How to Live as a Wandering Knight – Chapter 374

𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 (18)

And indeed, they moved quickly.

“Send men at once to find him!”

“You can’t ask me to go searching in the night like that. . .”

“You! Are you trying to take advantage of the fact that you’re not locked up right now?!”

“That’s not it. . .”

The captured vassals called in their subordinates to threaten them and their colleagues to persuade them. No matter how dirty or deadly it was, the others had no choice but to move.

Out of desperation, one of the servants came up with a brilliant idea.

“They say that one of the gamekeepers outside rushed to find a new horse because the Marquis’s horse was injured! I also heard that he heard where the Marquis was headed!”

“Is that true! Where in the world did he go?!”

The confined vassals shouted with joy as if they were about to jump up. However, the servant’s expression was not so bright. The vassals didn’t understand why the servant was acting like this.

What is it?

“The Marquis. . .he. . .”

“Speak quickly!!”

“. . . It’s too absurd of a story. . .”

“Of course it’s an absurd story! The Marquis left without a word! Be prepared to believe any absurd story, so hurry up and tell me!”

The vassals kicked their feet in anger.

In the first place, the fact that the Marquis suddenly ran out into the night with only his men without a proper explanation was absurd and unconventional.

Maybe his lover suddenly collapsed, or maybe the leader of the rogue group that suddenly appeared was the Marquis’s hidden child, or maybe the Marquis was actually a devotee of an evil cult and disappeared for a secret ritual. . .

The vassals were prepared to accept any explanation they heard now.

“T-That. A dragon appeared. . .”

“. . . . . .”

“. . .Didn’t I tell you it was an absurd story. . .”

The servant protested as if he was feeling wronged. However, the vassals’ gazes did not change.

One of the vassals mumbled.

“Perhaps His Highness the Duke will forgive us if we offer that guy and the gamekeeper who spread that nonsense instead?” 

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Oh. . . After the dragon appeared and he heard the news, the marquis rushed out hurriedly. . . .”  

Johan’s reaction made the retainers not dare to raise their heads. They trembled at the thought of innocent servants and gamekeeperS being executed.   

“T-That, Your Highness. Maybe I heard wrong because my ears are not good. Sir Knight did say a dragon appeared but that might not have actually been a dragon. . .”

“How dare you chatter here!”  

As the gamekeeper mumbled, one of the retainers got angry. He was afraid of worsening the duke’s mood.   

Of course, Johan got angry at the vassal.   

“Are you ignoring my words now and talking arbitrarily? Do you want to take over this seat?”  

“. . .Ah, no!”   

“The huntsman testified well. Give him silver coins and send him back to his post. The servant also did a good job finding it. Similarly, give him a reward. If that testimony was wrong, it would be because the master hurriedly commanded, so it would be the master’s mistake.”  

“!?”  

As the arrow suddenly turned back on them, the vassals were shocked.  

What? How did this become their fault here?

“A dragon. . . A dragon. It’s not an impossible story.”

Johan muttered as he folded his arms. The vassals couldn’t help but be even more bewildered at the Duke’s reaction.

Is he saying that he believes it?

Dragons only existed in old tales. It is said that one appeared in the Empire in the past, but whether that was real or just a rumor, is. . .

“Could it have flown over here?”

“Your Highness stabbed it, but the wound wouldn’t have been fatal.”

The vassals turned their heads with wide eyes at the words of the centaurs.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺??’

“Well, since dragons are so rare, it could possibly be the same one.”

“If it’s the same one, it would have grown much stronger.”

Johan rose from his seat and gave orders to the vassals. Although they were relieved that they’d be able to get out alive for the time being, the vassals were bewildered because they couldn’t understand the conversation that had taken place inside.

Could a dragon have really appeared?

“The reason they hid the appearance of the dragon is probably. . . It’s likely because they were watching the situation in many ways.”

