Chapter 328: 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝 (1)

How to Live as a Wandering Knight

In Johan’s eyes, who was used to the Eastern Empire’s system, the eunuchs hailing from the East were quite a novel shock.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?’

He had heard that Vynashchtym and Eastern Empire both had eunuchs in their courts, but seeing them in person was a whole other level of surprise.

“Can you just waltz in here like this and do whatever you please while leaving your master behind?”

“He is present at this place right now. Our lives are in Your Highness’s hands.”

The eunuch replied as if it was nothing special, and Johan felt a sense of subtle discomfort from it.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.’

Even if they wanted to live, if their relationship was good, there would be no reason for them to volunteer to poison him. It was clear that they got along poorly.

“I’ll think carefully about your proposal.”

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝?

━𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

There was a reason why the eunuchs were acting this way.

Although there were many nobles captured as prisoners, not many of them would side with the eunuchs. Especially since Yeheyman was taken alive. There was no way that Yeheyman, who almost got killed by the eunuchs, would say anything good about them.

Yeheyman was intent on placing all the blame of the defeat on the eunuchs, and he kept blabbering on about it. The eunuchs were naturally furious, but. . .

The eunuchs couldn’t do anything about it right now. They had to seriously worry about their own lives first. If an enraged noble were to swing a sword, the eunuchs’ lives would be forfeit.

The best way was to get in the duke’s good graces. And the eunuchs knew exactly how to scratch that itch.

━𝐇𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝. . .

After the eunuchs left, Johan spoke to his subordinates.

“Double the guards around the place where they’re staying and check everything they bring in. They’re quite suspicious.”

“Yes!”

However, there was something the eunuchs were mistaken about. Johan was much more suspicious and careful than they thought.

If it was another noble, they might have reluctantly given permission, pretending to be unable to go against the wishes of the captured prisoners, but Johan was different.

“What are your thoughts on their proposal?”

“I really do not want to receive such a suspicious proposal unless the situation is extremely dire. It’s very suspicious.”

Johan’s decisive refusal brought a sly smile to Caenerna’s face and she nodded.

Although he didn’t elaborate much, the duke instinctively demonstrated political insight on this matter.

If a rumor spreads from a single assassination gone wrong, it can become bothersome in many ways.

But not everyone can immediately brush aside such a temptation and take the easy and comfortable path. Hadn’t Cardirian himself failed to resist such a temptation and brought about his own ruin?

“By the way, Caenerna-gong, wouldn’t the price for the eunuchs’ lives be rather inexpensive? They are slave status to begin with, right?”

“. . .Your Highness, is it appropriate to calculate such things?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The atmosphere in the Holy Land was strange.

An ominous silence lingered inside the city walls, while excited shouts constantly rang out from outside the city walls. Among the people in the Holy Land, the monotheists looked forward with anticipation, while the polytheists looked around with anxious expressions.

“I had a dream, brothers and sisters. I dreamed of a lightning bolt striking and destroying the thick city gates. When the crowned figure walked around the Holy Land three times, lightning struck the gates! What could this mean?”

“Ooh. . .!”

When momentum was high, anyone could become a prophet. While some people had joined the expedition out of personal ambition or a sense of duty, there were also quite a few who had joined out of pure religious devotion. For them, even a dream was a prophecy, and a mere pebble on the road was a divine revelation.

The miraculous victory further fueled their fanaticism. At various places in the military camp, self-proclaimed prophets were coming up with plausible interpretations of when the Holy Land would fall.

The most popular one was ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵’, and the second most popular one was ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦’.

Ulrike was astonished by the crazy spectacle, but she didn’t bother to stop them. It wasn’t the kind of problem that could be solved with words, and if she tried to stop them, their energy might turn in a different direction, which would be dangerous.

“Did the enemy commander ignore the surrender request again?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose he intends to hold out until the end.”

“The siege weapons are almost complete. If you give the order. . .”

“No. We’ll wait a little longer.”

To be honest, Ulrike didn’t want to lead an army like this in a siege warfare. If possible, she wanted to pressure the enemy into surrendering.

Originally, a siege warfare was very inefficient for the attackers. The difficulty increased exponentially as the castle they were trying to conquer became larger and sturdier.

Furthermore, although the army gathered here had large numbers, they weren’t very united. If they started attacking and suffered casualties, they would start to waver.

