How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 325

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐭 (2)

“What will you do?”

The captain of the dozen guards guarding the gate asked cautiously. Neither the captain nor the city lords here had expected Duke Yeats to enter.

Normally, asking a high noble such as Duke Yeats to enter a city with only a hundred men in his retinue was like politely making an excuse and refusing entry.

What did a duke have to be so pitiful that he would make such concessions just to enter?

While it was good for both sides because the city could refuse entry without incurring the duke’s wrath thanks to the old-fashioned pretext, things got complicated when the duke said he would enter with only a hundred men.

“Didn’t you say they’d already won the battle?! Why are they here instead of going to the Holy Land?”

“Didn’t they pursue the remnants of the defeated army. . .?”

The lord of the city was furious at the captain’s words.

“Do you think I have so much free time on my hands?! Who in the world would come here themselves just to catch a few remnants of the defeated nobles?”

Johan would have been troubled if he had heard that, since the city lord’s guess was exactly right.

However, the situation didn’t change just because the city lord was angry. The captain urged him on.

“You need to make a decision. If we’re going to relay the message down below. . .”

The mercenaries employed by the city moved according to the orders of the city lords who ruled the city. They were loyal in their own way, but they weren’t enough to fight against the formidable duke’s army. And the same went for the city lords.

“Tell them to open the gate. Make sure that there is nothing lacking when we receive the Duke.”

“Yes!”

After the captain hurried away, the city lord thought to himself.

He would absolutely have to keep the fact that the Sultan’s men had entered the city a secret.

If it were to be discovered. . .

‘𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥.’

The eunuchs had promised a large sum of money and asked for their safety to be protected, but the city lord had no intention of doing so. If a problem arose, he planned to cut them down without hesitation.

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“It certainly is a fine city.”

A hot wind flowed down the street, and the exotic smells of various mixtures stung the nose. The soldiers tossed coins to the beggars gathered on the side of the road. The beggars, marveling at the nobles’ generosity, offered their praises and thanks in various languages.

“Shall we go to the mansion?”

When a noble like Johan entered, it was only polite for the leaders of the city to invite him to the mansion. However, Johan shook his head.

“Let’s go straight to the harbor.”

“Yes.”

The soldiers wore slightly disappointed expressions, having expected a luxurious reception, but they followed his orders without question. Suetlg spoke with an air of anticipation.

“I wonder what the harbor here is like.”

“Were you interested in harbors?”

Johan was puzzled. Compared to that, Suetlg hadn’t shown much interest in harbors when he had been in his fiefdom. Not even in the shipyard the dwarves had built. . .

“I’m not particularly interested in the pulleys, ropes, and anchors. Interesting things tend to gather at harbors, don’t they? Especially in a place like this.”

Caenerna nodded in agreement with Suetlg’s words. With so many goods flowing in and out, there were bound to be many suspicious individuals as well as interesting things discovered in a large harbor like this.

Especially in a place like this, where people of various religions gathered.

“I’m not sure.”

“Well. . . It’s not like there’s definitely something. And it’s not like I’m thinking that I have to find something. Isn’t it fun just to have something to look forward to? The anticipation is supposed to be the most enjoyable part. . .”

Johan let Suetlg’s words go in one ear and out the other, and had the soldiers call the captain over.

“Go and ask if we can borrow a ship.”

“Yes.”

“. . .He’s still talking.”

“Ah. I apologize.”

“Anyway, you’re thinking of borrowing a ship when you haven’t even found them yet?”

“It’s not bad to secure a ship just in case. But still. . .”

Johan fell into thought.

If pagan nobles who had escaped had entered the city, where might they be hiding?

If they had entered openly, they would be hiding in the mansion of an acquaintance, and if they had entered in secret while concealing their identities, they would probably be hiding somewhere in a suitably shabby warehouse.

It would be difficult to find either of them right away.

‘𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴?’

Galambos, a hunter from the eastern rangers, spoke up.

“If you give the order, I will search the vicinity and see.”

“No. I forbid any rash actions. It’s not good to cause unnecessary friction within the city.”

While they were talking, the soldier returned. It seemed that the captain had readily lent them a ship. Not many would refuse when they were offered a generous sum and the duke himself was borrowing it.

“We’ll have to check and see if the ship is okay since we’ll be stowing people away on it.”

“Shush. Your voice is too loud.”

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Although they had allowed the duke to enter, the city lord weren’t entirely without a conscience. He secretly sent word to the eunuchs.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬.

“What kind of nonsense is that?!”

The eunuch was furious. It didn’t make sense no matter how he looked at it.

Why was the duke, who should be rushing to the Holy Land at this point, in this southern port city?

There was only one conceivable reason. They had been sold out by these city nobles.

“I’ve known all along that the city folk are shameless scoundrels without a conscience, but I didn’t know that they’d sell even their own parents!”

“Oh, do be careful with your words. Now is not the time to be crossing swords.”

Although they were resentful and indignant, the eunuchs weren’t in a position to fight the city nobles right now. They had to stay quiet and slip away as quickly as possible.

“Isn’t this mansion dangerous too?”

“Surely not. . .”

The knights escorting the eunuchs reacted negatively. The mansion they were in now felt quite safe to them.

How could they be discovered when there were only so many mansions belonging to nobles in the city, and so many rooms in the mansion on this hill? There seemed to be no chance of being discovered as long as they stayed quietly inside.

“You fool! The very fact that the duke came here means that we’ve been betrayed, and you still haven’t come to your senses?!”

“It’s not certain that they betrayed us. . .”

