Chapter 7 - Three Threes

Since he couldn't keep laughing forever, Encrid soon stopped laughing.

Seeing that, Rem snatched Encrid's wrist, pulled out a bandage from his pocket, and wrapped it tightly.

"Just stay behind me today. With your hands like this, it's perfect for dying. If you say it got like this from sparring, that Platoon Commander bastard will throw a fucking fit."

"It's fine."

"What do you mean it's fine? I'm telling you, you'll die if you go out to the battlefield with these hands. Is your dream for the future suicide? If so, I won't get in your way."

He wasn't wrong. Heading into the battlefield with hands like this would be perfect for dying.

However, it wasn't a big problem for Encrid. He just had to die one more time.

Then the one hundred and twenty-fifth morning would dawn.

'It's not entirely tedious, though.'

Because he would be able to end the repeating today.

Encrid hadn't just been solely training his swordsmanship all this time.

While repeating the day one hundred and twenty-four times, he had also devised ways to get through 'today'.

When an ordinary soldier returns alive from their first battlefield, people often say they picked up a coin dropped by the goddess of fortune.

It meant that if one lacked exceptional talent, luck played a huge part in keeping them alive.

By Encrid's calculations, he would need that kind of luck a few times to avoid dying.

'But I can't just rely on luck.'

Encrid didn't need to.

He knew what would happen on the battlefield, especially around him.

Therefore, he could prepare.

Therefore, he could be ready.

On the one hundred and twenty-fourth time, Encrid was once again skewered through the neck by a thrust and died.

His palms were such a mess that he couldn't even clash swords properly.

Still, not wanting to waste a single day, he burned the enemy soldier's thrust into his eyes. He regulated his breathing and held out until the very end.

He did just that.

"That looks painful. This is mercy."

Hearing the enemy soldier's voice, he endured the burning pain of the blade felt through his neck.

Something caught on his tongue, so right before dying he spat it out, and it was a broken molar.

It happened because he had clenched his molars tightly in pain.

Right. It wasn't entirely tedious.

Since he spent the repeating today meaningfully, it was even somewhat enjoyable.

But no matter what reasons he attached to it.

'It means I don't want to fucking die.'

There was no way dying could be enjoyable.

And he had to die at the hands of that perverted bastard who enjoyed his opponent's pain.

If he could end it, he would end it. As soon as he realized he was trapped in one day, Encrid had resolved to do just that.

And.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The one hundred and twenty-fifth morning dawned.

* * *

Getting up from his spot, Encrid immediately picked up Rem's shoes and shook them out.

"What are you doing? Those are mine."

"I know, they stink. If you threw them at the enemy like this, your foot odor would take out fifty of them."

"Seeing you acting like a shithead from the morning, did you have a good dream or something?"

PLOP.

A bug fell out of Rem's boot. Encrid crushed the fallen bug with his foot.

"I saw it crawl in this morning."

"... Well, thanks."

Rem chuckled and put his boots back on properly.

Leaving Rem behind, Encrid pulled back the tent flap and stepped outside.

Because dawn had just broken, a sight mixing the blue of early morning and the yellow of the sunlight could be seen.

The hastily moving final shift of the night watch was busy striking a pot.

The soldiers who had just woken up would rub their eyes and express their irritation, or wordlessly go about their tasks.

"Fuck, stop banging. My head's gonna split open."

"That's what you get for drinking yourself to sleep yesterday."

It was the barracks in the back.

"Will you shut up? If we get caught drinking, it's disciplinary action."

"Bullshit."

It was a conversation between the final night watchman and an ally who had drunk heavily the day before.

Listening to that, Encrid subtly turned his head back and looked at the face of the soldier who had drunk the alcohol.

He was a Commander of Ten from another unit, as well as a Squad Leader. And that bastard had a good mother.

On the sixty-sixth day, in order to remember that day, he had struck up a conversation with that guy and pretended to be friendly for no reason.

"Aren't you on morning duty?"

"You do it."

While he was checking the rear like that, Encrid suddenly spoke to Rem, who had followed behind him.

"Why should I?"

"You could do it just this once. I've covered for you more than five times."

"You were petty enough to count that?"

"Yeah, only yours."

"Why only mine."

"Because you're annoying."

For one hundred and twenty-five times, he couldn't leave a single scratch on that bastard Rem's body.

He didn't resent him for it, though. If anything, the only feeling left was gratitude.

Anyway, Rem would do it.

