How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 192: 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 (10)

Fortunately, Johan did not draw his sword and swing it around. No matter how irritating it was to be caught between the two tribes, Johan’s patience remained steadfast.

Johan mediated between the Hurik and royal folks. The two tribes, drunk as they were, had no choice but to accept Johan’s mediation.

“By the way, count, are you really working under the Emperor?”

“Is there a problem?”

“I find it hard to believe a warrior like the count working under the Emperor.”

Hurik spoke bluntly without hesitation. Yet he himself held the position of Vynashchtym and served the emperor.

But Hurik’s doubt was understandable. He had seen many imperial guards serving the emperor, but never a warrior like Johan.

Wherever he came from, bringing someone like him here was surprising indeed.

“Aren’t you working under the emperor as well?”

As if recalling something, Hurik slapped his palm with his fist.

“What a timely coincidence! count, here is a chance to repay me for saving your life.”

“?”

“I’m planning to ask the Emperor for more gold in exchange for the blood and iron I provide. What do you think if count comes along? For a warrior like yourself, shouldn’t he pile up gold to equal your weight?”

“. . . . . .”

Seeing Hurik so boldly suggest they pressure the Emperor, Johan grew a bit nervous.

‘𝘏𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥. . .!’

“I have no complaints.”

Johan was almost entirely sincere. He had already obtained everything he wanted promised. With nothing left to desire, there was no reason to join hands with Hurik.

Moreover, hadn’t he come to stop Hurik from making trouble in the capital in the first place?

‘𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. . . 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵.’

“No complaints? There should be complaints! It’s warriors like me and my men who protect these Vynashchtym b*stards!”

Seeing the grumbling Hurik, Johan prepared his next question. Would he really answer something like this obediently?

“Even if we just show up and make demands, they won’t listen. Do you have some kind of plan?”

“Count! Do you take me for a fool? Of course I have a plan! Among the nobles in the capital, there are those who have offered to help me, they will aid in persuading the Emperor.”

“Oh.”

Johan nodded. There were also many nobles related to the republic side, so it was no surprise that there were imperials related to the duchy side.

“I’m curious who it is. Can you tell me their name?”

“If the count is curious, I can at least let you know that much. Hey. Bring it here.”

The attendant looked at Hurik in dismay. When the imperials contacted Hurik, they must have thought their identities would obviously be kept secret.

Isn’t that a given!

The duchy needed someone in the capital who could argue on their behalf, and the imperials needed military force in case of emergency. It was a good deal for both sides, which is why they joined hands in the first place. . .

“You’re not bringing it!!?”

“I will, I will bring it.”

The attendant who knew Hurik’s temper hurriedly ran off. Even if the royals caused a commotion later, his neck was on the line right now.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦. . . 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.’

Even when elves used coarse language, they still acted with basic courtesy. It was the result of deeply ingrained customs. The blood may be hot but the accumulated honor bound them like shackles.

In contrast, the bear beastmen simply blurted out whatever came to mind and did as they pleased, unrestricted. Put together, the two seemed quite similar.

Johan took the name and nodded.

“I see. It’s them.”

The most dangerous people to be warned against and driven out as soon as they returned to the capital!

“Hurik-gong. These people cannot be trusted much. They are the kind to gobble you up when useful and spit you out when not.”

“It’s not like I have tremendous faith in those b*stards either. But they’re still useful so I join hands with them! Until I get what I want, don’t I have to hold hands with those oily pigs sometimes?”

“Of course, but if it’s not disadvantageous, what’s the point in doing that? When there are more trustworthy partners.”

“Who?”

“Is he not in front of you?”

“Huh. . . the count? The count will help me?”

Hurik looked at Johan in disbelief. Come to think of it, Johan was fully capable of that. Wasn’t he the captain of the imperial guard with a tremendous amount of the emperor’s trust?

It felt a bit absurd to pour out his grievances to someone who was like the emperor’s arms and legs, but Johan’s voice quelled such turmoil.

“If you wish, I will mediate well. Have you not experienced much on the battlefield? The real danger is always the incompetent ally.”

“I. . . I never even considered that.”

Hurik murmured while scratching his cheek.

“To join hands with the untrustworthy imperial b*stards or the true warrior count. . . damn right it’s the latter! I’m counting on you, Count!”

Amidst the others who had mostly passed out drunk, Hurik, the eldest son of the duchy, shook off the dubious imperials and took Johan’s hand.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

After the banquet ended, Johan gave the envoy some time to rest for a few days. Many were injured and tired so he had to give them this much time.

When he went to see Hurik, Hurik was already waving his weapons around. As Johan arrived, he greeted him with a delighted expression.

“Monster? Ah. Are you talking about the one from the capital? I don’t know anything about that.”

When asked if he knew anything about the incident where a monster was released in the capital, Hurik shook his head.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘺.’

After doing it, they even tried to push the blame onto the duchy just in case. He didn’t know who it was but they were a master politician.

The duchy’s warriors are good at killing enemies outside but they are outsiders when it comes to the subtle political struggles happening inside Vynashchtym. It would have been easy to subtly push the blame onto them.

