A violet lamp swayed over the rippling black river. Along with the rocking of the ferry, his body swayed from side to side.
Encrid sat at the edge of the ferry, silently keeping his mouth shut. The ferryman spoke again.
"There is a very easy way."
Encrid didn't respond. The ferryman continued.
"Run away."
His lips barely moved, and his voice echoed faintly across the ferry.
"Run away, and you won't have to face your death. I'll take care of it for you."
Instead of answering, Encrid lowered his gaze diagonally. He seemed like a man filled with countless thoughts.
The ferryman opened his mouth again. His lips moved, and the echo of his voice once again lingered on the ferry.
"If you don't want to run, use your tongue. Persuade your opponent and prepare for what's to come. The two of you should be able to handle it."
If Asia and Encrid joined forces, they would be able to face the one that would appear next.
By repeating 'today', they already knew the future.
Not every day would be exactly the same, but the general framework wouldn't change.
Both Asia and Encrid had exhausted their strength and were injured from fighting each other. It was the same for Encrid.
If the two of them combined forces while still maintaining their strength and avoiding injuries, they would be more than capable of handling their opponent. In fact, they could potentially even claim victory.
It was a fight for survival, and if the two were on the same side, they would undoubtedly have an advantage.
Of course, it wasn't a guaranteed victory.
"Do you want to know exactly what the wall is?"
As always, the ferryman's words lacked any emotion. He spoke only the facts, devoid of feeling.
Encrid listened to the ferryman's repeated words, but gave no answer.
Was he reflecting on what had been said?
The ferryman kicked the floor of the boat with his foot.
The boat rocked violently. Encrid, sitting, braced himself with his hand to regain balance. From that position, he raised his head.
A blank stare, a face deep in thought, a half-open mouth.
That's what the ferryman saw.
As if coming back into focus, Encrid asked a question in return.
"Hmm?"
"What did I just say?"
The ferryman, barely containing his emotions, asked again.
Encrid blinked twice and replied.
"Ah, I didn't hear you."
It was genuine. He had been too deep in thought to hear. As always, Encrid answered with sincerity and honesty.
"...Go."
The ferryman's lips moved faster than his thoughts.
His words didn't even enter Encrid's head. It wasn't that he heard them and let them pass through one ear and out the other. It wasn't rebellion. He simply ignored and swallowed them.
Even the ferryman had reason to be annoyed.
"Huh?"
Even knowing that Encrid's confusion was genuine, his blank expression appeared irritating.
Innocence can sometimes become a weapon that burdens the heart of the other.
"I said go."
The ferryman neither raised his voice nor questioned further. Sending him off was enough. There was a reason for sending him.
'I will watch.'
Whatever he was thinking, whatever he was planning, he would find out by watching.
"Oh, okay."
Encrid, without embarrassment, nodded his head.
Soon, his figure blurred and disappeared from the ferry. Left alone, the ferryman silently stared into the darkness.
Perhaps he would repeat the same 'today'.
And again, he would face this same moment. On the ferry, in the darkness, he would meet himself. It was inevitable.
The ferryman sees 'today' repeated in advance.
What will happen, will happen.
What is predetermined will happen as it is.
Of course, Encrid had surprised him a few times, but that was all.
There was no wall that could be overcome in just one day.
The repetition of 'today' was an endless cycle of pain and suffering. That's simply the nature of its structure. After all, that is the essence of the curse.
However, for those afflicted with madness, even pain becomes a source of joy.
'A madman.'
The ferryman's gaze blurred, not towards the black river, but towards Encrid, who was trapped in the cycle of repeated life.
The curse allowed him to see Encrid's form.
The ferryman watched.
He repeated the same day over and over.
He woke up at dawn and trained his body.
Instead of persuading, he kicked the sheriff.
He sent Ragna and Dunbachel, the beastwoman, against the forces advancing from outside.
He embarrassed his comrades by claiming he was in pain, confirming that he had indeed been stabbed when facing the assassins.
Then, as he headed toward the palace, he mercilessly cut down his long-standing enemies.
He slashed and killed without much dialogue.