Leaving the morning duty to Rem was the pattern with the highest survival rate out of the countless repeating todays, allowing him to start the day in top condition.

"Got it. Fuck, I'll do it then."

As he roughly moved his body to generate heat, he no longer shivered in the chilly morning air.

Even while twisting his body this way and that, Encrid did not leave the front of the barracks.

One by one, the squad members stepped outside.

The first was Jaxon. He was one of the more diligent squad members. Making eye contact, Jaxon gave a nod of greeting.

Encrid roughly nodded back.

It was after a few more had streamed out one by one.

Encrid caught hold of the squad member who came out last, his eyes half-closed.

"Big-eyes."

"Hm?"

Nickname Big-eyes, real name Krais Allman.

He was a squad member with pretty-boy looks.

And despite being a group of screw-ups with exceptional combat power, he was the only member of Squad 444 who possessed below-average skills.

To be more precise, he was a guy who would get thoroughly beaten up even if he fought Encrid.

"Yawn, what is it so early in the morning? Waking up early is torture for a highly skilled worker like me."

Krais said, opening his mouth so wide it could tear.

Even without picking the sleep from his eyes or washing his face, it was quite a decent-looking face.

It was the kind of appearance that guys interested in men would covet.

"Get me a few items."

At Encrid's words, Krais tilted his head.

Since he normally wasn't the type to make such requests, it brought up a question.

"Did you pick up smoking? Or alcohol? Women are a no-go. Even I can't bring them in at a time like this."

Krais was the black market dealer within the unit who could get his hands on anything.

"Do I look like I'd ask for women?"

"No. Then what do you need?"

"Five throwing knives, oiled leather and a large needle, deerskin gloves, and lastly about ten white horse flowers and a handful of alum."

When Encrid mentioned the leather, he roughly estimated the size with his hands.

It was large enough to wrap around an adult male's torso.

"... This is full of things that I have no idea what you're going to do with?"

"So you can't get it?"

Krais looked at Encrid for a moment, then nodded.

"There's nothing I can't get. But even if you are the Squad Leader, it won't be free. You know that, right?"

"How much?"

"You'll have to give me seventeen silver coins."

He was a con artist.

Five throwing knives could be bought for one or two silver coins at the smithy.

Of course, if iron prices skyrocketed, it could exceed three coins, but that was generally the case.

Furthermore, what Krais would bring wouldn't even be made of pure steel. Still, he would at least bring usable knives.

As for high-quality leather, they say the seller calls the price, but it wasn't like he was bringing leather meant for a famous workshop.

The only things that would actually cost money here were the needle and the deerskin gloves.

Those definitely required at least three silver coins, no matter how little you gave.

As for the white horse flowers, you could get them for a few pennies if you went to the village.

Alum could also be obtained without spending much money if there was a leather workshop nearby.

Encrid had a good eye for these kinds of things, but he didn't argue.

First of all, they were inside a military base, meaning it would be hard to get these items without Krais.

The second reason was the vague price of seventeen coins, rather than a neat round number.

Because that was probably the proper value that Krais had decided on.

There was also another reason.

"I can get it right after eating breakfast, right?"

"You know that implies I have to skip breakfast, right?"

"You never ate it properly anyway."

"Hmph, that's true. But um, as far as I know, you don't have enough of this, Squad Leader?"

Krais rolled his thumb and index finger to form a circle.

"I don't have it right now."

He did save his salary sometimes, but recently he had spent it all getting a new sword.

Right now, he was indeed penniless.

He would get paid after the battle ended, but asking for it now would get him treated like a deserter.

"Tsk, this puts me in a tough spot."

At Krais's words, Encrid smiled.

It was the relaxed attitude that only someone who had a solid backup plan could show.

"Just lend me five copper coins."

Krais usually didn't trust people easily.

But if that person was Encrid, it was a slightly different story.

'Because he's the Squad Leader.'

The Encrid he had seen up until now wasn't someone to do anything foolish.

Above all, wasn't he the person who saved his life?

Krais took out five copper coins and handed them over.

Encrid rolled the jingling coins in his hand and headed to the barracks right next door.

Going inside, he saw guys who had set up a game early in the morning.

It was a dice game gathered by the final night watchman and three or four guys who preferred gambling over morning sleep.

The surprised eyes that looked at Encrid soon verified his face and expressed questioning looks.

"What's this? If it isn't the esteemed Squad Leader of Squad 444."

"You guys are working hard this early in the morning."

