How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 229

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 (3)

Johan’s conjecture was true. Despite the relatively intimate geographical relationship between the Western Empire and the Kingdom, the two proud nobles despised each other. 

‘𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.’

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵?’

Nevertheless, they were extremely polite and kind to each other outwardly.

Johan, who was nearby, only vaguely noticed the signs with his intuition, while the knights behind nodded their heads with joy at the mellow appearance.

“Here are my knights escorting me, Ulrike-gong.” 

“My, what great knights they are. No one will be able to defeat you with knights like these, Your Majesty.”

“. . .You’re right. Although the Empire’s knights are decent knights, I know they rarely defeat elf knights.”

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦?’

Both the Elf King and Ulrike were throwing words at each other with extreme courtesy that they did not usually show. Although courteous, it was felt that emotions were slowly boiling inside.

“Let’s go inside. I want to hear the situation.”

Johan cut in. The two nobles nodded and dismounted from their horses. Seeing this, Johan felt a sense of foreboding.

There’s no way I have to play the mediator between these two here too, right?

‘Why do I feel like I’m always put in bullsh*t situations as if I didn’t sin much in my past life?’

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Fortunately, the conflict Johan had imagined did not happen. Surprisingly, the two agreed.

“Why didn’t you subdue the undead in that forest and just left them alone, Ulrike-gong?”

“The castellan is not paying proper compensation, Your Majesty.”

“Then it couldn’t be helped.”

The Elf King was convinced right away. He understood why the army did not move if compensation was not paid.

Having heard the details, Angoldolph immediately replied.  

“Let’s subdue them.”

“. . . . . .”

“. . . . . .”

“Count, isn’t the suggestion to subdue them inappropriate?”

‘𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭.’  

Johan said to the Elf King inwardly. This situation was not really one to fill him with such a sense of betrayal. It was quite nonsensical for him to look this way with a hurt expression.

“Pelheim Castle has high walls and its inner castle is also sturdy. It also has well stocked supplies. It would not be easy to siege. Also, keeping still the other nobles nearby could make them uneasy, so please be cautious.”

“I’ve already considered that much Ulrike-gong. Count here also came with the intention to demonstrate power, considering that.”

“?”  

Seeing the Elf King speak of a conversation that never happened, Johan was perplexed. Noticing that Johan did not immediately respond, Ulrike laughed wryly and said,

“Your Majesty. Everyone here knows Your Majesty is a valiant knight. However, not everyone understands Your Majesty’s inner thoughts. Have You properly discussed this with His Excellency the Count?”

“We haven’t discussed it, but surely in my mind. . .”

“Until properly discussed, it’s just talk.”

Since a similar situation had happened before, Ulrike was relieved. As expected, the young king had unilaterally thought and determined something.

Although Angoldolph could not refute, he clenched his fist tightly for a moment. Anyone could see that his contempt for Ulrike had layered even more.

‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?’  

Intimidate the nobles around with force to join the alliance.

It was grandiose, but realistically impossible. Seeing that the emperor could not even subjugate the nobles entrenched in the south with that large army, one could tell.

If they withdrew behind well-built castle walls and held out, it would be nearly impossible to force them to surrender quickly. And on top of that, the emperor still had both eyes wide open and alive. . .

To redirect the atmosphere, Johan spoke up.

“If the castellan does not comply, let’s wait and then move. It’s regrettable for the fiefdom, but it’s the castellan’s responsibility.”

Ulrike nodded in agreement, and the Elf King reluctantly conceded as well.

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“I did not expect this kind of situation.”

Ulrike clicked her tongue as she spoke. There was irritation mixed in her voice. Two formidable people have come here.  

“In a way, this could be a good thing, Ulrike-nim.”

“It would be best if you explain your reasoning well.”

Despite Ulrike’s threat, the knight did not seem flustered and said familiarly.

“Although His Majesty Angoldolph is difficult to deal with, Count Yeats who has come with him can be reasoned with. Also, Count has ties with Ulrike-nim’s family. If you get on the same page with Count Yeats, you should be able to control His Majesty Angoldolph to some extent.”

“. . . . . .”  

In principle, the knight’s words were not wrong. Even if the Elf King was militant, he was not stupid enough to ignore the words of the other two feudal lords and act recklessly.

And at first glance, Count Yeats seemed to have quite some connection with the Abner family. . .

But in reality, the relationship was quite complicated.

First of all, the one Johan was close to was Ulrike’s mother, the current Count Abner. They had a rather close relationship, exchanging various deals regarding Stephen.

On the other hand, Ulrike was not particularly close with Johan. Although they moved together during the siege, they did not get close. Looking back on their conversations, there seemed to be more blunt threats, and if anything, it was Johan considering the rights of the town Ulrike received.  

It could be considered a favor, but Ulrike did not think it had much significance. Unless Johan was so poor that he could not even keep his own knights, he was a Count who led a considerable army.

‘𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥.’

In just a few years, a knight who wandered around without a fiefdom has returned with elite troops and nobles under his command. It was surprising.

The atmosphere he exuded had also qualitatively changed. In the past, he seemed like a rough knight, but now, just by being there quietly, one could feel him as a master of a group. Such a leader who could mesmerize his subordinates just by his presence was rare.

“How about inviting and treating them?”

“Understood. I will make preparations.”

