How to Live as a Wandering Knight

“Send a messenger to call in the nearby soldiers.”

“!”

“Your Excellency. They. . .”

“Think about it carefully. Even if they betray us, would they really lie like that?”

The emperor was not a good bait.

There were the emperor’s most loyal soldiers gathered around the offer, and the Empire’s famous knights who were loyal to him were stationed nearby.

If they wanted to lure someone in, there was no reason to say that the emperor was there if they didn’t want to say someone who looked weaker.

The feudal lords, speechless, pointed out other parts hesitantly.

“But even so, isn’t it too sudden?”

The feudal lords were not hesitating because they were particularly cowardly. Any noble of the alliance (except for the elf king) would back down when it came to dealing with the emperor.

From his military record when he was young to his recent surprise attack on the allied forces.

Even the nobles who could loudly talk about the emperor’s tyranny and immorality could not disparage his leadership.

“If we drag it on too long, won’t the other side figure it out and prepare? We have to do this quickly.”

Johan had already made a decision. To make a quick surprise attack.

Johan’s plan was not to kill everyone in the ambush. In fact, such a thing was rare when large numbers of people clashed with each other.

‘𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵.’

If he combined the troops he could summon from the feudal lords around him and the ones Johan brought along, he could easily mobilize thousands.

According to the knights’ reports, the emperor had around 2,000 troops. It was not enough to completely overwhelm them, but it was enough to make it worth trying.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴’ 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.’

What allowed Johan to make such bold decisions above all was the confidence that the soldiers he brought with him were elites.

The most dangerous moment in battle was usually when retreating.

In situations that did not allow them to push forward, ragtag troops would simply collapse and run away in all directions.

However, Johan was confident. He believed that no matter what situation forced them to retreat, the elites under his command could retreat in an orderly fashion.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.’

While the obvious goal was to damage the enemy, the fact that it was the emperor was a big factor in why Johan was willing to attempt a surprise attack.

The symbolism was immense.

What if the emperor’s elites failed to fend off an attack and retreated?

Johan planned to spread those rumors after exaggerating them several fold.

What if the emperor’s elites managed to withstand the attack?

Similarly, he planned to exaggerate the damages several times over.

Johan’s abilities, honed through many battles and commands, had reached a level of mastery. No one would have thought to take his elite troops, who pledged their loyalty to him, and aim for such a vicious goal.

“I’m amazed. Your Excellency the Count has no fear.”

“I decided to follow you, so I’m ashamed of myself for being afraid of the emperor and hesitating!”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The atmosphere in the emperor’s camp was chilly. Johan’s surprise attack had not been discovered in advance.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s wrong.”

The baron who followed the army with the emperor shook his head.

As was often the case with valiant knights, the emperor originally enjoyed taking a small elite force with him and scouting ahead.

In a situation with lots of false information and baseless rumors, there is nothing better than seeing the battlefield with your own eyes.

Of course, given the emperor’s position, the troops that followed were by no means few in number. The two thousand elite troops were enough to burn several fiefdoms and still have some left.

The problem arose after that.

He thought he was just making a show of force with the reconnaissance, but then the emperor suddenly dragged someone over and started interrogating them fiercely.

And that person was the emperor’s eldest son, Olafsethan.

Dragging his own child in and interrogating him, the atmosphere in the camp could not have been alright. Everyone was so tense they could barely swallow, waiting for the results of the interrogation.

“No matter what I say, His Majesty does not listen. I don’t know if he has ever listened. . .”

“Shh! Lower your voice. You are too loud.”

At the baron’s words, the other nobleman next to him panicked and warned him with his hand.

To monitor and check the existing feudal lords, the emperor had mobilized many new people.

Wandering knights, minor nobles, and capable mercenary captains were precisely those people.

Having no connections or families, they were loyal to the emperor in order to gain his favor, and served as a thorn in the side for existing nobles.

In the camp, they had to fret, not knowing who might overhear and inform on them.

“Do you really think Olafsethan was trying to assassinate him?”

“Damn. I don’t know either. Maybe he really was trying. His Majesty’s suspicions have been growing day by day. Did you see when he executed the servant last time? No matter what, executing someone of noble blood without even a trial! What would the count do when he hears his relative was executed!”

“No matter what, I don’t think he was trying to assassinate His Majesty.”

“What does that matter now! His Majesty doesn’t even listen to us!”

“Let’s go together and try to talk to him again.”

“I’ll pass. I don’t want to end up hanging near that tent with him. His Majesty might spare Olafsethan because he’s his son, but not me.”

As the nobles were talking, they noticed a mercenary sub-captain approaching, seeming to be on his way to report to the emperor.

“What’s going on?”

“A merchant said he saw an army coming from the west a few days ago.”

“More nonsense trying to get silver.”

The baron clicked his tongue.

As the war dragged on, all sorts of petty con artists seemed to be increasing. Whenever some ragged traveler said ’𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘚𝘪𝘳 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!’ trying to get silver, it was truly absurd and made him snicker.

Those guys were hung from the gallows, but people usually paid them silver regardless of whether their information was accurate or not. Even if they were annoying, chasing them away or punishing them could cause bad rumors to spread.

“If the army is coming from the west, aren’t they the ones trying to reinforce Fort Ortizen? It’s not very far so it seems we should prepare, no?”

