Chapter 214: ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????????????? (8)

Chapter 214: Mountains and Cities (8)

‘Was I going to run away at night. . .?’

The Eastern Rangers were quite well-known among the various armed groups on the continent, but ultimately they were just mercenaries and riffraff if you looked at their essence.

The nobles of the East had elevated them, but that was only because they were useful mercenaries, not because they respected their status.

That’s why some Eastern Rangers dreamed of performing feats of arms and receiving knighthoods, but Joseph had no interest in such titles. He thought that even if a commoner received a title, it would only bring troublesome things.

. . .Yet now the knights were casually striking up a conversation with Joseph. They were knights from the Empire side that Johan had brought. To be honest, their presence made him uncomfortable.

‘But I can’t reject the favor either.’

“Tell us about your meeting with His Excellency the Count, Joseph. Did you encounter any monsters while chasing them? You must have fought against a strong opponent.”

As the knights kept prodding him, Johan stepped in to stop them.

“Leave the Rangers alone. If you keep talking to them, they won’t be able to focus.”

“Oh really?”

“The Eastern Rangers have a talent for concentrating all their senses to find traces spread out and discover new paths. You shouldn’t talk to them when they’re focusing.”

“?”

“??”

Galambos and Joseph looked at Johan as if asking what he was talking about. It was the first time they had heard such a thing. There was no reason for Eastern Rangers to have some kind of rule that they couldn’t talk while working, they weren’t priests or anything.

“Indeed. . .”

“So there was such a custom.”

However, the Empire knights who were not from the East passed it by without any doubt.

“But why are they following us this far?”

“I don’t know either.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Johan immediately answered Suetlg’s question. Johan really didn’t know. If they were prisoners, they would just stay put quietly and get released after paying ransom, so why ‘I will participate in the honorable expedition!’

“But wouldn’t they still fight well?”

“From what I see, what this rescue team needs now is not excellent warriors but docile people who won’t dig into your and my insides.”

Johan selected the strong and agile ones among the dwarf mercenaries to form the rescue team. It didn’t seem necessary to form a large-scale rescue team since they would be wandering the mountains. The supply issue would only get more complicated.

In the first place, Johan’s goal was primarily negotiation. He had no intention of getting into a bloody battle to wash blood with blood with the tribes in this mountain range. While the disgraced nobles might want an opportunity to regain their honor, that was their problem and. . .

In that sense, it wasn’t bad for the Empire knights to participate. Excluding the fact that they didn’t match Johan and Suetlg’s personalities.

“Once we get over this pass, there will be a decent basin. I think it would be good to set up a camp there. . .”

“Do you have something to say?”

“There are many places around here where you can graze, and you can find quite a few herbs, so shepherds from distant tribes come here too.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to ambush and attack them right away, Your Excellency?”

Iselia, who had been listening to the knights’ words with great interest, shook her head and said.

“Looking at the terrain of the mountain range, it is more likely that the shepherd will spot us first if a shepherd comes. Then wouldn’t the shepherd go back and report or call the main force instead of coming back? Since there is still some daylight left, I think it would be better to move to a better place.”

“. . .!”

“!”

Hearing Iselia’s words, Johan and Suetlg were so surprised they stared at her. Iselia smiled awkwardly.

“Why do you look at me like that, my dear? Did I say something wrong?”

Whoosh!

Johan hugged Iselia. Caught off guard by the sudden public display of affection, Iselia’s face turned red. But she didn’t push Johan away.

“Save this for when the sun sets. . .”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Johan patted Iselia’s back once as if delighted and stepped back. Her unexpected reaction had put him in slightly high spirits.

“Let’s move. There’s still time, so we might be able to find a better campsite. Galambos, go with the dwarf scouts.”

“I will go with you as well.”

“Oh come on, Joseph. You don’t seem to need to go, do you? Stay here.”

“Yes. . .”

Joseph heaved a sigh of relief on the inside as he managed to subtly slip away from the suffocating atmosphere. He had wanted to stand at the vanguard.

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The mercenary, Heojen, licked his parched lips. Of all things, lack of water was an unbearable suffering.

When the rumors first spread through the city, he hadn’t imagined things would turn out like this. It was just a job extermination mountain monsters for a generous payment.

“A status report comes first. It will still take time for enemies to arrive on a road like this, so report properly. Any flags? Were the opponents prepared to fight?”

“That was not the case.”

“. . .Then why is it an ambush?”

“Because they are elves, Your Excellency.”

The other Empire Knights who had not witnessed the situation spoke as if it were natural.

“Your Excellency, if they are elves, then it is indeed an ambush.”

“I think it is likely an ambush as well, my dear.”

‘You’re an elf too. . .’

Johan was at a loss for words seeing even the elf Iselia speaking seriously that it was an ambush.

That’s how renowned the elven knights’ reputation was.

He didn’t know why elven knights were in these mountains, but in any case, it was best to prepare for anything that could happen. If they charged forward, their ranks would crumble at once.

“I am Lauren of the Atoris Family, son of Telphord! I subjugated hellhounds in Silvaron and participated in troll hunting in Marcel! These honorable feats prove who I am!”

However, instead of charging, one elf came forward from the elven knights and began shouting. Everyone murmured at the sudden shout. Johan flinched as he recognized the name of the family from somewhere.

“With proof of my family’s bloodline and feats, I have come to ask a question of you! Is His Excellency Johan of the Yeats Family present here?!”

“. . . . . .”

“Seems it wasn’t actually an ambush then?”

The Empire Knight holding a halberd lowered his weapon with an embarrassed expression. Another knight next to him was even holding a mace.

‘Ah. . . Those elves. . .’

Only then could Johan figure out who his opponents were. Lauren of the Atoris Family – one of the elven knights who had fought together with Johan to subjugate trolls in Marcel.

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“I thought your excellency would surely build great achievements. I am so glad to meet you!”

“Thank you, Sir Lauren.”

The elf knight was genuinely happy to reunite with Johan. He had only vaguely guessed from the rumors he heard, but meeting him in person made the feeling special.

Johan, who held a sword as a knight and built up his fiefdom, was someone he had no choice but to respect.

“Are you from the Bluea family’s Iselia?”

“Yes.”

‘Isn’t she too tall?’

‘It looks like you’re thinking my height is too tall. .’

Lauren thought so but did not say it out loud. In the first place, marriages out of love were even rarer. Marriage was a union of families, individuals were not very important.

“So. . . what brings you here? This doesn’t seem like a place fit for elf knights.”

“Hahaha. You’re right about that. My friends back there are wandering to build their reputations.”

Many young knights wandered the continent to build achievements in order to gain fame.

It wasn’t just impoverished wandering knights who did so. Poor knights were poor, and rich knights were rich.

Such wandering was like a pilgrim’s pilgrimage. Valuable and meaningful in itself as a custom.

“Did you come here to hunt monsters?”

“A bit different. Um. This is a secret, I hope your excellency will keep it to yourself.”

Lauren stopped talking. And stared hard at the Empire knights. It meant go away. The Empire knights grumbled and stepped back. It meant the elves were annoyed.

“We came to hunt the basilisk in the mountain range.”

“!”

Johan looked at Lauren in surprise.

The evil-eyed monster, the basilisk.

Its gaze alone could turn enemies into stone, and the poison it breathed from its body was strong enough to melt rock.

Needless to say, it was not an easy target even for knights.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“. . .That’s not something his excellency should say, is it?”

Lauren looked at Johan as if he couldn’t believe what he just said.

Translation-(COMPLETED) - How to Live as a Wandering Knight