How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 68

𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 (𝟓)

“Do not attack!”

Suetlg urgently exclaimed upon seeing the Death Knight speak. Fortunately, it seemed this undead was not one to attack just anyone. He clearly had a specific purpose.

‘𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. . .!’

━𝐘𝐨𝐮. . . 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟-𝐧𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐬?

“…!”

Johan realized the situation had become complicated.

A townsman could have sincerely answered, ‘𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.’

But what about Johan?

He instinctively felt it. This Death Knight would detect a lie.

Johan sighed deeply and picked up his mace and shield.

“If you’re a knight, figure it out with your strength.”

━𝐘𝐨𝐮! 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟-𝐧𝐢𝐦! 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞!

“What are you doing?!”

Suetlg exclaimed in shock. Even with boiling blood, it was audacious to pick a fight with a Death Knight!

“Is there anything to be cautious about when dealing with him?”

“Do not touch his weapon! The necromantic poison is so potent it rots flesh and crumbles bones!”

The Death Knight lunged, his swordsmanship from life ingrained in his movements.

𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠!

The rusted longsword clashed with the shield. Despite being damaged, the weapon exerted immense pressure. A black trace, writhing as if alive, etched itself onto the shield amidst the hissing sound.

“!”

Johan’s shield was no ordinary one. Although a heater shield in shape, its material was unique.

Johan’s shield was made by melting metal in its entirety.

It was rare to use solid metal for shields. Thick wood was sufficient for defense, and metal made them too heavy. No matter how sturdy, if the bearer tired quickly, it was pointless.

But for Johan, such weight was insignificant. That’s why he chose a metal shield when receiving one from Count Jarpen.

That choice was now saving his life.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴.’

The Death Knight attacked relentlessly. If he were alive, he would have stopped for breath and fatigue, but the undead knight had no such limitations. The onslaught continued.

But a single counterattack was enough.

Blocking with his shield and gathering strength, Johan fiercely targeted the knight’s flank. The mace struck like a battering ram.

𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡!

With a terrifying sound, the knight was flung aside.

“Are you alright?!”

“Are you addressing me, or him?”

“Obviously you!”

“I’m fine.”

Though the shield’s surface was ruined, it remained intact. Unfortunately, it seemed the Death Knight was similarly undeterred. Any normal person would have been shattered, yet he attempted to rise again.

“What does Karamaf have to do with you?”

━𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟-𝐧𝐢𝐦. . . 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞.

“Who are you?”

━𝐈 𝐚𝐦. . . 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥.

“Your family name?”

━𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫.

As they conversed, the Death Knight stood and armed himself. Suetlg shouted to the knight.

“The dead should return to the realm of the dead. What lingering attachment do you have to torment the living?”

━𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟-𝐧𝐢𝐦.

“I swear on the Ipaël River, I do not know his whereabouts!”

━𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨. . . 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

Instead of answering, Johan returned the mace. The Death Knight was struck and flew backwards again.

Suetlg exclaimed in astonishment.

“What are you doing?! It’s not enough to unleash his stupidity!”

“Suetlg-nim.”

“?”

“Karamaf has been dead for a long time.”

“. . .That sword was Karamaf’s sword?! No wonder. . .”

“Did you know?!”

“No. I just suspected it.”

The sword Johan had drawn was unmistakably not an ordinary one. The strong magic emanating from the metal seemed to be unique.

Danus Steel Sword!

For a wandering knight to possess a famous sword dating back to the ancient Empire era. . .

Initially, it seemed like an inheritance, but upon further thought, that was implausible. It was not a sword to be secretly passed down within a humble family.

Either found in a ruin by chance, or acquired from someone.

And that someone was Karamaf. Honestly, even Suetlg was surprised.

Karamaf, known for wearing a full plate armor made by dwarves, was hard to injure on the battlefield. . .

How was he defeated?

“Suetlg-nim, how do you think he will react if we tell him the truth?”

“. . .I thought he would just pass by if you said you didn’t know. . . but now, even I am not sure.”

Purpose-driven undead often ignore those unrelated to their objectives.

The town’s people were unharmed probably because they knew nothing about Karamaf.

But Johan, the one who defeated Karamaf, how would the opponent react?

━𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟-𝐧𝐢𝐦. . .

“I killed Karamaf. It was a fair duel.”

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞. . . 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟-𝐧𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬!

Johan drew the Seal Retriever. The blade flickered seductively, absorbing the faint moonlight. The knight halted in its light.

“Karamaf was defeated by me, and his sword is now mine. There’s no reason for you to remain. Stand down!”

The figure of the knight flickered, then began to fade and lose form.

The voice vanished, the glow in the eyes disappeared, and eventually, it turned into black smoke, melting into the darkness.

“. . .Is it over?”

“You, surprisingly, might have a talent for magic.”

Suetlg muttered in astonishment.

Magic wasn’t about forcibly knocking down with strength, but about making the opponent retreat with the power contained in words.

In Johan’s current form, glimpses of such magic could be seen.

“What? Are you saying that because of how I wield the mace?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I thought defeating the Death Knight with a regular mace was magical. . .”

