How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 202: Those on the Run (1)

“. . . . . .”

“. . .”

An awkward silence filled the tent where the nobles were gathered. The pagan expert noble who had been arguing that they should retreat earlier awkwardly avoided eye contact.

A noble who had no battle experience and knew little about command spoke up quizzically.

Are they trying to lure us?

Unless they are complete fools, they would not try to lure us like that.

One of the nobles murmured. Indeed, what he said was true. If they wait a little, the opponent was retreating at full speed. To lure someone, you need to match the speed to some extent, but the opponent was abandoning the spoils and supplies they had gathered and was running away.

The nobles did not know whether they should be happy or embarrassed about this situation, so they just kept looking at each other.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan was regretful, but did not chase after Adviko. There was too much to do.

“Chase after those b*stards!”

Both the center and left were worried. If we had chased after Adviko and their allied camp collapsed, there would be nothing more absurd.

The warriors seemed regretful as they turned their heads in succession to look in the direction Adviko had escaped.

“Still. . . even if His Excellency is not here, there’s no way the others, who are not *ssholes, would immediately collapse, right?”

“Assume they are *ssholes.”

“. . . . . .”

At Johan’s words, the warriors who were grumbling closed their mouths. They could feel genuine anger mixed in.

If Johan’s leadership was weak, there would have been people who refused the order and ran out, but Johan’s presence was too great for that.

The warriors attacked the crumbling center of the enemies. Realizing their commanders had fled, the helpless enemies collapsed and fled. In such chaos, having several times more in number meant nothing.

“Don’t bother chasing the escaping ones! Maintain formation! Take care of the remaining guys first!”

When the enemy’s center collapsed beyond recognition, Johan received a report that the enemy’s right wing was also escaping.

‘𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥.’

Johan heaved a sigh of relief. The enemies on the other side clearly panicked and fled hastily, realizing the allied army had escaped over there.

From Johan’s perspective, it was rather fortunate. After all, they had just gone through several intense battles without rest. He did not really want to clash with still robust enemies in this condition.

While his side had the enemies surrounded, to be honest, the allied encirclement was far from robust enough. . .

‘𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴.’

“Those guys are escaping! Let’s fight fair and square!”

“Come back, you cowardly cravens!”

“. . . . . .”

Seeing the warriors next to him yelling tirelessly, Johan was dumbfounded. Even the veteran mercenaries, elites to some extent, were now sprawled on their horses, exhausted. . .

In fact, the mercenaries were hesitating whether to stop the warriors or not, staring at them.

‘𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸.’

Johan looked over the battlefield with a strange sense of catharsis mixed in. The disorganized escape of countless enemies was a luxury only the victor could enjoy.

. . .Of course, for Johan, this allied force was one that made him grit his teeth, swearing never to join forces and fight again. . .

“Good job. With this, it should be quiet for a while. No need to think too far ahead for now.”

Starting with chasing the remaining enemies, and how to request compensation from Mairene City which dared attack the Order. . .

These were not issues Johan had to worry about now.

“We were very lucky in many ways.”

Seeing how things were going, if Johan had not come out early, it could have really become dangerous. If the center and left had collapsed, even Johan’s elite troops would have had to retreat first, no matter how outstanding they were.

“Yes. We were really lucky. Especially Jyanina. . .”

At Suetlg’s words, Johan nodded. Jyanina’s feats were unexpected to both Johan and Suetlg.

Jyanina drove the suddenly appearing trolls and swamp drakes into a frenzy before they even reached this side. They started rampaging amidst the enemies, and the effect was tremendous.

Johan reflected. He had underestimated Jyanina too much. Every skill has its use. . .

“She was a great wizard. From now on, I should treat her with more courtesy.”

Iselia went ‘𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘦𝘴’ and nodded. Jyanina’s feats seemed to have left a strong impression on her.

“No, there’s no need for that.”

“It’s not to that extent. Iselia.”

The two spoke decisively. Iselia had an elven demeanor, which could become troublesome if handled poorly.

“There’s no need for that. Giving her a proper reward will satisfy her.”

“I intend to do so. However. . .”

“?”

“Seeing the opponents, they seemed to be wizards from the Empire. Was it okay for her to step up and be so active?”

It would be good if the wizards did not recognize Jyanina in that situation, but that seemed unlikely given the circumstances. They would surely report back about Jyanina’s impression.

“. . .Well, she already had a grudge against the emperor faction. Adding a bit more to that. . .”

“It doesn’t seem to just be a small addition.”

While Jyanina could not return due to messing up the viscount-related affairs, what she did today was on another level.

The nobles who had forgotten about Jyanina’s existence might become furious when they hear about today’s events, to the point of sending assassins after her.

Jyanina was highly likely unaware of such a situation. She was far removed from political insight or capabilities after all.

“I think I should tell her about this.”

“You really are a generous man.”

“I think so too. My dear.”

‘𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘑𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.’

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

To welcome Johan who had returned with his army, Bishop Castilionne went to Johan’s tent in person, leading his guards.

It might have seemed excessive, but no one said so. In the central camp, there were many who had witnessed Johan’s charge.

