How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 245

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦 (2)

After suppressing the undead plague that had been noisy around for a while, Johan was trying to move on to the next step.

It is to pull in the elector of the east and press the emperor faction from three sides.

No matter how much the emperor acts like a crazy b*stard, if such an encirclement tightens, there is a high possibility that he will bow his head and enter into negotiations.

Although the Elf King wanted to smash the elite of the emperor with one battle and make him surrender as it is, other feudal lords thought differently.

In the first place, a large-scale battle itself was a chaotic gamble that no one knew who would win. If tens of thousands gather in one area and get entangled with each other for days, all kinds of variables arise.

War can be lost due to very minor mistakes and coincidences. To stake one’s life and family on such a war usually requires more than just guts. It was normal not to want to do so lightly.  

It was also a problem if you won. 

What if the Elf King makes a big splash there? How do you control that influence? The western feudal lords didn’t want interference, they didn’t want a new emperor.

. . .The problem was that Duke Brduhe would not easily agree.

Among the Empire’s electors, the Brduhe family was the closest to moving separately. 

Its location was also far removed from the Empire, and its customs and culture were different. It was so much so that people in central Empire treated them like eastern barbarians.

As such, negotiations ran into difficulties again and again, and eventually Johan had to step in personally.

“The reason why the duke does not come forward is obvious, but. . . it won’t be easy to resolve that.”  

Suetlg also knew the reason well enough.

The interests of the Brduhe family were focused on the Ulcana Peninsula to the southeast. 

As Johan had occupied cities on the peninsula together with the Brduhe family troops, various small kingdoms and duchies on the peninsula were fiercely fighting now. The city states bordering it were also gnashing their teeth ominously, so from the Brduhe family’s point of view, they couldn’t take their eyes off the situation.

Frankly, Suetlg was curious. 

Just what kind of alternative was this young count thinking of?

“To be honest. . .” 

“?”

“I didn’t intend to ask the duke to mobilize his elite troops.”

“. . . You mean just cheer with words??”

Suetlg was confused. Iselia was also quite confused. Verbal encouragement had little meaning. Even now, a bishop of the Twelve Electors was pouring out condemnation and warnings, but the emperor was completely ignoring them.  

Words usually had meaning, but in this situation where everyone was doing their utmost, they didn’t have much influence.  

“No. I misspoke. In other words, I had no intention of mobilizing the elite under the duke’s command.”

“Then who are you calling?”

“I was thinking of getting the cooperation of the tribes further east.”

“. . . . . .”  

Suetlg made a horrified expression at the unexpected words. Iselia also seemed to have lost words, unable to close her mouth.

“Are you suggesting we call on the eastern tribes? How are you going to take responsibility for the aftermath?”

It was an unfair thing to say to the centaurs and other tribal warriors who were loyal to Johan, but the eastern warriors were basically untamed barbarians.

There were dozens of tribes who did not immediately pledge allegiance to the Duke, and there were pro-Duke tribes like Achladda’s Alcia tribe who were loyal to Johan, so it was uncertain whether they would properly follow orders.  

Even the vassals of the Empire might disobey their lord’s orders and act on their own judgement when they go to war. How much more arbitrarily would those tribes who do not know such customs and disciplines act?

“No. I do not have such a crazy idea. Please listen carefully.”  

However, Johan was unexpectedly serious.

“First of all, the Duke is closer to the eastern tribes than you think. It would be more ridiculous if they were not close after spreading it out.”

“Aren’t those who listen to these words not obedient?”  

Iselia tilted her head. As she had moved with the centaurs, she roughly knew. The centaurs did not listen to words unless they admitted it themselves. Iselia also had to converse with steel instead of words for some people.

“The important thing is that he is close. The reason the Duke is doing this is to stabilize the surroundings and mobilize them as mercenaries in case of emergency, and he has actually mobilized them as mercenaries several times. The results were successful.”

“What?! This is the first time I’ve heard this story?”  

Suetlg was surprised. If the Duke had mobilized eastern tribes as mercenaries, rumors would have spread several times in the Empire, but he had never heard of it before.

“Well, it must have acted secretly so as not to spread rumors, which would not be good.”

“How did you find out?”

“I heard it from Count Ganolwood.”

Count Ganolwood.  

He was the strategist who led Duke’s troops in the previous subjugation.

Mercenaries and knights ridiculed him as a stutterer and a coward, but Johan got along very well with the count, and the two teamed up to chatter quite a bit.

“The count led it before, and he said it was quite controllable if the person in charge did it properly.”  

“Huh. . .”  

Suetlg looked at Johan in disbelief.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥.’

Just looking at the various mercenaries gathered around Johan now, it was not such a strange thing. At least the centaurs here were showing their loyalty by following Johan across the sea.

“So you’re going to borrow that?”

“Yes. Isn’t that the most likely possibility?”

The witness behind was brought to testify when exposing the evil deeds of the emperor. Of course, he kept getting punched because he had a talent for angering people all the time.

“?”

Baien began to appear in the distance, but the surrounding atmosphere was very strange. An awkwardness that was different from usual could be seen in the appearance of passing merchant groups and travelers.

Johan called one traveler. At the call of a tall nobleman, the traveler carefully brushed off the dust from his clothes and approached.

“Did something happen?”

“Yes. . . Duke has passed away.”

“. . . ..????”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Human life is so fragile that even the Duke, who had seemed fine before he left, died suddenly, which was hard for Johan to accept.  