Seeing that, Krais marvelled. He hated gambling. He hated getting caught by a con artist and completely robbed, but even if that weren't the case, he hated the very idea of leaving hard-earned money to luck to either multiply or lose it.

Multiplying it was nice, but once you tasted that, you'd get addicted to gambling.

If you lost, the coin pouch in your hand would vanish in vain.

To Krais, gambling was a game played by half-wits.

And Encrid joined such a setting.

"Can I join in?"

"Here?"

It was the final night watchman from the next barracks.

He rolled his eyes around, glanced at his fellow gamblers, and soon nodded his head.

"Sure."

A sucker was welcome anywhere.

As Encrid went in and was about to crouch down, Krais grabbed his collar.

"You're going to throw away my five copper coins here?"

Although they had sleep in them, clear and large eyes looked at Encrid.

'He must have made quite a few women cry.'

Thinking that, Encrid grabbed Krais's wrist and pushed it away.

"Since I borrowed it, it's my money now."

Saying so, Encrid finally took a seat.

The gathered gamblers shifted their asses to make more room.

"Do you know how to play dice?"

The soldier rolling dice carved from pig bones in a wooden cup asked.

"If the same numbers come up, it's double. If you bet on a low or high number, you get what you bet. Right?"

He had only seen it over people's shoulders in passing, but he had seen it one hundred and twenty-five times.

There was no way he couldn't know it.

There were three dice in total.

The sum was 18.

Therefore, you just had to call a number higher or lower than 9.

The guy sitting in the middle was the dealer.

He was the one rolling the dice, and the rest were the ones betting.

"Let's go for the first round then."

It was a quick game to enjoy right before breakfast was prepared.

The stakes weren't high.

A minimum of five copper coins, a maximum of two silver coins.

Encrid bet five copper coins.

"Low number."

"High number."

"Low number."

"High number."

"Low number."

In less than ten minutes, two silver coins were clutched in Encrid's hand.

The beauty of the dice game was its speed.

It was truly a game played for the fun of rapidly raking it in within a short amount of time.

They did just that.

At first, Encrid memorized the numbers that came out for fun.

Would the dice really roll the same numbers every day?

Even though it was a repeating today, the things that happened around him often changed subtly.

So he knew.

The results of the dice were always the same.

"Looks like the goddess of fortune didn't just drop a coin, but planted a kiss on you before leaving."

When the silver coins in Encrid's hand exceeded ten, the soldier acting as the dealer spoke.

"Isn't he cheating?"

The dealer had said what another soldier right next to him was originally supposed to say.

"What cheating, I'm just a bit lucky today. It feels like the goddess is whispering in my ear."

Encrid brushed off their suspicious glares nonchalantly.

They couldn't argue with it, either.

The one rolling the dice was the dealer.

Even if it was rigged, this was a bit too much.

Furthermore, from the middle onwards, they had covertly bet on the same side as Encrid and gained some profit.

"What do you mean cheating, it's your wrists rolling the dice."

"I was wondering if he was casting some fucking spell."

"Yeah, right."

"On other days, even when you won like crazy, you kept going, right? No stopping just because your luck goes bad."

The soldier who had touched some money thanks to Encrid giggled.

The dealer said he understood, rolled a few more rounds, and then spoke.

"Let's make this the last round. We're out of time."

Before they knew it, breakfast time was approaching.

Encrid rolled the ten silver coins in his hand.

He had started with five copper coins and it had come to this.

It was entirely the money of the soldier who acted as the dealer.

"It was fun. Since it's the last round, will you take a bet of ten coins? I want to dump it all and leave."

The maximum betting amount was originally five silver coins.

At those words, the dealer furrowed his brow. Looking at his hit rate today, there was no reason to accept it.

"Then I'll bet on matching numbers and leave."

Encrid continued before the opponent could answer.

What were the chances of three dice rolling the same number?

Even the soldier rolling the dice had rarely seen it in his entire life.

And even then, he had never seen it in an actual game.

Seeing it while playing around by himself was all.

Therefore, just as he said, Encrid was treating it as a joke, meaning he was going to spit out all the silver coins he had earned before leaving. At least, that was how it sounded to his ears.

POKE.

From behind, Krais poked Encrid's back.

Krais mouthed the words.

'Are you crazy?'

No, not at all.

Encrid wasn't crazy.

"Ten silver coins on matching numbers."

"... Alright."

RATTLE-RATTLE-RATTLE!

The soldier swirled the dice and slammed them loudly on the floor.

It was to prevent any mishaps that might occur from rolling them too softly.

"Let's see."