How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 144.2: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ฎ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐†๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  (1)

At Johanโ€™s words, the mercenaries became excited and stepped forward. They grabbed the vassals by the arms and dragged them away. As the atmosphere turned strange, the vassals panicked and shouted.

โ€œYour Excellency! We have surrendered! It is against the rules to treat those who have surrendered like this!โ€

โ€œWe do not accept surrenders after an attack has begun. Execute them. How many have died so far?โ€

At Johanโ€™s question, the mercenary captains answered awkwardly.

โ€œNot only the count but also his wives. . . it seems several vassals have died as well.โ€

โ€œThe rumors will spread terribly.โ€

Johan clicked his tongue. Now that it had come to this, he didnโ€™t even know to what extent bloodshed to expect.

He had gone through the trouble of hosting a banquet to placate the nobles of this kingdom. . .

โ€˜๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ข ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ด.โ€™

โ€œClean up the castle. Stop the looting and find the b*stardโ€™s property. Catch his scribes, attendants and servants, and make them spill what theyโ€™ve hidden. . .โ€

โ€œWhat should we do with the captured nobles?โ€

โ€œLock them up for now. Iโ€™ll decide after reviewing the situation.โ€

Originally, he was going to leave the count alone and ruthlessly exploit the meddling vassal families by threatening to leak secrets and refusing ransoms. . .

But now that this had happened, his thoughts became complicated.

โ€˜๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜บ?โ€™

๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

However, the situation unfolded a bit differently from Johanโ€™s expectations. There was less backlash than he had anticipated.

The families who had come to the banquet sent envoys to congratulate him on his victory and declare that they would become his new vassals.

โ€œYour rights will remain as they are.โ€

โ€œYour Excellency! Shouldnโ€™t you stop them from adhering to their improper religion?!โ€

โ€œI have no choice. The republic envoys strongly demanded it. If we force conversions, many merchants will flee across the sea and chaos will ensue. From the republicโ€™s perspective, trade will become too difficult.โ€

Of course, it wasnโ€™t actually a demand from the republics. In fact, if large numbers of merchants fled, the biggest loss would be to Johan rather than to them.

However, it wasnโ€™t a completely false statement either. The priests of the religious order couldnโ€™t help but resent the republics.

โ€œWe will make generous donations to the new temple being built for you all, so please donโ€™t resent the republic people too much.โ€

โ€œ. . .Yes. We understand.โ€

After appeasing the order, Johan casually asked those who had come:

โ€œWhat are the reactions of the other families?โ€

โ€œThey are delighted with Your Excellencyโ€™s victory.โ€

โ€œSpeak appropriately and tell me the truth.โ€

At Johanโ€™s words, the envoy became embarrassed and opened his mouth.

โ€œWhile there are some expressing discontent, such fellows can be ignored. They know nothing and are small in number.โ€

โ€œThey say itโ€™s no big deal that the count died?โ€

โ€œYes. In any case, it wasnโ€™t Your Highness who caused the incident. Moreover, did you not execute those unruly fellows in his place? No one brings up that matter.โ€

โ€œ!!โ€

Johan was surprised.

He was seeing an unexpected effect thanks to appeasing the nobles at the banquet. The nobles ready to switch sides staunchly defended the countโ€™s death.

Since the captured men also had to read the situation now, they agreed with those words. As a result, rumors did not spread as badly as Johan had anticipated.

โ€˜๐˜๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ด?โ€™

๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

โ€œThe new count seems to be a much more sensible man than the rumors say.โ€

The captured nobles nodded their heads. On the battlefield Johan had seemed like a mad demon, but after calmly cooling their heads and piecing together the rumors, he appeared in a slightly different light.

From welcoming the families who came to properly holding the countโ€™s funeral. . .

It didnโ€™t seem like he was just oppressing them by force and looting before leaving, but rather that he truly intended to govern.

When they realized they werenโ€™t dealing with a demon who didnโ€™t understand dialogue, they became more at ease. Itโ€™s always the most frightening when you donโ€™t know who youโ€™re dealing with.

โ€œThen is the reason heโ€™s treating us so well and not executing us precisely to gain our cooperation?โ€

โ€œThat must be it. Since our families have quite some influence in this kingdom. . . If we cooperate, others will follow suit.โ€

โ€œThen instead of chattering away, letโ€™s go request it. If we say weโ€™ll pledge loyalty so let us go, Iโ€™m sure even the count will be overjoyed.โ€

โ€œHow much should we pay for ransom? Half?โ€

โ€œWhat are you saying. . . Are you trying not to pay any?โ€

โ€œNo, paying nothing at all is a bit. . .โ€

โ€œEven if we pay a little, we have to speak strongly when negotiating. The count seems like the far-sighted type, so heโ€™ll know whatโ€™s most important.โ€

The nobles called a servant and requested an audience. They eagerly prattled on in front of Johan. After listening to it all, Johan nodded and replied.

โ€œCut the bullshit and prepare the ransom within the deadline. Anyone who fails to do so will have their neck severed.โ€

โ€œ. . .!!!โ€

๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

ฬ‡ศงฬ‡๐”ด๐™š๐™—๐•ค๐•ฅ๐จแน™ฬ‡๐š’๐•–๐•ค.ฤ‹ฬ‡๐š˜แน

Even after alternating between carrots and sticks, it took a solid six months to stabilize the kingdom.

In fact, this speed was enormously fast. It would have been completely impossible without Johan.

During this time, Johan tenaciously suppressed rebellions, appeased families, and solicited new supporters.

โ”๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐€๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ? ๐ˆโ€™๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐œ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐€๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐’๐ž๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ž ๐จ๐ซ๐œ ๐ฌ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž? ๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ž. ๐ƒ๐จ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ข๐ซ ๐ž๐ฒ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ. ๐“๐ก๐ž๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐›๐จ๐ซ๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ.

โ”!

The wealthy orcs of the kingdom were surprised yet delighted by the new countโ€™s friendly overtures. They had never imagined that the invader from across the sea would show them favor.

โ€œEnvoys have come from Gilsina, Your Excellency.โ€

Gilsina, the port city closest to the peninsula across the kingdom. It was a city that had purchased autonomy from the former count.

Johan clicked his tongue.

โ€œThey probably came to grumble over their loss, right?โ€

โ€œI suppose so.โ€

The city had nothing to be regretful over. Not only were they financially affluent, but they also had a decent number of mercenaries. They were also connected to the Emperor across the sea.

As such, Johan could not casually issue orders to them either. In fact, despite having just ascended the throne here, Johan had not made any particular demands of Gilsina. He hadnโ€™t even demanded the customary congratulatory gift.

โ€˜๐˜๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜น๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜บ. . .โ€™

No matter how tenacious Johan was, it seemed he would explode.

โ€˜. . .๐˜—๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ.โ€™

However, as soon as the envoys finished their greetings, they began weeping and pleading.

โ€œPlease help us, Your Excellency!โ€

โ€œ?โ€

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