How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Count Shirivik frowned at that look. There could be only one meaning behind those eyes.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“What you’re thinking right now, Your Excellency.”

The count pleaded in a small voice so others couldn’t hear. To anyone watching, it would have looked like the two were having a serious discussion.

“But didn’t you hear what the mercenaries said? Climbing the castle walls like that is crazy.”

In fact, sneaking up the walls under the cover of night wasn’t such a crazy idea.

The night was much darker than expected, and the soldiers guarding the walls were not as vigilant as they should be, no matter how much they were disciplined with whippings and other punishments.

This was true not just for the untrained soldiers, but also the seasoned mercenaries. It’s difficult to find people who can diligently dedicate themselves to something day after day, for weeks or months on end.

“Isn’t this exactly when we need an expert in this sort of thing to step up? Someone who can quietly climb up alone and find weaknesses and gaps in the walls to guide us. It seems I have such a person right in front of me.”

The assassin desperately tried to find a way out. He pleaded urgently:

“Even I can’t just casually walk in and out of an unfamiliar castle like it’s my own home. At the very least, I’d need someone who knows something about that castle to listen to. . .”

“Your Excellency! We’ve brought a laborer from a nearby village! He says he worked inside the castle about half a year ago!”

“. . .”

The assassin cursed the world.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The assassin might think that Johan disliked him, but Johan wanted the assassin to return safely. It would be troublesome in many ways if Count Shirivik disappeared now.

And Johan will not want anything absurd. He will not expect the assassin to go in, cut off the mercenary captain’s neck, and rescue the baron and his family either.

What Johan wanted was an infiltration route.

Old castles had various holes like underground tunnels, cracks between the walls, and forgotten old gates.

“There won’t be anything like that since dwarves built it, Your Excellency.”

“. . .Humans might have added things while repairing it later.”

“Well, you have a point.”

Feudal lords often overlooked things like this, let alone a mercenary group that forcefully occupied the castle. Finding those holes was the assassin’s job.

While the assassin secretly climbed the walls for days, Johan seriously discussed with other nobles.

Everyone wanted to occupy Baron Halfbronn’s castle the same way.

The problem was the method.

“It’s too well-built.”

Even the elf knights who would not hesitate to charge the gates with spears seemed reluctant about this castle.

The angle for siege weapons was bad and the gates were solid. A frontal attack would lead to tremendous damage.

“How about besieging and starving them?”

“According to the peasants, they have plenty of stockpiled supplies to last a year.”

“Can we sneak over the walls at night?”

“. . .Wouldn’t that be too dangerous?”

Ulrike seemed incredulous at the Elf King’s words. Reckless knights might do that, but she would never do something like sneak over these walls.

When taking this castle was not a life-or-death situation, why should they take such risks?

Johan felt a bit called out as he was thinking the same thing.

The Elf King seemed upset at Ulrike’s words. He asked in a slightly angry tone,

“Then what do you suggest?”

“I don’t know about other things, but if there’s no way to rescue the baron’s family, a disaster could happen even if we sneak over the walls. We need to think of that method first.”

She had a point. Before sneaking over the walls, they had to think of a way to rescue the baron’s family inside.

Unable to refute, the Elf King looked at Johan, seeking help.

‘𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳.’

Avoiding his gaze, Johan hoped the assassin would bring back a decent solution.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Surprisingly, the assassin came back with a decent answer. Johan asked in a surprised voice.

“Is there really a good way?”

“Yes. . . Why are you so surprised?”

“No. I thought there was no way.”

Sitting next to him, Suetlg held his nose and frowned.

“It’s good to see, but come wash first. Count. Where have you been crawling?”

He had to keep the secret so he couldn’t even get help from the servant. The assassin came back alone after washing up lonely.

“There was a gap in the sewer of the castle. It seems that a sewer was created to add a new bathroom in the past, but the maintenance on that side seems to have been sloppy, so there was no particular problem going in and out. It will be easy to sneak in at night through the gap in the castle wall as well.”

At the assassin’s words, Johan, Suetlg, and Iselia frowned.

Just. . .

But it was an unexpected path. The sewer of the protruding toilet outside the castle wall was certainly an entrance.

“. . .I knew you would react like that, so I also checked the date when the slave cleans it up. You can go in when it’s relatively clean.”

“Don’t worry. With my magic, the filth won’t be able to touch you when you wrap it around you.”

At Suetlg’s words, the assassin looked at him with a bewildered expression.

If there was such a thing, then why. . .?

“I thought it would interfere with the assassination.”

━𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫.

“Wizard-nim, don’t glare at him like that. Doesn’t Karamaf dislike it? Anyway, have you checked out everything else?”

“Yes.”

While staying in the castle for about a week, the assassin had frugally investigated it. Of course the infiltration path, and where the baron family people were trapped.

“Good job. It’s worth a try with this.”

“Are you going to leave right away?”

“No. Persuasion will probably be necessary.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Let’s go together!”

As expected, the elf king stepped forward. Since he can’t convey the assassin’s story as it is, he mixes in a story about capturing an escaped slave from the castle. As expected, the king stepped forward immediately.

When Johan and the mercenaries were about to go, the elf king’s eyes lit up and he stepped forward. It didn’t matter if they had crawled through the sewers and came out of the bathroom. That’s what it meant to be a knight.

Of course, Johan also wanted the elf king and knights to take the lead, but. . .