“But when I heard about that incident, I thought it would be nice if we could threaten them with summoned monsters. It works out well, Count. My men have found an expert in that field in Vynashchtym.”

“. . .?”

Johan, who was listening, flinched. Wait. . .?

“Could it be a wizard from the Holy Empire?”

“How did you know?”

This premonition was never wrong. When Johan saw Jyanina among the new envoy from the duchy, he shook his head repeatedly.

‘𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.’

If the duchy guys didn’t agree or were finicky, Jyanina’s position would have been precarious, but since the conversation ended well, there wasn’t any particular problem.

If Jyanina wanted, she just had to properly demonstrate her abilities and gain recognition.

“Hurik-nim. I’m a little uncomfortable.”

“Yes. Summoning monsters. Can we really believe such evil magic?”

“Ugh! Well, damn, you’re right.”

When they joined hands with the royals, they needed a lot, so they called even suspicious wizards, but the story was different now.

Was such magic really necessary?

“Still, I can’t reject her when she came at my request! It’ll be a headache if the wizard curses, so let’s take a look.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The bear beastmen from the duchy came pouring out, and as Johan and the royals also came pouring out, Jyanina looked around with a bewildered expression.

Were there too many people?

“Y-Your Excellency. What brings you here?”

“Didn’t you hear I came to hunt with His Majesty?”

“I heard but why here. . .?”

“To welcome the duchy people as well.”

Jyanina was flustered but raised her wand. Now that it had come to this, she had to demonstrate her abilities.

But. . .

‘𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘴. . . 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳. . .!’

Jyanina was perceptive. If it was just the duchy people in a discreet setting it would be one thing, but with so many people watching like this, she had to be careful when using magic. The magic she used was among the most suspicious types of magic.

It was not unheard of for careless wizards seeking recognition to end up dragged to the gallows.

“Your Excellency.”

“?”

Next to him, Johan was puzzled when Jyanina desperately signaled to him.

“What is it. Is there a problem with the magic?”

“No, it’s just. . . I can’t properly demonstrate the magic in a setting like this!”

“Ah. Because of the summoned monsters?”

Johan understood what Jyanina meant. While the duchy people might accept it, some of the imperials might freak out.

“Can you not just end this gathering somehow?”

“It’s possible but didn’t you want the duchy to recognize your abilities? If you just end it here, they will never recognize you no matter what you say in the future, you know?”

“Not as important as my life.”

“I see. I can do at least that much.”

Being seen as a braggart was better than dying. Jyanina sighed in relief. It was the first time she felt so relieved to have an acquaintance with the count.

No matter where you went, it was difficult in many ways without connections to the influential people there. Thankfully Johan was there, otherwise if she made a mistake. . .

━𝐏𝐟𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲? 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬. . .

━𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞!

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺. . .?’

Seeing the duchy people burst into laughter at Johan’s words, she became uneasy.

Just what did he say?

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

As soon as Johan returned to the capital, he acted like lightning. After speaking to the emperor, he arrested the nobles who were involved in this incident.

“Even if we don’t kill them because of other people’s gaze, we should at least confiscate their assets and exile them.”

The emperor also agreed. Johan called on the nobles he had befriended and suggested dividing up the assets some of the nobles had.

At the same time, he also called on the nobles he had gotten close with during this hunt and instigated them.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

As long as he had backing, Johan could practically do anything in the capital. After all, he was the one who practically commanded the soldiers.

The suddenly arrested nobles were so confused that they couldn’t even make proper excuses.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭! 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞. . .

━𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬. . .

━𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬.

━. . .𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞!

“If you don’t believe it, feel free to check. But now, the only thing you can do is to either quietly admit your crime and be exiled, or resist to the end and be executed. The choice is yours.”

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐲. . .

“I have also persuaded the people of the duchy, so stop bringing that up.”

“!!!”

The nobles could only gape at Johan’s words that he had taken all of the allied troops that had come into contact with him. They couldn’t understand what kind of magic this foreigner had used.

‘𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?! 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮!’

Even if the nobles had been bribed, it was hard to believe that the nobles who had participated in the hunt had just stayed still. If something like this had happened, they should have noticed earlier and reported it.

They couldn’t even imagine that Johan had perfectly roasted the nobles who had participated in the hunt in that short time.

Having finished his work, Johan was able to heave a sigh of relief. He can take it easy with work now.

“Now I can relax a bit.”

Gaoalkana looked at Johan in awe.

Johan’s actions over the past few days had been nothing short of impressive. The way he enthusiastically cleaned up Vynashchtym one by one was almost like a portrait of a consummate politician.

“I. . . didn’t think I could do much. But seeing Johan makes me change my mind a bit.”

“Now that you know, are you going to behave more diligently from now on?”

“Yes. I promise.”

Seeing an outsider devote himself to the work as if it were his own caused even the usually wanton Gaoalkana to feel a sense of shame.

“You’d better not run away at night.”

“. . . . . .”

Gaoalkana was about to throw the glass she was holding, but stopped herself. She had just made a serious resolution, and yet. . .