Caenerna stepped up to give her explanation in a bright voice. Having worked as a wizard for the Emperor’s faction, Caenerna was well-versed in the psychology of the Northerners.

The Elf King also nodded in agreement.

“Even without that, they had a grudge, and if a dragon appeared, the feudal lords would be drooling!”

The civil war was over, but the feudal lords were not on good terms with each other. If rumors of a dragon in the North spread, the flames of war could be rekindled.

Even considering that, it was not necessarily good to spread rumors of a powerful monster. It was best to quietly catch it if possible.

‘𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳.’

When a group of monsters appears, the feudal lords naturally had to focus all their efforts on subjugating it, and those who had complaints in the meantime would spread all sorts of strange rumors.

Especially if it’s a dragon. . .

“If it’s an opponent that made the marquis rush out like that, it must’ve been called by another feudal lord in the North, right?”

“That’s right. It wouldn’t be strange for a dragon to take over an entire castle.”

Johan fell into thought as he listened to the stories going back and forth. Although there were some people among those present who said that ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦,’ Johan somehow didn’t think that the story of the dragon was a lie.

If it was true, then it was an ill-fated relationship. Wasn’t it the case that he met the one he met once before again in this unfamiliar land in the North?

Johan whispered quietly enough for only Suetlg, who was next to him, to hear.

“If it’s really a dragon, let’s avoid it and run away.”

“I really like your cowardly attitude.”

The young Duke and the old wizard nodded with expressions that showed they understood each other. The Elf King, who was standing next to them, thought as he watched them.

‘𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯? 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨!’

The Elf King swore to himself that if the Duke set out to catch the dragon, he would definitely go with him and stab his sword into its heart. His fingertips were already tingling and his heart was beating fast.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The fact that the army of heroes who had finished their expedition to the Holy Land had just arrived in the North through the West had not yet spread widely.

The feudal lords of the North, who did not know that, were sitting in the conference room with serious expressions. It wasn’t even this heavy when the Emperor was overwhelmingly defeated in battle.

“So the dragon. . . sent a letter?”

“It was an ancient Empire language that was crooked and hard to understand, but it was definitely a letter!”

The damage from the dragon was much more severe than Johan and the others had thought.

The dragon suddenly appeared one day, quietly piercing the darkness of the night.

The gate of the mountain castle of the count, who was unfortunately caught, was completely destroyed, and the dragon went inside and preyed on the victims.

Because it was a remote place in the North, the rumor did not spread for a while.

The rumor spread by those who had escaped did circulate a bit, but the feudal lords in the North weren’t so free as to pay attention to such absurd rumors.

It was thanks to the free knights wandering the North who rushed to the feudal lords in shock after seeing the tragedy that proper information was spread.

━𝐀 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝!

Of course, the feudal lords didn’t believe it all at once from the beginning. However, as the knights increased one by one, and above all, the dragon sent a letter. Goblins, who seemed to be possessed by something, dragged a pack animal and handed over a letter written in blood, then died coughing up blood.

The contents of the letter were mixed with a lot of archaic language, but it could be summarized in one sentence.

Give me the Emperor’s head.

“. . . . . .”

“That crazy dragon!”

One of the feudal lords shouted, gnashing his teeth. It was humiliating to be worrying so much about a monster.

There were none as strong and ferocious as the feudal lords of the North, even in the Empire. No matter what monster appeared, they had never backed down, but they were being ridiculed like this by a dragon.

“What in the world does it mean by ‘𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥’?”

“I don’t know. How would I know what’s inside a dragon’s head? Maybe he heard a rumor that the Emperor’s flesh is sweet.”

“Watch your mouth! Whose name do you dare to━”

“Watch my mouth? Your Excellency, who do you think almost ruined the North right now? Honestly, I don’t want to see the sight of the Visalfurk family either! My daughter and son-in-law died because of the Emperor!”

The Visalfurk family, the Emperor’s family, was a great family that was like the master of the North.

