Chapter 235: ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? (9)

Chapter 235: Undead plague (9)

Ulrike wiped Johan’s face with a handkerchief. His face was a mess after fighting once and struggling with the treant.

“It looks familiar. . .”

“Of course, since the count gave it to me.”

“Ah. . .”

Johan recalled the identity of the handkerchief. It was a gift from a maid who used it to wipe Ulrike’s blood.

“Return it to the count.”

“Thank you.”

━. . . . . .

“Don’t be so awkward. Ingol.”

Johan turned his gaze back to the treant. Ingol, who had been listening to their conversation, stood there awkwardly and flinched.

━I do not care about human cues. Let alone intruders who entered the forest.

Ingol’s voice was full of hostility.

The relationship between the treants who protect the forest and the people living around it could not be good. Basically, as people increased in number, the forest was developed and trees were cut down.

It was natural for the treants to be angry at those who cut down trees to use as fuel and building materials.

Of course, Johan answered without blinking an eye.

“It’s not me but the castellans and their men living around here who have been cutting down trees and burning forests from the past. Ingol.”

━Intruders all look the same to me.

“Then you should try to see them differently. If you don’t want steel stuck in your trunk.”

━. . . . . .

Ingol shut his mouth at the fierce threat. The wizard in front of him was exerting a formidable aura, overwhelming the spirit.

“We did not enter the forest to threaten the spirits. It is to return the dead to the earth. If the tree spirits had done their job properly, we wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble.”

━The dead did not harm us. Why should we send them back?

“If you don’t like it, you can keep living with the intruders. No. I don’t understand why a guy who talks about negotiating is so arrogant. Ulrike-gong. Is it normal for the other party to be so arrogant?”

“According to the Empire’s practices, negotiations usually break down if the other party is so arrogant.”

Ingol angrily shook his leaves at the intruders citing human customs.

━You keep coming into the forest. We only got help from the dead to stop that.

“The dead do not listen. It’s not help but exploitation.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

━. . . . . .

“Stop making excuses, Ingol. You set a trap without making a legitimate request. Do you admit that?”

━I admit it, intruder.

“Are you prepared to compensate for it?”

━We have nothing to offer but fruit and leaves.

“Keep that in mind and. . . first get all the undead out of the forest. If you twisted the road to send them this way, you should be able to drive out the rest as well.”

It was better to get help from the tree spirits now. The forests of the Empire were vast enough to threaten civilization, and finding the groups of undead one by one while combing through here was a difficult task even for the most skilled trackers.

It was not for nothing that Johan had borrowed the artifact.

━. . .Alright. I will drive all the undead out of the forest.

????????????????????????

“Did you check?”

“I checked. This is not it.”

Two Eastern Rangers were repeating a boring confirmation work. Although it was a boring task, their expressions were very serious and there was no sign of laziness in their restless hands.

Although the Eastern Rangers did not know how to use magic, they often encountered mysteries. They dealt with mysteries based on their own experiences.

Tying each other with a long rope, leaving marks around them, and going into confirmation as they encountered things. It was a simple method, but the effect was certain.

“What are you doing here?”

“!!”

In the midst of this, familiar faces walked out from the bushes in front. It was Johan and Ulrike. Seeing the two nobles pulling their horses, the rangers’ eyes widened with joy.

“Your Excellency!! Your Excellency!!!”

“I’m not deaf. Why are you shouting so loudly?”

“How could we not worry when you disappeared like that?!”

“Oh my. You must have worried a lot. I believed that you would do well even without me. Wasn’t that so?”

At Johan’s question, the two rangers looked at each other. Was that so?

The undead pushed out of the forest were neatly subjugated. The subjugation force that was waiting unleashed a fierce attack, and the undead that came out listlessly literally melted away.

After the undead were buried in the prepared graves and the prayers of the priests ended, Johan was able to heave a sigh of relief.

There were various incidents, but it’s over.

‘In the end, I didn’t use the artifact.’

Thanks to summoning the elementals, he didn’t have to use the artifact, but the Pelheim castellan shook his head and put the artifact in Johan’s hand. It was an unexpected reaction.

━Your Excellency Count. Considering the situation of the Empire, you will need this more in the future.

━Oh, thank you. I will use it well.

The intimacy shown by the Pelheim castellan made Johan flustered, but still, goodwill was goodwill. Johan carefully stowed the artifact behind Cardirian. Cardirian indignantly stamped his hind legs, but Johan ignored it.

The subjugation force left the castle with a splendid send-off. The next destination was Halfbronn Barony to the east along the highway.

The Elf King still had a pained expression, as if he still had a bit of a headache.

“I think the castellan mixed in some low quality liquor. . .”

“It’s more likely because of the Death Knight.”

“Does it make sense for me to whine because of a mere undead when the Count is unharmed?”

“I was also sick for a few days after the fight. It was just that Your Majesty didn’t know.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

The Elf King immediately cheered up. Thinking that way, this pain also seemed to be left by the Death Knight. It had lasted uncharacteristically long for just a hangover.

“The Halfbronn Baron knows the political situation well and is quick-witted, so things like what happened in Pelheim probably won’t happen. Also, there are fewer forests nearby, so subjugation will be much easier. We can finish quickly.”

Johan nodded at Ulrike’s words. Seeing the two whispering, the Elf King made a displeased expression, then whispered to Johan when only the two of them were left.

“What were you talking about with Ulrike-gong?”

“She said subjugation of Halfbronn Barony would be relatively easy.”

“. . . . . .”

The Elf King had a conflicted expression. He also thought subjugation of Halfbronn Barony would go smoothly, but he struggled to refrain from nitpicking Ulrike’s words.

‘Could he be. . .?’

Just as Johan was dumbfounded, the centaurs who had gone out scouting came back from the distance.

“Your Excellency! There is an army in the Barony! They say it is the Shirivik family’s army!”

“!”

The Count Shirivik was a northern feudal lord of the Empire. In other words. . .

one of the vassals of the Emperor faction.

“An excellent person?”

“More of a merchant than a warrior. . .? I wonder if that’s why he came?”

He was surprised that there was an Emperor faction army nearby, but come to think of it, some nobles were likely to step up on that side as well.

If the undead plague was not stopped, even the Emperor faction would suffer damage, and neutral nobles might change sides.

“This is great!”

The Elf King said in a voice trying to restrain his joy. No matter how much he tried to hold it in, joy was apparent all over his body. His eyes shone brightly and his hands shook, ready to draw his sword.

“It is merely the army of a count, not even the army of an emperor. Can their knights even stand up to us? Count?”

“Well, you have a point, but just to be safe, we should fight more prudently.”

It was natural for Johan to send out scouts in various directions to gather information before making judgments and taking action accordingly, but surprisingly more than half of the knights did not follow this practice.

Believing in their own might and wanting to seize any opportunity to build up achievements before the opponent runs away, they charge ahead recklessly.

Having probably gathered some intelligence on their side as well, they first sent an envoy. Bowing politely, the envoy conveyed a message.

“The master humbly respects your esteemed status and reputation, and wishes to make a proposal.”

The count’s proposal was not very surprising.

Let both sides collide their troops and decide the victor through a duel between knights, so that the losing side retreats and the winning side prevails!

It was a common practice in the Empire, and many battles concluded as such. The letter sent also contained customary niceties regarding such practices.

“. . .?”

Johan blinked. At the end of the letter was a familiar insignia.

It was the mark of a snake.

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

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