How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 147.1: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 (4)

Uh. . .

One sharp mercenary was startled.

Do you know them?

Isnt that us theyre talking about?

. . .?!

The mercenaries were horrified. Come to think of it, it made sense.

If they werent crazy, theres no way they would be spreading rumors about Johan in the hundred kingdoms now. If he got wrongly involved, he would be sent straight to the gallows for associating with the rebels.

What kind of unpleasant rumor?

Johan also roughly grasped what was going on.

It seemed that the things Johan did after arriving were beginning to circulate as rumors.

It could have been the remnants of the defeated troops, but the possibility was low. Those guys didnt have much contact with the nobles to spread rumors widely.

How could I repeat such rude words. . .

Its fine, go ahead and tell me.

There are insulting rumors circulating that His Excellency is violent and ferocious, and that he cruelly punished the nobles. . .

.

Johan thought to himself. Seeing how accurately his test words had reached the city, the nobles who welcomed Johan must have talked quite diligently.

, . ?

, . , .

The nobles who didnt want to get involved with the suspicious guys eagerly blamed the mercenaries. . .

Thanks to that, the rumors spread quite quickly and reached the city.

It is also said that despite his young age, he spends all his time cooped up in his estate, killing and torturing nobles instead of enjoying worldly pleasures.

. . . .

Johan was startled. No matter how he looked at it, that was not something Johan said. A completely different kind of rumor. The mercenaries also seemed to realize this as they murmured among themselves.

The b*stards. . . didnt they mix in their own thoughts?

Where did the stone-brained b*stards get the nerve to. . .

When His Excellency is so enthusiastic about his sex life!

Ariku from the Masons Guild, unaware of the situation he was in, continued talking.

I was misled into thinking that you would not come to help this city because of such false rumors! Please forgive me!

I see.

Johans voice was slightly cold, but the council members did not notice.

Seeing that Johan seemed to accept it, others also pleaded for Ariku.

We will surely hang those mercenaries in the square if we catch them. Please forgive us!

Please rely on Your Excellencys generous compassion!

I understand. You are forgiven.

Oh. . .!

Inwardly, Johan greatly lowered his evaluation of Ariku, but the people did not notice. They were just satisfied that they could get past this incident.

.

After the reception ended, Johan got right to the point. He came here to catch the monster after all.

The city soldiers will gladly follow Your Excellencys orders.

That goes without saying.

Ah. Yes.

The council members tried to save face somehow, but it was not an easy task. Making that kind of mistake right on the day Johan arrived. . .

The most important thing is luring it out. How many times has it come up before?

At Johans question, some people nodded their heads. Although the sea dragon attacked ships from underwater, when ships became scarce it would come up to the harbor itself looking for prey.

Do you see the broken part down there by the harbor? Thats where it came up and thrashed around.

Ariku pointed below the fortress as he spoke. Johan nodded.

Then is it likely to come up again if we keep waiting?

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

Everyone was silent. At first it aggressively came up onto the harbor several times and rampaged violently. But it was intelligent. After being fiercely counterattacked several times, it seemed to have learned that the harbor was disadvantageous.

The frequency gradually decreased, only making surprise attacks on dark and rainy days, and recently it had not come up from the sea at all.

No wonder its been troublesome.

With nothing to say, they could only bow their heads. Johan spoke with a sullen expression.

Even if you want to fight it, you have to lure it out first. Offer a reward. I will reward anyone who comes up with a way to lure it out.

Johans words surprised the people. They had consulted some experienced captains and hunters before, but never thought to ask the whole citys opinion like Johan was now.

Knowledge and experience had always been monopolized by a minority.

What would be the point of telling those who were excluded? There was a high possibility that people who were only greedy for the reward would make useless trouble.

Theres no need to go that far. . .

Enough. I wont say it twice.

. . .Understood. What are Your Excellencys plans for dealing with it when it appears?

The people gathered here roughly knew about the monsters Johan had defeated. But they didnt know the details.

Rumors tend to become embellished and mixed up, so nothing can be fully believed until hearing it directly from the source. The council members wanted to hear the real story.

Especially since many of the stories about Johan defeating monsters were quite unbelievable. . .

Well think about it when we find a way. For now.

May we hear the story of you defeating the cyclops? Everyone here is quite curious about it.

Well, Im a bit tired right now.

Johans refusal could not hide peoples disappointment. To not hear the story directly from the person himself!

But Johan was a count. If he were just a mercenary they would have said Is that how you should act now? Answer properly if you want money! But they could not do that to Johan.

The council members suppressed their disappointment and bowed their heads in understanding.