How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 206

Those on the Run (5)

“What, not even going to throw anything?”

The giant was visibly disconcerted by Johan’s words. He fidgeted for a bit before reluctantly picking up his spear.  

He wanted to accuse the human of trickery. But he had no idea how the human could have tricked him.

The giant hurled his spear forcefully. It had decent momentum but failed to reach the cliffside, instead falling straight down.  

The mercenaries in the back whistled and jeered. The giant’s face flushed red with embarrassment.  

“Enough. Act with honor.”

At Johan’s words, the mercenaries immediately shut their mouths. Though he didn’t show it outright, the giant seemed very grateful. He appeared to have a weaker disposition than expected.

“I win, no?”  

“Yes. . .you win. Choose the next contest.”

The giant glared at Johan, determined to win no matter the contest.  

‘𝘏𝘮𝘮, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵.’

Johan fell deep in thought. He wanted to end this soon but wasn’t coming up with any good ideas.  

The only thing he was confident in was Go, but the giant likely wouldn’t suggest that. . .

“Propose a riddle.”

“A riddle?”

“Yes. Giants enjoy riddles so you’ll probably get this one easily.”

“Oh? Is that so?”  

Johan was intrigued to learn this new fact. Jyanina seemed to agree, nodding beside him.

“But are you confident you can win?”

“Humans. How many wizards are here? Can’t we beat one giant?”

When Suetlg said that, Johan decided to go along with it. When asked to compete in a riddle contest, the giant happily nodded with a smile.

Suetlg whispered with Jyanina and cleared his throat after aligning their story.  

“Now, listen. O being of a large ancient race. This monster is extremely vicious and nothing can escape its jaws. No hero has been able to defeat this monster, and no fortress or kingdom has been able to stop it. This monster is. . .”

“That’s it! Time!”

The giant shouted as if it were easy. Suetlg had a shocked expression. Jyanina was similarly startled.

“. . .you two?”

“Ah, can’t we guess it too?”

It was the first time in a while Johan had seen Suetlg make a mistake. He let out an empty laugh but nodded.

‘𝘏𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴?’

From the giant’s expression, it seemed so. The giant acted as if he was very happy to play like this now, regardless of the contest.

“In the morning it walks on four legs. . .” 

“Are you talking about a person?”

“. . . . . .”

The giant looked sadly at Johan. His woeful eyes made Johan feel guilty for answering so quickly without even hearing the full riddle.

“. . .your turn again.”

Having their turn come so swiftly, Suetlg and Jyanina apparently hadn’t prepared a riddle yet. They whispered to each other, unable to provide one immediately. The giant impatiently tapped the floor.  

“Can’t think of one?”

“Just this once, you try making one. We’ll need to look through some books first, it seems.”

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥?’

The wizards were quite shocked by the giant’s higher-than-expected skill. Johan clicked his tongue.

He wracked his brain for passable riddles he knew. The best he could come up with was. . .

“This burns like fire but is not fire. When you grow lazy, it cools; when you succeed, it burns bright. What is it?”

The giant struggled, unable to answer.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?’  

Johan was surprised by the unexpected reaction. He only suggested an easy riddle to buy time. . .

Behind him, Suetlg couldn’t restrain himself and whispered softly.

“What’s the answer?”

“There’s a chance he might overhear. . . I’ll tell you after this ends.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“I don’t know! You win. Tell me the answer.”

“I appreciate your honorable admission. The answer is blood.”  

The giant heaved a sigh. Suetlg also heaved a sigh. Jyanina also heaved a sigh. Johan looked back in disbelief. The two embarrassed wizards straightened their clothes.

The giant regretfully muttered. 

“Are you not thinking of making another bet? Bet on that other guy this time.”

“What are you thinking of betting?”

“I will bet on all the other guys.” 

The giant wanted to bet on all the remaining hostages, as he enjoyed the betting. 

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘮.’

Johan quickly finished his calculations. Suetlg said from the side.

“From listening to the knights’ words, there must be a court wizard. We need to secure him.”

While an individual knight wouldn’t fetch more than a ransom, a court wizard was a different story. He would know about the covert affairs and plans happening inside the emperor’s court.  

“Fine. I’ll take you up on that.”

“This time it’ll be a single round match.”

“Do as you wish. What’s the contest?”

“. . .”

The giant hesitated. He seemed about to speak but hesitated.   

“?”

“Grabbing and pushing each other down. . . The one who makes the other fall is the winner.”

In simple terms, he was suggesting something like wrestling or grappling. Unlike spears, this overwhelmingly favored the giant with his larger build. 

“What a shameless fellow!” 

“Did you leave your honor behind in your cave?!”

The giant himself also seemed to know this as he couldn’t respond to the mercenaries’ curses and just blushed. Johan thought to himself.

‘𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. . .’

From the spear throwing earlier, it looked like he could win despite the size difference. As Johan put down his weapons and stepped forward, the shocked mercenaries tried to stop him.  

“Y-Your Excellency. There’s no need to entertain such underhanded tricks!”

“Shut it! Didn’t I say I’ll do it?!”

Fearing Johan would change his mind, the giant hurriedly grabbed him. Having gone this far to save face, he had to secure a win. 

The giant grasped Johan’s hands and started exerting his strength. Accompanied by the sound of straining, large beads of sweat poured down like rain. However, it was the giant’s body that kept bending instead. 

“!”  

The watching mercenaries couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.

