How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 235: ๐”๐ง๐๐ž๐š๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ ๐ฎ๐ž (9)

โ€œWhat did you find out?โ€

โ€œIf you keep going straight ahead, you come back around.โ€

โ€œNot very happy news.โ€

โ€œNo. Thanks to that Iโ€™m sure of it now. It must be the work of a spirit or malevolent spirit.โ€

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.

โ€œSo what now?โ€

โ€œI guess we should wait.โ€

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.

โ€œItโ€™ll last a day or two at most.โ€

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.

โ€œA skill you picked up wandering?โ€

โ€œYes. Have Gong ever tried it?โ€

โ€œIโ€™ve gone hunting and camping, but never set up my own camp.โ€

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.

โ€œI see. Donโ€™t worry. I can act as your hands and feet for a day or two.โ€

โ€œDonโ€™t be absurd. . . If thereโ€™s anything I can do, please let me know. I want to help however I can.โ€

โ€œNo need. Itโ€™s easier for me to work alone. I was planning to take Karamaf out hunting anyway.โ€

โ€œBut donโ€™t we have enough provisions already?โ€

โ€œWe do, but it doesnโ€™t hurt to be prepared.โ€

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

โ€œWhoa, easy Karamaf. Iโ€™ll get you your share, donโ€™t worry.โ€

โ”๐†๐ซ๐ซ๐ซ.

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.

โ€œWhat are you thinking about?โ€

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

โ€œHmm. . . Itโ€™s strange that there are such wild animals in this labyrinthine path.โ€

โ€œI suppose the wild animals just came in the same way we did. Have some.โ€

โ€œYou had salt too?โ€

โ€œYou get used to being prepared when you travel with centaurs. You can put everything on a horse and leave at any time.โ€

โ€œThe count is really sociable to have befriended such difficult people like centaurs.โ€

Ulrike said as she bit into the meat. Even though it wasnโ€™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.

โ€œThatโ€™s a bit of an exaggeration.โ€

โ€œNo, itโ€™s not. This time too. . . .Come to think of it, Stephen would also fall into that category. Why did you side with Stephen?โ€

โ€œI already told you once, didnโ€™t I? Itโ€™s not that I took Stephenโ€™s side, but rather that our understandings were aligned.โ€

Johan shrugged his shoulders.

โ€œOf 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?โ€

โ€œYour Excellency Count is not cold-hearted enough to take revenge because of what has already happened.โ€

โ€œI donโ€™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, doesnโ€™t he? Does Gong not have any?โ€

โ€œ. . . . . .โ€

Ulrikeโ€™s expression shook at Johanโ€™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, Johanโ€™s question felt unexpectedly weighty.

Does she have something like that about herself?

โ€œI can get along relatively well with centaurs and the elf king because I understand this point. Of course, itโ€™s important to weigh understanding, but isnโ€™t a person fundamentally emotional? Itโ€™s also important to match their mood.โ€

โ”โ– โ– โ– . . .

โ€œ. . .Thatโ€™s not an argument that works on the undead like that.โ€

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.

โ€œThey look like mercenaries who died in this forest.โ€

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

Johanโ€™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.

โ€˜๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ?โ€™

Johan held the Giant Slayer in one hand. And in his other, he drew Twilight. Even though the ghouls were dead and couldnโ€™t feel fear, Ulrike felt as if they hesitated for a moment.

โ€œCome.โ€

๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

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.

โ€œAre you okay?โ€

โ€œIโ€™m fine.โ€

โ€œDoesnโ€™t seem fine to me.โ€

Johan didnโ€™t miss the groan Ulrike let out amidst the long fight. She was clearly ambushed while taking down several enemies.

โ€œDid you twist your ankle?โ€

โ€œThought I took it down but it was still alive.โ€

โ€œUndead are pretty stubborn. Let me see your hand.โ€

Johan moved Ulrikeโ€™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.

โ€œ!!!โ€

Ulrikeโ€™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 Suetlgโ€™s vision and applied it to the wound. He wrapped it in bandages and secured it tightly, finishing the treatment.

โ€œAre you okay?โ€

โ€œ. . .Very, thank you so much.โ€

โ€œYour words seem to have poison in them. Is it just your mood?โ€

โ€œMisunderstanding. . . .Iโ€™m genuinely grateful. Iโ€™ll repay you in gold when we get back.โ€

โ€œI appreciate that.โ€

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

โ€œWhat do you think?โ€

โ€œYou broke a sweat so it was a workout but it shouldnโ€™t get infected.โ€

โ€œ. . .Not my ankle, I meant the situation with this forest.โ€

โ€œOh, sorry. If we took care of this many I doubt more are coming. If they could have sent more they would have already.โ€

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 didnโ€™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.

โ”๐ˆ ๐š๐œ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ž๐๐ ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ. ๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐ˆ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ.

โ€œ!โ€

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

โ€œWouldnโ€™t it be better to accept?โ€

โ€œIf it had said that before we came in I may have considered it but after doing its misdeeds and then saying this, thereโ€™s no reason to show mercy.โ€

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.

Whatโ€™s more this guy had locked them in a maze without a word and then forcibly attacked them.

โ€œArrogant 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!โ€

โ” . . .๐Š๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ˆ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐š ๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฒ.

The skull chattered but Johan just scoffed.

โ€œYou mean the undead? The death knight, your strongest, has already fallen to the knightsโ€™ blades. No matter how many ghouls you send the elite Iโ€™ve brought could crush them easily. Remember what I carry on my horse!โ€

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.

โ€˜๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ.โ€™

Ulrike was puzzled, but kept silent. She had decided to follow Johanโ€™s decision, that was all.

โ€œIf 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.โ€

โ”. . .๐€๐ฅ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ. ๐ˆ ๐š๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ. ๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ˆ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ž, ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐š๐ญ๐ž?

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.

โ€˜๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ. . .!โ€™

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

โ€œWas the other party a tree spirit of the forest?โ€

โ€œNot a spirit, a malevolent one.โ€

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

โ”๐ˆ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐.

โ€œState your name, coward.โ€

โ”๐ˆโ€™๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐. ๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐ˆ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฅ, ๐š๐ง ๐ž๐ฑ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ž๐ฌ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ.

โ€œSo youโ€™re the one behind all these tricks here?โ€

โ”๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ. . .

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

โ€œYou said you would negotiate?!โ€

โ€œArenโ€™t we negotiating now?โ€

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.

โ”๐–๐ก๐š. . . ๐ฐ๐ก๐š. . . ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ. . .?

โ€œIngol. 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?โ€

If the situation hadnโ€™t been so urgent, Johan would have happily burned Ingol alive for this.

Johanโ€™s subjugated Valkalmur cackled as he ridiculed Ingol. Having been beaten up himself for laughing inappropriately, Valkalmur found Ingolโ€™s situation amusing.

๐“๐ก๐ฎ๐!

Even borrowing the power of the tree, Johan didnโ€™t budge an inch. Instead, Ingolโ€™s body began to heat up. Ingol opened his mouth slowly but as fast as he could.

โ”๐ˆ ๐š๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ž! ๐ˆ ๐š๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ž!

โ€œWhat will happen to you if I uproot you like this, Ingol?โ€

โ”๐ˆโ€™๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ž!

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.

โ€œDo you regret it? Rudely threatening us?โ€

โ”๐ˆ ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ!

โ€œEven if I let you go like this, will you swear not to run away or trick us?โ€

โ”๐ˆ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ž๐š๐ซ!

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

โ€œNice negotiation.โ€

โ€œ. . .I hope the count comes along when negotiating with the emperor faction.โ€

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