How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Upon hearing that young Brduhe children were also coming, Achladda had an expression of discomfort.

“Why is that?”

“The stars of Brduhe are rather daunting to deal with.”

The centaurs, like the people of the Empire, or even more so, were believers in superstition.

To them, Duke’s children, who were twins and strikingly alike, were a spine-chilling existence.

“Are there any among them to be wary of?”

“Hmm, no, it’s not like that. They’re all conscientious people.”

Achladda stated this definitively, which made Johan more curious.

“Even with so many of them?”

“If there had been any among them who were debauched or delinquent, it would have been less daunting.”

In those times, being lustful or gluttonous was not particularly problematic. The church might disapprove, but others would likely praise such behavior as hearty.

However, there were no such rumors about Duke’s children. They were all reputed to be faithful, humble, and capable.

Even with the prestige of the Duke’s family, such rumors would have been hard to spread if they were not true to some extent.

“Oh. . .”

Johan was quite amazed. He knew well, having many half-siblings himself and being familiar with the case of the Abner family.

Generally, noble families, except for the firstborn, did not live restrained lives.

While the firstborn had to succeed the family and live a politically calculated life, the rest could live as they pleased, wherever and however. . .

Yet, it was strange for all the children to be so diligent, even considering this was a coincidence.

“Has the Duke decided on a successor yet?”

“What?”

“It seems unlikely they’d be so diligent without ambition.”

“. . .!”

Surprised by Johan’s words, Achladda responded with an astonished expression.

“Even so, there’s a tradition, isn’t the firstborn supposed to inherit?”

“I’m not sure. There’s always an exception, right? Don’t the centaurs inherit differently?”

Achladda looked slightly pleased. It seemed he felt Johan was interested in the centaurs.

True to his words, the centaurs divided everything equally. Starting from the eldest, they received their share of the farthest lands and left the herd.

“But the Duke is not a centaur, he’s from the Empire, right?”

“That’s true. But this hunt, if it were a traditional Empire event, we wouldn’t have done it. Though it’s Empire land, it feels far from the Empire.”

“Could it be that the Duke might leave his legacy to the youngest, like we do?”

“Or maybe he hasn’t decided on a successor yet. . . Anyway, thinking about it now makes me feel uneasy too.”

“I might think so, but why would Sir Knight?”

“It’s never good to meddle in another family’s affairs, is it?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

It hasn’t been long since the conversation ended, and my worries have already become reality.

‘𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩.’

“Hello, Sir Johan.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Elso-gong.”

He encountered the Duke’s eldest son in the corridor. It was clear that the Duke’s firstborn had no reason to be here, so it must have been a deliberate visit.

‘𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘈𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦.’

Having known Achladda, he could have easily brushed this off. Without him, he had no choice but to confront this alone.

The servant leading the way had already stepped aside long ago, out of earshot. . .

The Duke’s eldest son, just like he had learned from the Duke, skillfully praised Johan. From troll hunting to exaggerating events in the West.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.’

It was clear they had heard from the Jarpen family or Suetlg. The fact that he spoke about what happened to Stephen suggested it wasn’t Stephen who had told him.

“Sir, I have a question I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“How did you catch the werewolf?”

“Hmm.”

Johan hesitated.

Should he tell?

The conversation with Achladda earlier and this question made it clear. The Duke’s children were competing. He didn’t know yet what they were after or why they were competing. . .

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.’

If the Duke represents current power, his children are the future power. It wouldn’t hurt to get close to them.

“I knocked him down and then strangled him to death.”

“. . .I see, Sir Johan. I understand. I was thoughtless to ask.”

“??”

Johan was confused.

‘𝘈𝘩, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵.’

Realizing his mistake, Johan internally cursed. Mixing with the eastern warriors had eroded his common sense.

The Duke’s children weren’t like the warriors who believed whatever Johan said. Such talk could only be interpreted as ‘𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦?’

“The Duke must have instructed you.”

“No. . . Well, yes. . .”

“It may be too late to say this, but if you could keep the fact that I said this a secret, I will not forget your kindness.”

“I’m not someone who goes around talking nonsense, Sir. And my memory isn’t great either.”

“. . .Thank you.”

When Johan reassured him, the Duke’s eldest son neatly gave up, thanked him, and left. His eyes mixed with disappointment and gratitude.

‘. . .𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?’

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