It was better to surround them and wait. Since the defeat must have been shocking to them, they might collapse on their own if left alone.

“!”

A thunderous roar that sounded like the heavens and the earth were collapsing came from outside. Ulrike opened her mouth without even checking outside the tent.

“His Highness the Duke must have arrived.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Suhekhar looked down with a worried expression. He could guess who had arrived even without checking. There was only one person who could cause such a roar that could be heard all the way here.

‘𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. . .’

He tried not to resent Yeheyman, but he couldn’t help the frustration that welled up inside him when he thought about it. How could he just throw away such a large army like that?

Even if he had retreated to the Holy Land, he would have had dozens of things he could have done if he had just preserved his troops.

He prided himself as a seasoned commander, but he had only experienced shocking incidents ever since he landed. At this point, he didn’t think he would be surprised no matter what happened.

“Suhekhar-nim. Down there. . .”

“What’s the fuss?”

“It’s not that. Look down there.”

“??”

Suhekhar moved to where his subordinate was pointing. A few men on horses rode out of the enemy camp, holding a white flag, and approached the city walls of the Holy Land.

To their surprise, they were the captured nobles.

“Suhekhar-gong! Surrender! The battle is already as good as over!”

“Why did our soldiers disappear and why were we defeated? The gods’ will lies with His Highness the Duke. Please open the gates and spare yourselves unnecessary suffering!”

“. . . . . .”

Suhekhar, who had experienced so many shocking things that he thought he wouldn’t be surprised anymore, couldn’t help but drop his jaw this time.

‘𝘖𝘩, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴!’

He could understand losing the battle. Any great commander could be defeated if misfortune struck.

He could also understand being taken prisoner. He had wondered why they didn’t run away, but there must have been extenuating circumstances.

However, riding out on horses and suggesting surrender crossed the line of understanding. He couldn’t fathom why they would do such a thing, considering the honor of the nobles.

Did the duke drug them and control them with magic?

“W-What should we do?”

“Ignore them!”

“Should we shoot arrows?”

“Leave them alone. Shooting arrows will only backfire.”

Suhekhar, who already had to defend the Holy Land with the small number of soldiers he had, felt a headache coming on.

In fact, what he was most afraid of right now wasn’t the enemy outside the castle walls, but the countless people inside the castle.

If they were to rebel, he wouldn’t be able to stop them.

“Calm the soldiers down and call the influential people in the city. We need to persuade them.”

“Yes. . .”

However, the ordeal that had befallen Suhekhar had only just begun. And that ordeal wasn’t starvation or rebellion.

It was a disease.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan listened with a frown.

“There’s a disease spreading inside the Holy Land?”

Johan wasn’t afraid of soldiers with swords and spears, but he was afraid of diseases. He had experienced the pain of an infectious disease several times before, so he was even more afraid of it.

“Yes! They say the dead are coming back to life and the healthy are turning into demons!”

At the merchant’s report, one of the feudal lords in the tent couldn’t contain his excitement and joined the conversation.

“This can only mean one thing, Your Highness.”

“?”

“??”

Johan and Ulrike turned their gazes, still trying to grasp the situation. They wondered what the feudal lord had realized.

“God has forsaken them!”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike had to work hard to keep her composure. To do that, she had to repeatedly remind herself that the feudal lord had brought quite a few knights with him.

“. . .I see.”

Johan simply nodded, since he didn’t have anything to say. Thinking that he agreed, the feudal lord continued.

“I may be lacking in religious devotion, but I dare say that God is with us! The infectious disease spreading in the city is God’s fist. They will soon realize it and open the gates!”

Johan turned to the bishop who was present. He wanted him to stop the cultistal nonsense.

However, the bishop misunderstood his gaze and nodded with a big smile. He meant that he didn’t have any complaints about the feudal lord’s religious devotion.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺.’

“Yes. Since God is helping us, the gates will open soon. Let us all wait happily until then!”

“Yes!”

After sending the feudal lords gathered in the tent away, Johan called only the people who could communicate with each other.

“Do you know what kind of disease it is?”

“No. It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a disease. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”

“Could it be a combination of different things?”

Caenerna offered her opinion. Originally, diseases could sometimes pile up like a snowball and strike when one was unlucky.

