“The Viscount is very wise and experienced. He has ruled the fiefdom on behalf of His Majesty for a long time.”

Emperor Cardirian was old, but Viscount Ginolen was just as old. That meant he had ruled for just as long. For that long, even a steward would seem like the feudal lord to the serfs.  

Johan asked various questions, digging for information on Viscount Ginolen.

The intel from the Republic was useful, but information was best gathered from multiple sources. And the intel from nobles on the Emperor’s side offered another perspective. . .

“By the way, why does His Excellency ask about the Viscount? Does he perhaps plan to pay him a visit?”

Sir Padovesi jokingly suggested a visit. That he could joke around while being held hostage showed his respect and goodwill towards Johan. Any knight would feel that way after witnessing that hunt.

“Yes. I plan to visit him when I release you knights.”  

“???!”

Sir Padovesi doubted his ears.  

“A, a vi. . .sit. . . did you say?”

“Yes. The Viscount was worried enough about me to send his knights, so it would be rude not to visit him in return.”

“No, he didn’t send us because he was worried, but because of ties between the city and his household. . .”

“Either way, you came to help me, no? It wasn’t for some other reason, was it?”

“. . .No, but.”

“Then I’ll go visit him.”

“Oh, yes. . .”

The knights wondered why on earth Johan would do that. Of course nobles visiting each other was common. It was customary and an honorable duty.  

But that was between houses with ties to each other. Right now Johan was in no position to visit the Viscount’s fiefdom. Politically they were in sharp opposition! 

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦?’

‘𝘐𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰. . . 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴?’

Visiting enemy territory was crazy. Of course the Viscount wouldn’t attack a guest, but it was still incredibly risky.  

No matter how they thought about it, it seemed reckless.

“Then I’ll pass on the message.”

“Please do. I’ll be visiting the Viscount’s fiefdom with you knights, so I’m relying on you to guide me.”  

“It will be our honor.”

After the knights left, Johan gave orders to the mercenaries.

“Capture and imprison the servant the knights sent. Also send men to Jekyllid Castle to gather all the mercenaries.”

“Yes sir!”

Johan imprisoned the knights’ servant so the Viscount wouldn’t realize what Johan was up to and prepare countermeasures.  

Seeing what comes next, he’ll surely freak out and try to prepare!

Of course Johan planned to visit the Emperor’s fiefdom as a guest. But his company would be a bit different from what the knights imagined.  

Johan would visit with thousands of mercenary troops as his escort.

‘𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺?’

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Hmm. Let me think about this.”  

“Please go ahead.”

“To uphold a knight’s honor, right?”

“Indeed, isn’t that so? I thought the same.”

“. . .???”

Jyanina, who was listening nearby, tilted her head. She didn’t understand the knights’ conversation.  

Something. . .something is strange?

“Did he say the count is visiting as a guest?”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t that odd?”

“That’s why I said so. Because of a knight’s honor.”

“But that’s. . .”

Jyanina felt a chill down her spine as she was about to speak. The servants and slaves around her were staring at Jyanina.  

The knights didn’t notice, but Jyanina was very sensitive to such things.  

‘𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦!’

They must be monitoring the conversation on the count’s orders. If she acted obliviously in this situation and offended the count’s feelings. . .

The consequences could be dozens of times worse than being tied up and doused in filth. Jyanina’s face turned pale.

“. . .You’re right. A knight should naturally do that.”

“What? A wizard doesn’t understand a knight’s honor? Haha!” 

“Isn’t this interesting?”

The knights burst into laughter at Jyanina’s words. They didn’t dislike Jyanina. In fact, Jyanina had won the knights’ favor from working under the Emperor.  

However, that didn’t make their perceptions of wizards disappear. They liked her, but she was still a wizard, far removed from the honorable ones.

‘𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴.’  

Jyanina heaved a deep sigh. She wanted to leave this city and set foot on the peninsula as soon as possible.

The scenery was beautiful, the food and drinks tasty, but mentally, it was too exhausting.  

I’d rather listen to the Emperor’s nagging. . .

As soon as my work here is done, I’ll flee to the Emperor’s court without looking back.

“Wizard. His Excellency is calling for you. Come out.”

Jyanina knocked over the glass she was holding. The oblivious knights next to her made her even more irritated.

“Oh. Jyanina-gong is so lucky. It’s frustrating that His Excellency calls for a wizard rather than a knight.”

“He probably wants advice or a divination. Things we can’t do, right?”

Jyanina was about to curse but held back and got up. She muttered under her breath.  

“F**k. . .”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

𝘢𝐰𝚎𝘣𝐬ᴛ𝕠𝐫ɪ𝚎𝐬.ċ̇𝔬𝐦

“I presume. . . they’ve been captured.”  

“. . . . . .”

Gloom hung in the viscount’s court. If the intelligence from the city was correct, the knights he had sent were certainly captured.  

And it just had to coincide with the count’s visit to the city.  

“Let’s protest to the city! Seize the property of merchants from the city in our fiefdom. . .”

“Stop it. That won’t help at all.”   

If they arrested the fiefdom’s merchants now, there would only be retaliation. Reduced income meant losses for the viscount too. They couldn’t cause unnecessary commotion.

“Then what should we do?”

“We have to do what we can. Hire more mercenaries and expand the fiefdom’s borders. The new count enjoys lightning-fast raids. If we get hit later, there will be nothing but regret.”

They knew all too well how Count Yeats would sweep through the south with lightning speed that stunned onlookers.  

“The current mercenaries are asking to be paid their overdue wages, but. . .”

“Go to the temple and ask for their cooperation.”  

The temple had a lot of silver items. A place they could reach out to when in urgent need of money. The problem was dealing with the aftermath. . .

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦.’