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥.’

Of course, he’ll change his face and clothes to look like a slave in the castle, but it wasn’t good to have so many eyes watching. Moreover, elf knights are sharp in strange ways.

Suetlg looked at Johan with a worried expression. Could even Johan persuade that stubborn king?

Johan dismissed the situation in one line.

“Your Majesty. If I get caught as a prisoner, who will save me?”

“. . .That’s true.”

The elf king accepted it with a happy expression. Johan was about to withdraw from his seat with a triumphant feeling. . .

. . .before Ulrike whispered lowly.

“You don’t actually trust that elf more than me, right??”

“. . .Why are you like this?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Climbing the castle wall was not difficult. Thanks to Suetlg’s magic, Johan and Iselia were able to easily pass through the sewer and enter the bathroom inside the castle.

The assassin who entered first nodded his head to greet the party.

“Any problems?”

“No. There are none. The mercenaries do not use this floor much.”

The sub-captains did not like the mercenaries using the higher floors of the castle. In case of an emergency, they had to stay on the lower floors even if they were idle.

Moreover, the things on the higher floors of the castle were mainly places like the feudal lord’s quarters or temples, which were of little interest to the mercenaries.

Thanks to this, dozens of heavily armed soldiers were able to climb up through the sewer and occupy the area.

“This next place is a temple, right?”

“Let’s pray that we can take their heads without getting caught.”

The mercenaries were lightly tense but not scared. It was thanks to the employer they were serving. An employer who does not wait behind but leads the soldiers from the front is always respected.

Especially if it was Johan, it was more than enough.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.’

Even if the opponent was elite, this side was more elite. There was a significant difference starting from the knights.

The problem was securing the people of the baron family.

“How about it. Do I look like a slave?”

“Uh. . . You look like a. . . slave?”

“Knowing the usual appearance of the count, you look like a battle slave.”

Johan disguised himself as a servant with the assassin. He was thinking of taking down about four or five people and quietly bringing them up.

The mercenaries were scattered around doing their own things, and they didn’t remember the faces of the servants well. They could easily be deceived with a suitable excuse.

“Iselia. It doesn’t seem like the mercenary guys would bother to come into this temple, but if something happens, you can use your sword. Send a signal when the battle starts.”

“Understood.”

It was agreed that if a signal was sent from here, an attack would also start from outside.

Even if they couldn’t break down the castle gate, once the attack started, their attention would be focused outside.

“Let’s go!”

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Despite the assassin’s confident words, the plan began to deviate from expectations from the very beginning.

The mercenaries they met in the basement hallway suddenly started talking to them.

“Wait a minute.”

“. . . . . .”

Cold sweat ran down the assassin’s back. Johan and the other soldiers fidgeted with their sword hilts. They were thinking of just slashing anyone if no one was looking.

“Is everything okay?”

“Um. . . It’s okay, isn’t it? Really, is this slave here?”

“W-What’s going on?”

The assassin, acting like a scared servant, asked. He had already identified some of the Severed Gallows Mercenary Group.

“The sub-captain ordered me to bring drinks and food quickly. If I don’t hurry, he will whip me!”

“Hey kid, don’t be scared. This order comes from above the sub-captain.”

“Hey. But isn’t this guy just going to cause trouble if we take him?”

Servants who had worked for a long time were skilled in formalities and customs, but newly purchased slaves might not know such things.

“Have you been working for a while?”

Johan shook his head, not knowing the situation. It was to get the opponent to give up.

“Damn. . . Then that’s a bit. . .”

“Hey. Let’s just take them all. The servant next to him has been working for a long time, so tell him to teach properly.”

“Should we do that? Let’s do it.”

The mercenaries muttered among themselves and then made a decision. And they said to the servant, no, the assassin next to them.

“Our captain really likes being treated like nobility, you know? Treat him well, like nobility. Then there will be a reward. If you act arrogant because you’re from a mercenary background. . .”

The mercenary drew his hand across his neck. The assassin nodded with a frightened expression.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?

━𝐈-𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞. . .

“Come on, go in.”

The mercenaries stood in front of the banquet hall door under the castle and pointed inside. The mercenaries standing guard yawned and opened the thick wooden door.

Inside, the mercenary captain, his lieutenants, the sub-captains, and others were gathering and having a noisy banquet.

“. . . . . .”

“. . . . . .”

“Oh! You brought them! Come here. Let me see! Since I waited this long, it must be a very handsome guy!”

Johan’s soldiers following behind couldn’t believe it.

Those guys wouldn’t dare. . . bring count in now. . .?

‘𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴.’

The mercenary standing guard patted him on the shoulder as if to say good luck, then closed the door. The door was so thick that no sound leaked out once closed.

“Come here when I tell you! What are you doing?”

Johan looked around.

A completely enclosed space. The opponents were terribly drunk. The only passage was the door they just entered.

Judging by their noisy appearance, the door definitely wouldn’t open from the outside unless something extreme happened.

━𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝?

Noticing his intention, the soldiers also asked. Johan shook his head.

━𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞.

Even if the opponents were drunk, there was no need to prolong the fight. He was going to kill them in one blow. Johan picked up a glass of wine and stood in front of the mercenary captain.

“Oh! Not bad. . .”

The mercenary captain burst out laughing drunkenly. At that moment, the mercenary captain’s head was smashed to pieces.

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