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Johan regretted not just keeping silent. It was because Repiata started inviting Johan to his tent every two or three days.
Being the child of a duke, he couldn’t refuse, and every time he went there, he felt suffocated and exhausted. . .
Upon hearing the situation, Achladda was so delighted that he almost died.
“Didn’t I say it was ominous, Sir Knight?”
“He’s just a man of few words, that’s all.”
After the last incident, Achladda had become quite friendly with Gerdolf and Marco. It seemed Gerdolf’s taciturnity and Marco’s archery skills were quite appealing.
‘𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.’
Playing against the duke would have been better. Surely there would be something to gain. But if it’s the youngest child of the duke, the story changes.
First, it’s uncertain whether he’s the favorite of the duke, and what will happen later is also unpredictable. . .
“How was the person?”
“The people around him were quite loyal. At that age, it’s quite an impressive level. And there were some strange characters around. . .”
Johan told Suetlg about the various people around him. Suetlg listened as if it was fascinating.
“That’s certainly interesting. Even with all the talent, to have such people around. Wait. Now that I think about it, aren’t you the same?”
“I only dealt with people whose identities were certain.”
“Repiata must have checked the identities too. . . I missed asking, why are you bringing the eastern ranger?”
“Ah. That guy.”
After hunting the werewolf, the rest were forgiven by the duke and released, but Galambos was not.
Johan had a lot of questions.
━𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭-𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. . .
━𝐎𝐡. . . 𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦? 𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.
━𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐟?
━𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥. . .
An ordinary knight might not have shown much interest in a hunter’s knowledge, but Johan had been asking Joseph various things since he was young.
He didn’t miss the opportunity to review what he had learned before and to gain new knowledge.
Johan made full use of his status and position as a knight.
━𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.
━𝐈, 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭.
“Wouldn’t he be useful in a siege?”
“Well. . . I’m not sure. Anyway, isn’t that kind of thinking similar?”
“I think I’m a bit better.”
“Honestly, there doesn’t seem to be much difference on the surface.”
Count Ganolwood issued the departure order a week earlier than planned. The mercenaries, who had been waiting leisurely, grumbled as they packed their bags.
━𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 Count , 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲? 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠?
━𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝. . .
“Isn’t the Count great?”
“?”
“He’s doing this so they can’t prepare after hearing rumors from the city side.”
“. . .That’s one way to think about it? I thought it was the duke rushing him.”
Caenerna looked surprised, as if she hadn’t thought of that. She hadn’t rated Count Ganolwood that highly.
She had thought the change in schedule was a minor mistake. A mistake that a timid Count might make.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
Soldiers moved in groups, following their flags. It was impossible for all the soldiers gathered here to depart at once in an orderly manner. They were not organized that way from the beginning.
The commanders of each unit shared their destination and went there on their own, a method akin to a primitive approach.
Johan also led his unit towards Umdim. He saw some knights he had met in the city leading mercenaries as they passed by.
“Sir Knight! There’s a town ahead. Will you attack it?”
“No. Call the village chief.”
Achladda ran off again with a look of regret. He wished to break into the town’s palisade and loot property at will. . .
Johan sternly reprimanded the village chief who had paid taxes to the city instead of the duke. The village chief, trembling, paid protection money with the town’s collected wealth and pleaded for mercy.
“I don’t understand why you’re lenient towards such weak traitors.”
“■ ■■. Sir Knight must have ■■■ too.”
Euclyia’s words began to reach him faintly. The beginning probably sounded like ‘𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱’. . .
“Did I say something wrong? Such people won’t be grateful even if shown mercy. If Sir Knight had fewer soldiers, they would have spat and insulted, and if Sir Knight had retreated in defeat, they would have betrayed and attacked.”
“Well, probably.”
“. . .?”
Achladda was puzzled when Johan readily agreed. He didn’t expect him to concur there.
“It’s not out of honor or pity for them, but for practical reasons. If we loot one town, others won’t come out easily, choosing to resist desperately. Our goal is Umdim, and there’s no reason to weaken ourselves before reaching it. Although we’ll get less gold.”
“!”
Achladda, impressed by Johan’s words, readily agreed.
“You’re right. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“Since we’ll be in this area for a while, it’s better to make as few enemies as possible.”
However, not all knights and mercenaries thought as coldly as Johan.
Basic supply in this era was terrible. It was rare for supply units to constantly go back and forth between the front and rear, and usually, they had to be self-sufficient locally.
And the most convenient form of self-sufficiency was, of course, plundering.
There was sufficient justification, and the mercenaries also cheered for such looting. It was an opportunity for a lucrative income, not just supplies.
Knights like Johan, who thoroughly stacked up supplies during the preparation period and additionally replenished from towns and merchants, were a rarity.
When about to extract money and supplies from another town, a mercenary came running from afar, holding a flag of an unfamiliar mercenary group.
“Sir Knight! Good news. Our captain has sent a message to attack this town together!”
“No. This town has already received protection money. I swore in my name not to attack it.”
“No. . . Were you, the knight, the one going around doing that sort of thing?”
The mercenary looked astonished.
Hearing rumors that some towns avoided plunder by invoking the name of the knight, the thought,’𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦?’
𝐒𝐧𝐚𝐩!
Accompanied by the sound of a whip, the mercenary was thrown off his horse. Gerdolf and Achladda struck the mercenary simultaneously. The two exchanged satisfied glances.
“This worthless human. . . How dare he be so insolent?”
“I. . . I have committed a crime worthy of death. I am sorry.”
The fallen mercenary spat out blood and quickly bowed his head.