“With how stupid you are. Tsk, tsk.”

The humiliated knight turned red in the face.

“Moreover, even if they didn’t betray us, it’s still dangerous. What will you do if the duke starts searching the nobles’ mansions?”

“Surely he wouldn’t commit such rudeness in a city that isn’t his own?”

No matter how great a noble he was, he was still just a guest in a city that wasn’t his fiefdom. Searching the mansions of other nobles at will was an intolerable disrespect.

“Come to your senses. Do you think that violent man would respect such customs? “He will search as much as he wants!”

“. . . . . .”

The knights were completely speechless, their spirits crushed. The eunuchs huddled together and talked among themselves.

“Let’s go to the harbor. It won’t be comfortable, but if we hide inside a ship, there’s no way we’ll be discovered. If anything happens, we can escape quickly.”

“Hmm. . . I don’t like it, but we have no choice.”

The eunuchs hurriedly finished their preparations and headed for the harbor. They were told that the ship was anchored, but staying on a ship was quite a bothersome and difficult thing to do. Who would enjoy it? But they had no choice if they wanted to avoid the duke.

However. . .

“. . . . . .”

“. . . . . .”

The eunuchs held their breath, frozen in place below the deck. Not far away, they could see the duke looking around the harbor.

‘𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩. . .?!’

‘𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥.’

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“An ogre cub?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Johan was looking around at the pagans’ artifacts while he was at the harbor. Then a merchant came up to him and said that he was raising an ogre cub.

“It would be a creature worthy of Your Highness’s majesty!”

“Can you. . . raise an ogre cub?”

Johan asked Jyanina, looking at her. Jyanina hesitated and stammered out her words.

“I’m not sure either.”

“. . . . . .”

“. . . . . .”

Iselia tried to change the subject with a fake cough. It was clearly to help Jyanina.

“It’s possible.”

“No. Listen! It’s normally impossible, but we can’t conclude that the pagans here can’t do it just because of that, can we? That’s why I said it like that!”

Jyanina’s words were reasonable. Johan nodded in agreement. However, his doubts were not dispelled.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴?’

Perhaps it was because the power in her voice was weak. Suetlg and Caenerna made use of the magic power in their voices and used it effectively, but Jyanina was clumsy in that regard.

“Bring it here.”

“Yes! Here it is.”

A large monster growled from inside the cage. The soldiers exclaimed in admiration at how similar it looked to an ogre.

“This is a goblin.”

“It’s a goblin? A mutant perhaps?”

“??!!”

The merchant’s mistake was that the duke himself had once caught an ogre. Having caught an ogre, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between it and an ogre cub.

The expressions of the soldiers behind Johan and Jyanina hardened.

“How dare such an impudent wretch speak to Your Highness in such a manner. . .”

“Ah, no! I didn’t know! I was completely fooled too!”

“I should rip your tongue out!”

While the soldiers grabbed the merchant by the collar and shook him, Johan turned his head, hearing a strange noise coming from behind him.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?’

Johan’s senses were several times sharper than those of others, as befitted someone who had received a blessing. Even in the noisy harbor where all sorts of people were bustling about, he could hear the sound of someone fighting.

It wasn’t just a fistfight or a scuffle, but a fight where swords were being swung and clashed against each other.

The fight grew louder and louder. The insults they were hurling at each other became clear enough for Johan to understand.

━𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐰𝐧!

━𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬??!

“. . .Wait. Stop.”

“Yes?”

At Johan’s words, the soldiers threw the merchant aside. The merchant, who had fallen face-down on the ground, nervously glanced at the duke from behind a cloud of dust.

“That ship! Get on that ship!”

At the duke’s command, the soldiers ran off at once. The sailors were startled and tried to block their way.

“Your Highness! What is the meaning of this?! You can’t do this!”

It was originally forbidden to board someone else’s ship without permission, even in a city’s harbor, let alone the duke’s. Moreover, the sailors here had a rough idea of what was on the ship.

The lizardman who seemed to be the captain rushed out and shouted forcefully.

“I don’t know what misunderstanding you have, but if you board without permission, I will call the soldiers.”

“Call them.”

“Yes?”

“I said call them. Move!”

The captain thought that the duke would back down since he had only brought his escort with him when he entered the city, but he was taken aback by the unexpected response.

Johan, on the other hand, was convinced by the captain’s response.

“Everyone, keep your heads down! Anyone who raises their head will be beheaded!”

“Get down! I said get down!”

Although they were sailors who had been hardened by their rough work, they weren’t foolish enough to face off against heavily armed soldiers with just a club in their hands. The sailors fell to the ground in terror.

Johan pushed aside the sailors and boarded the ship. Just then, several people scrambled up from below the deck and onto the deck.

“Your Highness! Please help us!”

“. . .???”

Johan was momentarily taken aback when pagan knights he had never seen before asked him for help. When people experience something too unexpected, they can’t react right away.

“Your Highness. Are these perhaps your other subordinates?”

“I’ve never seen them before!”

Johan’s escorts asked just in case and then looked embarrassed. Their lord was so good at skillfully recruiting others that they had wondered if that might be the case.

“Kill them!”

Before he had even finished speaking, others rushed out from below the deck. Several of the knights were bleeding, suggesting that they had been swinging their swords at each other.

“How dare you defy the Sultan’s orders. . .!”

“Shut up! You kidnapped Yeheyman-gong without permission. You’re the rebels!”

Johan couldn’t know the exact details of the situation, but he could roughly guess what had happened.

“Shoot them all.”

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