When Johan led the soldiers at the very front and charged, the enemies just collapsed. While there were people who fought shoulder to shoulder with Johan, the only one that caught the eye was the young count.

Those who had underestimated the young count’s military prowess shut their mouths after witnessing the battle in person.

Whether a heavily armed knight or a bare conscript, they were equal before Johan’s sword. Every time he swung his sword, the enemies fell, and later they couldn’t even put up a fight and fled.

The bishop blessed Johan in person with the relics he had prepared, praising his exploits.

“Your Excellency Count. What Your Excellency Count has done for the Order will never be forgotten!”

Johan humbly accepted the praise. The nobles who had come with the bishop cautiously joined in the praise. As they had many sore spots, they participated in the praise much more exaggeratedly.

As the nobles who led the soldiers were given considerable rights accordingly, so was their responsibility. The nobles were not so generous as to just let those who had caused disturbances be.

If another nobleman in charge of another area fled even when one fought hard himself, wouldn’t he be furious?

If they had lost, the bishop wouldn’t have stopped Johan from challenging anyone to a duel out of anger.

“How dare you butt in! I heard it all. You tried to flee like a coward, didn’t you?”

“I-It’s a misunderstanding. I just stepped back temporarily to regroup because the situation was unfavorable. . .”

“That excuse is for cowards!”

While Johan, who should be angry, remained silent, the nobles who were with Johan on the right erupted in condemnation.

They were confident and overflowing with righteous indignation. As the opponents also knew it, they couldn’t properly make excuses.

“What were you doing while the count was cutting, smashing, and stabbing the enemies with his sword, spear, and mace! I fought at the very front with the count. Arrows pierced my skin and swords grazed my face, yet I did not stop!”

They harshly condemned the nobles on the left who had tried to flee. They were proud and overflowing with legitimate confidence. As the opponents also knew it, they couldn’t properly make excuses.

However, Johan found it preposterous.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦.’

From Johan’s perspective, it was absurd that those who couldn’t properly ambush and caused disturbances blamed others for not fighting well. Of course they desperately fought with the soldiers afterwards, but. . .

Honestly, it seemed it wouldn’t have made much difference if they weren’t there.

“Shouldn’t we stop them?”

Johan quietly asked the bishop. The battle hadn’t completely finished yet, so it wasn’t good for them to bite and tear at each other like that.

“Why should we stop them?”

“. . .”

The Bishop of Castilionne looked at Johan as if he really didn’t understand.

Just because one is a bishop doesn’t mean one unconditionally loves peace and encourages reconciliation. If one was that slow-witted, one wouldn’t have been able to rise to the position of bishop either.

While it made sense to stop the quarrel since the fight wasn’t over yet, the bishop preferred punishing the useless cowards.

Besides, it wasn’t the bishop but other nobles who stepped forward and fought.

Johan realized he was the only one in this place who could stop the fight.

“Everyone, stop. They probably didn’t act cowardly on purpose either. According to the knights who were with them, I heard they fought quite bravely too.”

“???”

Johan’s knights looked at Johan in puzzlement.

They were the ones who hurriedly came to him as soon as the battle ended, saying ’𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘣*𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴! 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. . .!’

And now they bravely fought?

“If His Excellency says so. . .”

The feudal lords who were angry also hesitated, wondering what more they could say when the person who should be angriest said that.

The nobles who were condemned sent Johan grateful looks from their hearts and slightly bowed their heads.

The grace given at times like this left a deeper impression than a hundred words of courtesy or gift boxes full of gold coins. They sincerely thanked Johan in their hearts.

‘𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶! 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.’

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

As the fighting was more or less over, one knight cautiously opened his mouth.

“Should we not chase after the escaping enemies?”

At those words, all those who had just fought nodded their heads at the same time. It was something worth doing.

Although the spoils of war and hostages gained from today’s battle were considerable, many had escaped. Adviko and his adjutants, as well as the knights and wizards from the Empire, and so on.

If they were captured, they could extract a huge ransom.

Originally, even if they escaped, it would not have been easy to chase them with so many soldiers. But this time was different. They had escaped with only their bodies from a completely collapsed state.

If we can catch them before they get out of this region!

“You’re right. Let’s organize a pursuit team quickly!”

“Your Excellency Count, will you come with us?”

“No.”

Johan flatly refused. He would never agree to catch them alone and then catch them together with these nobles who would turn them inside out.

“Your Excellency must be worried about the baron. To match your words, the baron may have to fall down.”

“These guys. . .”

As the other nobles added as if they were being condescending, the baron glared at them angrily.

“Fine. I will definitely catch those city b*stards and show them to you!”

“I want to go too. Bishop, you will allow me to join the pursuit, won’t you?”

Since the number was like grains of sand from the beginning, it was similar during the pursuit.

The nobles were stimulated by the competitive spirit mixed with the resentment that had just occurred. The nobles who had subordinates who could ride horses embarked on the pursuit without hesitation.

“. . .Your Excellency Count. Our family has a horse with good lineage that we would like to give you as a gift. Would you like to join us?”

Some feudal lords cautiously approached Johan despite having seen him be flatly rejected just before. It was more because they wanted to build closer ties with Johan rather than wanting to capture the enemy.