A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

'Leave traces of going into the forest.'

That alone would drive most of the pursuers into here.

A forest isn't exactly ideal for search operations. So this would cost them time.

Wouldn't that buy at least half a day before they found and followed the wrong trail?

Most likely.

While they were busy sweeping the forest, the girl called the Saintess had gone another way.

That was the simple truth.

She was incredibly smart.

If not, someone had carved this training into her bones.

And here, another question emerged.

'Why did the paladins come in person?'

From what he'd heard, the Holy Nation had sent its paladin order after the girl.

That meant a martial group had moved.

But why?

They were just chasing down a single girl. Why send paladins—the kind of people who prove themselves through battle?

Because of them, the kingdom must've been informed, whether directly or indirectly.

Enkrid's thoughts turned sharply, and he reached a conclusion.

The one thing the Saintess hadn't accounted for was the overwhelming martial presence that could circle the entire forest in an instant, slicing up manticores like vegetables and walking away unscathed.

Because he'd circled the forest perimeter in a flash, Enkrid was able to see the truth.

If you're clueless, your legs suffer. But the price he paid for that effort was worthwhile.

He'd read the fugitive's intentions.

If he had chased slowly, following each trace one by one, it would've been much harder to see through her trick.

The pursuers were now deep in the eastern woods of Fellheim.

The last trace of the Saintess stopped near the entrance, seemingly heading further in.

'So I unraveled this. But what about the paladins?'

Could they have anticipated this too?

Maybe.

They were the ones who knew the Saintess personally and had chased her all the way here.

Surely they'd been fooled a few times already?

Paladins weren't fools. If they'd been tricked once, they'd come prepared the next time.

And how would they prepare?

'So that's why they brought more numbers?'

It wasn't just about forming a net and scattering krona.

Those hunters were bait. Meant to provoke a reaction from the Saintess.

Still, even then, you could see where they skimped on the krona—it was almost funny.

"They normally pay half the reward upfront, but this time we got just enough to start the job. But since a priest swore on their god, we decided to trust it..."

That's what he'd heard.

They knew these guys wouldn't succeed anyway. That's why they pulled this little stunt.

Cut the down payment, sell off their god as collateral.

Not just rotten—creatively rotten.

Impressive, in a twisted way.

While the bounty hunters were on the move, the paladins must have been tracking the girl as well.

That meant they chose a different route from the hunters.

From a distance, the picture became clearer—it was a drive hunt.

Like driving rabbits into traps by cornering them with hounds and pressure.

"She got us good."

Enkrid said it aloud.

No one's perfect, so this could happen.

Even now, the odds of catching or escaping weren't even fifty-fifty.

Becoming a knight didn't change that. Enkrid hadn't trained to become a great tracker.

Was he too late? Maybe.

But that wasn't a reason to stop.

Just like before—getting caught didn't mean it was over. And losing the trail didn't mean it ended.

A fifty percent chance still meant success half the time. And Enkrid had failed a lot in those fifty percents.

But he always succeeded in the end—because he never gave up.

"I'm going back to the city. Keep up with my pace."

Enkrid said, then took off running.

BOOM!

The ground he pushed off screamed as it split. He didn't save any strength or breath—just pure acceleration.

Growl!

A ghoul appeared mid-run, blocking the path. Enkrid didn't even draw his sword. He passed by and snapped its neck.

A flawless Balraf-style martial art technique.

The ghoul's neck bones shattered and tore out, exposing parts of its spine before it collapsed.

After that, whether monster or beast, he crushed everything in his way and sprinted on.

He reached the city that way, finally stopping and drawing in a deep breath.

"DO—II—CH!"

The will-imbued shout, once used to summon Audin, thundered across the city.

"WAAAH!"

A boy feeding a donkey nearby fell over in fright.

A construction guild member hammering up a building smacked his own hand and screamed.

"ARGH!"

That was the impact of the scream. Enkrid ignored the information flooding around him and kept running, until the one he called emerged.

Once again, he wasn't even wearing shoes.

"Eh? What, wait, huh?"

A stunned Deutsch was met with Enkrid's piercing blue gaze.

"Do you know the paladin order's location?"

He did.

Even after Enkrid left, Deutsch had continued gathering information.

"Yes, they were last seen near the northern outskirts."

They didn't have the skill to hide their tracks, so finding their trail had been easy.

But that was all. North? And where exactly?

Enkrid chose to be a brute again.

In other words, fill in the missing information by using his legs.

"Let's run."

With a booming shout, Enkrid shook the city and dashed out once more.

"See you again! Brother!"

Behind him, a giant man known as the Bear Beastkin followed.

"Well done. I ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) thank you on behalf of my betrothed."

And a fairy, tossing out strange remarks, trailed after.

The three of them had dashed to the estate and now vanished just as fast.

They came like a whirlwind and vanished just the same.

Deutsch felt like he'd just been possessed by spirits.

That Enkrid guy—he always showed up and turned the world upside down.

After taking a breath and returning to the estate, it wasn't long before another visitor arrived.

"Would you happen to know where the Church's men have gone?"

A man with gentle eyes asked. He looked kind, maybe mid-to-late forties, dressed in full armor including a steel-plated cuirass—and clearly not an ordinary man.

His most striking feature: silver pupils.

One more thing: he seemed older than he looked. It was just a feeling.

