How to Live as a Wandering Knight

“Um. . . isn’t that a bit too harsh?”

On the contrary, the Elf King was so taken aback that he opened his mouth.

The Baron’s response was beyond expectation.

Of course, he could understand the Baron’s feelings. It hadn’t been long since he was captured by the mercenaries, and on top of that the Emperor faction’s army had shamelessly shown up. It was like pouring oil on the fire.

Still, the Baron’s insults were a bit extreme. The Elf King wanted to clash with his opponent in a dignified manner, not roll around with each other in the mud in a vulgar way.

“Hmm. What do you think about understanding him to that extent?”

“I think so too.”

“!?”

However, Johan and Ulrike didn’t seem to care at all. They were twisted characters from the beginning. They thought that sending insults like that before fighting was one strategy among others. . .

Above all, there was no reason to stop the Baron from cutting off the path of reconciliation with the Emperor faction himself.

The worse the relationship with the Emperor faction, the more advantageous for their side.

The Elf King spoke in a slightly hurt voice.

“. . .To be honest, I thought so too.”

Not only Ulrike but even Johan was taking the Baron’s side, so there was no point in him sticking to his opinion alone. Seeing the dejected king, Johan felt sorry.

“The reaction is intense.”

Ulrike murmured. Even someone with bad eyesight could tell that the other side’s camp was very angry.

Some knights were trying to rush out, but servants were desperately holding them back by the reins.

“It would be nice to charge them as they are.”

“Count. Isn’t that too shameless?”

Ulrike replied with a smile. Of course it would be best if that happened, but the other side was unlikely to do so.

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The insult received by Lindemann’s retinue had an effect that even Johan did not expect.

The knights erupted in anger.

“If you just let this insult slide, you are no nobleman! Show your loyalty!”

“Now that it has come to this, we absolutely cannot back down!”

Lindemann was dumbfounded. If these were knights from traditional noble families who understood the honor of nobility, Lindemann would have agreed to some extent with what they were saying.

However, most of those here were people who had not been knighted long. Decayed nobles, robber nobles, mercenary captains who had earned their spurs by compiling war service and received their investiture in return.

While they talked big about their loyalty to the Emperor, looking at their actions, all they had was greed for money.

Their anger now was clearly not out of loyalty to the Emperor either, but an excuse to plunder the surroundings and obtain money.

“Sir. Speak! Will you back down??”

However, regardless of what was in their hearts, Lindemann was also at a loss for words. These were men of difficult temperaments, if their discontent exploded, they could ignore Lindemann’s orders.

It would be fortunate if they just ignored him, they could even start a rebellion.

“Everyone, calm down. I have a plan. Do you think I will back down after receiving such an insult? I stand here as His Majesty the Emperor’s envoy. I will not let that baron who insulted the Empire’s rightful rights get away with it!”

“Woahhh!!!”

Only then did the knights seem satisfied as they shouted. Lindemann had finally said something worthwhile to them.

Lindemann called a slave and whispered to him softly.

“You go quickly and tell Sir Yein of House Lochtein! Say the knight b*stards are acting strange, something needs to be done about it!”

“Yes!”

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Yein sat in a chair with a bitter expression, tapping Karamaf’s armor. Despite being inside the tent, Karamaf was still wearing his armor.

“How did they make it?”

It is said that the imperial wizards of the Empire are unparalleled in their ability to wield evil mysteries. Thanks to the emperor who did not care about the scrutiny of the sect.

But still, to actually recreate a missing person from scratch?

Since the emperor himself asked Yein to keep quiet, he kept the secret, but he was convinced that Karamaf had died. Otherwise, why would such a great knight go missing?

I don’t know what kind of asshole thing you have to do to die wearing ancient imperial armor, but there was no other answer.

Just as a hero can be shot down and killed by a stray arrow, there was no law that said Karamaf could not.

But after the emperor told him to keep quiet, there were rumors that Karamaf was ill, and suddenly a fake Karamaf appeared.

The appearance was plausible, but Yein, who had served directly under Karamaf, could tell it wasn’t him.

‘𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.’

The armor didn’t even seem to be ancient imperial armor either. Although the emperor would have given him excellent armor since he did it himself, it was different from the ancient imperial armor.

He doesn’t talk anymore, and even when he sleeps (I don’t know if he’s sleeping, but) he sleeps in his armor. . .

‘𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥.’

Yein sympathized with Karamaf.

‘𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺…’

Yein fell into thought. One reason why Yein worked as Karamaf’s squire, who had a notorious reputation in the kingdom, was not only because of his skills but also because of the sword and armor that Karamaf possessed as a knight.

It was common for a knight to pass on his sword and armor to his squire. With Karamaf having no family or children, the chances were quite high.

But Karamaf went missing, and his sword and armor disappeared with him. That was one reason they flew away.

Although the Lochtein family was a great feudal lord family in the kingdom, they were not neglected even by the emperor faction. But Yein was skeptical about staying with the emperor faction.

While aiming for a feudal lord position by continuing to build up achievements wasn’t bad. . .

‘𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴.’

Ignoring the legitimate rights of the nobles below and arbitrarily oppressing them like a tyrant undermined trust. Although the fearful nobles could not speak up in front of the emperor, they must have been harboring discontent inwardly.

Yein was the same.

Going to find another eastern elector, or heading to Vynashchtym. . .

Whatever it was, it seemed like nothing good would come from continuing to stay with the emperor faction.

