The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

***

December and January passed and it was now almost late February. The weather was still cold but people were already looking forward to the coming spring.

During his stay in the village, Albrecht continued to teach Randolph and helped the villagers with their menial tasks.

He also gave uniforms that he obtained from Ludwig’s soldiers to the village’s men and taught them some basic fighting skills. Nothing too hard, he simply taught them how to use their spears properly and how they should use their shields in sync according to their leader’s commands.

Their spears were about 3 meters long and had to be held by one hand only since the other needed to carry a shield. It was kind of difficult to use both equipment at the same time so they needed practice to get used to it.

In this world, not many households had their own weapons and equipment, and rarely did they respond to their territory’s lord’s summons. This village, especially, didn’t answer to their lord’s summons. Despite that, the village’s people still listened to Albrecht’s lessons.

Albrecht and Randolph went out to the open area and practiced horse-mounted combat. The lance used in this world was not the heavy, jousting lance usually seen in movies. A simple spear was already considered a lance once it was used in horse-mounted combat. It wasn’t much different from the ones normally used by soldiers.

Hitting a target accurately while riding a moving horse was no easy task. It was important to never lose one’s concentration, to become one with the horse, and to know how much speed and strength was needed to apply on one’s spear during battle.

Techniques were unnecessary. What mattered most were concentration and cooperation with the horse, as well as the courage to face an opponent.

Though the open area was large, it wasn’t large enough for their horses to run at full speed. Albrecht did mock battles with Randolph while riding their horses slowly, helping him familiarize himself with horse-mounted combat.

Even at their slow pace, Albrecht was always able to hold out and stay in place after his shield got hit, unlike Randolph who faltered and almost fell off his horse.

Randolph succeeded in striking Albrecht’s shield but the latter endured. Because of this, Randolph staggered again.

“Isn’t this fight quite too one-sided, Master?”

“Then what am I supposed to do when I’m born strong like this? Will my opponent leave me alone just because of that?”

Randolph received three months of rigorous training from Albrecht. He now had a toned physique. Unknowingly, he had departed from his childish appearance and could now be considered a young man.

“Hey, let’s rest for now. This is getting boring.”

Albrecht tied his horse to a tree and sat down, while Randolph remained riding his horse slowly. It was hard to get him to alight his horse once he was riding it.

As he rode his horse around Albrecht, Randolph asked, “Master, how old are you really? If I look closely, you don’t really seem that old.”

This punk?!

Albrecht wasn’t good at lying. He couldn’t even come up with any fibs to say. He was stuck in such a dilemma when suddenly, he heard strange noises coming from a distance. He wouldn’t be able to hear such sounds if not for his monster-like hearing; even Randolph seemed unable to hear it.

Between the sounds coming from birds, insects, movements of bodies of water, wind sweeping across the trees and the grass, he heard a faint sound coming from afar that didn’t seem to fit the surroundings.

Randolph had long realized during Albrecht’s stay that his master would panic at the mention of his age. He smiled at his master who panicked again once his age was asked but soon his expression turned serious.

‘Huh? Is he angry?’

Just then, they heard someone shouting from a distance.

“Found it!”

Even Randolph could hear this voice. He got goosebumps; his eyes grew wide and his heart began to beat faster. Albrecht immediately drove his horse towards the direction of the village, with Randolph following behind.

He rushed down the winding mountain path and through the hills. The closer he got to the source of the sounds, the more he could hear it clearly. There were soldiers down at the village.

The soldiers lined up along the narrow road, trying to enter the village. However, near the entrance of the village, the village men came out with their weapons and protected themselves with shields. The soldiers were taken aback.

What are these soldiers doing here?

A soldier shouted, “Oi! Do you all live here?”

The men of the village didn’t answer. The soldiers became more confused. If they pushed their way forward through this narrow road, they would be stabbed to death.

The villagers’ fighting stance didn’t resemble that of commoners who had recklessly taken a weapon. Instead, they followed a proper formation and posture.

Just then, a man was seen approaching with a shield and a sword.

Albrecht tied his horse to a nearby tree, drew his sword, and hurriedly approached the soldiers on foot.

A soldier in the back row tried to block his way with a spear but Albrecht grabbed it and pulled it from him. The soldier tried to run but died after being stabbed in the neck by a sword.

The soldiers around were unable to properly aim their spears because of the narrow road. Without using any techniques, and with only a little force, Albrecht approached and slaughtered his enemies by stabbing and slashing them.

One soldier thought of dropping his spear and drawing a shield. He also thought of running away. As he pondered over his next course of action, Albrecht was already in front of him. He suffered a blow to the head and passed out.

Albrecht killed almost a dozen soldiers but kept the last one to bring back to the village.

The men of the village put their spears away and stepped out of his way. As Albrecht passed by them, he saw that their hands were shaking. They seemed very nervous. Still, they did a great job protecting the village. Albrecht smiled at the thought.

Randolph came in, riding Blitz and grabbing the reins of Schwarz.

The villagers all watched with anxious eyes. The village chief was also standing among them. Albrecht set the soldier in the middle of the village and tied him up with a rope.

“Bring me a large bowl and a bucket of water.”

One woman paid attention to Albrecht’s words and quickly brought what he asked.

Albrecht scooped up a bowl of water and splashed it on the soldier’s face. The soldier woke up with a scream, and a sword in front of his face.

Albrecht said, “State your identity.”

The soldier looked at Albrecht, then at the villagers surrounding him. With a frightened expression, he turned his head and his eyes around, feeling confused.

Albrecht stabbed the soldier’s shoulder with his sword then pulled it out.

“I’ll stab you every time you don’t answer.”

“Huh, uh, oh, oh.”

