How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 14.2: ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐„๐ง๐ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ (๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’)



There were two paths in the Black Forest.

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The first was well-known to most. It started at the forest entrance, narrow and rough but passable. It was the path the mercenaries took when they went wolf hunting.

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The second path was known only to hunters Joseph and Johan. It was barely a path, covered with dense bushes and invisible soil.

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However, Joseph found this path useful for traveling through the forest. Nobles would have thought him mad for suggesting it, but it was a convenient shortcut when he was alone.

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Johan also naturally learned this path.

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โ€˜๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด.โ€™

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Since there was no distinct path, the second path was marked by signs Joseph had left on trees. Following these signs was the shortcut.

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Joseph had mentioned setting traps on the first path in case he needed to escape. Surely, if a pursuer followed, it would be there.

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Johan raced down the second path. His horse snorted in annoyance at the bushes hitting its face but didnโ€™t stop.

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Then, a horseโ€™s neigh echoed from afar.

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โ€˜๐˜๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ต!โ€™

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Johan flinched. Hearing a horse in this forest meant only one thing.

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The pursuer had fallen into Josephโ€™s trap.

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โ€˜๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต. . . ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ.โ€™

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Johan quickly dismounted and pressed his ear to the ground, a hunterโ€™s wisdom. This way, he could detect even distant movements.

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โ€˜๐˜‘๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ?โ€™

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The sound didnโ€™t seem like that of a mercenary group. If mercenaries were pursuing, there should be sounds of at least ten or more.

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A face flashed through Johanโ€™s mind.

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๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

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At the same moment he felt something being triggered, the image that flashed through Karamafโ€™s mind as a small crossbow bolt whizzed by was the face of the hunter.

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That oddly irritating expression!

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โ€˜๐˜โ€™๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ!โ€™

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There was no guarantee that this trap was set by him, but Karamaf was certain. That was enough.

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Karamaf powerfully swatted away the incoming bolt. There was no need to catch it. The armor he wore could not be penetrated by traps meant for mere beasts.

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However, Karamaf had underestimated Joseph too much.

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After all, a seasoned hunter like Joseph wouldnโ€™t target well-armed mercenaries.

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๐“๐ก๐ฎ๐!

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A sound came from below, and a horse neighed. Karamafโ€™s complexion changed. His beloved horse had fallen victim to the trap. It was a trap targeting the legs, not covered by the horseโ€™s armor.

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โ€œ!โ€

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Triggering the rope would shoot the person above while simultaneously targeting the horseโ€™s legs. It was a double trap aimed at the horse. Karamaf cursed as he leaped off the horse.

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โ€œ. . .Sorry.โ€

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The condition of the horse was worse than he thought. A foul smell rose from the wounded area, and its color had changed.

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โ€˜๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!โ€™

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Karamaf gritted his teeth. That insignificant hunter dared to harm his horse. To a knight, a horse was a comrade and partner. Even a hundred lives of a serf wouldnโ€™t suffice in compensation.

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And with the fall, its leg was completely broken. Recovery was impossible. Even if there was a way, it couldnโ€™t be taken out of the forest.

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๐’๐ฐ๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐ก!

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Karamaf beheaded the horse. It was the least he could do to end its suffering.

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The cold eyes of the elf knight blazed with fury. He had been calm even when killing Sir Gessen, but this incident had truly enraged him.

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โ€˜๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ!โ€™

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โ€œI give up the pursuit.โ€

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He didnโ€™t know if anyone had escaped into the black forest, but he could no longer chase. He had to return and tear apart that hunter and contemplate his next move.

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Karamafโ€™s eyes widened.

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Just as he decided to turn back, someone who looked familiar appeared from the depths of the forest.

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It was the son of Gessen.

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๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

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โ€œAs expected, I was right.โ€

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Johan confirmed Karamafโ€™s face and walked out. He had thought that Karamaf was the only one who would follow him alone. He wasnโ€™t sure why Karamaf had come alone. . .

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โ€˜๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ต ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด? ๐˜ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ฆ.โ€™

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Karamafโ€™s face was covered, so his expression was not visible, but Johan somehow felt that Karamaf was looking at him as if he were insane.

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After all, it was natural.

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The one who should have fled had suddenly appeared in front of Karamaf.

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โ€œI see.โ€

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Karamaf nodded as if he understood.

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โ€œWhat?โ€

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โ€œHave you come for revenge?โ€

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โ€œThatโ€™s one of the reasons.โ€

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There were two reasons why Johan came.

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The first reason was that he coveted the wealth that Karamaf possessed.

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If he killed Karamaf, who was alone, the mercenaries would not know who killed Karamaf. They wouldnโ€™t have thought he was killed by Johan. Perhaps they would suspect a monster.

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And the second reason was. . .

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โ€œTo avenge your father huh. You have the qualities of a good knight. You wonโ€™t become a living knight, though.โ€

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โ€œNo. Among those you killed, there were servants who were close to me.โ€

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โ€œ. . .??โ€

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Karamaf looked at him as if he didnโ€™t understand. Johan was not a coward to endure and flee when it was disadvantageous, nor was he the type to keep enduring when the situation allowed.

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Johanโ€™s eyes calmly glared at Karamaf. They were the eyes of a lion targeting its prey.

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โ€œYou will die here today.โ€

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Johan walked out slowly. Karamaf stood still, as if waiting to see what Johan would do.

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โ€œHeโ€™s strong.โ€

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Kaegalโ€™s words came to mind.

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โ”๐“๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ. ๐’๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฉ๐ž๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž ๐๐จ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ž, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐€๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.

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โ”๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐Ÿ ๐ˆโ€™๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ?

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โ”๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ€™๐ซ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ , ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ž. ๐–๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐š๐ฌ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐จ๐›๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ? ๐‡๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž๐ง ๐š ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ž ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฒ? ๐ˆ๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ€™๐ซ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ , ๐ข๐ญโ€™๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.

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Karamaf was definitely a strong opponent. If even half of the songs sung by the minstrels were true, it would be so.

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But he was not afraid.


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