How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 235

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 (9)

Ulrike wiped Johan’s face with a handkerchief. His face was a mess after fighting once and struggling with the treant.  

“It looks familiar. . .”

“Of course, since the count gave it to me.”

“Ah. . .”

Johan recalled the identity of the handkerchief. It was a gift from a maid who used it to wipe Ulrike’s blood.

“Return it to the count.”

“Thank you.” 

━. . . . . .

“Don’t be so awkward. Ingol.”

Johan turned his gaze back to the treant. Ingol, who had been listening to their conversation, stood there awkwardly and flinched.

━𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

Ingol’s voice was full of hostility.

The relationship between the treants who protect the forest and the people living around it could not be good. Basically, as people increased in number, the forest was developed and trees were cut down.  

It was natural for the treants to be angry at those who cut down trees to use as fuel and building materials.

Of course, Johan answered without blinking an eye.

“It’s not me but the castellans and their men living around here who have been cutting down trees and burning forests from the past. Ingol.”

━𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.

“Then you should try to see them differently. If you don’t want steel stuck in your trunk.”

━. . . . . .

Ingol shut his mouth at the fierce threat. The wizard in front of him was exerting a formidable aura, overwhelming the spirit.

“We did not enter the forest to threaten the spirits. It is to return the dead to the earth. If the tree spirits had done their job properly, we wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble.”

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐮𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤?

“If you don’t like it, you can keep living with the intruders. No. I don’t understand why a guy who talks about negotiating is so arrogant. Ulrike-gong. Is it normal for the other party to be so arrogant?”

“According to the Empire’s practices, negotiations usually break down if the other party is so arrogant.”

Ingol angrily shook his leaves at the intruders citing human customs.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

“The dead do not listen. It’s not help but exploitation.”

━. . . . . .

“Stop making excuses, Ingol. You set a trap without making a legitimate request. Do you admit that?”

━𝐈 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫.

“Are you prepared to compensate for it?”

━𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬.

“Keep that in mind and. . . first get all the undead out of the forest. If you twisted the road to send them this way, you should be able to drive out the rest as well.”

It was better to get help from the tree spirits now. The forests of the Empire were vast enough to threaten civilization, and finding the groups of undead one by one while combing through here was a difficult task even for the most skilled trackers.

It was not for nothing that Johan had borrowed the artifact.

━. . .𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Did you check?”

“I checked. This is not it.”

Two Eastern Rangers were repeating a boring confirmation work. Although it was a boring task, their expressions were very serious and there was no sign of laziness in their restless hands.

Although the Eastern Rangers did not know how to use magic, they often encountered mysteries. They dealt with mysteries based on their own experiences.

Tying each other with a long rope, leaving marks around them, and going into confirmation as they encountered things. It was a simple method, but the effect was certain.

“What are you doing here?”

“!!”

In the midst of this, familiar faces walked out from the bushes in front. It was Johan and Ulrike. Seeing the two nobles pulling their horses, the rangers’ eyes widened with joy.

“Your Excellency!! Your Excellency!!!”

“I’m not deaf. Why are you shouting so loudly?”  

“How could we not worry when you disappeared like that?!”

“Oh my. You must have worried a lot. I believed that you would do well even without me. Wasn’t that so?”

At Johan’s question, the two rangers looked at each other. Was that so?

When the leader named Johan with strong charisma disappeared, those under him seemed to have blamed each other saying ‘𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵’. . .

“. . .We did our best.”

“Is that so? That’s good. You worked hard.”  

Johan carefully supported Ulrike. Her movements were very awkward because she had injured her ankle.

She could ride a horse, but there was a possibility of complications if an injured person was riding a frightened horse in a lush forest. He wanted to put her on Cardirian, but the b*stard hated Ulrike so much. . .

Suetlg, who rushed over to hear the situation and was worried, wiped his chest at the sight of Johan, who had appeared safely. Although he was not too worried, their disappearance was quite tense.

“Suetlg-nim! Your Excellency Count has returned over there! Aren’t you going to greet him?”

“Hmm. It looks better to just let him come like this.  

“???”

“Just follow this old man’s words.”

“I understand.”

Seeing Johan supporting Ulrike and coming over, Suetlg did not rush over to get in the way. And that choice was an excellent choice.

“The Ranger guys found them?!” 

“As expected, the Eastern Rangers are different. I knew they would find them. They are Eastern Rangers. Born in the forest and die in the forest.”

“. . . . . .”

They could not raise their heads in shame. The two Eastern Rangers wanted to say, ’𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵.’

“In fact, it was not us who found Your Excellency, but. . .”

“. . .Shh. Be quiet, I bet on it.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Did that happen? Bad luck. Of all people, you got hit by an arrow.”

“I was surprised, but I got through it fine. I even got compensation.”  

Johan took out a horn made from tree roots as he spoke. It was an item he had obtained through negotiations with Ingol after agreeing to take care of the undead.

While the tree spirits were willing to negotiate to some extent, they really had nothing to offer. After long and tedious negotiations, Ingol finally decided to settle it with his body.

“Is that a horn to summon spirits?”

“You knew?”

“No. I just felt a mystical power from it, and since tree spirits are originally poor folks, I figured they didn’t come out themselves and settled it by fighting instead.”

“They really had nothing.”

