How to Live as a Wandering Knight

“What did you find out?”

“If you keep going straight ahead, you come back around.”

“Not very happy news.”

“No. Thanks to that I’m sure of it now. It must be the work of a spirit or malevolent spirit.”

Deep forests naturally harbored mysteries, and would sometimes cause phenomena beyond human understanding.

But while it was understandable for it to lead you onto a different path, a road that loops back no matter which way you go was excessively malicious. It matched more with the work of a spirit or malevolent spirit than a forest phenomenon.

“So what now?”

“I guess we should wait.”

Surprisingly, the best thing to do at times like these was to simply wait.

Spirits and malevolent spirits were less patient than one would expect, and if you just stayed put they would eventually make the first move.

Blundering about lost here would only satisfy the opponent.

Johan was a man who had followed excellent hunters and learned what to do in forests. He could endure like this for a few days no problem.

“It’ll last a day or two at most.”

Johan skillfully created a temporary camp. With his back to the solid, large cliff face, he gathered tinder and started a fire. Ulrike had laid blankets over her horse, so they had a decent place to sleep as well.

“A skill you picked up wandering?”

“Yes. Have Gong ever tried it?”

“I’ve gone hunting and camping, but never set up my own camp.”

Wandering knights varied greatly depending on their assets and lineage. Those who traveled alone had to prepare everything themselves from start to finish, while those who brought servants and attendants did not.

As a high-status woman like Ulrike, she would have had no call to do such things herself.

“I see. Don’t worry. I can act as your hands and feet for a day or two.”

“Don’t be absurd. . . If there’s anything I can do, please let me know. I want to help however I can.”

“No need. It’s easier for me to work alone. I was planning to take Karamaf out hunting anyway.”

“But don’t we have enough provisions already?”

“We do, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

Johan took Karamaf and headed into the forest. In less than an hour, he returned with several rabbits and a deer.

“Whoa, easy Karamaf. I’ll get you your share, don’t worry.”

━𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐫.

Johan cleaned and skinned the deer with his dagger by the brook. For animals like deer, he threw the entrails and liver to Karamaf. Karamaf excitedly tore into them.

“What are you thinking about?”

Johan returned and looked at Ulrike with a puzzled expression. She seemed to be lost in thought.

“Hmm. . . It’s strange that there are such wild animals in this labyrinthine path.”

“I suppose the wild animals just came in the same way we did. Have some.”

“You had salt too?”

“You get used to being prepared when you travel with centaurs. You can put everything on a horse and leave at any time.”

“The count is really sociable to have befriended such difficult people like centaurs.”

Ulrike said as she bit into the meat. Even though it wasn’t cooked luxuriously, it tasted good. It might have been because she had moved around quite a bit today. Or maybe it was because she liked the person she was with.

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

“No, it’s not. This time too. . . .Come to think of it, Stephen would also fall into that category. Why did you side with Stephen?”

“I already told you once, didn’t I? It’s not that I took Stephen’s side, but rather that our understandings were aligned.”

Johan shrugged his shoulders.

“Of course, the offer was tempting, but how would I have handled the aftermath if I had received such an offer while Countess Abner was glaring at me?”

“Your Excellency Count is not cold-hearted enough to take revenge because of what has already happened.”

“I don’t know. Even someone who looks cold-hearted has parts that can become emotional. In my opinion, that part of Countess Abner was Stephen. Even a perfect person always has parts like that, doesn’t he? Does Gong not have any?”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike’s expression shook at Johan’s question. It was surprise again that Countess Abner, who always looked perfect and without blood or tears, could be emotional. . .

And because of that, Johan’s question felt unexpectedly weighty.

Does she have something like that about herself?

“I can get along relatively well with centaurs and the elf king because I understand this point. Of course, it’s important to weigh understanding, but isn’t a person fundamentally emotional? It’s also important to match their mood.”

━■■■. . .

“. . .That’s not an argument that works on the undead like that.”

Johan picked up his weapon. It seemed that not only wild beasts but undead roaming the forest had also entered this area. As the shrieking ghouls approached, the two took aim with their weapons.

“They look like mercenaries who died in this forest.”

Their ragged, worn armor let them guess at the status they’d had when alive. Staring ahead, Johan let out a short shout. Then he swung his Giant Slayer.

Johan’s violence was excessive for ghouls who, being dead, had softer flesh and bones than when alive. After one swing of the Giant Slayer, the surrounding ghouls were torn away as if caught in a typhoon.

The next wave soon came. Seeing the swarms of ghouls pouring out from between the bushes, Johan frowned. He sensed malice in the way they were suddenly gathering in such numbers.

‘𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦?’

Johan held the Giant Slayer in one hand. And in his other, he drew Twilight. Even though the ghouls were dead and couldn’t feel fear, Ulrike felt as if they hesitated for a moment.

“Come.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

After the fight ended, the surrounding leaves were as red as if some spirit had watched it happen and was bored to death.

I sent out nearly a hundred ghouls yet not one fell.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Doesn’t seem fine to me.”

Johan didn’t miss the groan Ulrike let out amidst the long fight. She was clearly ambushed while taking down several enemies.

“Did you twist your ankle?”

