𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 (6)

“The outer castle is easy to enter, but the inner castle is not for anyone to enter, the defense captain. . . no. Excuse me. Your Excellency.”

The second one who was about to speak paused again.

No matter how much he thought about it, it was too strange. If it’s Count Yeats, he can proudly hold the family flag and stand in front of the outer castle and call people, why is he trying to sneak in?

“Please tell me the reason.”

“Hmm.”

Johan felt troubled. He felt a little sorry for the second and third ones who were scared and trembling but strongly resisting.

But it was also ambiguous to explain. The reason was purely dependent on Johan’s intuition and experience.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐈 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞?!

. . .It was bound to be like this. Johan said what came to mind.

“Actually, I had a dream last night. In that dream, I heard the words of a prophet with a holy symbol.”

“!”

‘𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦?’

Even after saying it, he regretted a little thinking ‘𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩?’, but the second and third ones were listening with a devout attitude, even making a cross.

Johan, who was speaking, was embarrassed to the point. They believe so easily. . .

“Oh. . .”

‘. . .𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. . .’

When the escorts next to him also fell for it, Johan was dumbfounded. Isn’t this naive?

But there was no choice. The religious authority that Johan had was much stronger than Johan thought.

The church claimed, and his own words and actions were there, but above all, Johan’s journey proved that faith.

If a knight who wins like that is not loved by God, then who is the loved one?

Of course, from the church’s point of view, ‘𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴. . .’ such words would naturally come out, but among ordinary nobles and knights, there was no choice.

Honor and custom inevitably influenced faith in the world.

“What, what did the prophet say?”

“The ones who came to the Viscount’s castle are trying to harm the Viscount. He asked me to stop it as an honorable knight.”

“Indeed. . .! Your Excellency. I’m sorry! How dare I doubt that!”

“. . . . . .”

Although the persuasion was successful, Johan felt a sense of frustration for some reason.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

As befitting a castle built during the days of the Old Empire, Carquilano Viscount’s castle was massive and sturdy. Just the area between the outer and inner wall was considerable.  

Naturally, the inner wall is where the viscount and his vassals resided. While the gates of the outer wall were easy to pass through, the inner wall was not. Cooperation from someone familiar with this castle was necessary.

“I know a garrison captain here. I’ll send someone to get him to open the gates of the inner wall.”

“Excellent. Some will disguise themselves as laborers, others as merchants.”

“. . .Uh, will we be doing that too?”  

“I see. Are you two going to proudly enter through the gates and declare you are the viscount’s kin?”

“. . .Y-Yes, we will.”

The second and third sons had anxious expressions as they changed into clothes and roughly applied makeup to their faces. The mercenaries seemed well accustomed to this.  

“We’ll hide the weapons inside the wagons.”

“Do not draw your weapons until I give the signal. Things may get complicated if you draw them prematurely.”

The worst case would be if the other party genuinely came as envoys and Johan came charging in wielding his sword.  

To the viscount, Johan would look insane. To suddenly return and cut down envoys then run amok. . .

To prevent that, they first had to wait and confirm the other party’s purpose, then make their move when the opponents revealed their true colors.

‘𝘏𝘮𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘺𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.’   

Did he make a mistake in telling them about his dream?

“Sir.”

“Why don’t they just raise a flag?”

“Uhm, I’m sorry, Captain. Aren’t those guys mercenaries?”

The city gates were not always opened to armed men who claimed to be envoys. Especially in this chaotic situation, it was even more so for secret envoys.

First, they had to submit a certificate and permit, and then present a token proving their envoy status. After that, they would be called in after being confirmed inside.

“Why do they seem to be wandering around separately?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They’ve been traveling for a long time, and their bodies are burning up. How can they just sit still? Look at them. Don’t they look like they’re looking for a beer and a gamble?”

“That’s good. Bring them here.”

“Yes.”

Geoffrey and relatively harmless-looking guards approached the other side, pretending to be merchants. The other side was overjoyed when they lost a little silver in a game of dice.

“Oh, it’s already this late. I need to go.”

“Going? Going where? Play a bit more before you go!”

“Oh my. My master will get angry if I stay out. . . How about this then? Since I only need to go back and report, wait here for a bit outside.”

“Is that alright? Shall we do that then?”

The opponents naively followed them out. After turning a corner into an alley, Johan and his subordinates appeared from both sides. Their intimidating act resembled city gangsters.   

The mercenaries scoffed as if they couldn’t believe it. If they got scared of petty gangsters wandering the city, they wouldn’t have survived on the battlefield.  

“What the hell, this son of a b*tch, trying to pull something because he lost some dice?”

“Looks like you took us lightly. We’re mercenaries who fought over ten battles on the battlefield. Don’t even think of pulling out your dagger-sized knife, just put your hands up ni. . .Guh”

Rather than answering, Johan swung his club at their torsos. The men let out a “Guh” as they collapsed.  

“Move them over there. I’ll have to thank that garrison captain later.”

Having an empty warehouse lent for their use made things several times easier. Johan began interrogating the mercenaries. Karamaf stuck their heads between his thighs. As the mercenaries’ crotches grew damp, their mouths promptly opened up.  

“Any. . .anything! I’ll tell you anything!”

“Good to see you catch on quickly. As expected of mercenaries who fought over ten battles.” 

