Chapter 256: ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? (10)

Chapter 256: Gathering Storm (10)

“I wish it were so.”

Johan muttered with a sense of unease. People often underestimated the intelligence of monsters, but cunning monsters were not inferior to humans in terms of intelligence. Some of them could even speak.

If it were a dragon, it wouldn’t be surprising if it was so smart that it couldn’t be compared to other monsters.

“Well, it’s no use worrying about it now, is it?”

Johan gave up neatly. It was not in his nature to worry about useless things for a long time.

“Still, in a way, it’s lucky.”

“. . .You mean it’s lucky to survive a dragon??”

Johan was surprised at Caenerna’s words. It seemed that she had developed a strange sense of humor in the meantime.

“Not that. . . it burned down the castle.”

“Oh. . .”

Johan nodded.

He had not noticed it because he was so busy, but the dragon had done the work that Johan’s detachment should have done.

Even if Johan and his subordinates had worked hard all night, they would not have been able to inflict more damage than the dragon had done.

“I saw some of the warehouses burning, but I don’t know what the others are like.”

“I saw it with my own eyes. It all burned down.”

Johan nodded at Caenerna’s words.

“Were you thinking that you would come and burn it down even more?”

“How did you know?”

Unbelievably, the two of them did not expect the dragon to reappear and attack the castle.

“Count, you should probably rest soon.”

The subordinates spoke as if they were worried.

The group was currently moving in a scattered formation. Unlike when they came, they had to be more careful when leaving. They had to be concerned about rumors after all.

It was unknown how many pursuers would join, but it was easier to avoid attention by moving in a divided formation.

Thanks to this, Kaegal was moving while escorting the baron with a few soldiers, and Caenerna was moving with Johan.

The problem was that Johan had been running non-stop since he fought the dragon.

No matter how strong Johan was, the subordinates could not help but worry about their lord. He had been crushed and scratched by the dragon’s front paw, but he was still moving like that.

“It’s fine if we move a little more.”

“No, I think it’s better to rest.”

Caenerna pointed at Johan’s arm with her finger. The mystery was surging inside, even though it was hidden by armor and outerwear.

Swoosh

After making a campsite, Caenerna rolled up Johan’s sleeve. The part where the dragon’s blood touched left a mark on his arm like a pattern.

“Any pain?”

“If there was, I would have said something. What happens when you touch dragon’s blood?”

“I’ve never heard of it before. . .”

Caenerna hesitated, unsure of what to say. Dragons are creatures that appear when people have forgotten about them, so there is no reliable record of them.

The story of dragon’s blood is even more ancient. It was rare for dragons to be injured when they did appear.

“There are not many knights who have ever injured a dragon.”

“How did people in the past defeat dragons?”

“Usually, they would just feed them until they went back to their lairs.”

Johan snorted at the practical approach. After all, there was no need to kill such monsters. Dragons would not reappear for over a hundred years once they disappeared.

“Jyanina-gong. Do you know anything about dragon’s blood?”

Caenerna’s question startled Jyanina, who had been sitting there daydreaming.

“I don’t think I asked such a difficult question. . .?”

“The wizard is a bit shy, so please be understanding.”

“Shy? That’s ridiculous.”

Caenerna scolded Johan for his nonsense. She had met Jyanina at the palace a few times, and she knew that the wizard was not shy at all.

Come to think of it, I heard that Jyanina had done a lot of good work at Johan’s palace. . .

“Have you earned a lot of trust?”

She knew from being with him, but earning someone like Johan’s trust was not an easy task.

Contrary to rumors, his gentle demeanor often led new acquaintances to harbor vain hopes.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

━She’s much younger and more immature than I thought, isn’t she?

━Not fierce, and manageable to this extent. I could play around with her.

However, Johan was someone who harbored an unimaginable dark side within. Any foolish attempt could lead to being devoured by him.

“Is that true?”

“If we wait any longer, the enemy will realize and ambush us when we retreat, so let’s retreat as soon as possible.”

Several of the feudal lords sighed in relief. If Biorarn even said that, it would be a burden off their shoulders.

“Shouldn’t we leave some soldiers in the castle?”

“That’s true, but. . .”

Gashstadt Castle, the jewel of the south that had been conquered with much blood, was the reason why the feudal lords were here. It wasn’t because they were greedy for the fiefdom.

To retreat safely, they needed a castle like this to hold out.

“The dragon has been appearing again.”

“Damn it. . . Why won’t that crazy dragon leave? He was so full, right?”

“. . . . . .”

‘Was it really because of the emperor’s evil deeds?’

One of the nobles thought so. Why didn’t it leave after destroying the castle and swallowing up many soldiers?

It seemed as if it wanted someone.

If we offered the emperor. . .

“We will depart as soon as we are ready. Do not rush, and be especially careful not to let the secret leak out.”

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

“It’s not a pursuit party, but rogues.”

Johan swung his sword with a nonchalant voice. The head of the rogue who charged at him was split in half. The rogues were surprised by the unexpected power and tried to retreat.

━Grrr!

Karamaf ran out from the side and bit the rogues. The rogues, who did not know how well armed Johan’s subordinates were due to the darkness, were paying the price in blood.

“Don’t go too far. It’s a waste if you get hit by an arrow.”

“Yes!”

“Spare me! Spare me!!”

“You should have said that before you charged.”

Thunk!

The subordinates did not forgive the rogues who charged at them while they were already on edge. By the looks of it, they seemed like a group of mercenaries who had participated in the war, lost their equipment, and turned to banditry.

“Do you have a kind old man in your family who will pay your ransom?”

“Uh, well. . .”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t really asking.”

With a dull thud, the place was cleaned up. Johan left one bandit alive. There was a reason for that.

“Lead me to where your friends are.”

“. . . . . .”

The bandit could not understand why the situation ended so quickly and blinked his eyes.

At first, it looked like the opponent was a knight, but even if he was a knight, this was too much. . .

“Hey. I guess the guy can’t hear you. Bring a needle.”

“No, I can hear you!!”

The rogue began to lead the way, trembling. Johan and his men followed him, trying to suppress their annoyance.

“I’m being bothered like this because of some ridiculous guys while I’m taking a break.”

“I would be happy to serve the count’s territory, but these guys are probably just poor b*stards with nothing.”

If they didn’t clean them up first, they might be more troublesome at night, so they had to make a preemptive strike first.

“. . .?!”

Johan and his men stopped when they saw more rogues gathered in the camp than they expected.

Seeing that, the rogue’s morale slightly revived and he said.

“Our mercenary group used to have more numbers than this. If you release me now. . .”

“That’s right. Let him go.”

“??”

The rogue was surprised that he was really released. He was going to threaten to track down the mercenary group if he didn’t release him, but. . .

Thunk!

A soldier behind him swung an axe and knocked down the thief. Johan waved his hand.

“Let’s go.”

Johan was not afraid of the unexpected number of rogues. He was just curious.

Johan and his men attacked like lightning. Within thirty minutes, the rogues in the encampment were defeated.