How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 336

𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 (9)

‘𝘖𝘩. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.’  

Johan thought the tribal chiefs would take the eunuchs’ side to some extent even if he told them to fold their arms inside, but he was wrong.  

They could not even be compared in the first place.

Compared to the listless eunuchs who had even lost their army and the vigorous elite troops led by the duke to the Holy Land.

Even if the duke was a crazy b*stard, the tribal chiefs would consider taking the eunuchs’ side a little, but the duke was too moderate, to the point that the tribal chiefs probably thought ’𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?’

If the tribal chiefs themselves were the duke, they would have already beheaded several families in the Holy Land and stained the rivers red with blood.   

“If you say so, I should send someone to catch them.”

“Should I send my subordinates?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Seized and brought in, the eunuchs immediately confessed and begged for mercy the moment they heard the charges.

“Forgive us, Your Highness! We had no choice but to follow the Sultan’s orders!”

“We were only following orders!”

The torturers looked at the eunuchs, somewhat perplexed. They had spilled their guts too quickly than they had expected.

Torture sessions usually involved breaking bones and tearing flesh before they reluctantly confessed. . .

‘𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵!’

Having served in the palace, the eunuchs were well aware of how these interrogations worked. Once they started, they never stopped until they got the answers they wanted. Rather than needlessly resisting and becoming crippled, it was better to quickly confess and make excuses as much as possible.

‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴?’

‘𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. . .’

“What should we do?”

“Even if we report it, we can’t just let them go. The chieftains were adamant. They said not to show mercy.”

“Understood.”

The torturers exchanged glances and nodded in secret. The eunuchs trembled with anxiety as the atmosphere turned strange.

“Begin!”

“Wait! Wait! Please!”

The eunuchs realized the situation and cried out, but it made no difference.

As the oldest eunuch screamed, the others realized anew how dangerous their situation was. They never thought someone who acted so composed in the palace would behave like this.

There was no one to save the eunuchs who had been captured. The captured nobles would be lucky if they didn’t send assassins, and the associated tribes would not come forward.

. . .In fact, the eunuchs had been unaware that the chieftains had stepped forward and shouted to capture the eunuchs. And it was better for them not to know.

“Please don’t do this! Please! If there’s anything you want, just tell us. We’ll do whatever you want!”

“. . . . . .”

The eunuchs couldn’t bear the pain and babbled whatever came to mind, but the torturers ignored them. If they let the evil b*stards who tried to assassinate the duke go too easily, there was a chance they would be attacked. They didn’t want to be tortured together just because they were suspected of colluding.

The harsh interrogation stopped briefly after half a day. The torturers left for a while to rest. The eunuchs, who had barely bought some time, shouted anxiously.

“Where. . . where did the information leak from?!”

“This is not the time to worry about that. If you don’t want to die together, think hard! Anything is fine. If you’ve heard anything, tell us everything!”

Frantic conversations took place, and useless information piled up.

“The duke wanted to capture that Manansir guy! How about this?”

“That’s useless too! Come up with something else. What about the wizard?”

“He’s a shrewd b*stard, so asking for our life won’t help! He’s not even taking bribes!”

“There’s a snakekin wizard in the camp. What about her?”

“She doesn’t have much influence. It’s impossible!!”

“Wait. Wait.”

“?”

Everyone turned their gaze when the old eunuch interrupted the conversation. It seemed like a decent story had come up.

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?’

“Offer Manansir! That might work!”

“. . .?!” 

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

After a long time, Ulrike visited, and Johan was puzzled and welcomed her.

Both were busy because of the Holy Land.

Johan was doing his best to manage the Holy Land in his own way, and Ulrike was busy managing the interests of the Holy Land in her own way.

“Have you been on a pilgrimage?”

“What? Oh. . .”

Ulrike smiled bitterly. She realized what Johan was talking about.

Whether they were devout or not, pilgrimage was very meaningful to monotheists. Why would so many people leave their distant hometowns and wander in foreign lands?

Of course, Johan’s reputation and resentment toward the enemy were also there, but the desire for pilgrimage was also quite strong.

Among the widely known holy places, there is no place as authoritative as the Holy Land right now. If a pilgrim visited such a place once, he could be recognized and blessed for the rest of his life.

It seemed like nobles wouldn’t do something like this, but surprisingly that wasn’t the case. Even the most greedy and faithless nobles went on pilgrimages ahead of everyone else.

“Didn’t you?”

“. . .I did.”

Ulrike was a little embarrassed for nothing. While talking, they had secretly enjoyed the fact that they both lacked faith, but they had to confess like this.

“But, since all the other nobles went there, you couldn’t be the only one who missed it. . .”

“Who said what? I did it too.”

“. . . . . .”

He cleansed my body, climbed up the nearby hill, looked at the temple covering the tomb, said a prayer, came down the hill again, went through the gate, and entered the cathedral, etc.

Johan performed this boring ceremony with the bishops.

It was said to be boring, but the bishops next to him burst into tears. Johan felt like he should cry for nothing, and he was upset.

“You didn’t come here to complain about the pilgrimage, did you? Going around and praying is not my way.”

“Of course not. . . What a ridiculous joke. I came because of something more important.”

Ulrike lowered her voice slightly and spoke seriously.

“There was a proposal that Your Highness should officially become the protector of the Holy Land.”

“. . .?”

Johan was puzzled for a moment because he didn’t understand.

“Aren’t you already the protector of the Holy Land?”

