Chapter 261: ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? (1)

Chapter 261: Golden Return (1)

‘Hmm.’

Johan thought of himself as a fairly pragmatic person. He wasn’t even that obsessed with revenge against the emperor who had massacred his family.

However, his hometown where he spent his childhood in this world felt different. If possible, he wanted to keep it as his fiefdom.

“Why are you making that face, my dear?”

Iselia asked, looking puzzled. Iselia was simply enjoying the moment of being on the move, having left the camp. Her expression was calm, but her ear tips were twitching slightly.

“The fiefdom we’re going to now was originally owned by my family.”

“!”

Iselia gasped in surprise.

“Is that so? Then we must definitely take it back!”

As an elf aristocrat, Iselia valued family and honor. It was more painful than having her heart torn out to have a fiefdom that her family had owned taken away by someone else.

How much must it have pained Johan to see his rightful fiefdom in the hands of someone else?

When she thought about it, Iselia felt like her heart was breaking. She took Johan’s hand and looked at him with pity.

“. . .What’s that look?”

“I didn’t think you would be so upset.”

“No. I wasn’t really upset.”

Johan was taken aback when Iselia had a strange thought. Usually, it was Johan who would look at Iselia with pity, not the other way around.

“Do you think I’m the type of person to be upset about losing a piece of land?”

“Now that you mention it, it doesn’t seem like it.”

Iselia quickly understood. When she thought about it, Johan had quite a cheeky side to him.

Nobles who had never spoken to him properly would think of Johan as a strong and unshakable knight among knights, but his actual personality was quite different.

In fact, that personality was closer to Iselia’s, and Johan was a person who could easily change his attitude depending on the situation.

“But even if we get it back, it wouldn’t be bad, right?”

Iselia nodded vigorously at Johan’s words. As a knight, she couldn’t help but understand his feelings.

“But. . . isn’t it too many people to come for just one castle?”

Johan turned around in surprise. It was understandable that there were so many troops under his direct command, including the nobles, even Suetlg and Caenerna had joined the expedition.

Not all castles were the same. A castle with steep terrain, a moat, and stone walls would be impregnable, but a castle with flat terrain, no moat, and wooden walls could be easily taken by a mercenary band of just a few dozen.

The castle they were heading to, Tidellen, was just such a castle.

“I guess no one wanted to take care of things in your absence.”

The southern nobles were so eager to please that some of them even approached mercenary captains to speak to them. By that point, the mercenaries were too baffled to respond.

━Um, excuse me, but I’m just a captain.

━Yes, but you’ve fought alongside Your Excellency Count, haven’t you?

━What crazy mercenary captain would go to Your Excellency Count and ask for a favor? Are you trying to get someone sent to the gallows?

“Well, it’s not a bad thing to have a lot of people. We don’t need to wait long with one castle. . .”

Iselia nodded her head and said, ‘With our talented wizards, the castle will be easily captured, right?’

“There’s also a high possibility that the enemy castellan will come out first.”

“That’s true too.”

In the elf kingdom where Iselia was from, they did not drag out sieges in areas without castles. They would either flee or come out and surrender.

If the enemy castellan has his head screwed on straight, he will make the right decision.”

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Tidelen’s castellan was much more calm than Johan or the other lords thought.

The administrator who worked under him was even more restless.

“Sir Castellan. I heard that the emperor’s army has retreated to the north.”

“Yes, I heard that too.”

The castellan nodded.

Originally, he was not a feudal lord of this area. He used to be a minor nobleman who lived in that northern city.

Even if one is born into a large family, if they do not inherit a fiefdom, they are nothing. Even more so if it is a small family. So it is natural for a low-ranking noble to be moved to have ascended to such a castellan position.

’Does this person really not know, or is he just pretending?’

Joseph shook his head with a wry smile. He had originally been living a wandering life, and he had only stayed in the village for a short time. Why would he return to that village with any regrets? He could be beheaded if he was caught.

Before Johan could even approach, the village chief came out of the nearby village. He had come out early to prepare for any eventuality.

“C-Count, it is an honor to meet you.”

The village chief spoke in a trembling voice, prostrating himself on the ground. He could not even look Johan in the eye.

The village chief knew that the war had not yet reached here, but he had heard the rumors. Several villages had been burned and looted. The eyes of the soldiers lined up behind the count were chilling.

“Yes, you have worked hard.”

Johan signaled, and the guard next to him took out a purse and threw it to the village chief. The village chief’s eyes sparkled at the jingling sound.

“If we accidentally hurt any of the animals you raise while passing by, we should pay for them in advance.”

“Oh. . . no. . . thank you! Thank you so much!”

Johan gestured for him to go in as if it was settled. The village chief bowed several times and then went in.

The mercenaries did not seem surprised or anything, and they carefully observed the surroundings. Johan could afford to be relaxed, but not his subordinates. They had to be prepared for any ambushes or attacks.

“He’s really here?”

However, there was no need for that. When they arrived at the castle, the castellan was standing in front of the wide-open castle gate. Soldiers who had run ahead were standing next to him, as if guarding him.

“Your Excellency Count. It is an honor to meet you.”

“I am also pleased to meet you, Castellan.”

The castellan felt relieved at Johan’s reaction, which was more favorable than he had expected. ’Maybe this will be okay. . .’

But that was it. Johan didn’t say another word and rode his horse into the castle. It was a clear act of ignoring him.

‘It’s over, then.’

The administrator regretted that he had almost been fooled by the castellan’s words. The castellan’s pale face made it clear that he had not expected this at all.

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Even without grabbing the castellan by the collar or tying him up and throwing him away, Johan’s will spread clearly.

Newly arrived administrators and village chiefs who came to the castle went straight to Johan. They immediately realized who was the master.

“Who is in charge of this town now?”

“T-That. . . a knight is ruling it.”

“I hope you’re not just picking a mercenary and making him a knight and calling him a knight.”

The castellan broke out in a cold sweat at Johan’s words. He had guessed it correctly. The emperor had given a town to a mercenary who had made a contribution.

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“Send someone to have him come here with his subordinates within three days.”

“It may be a little late due to the bad road, but. . .”

“Oh? If you want to be late, you can be late. I’ll understand if you’re late. Don’t you think so?”

“. . .No. I’ll go myself.”

Johan was demonstrating how to intimidate someone without using any threats to life, insults, or humiliation.

The castellan, who had been in a dream, realized as soon as he met Johan that he had to worry about his life first.

To avoid being caught on any charges and hanged, one should appear as pitiful and wretched as possible.

“He said he is currently preparing for a hunt and may be a little late. . .”

When a stupid-looking mercenary came and said that, the castellan’s anger exploded.

“If you don’t bring him here right now, I’ll twist his neck myself! Tell him that!”

He couldn’t believe that the mercenary captain, who had no sense of the situation, was talking nonsense when he was feeling anxious with his life on the line.

When the castellan, who usually didn’t say much, caused a commotion, the mercenary hurriedly returned.

“The castellan wants to meet the captain in person!”

“What? I told you, didn’t I? Does he think he’s really my lord?”

The mercenary captain stepped out with a frustrated expression. On the surface, that may be true, but in reality, they were both in the same position of having received land from the emperor. He couldn’t tolerate it if he tried to play the lord with that.

“Is that him?”

“Yes!”

“He looks like a dirty-natured guy, so just arrest him.”

“. . .?!”