Chapter 16.2: ๐๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐ (๐)
Chapter 16.2: ๐๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฏ๐ (๐)
When the task was finished, the sun was rising. Sunlight began to shine into the forest. โ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.
ใ ค
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ?
ใ ค
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ป ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บโ๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ. ๐๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ.โ
ใ ค
It didnโt seem like Johan would be pursued, and even if he was, what technology of this era could find him? Once Johan changed his name and settled down, it would be practically impossible.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ.โ
ใ ค
A little further to the west was the Erlans Kingdom, and descending the great Dwarf Mountains to the south, there were free cities outside the Emperorโs influence.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.โ
ใ ค
I would rather fight armed soldiers than climb a freezing, snowy mountain barehanded. I didnโt want to die in an avalanche or by falling.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต, ๐โ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ธ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ.
ใ ค
๐๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ต๐ป ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ, ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ.โ
ใ ค
The ancient empireโs highway, maintained for over a thousand years, was a lifeline and a guidepost for travelers across the continent. 70-80% of the Empireโs land was forests and mountains, and roaming here was like offering oneโs life to monsters.
ใ ค
Travelers, merchants, nobles, vagabonds, thieves, mercenaries, all traveled along this highway.
ใ ค
It would take Johan 2 to 3 days to break through the Black Forest and escape westward.
ใ ค
Even if mercenaries who knew Johanโs face came towards Erlans Kingdom, they would take the highway above the Black Forest and come around, taking at least a week to two weeks.
ใ ค
That was enough time to shake them off. If Johan kept moving on the highway, the gap would widen, and by then, it would be unlikely to meet again on this vast continent.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ ๐โ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ.โ
ใ ค
โ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ ?
ใ ค
โHmm. It seems you shouldnโt follow. Carrying you around might cause misunderstandings. To call you a dog. . . youโre too big for that.โ
ใ ค
Many had hunting dogs, but a black wolf was clearly not a dog, even to the blind. Where would one find such a dog?
ใ ค
โIโm sorry.โ
ใ ค
โ๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐
ใ ค
The black wolf nodded its head and then started to back away and disappear. Johan took a breath of relief and went to find his tied horse. He was curious about the townโs situation, but now he needed to stand out as much as possible.
ใ ค
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
ใ ค
Even for someone like Johan, spending three days alone camping and navigating through the forest was a mentally exhausting ordeal.
ใ ค
โ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต.โ
ใ ค
Only when the forest ended and a distant road became visible could Johan finally sigh in relief. He had managed because he had learned well from Joseph; otherwise, he might have panicked, lost his way, and perished in the forest.
ใ ค
The knowledge of a hunter.
ใ ค
It was all about the actions one must take in the forest.
ใ ค
Starting a fire, finding a suitable spot for the campsite (fiefdom), scattering herbs snakes dislike, and preserving body heat.
ใ ค
โ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐.
ใ ค
Joseph had said so, but Johan found it hard to believe.
ใ ค
Having to camp alone, he slept only half-awake, always ready to move and kept his weapon close. He removed his chainmail to sleep but reluctantly wore the rest. His physical strength wasnโt an issue for activity, but he was mentally exhausted.
ใ ค
And to use the forest as oneโs bed?
ใ ค
โI could never be a hunter.โ
ใ ค
Of course, Josephโs words were somewhat exaggerated. And hunters usually didnโt enter the forest alone.
ใ ค
His joints cracked. Stroking his stubbled chin, Johan thought heโd like to lie down and drink some cheap, watery beer.
ใ ค
โ!โ
ใ ค
From the other end of the road, he saw a group with two carriages approaching. Loaded with goods, they were clearly merchants.
ใ ค
โLucky me.โ
ใ ค
It was better to travel with a group than alone. It would lessen any unnecessary suspicion.
ใ ค
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
ใ ค
โHuh? A knight!โ
ใ ค
โWhat? Really?โ
ใ ค
The mercenaries guarding the merchant froze in shock. A knight, of all things.
ใ ค
The idea that knights were honorable and adhered to chivalry was mere propaganda among them. To mercenaries, knights were ruthless warriors best avoided.
ใ ค
These were warriors of a different class, trained rigorously from a young age, possessing superior strength and quality equipment, unlike mercenaries who merely survived the battlefield by clutching any weapon they could.
ใ ค
If one mercenary could take on ten serfs, then one knight could handle ten mercenaries.
ใ ค
โWhy worry? Itโs not like weโll clash with a knight.โ
ใ ค
โOh, this naive fool. . . If your head is empty, at least keep your mouth shut. You have no idea how brutal knights can be.โ
ใ ค
The youngest and most inexperienced mercenaryโs words earned him reprimands from the others.
ใ ค
Why would a knight be here for no reason?
ใ ค
Two possibilities came to mind.
ใ ค
If the opposing knight cared even slightly about honor, he might be collecting tolls. And if he didnโt care at all. . .
ใ ค
โ๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ!โ
ใ ค
There were knights who would kill every merchant and traveler passing through their territory, stealing their goods. It was outrageous yet a convenient business model.
ใ ค
Within their own lands, they were the masters with no one to challenge them, and their opponents were typically weaker than their own followers. . .
ใ ค
It was akin to reaping benefits without effort.
ใ ค
The mercenaries swallowed hard and looked around nervously. The dim forest seemed intimidating, as if hiding ambushers.
ใ ค
โMilord Eldans. We have no intention of fighting a knight.โ
ใ ค
The captain of the small band of mercenaries, less than ten, cautiously spoke to their employer. He was a man trying to keep his promises, driven by ambitions of rising higher. Even if they fled, moving to another city was an option, but it would mean losing all the groundwork he had laid.