The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

The cut that went from his chin to the side of his lip and below his eye would certainly be the biggest scar on Albrecht’s face now. But it was a small price to pay to win a fight for his life.

Struggling to contain the euphoria he felt, Albrecht walked over to his horse and dug out a first aid kid from his bag. He placed some cloth wadding on his wound but it was quickly stained by blood. No matter how many times he did it, his wound continued to bleed.

‘Oh? Is it more serious than I thought?’

No matter how great his recovery rate was, Albrecht still needed to be treated properly. He was clueless as to what would happen if he lost this much blood.

It seemed that he needed to stitch it up, but he didn’t have the tools to do so. He couldn’t wrap the bandage around his face so he could only dab the wound with a cloth. Albrecht hurriedly rummaged through the knight’s bag, searched his body, and took his sword. He needed to go to an inn to get treated as soon as possible.

It was hard to see at night unless there was a full moon. This was very different from a modern night on Earth where almost there were lights everywhere.

Today of all days, a dark moon was present.

‘I think I’m really fucked?’

Fortunately, he had brought an oil torch. He quickly lit it and got on his horse. It only illuminated a small area around him. He had no choice but to ride the horse at the same speed as he walked.

‘Damn it. To think that the Knight King who slaughtered Rutger’s troops would fall into this state. How could this happen?’

He needed to find someone quick and get help. He was now lost in this medieval world; he didn’t know where to go.

It was a pitch-black night. Lights could be seen from afar so there was hope that he would soon be able to find a place. Yet even after a long time, he saw nothing like that.

The cloth pressed against his wound soon turned dark so he threw it away. Before he knew it, the fire on the torch went out. He strained to see anything beyond the pitch-dark night and made out the faint silhouette of something—only to find out that it was a tree.

Albrecht was already in this bad state. To add insult to injury, the horse stopped moving because it couldn’t see anything anymore. He got off his horse, took the reins, and walked while guiding the horse.

The blood of his wounds started to clot. However, that didn’t help the bleeding to stop. Even without seeing his face, he knew that he looked pale.

At that moment, he saw a faint light on the horizon. He walked towards it without thinking.

After walking for a long time, he saw the figure of a bonfire in a nearby forest. There were some people who looked like peasants gathered around it. There was a middle-aged couple, a boy who seemed to be just about 10 years old, the boy’s younger sister, and a baby whom the mother was carrying. A family of five.

They were huddled together for warmth, but seemed to be struggling to sleep.

Perhaps they heard Albrecht approaching, as they all stood in surprise. When he revealed himself to them, the couple freaked out. The children cried.

“Sp-, spare us please! Spare our lives!”

The man begged on his knees while his wife also knelt while holding the crying baby. The children must have been surprised to see Albrecht’s face covered with blood.

“I’m not here to kill you. I just want to ask for your help. I have to treat my wound, do you have a needle?”

“P-pardon?”

“A needle.”

The man shouted at his wife, “N-needle, a needle. Give him a needle!”

The woman’s expression showed that she was at a loss for what to do. “We didn’t pack up a needle. We don’t have any.”

Helplessness appeared on the man’s face. Albrecht quickly spoke before the man could flip out again.

“It’s okay, I won’t kill you. You don’t have to be scared of me. Can I just join you here then?”

“Yes, of course! Of course!”

Albrecht tied the reins of his horse to a nearby tree and sat a little away from them.

‘Oh fuck. What do I do?’

He didn’t think he’d die here like this. His situation after he wiped out Rutger’s troops was a lot worse than this. But back then, Georg had him treated.

Ah, I’m nervous.

“Um…”

Just then, the woman—who had been looking at Albrecht for a long time while comforting her crying children—spoke. Albrecht was startled when he saw the women looking in his direction.

“Y-your wound… Can I take a look at it?”

Albrecht nodded. The woman approached him cautiously; the man looked at them anxiously.

His wife looked at Albrecht’s wound briefly then went to search for something in their bags. She pulled out a wooden box and grabbed a bunch of grass inside it. Then she put them in her mouth and chewed for a long time.

She walked back to Albrecht, took out what was in her mouth, and began to apply it on his wounds.

‘Is that going to work?’

Since he had memories of being a modern person on Earth, he was very skeptical of the folk remedies of this world.

Honestly, he had been very puzzled when his mother had used olive oil to treat Eric.

The woman applied all the grass she had chewed onto Albrecht’s wounds. Then she tore off the hem of her apron and used it to cover the wounds.

“Um, that—that will leave a scar. But it will at least stop the bleeding.”

Albrecht pulled out a pouch from his pocket and gave them five silver coins. It was based on the number of the members of their family. He thought of giving them a gold coin to show his gratitude, but he didn’t think it’d be polite to ask for some change in this era.

It was indeed normal to get change from merchants in a city when making transactions. But most ordinary people usually only carried and used silver and copper coins.

When the woman received the five silver coins, she and her husband thanked Albrecht repeatedly. The strained atmosphere seemed to ease after the exchange. The little children hiding behind their mother watched Albrecht.

He asked, “Do you know where Penbacht is?”

The couple looked at each other then shook their heads. Most peasants didn’t know much about the outside world because they almost never left their villages. Though they knew the names of some territories, they didn’t know the names of the villages inside. Only travelers and merchants do.

Albrecht nodded and asked another question, “I was heading south from the city of Roybeck. Do you know of any villages or inns near here?”

The couple’s faces suddenly turned grim after hearing Albrecht’s question.

The man answered, “There are no villages around here. They’re all in ruins now.”

“In ruins?”

“It’s because of the war. King Conrad and King Leopold fought. Then the lords of the surrounding territories pillaged and plundered the castles.”

“So you’re seeking refuge.”

The couple looked even more somber.

“But why are you alone? Where are the other people?”

“When I heard that the village next to us was already in shambles, I told the villagers that we should seek refuge immediately. But everyone said that our village would be fine. They didn’t want to abandon their homes. So we were the only ones who escaped.”

They were now located in the northeast direction from the Central border. The village where the couple came from was said to be near the eastern part of the Central border. They were planning to take refuge in the North.

From the couple’s story, it seemed that the east and southeast parts of the Central Region were caught up in the war. It was also possible that Penbacht was too. He had heard once that Penbacht was close to the Central Region.

“Do you have a place to go?”

The couple shook their heads, their faces becoming even gloomier.

This era had no such thing as cars. Peasants rarely moved away from their hometowns and relatives. It was common for them to live near each other, so there were only a few who had relatives living in other areas.

They had no one to rely on. They were just taking their chances to go to the North to survive. Their path ahead was bleak.

Albrecht stood up and walked to his saddle. He took the box containing his first aid kit and emptied its contents inside his saddle bag. Then he gave the case to the couple. It was engraved with wheat and herring.

“Take this with you and go to the city of Roybeck. Go to the Baldevick’s mansion and look for Diego. Show him this and tell him that it’s from Albrecht. Tell him that you met me while escaping and that you treated me. You might be able to make a living then.”

The couple received the case, feeling a bit confused.

“T-thank you.”

“Remember. Look for a guy named Diego. Diego Reines from Vivar.”

The couple and Albrecht fell into silence again, just as they were before. Albrecht put on his cloak.

I’ll follow my father’s teachings for as long as I can.