Chapter 175: ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? (2)

Chapter 175: Road Hunting (2)

Fear of monsters and magic has always overwhelmed reason. If you are scared of a monster, barricading the gates and hunkering down is understandable.

“How about threatening them to call the soldiers and lay siege?”

“Forget it. It doesn’t seem like a very good idea.”

Even if they told them over a thousand soldiers were coming down the nearby roads, the fear-stricken people inside the castle would not believe it.

All they could see were the few dozen soldiers who had just arrived near the castle walls.

It would take quite some time for all the soldiers to gather, and waiting that long didn’t seem like a very wise idea.

Plus, if that happened, the people inside the castle might barricade the gates for a different reason, out of fear.

“They didn’t trust the emperor’s envoy and chased him away. . .”

“Tell me in detail what kind of monster it is. And where is the castellan?”

“The castellan is injured.”

“!”

No wonder the garrison soldiers were acting strange. . .

At Johan’s urging, the soldiers inside the castle hesitated before opening their mouths.

If what the knight said was true, leaving them outside the walls was very dangerous as well. They had to make excuses in advance.

According to the soldiers, the raid that occurred outside the castle was also the work of the monster they were now talking about.

What originally only happened in raids outside had escalated after they repeatedly failed to subdue it.

In fact, minor feudal lords were not very good at dealing with powerful monsters that appeared on their fiefdoms.

Only a handful of knights like Johan could rush out armed and capture them personally, most had to choose other methods.

Hiring mercenaries or wandering knights. . . Of course, these methods failed more often than not. At that point, they would have to request assistance from other nobles or their lord.

“Why didn’t you request support?”

Vynashchtym, unlike the Holy Empire where nobles played on their own, was a country bound by a relatively robust system of institutions.

They could have asked nearby military commanders for help, or asked other nobles for support.

“We sent word! We sent word but there’s still no news!”

Either the messenger got captured or it was taking time for the other side to prepare as well. It made no difference to those inside the castle.

“What do you mean it disguises itself as a person when you say it’s a large beast?”

“The b*stard freely enters the castle and harms people. Even the castellan was victimized by it!”

“A truly fascinating story.”

A beast that rampaged outside in a large form but disguised itself as a person to stage raids inside the castle.

Johan was quite worldly himself, but it was his first time encountering such a monster.

There were plenty of large monsters and monsters that could disguise themselves as people, but. . .

“?”

Preoccupied with the story, the garrison soldiers blinked in surprise as Johan had quietly made his way to the castle gates at some point.

Fortunately, there was a moat dug in front of the castle walls and a drawbridge, but why was he. . .?

The answer came soon.

Swish!

Johan threw one of the spears he had brought. The chain supporting the raised drawbridge emitted a loud noise as it snapped. Before they could react, the next spear flew. Another chain broke.

Thud!

The soldiers were shocked at Johan’s skill in accurately throwing spears to break the thick chains connecting the bridge.

Johan crossed over the lowered drawbridge and grabbed the castle gate. Fortunately, the gate was relatively small and an easy to grasp grid pattern. It would have been tricky if it was larger or a different shape.

Of course, the gate was made of iron so a single person could not lift something so heavy on their own. It took multiple soldiers pulling together on a windlass to raise it.

However, Johan grabbed the gate with one hand and lifted it. The soldiers in front of the gate were so bewildered at the suddenly rising gate that they dropped their weapons in a daze.

“A monster has entered the castle. . .”

“Who are you calling a monster?”

Johan grabbed one of the soldiers by the collar and lifted him up. The soldier choked and gasped for breath.

“What do I look like to you?”

“A-A knight, Sir Knight. You look like a Sir Knight!”

“Good. You finally know how to see properly. Open the gate and let the soldiers in. I’ll overlook this insult to His Majesty just this once.”

“Bring the servants, maids, and slaves. We need to question them one by one.”

“Do you really think that will help. . .?”

“This lady is a wizard well-versed in monsters. She can gain wise insights from every word.”

“. . . . . .”

Jyanina wanted to stop Johan but the atmosphere wasn’t right for that.

If this fails, will she be the only *sshole?

Seeing how adamant Johan was, the wife looked at Jyanina in surprise. At first glance, she looked like she had dragon blood. . .?

“Your Excellency. Your Excellency! We can’t go that far!”

“Why not?”

“We still don’t know what that monster is. If you say that and still can’t find it. . .”

“Don’t tell me you don’t have a single guess?”

Johan looked at Jyanina with an expression that said, ‘As a wizard, can’t you even do that much?’ His sincerity made it even more insulting. Jyanina gritted her teeth and said,

“I can’t possibly know every monster in the world!”

“I didn’t think you wouldn’t have a single guess and know nothing. Fine. Tell the wife the truth when she comes back.”

“But. . .we don’t need to do that right now! It would’ve been nice if you just praised me a bit. . .”

Johan had a very annoying look on his face. Johan was talented at sending messages with his eyes. His eyes were now saying ‘an incompetent and annoying wizard’.

Jyanina thought she should at least suggest something that came to mind. Otherwise, she would really be labeled as incompetent.

“Well, there are several monsters that can attack like that but few can disguise themselves as humans. According to legend, there are monsters like the doppelganger. . .”

“Are they real?”

“I haven’t seen one myself. But isn’t it very likely they exist?”

While Johan was skeptical, the people here tended to believe in superstitions and rumors. ‘There must be a reason such things exist,’ they thought.

“Can they disguise themselves as large creatures too?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you get rid of a doppelganger then?”

“There are no known ways to eliminate them.”

“Then what do you know how to do?”

“. . . . . .”

While Jyanina despaired, Johan started his own countermeasures.

‘No matter what it disguises itself as, we can find it with force.’

If he released Karamaf to sniff out suspicious guys, that’s all he needed to do. No matter what creature it disguised itself as, it wouldn’t die easily.

“But how did you know it was a monster disguised as a human?”

“Oh, who was it again? The second son of the miller said he saw someone who looked just like him passing by. Not just him but a soldier from the garrison saw the same. . .”

“A slave who was working saw it too.”

There were quite a lot of testimonies. Johan knocked on his scabbard, lost in thought.

It was hard to believe someone could change their face but it wasn’t impossible. Hadn’t Johan seen it himself? Assassins used magic that monsters could use too.

‘Should we close the gates and check everyone? It’d be great if we found it but if not, it’ll give me a headache.’

If it was outside and then entered, there was nothing Johan could do. He couldn’t keep waiting. . . Then he’d just have to leave but. . .

“?”

Johan raised his head. Someone who looked exactly like Johan was staring straight at Johan in the courtyard. When their eyes met, he turned his head then started running away swiftly. He moved very quickly.

“Where are you going!”

Without any hesitation Johan dashed out. Karamaf who was prostrating under him let out a fierce growl and raced forward.

“!!!”

The opponent had underestimated Johan.

When normal people see a doppelganger, their body freezes in fear and suspicion and they avoid eye contact but Johan didn’t think for even 1 second before drawing his sword and running towards it.

His eyes showed the intense killing intent to check what color blood doppelgangers had.

‘A madman!’