How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 230

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 (4)

‘𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.’

Ulrike sensed something odd with her unique experience, but it was too much to figure out its identity.  

“Deliver the gift.”

“Yes.”

Johan’s servant brought out the jewelry. The gorgeous jewelry brought from Vynashchtym made people admire regardless of their status.  

Although they were treated like a blind old declining noble on the outside, Vynashchtym had a long tradition and authority, which the nobles of the Empire envied. The item from Vynashchtym was a decent gift.

“Caccia-nim of the Jarpen family will like it.” 

“I heard you saved her, I’m just grateful. Caccia will be happy.”

“. . .”

Johan instinctively tensed at Ulrike’s words. Stephen, who was sitting in the corner, turned as white as a sheet, but his complexion was already so pale that it did not stand out much.  

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸?’

Johan’s mind became complicated at Ulrike’s calm reaction.  

Come to think of it, it was unlikely that she hadn’t heard about it at all. With people coming and going, she must have heard that Johan had saved Caccia of the Jarpen family.

“Don’t worry. Judging by her attitude, she clearly doesn’t know.”

“She’s so hard to read, it’s hard to feel relieved.”

“Don’t worry. As a proud noble, no matter how calm she tries to be, if she had such a misunderstanding, she would have shown some emotion.”  

What Suetlg said was true. Even if Ulrike had invited Johan out of necessity, if she had known that fact, she would have shown more emotion.

“So just act calm and confident.”

“I wish you could experience this kind of situation yourself before saying that, Suetlg-nim.”

“Ha ha. I’m too old to get caught up in this kind of trouble.”  

In fact, Suetlg found this whole situation ridiculously amusing. Who would have thought a knight like Johan would end up in this kind of situation?

During the banquet, Ulrike kept talking to Iselia and complimenting her. It was a strategic action. Rather than convincing Johan himself to gain his favor, it was more effective to persuade the person closest to Johan.  

However, from Johan’s point of view, Ulrike’s behavior, which she didn’t normally do, felt strangely bizarre.

“Isn’t Ulrike-gong trying to seduce Iselia?” 

“Uh. . . I don’t think so, but who knows.”

In Suetlg’s opinion, that was unlikely. For one, he didn’t know what Johan thought about it, but Iselia didn’t seem like the type to be easily seduced.  

“She’s probably just trying to get on your good side.”

“Isn’t that a little beneath Ulrike-gong’s dignity?”

“When you live as nobility, sometimes you have to do things that are beneath your dignity. Ulrike-gong now and when you met her as a knight before are in different situations with different priorities. Since she’s showing you favor, just enjoy it and accept it. What, you don’t like it?”

“To be honest, it kind of creeps me out how Ulrike-gong is acting.”

“. . .”

Suetlg felt bad for Ulrike. She was just trying to be nice, but got this kind of treatment.  

Among the nobility, it was normal to give and receive favors as needed depending on the situation. While Johan didn’t have to deal with this kind of thing when he met Ulrike as a knight before, now that he was an equal feudal lord, this wasn’t so abnormal.

“Should I warn Iselia to be careful around Ulrike-gong?”

“Don’t act like a jealous spouse. It wouldn’t look good on the outside.”

A noble’s dignity was determined by various customs. Restraining your spouse for having an affair was beneath one’s dignity. The proper behavior was to take a lover of your own in retaliation.  

“I didn’t mean it like. . . nevermind about those customs. . .”

“Ulrike-gong! The undead are coming out of the forest!”

“!”

During the banquet, Ulrike frowned at the news that came in. The place she had prepared to treat was disrupted.  

“I’m very sorry, Your Excellency.”

“Can you distinguish between good and bad times when dealing with demons? No need to be sorry at all.”

Johan rather thought it was good. If he kept eating here, he wouldn’t have digested well anyway.

Stephen still hadn’t eaten a single bread and. . .

“Are you going to fight here?”

“No. This is someone else’s camp and someone else’s place. If I take the lead arbitrarily, it will also be an insult to the knights here.”

“Is that so.”  

Iselia was discouraged. She wanted to test her newly acquired equipment once.

Although Ulrike-gong seemed kinder than expected and seemed like she could ask for a favor, she couldn’t take the lead when Johan said that. As a knight, she had to keep the virtue of being loyal to the lord’s order.

“Since the undead were grunting so much, it’s about time they burst out.”

“It looks like they’re coming this way.”

Unfortunately, the undead were heading towards Ulrike’s camp, not Johan’s camp or the Elf King’s camp.

“How many are there?”

“A few dozen.”

“Not a big deal. I can see the ability of Ulrike-gong’s knights.”

At best, it couldn’t even scratch the camp with a few dozen roasted bodies. It seemed that only some of the undead in the forest had crawled out.

“Prepare for battle! Get ready for battle!” 

“Take the nobles inside! Bring the catapults!”

“Don’t let them get close to the camp!”

Knights under Ulrike jumped out and shouted at the soldiers to prepare for battle outside the camp.

The soldiers cursed the clueless undead as they prepared their weapons.

“Shoot!”

After Bolte’s storm passed, the rotten flesh of the Ghouls could not endure. There was no need for heavier siege weapons, ten Ghouls fell down.  

━𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞!

“?”

Johan was puzzled by Karamaf’s scream as he sat watching. Karamaf was barking like crazy.

“This is. . .” 

“. . .strange.”

Having seen Karamaf for a long time, Suetlg immediately realized something was wrong. Suetlg nodded. Johan immediately stood up and shouted at the knights.

“It’s not just the Ghouls! Be careful!”

“Yes? Count.” 

