How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 289: 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 (7)

Whether the counterpart believed Johan or was just pretending to do so out of fear, the Sultan’s imperial concubine opened her mouth.

“W-What do you. . . plan to do with us?”

She had a frightened expression, but her conduct was graceful. As she was tall and slender, she looked dignified even when she was silent, and seeing her conduct, the captains standing behind her were slightly impressed.

“I won’t do anything in particular. I’ll release you safely once I receive the ransom. Which family are you from? I want to send a messenger to collect the ransom.”

“I’m not from a noble family.”

Johan laughed as if her answer was ridiculous.

“That’s nonsense.”

“Your Highness. That’s. . . possible. Not all members of the Sultan’s harem are from noble families.”

“Really?”

He had thought that since she was called the Sultan’s imperial concubine, she would have to be at least from a noble family, even if her family was poor.

But come to think of it, there would be slaves working in the Sultan’s harem, so their backgrounds could be very humble. He had heard that eunuchs sometimes kidnapped people from outside and brought them in to gain favor with the Sultan. . .

“Then, do you not have a family who will pay the ransom?”

“. . .Yes.”

“. . . . . .”

The captains felt troubled when Johan seemed to be at a loss, having never encountered this situation before, so the captain standing behind him gave him a piece of advice.

“Send a messenger to the Sultan and have him pay the ransom. They will pay the ransom from the Sultan’s harem.”

“Oh. Is that possible?”

“I apologize. . . I have been exiled. I don’t think the Sultan will pay my ransom.”

Only then did the captains frown, remembering that the imperial concubine was exiled.

“Then, what should we do?”

“Do we need to keep an infidel who doesn’t even pay the ransom alive? Let’s execute her.”

“Execute her. . .”

“Isn’t she the Sultan’s blood? Just thinking about what the Sultan did to us makes my teeth grind, why bother treating someone of such low status who can’t even pay a ransom?”

The imperial concubine’s pale face turned even paler at the captains’ conversation. The content of their conversation was rather gruesome, as expected of infidels from the West.

‘𝘚𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦.’

She kept her mouth shut, but judging from her expression, she understood the language of the West. Johan, who had been listening in silence, opened his mouth.

“Alright. Stop it. There’s no need to create unnecessary grudges.”

“Your Highness. The Sultan has so many concubines and children, so do you think he’ll care about one of them. . .”

“In any case, I won’t kill her myself.”

Johan had no hobby of killing people who had nothing to do with his grudges, not even for a single silver coin. The captains nodded.

The imperial concubine was surprised and relieved at his words. She had heard many rumors about the Duke, describing him as the most devilish being among the bandits or the people of the nearby tribes, so she hadn’t known that he would save her life.

“Then, will you release me?”

“Hmm.”

Johan hesitated. It might not seem like a big deal to take care of a few more mouths, but he needed to treat nobles differently. Nobles who couldn’t pay the ransom had to be either released quickly or executed.

The imperial concubine wanted to ask him to let her stay, but she didn’t dare to do so and held back.

She was exiled, and she had lost all of her remaining wealth to the bandits. She was more likely to die on her way to the exile site.

If she could be guaranteed safety, it might be better for her and her child to stay with the Duke’s army.

“Even if you can’t pay the ransom now, there may come a time when I can use her. Treat her as a hostage.”

“Yes. Understood.”

“. . .!”

The imperial concubine bowed her head with a moved expression. Unlike the rumors spread by bandits or the people of the tribes, the Duke was much more generous and lenient than she had thought.

Of course, Johan was struggling inwardly.

‘𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳. . .’

No matter how much silver poured out of his fiefdom, silver coins never lost their value. Johan hoped that this decision would benefit him a little bit later on.

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While Johan’s army was preparing to move and get settled in the fortress at the bottom of the mountain range, a much larger commotion was taking place higher up.

No army had ever managed to capture the fortress before and had to retreat, yet these foreigners from afar took it with such ease.

“What the hell were the guys in the fortress doing?! They just gave it to some guys who don’t even know the geography around here!”

“Now is not the time to find out who’s to blame. The situation is more severe than we thought, your excellency! According to the rumors going around, the army led by the foreign duke isn’t your average bunch of soldiers. What if he decides to take over this entire mountain range?”

“Why would a pagan from the west go through all that trouble? He’ll back out soon enough!”

One of the rogue leaders made an optimistic prediction, but another quickly shot him down.

“If he was going to back out soon, he wouldn’t have taken the fortress in the first place! There’s a reason why so many pilgrims get captured in these mountains and have to pay a ransom to get out.”

“Groan!”

The rogues groaned. Who would have thought that what they thought was a profitable business would turn into such a huge disaster?

“Even Lamar got captured. . .”

“Lamar’s tribal warriors are strongly requesting that we do something. If we fail to save Lamar, his tribesmen might defect.”

The rogues of the Black Mountains might have looked like one group from the outside, but on the inside, they were a collection of different tribes who had fled to the mountains. Their leaders could be considered the chieftains of each tribe.

As such, they couldn’t just abandon Lamar.

“Why the hell did Lamar get captured in the first place? Lamar isn’t the kind of guy who’d get captured so easily.”

The leaders knew of Lamar’s strength, so they were even more puzzled.

“Did the duke set up a trap?”

“No. I checked the rumors, and the duke isn’t that kind of guy. He’s a monotheist who’s obsessed with honor and keeping his word.”

“What about the rumors that he’s made a pact with a demon?”

“That’s just nonsense that the fools at the bottom of the mountain are spreading. They would see any monotheist as a demon. Logically speaking, if he made a pact with a demon, how could he have become a duke?”