“Sir!”

“What’s the matter?”

“The knights are very dissatisfied! I think you need to help them.”

At the message from the slave sent by Lindemann, Yein shook his head again and again. As befitting one from an elven family, Yein did not respect such knights very much.

To put it bluntly, there was little difference from a well-dressed mercenary.

“Lindemann-gong still doesn’t know how to handle the knights. That’s why they harbor such discontent when you let those underlings loose.”

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Hey! Bring me a whip.”

A lead weight was attached to the end of the whip presented by the servant. It was a device that made the already vicious whip even more destructive by weighing it down.

Carrying only one sword, Yein walked out with the whip in his hand.

With a height slightly shorter than average and a slender figure, he was praised for his beauty among the elves, but his appearance did not inspire fear.

However, the tempered spirit that Yein exuded created such fear. Even the knights who were noisily chattering shut their mouths, noticing it.

“Pick one person.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pick one person. That person will be punished with whipping. In return, I will pardon the rest.”

The knights made incredulous expressions at Yein’s arrogant words.

Of course they knew he was from the Lochtein family, but Yein had no authority over them. They too had been knighted by the Emperor.

What’s more, such a punishment. . . It was clear overreach. Even supreme commanders would have a hard time freely punishing other nobles.

If she didn’t completely look down on the knights here. . .

“What kind of talk is that now? Who do you think you are to dare say such a thing?”

A young knight, of noble birth, who knew the customs and rights of nobles quite well, shouted in excitement.

Instead of answering, Yein lashed her whip like lightning. The knight didn’t even have time to react and was hit in the face, which had no helmet. He rolled on the floor, screaming from the pain of the whip striking his bare face.

“Ahhhhh!”

Yein went up to the fallen knight and mercilessly whipped him. Although the knight whimpered and screamed, the whipping did not stop. Even blows landing on armor made chilling sounds, and bare skin would spurt blood as flesh tore.

It was such a brutal punishment scene that the watching knights unconsciously straightened their postures and swallowed their spit.

When the fallen knight, drenched in blood, lost consciousness, Yein flung his whip to the side.

“Throw that man into the tent and treat him.”

“Yes. . . Yes!”

“With this, the punishment for rebellion is over. Be more careful from now on.”

“. . . . . .”

“Your answer?”

“Tha. . . Thank you.”

Despite being in the same position and outnumbering her, the knights obediently nodded their heads, overwhelmed by her force.

It was the pressure that did it.

Yein , befitting a child of a feudal lord family, overwhelmed everyone present and left. Seeing that, Lindemann held his forehead.

That crazy elf. . .!

If you just act on a whim, who’s going to deal with the aftermath? He’s one of the forces of this expedition. . .

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“It doesn’t look like they’re attacking. Why don’t we send an envoy?”

The elf king looked at them pleadingly, anxious that the enemy might simply withdraw.

Of course, chasing them wouldn’t be bad, but if the opponent was determined to keep their distance, hoping for a fight would be difficult. It’s not like we can recklessly chase after them either.

Ulrike spoke resolutely.

“Your Majesty. We have the protection of the castle walls. Supplies and other preparations are complete as well. Why should we make the first move?”

“Honor. . .”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

The elf king muttered “honor” before trailing off. Ulrike’s words were hard to argue with.

The situation was so advantageous that even though he wanted to take initiative, the others wouldn’t allow it. Right now, even the baron was pleading ‘𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘺!’

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴!’

The elf king lamented, clutching his chest.

“I suppose it would have been pointless to send someone out anyway.”

“?”

“The enemy is dispersing and moving. It looks like they intend to pillage.”

Hearing Johan’s report from the castle walls, those seated did not seem particularly surprised.

Preparations were already complete, after all.

In case the opponents attacked, the residents of nearby villages had been brought inside the castle or sent to other villages, and supplies had been transported away. Pillaging would be impossible with everything emptied out.

“It’s a good sign.”

At Ulrike’s words, Johan nodded.

The best scenario would be the enemy throwing themselves futilely against the castle walls.

The next best scenario would be if the enemy retreated in haste. Their attempt at pillaging suggested a high possibility of hurried retreat in case of failure.

Contrary to the elf king’s misunderstanding, Ulrike fully intended to fight as well.

Defeating the emperor faction’s army here would itself be a great achievement, as well as tremendous publicity.

Especially if their commander was Karamaf.

However, more than an honorable duel, Ulrike wanted to strike at the retreating enemy from behind. Johan agreed.

“Your Excellency. A knight from the enemy camp has come to surrender, claiming to have suffered insult. . .”

“. . .No, isn’t that a bit suspicious?”

Ulrike was openly doubtful. Things were collapsing too quickly for the enemy.

No matter what, it was ridiculous for a traitor to surrender this soon.

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“Your majesty. You look bright, it’s nice to see.”

“Is that so?”

The elf king smiled and chatted lively. His very bright face showed he was happy to death.

The party was now preparing to give chase.

After strictly interrogating and comparing the knights who had come to surrender, they obtained reliable information that the morale of the expedition was at its worst and that it would soon retreat.

The opponent had retreated suddenly in order not to give an opening but Johan’s side marched out even faster.

I will take the center. The Gong will take the left side, Your Excellency Count please take the right side. Although the opponent retreats, never underestimate them.

‘𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.’

Ulrike thought to herself. To be honest, the one she was most worried about was the elf king. Even though his forces were the strongest. . .