How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 264: 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐬’ 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 (1)

Despite its harsh connotation, rebellion was not such a surprising event.

It was an event that happened surprisingly often.

A noble who had ruled as a feudal lord for more than ten years would experience a rebellion at least once or twice.

In the first place, it was rare for a feudal lord to govern a fiefdom by properly understanding how the lives of serfs worked.

It was a level of interest that was only understood superficially, and usually the practical work was handled by the managers below.

Therefore, if a few unlucky events happened one after another, a rebellion had to happen. Whether there was a famine, the feudal lord needed money, or a dissatisfied mercenary captain made things worse. . .

Of course, it could not be left alone, but it was not something to be so surprised or scared about. A rebellion would calm down soon if the leader was captured or the serfs got what they wanted a little.

Serfs were also more likely to be satisfied by pouring their hatred on the managers who were caught between the feudal lord and the serfs, rather than making a life-and-death decision with the feudal lord.

“In my fiefdom? That’s strange.”

Because of this, Johan reacted calmly. Of course, it was strange, but it was not impossible. The walls of the fiefdom were strong and the soldiers left behind were elite. They would not budge even with a mediocre rebellion.

“The rebellion did not happen in Count’s fiefdom! It broke out in the southern Empire. And it is a huge scale!”

“That’s good.”

“Huh??”

“Oh, it’s not good. Thank you for letting me know anyway.”

Johan was relieved to hear that it was not his fiefdom, but on second thought, it was not a time to be relieved. It was not good that a rebellion broke out in the already chaotic southern situation.

“There was a rebellion?”

“Yes.”

“Of course. It is clear that the feudal lords have been too aggressive.”

The southern Empire had been in a state of devastation for over a few years due to rebellion and war.

The feudal lords of the south fought against the emperor’s army by holding out in the castle and striking from behind, but in fact, all of that was just for money.

They had no choice but to squeeze the fiefdom, even if they had to borrow some money, and the villages that were looted only became more and more angry.

The war was over, but the southern lords did not reduce taxes to repair the damage and debt they had incurred. In addition, the allied forces from the west also contributed to the problem. To bribe them, they had to raise more money.

It was not surprising that a rebellion broke out, as the situation was one that could have exploded at any time.

“They are strange people. It is only natural that they would rebel if they are pushed too hard, but I don’t understand why they don’t know that.”

“Other lords are not usually as interested as you are. It is common for them to be more ignorant than a passing traveler, even though they are lords.”

Suetlg said with a look of disgust. Every time he saw this kind of thing, he felt sympathetic to the people of the free city.

“In any case, it would be better to prepare quickly. The scale of the rebellion is large, so we will need your help.”

“I understand.”

Whether they were mercenaries or conscripts, soldiers were expensive manpower. Just keeping them around made the silver coins disappear like snow.

After the emperor’s army fled in a panic, the first thing the feudal lords did was to reduce the size of their armies.

Of course, those soldiers did not disappear, so they could be called back if they wanted to, but no feudal lord would do that even for a rebellion, as it was not a matter of life or death with the emperor’s faction.

It is a matter of great loss, apart from face and honor.

‘𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥.’

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Johan was surprised to see that the camp was more crowded than he had expected. The number of soldiers had decreased, but the number of new visitors had increased.

The visitors were the feudal lords of the southern region.

“Your Excellency Count!”

“Your Excellency Count has arrived!”

Johan was popular among them. Some of them were motivated by political considerations or profit, but many of them were simply impressed by his reputation as a knight.

“Your Excellency, it would be an honor if you would allow me to lead the attack!”

It was a striking sight to see unfamiliar knights from unfamiliar families arrive at the camp without being paid. The people who had gathered around the camp looked at them with expressions of awe, not knowing the full story.

In the midst of the chaos in the south, knights were pledging their allegiance to the knight among knights who had appeared.

If you stopped to think about it, it was quite a sight.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳?’

Johan didn’t know if they had been hiding in their fiefdoms or running away when they were fighting against the emperor’s forces, but he was annoyed that they had come to him now that they were facing what seemed to be a less formidable enemy, the serfs.

Of course, they may have come here with their own pure passion and intentions. . .

‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦.’

Johan was not the kind of person to be moved by the sight of people crowding in to pledge their swords and vows.

“Uuh. . . ueek.”

Meanwhile, Iselia, who was standing next to him, was moved to tears. It was a truly beautiful scene as a knight.

“Iselia. . .”

“What is it?”

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“The suppression must be carried out.”

“Indeed, we can’t just leave the rebellion as it is.”

The feudal lords gathered in the room nodded in agreement. The nobles from the south looked hopeful at this sight. It seemed things might resolve easier than expected.

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱.’

Johan realized the true intentions of the feudal lords.

Fighting a rebellion was different from fighting the emperor’s army.

Originally, it was a matter for the southern nobles to handle on their own.

These lords had come from afar and had already made substantial investments. They didn’t want to waste their precious soldiers on something as bothersome as quelling a rebellion.

Though the southern nobles were pleading desperately, the other lords couldn’t outright refuse for the sake of appearances, yet their reluctance was evident.

‘𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯.’

‘𝘕𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴. . .’

“So, when do you plan to set out?”

“The knight in charge of the matter has not yet recovered.”

“It will take some time for the grain from my fiefdom to arrive.”

“There’s a fasting day coming up, and I need to cleanse and focus for prayer. . .”