“Looks like Lamar did something to get himself caught. Or maybe it was one of Lamar’s men.”

“It doesn’t sound like something Lamar would do, so it’s probably one of his men. Looks like he paid the price for not managing his men properly.”

The leaders clicked their tongues. If Lamar had heard them, he would have been furious, but they didn’t suspect Johan because of the rumors they had heard from the pilgrims and others.

“Take out your coins. We have to make a decision.”

The leaders took out coins. The front side represented battle, and the back side represented negotiation. And everyone’s coin landed on the back side.

“Unanimous decision. Send a messenger down.”

The pilgrims were expensive, but they didn’t mind if they could get Lamar and the fortress back.

It was an unusually gentle proposal from the normally belligerent rogues of the Black Mountains. The other tribes would have been shocked if they had heard.

“We might get chased away in anger if we just send a messenger to those guys from the west.”

“That’s true. Then let’s also pick someone to go down with the messenger. Take out your coins.”

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“The emissaries will be here soon for the negotiations.”

“Really?”

Johan looked out over the mountain range from the fortress. They had taken a fortress, but the mountain range was still dauntingly high and rugged. He had no intention of venturing into such a place.

The paladins and priests desperately argued to rescue the captured monotheists, but Johan had no intention of going that far.

He had made excuses to far more troublesome opponents, so convincing these naive ones would be easy.

However, if the other party was coming for negotiations, that wasn’t bad either. The pilgrims were more useful than Lamar’s life, after all.

“But it’s curious. Have the rogues become united enough to send emissaries?”

Johan knew roughly how the rogues of the Black Mountains operated, thanks to what he heard from Lamar.

Various tribes expelled from the Eastern Empire joined forces to live together, robbing peacefully.

It seemed nice at first glance, but such rogue groups usually struggled to unite in a crisis. Johan honestly found it hard to believe that emissaries were coming.

‘𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺.’

“. . .We are different from other rogues.”

“You’re making a joke.”

Suetlg chuckled derisively at Lamar’s side. Iselia also seemed to agree, laughing along.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“. . .It’s different.”

“Fine. Both of you, stop laughing. How is it different?”

Lamar spoke with a slightly agitated voice.

“We have laws, a system, and rules. If someone does wrong, we punish them. . .”

“So, you don’t punish for stealing?”

“Stop teasing me already.”

At Johan’s words, Suetlg shrugged and stepped back. Lamar continued.

“. . .We also have spirits who protect us.”

Suetlg, who had stepped back, looked at Johan pleadingly. It was a look asking permission to make fun of him. Johan nodded.

“Is it a spirit of theft? A spirit of rogues? Can the spirit not steal from you?”

“Do not speak ill of the mountain spirit!”

“This is getting interesting. . .?”

Caenerna interjected. Iselia asked in a flustered voice.

“A spirit of theft?”

“. . .No, Bluea-nim. Not a spirit of theft, but a mountain spirit.”

He could not believe that there would be no spirits in such a vast and untamed land as the East. And if it was a spirit that even these fierce brigands revered, it must be a powerful one.

“Not a malevolent spirit?”

“It can be hard to tell the difference between a spirit and a malevolent spirit. . .”

Johan agreed with Caenerna. Originally, the distinction between spirits that were harmful and malevolent spirits was vague.

“It seems like they want us to meet it. Should we take the opportunity?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. . .”

Caenerna, who had seemed interested, quickly changed her mind. Even so, they probably would not show an outsider the spirit they worshiped.

They would not do so unless a knife was pointed at your neck.

However, Lamar’s answer was unexpected.

“We do not prevent anyone from meeting the mountain spirit.”

“What?”

Johan became even more suspicious at those words. Suetlg seemed to think the same.

“Isn’t this a human sacrifice?”

“I thought so too.”

Usually, there was a reason for such easy permission. Perhaps everyone who entered became a sacrifice. . .

“What. . . The mountain spirit is not that kind of being!”

“What kind of place is it?”

“. . .In any case, the mountain spirit is not that kind of being.”

Lamar told them what kind of being the mountain spirit was.

The spirit, who resided in a deep cave in the mountains, listened to the requests of the rogues and granted them according to their needs.

Of course, there was a price. The more valuable the request, the greater the price that would be paid.

Recently, to heal a warrior who had become crippled after his leg was broken, they had to offer an amount of silver almost equal to his own weight.

“Wow. I’ve been fooled. Even if Suetlg-nim only received half, he would have done it.”

“. . .I’m a wizard, not a doctor. Anyway, it’s interesting. It doesn’t seem to be a malevolent spirit. Malevolent spirits wouldn’t make such fair deals.”

“Have they ever asked for human sacrifices?”

Johan asked out of curiosity. Lamar answered firmly.

“There is an absolute taboo in the tribe against sacrificing people.”

“. . .Don’t say that. It might be a malevolent spirit.”

Judging from the way Lamar spoke, it was clear that they had asked for human sacrifices in the past.

The tribes were wise enough not to offer them, though. . .

“But are you sure it’s okay for outsiders to visit?”

“Yes.”

There were two reasons why Lamar said this.

One was because of a promise made to the mountain spirit. A promise not to prevent anyone from visiting the spirit.

And the other reason was that the path to the spirit was virtually impossible to traverse.

There were two paths. One passed through the strongholds of the tribes, and the other went through a remote area of the mountains.

Giants lived there, so even the rogues did not go near it.

“Oh. It doesn’t sound so difficult. We can just take the path with the giants.”

“. . .?????”