“Watch out.”

Johan pushed the knights aside and climbed up the outpost. The enhanced vision from the blessings of other religions showed the hidden figure among the approaching Ghouls.  

It was a familiar figure he had seen before.

A knight emanating a chill qualitatively different from the winter cold, with turquoise glowing eyes.

It was the death knight.  

‘𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?!’

“It’s a death knight! There is a death knight among the ghouls. Bring holy water and silver!”

“Yes!!”

Despite being a command from a completely unrelated count, the knights moved first. Johan’s voice had an unquestionable power.

“What happened? Why is the death knight wandering around in broad daylight?”

“If they can overcome the power of the sun, they can wander around!”

“They don’t follow any rules like those damned monsters. . .”

Johan drew his sword with unreasonable complaints. The red silver blade shone in the sunlight. The re-casted Twilight would be more advantageous against the undead than the Giant Slayer.

“You two go inside.”  

“Can I go inside too?”

“I told you to go in.”

Jyanina, who asked again without realizing, deeply bowed her head after only getting curtly rebuked. Johan was lost in thought.  

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.’

“Do you think you can resolve the resentment like last time?”

“Don’t think about that, Your Excellency. That was really just luck.”

“???

Jyanina heard their conversation and doubted her ears. 

Could these humans have defeated the death knight before?

“It’s not an easy task to relieve the grudges held by the death knight . In most cases, those grudges are unreasonable. You usually have to get rid of him.”

“For example?”

“If you were to wipe out this entire forest and eliminate the aura of death, he would be much weaker.”  

“. . .That’s not an option right now.”

This was the scary thing about the undead plague. Even when just groups of ghouls wandered around, a monster awakened by the aura of death created by the ghouls.

“Gerdolf, bring Suetlg. You can retreat immediately if it’s dangerous.”

“Yes.”

“I hope the knights under Ulrike can stop him. . .”

As Johan spoke, he had a feeling that wouldn’t happen. And that premonition became fact.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The servants were swept away together, but the death knight silently marched on. The shield he held was a rotten wooden shield, but it did not break and firmly maintained its shape.

“Lock the camp gates and prevent him from entering! Bring silver arrows!”  

The mercenaries prepared oil and holy water to intercept the Death Knight.

At that moment, the death knight disappeared like mist dispersing. 

“. . .?”

At the same time, screams erupted. The death knight had appeared inside the camp.  

It was a skill so astonishing that even the wizards here had never seen anything like it. With a chilling roar, the death knight made the servants and slaves scurry away. He had no interest in the lives of such lowly beings.

━■?

As the Death Knight charged, Ulrike drew her sword. Though not very skilled, as a noblewoman she had received proper training. She had no intention of fleeing shamefully.  

“Come!”

With those words, the death knight flew sideways as if struck by a horse. It was a violent motion.

“. . .??!”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan looked at the death knight with the Giant Slayer in his hand. There was no movement from the one flung far away and stuck there. 

━𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐫!

“Karamaf. You are not compatible. Back off.”

Although the death knight flew far away, breaking the table and furniture after being hit by Johan with all his might, Johan did not think it would die with this one blow.

What he wanted was to make everyone back off.

He didn’t always fight monsters to the bitter end. When its strength faded and it got tired, it would retreat into that forest.

“. . .Thank you sir.” 

“It’s not Sir, it’s Count.”

At Johan’s words, Ulrike’s face turned red. In her panic, she had reverted to her old way of speaking.

“I misspoke.”

“Given the sudden situation, that can happen. Please feel free to speak casually, I don’t mind.”

“If your excellency speaks casually first, I will do so as well.”

“If that’s what you want.”

When Johan immediately spoke informally, Ulrike was taken aback. She had thought he would refuse because of his memories as a knight.

“Surprised I would?”

“. . . . . .”

“If you’re uncomfortable, I can be more formal again. . .”

“No. No. Anyway, tha. . . “

Just as she was about to properly say her thanks seriously, an even louder shout than the death knight’s was heard.

It was the knights led by the Elf King.

“We came to help, Count!”

“That b*stard is really. . .”

“. . .?”

As Johan looked at her in confusion, Ulrike pretended not to know anything.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Come at me, you vile monster!”

Angoldolph charged at the death knight. The magical power contained in his sword inflicted wounds upon the death knight. The black aura writhed, forcing the death knight to retreat.  

The Elf King’s attacks were fierce and savage, and the death knight seemed to be continuously pushed back on the defensive. But Johan, who had faced him once before, knew better.  

That the battle with the death knight was not a fair duel as a righteous knight, but one where one side would lose their life with a single defeat while the other would not yield no matter how many times they lost.

━■■■!

The death knight, who had been battered, suddenly flashed a wicked technique. He stepped strangely forward and received the Elf King’s sword with his chest, then whipped his sword around for a counterattack.  

It was an odd swordsmanship that only the dead could demonstrate.

“!”

The sword slash blasted toward the Elf King but he did not collapse. Instead, the expressions of all the elven knights twisted in unison. And it was not because they were watching the fight. It was because they had shared the injury that the Elf King should have taken.  

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. . .!’

Johan was amazed. He felt like he understood why Sutleg had called it sorcery. He had never seen nor heard of such magic before.

The death knight also seemed to realize the Elf King’s secret. He retreated backward then suddenly began fleeing in a different direction. 

“You b*stard! Where do you think you’re running off to? Come back!”

No matter how desperately the Elf King called out, the death knight did not even look back as he escaped.  

To be precise, he was not fleeing. He was headed straight for Pelheim Castle, not the forest.

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