Chapter 224: ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????? (6)

Chapter 224: Alliance of Nobles (6)

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Seeing such an unfavorable situation, Johan headed towards Lebuten, but when he arrived near the city, the scene that welcomed him was quite peculiar.

It was the height of prosperity and thriving.

On the river crossing the city, water transportation was busily ongoing, and in the distant horizons above the forests, countless carts were laboriously rolling out.

This was on the scale that could only be seen in Vynashchtym. Even if other cities were prosperous, they could not showcase this level of scale.

“My, it’s like the imperial court.”

Suetlg seemed to think similarly as he murmured. The imperial court where the Holy Empire’s emperor stayed was not fixed.

The emperor would lead his vassals and move from city to city, or castle to castle. It was a kind of mobile imperial palace.

Naturally, wherever the emperor stayed became crowded with the emperor and his vassals, lower aristocrats who had come to visit, vassals who had come to pay their respects, merchants who had gathered to offer what they desired, and so on.

Lebuten currently looked just like that.

“It probably isn’t the emperor, what do you think it is?”

“It looks like the Elf King brought quite a lot of his vassals.”

Unlike Johan, an eccentric noble who would shoulder his soldiers and live frugally, trying to end the battle as swiftly as possible when on a campaign, most nobles would try to maintain their usual lifestyle even when participating in a war.

Even when leading an army, they would bring servants, slaves, excellent chefs and musicians, beauticians and so on to uphold their dignity.

While it looked extravagant and debauched to Johan, it was incomprehensible to the nobles’ perspective.

Being a noble was not proven simply through titles alone. It had to be demonstrated through various aspects like lineage, behavior, and so on.

If they acted the same as commoners, how could the two be distinguished?

“With just the Elf King, it wouldn’t be this much. There are probably other feudal lords too.”

“That’s likely.”

Suetlg agreed as well. Since other major feudal lords had also joined the alliance, it was not strange for them to be staying around here.

To feed and sustain the many nobles, and the soldiers that numbered several dozen times more, this area was bustling hotly.

“Even so, is it okay for them to be so nonchalant after losing in battle?”

“It’s not like they can wallow in grief and despair to mourn.”

That was certainly true. If they despaired after losing one battle, even nobles who had no thoughts of betrayal might start pondering betrayal.

Besides, the situation was not so hopeless. Nobles who had retreated from the previous battle were returning with their troops, and feudal lords were hiring new mercenaries.

Johan suddenly realized.

‘Our mindsets are completely different from the start.’

If it were Johan, after losing a battle he would have burned the fields, poisoned the wells, brought mercenaries and went rogue as a robber, but feudal lords of this scale would not have done that.

Even if they did, they could just pay compensation or at worst, pay weregild.

“Go and say that Count Yeats came from the south with other nobles.”

“Yes!”

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If Johan had been a knight, he would have only needed to bring a few servants with him to kneel and pay his respects before the Elf King or a feudal lord, but Johan was no longer of such status.

There were customs befitting one’s position and dignity that Johan had to follow.

Even if Johan himself wanted to act with more ease, the other nobles accompanying him would have objected. It was also a matter of saving face for them.

“Three days from now. I understand.”

It would take at least three days to finish preparations to welcome the count who had come seeking an alliance. Johan nodded. Pushing them to hurry here would not change anything.

“Would it not be best to greet Caccia-gong first?”

“You are most certainly a knight.”

It was meant as an attempt to deal with a nuisance, but the Jarpen family’s knights looked at him with admiration. Johan did not bother to correct them and simply urged them to get moving.

To be honest, once she was out of the way he felt much more at ease.

“While it would be good to meet and greet them first, I can’t say I really recommend it. Nothing good will come of it.”

“I know.”

Johan considered meeting first with nobles he was friendly with to exchange information and gather intel, but held back on Suetlg’s advice.

A baron who had been quietly listening couldn’t help but blurt out. It was so different from what he knew. Count Jarpen smiled wryly and glanced at him as if to ask why he said that. The baron made a small apology gesture.

“That’s a very good point, your excellency. It’s very rare for a basilisk to do this. What could be the reason?”

“. . .could it be that it fears the knights?”

The baron asked a pointless question thinking his excellency would see it as such.

“A good guess but wrong. It fears the young count.”

The Empire nobles stirred in surprise. They wondered if the elves had eaten something weird.

Or did Count Yeats become an elf when Sir Lauren wasn’t looking?

“The count? Wasn’t the captured killed?”

“Your Majesty, Sir Lauren shared a deep friendship with the count. The count refused to leave while his friend fought the monster.”

“As a knight should!”

“The count even persuaded the dwarves to join the hunt.”

“Ah, that was a mistake. They would have only gotten in the way.”

“Maybe he intended to use them as bait. In any case, we found the cave where the creature lived. What do you think happened next, Your Majesty?”

Count Puakonyu smiled faintly as he asked. The young king listened intently then snapped out of it to guess.

“They would have blocked the entrance and smoked it out.”

“The dwarves would have dug pits and traps.”

The Empire nobles who came with no expectations also joined in the speculation. Stories like these were quite entertaining.

“The count took off all his armor and entered the cave naked to save his friend.”

“???!”

Count Jarpen was startled mid-listen.

That was beyond courage and into recklessness.

Was the count that extreme?

‘. . .Now that I think about it, he did seem so.’

He had forgotten because of the composure the count usually showed. But didn’t he grab and tear off a troll’s arm? What Sir Lauren thought was Johan’s facade could be his true nature. No way to know for sure.

“The count had wizards under his command. The philosopher of the Ipaël River aided him, and his disciple, though one, had considerable skill.”

“I’ve heard of the river philosopher. Wise as expected, he saw the count’s fate as a knight.”

“With their magic, the count safely rescued his captured knight. Oh, and there was a dwarf too.”

“What’s important about that?”

The Elf King waved his hand as if annoyed. As if to say exclude such unimportant things.

“Robbed of its prey, the wicked monster hatched a cunning plot. It dug through the ground and appeared from behind.”

“?”

“But the count had anticipated its move! It lost its malicious eye to the count’s strike.”

“??”

“Badly injured, it tried to flee but the count caught it. He seized it and dragged it out violently.”

“???”

“Wait. . . Just a moment. . .”

Even the Elf King who had listened quietly stopped the story. He wondered if these knights were mocking the young count.

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“My orc friends. My wisest and most sagacious friends. Please, have a seat!”

Johan himself brought chairs before the orcs. The orcs were astonished and cautiously took their seats. It was extremely rare for a feudal lord like Johan to show such courtesy.

They’ve heard a lot from the Alarhim clan, but the didn’t really expect this.

The orcs exchanged glances and decided to ask bluntly. They wanted to grant the count’s request if possible.

“Your excellency. . .How much gold do you require?”

“I don’t particularly need financial assistance.”

“. . .?!”