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𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 (5)
“!”
The Lizarek guy looked up in shock and horror. An arrow had flown from a place where it was impossible to shoot from.
Who dares!
The Lizarek guy did not have time to spare. Johan had found an opening and pounced on him like a fierce lion.
Johan threw the longsword he was holding, impaling a mercenary next to The Lizarek guy, then grabbed the Lizarek guy’s arms. One must always be wary of magic being felt first.
The Lizarek guy desperately tried to break free, but Johan crushed his arms with tremendous strength.
A silent scream burst from the Lizarek guy’s throat. With his arms smashed, the magical energy that was felt from him also disappeared. With an arrow in his trunk and his magical energy gone, the Lizarek guy coughed up blood and fell to his knees.
“Don’t. . .don’t get cocky just because you won today. . .! There are many who want to see your blood. . .!”
“Thanks for the advice.”
With those words, Johan smashed the Lizarek guy’s ribcage.
In the meantime, Gerdolf slaughtered the remaining enemies. The attendant who had been captured seemed to have fainted earlier, lying there drooling. When Gerdolf tried to slap his cheek, Johan stopped him.
“Be careful, Gerdolf. There’s an excellent archer.”
Still not letting down his guard, Johan hid behind a pillar and shouted. He had received help from an opponent, but could not trust them. Especially a distant archer.
“Reveal yourself! If you don’t, I’ll think of you as a comrade of this gang.”
“There’s no need for that, Johan-nim. I’ll be leaving now.”
“. . .?”
Hearing that the opponent knew his name, Johan’s wariness sharpened even more. Gripping his longsword, Johan glared at the building’s door.
What walked out was. . .Joseph.
” . . .!”
Seeing him walk out unsteadily in the style unique to the Eastern Rangers, grasping a bow in his right hand, Johan jumped up.
“You’re alive!”
“So are you, Johan-nim.”
Without hesitation, Johan pulled Joseph into an embrace. Although from a fallen knightly house, Johan was a nobleman with a fief. Faced with Johan’s intimate attitude, Joseph was moved once again.
Whether at his fief or after leaving it, Johan had not changed.
“How have you been?”
“If I’m not dead and still alive, doesn’t that mean I’m well? And you, Johan-nim?”
“Hmm.”
Johan realized that Joseph did not know his identity.
Naturally so from Joseph’s position. Who would have imagined a wandering knight from a fallen knightly house becoming a count down south?
“It’s a long story to explain. . . For now, let’s move. And wake up that attendant. Can you fix him up a bit?”
“What can I not do for you, Johan-nim.”
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The attendant vomited several times before regaining consciousness. He cursed the barbaric attitude of the mercenaries then seemed to give up after realizing that it would change nothing.
“How dare they fight with swords in my master’s manor yard after all the effort I put in to prepare. . .”
“My apologies. I tried to restrain myself but my opponent was blinded by resentment that I had no choice.”
Johan pleaded self-defense. He claimed that his opponent brought the grudge from the battlefield here. The butler cursed the corpse again then nodded reluctantly.
“I understand. I will go report this so please wait here.”
Although the situation was annoying, when his head cleared he couldn’t help but acknowledge his opponent’s skills. They had defeated the group of mercenaries that attacked them first, just the two of them.
The mercenaries also lost quite a few men. Wouldn’t someone who could send fighters of such caliber have more in store?
After the attendant called some slaves to clean up and left the manor, Joseph immediately said to Johan,
“Johan-nim. I apologize for your trouble coming all the way here but it would be best if you leave immediately.”
“?”
“I don’t know what brought you here but this matter doesn’t seem likely to end well. If things go wrong, it could become quite troublesome. Moreover. . .”
Joseph lowered his voice further.
“I hear that they are targeting Count Yeats.”
“Count Yeats instead of Adviko?”
Johan was surprised to hear that he was being targeted. He had been careful to avoid resentment and had no reason to be targeted at all.
Why?
“While it’s true they’re aiming for the magistrate, there were several suspicious men among the mercenaries who seemed to harbor grudges against the count.”
“. . . . . .”
Johan made a gloomy expression. He thought he had decisively killed those who resented him and cleanly resolved things with those who didn’t. Yet resentment was festering in places he couldn’t have imagined.
‘𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘬 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺?’
“Taking down a magistrate alone would be hard to handle. If by any chance the count gets involved too, the aftermath would be tremendous. Wouldn’t the count send his army after you? You’re a knight so it’ll draw even more attention compared to me who can just escape into the mountains.”
Joseph had associated with mercenaries extensively in the past. Mercenaries didn’t always act as their employers wished.
While the employers might want a clean assassination of just Adviko, the mercenaries wanted their reward in gold as well as to settle their own grudges.
“Could you tell me more about those suspicious men who seemed to harbor resentment against the count. . .?”
“I didn’t get close enough to chat since they weren’t friends but. . .?”
Unfortunately, Joseph had only overheard them talking and didn’t know anything beyond that.
“If it’s such a dangerous matter, why are you sticking it out here Joseph?”
“Well. . . I’m a bit embarrassed to say this but,”
Joseph hesitated which made Johan curious. For someone of Joseph’s caliber to be unable to leave meant that there were unspeakable circumstances holding him back.
“I owe a lot of debt.”
“I see. . .”
It was a much more realistic reason than Johan had imagined.
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As Johan did not leave, Joseph made a worried expression but did not say anything more. It would have been ridiculous for him to say more.
“Can I go in here?”
Johan looked around another mansion that the attendant guided him to. Unlike the villa from before, it felt lived in.
