they couldn't even begin to fight. Aisia found herself anticipating it. The thought occurred to her that he might actually surpass her technique.
Am I actually holding onto a 'what-if'? Is it because the conviction he shows is that overwhelming? He has shown this consistently during our spars, so why now of all times?
I don't know. It is simply a feeling. My intuition as an Associate Knight.
She focused more than ever before, drawing up her Will. She even abandoned the intimidation meant to force him back, channeling every ounce of her Will solely into her Sword Tip Aiming.