How to Live as a Wandering Knight - Chapter 281: 𝐅𝐚𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 (2)

“Ah. Are they slaves?”

The scribes wondered if they were slaves. It had been a long-standing custom to sell those convicted of serious crimes into slavery.

There did seem to be quite a large number of them, but it wasn’t that unusual to see this many slaves gathered at times. Perhaps they had caught some rogues or pirates somewhere.

“No, they’re not slaves, but rather mercenaries convicted of crimes. . . oh well, you might as well think of them as slaves. They’ll be doing similar work anyway.”

Johan permitted them to think of the men as slaves, as explaining further was tiresome to him. In any case, the work would be comparable.

The mercenary captains who had schemed to undermine the Castellan of Vipen out of resentment for not hiring them were captured without chance of escape. They had severely underestimated Johan from the start.

He was the sort of man who could overlook even an assassin targeting him if it didn’t profit him to engage. No one so easily swayed by the impulse to seize a silver mine would rashly take the bait.

Instead of harsh interrogations, Johan elicited confessions from the mercenary captains with only a few questions and some persuasion.

━𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

━𝐍𝐨!! 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲!!

━𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐳𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?

━𝐍𝐨!! 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲!!

━𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.

━. . . . . .

Faced with the choice between the gallows or being sold into slavery, none of the mercenary captains dared defiance. They desperately pleaded for the chance to loyally serve with their lives if given the opportunity to volunteer their services.

And so they ended up dragged south like this.

“God from above! We didn’t expect to be hauled off to these beastly southerners’ lair!”

“Watch your mouth, you fool. Can you still see this place as part of the Empire?”

Most of the Empire mercenaries had spent their whole lives in the Empire, so the much more southern peninsula was overwhelmingly unfamiliar.

Moreover, they weren’t brought here for any happy reasons. . .

One captain of a squad of ten, a bit smarter than the rest, cautioned the other mercenaries about their situation which he grasped well.

“Damn it all! Can’t we even complain a little? Don’t you feel dissatisfied too, Captain?”

“Swallow your complaints, idiot. This place isn’t like the Empire. Don’t be surprised if a passing noble has you strung up then and there.”

It might sound somewhat odd to say a noble couldn’t arbitrarily hang people in the Empire, but it wasn’t inaccurate.

Of course, judging by status alone, even the lowliest noble was incomparably more honorable than a mere mercenary. But that didn’t mean nobles could freely take mercenaries’ heads at will.

Laws and conventions in the Empire, as insignificant as they might look, weren’t so easily dismissed by nobles either.

Punishing a mercenary without cause could stir discontent among other mercenaries, offer a later pretext against the noble, and bring about other annoying troubles. Unjustified action was ill-advised.

However, this was not Imperial land, and the native mercenaries were unlikely to band together over wronged outsiders.

Let alone the fact that their commander, the Count, hardly cherished them so dearly either. They would have to be several times more cautious in their conduct here.

“For goodness sake, watch your mouth properly! If you cause trouble, I’m more likely to get a whipping right alongside you!”

“Y-Yes, I understand!”

“. . .Well, at least the weather here isn’t too bad.”

The mercenaries tried hard to look on the bright side to forget they were dragged here against their will. If they overlooked that fact, the fief had quite a few advantages after all.

The climate and scenery weren’t poor, and the exceptionally prosperous port meant they could obtain all kinds of desirable things. Mercenaries lived to squander their hard-earned money on their days off, after all.

“This way! Come this way!”

“Hm?”

“We’re going to cut into this hill and turn it into flat land.”

“F*ck. . .”

Swearing and cursing, the mercenaries picked up their shovels and mattocks. They couldn’t help wishing they were already out on expedition instead. At least they could look forward to war spoils seized from the enemy!

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Like most absent parents, Johan felt a sense of guilt toward Amien.

Iselia, on the other hand, felt no such thing. After all, parent-child relationships in noble families were much drier and colder.

In the first place, it was rare for feudal lords to teach their children directly. If they were knights, they would be sent to another lord’s court, and if they aspired to be theologians or officials, they would be sent to university.

It was no different in their childhood. They were taught and cared for by nannies or tutors, and their parents paid them no heed. In most cases, nobles were too busy to take care of their children one by one.

That was why Iselia could not understand Johan’s apologetic attitude toward Amien.

“Do you really have to bring so many presents again? It’s not like Amien has done anything special.”

“. . .”

‘𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. . .’

Johan was speechless, but he quietly packed the presents. As she was interested in astronomy, books and instruments related to it would be good gifts.

Meanwhile, Suetlg was having a conversation with Caenerna.

“By the way, the maid serving the count’s daughter seems to be quite clever. She has talent in magic, so I’ve been teaching her a few things.”

“Oh, really? I thought there were only knights there, but that’s unexpected.”

Caenerna was surprised.

Since the count was a knight and the countess was also a knight, she expected it to be a court of knights, but she couldn’t help but be surprised when she heard that she had a disciple who was being taught.

The only thing more precious than a wizard was a wizard’s disciple. In addition to being quick-witted, one needed a deep and strong desire for the unknown. It was extremely rare for someone to end up in magic after accidentally defeating a malevolent spirit with their fists.

“If it’s okay, would you like to teach her with me?”

“I don’t know what I can teach her, but. . . I’ll do it.”

At Caenerna’s words, Suetlg nodded with a pleased expression.

A wizard who claims to know everything is nothing more than a fraud. The more one learns about magic and delves into the unknown, the more one realizes how little one knows.

The help of a wizard like Caenerna would be of great help.

“. . .”

