How to Live as a Wandering Knight
Chapter 53: ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ (๐)โIndeed. . .! I did not expect there to be so many with the divine power bestowed by God!โ
The monks were very pleased. To think that they would meet Marcelโs troll slayer in such a place.
The rumors of this world spread differently according to the class. Among the nobles, the commoners, the mercenaries, and the monks.
These rumors spread surprisingly fast and were also the only means for people to gather information.
โHow did you hear about my story?โ
โWe heard it from the warriors of the monastic order who participated in the subjugation. Itโs clear that God has guided us.โ
โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ.โ
Johan felt ambivalence towards the monksโ attitude. It was good that strangers were not hostile, but being too friendly was also disconcerting.
It seemed like they were treating Johan as if he were a leading monk or priest of their own.
โDo these monks know Sir Knight?โโIt doesnโt seem like it?โ
The mercenaries who followed Johan were also murmuring in surprise.
Ordinarily, knights and monks, that is, the Church, were not close.
Politically, they were allies, but ideologically, they were complete opposites.
Knights pursued honor, ventured into battlefields, defeated enemies, and plundered gold. Although they professed faith, they rarely gave back to the real weak, the serfs. The Church frowned upon duels and tournaments that knights enjoyed.
Naturally, the Church and knights often clashed. One of the most common tasks of priests assigned to fiefdoms was to follow and preach to knights.
Of course, it was rare for knights to listen. For a knight, piety was merely a convenient ornament to elevate their honor.
But now, the monksโ attitude was as friendly as if they were dealing with a famous priest.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. . .โ
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
Johan led the monks outside. They couldnโt spend the night in a town where such a fight had occurred.
โDid the Bishop of Mohsho send you?โ
โNo, he didnโt send us. The bishop spoke to us, and we decided to come on our own accord.โ
Mohsho was a fiefdom located to the west of Abner and Count Jarpenโs territory.
And it was a fiefdom of the Erlans Kingdom.
The Bishop of Mohsho, though governed by a bishop who was also a Count , remained a vassal and feudal lord of King Erlans.
Surprised, Johan asked Suetlg.
โIs it okay for a feudal lord to send people to anotherโs fiefdom like this?โ
โOf course not. I know what kind of person the Bishop of Mohsho is. A man firmly armed with piety.โ
โThen?โ
โHearing about the suffering of the serfs nearby, he must have sent armed monks without informing the Countess.โ
โ. . .โ
Sending people for the serfs who had fled under Countess Abnerโs rule was quite a risky move.
A feudal lord is like a king in his own fiefdom. Interfering in someone elseโs fiefdom is naturally. . .
Knowing this, they acted without notifying the Count .
โThese folks donโt seem very scared. . .โ
โWhat would monks know about politics? Their only faith is in God, what else would they fear?โ
Suetlg clicked his tongue. He wasnโt irreligious, but couldnโt compare to a monk.
The churchโs monotheistic faith had a generous and lenient God, but those who believed in that faith werenโt always so. Suetlg found the zealotism shown by the monks and paladins disturbing, even if they came with good intentions this time.
โWe must arrest them immediately, Sir! How dare they act without the Countessโs permission!โ
Inno reacted vehemently. He was angered that the monks had acted without informing the Countess.
โWhat do you think?โ
โImprisoning them seems right, but youโll be the one getting all the blame.โ
โI was thinking the same.โ
Imprisoning the monks, who came to do good deeds, would only bring criticism to Johan. Moreover, the monksโ attitude seemed oddly familiar, as if Johanโs reputation had been somewhat. . . distorted.
โHave you ever been involved with the monastic order?โ
โDo I look like that sort of person to you?โ
โWell. . .โ
Suetlg was immediately convinced. Johan felt somewhat annoyed.
โWe came to hunt monsters, we canโt imprison faithful monks. Letโs cooperate until the job is done.โ
โBut Sir. . .โ
โI donโt have the right to punish them, do I? Iโll report to the Countess later.โ
Seeing that he couldnโt persuade Johan, Inno turned to Stephen.
โSir Stephen. They are acting recklessly. . .โ
โIt seems Sir Johan is right.โ
โ. . .Yes.โ
With Stephen taking that stance, Inno had no choice. If the Countess interrogated him later, all he could say was, โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โ
Gerdolf, his son, awkwardly started speaking.
โI, I think. . .โ
โ!โ
Inno was surprised when his son spoke. Could it be that Gerdolf, as a knight of the Countess, was trying to make a statement in this situation?
โ. . .Sirโs words are correct. I think so.โ
โOh. Thank you, Sir Gerdolf. And well done in the recent battle.โ
โThank you.โ
Gerdolf smiled contentedly, waving his hand. His torn hand didnโt hurt much, thanks to the cloth Johan had wrapped around it when he returned.
Inno looked at his son, dumbfounded. โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ?โ
Meanwhile, Suetlg was lost in thought.
โ. . .๐๐ข๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ, ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. . .?โ
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
โIndeed. Sending people into someone elseโs fiefdom like that. . .โ
โItโs not that surprising. The west of the Empire is influenced by the Erlans Kingdom, and the south is influenced by the city-states of Catalia. Even the Abner family is distantly related to the King of Erlans.โ
Once a conflict breaks out in a fiefdom, kingdoms, the Empire, and city-states all secretly intervene.
The noble families are intertwined like a spiderweb. Nationality didnโt matter. There were cases where nobles from various countries competed for a single Count title.
โOf course, I doubt the bishop of Mohsho initiated this with a shallow plan to increase his influence by sending monks. The Countess knows this too, so even if it becomes known, it will be resolved. But what were you doing this morning? I didnโt see you around.โ
โI was praying with the monks in the morning.โ
โ. . . . . .โ
Suetlg clenched his mouth shut, trying to hold back his laughter.
