How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 236

𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞 (1)

“Did Count Shirivik’s family crest have a snake in it?”

Ulrike shook her head at Johan’s question.  

“What is it? Graffiti or a stain?”

The pattern was drawn so subtly that one would not notice it if they did not look closely. Anyone else would have thought it meaningless and moved on.  

However, for some reason it bothered me.

“Shall we send five men each and determine the winner?”

“Yes.”

Defeat was declared even if all weapons were broken or one was unhorsed. Duels between knights were not as brutal as fights between mercenaries.  

“Count Shirivik wants to meet face to face before the duel, but this. . .”

“Could it be a trap?”

“It seems like a trap.”

Despite their mutual distaste, Ulrike and the Elf King often agreed. Neither wanted to meet the Count.  

The Elf King was an honorable knight, but no fool. He reasonably considered that his opponent might not be so honorable.  

Why meet face to face when they could just send their knights to determine the winner? What reason could there be?

Seeing the two nobles’ negative reactions, the envoy panicked and said,  

“No! My master is a man of honor. He would never set such a trap.”

“That makes it more suspicious.”

“There are no forests to hide an ambush nearby, and my master will come alone. If you want anything, please let me know. Weapons are allowed.”

“. . . . . .”

“. . . . .”

The eloquent envoy’s words left the two speechless, contrary to expectations. There was no possibility this was a trap. Relieved, the envoy thought, 

‘𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.’

However, the envoy still did not know the Elf King well. With a scoff, the Elf King turned his head.  

“Still can’t believe it.”

“. . . . . .”

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺. . .?’

When someone of status bluntly expresses distrust, an envoy can do nothing. The Elf King was no gracious knight who cared about preserving the honor of someone he did not respect. 

“Can’t believe it either.”  

Ulrike had no intention of needlessly acting for some faraway feudal lord of the Emperor faction just to save face.

“Fine. I’ll go out and see.”

“Thank you!”

The envoy was moved to tears. If he brought back this offer and none of the three came out, it would be his responsibility.  

“Why show mercy to the likes of him, Count? I don’t understand.”

“I agree.”

“. . .Just go hear what they have to say.”

Ulrike was no fool who couldn’t grasp the situation. Even so, she chose to ignore them as it brought no benefit.  

Even if the other party really came over after such maneuvering, it was better to ignore their intentions and focus on their own work rather than waste energy on it.

Johan would even bend down to pick up a coin fallen on the road. Even more so, wouldn’t the count yield at least one silver coin?

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“What about the others?”

“I came alone as the representative.”

Count Shirivik looked around with a relieved expression. Karamaf barked sharply at Count Shirivik.  

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵? 𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?’

Johan was puzzled. From Karamaf’s reaction, it seemed certain that the count was up to something.

But there really didn’t seem to be any way. The open surroundings were completely empty and. . .

Other than someone coming out from under the ground, or Count Shirivik drawing his sword and rushing at Johan, nothing else seemed possible.

“There really isn’t anything?”

“I told you there isn’t.”

“. . . .Your Excellency. Please help me.”

“How can I?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Along with his words, Count Shirivik showed the tattoo on his sleeve. It was a snake tattoo. Seeing the guild tattoo after so long, Johan was horrified.  

“Count, were you part of Nessus?!”

“. . .That’s not it. Didn’t Your Excellency command me?”

Only then did Johan realize the other’s identity. It was the assassin from the Venom of Nessus guild that he had met when he went to subdue the city with the Duke Brduhe’s son.

The assassin who was cursed to lose his face!

Johan had sent him to target the emperor’s life in exchange for saving his life, and since there was no news afterwards, he had assumed that the assassin had failed or fled.

“Could it be that You forgot?”

“How could I. I was waiting every day wondering when I would hear back from you.”

“. . . . .”

The assassin looked at Johan with a dissatisfied expression at his words. He had been making an effort to keep his sacred oath even at the cost of cutting his own bones, but the other seemed to have forgotten about it.

“So you left the snake symbol?”

“Yes. I thought Your Excellency would recognize it. . .but you didn’t?”

The assassin had assumed Johan came alone after recognizing the symbol. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had any reason to come alone.

“I recognized it but didn’t know what it meant.”

“. . . .??”

The assassin didn’t understand why Johan hadn’t recognized it. It was the guild’s unique snake text. . .

“Anyway, we don’t have much time. Tell me what happened.”

“Yes.”

Listening to it, the assassin’s exploits were as eventful as Johan’s.

First of all, what the assassin worried about the most was how to get close to the emperor. 

Getting close to the emperor was different from targeting a city magistrate. There were excellent knights and wizards swarming around the emperor.

Besides, the emperor himself was a suspicious and fierce figure. Matching his status, the magic he had with him was considerable. . .

If he approached recklessly, he would surely die miserably bound by the magic around him.

So the assassin decided to target the nobles of the emperor faction. Fortunately, as the Empire was in turmoil, feudal lords often left their fiefs with their armies.

After persistent waiting, a few attempts, and a bit of luck, the assassin was able to cut off Count Shirivik’s breath and disguise himself as him.

The soldiers following the count would never have dreamed that their original master’s corpse was tucked away under the basement of this inn.

Impressed by the assassin’s ability beyond expectation, Johan said.

