How to Live as a Wandering Knight

However, this time the ogre did not give in so easily either. Despite being hit hard in the chest, the ogre viciously counterattacked.

Damn!

The flying Giant Slayer was met by the ogre’s huge axe swinging down hard. Biorarn couldn’t hear it, but Johan could clearly hear Valkalmur screaming.

Having taken a hard hit, Valkalmur retreated inside Johan, hanging his head.

As Johan threw his body to regain hold of the Giant Slayer stuck in the ground, Biorarn stepped forward to buy some time.

“Face me, you filthy b*stard!”

Biorarn swung his sword so hard that even his gauntlets froze from the intense cold. The fierce chill grabbed the ground and completely immobilized one of the ogre’s legs.

The unnatural cold seemed to have startled even the ogre as he paused briefly. That was enough. Johan circled around to the ogre’s side, gripping the Giant Slayer.

Following Johan’s path, the axe came flying with a roar. Small for the ogre’s size, the axe was still clumsily huge compared to a human. All the more agile and faster as it flew at the ogre.

The basic principle for a knight facing a large monster was to attack and retreat. No knight fought head-on or contested strength.

No matter how much one trains their strength and builds their muscles, the human limit was clear compared to monsters.

That’s why when Biorarn saw Johan blocking the ogre’s axe, his chest sank with shocking impact.

“Damn. . .”

The axe flew in but glanced off course, shattering the ogre’s hand. Johan swung the end of the Giant Slayer, leaving a deep gash in the ogre’s palm.

Johan preferred simple, fast attacks due to his innate strength, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know any techniques. He could use them whenever necessary.

Seeing the forest monster demonstrate such strength surpassing even trolls, Johan felt it difficult to face and used his techniques for the first time in a while. The technique struck true, tearing apart the ogre’s hand.

Never having suffered such a counterattack in his life, the ogre howled. It was a scream that threatened to tear eardrums. Johan felt the blessings given and taken by the pagan goddess course through his veins, protecting his body.

Johan unconsciously glanced at Biorarn. The armor he wore emanated a strong aura of mystery. Though not made by the craftsmen of the ancient Empire, it contained magic breathed in by the Empire’s wizards.

“Come at me too, b*stard! If you have the guts to attack, then come on!”

Seeing Johan demonstrate his technique against the monster seemed to ignite Biorarn’s fighting spirit. Not just anyone could show off techniques against monsters.

Although techniques can subdue strength, there were no fools recklessly using them against monsters. When the difference in strength becomes too great, techniques lose all meaning.

Biorarn was fired up to see this common knowledge shattered head-on. If that doesn’t light your fire as a knight, something was wrong. The ogre turned his head towards Biorarn. At that moment, Johan’s Giant Slayer shattered the unfreezing knee.

-■ ■■■ ■!

The ogre spewed coarse curses in a pain-laced voice. The excited Teshuka whispered to take off his armor and weapons and charge with the power of the wild.

‘𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. . .!’

Giving such an absurd suggestion to charge naked in this situation. Johan ignored it and swung the Giant Slayer once more.

Cornered, the monster exploded with savagery and blocked the attack in an unexpected way. Using his body to withstand the Giant Slayer’s sharp edge. Releasing the strength of his tough, sturdy muscles, the tip of the Giant Slayer sank deeply in.

The ogre staggered, grasping his weapon with one hand. Then he sneered ferociously at Johan. It was a laugh that said what are you going to do now.

Johan looked at the ogre and chuckled. Biorarn thought Johan had gone mad from that laughter.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!

The sound of bones breaking was heard. It was the sound of the ogre’s bones breaking. Blood vessels popped out in Johan’s eyes and the muscles in both arms swelled as if they were about to burst.

The horrified ogre even dropped his ax to try to get rid of the iron bar that was penetrating his body.

However, Johan’s momentum and monstrous strength continued to increase like a boulder rolling downhill. It felt endless like water rising from the bottom of a bottomless well.

The Giant Slayer tore into the ogre’s ribs, exposing the insides widely. Suddenly, the Giant Slayer spun around and pulled back out.

Weakened, the ogre staggered, and Johan spun around once, concentrating all his strength at the tip of his weapon.

With the sound of the world collapsing, the ogre’s head was completely smashed.

‘𝘖𝘰𝘱𝘴.’

Johan realized he had poured out too much strength. How could he exert so much force with Biorarn right in front? His nape tingled.

“. . .Count. I lost. Victory belongs to the count who did not back down in the face of the forest devil!”

Biorarn shouted as if spitting out words full of resentment.

“I will never forget the grace I received today. Just you wait and see!”

‘. . .𝘈𝘩. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴.’

At first, he thought Biorarn was fiercely growling to declare enmity on the spot. Biorarn was about to leave but hesitated.

“Count. I’m not the only one aiming for the count’s neck. Every famous knight of the Empire is aiming for it too.”

“I see.”

Now, no matter who said they were aiming for Johan’s fame, he didn’t care much. He just thought, come at me.

“I don’t want a knight like the count to lose to dirty tricks. It would be best to head south if possible.”

“. . .?”

As Johan looked at him wondering what he was talking about, Biorarn hesitated before speaking.

“When you meet the nobles, watch out for the traitors. I don’t want you to fall victim to traitors.”

“. . .!”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The knights who rushed to face the ogre praised the sight of the fallen monster. It was just the two who defeated the ogre.

The feat accomplished here today will live forever.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘯?’

Of course, even if someone suggested it, Johan was in a position to refuse with watching eyes, but still, no one was bringing up that topic.

