How to Live as a Wandering Knight

“Who are you! Identify yourself!”

“!”

The opponent Johan encountered did not attack first but asked for his identity, as the fog was becoming denser. It was difficult to precisely identify who the other party was, even at a somewhat close distance.

“. . .Attack!”

At Johan’s command, the mercenaries charged fiercely. Like a pack of wolves led by a lion, they swiftly overpowered their prey.

The soldiers, thinking they were allies, fell with screams.

“Move! Unless you want to be hit by arrows!”

The mercenaries didn’t need Johan’s urging; they knew what was at stake.

Inside the fortress walls was a smaller citadel.

Compared to the outer fortress, it was embarrassingly small, merely a tower of two or three floors, but it was fully equipped.

Towers and paths for attacking enemies who had breached the gates, the walls, and the courtyard.

In the current situation, it wouldn’t be surprising for arrows to be flying.

“S-Sir Knight.”

“?”

“This doesn’t seem to be the secret passage. . .!”

The thick fog confused not only the enemies but also Johan and the mercenaries.

Instead of the secret passage, they encountered an open, lower gate of the inner fortress.

‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦?!’

The gate of the inner fortress, on the opposite side of the front gate they were facing. They had come in the completely wrong direction.

Johan pondered.

Should he turn back to find the secret passage, or find a suitable spot in the walls to escape now?

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸. . .’

But there was no time to hesitate. Soldiers began emerging from the open inner fortress gate.

Luckily, the fog seemed to have concealed Johan’s presence.

“Look, that man seems like a noble.”

Gerdolf pointed to a man among the twenty soldiers, his lavish attire and commanding presence suggesting he was at least a captain.

“. . .Right. Let’s capture him!”

Johan made a decision based on intuition. The situation was chaotically confusing for both sides due to the fog.

“Kill them!”

With a short battle cry, Johan charged forward, shield in hand.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of an enemy in the fog, some defenders dropped their weapons in shock.

With the sharp sound of metal, a spear was deflected. The distance closed, and a mace crushed someone’s bones. Two fell, bleeding.

Regardless of the thick fog, Johan overpowered his opponents. His brute strength felled them with a single blow after deflecting their attacks.

The soldiers began to succumb to fear, amplified by the disorienting fog.

“Fight back! They aren’t many!”

The man who appeared to be the captain shouted, but already five or six were sneaking away to escape.

The situation was unclear, but it seemed the fortress wall had been breached, and soldiers had made it this far. . .

Maybe it was better to flee?

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐩! 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐩!

Making that decision easier was a knight. Gerdolf swung his great sword, decapitating a hesitating soldier. A spray of blood spread fear among those nearby.

“Move aside. Or die.”

Gerdolf stared down the soldiers, speaking in a blunt tone, which was more effective. The soldiers involuntarily stepped back.

“Protect me! Execute anyone who flees! Anyone who flees. . .!”

As Johan and Gerdolf, two knights, carved through the soldiers like cutting through waves, the defense captain turned pale.

They thought they could hold them off with their superior numbers, but the momentum was unexpectedly strong.

“You! Run and call for reinforcements, fast. Gasro! Make good on the silver you and your friends were paid! Stop them!”

“Understood, sir.”

Even as soldiers were being defeated and fleeing, there were those near the defense captain who held their ground. They wore different outfits from the soldiers and were armed with longswords.

‘𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥?’

It was rare for poor soldiers or mercenaries to handle longswords. Spears or shields were more convenient.

The mere use of a longsword was evidence of some degree of training!

Gasro stepped forward, longsword in hand.

The crossguards of the longswords held by the men all had identical decorations. The fencing guild often revealed their origins through such decorations, so these men were clearly from the same guild.

Johan felt tense, recalling what Kaegal had said.

━𝐁𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

Of course, there would be varying levels of skill within the guild, but a proficient swordsman could be dangerous.

𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡!

Johan attacked first, to gauge his opponent’s skill. From behind his shield, Johan’s mace suddenly lashed out, striking the opponent’s torso diagonally.

‘𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥.’

The swordsman, smugly, sliced his longsword sideways, deflecting the opponent’s strength and changing direction to seize the offensive.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐝!

With the sound of a skull shattering, the swordsman fell.