“Then can you take the emperor’s life now?”

The emperor faction was still in power now largely thanks to the emperor’s charisma. As a heretic, Cardirian had been involved in several scandals, and as an emperor, he was a ruler lacking leadership whose feudal lords had rebelled en masse, but no one denied that he was a strong knight.

When the nobles of the west and south and the elf knights gathered, everyone expected the defeat of the emperor faction, but it was Cardirian who won a surprise victory in that unfavorable situation.  

Who would have known that the old and seriously ill emperor would move like that?

It was a faction maintained by such charisma, so it was bound to collapse like a sand castle once the emperor died. The emperor’s children did not have such charisma.

“. . .I tried several times but it was beyond me.”  

The assassin said in a gloomy voice. He had secretly hired some of Nesus’ other novice assassins or assassins from other fencing guilds and sent them to Cardirian’s quarters.  

It was to identify gaps and scout.  

Ultimately, it was a total failure. He didn’t expect that not one would make it back alive. The assassin himself also didn’t expect such failure.

“There must be magic that detects assassins.”

“Hmm. . .”

Johan was not surprised by that remark. Isn’t Karamaf right next to Johan now? Just as Karamaf’s sensitive nose seeks out enemies, it was no wonder that the emperor had several such means.  

‘𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭?’

Even so, Johan tried to hear as much information as possible. Because he didn’t know how it might be used later.

He heard that the emperor was obsessively suspicious and his bedroom changed every day. When camping, he has several tents and several doubles.’

As if that wasn’t difficult enough, now the knights and wizards guarding him changed all the time too. It wasn’t a set order but was determined by the emperor’s summons.  

After a set time passed it became impossible to even approach.  

Last time, a knight cut down a trusted attendant of the emperor’s son when he was urgently sent, and the atmosphere became extremely bad.

“Thanks. If I ever get into the emperor’s tent later, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“. . .It doesn’t seem like you have much talent for jokes, Your Excellency.”  

And the people the assassin feared most among the vassals in the emperor’s court were those court wizards.

Not ordinary court wizards, but suspicious wizards who came and went in secret with their faces covered.  

They had notorious reputations or had committed suspicious criminal acts, but Cardirian didn’t care and summoned them anyway. They offered all kinds of evil magic and mysteries.  

This was just the assassin’s feeling, but it seemed they had brought up suspicions about Count Shirivik. It was still just suspicion but. . .

“Oh, so that’s why you’re asking for help.”

“Yes! Release me from my oath. I did my best.”  

“If you disappear now, won’t there be turmoil?”

“Well that may be so but. . .”

“No. Endure a little longer.” 

“No. . . what’s the point in going back just to get caught?”

“I’ll think about how to prevent that. I’ll try to come up with a scheme.”

“. . . . . .”

The assassin sent a very unpleasant look. Count Shirivik had quite a handsome face, so the assassin’s look was rather awkward.  

“Anyway, tell me about the emperor. What’s the atmosphere been like lately?”

“It’s better than before thanks to the victory, but the atmosphere is still razor sharp.”  

While Johan’s allied side had loose autonomy, the emperor faction was strictly hierarchical with the emperor at the center.  

No matter how great a lord, they couldn’t give unnecessary orders to a vassal, but Cardirian ignored that and wielded iron rule. The atmosphere was that brutal.  

It was typical fear rule by a tyrant.

“Isn’t he seriously ill?”

“It’s. . . a bit strange. Those wizard fellows must be up to some shady trick.”  

Cardirian didn’t often reveal himself even in front of his vassals. He handled matters by sending his children or attendants.

But on the rare occasions when he happened to show himself while passing by, his ruthless glare made even the weaker vassals piss themselves.

The assassin was quite confident in his own courage, but even he was tense enough. . .

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?’

Johan was dumbfounded. One of the things he had been expecting the most was Cardirian’s poor health.

He was an old man who could collapse at any moment, so enduring was part of the strategy, but. . .

He must have eaten something weird. That lively vigor changed things.  

“When the emperor’s around, everyone has a hard time saying a word.”

“I guess talks of negotiations came up.”  

“How did you know? Yes. There has been such talk. Of passing the family headship to the emperor’s first son and giving up the succession to emperor. . .”

“It would be strange if those thoughts didn’t come up after such a prolonged war.”

They want negotiations as well. It’s not like the other side doesn’t feel the same way.

Their strategy was similar to theirs.

Wrap up the undead plague, replenish the troops, recruit soldiers, gather supplies, march south again and siege castles.

The emperor’s determination to take back the south at any cost and behead the rebellious feudal lords was apparent.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥.’  

It was beyond Johan’s common sense.

Did they bury some ancient Empire treasure down south or something?

The assassin spoke anxiously.  

“Your excellency. Do you have a scheme? I implore you.”

Assassins weren’t nonchalant about death either. Everyone wanted to live.  

The assassin’s long experience warned him. Staying by the emperor’s side for long could end horribly. 

The previous count might have shown a shred of mercy so he killed him cleanly, but the emperor had all sorts of cruel tortures to experiment with.

“Of course I’ve come up with something.”

“Oh! Thank goodness. I was truly worried. What is it?”

“You and I dueling.”

“. . . . . .”

The assassin’s expression hardened as he glared at Johan.

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