But that was in the past. After their defeat in the civil war, the North could be considered to have been split in half. The Visalfurk family was no longer able to speak out as they had before.

“Everyone, calm down. This is not the time to fight over such things. We can’t not accept the help of the Visalfurk family in dealing with the dragon. What if it moves to another place?”

The others who had been fighting at the mediation of the other feudal lords also stopped talking. It was certainly a persuasive warning.

Even though the crazy dragon was full and settled in the mountain castle for now, there was no telling when it would move.

“Let’s hire more mercenaries.”

“This isn’t about subjugating a group of bandits! Do you think it’ll work if we hire more mercenaries?”

“But we can’t do nothing. Hiring Eastern rangers. . .”

“No matter how brave the Eastern rangers are, they’ll never come if there’s talk of a dragon. Besides, the nobles in the East will never yield easily.”

“We might as well inform them of the truth and call the knights from all over the Empire! Or call the Elven knights!”

“Do you know what the situation is like right now? If you call them rashly, an irreversible situation could occur!”

“Everyone.”

“??”

“I heard that the Duke’s army has arrived in the North.”

“. . . . . .”

The expressions of the feudal lords in the North twisted at the news that was worse than a dragon in some ways.

They came looking for them when we’re in no condition to receive them.

“Surely they didn’t find out about the dragon?”

“Is that even logical? How many people would believe it if we said a dragon appeared?”

“Well. . .”

“Let’s all keep quiet. What’s the problem if we treat them well and send them back? It’s not really a great achievement.”

“The place that will welcome the expeditionary force must be suffering. What if they cause trouble. . .”

“Marquis, the Duke’s army has arrived at the Marquis’s castle.”

“. . . . . .”

Kertz, the marquis who had been sneering, froze. He never expected something so big to happen while he was briefly away from the castle.

“M-My castle?! Is my castle safe?!”

“Yes. . . I asked a servant who came from there and he said there were no major problems.”

“. . . . . .”

The marquis heaved a sigh of relief. He didn’t know about the other things, but he was really grateful for this. To be honest, he didn’t think the expeditionary force would show such consideration.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘋𝘶𝘬𝘦. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶.’

“So what did the messenger from the expeditionary force say? Is there any Northern liquor they want to drink?”

“He said to tell us not to hide it if a dragon appeared.”

“. . . . . .”

A frozen silence hung in the room.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“They won’t be caught, will they?”

“With so many eyes and ears, they won’t be able to.”

It was Caenerna who advised them to stab it openly. Since the feudal lords in the North would hide the truth among themselves if left alone, they had to go out as if they knew everything from the beginning.

Wouldn’t they spill everything they knew out of fear then?

The feudal lords in the North conveyed the situation with a few excuses for their pride (we weren’t trying to hide it, we’re not afraid of dragons, we just regularly gather among feudal lords to enjoy banquets and we talked about dragons a bit).

“The dragon wants the Emperor’s head?”

Johan was slightly pricked. If there was anyone who was most related to the Emperor’s death here, it was Johan himself.

“Did the Emperor perhaps kill a dragon’s cub?”

“Cardirian was crazy, but he wasn’t that crazy, Your Highness.”

Caenerna answered, shaking her head as if to say no.

“The Emperor’s head. . . the Emperor’s head. It is unique. But how can we know the thoughts of a monster?”

“Maybe he just hates the Emperor.”

“That makes sense in a way. . .”

“Isn’t he mistaking the Emperor?”

The people gathered there threw out a word each. Johan fell into thought as he listened to them.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳. . . 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳?’

A person that the dragon could have a grudge against.

In fact, a grudge was an emotion that was surprisingly difficult to have. When you’re a dragon, there’s not much for you to hold a grudge against, right? Whenever one appears, monsters and people try to avoid it.

Perhaps the only time he would have a grudge would be against the one who had inflicted a great wound on the dragon.

“. . . . . .”

Johan suddenly felt goosebumps at the thought that came to him.

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦!?’

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