“Oh! Will Jyanina-gong help out too?”

“Wa, of course!”

Jyanina was so happy that her voice cracked a little. Caenerna looked at her with pity. She never dreamed that she would feel sorry for Jyanina when she was in the emperor’s court. . .

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

After a few lessons, Amien greeted Johan warmly. Even though Iselia was by her side, she ran to Johan and hugged him, clearly knowing who was giving her the presents.

“Thank you!”

“Yes. Here, I’ll give you some gold coins, so you can use them as you like. . .”

“. . .On second thought, I think it’s fine.”

Amien was about to take it, but she lowered her hand when Iselia glared at her. She had already received enough money.

However, Johan forcefully put the money into her hand. Amien pretended to reluctantly accept it. The two of them were in sync.

“Yes. That’s good thinking. Have you made any new friends?”

Johan asked with slight anticipation. The reason why feudal lords originally sent their children to their courts was because there were many opportunities to build connections there.

The friendships formed with other nobles from a young age would be helpful even when they grew up. When a banquet was held in a certain family, it all started with being invited to it and participating in it.

Otherwise, one had to go around with a sword like Johan, hunting monsters and making a name for themselves before they could join any family.

“. . .Yes!”

‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.’

Amien was not as good at lying as Iselia. Johan shrugged his shoulders when he saw her eyes shaking from side to side.

“You don’t have to make friends if you don’t get along with them.”

“Really?!”

“What do you mean, ‘Really?’. . .”

Johan stopped Iselia, who was about to get angry at Amien for saying that.

“As a knight, isn’t it basic to make friends and build camaraderie with other knights, my dear?”

“I’m not trying to be a knight, so what. . .”

“Even if you do something else, there’s nothing that doesn’t require friendship, is there?!”

“It’s not always like that. Suetlg-nim doesn’t have many friends either, but he’s good at magic.”

Suetlg, who had suddenly been picked as an example of a friendless wizard, felt sorry, but Iselia’s tone softened when she heard Suetlg’s name.

Is that so?

“Let’s cherish the friends you already have. How is Ardolata doing?”

“Yes. Now, she knows how to summon animals.”

“. . .What? Really?”

Ardolata was the third child of the viscount, whom she had brought as an attendant and made a friend of Amien. She had heard that she had talent in magic, but he could already summon animals.

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤?’

Come to think of it, hunters also knew how to summon animals with their wisdom and experience.

━𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥.

Karamaf, who was behind him, tilted his head as if he felt Johan’s gaze. Johan stroked his fur once and nodded.

“It’s a good thing to have talent. Were there any outstanding young knights among those here?”

“The knights are a bit. . .”

Amien trailed off because Iselia was there, but Johan could more than guess what she was trying to say. Johan nodded.

“I understand.”

“!”

Amien was even more surprised when her adoptive father, a knight among knights, said that.

“It’s not strange to find it difficult to deal with them, is it?”

“Yes. It’s quite possible.”

Johan asked Amien a few more questions about her well-being, listened to her, and cheered her on before coming out.

When he saw Iselia deep in thought beside him, Johan asked her curiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“. . .My dear. Did you think that too? No, right?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

As soon as he returned to the court, he received greetings from the knights who were training and the merchants at the harbor, and then Johan began to prepare in earnest.

He called in the mercenary captains he knew, hired more mercenaries to prepare for the expedition, prepared to mobilize the slave soldiers he had been raising in his fiefdom, and heard about the situation in the east from the merchants. . .

“Surprisingly. . . it’s going well?”

Johan was honestly surprised by some of the news. It was surprising that the expeditionary forces, which had gathered suddenly and had few knights, were advancing steadily eastward.

And the most surprising thing was the situation in Serderdits’ fiefdom, where a serf rebellion had taken place in the south. As if they were still not satisfied with the rebellion, a group of rogues and mercenaries had set off for the east again, and they were the most enthusiastic of the expeditionary forces that had set out so far.

“It seems that the situation in the east is not as good as we thought. I guess it’s because we have to keep an eye on Vynashchtym and we can’t chase after them one by one.”

“It’s not easy to chase and catch a group of rogues who wander around like a group of bandits without a base.”

The merchants smiled awkwardly at Johan’s expression. No matter how composed of rogues and wandering mercenaries they were, they couldn’t openly ridicule them once they had the goal of going on an expedition to the east.

But the count before them was saying it so calmly and indifferently. . .

“Haven’t there been any pirates around here lately? I heard that they’ve appeared a few times.”

This area was originally a good place for pirates to swarm. There were many merchant ships coming and going, and it was a good location for pirates to hit and run.

After Johan subjugated the hundred kingdoms and swept through the area several times, their numbers had decreased, but rogue groups were like mold, and they were bound to reappear after some time.

“Of course, they haven’t been seen recently.”

“?”

“Your Excellency, you are leading your army here. What crazy pirate would dare to hang around? No one would do that unless they were crazy.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

The news would have spread quickly, so any pirate with a sense of self-preservation wouldn’t come near for a while. The problem was not looting, but the fact that their base could be burned down first as an example.

“Your Excellency. I heard that a ship from the order is coming to the harbor.”

“From the order?”

Johan prepared to go and meet them himself. It wasn’t necessary, but people tended to be impressed by such trivial things. It was a good deal to move a few steps and hear some praise.

However, as Johan was about to go down the hill to the harbor, he narrowed his eyes. There was not only the order’s ship, but also other ships behind it. It seemed as if they were chasing the order’s ship.

“. . .What are those crazy b*stards doing?”

“I-I’m sorry. The people at the harbor will take care of it soon!”