The castellan of Fort Ortizen was a famous rebel even among the southern feudal lords. This feudal lord who had lost many relatives to the emperor’s execution had declared he would resist to the end.

For such an aggressively defiant noble, it would not be surprising if the allied feudal lords had come to help out around here.

“You know one thing but not the other. If they came to help Fort Ortizen, they would stay near that fort. Also, there’s a river near here. To cross that and come would take quite some time. Ordering the troops to prepare without good reason will only increase His Majesty’s dissatisfaction, so be careful.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“And if we need to prepare, His Majesty will take care of it himself.”

These were the ones who had retreated a bit from the forest they were originally in and crossed the river. Though the river was shallow, the river itself was an enormous obstacle. Crossing it would take an age.

Not only that, they had pride.

The pride that no one would dare clash with the army personally led by the Emperor!

In the meantime, Johan’s army had already swiftly passed through the forest and arrived at the riverbank.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“Still don’t want to talk?”

“Really. . . I don’t know anything about it.”

Olafsethan spoke in a cracked, hoarse voice. However, Cardirian’s stern expression did not change at all. His eyes looking at his son were as cold as a snake’s.

“If you confess, I will let you go in peace.”

“You believe that petty wizard’s words?!”

“Shut up.”

Cardirian gestured. The interrogator whipped the whip. Blood splattered and screams rang out.

Olafsethan swore to himself.

‘𝘊𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥!’

It was a mistake to rashly contact Caenerna, who seemed dissatisfied with the emperor’s actions among the court wizards.

When he asked if there was a lethal poison that could slip through the surveillance of the wizards guarding the emperor, Caenerna immediately agreed to prepare it.

Not long after Caenerna provided the poison, the emperor invited Olafsethan to participate in the march, and Olafsethan thought it was right and participated, but. . .

Cardirian had known from the beginning.

And the only reason he knew was because the wizard had betrayed him.

“You b*stard trying to kill your father, how dare you insult a wizard? Caenerna-gong is the most loyal of the loyal.”

“It’s a plot. . . it’s a plot. Don’t believe the wizard. . .”

“Go ahead and hold out as much as you can. Even if you can hold out, I’ll hand you over for trial and burn you at the stake. I was going to promise you a painless death out of the goodness of my heart. . .”

Cardirian said as if he was genuinely sorry. Olafsethan got a chill down his spine from that look.

He knew well how the emperor had been dealing with undesirable figures that he didn’t like.

“Do you think I can’t execute you because you think your vassals will stake their lives to protect you?”

“God is watching over this. Aren’t you afraid?!”

“That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard from you today!”

Cardirian opened his mouth wide as if he really couldn’t believe it.

And then he shouted with his arms akimbo.

“A guy who plundered the bishop’s assets is saying this! Who was the first to beg me for the bishop’s assets?! You’ll be the first one God sends down thunder on!”

“But it will be less than your majesty who is trying to kill his own blood!”

“Oh my. Then let’s make a bet. If God is watching, go ahead and show me a miracle. Then I won’t kill you.”

Cardirian said with a smile. Olafsethan gritted his teeth at the snake-like hobby of playing with prey.

“Come on. What are you doing? You said God is watching? Don’t stop the whipping!! If you stop, I’ll kill you!”

“Y-Yes!”

The interrogator was startled by the emperor’s shout and was about to whip the whip.

At that moment, an arrow flew in and stuck in the interrogator’s neck.

“?”

“. . .?!”

The emperor and his son were so confused that they couldn’t put words together.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

“We did it! We succeeded!!”

The centaurs shouted with flushed faces, excited.

Succeeding in ambushing emperor’s camp!

This will be one of the greatest honors in my life. No hunter in the east could have caught a more magnificent prey than this.

“It’s not over yet! Stay focused!”

“Yes!”

“Set the tents on fire. Don’t chase the ones running away! Target the ones that look like nobles first. Anyway others will come from left and right so looting can wait. Focus on trampling and crushing the enemies!”

The forest provided good cover but still, crossing the river took some time.

The troops of feudal lords going around left and right were fine but the troops led by Johan had to cross directly for the ambush to work.

The one who made this possible was Suetlg.

He blocked the river by mobilizing all the collected potions and mysteries.

Even if it was a shallow river, it was an unbelievable miracle. Taking this chance, Johan’s troops crossed the river and advanced. The vanguard consisting of cavalries stormed into emperor faction’s camp violently.

“Ambush!! It’s an ambush!”

The warriors from the east skillfully went around, shouting and kicking up dust. It was a scheme to prevent the enemies from grasping the accurate number and intimidate them. Most crumble when ambushed and subjected to such psychological warfare.

However, emperor’s soldiers were valiant and loyal.

If it was another mercenary group, they would have collapsed already but these soldiers gathered in groups of three to five trying to fight even as fire spread all around and got attacked from all directions.

“Get out of the way, scums. His Excellency Count is passing through!”

And Johan’s ability was to crush such determination. The savage momentum of mowing down the soldiers blocking his way like they were nothing swept away the vanguard.

“We strike emperor before they can react properly! Follow me!”

“Yes!”

Johan headed toward emperor’s headquarters, the biggest prey. Arriving at the square with fiercely flying arrows, Johan found an old man emitting extraordinary aura, not even riding a horse probably due to the sudden ambush.

“How dare you. . .!”

Without even answering, Johan swung his sword and struck him down.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!