The title given to the one who conquered the Holy Land. To put it roughly, it was closer to talking about a feudal lord in a more plausible way. If you just say that he is the feudal lord of the Holy Land, it would be bland, so wouldn’t it be better to say that he is the protector of the Holy Land?

Looking at it that way, it was Johan who was now in command of the expeditionary force and occupied the Holy Land.

“Of course, you are occupying it now.”

Ulrike stretched out her finger and swept down from the north to the south of the map. The territory of the monotheistic feudal lords was there.

These feudal lords who came over a hundred years ago had a very delicate relationship with the expeditionary force.

They were allies in front of the enemy, but when the enemy disappeared, they always complained and grumbled and tried to devour the expeditionary force.

Inside the expeditionary force, there was a saying that ’𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩.’

“If they had occupied it first, they would have received money for the pilgrimage to the Holy Land.”

Johan was a little shocked.

In fact, it was an old tradition to receive money for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Pilgrimage to the Holy Land was possible even when it was occupied by pagans. And of course, money made it possible.

Johan intended not to stop them even if they came to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage, out of respect for this tradition and consideration for the polytheists. Of course, he would receive some silver coins.

“But it’s okay because they didn’t occupy it, right?”

“Yes. But there are quite a few people who are worried. Right now, Your Highness is here, so they are obedient, but will they be the same after Your Highness returns?”

“Hmm.”

Johan also thought about what Ulrike said.

The Holy Land was too far from where Johan was.

Moreover, the location was the worst, with many enemies coveting it and not many reliable allies. The fact that it had to be entered quite deeply from the coast was not good. It would be very annoying if it was taken away once.

So Johan was thinking that it would be better to hand over the Holy Land to other feudal lords and get the port cities on the coast for himself. Although he couldn’t say such a thing because the bishops might grab him by the back of the neck and knock him down. . .

“That’s possible. But is there a solution?”

“Yes. It is to call the feudal lords here and unite them. Originally, the protector of the Holy Land in the old days was in such a position.”

“. . . . . .!”

Johan was surprised by the unexpected proposal. To put it nicely, it’s about uniting them, but to put it badly, it’s closer to calling them out and receiving an oath of allegiance. Which feudal lord would like that?

Long ago, when they first came across, they had no choice but to unite, so they had to endure the fact that the nobleman who occupied the Holy Land first became the leader and moved down.

Even considering such a situation, there was a tremendous amount of conflict and fighting, and in the same situation now, there was no way they would swear allegiance. Why would they be sorry?

‘𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. . .’

“Who supports it?”

“Almost everyone who participated in the expedition. Except for one or two, the bishops all agreed. And this proposal was not my idea, but someone else came and pressured me.”

“. . . . . .”

Johan was genuinely surprised. He didn’t know that such a story was going on under the surface.

“Why not in public?”

“I think they thought you would humbly refuse if they said it directly.”

‘𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰.’

Johan was careful, but he wasn’t so greedy as to spit out what others were feeding him directly. If others were suggesting it, wouldn’t it be enough to stay still and accept it?

“So. . . what do you think?”

“If the feudal lords around here send soldiers and pay taxes regularly, there is nothing more I could ask for. But getting in is a problem.”

“Don’t worry. It’s a problem that those who brought up the story will be responsible for.”

“. . . . . .”

Johan hesitated for a moment whether to stop him. It’s definitely not going to be a peaceful way. 

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Members of the expedition were adept at wielding the carrot and the stick.

During the daytime, the nobles would only drop hints, engaging in pleasantries, but by nightfall, pilgrims akin to fanatics would circle the tents threateningly, chanting.

The nobles sent by the feudal lord realized that things were turning strange. They would have had a problem if they hadn’t.

“Why are you doing this? Someone keep them in check!”

The knights were hard enough to control, but the pilgrims in the expedition were more difficult to control in some respects. The knights had something to lose and hence could be reined in, but the pilgrims were people who had come with little more than their lives.

They were people who had gathered, burning with passion, after hearing the sermon of a priest or a bishop. The nobles knew only too well that they were capable of doing anything if provoked.

“Haha. It seems you’re drunk on the glory of conquering the Holy Land.”

“This is no laughing matter! Disband them or placate them!”

“I would have given orders if they were my vassals or mercenaries. But they’re freemen who came here on their own. I can’t just give them orders.”

“Then I shall inform His Highness the Duke!”

“Do you know how busy His Highness is right now? I believe you’ve heard rumors of the crusade against the pagans. What’s more, things are already in turmoil because of the assassination rumors. Is there any reason why you have to see His Highness now?”

“. . . . . .”

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴!’

Being fellow monotheists, the nobles and knights who had joined the expedition were capable of acts just as despicable as the feudal lords here.

The nobles on the feudal lord’s side regretted not having welcomed the expedition when it first arrived and instead tried to extort gold. It was likely because of that very act that they had united like this. Normally, these people, whose interests and emotions were complicatedly intertwined, would not have united.

“. . .I’ll send a messenger to the feudal lord and relay the news.”

In the end, they were the ones who suffered. The military strength of the expeditionary force currently around the Holy Land was formidable. They wouldn’t have fared well if they resisted with just a handful of troops here.

“Your excellency has made a wise decision! I’m sure the count will also make a wise choice.”

“. . . . . .”

The nobles on the feudal lord’s side licked their lips in dissatisfaction. They hadn’t expected to find their fellow believers so detestable.

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