As Johan smiled satisfactorily, the viscount’s third child took out paper and a pen, seeming intent on recording the mercenaries’ testimonies.   

“Oh. Smart move. Hm Ginolen. . .”

“Ardolata. I am Ardolata, Your Excellency.”  

“I see. I’ll remember that name.”

Johan expected the mercenaries would make up some story for him. Even trivial words could be exaggerated several fold.   

“It was the baron! The baron plotted all this! I have nothing to do with it!”

“Tell me in more detail. What is this baron trying to do?”

However, things went more simply than Johan anticipated. Baron Gartner was a more violent and quick-tempered warrior than Sir Karamaf. He constantly blabbered to his subordinates about what he wanted.  

Ardolata’s hands shook as she wrote. She couldn’t help but rage at the gall of some lowly outsider to ignore and trample on her House’s contributions. 

“I see. Did Baron Gartner also pillage around here?”

“Huh? No, he didn’t.”  

“Karamaf. He seems quite comfortable. Put some strength into those teeth.”

“Ah! No, no! He did! Now that I think about it, he did!”  

“There were some burnt down buildings around. Did the baron do that too?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“. . . . . .”

The guards beside Johan had very awkward expressions. Weren’t those things done by Johan’s men running amok after he collapsed?

“Got everything written down? This should be good enough. Let us go see His Excellency.” 

“. . .Sir Count.”  

“?”

“The viscount is still recovering right now, so Aola-gong is acting as regent. And Aola-gong. . .”

“She won’t readily believe me?”

“. . . . . .”  

Ardolata hesitated before nodding her head. Despite her young age, Johan found her conduct quite unique and refreshing.   

“What do you think?”

“I. . . I don’t really know.”

He seemed even more trustworthy than the second son. Johan decided to listen to the advice of this young noble.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Ah sh*t. . .”

Jyanina muttered curses as she prepared the medicine. The gazes of the servants watching her like hawks were uneasy.  

In such a guarded state, it was difficult to persuade them with charm.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭?

━𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬?  

━𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬?

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬. . .

━𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲’𝐬 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐦. . .

━ . . . . . .

As a wizard, there were times when things like this happened. When forced to do something completely beyond one’s ability.  

A wizard had to be skilled at slipping away cleverly at times like this. Although Jyanina had slipped away cleverly many times before, this time the situation was terribly tangled.

There was nothing she could do in this state of bound hands and feet. And this was completely foreign territory at that.  

‘𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩? 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩? 𝘈𝘩. . .𝘴𝘩*𝘵. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺. . .’

While she knew how to control monsters and use their power, healing a fallen elderly man was not a mysticism she explored.

For now, she was using medicine with no effect to buy time, but soon if she didn’t show some results. . .

“I wondered, so you are a wizard after all. What are you doing?”

“. . .Kek!”

Jyanina tried to scream. Or rather, she tried before Johan landed a blow to her throat.  

She was unable to breathe, choking and gagging.

“Ah. My apologies.”  

“Cough. . .cough. . . yo. . .ba. . .”

Johan waited until Jyanina calmed down. It seemed her anger was also under control once her voice returned.

“How did you get in here?!”

“I came to see the viscount, and happened to see a familiar face in the adjacent room.”

“. . .Your Excellency! Please help me!”  

Jyanina grabbed Johan’s hand.

When she left Johan’s side, she had walked away with her middle finger raised, cursing ‘𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶! 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯!’ Yet upon entering the viscount’s side, Johan’s suddenly seemed preferable.  

“How can I help you?”

“These sons of b*tches are trying to kill me!”

“How so His Majesty’s loyal subject?”  

“That’s what I’m saying, they’re empty-headed fools! They don’t even know who I am and are daring to threaten me!”

Jyanina clung to Johan and poured out her story. Johan had to hold back his laughter as he listened. Was this not the misunderstanding wizards often suffered, as Suetlg had told him many times?

“The wizard I know could revive injured people. Why can’t you?”

“. . . . . .”  

Jyanina moved to curse but stopped upon seeing Johan’s fist. It looked plenty capable of crushing her neck.

“It’s good fortune I came. My purpose in coming here is similar.”

“?”  

“Follow me. I’m going to see the viscount.”

“Where did the servants go?”

“Ah. . .don’t worry, they’re not dead.”  

“I wasn’t worried at all.”

“How very wizard-like.”  

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺?’

Ardolata had said it would be best to speak directly with the viscount rather than Aola-gong, who lacked experience. The viscount could make a much cooler judgement than young Aola, she said.  

Johan took her advice.

While Johan had been outside and did not know the precise condition of the Viscount, he seemed capable of at least holding a conversation. That was enough.

“. . .?”  

The reclining Viscount showed surprise at the sudden guest, blinking his eyes.

‘𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬?’

Johan picked up a nearby silver cup and discreetly poured some water that had been blessed with an assassin’s movements. He didn’t necessarily have to hide it, but there was no need to explicitly say anything either.   

Johan offered a simple prayer and made the sign of the cross over the cup before raising it to the viscount’s mouth to drink. Jyanina was exasperated.  

“No. . .Count, Count doing that won’t work even if you were a bishop. . .”

As Jyanina spoke, she flinched. The viscount’s finger had twitched.