"You raped a maid, didn't you? I didn't even ask before cutting you down last time."
"What?"
He completely ignored the shock of his opponent. No, it wasn't that he ignored it, but rather that he had no interest in the past standing before him.
Though he had almost killed the master of the curse and could have harbored a grudge, none of that was visible. Not that it didn't exist.
It was just that—
'He's simply fixated on something else right now.'
Instead of the dumbfounded man, Encrid looked at the maid.
He asked with his eyes if it was true, and the trembling maid nodded her head.
What followed was the process of cutting and killing.
And so, once again, he faced the wall.
A female Knight with orange hair.
"That's as far as you go."
She blocked his path. Encrid raised his sword.
There were no questions. Since it was bound to happen, there was no reason to ask.
No, it wasn't even a matter of that kind of reasoning.
For a moment, the ferryman caught a glimpse of Encrid's heart. It was filled with anticipation.
'That bastard.'
He was here because he wanted to challenge the wall. He had been running towards the moment where he could cross swords with that female Knight.
The repetition of 'today'.
While the finer details weren't identical, it was a day much like any other.
Of course, some things were different. It was what happened before reaching here, after waking up in the morning, during his training routine.
"Rem, how did you do that?"
It was around the time when the morning sun was directly overhead. While the sheriff babbled on, Encrid was conversing with Rem.
"This insolence, chatting when I personally have come!"
"One moment, wait."
Encrid replied before asking again.
The sheriff, dumbfounded, stood there with his mouth hanging open.
"Targeting the Sword's Tip. You blocked it with the axe blade."
"It's called targeting with the axe blade."
Rem blinked and gave a short, straightforward explanation.
"You just need to aim well."
There wasn't much more to explain, and Encrid, deciding there wasn't more to hear, turned away.
That was the small difference in today's repetition.
"You scoundrel!"
The ignored opponent was enraged.
That was all.
Afterwards, Encrid stood before the wall named Asia, wielding his sword, trying something, but the result was the same.
He was slashed, stabbed, and defeated. He lay sprawled on the ground.
There was another difference compared to the previous 'today'. The ferryman already knew this.
But Encrid did not.
His gaze swept past Asia.
The figure that Asia had called 'senior' did not appear.
Instead—
"I'll check the rear."
Asia left, and that was the end of it. After a short time passed, the scene darkened, and today came to a close once more.
The ferryman looked across the boat.
Grains of sand-like fragments began to gather, bit by bit. The particles slowly formed the shape of a person.
It was Encrid.
The ferryman felt a surge of curiosity. There was no need to suppress it, so he spoke.
"I have just one question."
"Huh?"
There stood Encrid, still with that blank stare.
"You were so deep in thought earlier that you didn't hear what was said, weren't you?"
Encrid responded readily. There was no reason to hide anything. Nothing to hide, really.
He just wondered why he was being asked.
"I was thinking about how to block the Targeting the Sword's Tip technique."
Seeing the determination and fervor in his eyes, the ferryman became certain.
This man, Encrid, was focused on only one thing.
He had seen nothing but the opponent with the sword in front of him. Whether it was a wall or anything else, that was all he saw, all he recognized, and he poured all his attention into it.
The ferryman, speaking words that he didn't need to, but could say by his own authority, asked:
"Do you see that as the wall?"
He had intended to tell him that it wasn't, that he should face the real wall.
"I don't know."
Those pointless words were left unsaid.
So what if that's important? It's not what matters to me.
That thought, too, was left unsaid.
Do you have more to say? If not, I'd appreciate it if you let me get back to thinking.
This, too, remained unspoken.
The ferryman felt an emotion. It was bewilderment. He was flustered. Faced with such pure, unintentional honesty, the thoughts he had planned to use to toy with his opponent vanished. They mixed with the darkness, faded, and flowed away.
"Do as you will."
The ferryman answered, having read his intent.
Fine, go ahead and do what you want. What you're looking at isn't the real wall anyway.
That was the unspoken message.
Once again, Encrid disappeared. He blurred, scattered, and was gone.
'He's dense.'
But this was exactly what he had hoped for, and even if he overcame this wall, it would leave a deep scar on him.