“. . .That’s indeed remarkable but not magic! Just like you don’t call launching stones with a catapult magic. . .”

Suetlg began to get slightly confused in his explanation.

Johan’s strength, in fact, was somewhat magical.

“I meant the power of words you used to defeat the death knight. Without strong intent, undead can’t be defeated by words alone.”

‘𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. . .’

Johan thought so but didn’t say it to Suetlg, not wanting to be ridiculed for ignorance.

“Can I learn magic too?”

“. . .Please don’t ask other wizards so casually as if it’s as easy as learning archery. You never know what offense it might cause.”

“I’m just speaking comfortably with Suetlg-nim.”

“You need to ask more challenging questions. . . you might be able to learn magic. But that doesn’t mean it’s not impossible, nor does it mean you can use magic.”

“?”

“First of all, you’re not particularly interested in mysteries.”

Suetlg carefully scraped off the black powder left in the spot where the Death Knight was and put it in his pocket.

It seemed to be an important enough task to do himself rather than having a slave do it.

“You should have brought your slave with you.”

“Are you talking about Geoffrey?”

“He’s meticulous and smart. Those are virtues my slaves don’t exhibit.”

Thanks to taking care of Suetlg during Johan’s absence, the wizard had come to think highly of Geoffrey.

As a merchant who had traveled far and wide, he was adept in such matters.

“Back to the topic of magic, if you want to wield it, you need to be interested in some mystery and unravel its secrets. Like I did with the secret of the Ipaël River. I can’t explain it even if I want to. Even if I did, you wouldn’t understand. When I was young, I spent months with my master just observing the surface of the Ipaël River.

During the day, I immersed myself in the river, and at night, I watched the moonlight on its surface. Then, the river began to whisper to me. Do you think you can do the same?”

Johan shook his head.

It made sense why Suetlg had scoffed at the idea of a knight learning magic.

A knight chases honor and desire, not the hidden mysteries of the world.

“But don’t give up too easily. You might find yourself interested in some mystery someday.”

“There’s no mystery in swordsmanship or archery. . .”

“Enough of the nonsense. Let’s go inside. They’ll be suspicious.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸      

Johan and Suetlg pondered how to deal with the incident that happened at night.

━𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝. 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

━𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝?

━𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

━?

━𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤.

━𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤?

━𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲?

It was a valid point.

Johan decided to take a direct approach.

“Lord, last night I saw a Death Knight roaming your fiefdom.”

“. . . . . .”

The feudal lord appeared perplexed by the words brought up by Johan and Suetlg, who came alone.

“I, what do you mean by that, I. . .”

“A wandering undead in the town can cause harm at any moment. It might seem tame now, but it could turn violent the next day. To hide such information while an undead lurks in the town. . . Aren’t you ashamed of your honor?”

Suetlg’s reprimand darkened the feudal lord’s face. He spoke with a heavy heart.

“As a feudal lord, I have no intention of shirking my responsibility. I will deal with it somehow.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have already defeated it.”

“. . .!!”

Upon hearing Johan’s words, the feudal lord was speechless and stared at Johan. Suetlg added firmly.

“I saw it with my own eyes. It’s gone.”

“How?”

“With the valor of a knight and a bit of magic.”

At Suetlg’s signal, Johan put down his shield. It bore the marks of dark resentment, clearly signs of a battle with the Death Knight.

“This knight had to risk his life due to your concealment of the truth. He deserves to know the truth. Please tell us, why was this death knight wandering around here?”

Suetlg’s forceful voice stirred the feudal lord’s heart.

The sweating dwarf pondered for a long time before speaking.

“. . .That knight was slain by me.”

“!”

Johan and Suetlg were both surprised by the unexpected confession.

After Karamaf went missing, the Emperor commanded the knights through letters to search for Karamaf.

Sir Gairendel was one of them.

He moved hastily, taking only a few subordinates, and during this, he visited the fiefdom of the Balpa family.

However, the Balpa family held a blood feud against the Emperor.

If it were Johan, he would have prepared to flee without even eating a meal the moment he knew, but Gairendel was different.

He requested hospitality as a guest, and from the moment the feudal lord accepted, Gairendel thought the lord would protect him according to tradition, regardless of any grudge.

Of course, there are always those who break traditions. That was the feudal lord of the Balpa family. He poisoned the food and drink, killing Sir Gairendel and his subordinates.

“You’ve done a terrible thing. To break such a tradition.”

“I know too. . . I know as well. But. . . seeing that guy, daring to praise the Emperor and Karamaf with his insolent mouth. . .”

The feudal lord bowed his head in silence. Having spilled the truth, it was an attitude of resigned acceptance.

Suetlg nudged Johan.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐮𝐩?

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.

━𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐒𝐮𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐠-𝐧𝐢𝐦, 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦?

━𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐳𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐭.

‘𝘏𝘮𝘮.’

Indeed, they couldn’t just leave the feudal lord like this. Johan organized his thoughts and then spoke.

“I will pretend I didn’t see it.”

“. . .??!!”

The feudal lord suddenly raised his head. The words from the young knight in front of him were unexpectedly surprising.

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