“First of all, the dead coming back to life. . . That must be happening because of accumulated evil energy. I’ve seen that happen before.”

With all the battles and the large number of corpses, it was only natural for undead to appear, and Johan wasn’t surprised by it anymore.

“I’ve seen people going crazy or something, but I’ve never seen them turn into demons.”

At Jyanina’s words, Ulrike nodded with a serious expression. Jyanina was even more flustered when the great feudal lord like Ulrike took her words more seriously than she expected.

“Is it a demon, not a disease?”

“!”

The wizards looked intrigued when Johan said that without thinking. It was certainly a plausible explanation. It was perfectly possible for a disease and monsters to overlap.

“What kind of monster can spread an infectious disease, Jyanina-gong?”

“Huh? Uhh. . .”

While Jyanina hesitated, Ulrike brought up a different topic.

“The disease spreading inside is a problem, but let’s talk about what happens after the enemy surrenders. We should worry about that after we’ve opened the gates.”

“That’s true. I heard that the enemy commander is experienced and persistent, so he won’t surrender easily.”

“. . .Who did you hear that from?”

“The surrendered nobles.”

“. . . . . .”

She wondered how they had managed to extract such information, but Ulrike let it go for now. That wasn’t the priority right now.

“How about sending the friendly nobles to persuade them?”

“If they were the kind of people who would surrender to that, wouldn’t they have done it already? The lord must have tried that already, but it won’t work now that you’re suggesting it.”

Johan expressed a negative opinion to Ulrike’s suggestion. Ulrike nodded in agreement, thinking, ‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰’.

No matter how persuasive someone was, they would eventually break if they were pushed too far. It seemed like they would have been persuaded if they had kept trying. . .

But the duke, who was close to the pagan nobles, must have had a reason for saying that.

And then, a message came from outside.

“Your Highness. The enemy commander has sent a messenger to say that he will surrender. He says he will hand over the city if you guarantee his safety.”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike stared at the duke. Johan nodded while deliberately avoiding her gaze.

“What a stroke of luck! Is this God’s will?”

“You could say that. . .”,

In Johan’s eyes, who was used to the Eastern Empire’s system, the eunuchs hailing from the East were quite a novel shock.

‘𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?’

He had heard that Vynashchtym and Eastern Empire both had eunuchs in their courts, but seeing them in person was a whole other level of surprise.

“Can you just waltz in here like this and do whatever you please while leaving your master behind?”

“He is present at this place right now. Our lives are in Your Highness’s hands.”

The eunuch replied as if it was nothing special, and Johan felt a sense of subtle discomfort from it.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.’

Even if they wanted to live, if their relationship was good, there would be no reason for them to volunteer to poison him. It was clear that they got along poorly.

“I’ll think carefully about your proposal.”

The eunuchs smiled at the duke’s words. They exchanged meaningful glances with each other.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝?

━𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

There was a reason why the eunuchs were acting this way.

Although there were many nobles captured as prisoners, not many of them would side with the eunuchs. Especially since Yeheyman was taken alive. There was no way that Yeheyman, who almost got killed by the eunuchs, would say anything good about them.

Yeheyman was intent on placing all the blame of the defeat on the eunuchs, and he kept blabbering on about it. The eunuchs were naturally furious, but. . .

The eunuchs couldn’t do anything about it right now. They had to seriously worry about their own lives first. If an enraged noble were to swing a sword, the eunuchs’ lives would be forfeit.

The best way was to get in the duke’s good graces. And the eunuchs knew exactly how to scratch that itch.

━𝐇𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝. . .

After the eunuchs left, Johan spoke to his subordinates.

“Double the guards around the place where they’re staying and check everything they bring in. They’re quite suspicious.”

“Yes!”

However, there was something the eunuchs were mistaken about. Johan was much more suspicious and careful than they thought.

If it was another noble, they might have reluctantly given permission, pretending to be unable to go against the wishes of the captured prisoners, but Johan was different.

“What are your thoughts on their proposal?”

“I really do not want to receive such a suspicious proposal unless the situation is extremely dire. It’s very suspicious.”

Johan’s decisive refusal brought a sly smile to Caenerna’s face and she nodded.

Although he didn’t elaborate much, the duke instinctively demonstrated political insight on this matter.