Everyone was just excited about the duel and chattering on.

“Load his corpse onto the cart whole! We must make Your Excellency Count’s feat known to the world.”

“Can’t we just cut off the head and ask Jyanina to take only the important parts?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? We must take everything!”

“Your Excellency Count. I respect and admire Your Excellency Count, but this time I think the elf knights are right. How can you take such a moderate corpse with you.”

Even the envoys and the Empire knights took the elves’ side. Even if they had to dismount from their horses, they wanted to take the ogre’s body with them.

How spectacular would this hunting record be as a story with all the nobles gathered?

“I understand. Of course there’s not much usable stuff on the ogre’s body, but wouldn’t it look great if we displayed it in the city?”

“. . .What are you talking about?”

If it was a dragon, that would be one thing, displaying the fat and ugly body of a giant was something Johan could not understand with his aesthetic sense.

“Isn’t it cool?”

“It may be so, but I’ve heard a strange story.”

Johan spilled out the story he had heard from Biorarn. Suetlg’s face turned serious.

“Did Cardirian’s son make up tricks to divide us?”

“. . .What? No. Isn’t that not it?”

Suetlg was confused by Johan’s novel interpretation. No matter what, aren’t you treating your opponent too much like a villain?

“Unless Biorarn-gong was born a cursed bloodline without a father, I don’t think he would tell such a lie. And betrayers. . .it’s no wonder there are betrayers. The situation is good for betrayal in many ways. The more critical the moment, the more valuable they become.”

Suetlg’s remarks made sense.

Now that the allied forces had been defeated and retreated, and the emperor-side army that had been declining had revived.

If there were no eyes watching, that would have been stranger. It was obvious what kind of reward awaited those who picked up the flag and switched sides at this point.

Many talked about the honor of nobles, but Johan and Suetlg knew well. If necessary, nobles could arbitrarily interpret that honor however they wanted.

“I don’t want to prolong the war, but. . .”

Johan bit his tongue. He already felt like he had one foot stuck in the mud.

For Johan, the best future was to make the emperor faction surrender without a fight and conclude a peace agreement. Of course, since the other side’s morale was up and Cardirian had a bullsh*t personality, he was aware that would be difficult.

The next best future was concluding a peace agreement after defeating the power of the emperor faction in a few battles. He thought this was the most likely.

Johan himself had a desire to personally defeat Cardirian, but he had no intention of jumping into the flames for revenge. Revenge was revenge, and the living had to live.

The problem was that with betrayals like this occurring and things getting complicated, the fog of war would thicken.

“Find and kill the b*stard.”

“Are you serious? What do you want to hear?”

Although he was from the Empire, Johan was strictly a foreign noble. If he arbitrarily killed the nobles of the alliance, even if they were on the same side, he didn’t know what kind of restraint he would receive.

However, Suetlg stroked his beard and said again.

“For your level, that’s fine.”

“. . .!”

Johan realized the meaning of Suetlg’s words. The reputation he had built up, the support of the church he relied on, the army of southern nobles he had brought with him, and even his ability as a knight who had defeated an ogre. . .

If he just gave a decent pretext of betrayal, Johan had enough power to cut someone down on the spot and smooth it over.

“Your virtue is enduring, but sometimes you don’t have to. Especially not here in this alliance. If things go terribly wrong, just withdraw.”

Johan laughed incredulously at Suetlg’s irresponsible words and asked:

“What will you do when the emperor’s army comes down later?”

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes. And honestly, that’s fine too. You try to prepare for things too thoroughly. Isn’t it enough to accept those who come after you?

While Johan’s strategy of fighting together when there was an alliance made sense, Suetlg thought Johan wouldn’t fall too far behind even if he fought alone.

Of course he wouldn’t be able to attack the Empire, but if he combined forces with the church, those nobles, and the free cities of the peninsula, he thought they would be able to fend off the emperor’s army if it came down.

The emperor would be choked just paying back the debt and aftermath of the civil war he had started. He might even die of illness before that.

Johan could afford to think a little less about the future and trust in his own power.

“Alright. Let’s try it that way once!”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan’s vanguard led the residents of the castle to a nearby fiefdom, then traveled north along the road.

As they passed along the road, they saw groups of three or five mercenaries gathered together and passing by. Like flies swarming a corpse, you could always see mercenaries divided up and passing by like this wherever there was war.

Johan asked them about the situation.

“It looks like things are worse than I thought.”

The allied forces that should have gathered near Lebuten City had quite a few nobles who left their posts and returned to their fiefdoms, from what he heard.

Their intention was to prioritize protecting their own fiefdoms first. It wasn’t that they had withdrawn from the alliance, but there was no telling how they might turn their backs if things went poorly.

“Isn’t this for the best?”

“In what sense is this for the best?”

“Won’t your influence become greater?”

“It is positive in that regard, I suppose.”

Johan nodded at Iselia’s words.

“Is Caccia-gong doing well?”

“At first she was fine, but lately it seems she’s become reserved around me again, and I’m hurt. Have I done something wrong?”

“Ah. . . no. It’s not your fault. If anything, you’ve done well.”

It was clear she had belatedly realized who Iselia was. From Caccia’s position, it must have been very awkward and made her cheeks burn.

“Please continue guarding Caccia.”

“Of course. Other knights are also guarding her, so there’s no need to worry.”

“I trust your skills the most out of them all, Iselia.”

“There are others here, isn’t this an embarrassing thing to say?”

“. . . . . .”

The elves’ customs could be baffling at times.

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