โDid you really do it?โ
โWould I not have done it there?โ
โYou? Really? Do you even know the prayers?โ
โI know most of them by heart.โ
Johanโs response surprised Suetlg once again.
โ๐๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ?โ
The oblivious monks invited Johan to join them in morning prayers. The leading priest, even more clueless, gave Johan the honor of starting the first verse. . .
Johan began the prayer with verses he had learned from Priest Valberga.
โO Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. . .โ
โI donโt understand why the monks are acting like this. They treat me like some wandering ascetic knight.โ
โHmm. . . I was surprised too. Itโs rare for monks to act like that. The Holy Knightsโ Order members from the punitive force must have really thought highly of you. Anyway, itโs better than being criticized as corrupt.โ
โYou say itโs not bad to pray daily and live modestly?โ
โItโs good for both body and soul. Itโs okay to endure hardships when youโre young. You can indulge in desires when youโre older.โ
Johan, annoyed by Suetlgโs uncharacteristic advice, gathered the mercenaries.
It was time to check the town, as dawn had broken.
The mercenaries were astounded anew at the size of the wild boar. It definitely seemed like a monster.
Catching it alone. . .
โHard to tell whoโs the real monster.โ
โAre you crazy? Be careful with your words. If we all get whipped because of you. . .โ
โN-No. It just slipped out.โ
โGather the goblin corpses on one side and burn them! The rest will search the townโs underground!โ
The monks had camped in the ruined town, intending to find the goblinโs den. The remaining houses provided good shelter from the cold wind.
But as night fell, goblins suddenly sprang up everywhere in the town. It was clear they had been staying underground.
โPrepare to start a fire. We need to smoke them out.โ
โStep aside. What a coward. Do you think smoke will work?โ
The experienced mercenaries prepared to smoke out the goblins, knowing that if they threw burning green wood into the den, the goblins would emerge like a pack of dogs.
โ. . .Arenโt they coming out?โ
โWhat?โ
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
โItโs clear they have fled.โ
After finishing up in the town, Suetlg said this upon receiving the report. The faces of the mercenary captains were also filled with surprise.
โUsually. . . they donโt run away easily, those persistent ones.โ
โHmm.โ
The goblins were known to stubbornly resist even when faced with a subjugation force. But now, they just vanished.
Suetlg simply stated,
โSeems like they really got scared.โ
โAh. . .!โ
โCertainly. . .!โ
The mercenaries at the scene immediately understood.
Honestly, even if they were goblins, they would have fled after seeing that!
โ. . .I donโt know what Sir Johan did, but since the goblin creatures have fled, we need to think about whatโs next.โ
Suetlg pointed towards the mountains near the town and said,
โWeโll search the mountains.โ
The mercenaries sighed. Whether experienced or not, searching the mountains for monster dens was a tedious and unwelcome task.
Moreover, this was a place where subjugation had failed several times before.
It would surely not be easy to find.
โCanโt we just use dogs to search?โ
โAre you from the south? Goblins can fool dogs too. They mix mud and saliva and apply it. . .โ
โ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ.
The conversation among the mercenary captains halted. It was because Karamaf had let out a deep growl.
โCould Sir Knightโs wolf perhaps track them?โ
โSeems confident.โ
Karamaf raised his head proudly. The mercenaries admired the sight. Indeed, a wolf led by a knight seemed to be something special.
However, Johan was a bit worried. If he stepped forward boldly in front of the subjugation team and then failed. . .
โ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐บ?โ
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
โ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ. . .
โ?
โ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฉ. ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ.
โ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง, ๐ข๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐?
โ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐, ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐, ๐ง๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐๐ข๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซโ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ.
โ๐๐ก๐๐ง. . .
-๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง. ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ ๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ.
โ. . .๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ?
โ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐โ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ.
Johan moved, recalling what Suetlg had said. It made sense why the wizard only spoke to him. Mercenaries, despite their rough appearance, were often superstitious and easily frightened.
Suetlgโs words would have only scared them more.
โ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ!
While tracking the scent of goblins, Karamaf, ascending the mountain, swiped the earth with his massive paws, revealing an entrance to a cave big enough for two or three people to pass through.
โQuite the skill, isnโt it?โ
โHow did he find a goblin den like this?โ
The mercenaries buzzed in preparation for battle. Entering such caves and fighting was part of a mercenaryโs job.
But Johan, along with Gerdolf, stood at the forefront.
โSir Knight, youโre not planning to go inside, are you?โ
โAnd if I am?โ
โWell. . . itโs just. . .โ
โStop the pointless chatter and get the mercenaries ready to enter. Weโll go in as soon as weโre prepared.โ
โIโll fight with all my might.โ
โBrave. Thatโs how a knight, Gerdolf, should be.โ
Hearing that Johan was going in, the mercenaries involuntarily rechecked their arms.
A knight, especially in front of their employer, couldnโt afford to show any disgrace.
Especially a knight willing to enter such perilous terrain.
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
Three hours later.
Johan came out of the cave with the mercenaries. Their shields and maces were caked with goblin blood.
โIs everyone out?โ
โYes!!โ
โWeโll rest for a bit and then move to the next cave. Stay alert during the break.โ
The mercenaries waiting outside were puzzled by the expressions of their comrades. They looked as if they had encountered a ghost inside.
โWhat happened? Did you run into a troll instead of goblins?โ
โNo, itโs not that. . .โ
โ???โ
โAre they injured? No, they seem unharmed??โ
โDidnโt they even draw their swords? Why is there no blood on them? Did they just go for a walk?โ
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