“Why?? Could he have been assassinated?”

It would not have been surprising if the various petty kingdoms and cities fighting Duke had hired assassins.

However, the traveler was flustered and shook his head. 

“That. . . that’s not it. He was out hunting and accidentally suffered a grave injury. . .”

“. . . . . .”

Johan was at a loss for words again.

Of course, hunting in this age was a dangerous act where even the hunters put their lives on the line to some extent. But someone of the Duke’s status would have had guards around him, been well armed, and had people prepared to provide medical care in case of an emergency.  

To die by such a coincidence. . .

“This is maddening.”

As Johan muttered, Iselia took his hand. Seeing Johan express emotion like this was a rare occurrence, so her actions showed concern. Johan nodded as if to say he was fine.

“The envoys who arrived first will be ready to hang themselves. . .”

“My dear, what shall we do?”

“Well, we’ve come this far, so we should enter the city. But I don’t know what we can do.”

With the Duke having died so suddenly, just handling the aftermath would be overwhelming. 

On top of that, the Duke had prepared his succession in an unusual way. Rather than favoring one child, he empowered several of his children and avoided causing competition among them.

In the worst case, his children may have already begun preparing for a civil war.

“Your Excellency Count!”

“?”

Hearing someone call out to him, Johan turned his head. A group of people were approaching from the distance. Based on their attire, they seemed to be a knightly family.

The knight in front jumped down from his horse, paid his respects, and spoke.

“I am Undrashi of the Petreo family, Your Excellency!”

“. . . . . .”

Seeing Johan make a thoughtful expression, Achladda and Euclyia whispered swiftly from the side like lightning.

“That family was there when we were werewolf hunting, remember?”

“Those scheming b*stards.”  

“Oh. . .”

Then he remembered.

The family of the knight who had schemed when various tribes and knightly families went hunting to gain the Duke’s recognition!

‘. . .𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?’

Hadn’t Boriska of the Petreo family died a miserable death from that accident? From their perspective, there was no reason to greet us so happily.

Was this a trap?

“Your Excellency retrieved his corpse for us and covered up the matter.”

Achladda whispered as if he couldn’t believe it. Why had he forgotten something he did?

“Oh. . .right, that did happen.”  

Johan’s memory returned clearly. At the time, since there was no need to make the issue bigger, he had retrieved the corpse and covered up the matter.

The other family could only be grateful. Not only had they avoided embarrassment, but they got the corpse back too.

“I see. Nice to see you.”

“If it pleases Your Excellency, our family would love the opportunity to host you! Please grant us the honor.”

Since he couldn’t meet the Duke right away anyway given the chaotic situation, there was no reason to refuse such an invitation when he had to wait. Johan nodded.

“Very well.”  

“Thank you! The people of our family eagerly await hearing of Your Excellency’s heroic deeds.”

“I appreciate it.”

Although Undrashi was no dog, he was overjoyed as if he had a wagging tail. Achladda spoke resentfully.

“If hospitality is what you want, our tribe would treat you even better.”

“To get to your tribe would take a week at least.”

“Haha, not a full week.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

On his way, Johan met envoys from the Jarpen family. They were also flabbergasted and resentful, on the verge of death.  

“I will speak well of you to His Excellency the Count. Don’t worry too much.”

“I’m sorry, Your Excellency. You must be in turmoil now. . .”

“It’s a bit confusing. So what’s the situation?”

“The retainers of the family are all distracted preparing for the funeral. I think we’ll only be able to talk after the funeral is over.”

“I see. We’ll have to talk after it’s over.”

“By the way, where are you headed?”

“I was invited by the Petreo family for a meeting.”  

“The Petreo family?”

“Why? Has there been any bad rumors? Like they bought poison or brought in brainwashing devices. . .”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Never mind. Just kidding.”

“I didn’t know you were close with the Petreo family. But you were active around here, so you must have bonded over those connections.”

The envoys nodded in understanding. The friendship between knights can bloom like fire, and a single hunt can create a lifelong bond.  

‘. . .𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. . .’

Knights do have a somewhat eccentric side, but not to that extent. . .

“As expected, Your Excellency is an amazing person, already in contact with the Petreo family.”

“?”

“Aren’t they the closest family to Elso-gong?”

The Petreo family was close with Elso, the duke’s first son. Suetlg nodded and answered on Johan’s behalf.

“That’s obviously the only reason that comes to mind.”

“Indeed. . .!”

“. . . . . .”

Despite having heard of Johan’s visit only a short while ago, the Petreo family’s efforts to prepare were evident.  

Sincerity shows in even the smallest details.

They specially imported drinks favored by centaurs and dwarves, and brought in bards and musicians who could sing tales of Johan.  

The envoys expressed admiration on Johan’s behalf.

After several rounds of drinks, when those sitting next to Johan had collapsed with their heads on the ground, and another round had gone by, and the excitement was fading, the Petreo family brought up what they wanted to discuss.  

Usually when entertaining guests, lively drinking, eating and fun comes first, and serious talk comes after – bringing up business too early is rude.

‘𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵.’  

“We heard you came to negotiate. We’d be happy to introduce you to Elso-gong.”

“Would that be okay? I don’t want you to get caught up unnecessarily.” 

“You protected the family’s honor and returned the corpse. We now have a chance to repay your kindness – how could we not delight in this!”

For the first time in a while, Johan was moved. The details were a bit different, but what did that matter?

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