Heh heh.
The ferryman chuckled.
Seeing him in torment later—there would be nothing more delightful than that.
The ferryman knew that even if Encrid overcame this wall, it would become a curse upon him.
* * *
'One thing is clear.'
It seemed like a good idea to mimic Rem's method.
Not just Rem's, but to try everyone's method at least once.
Imitation is, after all, one of the quickest ways to understand the target you're mimicking.
'My method comes after that.'
When a path is visible, you walk it. Encrid did just that.
What exactly was the wall, and where did it end?
If he had asked the ferryman, it seemed like he would have gotten an answer. The ferryman of today gave off that feeling. But that didn't matter. There was no need to know.
So he didn't ask. Instead of asking, he pondered.
"What are you thinking about so early in the morning?"
This was the third 'today'. During his dawn training, when he stood still in thought, Rem, who had gotten up late, asked him. Encrid posed the key question earlier than he had during the second 'today'.
"How did you manage to block the sword tip with the axe blade?"
Despite the sudden question, Rem wasn't fazed. This wasn't the first time Encrid had done something like this.
So the answer came right away.
"Asia's sword was aimed at me. I aimed my axe blade at the tip of her sword, simple as that."
His explanation still felt like a chaotic mess. It was a mess—confusing and difficult. But if Encrid was the type to give up because of that, he wouldn't have picked up a sword in the first place.
Even Rem himself knew his explanation was hard to follow.
"Take up your blade and try aiming."
Rem said this as he took out a long-handled axe.
Although he held it lightly, it had a strange balance that made one curious about how it was wielded. It was a heavier weapon than expected.
Still, just by holding it, Rem exuded a sense of weight.
Encrid drew his sword, Ember.
With a ting, the blade was drawn, and he aimed it. The thin, narrow blade pointed forward.
Standing there like that, it seemed like the first step in imitation was simply to aim the sword tip.
'Mix Intimidation and killing intent.'
In a way, it was the complete opposite of Jaxon's Silent Stab technique.
The sword was meant to deceive by applying pressure on the opponent.
Encrid couldn't replicate it right away. Instead, he stood with his sword aimed.
Thud.
Rem struck the tip of the sword with the axe blade. More precisely, he struck the very point of the blade with the edge of the axe.
"Got it?"
Encrid didn't answer, instead falling into thought.
He mulled over what Rem had just done.
Physical explanations were far easier to understand than verbal ones. And after some reflection, Encrid understood.
Rem had hit the point of Ember with the sharpest edge of his axe blade.
The edge and point met precisely.
It was beyond a feat of skill, it bordered on the miraculous.
This act held a question.
Could you meet the tip of the blade with the same speed and force as usual?
"Ah."
A sound of realization escaped him.
"Try it. You'll understand once you do."
Rem stepped back, and Encrid slowly gripped both swords. One was Ember, the other was his Gladius.
Meeting blades was easy.
But point to point?
Edge to point?
It was possible if you went slowly.
If you slowed down, it was difficult, but doable.
His muscles naturally tensed. This made his movements stiff and unnatural.
How could he do this smoothly?
What skill was required for this?
"That's it. You just need to be able to do that."
Rem, sheathing his long-handled axe at his waist, said this as if he had explained all there was to say.
Encrid didn't even nod. He was quickly drawn into his own world. Immersed.
Watching him, Rem thought Encrid was a truly fascinating person. He then looked at Andrew, raised his index finger to his lips, and gestured for silence.
Without a sound, Andrew, who had been about to say something, closed his mouth.
Stepping back three paces at Rem's gesture, Andrew spoke.
"What's going on?"
"I'll personally oversee today's training."
"...It's fine. I can train on my own."
"No, it's not fine. I'll carry out the Captain's will."
"But Captain Encrid isn't dead."
"My continental language is still a bit clumsy, that's why."
What are you even talking about? Andrew had never seen him speak western tongue.
Andrew's thoughts were ignored.
Encrid, meanwhile, heard nothing. He was completely lost in his own thoughts, deeply immersed, and sinking into contemplation.