“You may enter after leaving your weapons.”
“It’s not like I wanted to do this. Are there other mercenaries gathered here too?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“All of what are you referring to?”
“I want to mingle with some decent folks, that’s why.”
“They will be decent people. I’m just saying this in case, but do not cause a ruckus like before.”
“Don’t worry.”
Along with his words, Johan sent a signal. Surprised by his sudden action, both the attendant and Joseph looked at Johan.
“What, what did you do?”
“I’m offering the traitorous b*stards to his Excellency the Count.”
If it weren’t for what Joseph said, he would have observed more prudently.
If there were several mercenaries who held grudges against Johan rather than nobles, it would be better to subdue them right away instead of waiting.
If he left them be and they caused trouble, it would give him a headache.
‘𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴?’
Johan clicked his tongue in frustration. He only intended to threaten Adviko but unexpectedly there were blades of resentment waiting behind him.
“. . .!!!”
The attendant’s face turned pale at those words. The other person was a spy for the Count.
“Oh. . . There’s been a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!”
“But I haven’t said anything yet?”
“I wasn’t gathering mercenaries to rebel against His Excellency the Count!”
“That’s something we’ll have to ask your master directly to find out.”
The attendant tried to make as many excuses as he could, taking advantage of the fact that he hadn’t revealed his purpose yet, but Johan coldly brushed him off.
In fact, Johan could have made anyone spit out the facts he wanted if he was determined, but he was holding back because he didn’t want to take unnecessary abuse.
“Tell those inside to throw down their weapons and surrender. Those holding weapons will be punished for treason.”
After finishing speaking, Johan looked at Joseph. Joseph had a hesitant expression on his face, as if wondering whether he should run away or stay put.
“What, am I going to punish you?”
“. . .Thank you, Johan-nim. So you were working under the Count.”
“Well, it’s a long story if you want to talk about it. I’ll explain later.”
In the meantime, soldiers came rushing in to surround the mansion. Although it was called a mansion, it was close to a small fortress. With the walls utilized, it would be hard to attack from outside if one defended from the inside.
As if expecting that, the dwarves brought siege weapons straight away. Without waiting, they immediately battered down the front gate.
“Throw down your weapons! Those holding weapons will be summarily executed!”
“You rebel scums! Go to the gallows if you don’t want to throw down your weapons!”
The mercenaries inside responded in a flustered posture to counterattack. First they tried to block the front gate and prevent the enemies from entering, but it was already half collapsed.
Even though it was a sudden ambush, experienced mercenaries should be able to immediately realize that the current situation was very bad.
It looked like they were surrounded, and judging by the sounds coming from outside, it seemed they were involved in something bad. . .
“F*ck. We need to get out!”
“Block them from entering! Block them fir. . . Urgh!”
As the dwarves were unable to push in and got their feet tangled, Johan stepped forward. Johan grabbed a mercenary and threw him. Due to the sudden flying person, the formation of the mercenaries blocking the door collapsed.
“This b*stard. . .”
One of the mercenaries supported his neck with spite in his voice as he charged forward with a shield. Johan swung his longsword without hesitation. With a spark, the shield split and the mercenary tumbled over. Every time Johan swung once, the mercenaries around him crumbled as they were.
Joseph’s eyes grew wide. He knew Johan’s strength was tremendous, but this was beyond common sense.
The mercenaries didn’t dare to fight and tried to flee inside or find somewhere else to hide.
“Go inside and turn everything over. Don’t let a single one get away! Capture that attendant. He probably knows quite a lot.”
‘𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.’
His manner of commanding people seemed neither unfamiliar nor unnatural, rather it looked like he had a lot of experience. Also, judging by the number of people he commanded, he seemed to have the count’s deep trust.
“I heard Gerdolf was attacked, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“I must have been too complacent. There’s no way you don’t have enemies.”
Suetlg spoke in a regretful tone.
It would be no surprise for Johan to have enemies, being different from the other nobles of the allied forces and thoroughly managing himself. It was only natural given the number of foes he had brought down.
“If they attacked the magistrate while targeting you. . . They’re probably remnants of the gangs you destroyed or some petty noble’s minion.”
Johan nodded. Suetlg’s thoughts were similar to his.
However, their guesses missed the mark. The raiders targeting Johan were an entirely different group.
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The dwarves who entered the building dragged out those inside by opening the door. In the midst of doing so, they witnessed a peculiar scene.
In a spacious room, a nearly naked human man was sitting crouched down with creepy and gaudy tattoos all over his body.
Although he did not hold any weapons, he looked like a mercenary, so the dwarves shouted.
“Come out with us!”
𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐠!
Instead of answering, the dwarves were thrown out the window. Seeing the dwarves flying through the window, their comrades were dumbfounded.
“What the hell??”
“T-There’s some kind of monster inside! Urgh. . .”
The thrown dwarf was flabbergasted. As a dwarf, he was pushed by a human using strength. It was humiliating.
“You worthless count who is a servant and slave of the Order! Showing up with your gang without shame! A curse be upon you!”
“. . .?”
Johan was perplexed by the harsh voice coming from inside.
“Do you know what that guy is doing?”
“Is there magic that can identify a person just by their voice? Judging by him mentioning the name of the Order, he seems like a follower of paganism.”
“Even if he’s a pagan follower, shouldn’t he be on his knees praying instead of harboring resentment against me whom he’s never met?”
“Well. . . because you’re the Order’s sword. . .?”
“. . . . . .”
Johan had no choice but to accept it.