The feudal lords creatively made up various excuses as if they had agreed beforehand, leaving the southern nobles bewildered.

Even a fool would start to realize it by now.

But even if they realized it, there was no way to convince them. That was unfortunate for them.

“The solution is very simple.”

As always, it was the elf king who took the initiative. The southern nobles threw expectant glances at him as the elf king spoke.

He was a formidable opponent, as he ruled the kingdom of the elves in the west, but he was more than welcome in this situation.

“According to the latest information, the rebels have scattered to the mountains and forests to evade pursuit. It may seem difficult to attack at first glance, but it is actually not. They are just a bunch of untrained serfs and defeated soldiers!”

“Oh. . .!”

“There is no need to be afraid of the mountains and forests. If we take our elite knights and strike like lightning, one by one, the rest will naturally scatter.”

The southern nobles seemed to be deeply impressed by the confident look on the elf king’s face as he gestured at the map.

After all, even the rough and savage can look different when they are desperate and needed.

“Your Majesty, now that you have said that, I am finally starting to feel a little less anxious!”

“Is that so? That’s good.”

“When do you plan to set out?”

“What does that mean?”

The elf king tilted his head. The southern nobleman said in confusion,

“Weren’t you, your majesty, supposed to take charge personally?”

“Are you telling me to fight in such a dishonorable battle?? Isn’t that joke too much? For me and my knights to go out just to suppress a rebellion! Such tasks should be left to mercenaries!”

The elf king shouted with a firmness that suggested he would not forgive any further words. The surprising thing about the elf king was that he was serious.

Dealing with the elf king was a tricky task, different from the way the feudal lords here had to be handled.

Johan finally understood the hearts of the baffled southern nobles.

‘𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦.’

That was a bafflement only those who had accompanied the elf king could understand.

In the end, the meeting concluded with no significant outcome. The feudal lords, who had been holding out, proposed another compromise.

They offered to lend gold without interest so that the southerners could hire mercenaries and undertake the suppression themselves.

Although it was disappointing and frustrating for the southerners, who already had elite forces at hand, to incur another expense, they had no choice. They were the ones in urgent need.

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“This is getting annoying.”

Ulrike was already preparing for her expedition. Behind her were the Abner family’s elite troops.

Of course, this was not an expedition to suppress the rebellion. It was an expedition to defend the family’s fiefdom.

Thanks to the emperor’s extermination, several feudal lord families had disappeared. As a result, there were quite a few fiefdoms without a lord. Those who were acting as lords also fled in the dark as soon as they heard the news that the emperor’s army had collapsed and retreated to the north.

They knew that staying for a long time would be pointless unless they were incredibly clueless, like Johan had been.

Normally, it would be enough to leave a steward in charge, so there was no need to pay much attention. However, this was not the time to do so, with the south in turmoil due to the rebellion.

It was better to station troops and rule in their place until the matter was resolved. Otherwise, they would have to waste unnecessary effort if the rebels suddenly attacked.

Johan, who had made many contributions, was the same. He had to take care of his own rewards.

“This is not a difficult task.”

“Are you thinking of going on a punitive expedition?”

Ulrike asked with a curious voice. Johan was going to go to the Aeia fiefdom, which was not far from where the rebellion had occurred. If he wanted to, he could easily think of subduing it.

“No. Not at all.”

“Of course.”

Ulrike nodded in satisfaction after hearing Johan’s words. Unlike the ignorant knights, Johan was a man who could make realistic judgments.

Since the rebels would not come up to the top and attack Ulrike or Johan’s fiefdom, this was a fight that would be won by just sitting still.

“I won’t go on a punitive expedition, but I can’t just sit still either. We need to appease them to some extent.”

“. . .Huh?”

“Did I just say something so surprising?”

“What do you mean by appease?”

“Reduce the tribute they have to pay, reduce the corvée a bit, and have priests go around and give good sermons. . . It’s not that difficult, is it?”

“Do we really have to go that far?”

Ulrike was puzzled. She wondered if it was necessary to appease them that much when the soldiers would go and settle in.

Johan shrugged. It was difficult to explain in detail if their ways of thinking were too different.

“I’m just deeply religious, you see.”

“. . .That was the funniest joke I’ve heard lately, count. Anyway, I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s go!”

Ulrike set off with her subordinates first. Johan also set off for the fiefdom with his subordinates.

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“This is a mess.”

Johan, who arrived at his fiefdom, spat out his tongue at the situation that had been turned into a mess here and there. There were still traces of being looted several times.

“Fortunately, the lord’s castle is safe.”

“It must have been newly built. Let’s take care of the urgent matters one by one. Let’s build the town’s palisade while we’re around. If we leave it alone, monsters or bands of rogues will come rushing in.”

The mercenaries wore very sad expressions. None of them liked this kind of work.

But what can you do? You have to follow your lord’s orders.

The townspeople looked on with pale faces at the sight of more than a hundred soldiers rushing in, plowing the ground and erecting a palisade.

It would have been easier to mind if they were asked to hand over silver coins, but they had no idea what was going on.

“Isn’t it about the cost of the palisade?”

“Why would you do that? You can just say you have to give it up if you don’t want to die.”

The village chief, who was supposed to explain what happened, was not returning because he was explaining next to Johan.

As soon as the village chief returned, the people asked urgently.

“How much do we have to pay?”

“It looks like you’ve misunderstood.”

“Is it conscription? How many people do we have to give up?”

“No. It’s not that. . .”