The forests of the Empire were so lush that the trees were often connected to each other, and if you blew the horn in such a forest, the spirits had agreed to respond to the call.

“What happened with Ulrike-gong?”

“Oh. She was hurt so I helped her. I also used some medicine that Sir Suetlg gave.”

“If it’s for a princess, it’s no loss to use it. Fortunately, you two seem quite close.”

Suetlg was happy that Johan had gotten close with Ulrike. There was no harm in getting friendly with the Abner family when considering his future in the Empire. The more connections the better.

Fortunately, Ulrike also seemed quite fond of him. Considering the cold personality of the princess, this had to be considered a stroke of good fortune.

“She sprained her ankle? Did she fall?”

“No. She was bitten by an undead.”

“Oh my. You must’ve had to suck out the poison then?”

“I sucked it out myself?”

“. . .With your mouth??”

“Well, should I have cut it open with a knife?”

“No. . . Um, well done.” 

Suetlg was at a loss for words. He had felt something oddly intimate between them, which made him curious, but to think this had happened. 

‘𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. . .?’

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. It took a long time, Ulrike-gong couldn’t walk properly and staggered, Johan looked unusually tired, and also. . .

Most of all, if two passionate young people were in a cozy spot in that kind of situation, wouldn’t it naturally lead to something more? 

It’s only natural that if you put a male and female animal together in an enclosure, they would mate and reproduce.

“Why do you stare at me so?”

“N-No reason.”

As open as Suetlg was, it would still be awkward to outright ask Johan if he had slept with Ulrike-gong. Though curious, Suetlg decided not to inquire further.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The undead pushed out of the forest were neatly subjugated. The subjugation force that was waiting unleashed a fierce attack, and the undead that came out listlessly literally melted away.  

After the undead were buried in the prepared graves and the prayers of the priests ended, Johan was able to heave a sigh of relief.

There were various incidents, but it’s over.  

‘𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵.’

Thanks to summoning the elementals, he didn’t have to use the artifact, but the Pelheim castellan shook his head and put the artifact in Johan’s hand. It was an unexpected reaction.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

━𝐎𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥.

The intimacy shown by the Pelheim castellan made Johan flustered, but still, goodwill was goodwill. Johan carefully stowed the artifact behind Cardirian. Cardirian indignantly stamped his hind legs, but Johan ignored it.

The subjugation force left the castle with a splendid send-off. The next destination was Halfbronn Barony to the east along the highway.  

The Elf King still had a pained expression, as if he still had a bit of a headache.

“I think the castellan mixed in some low quality liquor. . .” 

“It’s more likely because of the Death Knight.”

“Does it make sense for me to whine because of a mere undead when the Count is unharmed?”

“I was also sick for a few days after the fight. It was just that Your Majesty didn’t know.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

The Elf King immediately cheered up. Thinking that way, this pain also seemed to be left by the Death Knight. It had lasted uncharacteristically long for just a hangover.  

“The Halfbronn Baron knows the political situation well and is quick-witted, so things like what happened in Pelheim probably won’t happen. Also, there are fewer forests nearby, so subjugation will be much easier. We can finish quickly.”

Johan nodded at Ulrike’s words. Seeing the two whispering, the Elf King made a displeased expression, then whispered to Johan when only the two of them were left.

“What were you talking about with Ulrike-gong?”

“She said subjugation of Halfbronn Barony would be relatively easy.” 

“. . . . . .”

The Elf King had a conflicted expression. He also thought subjugation of Halfbronn Barony would go smoothly, but he struggled to refrain from nitpicking Ulrike’s words. 

‘𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦. . .?’

Just as Johan was dumbfounded, the centaurs who had gone out scouting came back from the distance. 

“Your Excellency! There is an army in the Barony! They say it is the Shirivik family’s army!”

“!”

The Count Shirivik was a northern feudal lord of the Empire. In other words. . .

one of the vassals of the Emperor faction.

“An excellent person?”

“More of a merchant than a warrior. . .? I wonder if that’s why he came?”

He was surprised that there was an Emperor faction army nearby, but come to think of it, some nobles were likely to step up on that side as well.

If the undead plague was not stopped, even the Emperor faction would suffer damage, and neutral nobles might change sides.

“This is great!”  

The Elf King said in a voice trying to restrain his joy. No matter how much he tried to hold it in, joy was apparent all over his body. His eyes shone brightly and his hands shook, ready to draw his sword.

“It is merely the army of a count, not even the army of an emperor. Can their knights even stand up to us? Count?”  

“Well, you have a point, but just to be safe, we should fight more prudently.”

It was natural for Johan to send out scouts in various directions to gather information before making judgments and taking action accordingly, but surprisingly more than half of the knights did not follow this practice.  

Believing in their own might and wanting to seize any opportunity to build up achievements before the opponent runs away, they charge ahead recklessly.

Having probably gathered some intelligence on their side as well, they first sent an envoy. Bowing politely, the envoy conveyed a message.  

“The master humbly respects your esteemed status and reputation, and wishes to make a proposal.”

The count’s proposal was not very surprising.

Let both sides collide their troops and decide the victor through a duel between knights, so that the losing side retreats and the winning side prevails!

It was a common practice in the Empire, and many battles concluded as such. The letter sent also contained customary niceties regarding such practices.

“. . .?”  

Johan blinked. At the end of the letter was a familiar insignia.

It was the mark of a snake.

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