“Thought I took it down but it was still alive.”

“Undead are pretty stubborn. Let me see your hand.”

Johan moved Ulrike’s hand then took off her boots and rolled up her pants and armor. A ghoul had bitten her ankle in a weak spot in the armor and it was swollen. Johan put his mouth to her ankle and sucked out the poison before spitting it out.

“!!!”

Ulrike’s fingertips trembled. She opened her mouth as if to say something but closed it again.

After roughly sucking out the poison Johan cleaned it off completely with water then took out Suetlg’s vision and applied it to the wound. He wrapped it in bandages and secured it tightly, finishing the treatment.

“Are you okay?”

“. . .Very, thank you so much.”

“Your words seem to have poison in them. Is it just your mood?”

“Misunderstanding. . . .I’m genuinely grateful. I’ll repay you in gold when we get back.”

“I appreciate that.”

Feeling she would just embarrass herself more if she said anything else, Ulrike decided to change the subject.

“What do you think?”

“You broke a sweat so it was a workout but it shouldn’t get infected.”

“. . .Not my ankle, I meant the situation with this forest.”

“Oh, sorry. If we took care of this many I doubt more are coming. If they could have sent more they would have already.”

Even for Johan it took giving his all to massacre nearly a hundred ghouls. His muscles ached and his lungs screamed over and over again even with the blessings of the pagan god.

But Johan didn’t show any fatigue. No matter who he was facing it was never good to show weakness.

That expectation was not off base. Not long after, a messenger arrived. A skeleton corpse slowly walked over, its skull chattering as it opened its mouth.

━𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

“!”

Ulrike was surprised. For the other side to reach out first was unexpected.

“Wouldn’t it be better to accept?”

“If it had said that before we came in I may have considered it but after doing its misdeeds and then saying this, there’s no reason to show mercy.”

Ulrike had an instinctual human fear of spirits.

On the other hand, Johan had long since lost any fear of spirits. Spirits were not much different from humans. They acted based on their own rules, schemed when disadvantaged, and submitted to violence.

What’s more this guy had locked them in a maze without a word and then forcibly attacked them.

“Arrogant b*stard. I am Johan of Yeats. In the name of Valkalmur and Teshuka show yourself before me immediately! If you have even a shred of courage you can show your face!”

━ . . .𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐲.

The skull chattered but Johan just scoffed.

“You mean the undead? The death knight, your strongest, has already fallen to the knights’ blades. No matter how many ghouls you send the elite I’ve brought could crush them easily. Remember what I carry on my horse!”

Johan shook the relic attached to Cardirian as a warning. If his opponent was a spirit it should be able to sense the power held within the relic.

‘𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.’

Ulrike was puzzled, but kept silent. She had decided to follow Johan’s decision, that was all.

“If you want fair negotiations, show your face here now! You dared to ambush us and push us into this forest maze. No one who values honor would do this.”

━. . .𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞?

As Johan angrily acted stubbornly, the other party also took a step back. Johan nodded.

After about thirty minutes, something walked over from the other side.

It was a tree.

‘𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥. . .!’

As expected of a tree, the other party was very slow. Ulrike murmured in a voice full of wonder.

“Was the other party a tree spirit of the forest?”

“Not a spirit, a malevolent one.”

Whether it was a tree spirit or not, the tree spirit steadily walked over and stood before the two. Then it opened its mouth.

━𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝.

“State your name, coward.”

━𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐥, 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

“So you’re the one behind all these tricks here?”

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. . .

Before Ingol could even finish speaking, Johan rushed in and grabbed him. Ulrike exclaimed in confusion.

“You said you would negotiate?!”

“Aren’t we negotiating now?”

Ingol was dumbfounded as this crazy human tried to uproot him.

Just as human strength alone cannot uproot a deeply rooted tree, it was the same for spirits. In order to teach this annoying human a lesson, Ingol grabbed Johan tightly. The two clung to each other like they were wrestling.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚. . . 𝐰𝐡𝐚. . . 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭. . .?

“Ingol. You rude spirit. How dare you lure your opponent into a trap without even a proper request. And you call yourself someone who values honor?”

If the situation hadn’t been so urgent, Johan would have happily burned Ingol alive for this.

Johan’s subjugated Valkalmur cackled as he ridiculed Ingol. Having been beaten up himself for laughing inappropriately, Valkalmur found Ingol’s situation amusing.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!

Even borrowing the power of the tree, Johan didn’t budge an inch. Instead, Ingol’s body began to heat up. Ingol opened his mouth slowly but as fast as he could.

━𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞! 𝐈 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐞!

“What will happen to you if I uproot you like this, Ingol?”

━𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞!

Unlike the wandering malevolent spirit Valkalmur, Ingol was a spirit that took root in the forest like a tree. A spirit that would disappear when trees were destroyed and grow stronger when trees thrived.

“Do you regret it? Rudely threatening us?”

━𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭!

“Even if I let you go like this, will you swear not to run away or trick us?”

━𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫!

Only after hearing the surrender did Johan let go of his grip. He had grabbed so hard that sap was flowing from Ingol’s side.

“Nice negotiation.”

“. . .I hope the count comes along when negotiating with the emperor faction.”

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