They knew from experience that the count’s strength came from God, but who would’ve thought he could go head-to-head against a giant in a game of strength without losing ground!

While the mercenaries were surprised, the Empire knights following behind were shocked speechless with eyes wide open. The impact was just too great. 

Is that a human’s strength?

With a heavy thud, the giant’s knees hit the floor. His face the picture of defeat, the giant conceded.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

As the giant grudgingly moved the boulder, a hidden path leading down the cliffside was revealed. A cave appeared where the giant slept and kept prisoners.  

“Take them.”

“Oh my.”

The prisoners who were trapped inside were surprised by the sudden appearance of the group. Adviko asked in a bewildered voice.

“Who are you?!”

“It’s His Excellency Count Yeats, Adviko-nim.”  

The Empire knight who was captured first stepped up to explain instead. Although it was absurd for the captured man to shamelessly step forward, Adviko was in no position to complain.  

Getting ambushed and captured for not having enough toll to pay while escaping was not a common experience. He felt like his soul had left his body halfway.

“. . .How did you get here?”

“His Excellency the Count won a bet against the giant.”

“??????”

It was such an absurd claim that even Adviko and the other prisoners turned their heads.  

“What. . . what?”

“Let’s get out first. I don’t want to chatter here.”

Johan said so and looked inside the cave. Although Adviko was still Adviko, he was concerned about the wizard who came from the Empire.   

Where is he?

“Where’s the wizard?”

“. . .He’s dead.”

“!?”

A slave brought out the wizard’s clothes, wand, and accessories from outside.  

When the giant appeared, Uterman tried to curse the giant. However, the giant remembered an ancient adage that had been passed down since the ancient Empire era.  

Kill the wizard first.

As the giant’s club swung around, even the great Uterman turned into a piece of meat. It was so brutal that the others were so frightened that they threw down their weapons and shouted surrender.  

“He’s dead?!”

“He. . . he didn’t pay the toll. It was his fault.”

The giant, who was watching from behind, unconsciously justified himself. Johan sighed as if exhausted.  

“. . .Can’t be helped.”

The dead wizard could not be brought back to life. He had to be grateful for having rescued those who were here.   

“Human hero. You can pass without paying the toll next time.”  

“Thanks. But staying here long doesn’t seem like a good choice. There’s a town not too far from here. I recommend you move somewhere else.”

Johan bid the giant farewell and led his party down the mountain. Having obtained Adviko, his goal was achieved anyway.  

“Adviko-gong, are you okay?”

“. . . . . .”  

Johan chatted lively, but Adviko only nodded with a soulless face.   

“I’ll allow you to send someone to the city to prepare the ransom and compensation.”  

“I. . . I. . . .”

“You seem to be in great shock. Rest with the others until you regain your senses before sending someone.”

Since the other party was somewhat of a nobleman, and they were all captured, there was no need to act roughly. It was time to show magnanimity.  

Adviko would have no choice but to accept Johan’s offer.  

After the prisoners left, Suetlg came over and spoke up.   

“I have a concern.”

“?”  

“The city folks might drive that guy out.”

“No matter how defeated, isn’t he the city master?”

It was extremely rare for a feudal lord to be driven out of his fiefdom after being defeated. But cities were different.  

Various city noble families and mercenary leaders were intricately intertwined, vying for power.  

It was common to see nobles get kicked out over trivial mistakes in cities.   

“. . .I don’t think things would go that badly. Even if it does, they can still pay the ransom.”  

“That may be so, but it will probably take longer. It’s never good to drag out things like this for too long. We should get the money as soon as possible.”  

“You’re right. He seems to be halfway out of his mind, so he’ll be easy to cooperate with.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

He left as a mercenary but when he returned, he came back flying the banner of the count. The townspeople were surprised by the sudden visit of the count and tidied up the town.  

The cleanest and largest building in the town was provided and Johan imprisoned the prisoners there. At the same time, he sent messengers to stop the wandering nobles who must still be wandering around.

After hurriedly drinking three cups of pure alcohol brought from the monastery near the town, without even diluting it, Adviko opened his mouth as if his mind had returned.  

“The count was disguised and ambushed as a mercenary?”

“Yes.” 

“Ah. . .”

Adviko shook his head around. From the giant’s bet, there were things that were simply unbelievable.  

The knights on the Empire side were not as desperate as Adviko. Of course it was regrettable and frustrating to be caught, but they had a bright future. They just had to contact the family on the Empire side and receive a ransom.

So even while they were captured, the knights talked about the courage and valor of the young count. Honestly, it was a story that couldn’t be talked about other than betting directly with the giant and having the guts and power for it.  

A slave attending Adviko carefully spoke up.  

“Shouldn’t you send someone to receive the ransom, Master?”

“That’s not the problem right now. Even if I get the ransom, there is a high chance the city will be overturned before I can go back.”

“Shouldn’t you ask the emperor for help?”

“That side doesn’t even have one soldier to spare right now.”  

“Then shouldn’t you ask the count for help?”

Adviko looked at the slave’s simple question as if it was absurd.  

“Are you saying that now? The count wouldn’t unless he was crazy. . .”

As Adviko was speaking, he shuddered. It was a crazy idea but when he thought about it, it was a proposal with nothing to lose.  

He didn’t know if he would have to offer up the many nobles of the Empire faction in the city and the envoys from the Empire, but above all, it was Adviko grasping power with Johan’s help.  

Shouldn’t he at least try something rather than just die?

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