How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 344

𝐒𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (4)

Johan and his subordinates guessed that the feudal lord was in chaos due to the heat of battle. Otherwise, there was no reason to apologize suddenly.

“It seems you are quite tired. Protect the lord.”

“Yes.”

“N-No. I am fine.”

“Really?”

Worried by the feudal lord’s words, Johan approached with a concerned look. He worried that the feudal lord was pretending to be unharmed despite being injured. Of course, for the feudal lord, it was sheer terror. It felt like his heart stopped when the blood-soaked duke approached.

“I am really fine! I am truly fine!”

After the feudal lord fled with his subordinates, Johan asked his escorts.

“. . .Is there something on my hands?”

“Who knows? Maybe he cursed at the duke?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The feudal lord, who had barely escaped a near-death crisis, realized once again that evening that he was a lucky man. 

The enemy forces gathering on the other side of the river were increasing in number.

“Wicked pagans!” 

“Good heavens. . .”

Although it was getting dark, the enemy forces were clearly visible. Torches moved chaotically from all directions, and there were loud shouts and horn sounds.  

Not being able to count their exact number made things more terrifying. The feudal lords who had come with Johan unconsciously made the sign of the cross, with frightened expressions on their faces.

Seeing the enemies directly made them realize what kind of situation they were in. It was a terror that could not be fully grasped just by hearing news of victories from afar.  

‘𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵??’

‘𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥!’

Some of the feudal lords regretted what they had said earlier. To speak so fearlessly without even seeing the size of the enemy forces. . . If the duke had called them and said, ’𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥,’ their hearts would have stopped.

But not everyone was afraid.  

“The insolent pagans have finally come! God has given us a chance! He tells us to throw them all into the river!”

“Waaaah!”

“God is with us!”

“. . . . . .”

“. . . . . .”

The enthusiasm of those who had participated since the beginning of the expedition did not diminish even after seeing the enemies. Rather, it burned more vigorously, as if things had gone well. Seeing this, the feudal lords who had late joined the expedition were shocked.  

“However ignorant they may be, there should be a limit!”

“Those guys swept away by the words of the priest don’t know fear. They need to get shot by arrows and stabbed by swords before coming to their senses.”

The feudal lords turned away in disbelief. They had long known that the pilgrims from the west were full of madness. Such passion was needed to come to this distant land after all.   

But the pilgrims in this expedition were especially intense. The feudal lords wanted to talk to the knights or other nobles. At least they would be more reasonable.

“There is no need to move as rashly as those excited brothers of faith right now.”

‘𝘗𝘩𝘦𝘸.’

Hearing the moderate words from the tent, the feudal lords heaved a sigh of relief.  

“Soon a miraculous revelation will come down! When that happens, let’s all charge shoulder to shoulder! If faith is with us, even the highest walls of ancient kingdoms will crumble powerlessly! We have already seen the gates of the Holy Land open!”

“Waaaah!”

“. . .!!!”

The feudal lords were horrified.

They knew that the knights from the west were uncivilized and barbaric fighters, but this was too much. Even so, this was humiliating.

“Listen. This isn’t the enemy’s main force. More enemies will arrive here soon, so charging headfirst. . .”

They wanted to say, ‘𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.’ Hiding behind the tall castle walls wouldn’t be as unsettling as it was now.

However, they needed some agreement to say that. The current situation was far from that.

“Numbers don’t matter.”

“. . .?”

“If we charge with faith, our enemies will fall.” 

“What kind of nonsense is that? That’s not how battles work! You have to assess the enemy’s forces and find their weakness. . .”

“It’s because you’re obsessed with things like that you have not been winning.”

The knights from the west looked at the feudal lords with ridicule. The feudal lords were so dumbfounded they weren’t even angry.

Who was supposed to be ridiculing whom here. . .?

“It’s faith, my lords. True belief. It was His Highness the Duke’s true faith that allowed us to defeat enemies many times our number.”

“Are you saying that. . .we have false belief or something?”

“. . . . . .”

Instead of answering, the knights exchanged looks. It was answer enough. The feudal lords, who expected at least a denial, were furious.

“If you let go of your pointless obsessions and try again to have true faith. . .”

“Oh, stop. That’s enough.”

The feudal lords gave up and backed down. Going back to their tents to await orders to charge seemed better than talking to these obstinate fools.

The duke was no easy man to deal with either, but compared to these stubborn mules, the duke was much preferred.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The armies gathered near the riverbank, one after the other, and long rows of camps began to form. Tension hung thick over the wide river. 

At first, enemies who shot arrows or attempted to cross the river were silent, realizing the futility of their efforts. Arrows didn’t have a chance of reaching, and trying to cross the river would mean becoming a corpse at the bottom before making it across.   

“I heard they sent an envoy?”

“Yes. They probably want to pay ransom and retrieve their prisoners, right?”

While not all had arrived yet, there were quite a few pagan nobles being held prisoner in the military camp. From the sultan’s perspective, he would want them back.  

It wasn’t a bad deal for Johan either. Rumors of the sultan’s hefty purse of gold coins were rampant.  

—𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬!

. . .There were similar rumors, so even if not entirely accurate, there was no doubt he was wealthy.  

“But there’s a problem.” 

At Johan’s words, people gathered looked puzzled, as if asking what could be problematic about exchanging ransom.  

“There are quite a few who say they’ll pay their own ransom using family power instead of waiting for the sultan to free them. . .”