"If it's uncomfortable to say, you needn't answer. But still, I ask. Nothing bad will happen, brother."

The man spoke.

Deutsch couldn't easily say no here.

The atmosphere, the manner, the tone—it all told him this man was no ordinary figure.

Even so, should he speak just to save his own skin?

No. He had to speak.

Whatever this man's intent, he'd talk—and then deal with the aftermath himself.

Deutsch, who had been trying to step away from the mess, made up his mind.

"I'll come with you."

That was his way of saying he'd handle things if they went awry.

The silver-eyed man who had come looking for him smiled brightly.

"Then I'm grateful."

***

The first thing the girl who would become the Saintess ever held was a bow.

The first thing she ever made was a trap.

She'd lean a rock against the dirt floor, prop it with a stick, lay thin leather on top, then balance a pebble on it—so it would fall with a plop. It wouldn't catch even a rat, but that was her toy. Her game.

That was her childhood.

Somehow, after becoming a runaway, the Saintess decided to shake off her pursuers here.

'Fellheim.'

She murmured the city's name like a habit and scanned the surrounding terrain. Leaving tracks near the forest's edge would drive off most of the pursuers.

She knew that from experience.

'They'll let their guard down, right?'

It could look like she'd been cornered and had no choice but to flee.

Make it appear that way. But no matter what her pursuers thought, the Saintess had no intention of going deep into the woods.

Even if it wasn't her birthplace, she knew well how dangerous a forest was for humans.

'Maybe if it's just one or two ghouls or face-dogs...'

In the open field, she had clear vision. Her natural eyesight reduced risks in such places.

But a forest? No. Even with sharp senses that could detect others, even if she had a gift that let half her mind sleep while the other half stayed awake...

The sensation of death was too close.

She knew it by instinct.

'You die.'

You don't enter the forest unprepared.

You don't climb mountains unprepared.

That's what Grandpa taught her.

That's what experience taught her.

So she wouldn't go into the forest.

But she could make others think she had.

She'd already risked her life at least three times to pull this off.

She crafted a route no ordinary person would even attempt—and pulled it off.

With that thought, the girl known as the Saintess brushed her ear.

It stood half-upright—not as long as a fairy's, but still sharper than a normal human's.

It said everything.

She was a half-fairy.

The Saintess checked the terrain and made her decision.

'I'll cut it off here.'

If she seemed to vanish—like she had flown into the sky or sunk into the earth—people would get suspicious.

So she had to steer their assumptions.

'I'll leave footprints here.'

She intentionally left traces leading into the forest.

To make it look like a frantic escape, she broke a few branches as well.

Once she'd created just enough signs, she tied a string around her waist and attached a round, elongated rock at the end.

Whirr.

She swung the stone and threw it over a branch. The sturdy cloth string wrapped and tightened with the weight.

She climbed the tree, keeping parallel with the ground, and began leaping from branch to branch.

Moving from tree to tree, she could fool those who only watched the ground.

She circled the forest's edge this way, then exited again.

What was needed for this?

She had to be as good at climbing as a flying squirrel.

She was. So she did it.

Of course, if any flying-type monster or beast showed up, she'd be in danger, so she kept her ears alert at all times.

If she heard wingbeats or sensed something abnormal, she'd run for her life.

Of course, that was also a gamble. But the odds were in her favor.

In the sunlit border, creatures like wraiths didn't appear. Harpies and large flying beasts wouldn't enter dense forests either.

The biggest threat would be an owl-beast, but since it was daytime, the chance of encountering a nocturnal monster was low.

That was why she chose this hour to escape.

She calculated everything before making her move.

'Not bad.'

Her grandfather's teachings, along with everything she'd learned through experience, had brought her here.

Naturally, none of it had been easy.

Escaping from the Holy Nation was no simple feat.

To make it this far, Saintess Seiki had relied on stirring someone's conscience and forcing others to risk themselves for her.

There'd been a priestess who cared for her like a nanny, and a monk who ultimately helped her escape.

'They'll be branded heretics and executed.'

At first, she'd known nothing, but then she was trained for over eight months to become a Saintess.

Now, Seiki knew enough.

Like what the damn Church was trying to do to her.

'What's so important about making holy water or potions anyway?'

The teachings claimed to prove divinity—but it felt more like brainwashing. She kept her doubts inside and her face calm.

She had to.

The Saintess paused her thoughts.

Now was a time for focus.

At the end of erasing her trail through the treetops, she braced herself, feet against the trunk and hands on the branch.

Few would track her this far, but she couldn't be sure.

"Hoo."

Seiki took a breath, bent her knees, then launched.

Thud—as her foot slammed into the tree trunk, her body flew through the air like a flying squirrel.

Her tilted form stayed level with the ground.

Of course, she had no wings—so she fell.

As she hit the ground, she tucked her shoulder, rolled, and rose smoothly.

A perfect landing—no scrapes.

Her wrist ached slightly, but that would heal fast.

She coiled the rope around her waist and moved again.

It was time to skirt around the city's edge.

As her feet moved, Seiki recalled how it all began.

That day had been hell.

She hadn't realized it at the time, but looking back now, she thought—if she'd handled things differently, maybe she wouldn't be running like this.

Maybe.

But that was uncertain.

The Church wouldn't give up its Saintess so easily.