If there was a proper reason to do it, Ulrike would do it even if she did not want to. She now needed to get along well with Johan.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“You’re good at this.”

“It’s our specialty, isn’t it?”

The dwarves smiled as they finished setting up the camp. They were the mercenaries who had gone with Johan all the way to Vynashchtym. Thanks to the dwarves’ already excellent skills and the Vynashchtym-style fortification techniques they had learned, the hastily constructed camp was solid and sturdy.  

At first glance, the small fortress erected in front of Pelheim Castle might have seemed odd, but Johan always liked being prepared. 

If you don’t know when the undead might crawl out of the forest, isn’t it better to build walls thicker than palisades?

“It’s not our specialty. . .”

Of course, the centaurs groaned. While dwarves instinctively enjoy digging holes and building things, it was annoying for the centaurs.  

And it’s not like they could complain when Johan himself was hauling lumber. . .

“Thanks to you working hard, it will be finished by today.”

“If we had really worked hard, as a reward, shouldn’t you take us to hunt something other than the undead, Your Excellency?”

The centaurs pulled the logs as they pleaded their case. The dwarves applauded and guided them. Johan dragged a huge tree over by himself and received a round of applause.  

“Your Excellency.”

“Yes, what is it?”

The elven knight was surprised to see Johan covered in dirt, but didn’t show it and delivered his message. 

“My master asked me to relay this message to the Count.”  

“Oh. . . Thank you.”

The horse with fur as dazzlingly white as snow was clearly a purebred and precious breed among Erlan horses. It had a well-proportioned physique and smooth gaits.  

Johan’s horse, Cardirian, looked at the white horse greedily.

“Does it have a name?”

“Yes. Its name is Lochtein.”

‘𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦?’

“Thank you. I’ll be sure to take good care of it.”

“Yes. My master will be pleased too.”

After the elven knight left, Johan called Suetlg and Iselia.   

“What does this mean?”

“Uh. . . isn’t sending a horse an elven love confession?” 

Suetlg asked Iselia in a flustered voice. That’s what he knew. Iselia shook her head and said,  

“That’s when you ride the horse naked. . . This is a rather complicated custom that needs to be examined in writing. Simply sending a horse is a sign of respect.”

“So he wants to get along well?”

“That’s right. It’s a really good horse.”

Iselia was already stroking the horse fondly. Johan frowned.  

“Isn’t someone suddenly wanting to get along just as suspicious?”

“He might want to join hands with you and oppose Ulrike-gong.”

That’s exactly what Johan was expecting.

“No need to worry too much.”

“Did you have a plan, Your Excellency?”

“No. . . I didn’t have a plan. I just wanted to tell you to console them well so we can successfully defeat the undead.”  

Johan looked at Suetlg with a gaze mixed with disappointment, betrayal and contempt. Flustered, Suetlg said,

“Was that such a terrible thing to say?”

“Please attend the next meeting with me. Their extreme dislike for each other is quite something.”

“From what I see, you have charmed even worse individuals and reconciled them.”

“. . . . . .”

While Johan was struck speechless, a knight under Ulrike came this time. 

“Your Excellency, my master wishes to have a chance to entertain Your Excellency the Count. Please come with Iselia-nim of the Bluea family.”

“. . .!”

While he didn’t exactly have a feud with Ulrike at the moment, remembering how her wife had clung to him obsessively in love made him feel awkward.  

But he couldn’t refuse the situation either.

“Alright. I will gladly accept. Suetlg-nim, please come along too.”

“I don’t think anything will change just because I’m there.”

Before leaving, the knight added one more thing.

“Sir Stephen is also welcome to come, she said.”

“. . .Really?”

“Yes!”

After the knight left, Johan asked in confusion,

“Should I bring him along, or does she plan to kill him if I do?”

“Hmm. . .”

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Johan went to Ulrike’s camp with Iselia. Servants immediately came running to attend to the party. Even Stephen did.  

Stephen looked like he could barely breathe properly. Thinking that Suetlg felt sorry for him, she said.

“Ulrike-gong wouldn’t kill anyone here. So relax, just keep your mouth shut and stay still until it’s time to leave.”

“Yes. . . Yes.”

Stephen stuck close to Gerdolf’s side. At least next to Gerdolf he wouldn’t scream to death.  

‘𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧?’  

Johan thought to himself. While Gerdolf was loyal to Johan, he didn’t seem like he would be too enthusiastic about protecting Stephen. . .

Ulrike gifted Iselia a sword. According to her investigation, this elf from the Bluea house quite liked weapons.

‘𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. . . 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭?’

She had heard they were close, but Iselia’s appearance made Ulrike puzzled. She didn’t look like someone who would seduce and corrupt others as the rumors said.  

Johan had shown quite an ascetic side when he stayed at her fiefdom, so when Ulrike heard the rumors she thought it must have been quite a fall from grace.

Ulrike had seen charms that invoke lust a few times before. Those who knew how to use lust charms had a unique, tempting scent about them.  

In contrast, the only smells coming from Iselia were the oil on her armor and the sweet scent of freshly baked bread.

“Congratulations on your late marriage with the Jarpen house.”  

“. . .Thank you?”

Johan threw out questions like bait and glanced at Ulrike’s reactions. It seemed she still hadn’t heard about Caccia yet.  

‘𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧.’

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