The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

The next day, Albrecht parted with the family of refugees and set off once again. The morning winter wind blew past him in greeting. Albrecht wrapped himself in his cape and refused to return its greeting.

Along the way, he thought of the family of refugees. It would at least take three to four days to travel by horse. If they were lucky, they would reach Roybeck safely without encountering any bandits during their journey.

His wound still hurt, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore like it did yesterday. Just like the woman said, the herbs she put on his wounds helped it to heal.

‘Ma’am, thank you.’

This world had no police stations or hospitals. There was no such concept of that. The people in this world struggled to survive on their own. Though churches and monasteries were in charge of education, medical care, publication of books, and arts, they were incomparable to their modern Earth counterparts. Nevertheless, it was comforting to know that they existed in this world.

After traveling for almost half a day, he saw a ruined village. People either loitered around lifelessly or they sat there weakly.

The villagers were all expressionless. Deep despair lingered in their eyes. They should’ve been surprised to see a knight but their faces remained blank, probably hiding their hostility.

Just like the family of refugees told him, the lords’ troops didn’t enslave or kill people. It was now winter; it was almost a given that all these people would starve to death.

These people would only be able to pay their taxes if they work. All the lords knew that. But since they were pressed for time and a war broke out, they just took everything away from these people.

To those lords, villages were no different from a goose laying eggs. They would be sacrificed if necessary. If they were lucky to survive this, then they will be kept and taxed again.

Albrecht walked past the village and continued on his journey. He had been eating hard bread with smoked herring for a while now, not on the ground but while riding his horse. It was very uncomfortable to eat since he couldn’t move his mouth much after his lips were cut.

By the time he finished eating, he saw an army stationed in a tent from afar. There seemed to be about 50 people and two lords. Flags showing their territory or family’s crest were put up around the area.

The soldiers were armed, either carrying a weapon or a kite shield.

This world surprisingly didn’t have the concept of conscripting people. Instead of weapons being provided by the lords, soldiers who chose to serve and work for them had to provide their own equipment. In return, their families would be given tax cuts or tax exemptions.

If peasants were conscripted and given weapons, they would surely be defeated or run away. Naturally, it would lead them to lose. Shield wall formation was the most important in this era; thus, it was common to form an army by selecting people with great physique, strength, and equipment to be part of the defense forces. The rest of the people in the village were either robbed or ordered to give up their properties as a way to supply the army.

Seeing Albrecht approaching the garrison, three knights approached him on horseback.

“I am Adelmar von Gringen, Count of Gringen. State your identity.”

Count Adelmar looked very young, probably the same age as Albrecht. His body was big but normal enough for his age. His eyes were bright and his jaws were kind of wide. He was a handsome young man with dark blonde hair.

He was wearing chain armor and a cloak. The two knights behind him were in the same get-up. One of them was holding the flag of their territory.

“Kaltern’s heir apparent and a knight, Albrecht von Hoenkaltern.”

Adelmar and the two knights behind him were taken aback.

“Are you the ‘Vertical Mangler’?”

‘What, where did my title ‘Knight King’ go? Why do I hear that title again?’

Adelmar scanned him up and down, his face glowing.

“I’ve heard stories about the Vertical Mangler. It is an honor to meet you, Sir Albrecht.”

Albrecht nodded his head in answer to the other person’s greeting. He didn’t want to speak.

Adelmar felt a bit awkward by his response but he continued, “I would like to invite you to our barracks. I’d like to hear about your heroic tales.”

Albrecht, who hadn’t eaten any decent food for a long time, perked up at the prospect of eating proper food. Though it wasn’t certain that there would be decent food in the army, there still should be meat for nobles.

“Thank you. Then I’ll take you up on your offer.”

Adelmar beamed. He looked like an innocent young noble. It was ironic to think that such a young man was roaming around the village and robbing people under the pretext of wartime requisition.

The people in this world were unlike people from modern Earth. They took things for granted. If there was a war, it was a given for them to act according to their needs. Robbing people was as normal as if they were simply washing their faces in the morning.

However, they weren’t born evil. Even so, conscience was no help in this world’s inconceivable, harsh reality. They had no choice but to adapt to its cruelty.

However, there were exceptionally few people who were still a little conscientious. One example was Diego.

Influenced by Albrecht’s principles, Diego became more open-minded and conscientious. But Albrecht was also thankful for Diego for saving him. If it wasn’t for him, who knew what the psychopath inside him would have done.

As friends who opened their hearts to each other, they were able to influence each other positively. They cared not about the other being too strong or too weak.

Adelmar guided Albrecht into the barracks. Inside was a man wearing a surcoat and chain armor. The surcoat was divided into four sections. One diagonal was red and had an image of a lion in one section. The other diagonal was blue and had an image of a white cross in another section.

Surprisingly, what they saw was a gray-haired old man. Yet he was taller and more imposing than Albrecht. He had big, bright eyes; a sharp nose; and a white, shaggy beard.

He glared at Albrecht as soon as he saw him. Albrecht returned his gaze calmly.

“Uncle! Guess who I brought with me! It’s the Vertical Mangler! The Vertical Mangler!” Aldemar shouted all of a sudden.

Perhaps, seeing his uncle suddenly made him act like a child.

“Mmm!”

The burly old man let out an ‘Mmm’ and continued to glare at Albrecht. But actually, he wasn’t glaring—it was just how he usually looked at people.

“Ah, right. Sir Albrecht. This is Otto von Lothringen, the Count of Lothringen, and my maternal uncle.”

“Mmm.”

Albrecht also said ‘mmm’ as he stared at the old man.

As the two stared at each other silently, Adelmar, who was feeling confused, scrambled to bring chairs.

“Let’s stop being awkward and sit down first, everyone.”

Adelmar tried to urge his uncle to sit down, but the man remained unmoved. Albrecht decided to give up to the elderly and sat down first. Only then did Otto take a seat.

Three people sat on their chairs with the table between them. There was no military tactical map on it, just clutter and glasses of liquor. Adelmar shouted to the people outside.

“Hey, someone get us some booze and meat!”

‘Isn’t there a war going on? Is it alright for them to drink?’

Modern people on Earth have never experienced war. Albrecht only knew what was written in textbooks.

At that moment, Otto suddenly spoke to Albrecht.

“Hey! You! Why do you have two swords?!”

Albrecht had two swords now. He had taken one of them from the knight he encountered before.

“I fought with an unknown knight yesterday. I got this sword after killing him. This wound was from yesterday’s duel.”

Albrecht put the sword on the table as he spoke. Otto and Adelmar, who were staring at the sword, were both surprised.

Adelmar pointed at the sword’s pommel, “T-this—!”

Otto raised his hand to stop him from speaking.

“Can you describe to us what that unknown knight looks like? Just give us a rough description.”

Albrecht tried to recall his memories of the knight.

“He had slightly reddish hair, and a thick beard. I think he’s middle-aged.”

Otto slowly closed his eyes as he listened to Albrecht. He folded his arms and lowered his head.

“So he died in the end as well.”

Albrecht was curious, “Was it someone you know?”

Adelmar answered instead of Otto.

“The man Sir Albrecht met and killed was probably Michael von Vanhenheim.”

“What kind of man was he?”

“What kind of man was he…”

Just then, the squire whom Adelmar ordered earlier came in with some meat and alcohol.