If a rumor spreads from a single assassination gone wrong, it can become bothersome in many ways.

But not everyone can immediately brush aside such a temptation and take the easy and comfortable path. Hadn’t Cardirian himself failed to resist such a temptation and brought about his own ruin?

“By the way, Caenerna-gong, wouldn’t the price for the eunuchs’ lives be rather inexpensive? They are slave status to begin with, right?”

“. . .Your Highness, is it appropriate to calculate such things?”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

The atmosphere in the Holy Land was strange.

An ominous silence lingered inside the city walls, while excited shouts constantly rang out from outside the city walls. Among the people in the Holy Land, the monotheists looked forward with anticipation, while the polytheists looked around with anxious expressions.

“I had a dream, brothers and sisters. I dreamed of a lightning bolt striking and destroying the thick city gates. When the crowned figure walked around the Holy Land three times, lightning struck the gates! What could this mean?”

“Ooh. . .!”

When momentum was high, anyone could become a prophet. While some people had joined the expedition out of personal ambition or a sense of duty, there were also quite a few who had joined out of pure religious devotion. For them, even a dream was a prophecy, and a mere pebble on the road was a divine revelation.

The miraculous victory further fueled their fanaticism. At various places in the military camp, self-proclaimed prophets were coming up with plausible interpretations of when the Holy Land would fall.

The most popular one was ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵’, and the second most popular one was ‘𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦’.

Ulrike was astonished by the crazy spectacle, but she didn’t bother to stop them. It wasn’t the kind of problem that could be solved with words, and if she tried to stop them, their energy might turn in a different direction, which would be dangerous.

“Did the enemy commander ignore the surrender request again?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose he intends to hold out until the end.”

“The siege weapons are almost complete. If you give the order. . .”

“No. We’ll wait a little longer.”

To be honest, Ulrike didn’t want to lead an army like this in a siege warfare. If possible, she wanted to pressure the enemy into surrendering.

Originally, a siege warfare was very inefficient for the attackers. The difficulty increased exponentially as the castle they were trying to conquer became larger and sturdier.

Furthermore, although the army gathered here had large numbers, they weren’t very united. If they started attacking and suffered casualties, they would start to waver.

It was better to surround them and wait. Since the defeat must have been shocking to them, they might collapse on their own if left alone.

“!”

A thunderous roar that sounded like the heavens and the earth were collapsing came from outside. Ulrike opened her mouth without even checking outside the tent.

“His Highness the Duke must have arrived.”

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Suhekhar looked down with a worried expression. He could guess who had arrived even without checking. There was only one person who could cause such a roar that could be heard all the way here.

‘𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. . .’

He tried not to resent Yeheyman, but he couldn’t help the frustration that welled up inside him when he thought about it. How could he just throw away such a large army like that?

Even if he had retreated to the Holy Land, he would have had dozens of things he could have done if he had just preserved his troops.

He prided himself as a seasoned commander, but he had only experienced shocking incidents ever since he landed. At this point, he didn’t think he would be surprised no matter what happened.

“Suhekhar-nim. Down there. . .”

“What’s the fuss?”

“It’s not that. Look down there.”

“??”

Suhekhar moved to where his subordinate was pointing. A few men on horses rode out of the enemy camp, holding a white flag, and approached the city walls of the Holy Land.

To their surprise, they were the captured nobles.

“Suhekhar-gong! Surrender! The battle is already as good as over!”

“Why did our soldiers disappear and why were we defeated? The gods’ will lies with His Highness the Duke. Please open the gates and spare yourselves unnecessary suffering!”

“. . . . . .”

Suhekhar, who had experienced so many shocking things that he thought he wouldn’t be surprised anymore, couldn’t help but drop his jaw this time.

‘𝘖𝘩, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴!’

He could understand losing the battle. Any great commander could be defeated if misfortune struck.

He could also understand being taken prisoner. He had wondered why they didn’t run away, but there must have been extenuating circumstances.

However, riding out on horses and suggesting surrender crossed the line of understanding. He couldn’t fathom why they would do such a thing, considering the honor of the nobles.

Did the duke drug them and control them with magic?

“W-What should we do?”

“Ignore them!”

“Should we shoot arrows?”

“Leave them alone. Shooting arrows will only backfire.”

