How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Marquis Crucho should have been the one to respond, but at the moment, Marquis Crucho was too busy defending his own territory to help his vassals.

In the meantime, rumors spread that Johan was gathering his vassals and preparing an army. The vassals of Marquis Crucho who had suffered the most began to waver.

━𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲?

━𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐬?

Johan’s first act after becoming count was to break his oath of vassalage to the Emperor. It was then that the nobles, who had not yet understood the situation, finally realized Johan’s true identity.

The vanguard of the church faction!

It was clear that he had made a deal with the church to receive support in exchange for suppressing the Emperor faction. It would be as absurd to ask for help from such a count as it would be to ask for help from the republican b*stards.

However, when people are desperate, they start to think what they want to think. As the confusion deepened, so did the rumors, and the vassals began to believe what they wanted to believe.

The church has always been at the forefront of fighting the pagans!

If we ask for help and the marquis becomes angry. . .

━𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬! 𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭!

Finally, the most urgent and desperate vassal sent an envoy first.

‘𝘏𝘮𝘮. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱.’

A vassal of the marquis actually requested to come to the fiefdom!

The baron would already know. As soon as he calls, he will have to break the vassal oath with the marquis and enter Johan’s service. Johan will not just leave if he has a head, right?

“Alright. I can’t just leave my brother in faith.”

“!”

“In the name of Yeats, I will prepare for the expedition. You go back to your master and tell him this!”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

The date by which the vassals must serve obligatorily was almost over. The lord had to seek their consent if he wanted to drag them into additional battles.

“. . .So we are going to fight the pagans, and is there anyone who does not want to fulfill this sacred duty?”

The vassals all enthusiastically agreed. They were also looking out for the new count’s eyes, but more importantly, they were so greedy for the rewards.

The West was a chaotic place where you could make a fortune just by going in. All sorts of b*stards were looting, and if they were defeated again, they could save the spoils intact.

Even though they were nobles, the vassals here were always in a tight spot. This income was a big welcome.

Nobles lost gold coins as they breathed. Even though the vassals here were not particularly luxurious, they spent more money than Johan. It was a natural custom as a noble.

Then, all they could do was either default on borrowed money, sell land, or find somewhere to make money.

“I am so glad that you all have such strong faith.”

At Johan’s words, the vassals laughed meaningfully. They all knew what they were expecting.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝙖𝘸𝙚ʙ𝘴𝚝𝚘𝙧𝙞𝔢𝔰.𝘤𝙤ᴍ

“Suetlg-nim. I ask you to act as the chief minister.”

“I’ll do it if you ask me to, but. . .”

Suetlg reluctantly accepted the position of proxy.

“There is no one else I can trust but Suetlg-nim.”

“I said I’ll do it, so you can stop buttering me up. I’m just worried because you won’t have a wizard to advise you.”

“But there’s Caenerna, isn’t there?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Suetlg had genuinely forgotten about Caenerna. He had not considered her an advisor. If Caenerna had heard, she would have been furious.

“Would you rather leave the elf of the Bluea family as a proxy? Do you still find it hard to believe?”

“It’s not that. She wants to go on the campaign herself.”

Iselia basically saw herself as a knight, not a feudal lord. She asked if she could participate in the campaign as if it were a matter of course.

Johan could have refused, but he didn’t. It wouldn’t hurt to grant Iselia’s request.

“I’ll leave Gerdolf and the elite behind.”

“And you?”

“The eastern warriors and dwarves are enough. Gerdolf is a stubborn knight like a bull, so he’ll be quite a help to Suetlg-nim.”

With the added strength of his vassals, Johan had a lot of room for his troops. He assigned the best of his mercenaries to protect Suetlg. Stephen and Bishop Biagione were not needed, so he left them in the fiefdom.

With the cheers of the priests, Johan’s army set out to the west.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝙖𝐰𝕖ḃ̇s𝐭ᴏ𝕣ɪ𝙚s.𝕔𝕠ṁ

To travel from the count of Coolia’s territory to the western part of the peninsula, one had to go around the mountain ranges in between. If one did not have to cross the mountains, there were three paths.

The northernmost path was too long, and the middle path led to the castle of the marquis. The path that was eventually chosen was the southern path. The path that ran along the coast of the southernmost part of the peninsula.

Baron Ginobansi was chosen to guide the way. He was the most knowledgeable of the vassals gathered here.

“This forest is famous for its forest trolls. . .”

“Let’s be careful and go around.”

“Won’t you catch them?”

“Why would we? We’re not out here hunting trolls.”

“C-Cough.”

Baron Ginobansi coughed. Of course, Johan was right. It was better to quickly achieve their goal without doing anything foolish, given that they had come out leading an army.

However, not all the formalities and customs of the world were judged by such rationality.

The army of a nobleman symbolized the authority and power of the nobleman. The act of hunting or holding a banquet during a march was also for that reason.

Johan, despite his reputation as a troll slayer, bypassed the forest without even glancing at it. It was a truly agile movement. The vassals followed him, panting, as he led them on a march that squeezed them to the limit.

‘𝘞𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵?’

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵?’

“Count.”

When the centaur approached Johan, several vassals looked at him with expectant eyes.

“The scouts reported that they saw ships on the side of the sea. They look like strange ships, so. . .”

“Do you think the pirates have come ashore nearby?”

This area was a good place for pirates to strike and flee. The coastline itself was well-structured for mooring ships.

“I suppose so, don’t you?”

“Do you suspect an ambush? I’ve checked all the places where an ambush could be set.”

“No, but it’s a bit strange that they’re not showing themselves. If they don’t know we’re coming, they’re ssholes.”

The answer came soon after. The scouts who had gone ahead began to report back.

“Your Excellency! On the other side of that hill, the pagans are fighting a horde of monsters!”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝚊ẇ̇𝔢𝙗𝘴𝐭𝔬𝐫𝙞ᴇ𝐬.𝐜𝕠𝕞

Monsters tend to move alone, especially the stronger ones. This is a blessing to people, because otherwise there would be many towns destroyed by monsters.

Despite this, the struggle against monsters is not an easy path. Monsters in the untamed lands constantly appear, and people have to fight them all the time.

And sometimes, monsters go crazy and explode their aggressiveness in groups.

-■■■■■! ■■■■■!

-■■! ■■!

At this very moment!

Hundreds of goblins and ghouls attacked fiercely. The pagan pirates were speechless at the shocking experience they had never experienced before.