Did he really get stabbed in the shoulder? The confused soldier looked at Albrecht with fear and nodded his head eagerly.

“State your identity.”

“N-Niederbayern. I’m a soldier from Niederbayern.”

Albrecht looked at the Chief.

“A territory that’s west of here.”

Albrecht turned his attention back to the soldier and asked, “What business do you have here?”

“T-the, t-the, the unit in charge of supplies, they were all wiped out…”

The soldiers were originally summoned to go to Niederbayern for war and were said to have been stationed in the North. However, with no news from Ludwig—who was in charge of gathering their supplies—they began to search the surrounding areas to look for him and only found this village now.

It took them a long time to hear the news regarding Ludwig’s troops, and another long time to look for the reason why he didn’t come. It also took  time to dispatch soldiers originally summoned for war to search for Ludwig’s troops instead.

Ludwig’s troops were from the territory Obobern, where Penbacht belonged. The lord of the territory went to the garrison ahead of time while Ludwig decided to rendezvous after leading his troops to ‘gather’ supplies from the surrounding villages. However, he and his troops were killed by Albrecht.

“Are there any more soldiers coming here?”

The soldier shook his head. Albrecht thrust his sword into the soldier’s neck then pulled it out. The soldier died while struggling.

The villagers who had gathered around him hastily covered the eyes of their children. Though they approved of Albrecht’s actions, it was still terrifying to see him simply killing the soldier without hesitation.

The village chief decided to hold a village meeting.

***

The sun’s vivid rays fell on the lake while the lake reflected the light brilliantly onto the houses. The scenery of the village continued to show off its beauty and charm despite what happened in the village.

After collecting the dead soldiers’ equipment and packing up the dead bodies, the villagers gathered in the center of their village. A few were sitting while the rest were standing. The men who guarded the village leaned against their spears and looked at their village chief in the middle.

Albrecht sat on a wooden box. He chewed on hard, dry meat as he looked at the ground and listened to their words. Randolph stood next to him, gazing at the village chief with troubled eyes.

“Even without telling you, I know everyone should have seen what happened today. I called for a meeting to say that it would be dangerous for us to continue living here. I’m open to listen to anyone’s opinion on what we should do next.”

No one uttered a word. They only looked worried. Just then, a woman tried to say something.

“Umm…Uhh…Didn’t the soldier say that there wouldn’t be any more soldiers coming here? Isn’t it okay to continue living here like this…What do you think?”

What she meant to say was that, since all the soldiers were dead now anyway, they didn’t need to do anything else. The village chief shook his head and answered.

“Nobles never forget to take their revenge. I’m sure you’ve heard that the reputation of a nobleman who cannot exact his revenge would surely decline. It wouldn’t matter even if they take 10 or 20 years, they will look for us. Once they do, we don’t know what will happen to us.”

The people looked grim as they listened to the village chief’s words. It was hard to decide whether they should leave or stay.

One of the men who protected the village said, “Wouldn’t we be safe once the little king of the North wins? There’s a possibility that the lord will be replaced. Once our village gets officially recognized, we might be able to continue living here.”

This time, another man answered him instead of the village chief.

“Who can guarantee that the little king will win? And even if he wins, who can guarantee that the lord will be replaced?”

Their questions had no answers. The people became even more gloomy. They had no choice but to leave. Someone asked the chief.

“What do you think, Chief?”

The village chief heaved a sigh and said, “Is there any place better than this one? In fact, as many of you know, we’ve been fishing here since we were still living in Penbacht so it was easy for us to get a firm foothold here. Where should we go if we leave? It’s nearly impossible to find a place as abundant as this one. We will all die during our search. What we can only do now is sort out the rest of our possessions, go back to the city, and survive separately.”

The villagers were devastated. Did they really have to leave? They thought that they could still stay here for a little longer. It would still take a long time before the soldiers came. However, they thought, how long would they be able to stay here? The villagers stared at the ground with worries in their hearts.

At some point, Albrecht, who had just finished eating the tough dried meat, stood up and spoke.

“Won’t it be enough if the little king wins the war? I’ll join the war with the men who can fight here. After that, you can go claim your rights after the war is over.”

One of the armed village men answered with a worried expression, “B-but Sir Knight, w-we’re not soldiers…”

Albrecht cut him off and said, “Who immediately becomes a soldier after they’re born? If a person can fight, then that person can be a soldier. Why did the nobles end up as nobles and why did the commoners end up as commoners? The noble’s ancestors must have succeeded in killing their enemies, and they probably fought for their destiny. Even at the cost of their own lives. This village has to pay a price to claim the rights to live here. Not with money nor with crops, but with blood.”

Albrecht’s imposing words left everyone speechless. Nevertheless, the brave ones were always there whenever needed. The leader of the armed village men concurred, “Your words are right, Sir Knight. How long are we going to live like this? I once longed to fight but I didn’t have the equipment to do so, so I couldn’t. However, I can now. Let’s go fight and stand up for our rights.”

Courage spread as another man agreed, “Aye! I want to go with Sir Knight to join the war too.”

And so all the men who wanted to join the war all raised their voices.

Albrecht looked back at Randolph. With a smile on his handsome face, the latter declared, “This squire will only follow his master.”

The village chief felt worried and hopeful at the same time. Here was a knight who brought supplies to their village and now planned to leave with their men to fight.

He had always been responsible for their village, but he didn’t feel any regret handing that duty over to someone else.

The older kids and the elders decided to stay in the village. All the strong adult men were determined to join the war. Most of them were those who Albrecht taught.

Their numbers added up to ten. Albrecht and Randolph made it twelve. Unlike when they all looked nervous and scared fighting off the lord’s soldiers, the men walked out of their village and into the world confidently.