Suhekhar, who already had to defend the Holy Land with the small number of soldiers he had, felt a headache coming on.

In fact, what he was most afraid of right now wasn’t the enemy outside the castle walls, but the countless people inside the castle.

If they were to rebel, he wouldn’t be able to stop them.

“Calm the soldiers down and call the influential people in the city. We need to persuade them.”

“Yes. . .”

However, the ordeal that had befallen Suhekhar had only just begun. And that ordeal wasn’t starvation or rebellion.

It was a disease.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Johan listened with a frown.

“There’s a disease spreading inside the Holy Land?”

Johan wasn’t afraid of soldiers with swords and spears, but he was afraid of diseases. He had experienced the pain of an infectious disease several times before, so he was even more afraid of it.

“Yes! They say the dead are coming back to life and the healthy are turning into demons!”

At the merchant’s report, one of the feudal lords in the tent couldn’t contain his excitement and joined the conversation.

“This can only mean one thing, Your Highness.”

“?”

“??”

Johan and Ulrike turned their gazes, still trying to grasp the situation. They wondered what the feudal lord had realized.

“God has forsaken them!”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike had to work hard to keep her composure. To do that, she had to repeatedly remind herself that the feudal lord had brought quite a few knights with him.

“. . .I see.”

Johan simply nodded, since he didn’t have anything to say. Thinking that he agreed, the feudal lord continued.

“I may be lacking in religious devotion, but I dare say that God is with us! The infectious disease spreading in the city is God’s fist. They will soon realize it and open the gates!”

Johan turned to the bishop who was present. He wanted him to stop the cultistal nonsense.

However, the bishop misunderstood his gaze and nodded with a big smile. He meant that he didn’t have any complaints about the feudal lord’s religious devotion.

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺.’

“Yes. Since God is helping us, the gates will open soon. Let us all wait happily until then!”

“Yes!”

After sending the feudal lords gathered in the tent away, Johan called only the people who could communicate with each other.

“Do you know what kind of disease it is?”

“No. It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a disease. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”

“Could it be a combination of different things?”

Caenerna offered her opinion. Originally, diseases could sometimes pile up like a snowball and strike when one was unlucky.

“First of all, the dead coming back to life. . . That must be happening because of accumulated evil energy. I’ve seen that happen before.”

With all the battles and the large number of corpses, it was only natural for undead to appear, and Johan wasn’t surprised by it anymore.

“I’ve seen people going crazy or something, but I’ve never seen them turn into demons.”

At Jyanina’s words, Ulrike nodded with a serious expression. Jyanina was even more flustered when the great feudal lord like Ulrike took her words more seriously than she expected.

“Is it a demon, not a disease?”

“!”

The wizards looked intrigued when Johan said that without thinking. It was certainly a plausible explanation. It was perfectly possible for a disease and monsters to overlap.

“What kind of monster can spread an infectious disease, Jyanina-gong?”

“Huh? Uhh. . .”

While Jyanina hesitated, Ulrike brought up a different topic.

“The disease spreading inside is a problem, but let’s talk about what happens after the enemy surrenders. We should worry about that after we’ve opened the gates.”

“That’s true. I heard that the enemy commander is experienced and persistent, so he won’t surrender easily.”

“. . .Who did you hear that from?”

“The surrendered nobles.”

“. . . . . .”

She wondered how they had managed to extract such information, but Ulrike let it go for now. That wasn’t the priority right now.

“How about sending the friendly nobles to persuade them?”

“If they were the kind of people who would surrender to that, wouldn’t they have done it already? The lord must have tried that already, but it won’t work now that you’re suggesting it.”

Johan expressed a negative opinion to Ulrike’s suggestion. Ulrike nodded in agreement, thinking, ‘𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰’.

No matter how persuasive someone was, they would eventually break if they were pushed too far. It seemed like they would have been persuaded if they had kept trying. . .

But the duke, who was close to the pagan nobles, must have had a reason for saying that.

And then, a message came from outside.

“Your Highness. The enemy commander has sent a messenger to say that he will surrender. He says he will hand over the city if you guarantee his safety.”

“. . . . . .”

Ulrike stared at the duke. Johan nodded while deliberately avoiding her gaze.

“What a stroke of luck! Is this God’s will?”

“You could say that. . .”