“. . .”

The higher the status and more they had to lose, the more they didn’t want to be freed, or rather, didn’t want to face the sultan.  

Impossible under normal circumstances, but the situation was a bit special. There were many who would face the sultan’s wrath upon returning.  

The feudal lords replied as if asking what the issue was. 

“Can’t you just refuse them?”

‘𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺.’  

Johan cursed the feudal lords in his head. If they also had rights over the ransom money, they would have said ’𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘴? 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸! 𝘕𝘰, 𝘭𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯!’

“Refusing is easy, but I’m worried they’ll use it as excuse to spread nonsense rumors.”

“The words of pagan scums can be ignored. . .”

Instead of ignoring the words of pagan scums, Johan ignored the feudal lord who had just opened his mouth.  

There were quite a few pagan armies following Johan at the moment, so he couldn’t be reckless.  

“So I’m thinking of having the envoy directly meet with the hostages.”

“Good idea. Meeting face to face should clear up any misunderstandings. What can they do if they don’t want to leave?”

“Yes. I hope you guys can persuade them well.”  

At Johan’s words, the feudal lords nodded in understanding. They realized why the duke had summoned them.  

When the envoy arrives, they need to match words with the hostages so no unnecessary suspicions arise. It wasn’t a very difficult task.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Leading the envoy delegation across the river, Iwalap wiped the sweat and looked around.

Delivering messages as an envoy trespassing each other’s fiefdoms during the war was never an easy task. They could encounter rogues or assassins on the move.

Though there was less to worry about just crossing a river like now, the risk was still there. They could get attacked and killed by an enraged enemy knight or get beheaded if the enemy monarch ignores the customs.

Above all, the most dangerous one was the lord who sent the envoy. If the envoy fails to fulfill his duty, it’s the lord who would kill the envoy first.

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩. 𝘚𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩.’

Looking at the camps scattered across the other side of the river, Iwalap gulped. Though less in number than the Sultan’s army, they were by no means trivial opponents.

━𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐈𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐩? 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.

━𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧.

━𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬.

The Sultan gave various instructions to the envoy delegation.

The Sultan, who went berserk when first hearing the news of defeat, seemed to have calmed down a bit after the long march.

Besides, other nobles kept offering bribes and begging for their lives. So the Sultan eventually decided to have them redeem their sins by making achievements instead of tearing them apart.

There were various situations that led to such decision, but. . .

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.’

Compared to how much their enemies knew about them, the Sultan knew too little about the enemies. There were only groundless rumors about the enemies. Stuff like making pacts with demons and borrowing their power to win battles. . .

So he clearly wanted to take them as hostages instead of killing them and collect ransom.

“I apologize, but I have to refuse.”

“?!!”

Iwalap was baffled as the captured noble showed his intent to refuse. It was completely beyond his expectation.

“What nonsense are you talking about?? Tell me your reason!”

“I promised the duke to pay the ransom with my family’s power. If I get released now thanks to the Sultan, it would be disgraceful to my honor.”

“. . . . . .”

Lost for words at the unreasonable excuse, Iwalap was speechless. He would be a fool to buy such story. There could be only one reason.

“The Sultan has no intention to punish you! There is no need to worry!”

“What are you talking about now? It looks like I’m worried about that now!”

On the contrary, the noble got angry. Iwalap realized he made a mistake.

‘𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰. . .!’

No matter how urgent, he shouldn’t have spoken in haste. And there was one more thing.

‘𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺!’

As long as he feared the Sultan, any kind of persuasion was meaningless. Iwalap wouldn’t have believed it either if he were in the noble’s shoes. Who would go back believing that?

Iwalap shuddered as he recalled the duke’s figure happily allowing the envoys into his camp.

He must have had some scheme going on to aim for this.

After the envoys came and went, wouldn’t the prisoners be even more afraid and rely on the duke?

“Are you done with the talk?”

Seeing the envoy coming out, Johan asked without any hidden agenda. Since there seemed to be no issues, the talk must have gone well.

“. . .Yes, Your Highness.”

“Good.”

“. . .Your Highness is truly a frightening man to devise such a scheme.”

“???”

“But be aware. The Sultan will never back down from any scheme. I’m telling you he will sweep through this land like a storm.” 

‘𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥?’

Johan was dumbfounded at the sight of the envoy, who was having a good conversation and then suddenly started babbling nonsense.  

Why is he suddenly boasting?

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮? 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦.’

He was so dumbfounded that he almost forgot the plan he had originally prepared. Johan pulled himself together and opened his mouth.

“Since the hostages have chosen to remain here for the sake of honor, I was going to make another proposal for the Sultan. . .”

“What is that?”

“Those loyal subjects who would give their lives for the Sultan. . .”

“??”

Iwalap didn’t understand right away. Johan explained it a bit awkwardly.  

“I mean the eunuchs.”

“Oh. . . Oh I see!”

Iwalap was embarrassed too. It was so unexpected that he didn’t think of it right away.

“Wait. You mean the eunuchs?”

The Sultan didn’t pay money to buy eunuchs, who were no better than slaves. Of course some cherished slaves were valued, but it was better to buy new ones rather than pay a high price for them.  

“Yes. The eunuchs want to go back.”

“But the Sultan. . .”

“Does it have to be the Sultan who pays? Someone else could pay the money.”

“. . . . . .”

To Iwalap’s ears, the Duke’s voice seeped in like the whispers of a demon.

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