Luckily, the clouds have not rained since this morning. Only, by the time they retreated, the sun had already tried to say goodbye to the day.
Albrecht raises his hand and stops the procession. He walks through the darkening forest path and approaches the two soldiers.
As the procession stops, Randolph sprints forward on a white cloudy horse to find out what's going on. A small Randolph lunges behind you.
The uniform of two soldiers seems a little out of place for a soldier. In a sturdy yet thin tunic, they were just wearing leather pants and boots, each holding a halbert.
I was wearing a sword around my waist, but the sword was in good condition, unlike the one used by soldiers.
Like ordinary people in this age, clothing and body were neat and clean, without sin or soot flowing through the skin.
The two of you who look too clean to be a bandit looked up at Albrecht, who put deep pressure on the hood with just a stupid look on his face.
Again, he looked curious as to who this man was, carrying around a hundred soldiers with a hooded child in his arms.
Albrecht was a little surprised when they didn't just look up and run away. He just takes off his hood, revealing his face, and boldly says.
“I am Albrecht, king of all licensees. Make way."
Albrecht reveals his identity, but the soldiers do not intend to get out of the way, but simply look up at Albrecht foolishly.
A soldier with a brown beard, who runs from a crook to his chin, said that the thieves are eager to kill.
“W-wait a minute. I have to ask the commander......”
The soldier hurriedly ran somewhere. Albrecht is absurd and agile, so he can't speak quickly.
Didn't I just say "king"? ’
Albrecht turns his head and looks at Randolph, who approached him one day. He was also making a silly face.
I have to wait for the soldier to return from the middle of the forest road. Albrecht looks down at the remaining soldier.
“What were you doing here blocking the way? Was he trying to get a toll? ”
Then, one who shaved his head short and grew a beard hot enough to warm his mouth said.
“No. I was just looking around for stragglers and thugs. But......”
The soldier glances behind Albrecht. It was the Stragglers, after all. And the king leads them? Didn't the king defeat the Central forces in the Wrightingen Field and create the Stragglers?
In fact, the soldier was just as ridiculous as Albrecht.
Albrecht has blonde hair, blue eyes, scars, but he wouldn't be this confused if he wasn't. Because he's a liar. The soldier does not forget his duty as just a Ginga villager.
It was a really weird and awkward situation. Hundreds of soldiers waited behind, waiting for the king and the change bag to announce the news, and the remaining soldiers were also just puzzled as to what was going on.
Albrecht waited a long time. The forest is still fine, but I don't think I can wait any longer because it will be dark soon.
Albrecht wasn't annoyed, but I wondered why I was doing this here.
At that moment, a group of people rushes past the trees in the forest. Approximately twenty of them, all but one of them was heavily built by the warriors of the North.
He had well-groomed armor such as axes, swords, halberts, maces, battle hammers, etc. But he wasn't wearing chain armor or quilted armor. He was just wearing tunics.
The man in the front was clothed in silk, with dark blond hair and a beard up to his neck. He seemed to be the leader of the herd, whether he was a bandit or not.
He rushes forward to Albrecht, gazing blankly up at Albrecht on the horse. Then he knelt on the ground and shouted.
“Kill me! Your Majesty! ”
Albrecht suddenly bursts into flames, but recognizing himself gives me less relief.
The robust men behind the leader look puzzled, and they kneel along the commander.
“Do you know me? I don't know you. ”
“Well, I am the infantry commander who was at war with the Young King. I also enjoyed the honor of dining with the king at that time. ”
Albrecht lifts his eyes and stutters his memory for a moment.
“Look up. ”
Albrecht raises his head. However, it was hard to recognize his face because he had a hot beard.
“I'm Lucas. When you slaughtered Manfred and jumped in front of us, once you called out my name......”
The man carefully tries to recall Albrecht's memory. Albrecht hears the word Lucas, and his memories spill out like fountains in his head.
And like needles and threads, there was a joyful feeling with the memory. A bright smile blooms on Albrecht's face, colorless around the dark.
“Oh! Yes! Now I remember. Almost 13 years? You offered me another bowl of garbage without me noticing! Haha! That was the hardest time of my entire life! Hahaha!”
When Albrecht was at war with the young king and King Leopold, he used to dine with his soldiers.
Hair floats on the dark blue hide, suspicious of what the ingredients are, and the bread is moldy.
When we decided to eat together for no reason, but when we had only eaten one bowl painfully, Lucas suggested one more.
Albrecht remembers that moment, and his smile does not go away. It was all a memory now.
Albrecht smiles joyfully, and Lucas seems to calm down by then. Albrecht said in a familiar tone, unlike before.
“But why were you blocking the way? No toll. It's not the lord, but it doesn't look like he's robbing anyone. ”
Just as the Northmen and the Middle-men grumbled, all those who were with Albrecht in the battle braved their lifelong memories. Lucas did, too.
Lucas smiles brightly, still on his knees, looking up at Albrecht. He was definitely the most admired person in the world.
“I'm in charge of the inn village. In this area, I am the lord. Recently, I heard that there were some Stragglers sitting in the upper village. They were guarding the road in case they didn't come down. If you don't pay tolls, the merchants will make a lot of money using the roads. Hehe.”
Being like a lord could be a rather offensive thing for a nobleman to hear. And it's an inn village. It's like a money-home town that doesn't pay taxes. It was a region with no administrative limit in this era.
But Albrecht didn't care. It was Sigmund's territory, although not his own. It was his job, and I wasn't gonna rat him out like a rat.
Lucas looks at the soldiers in the distance behind Albrecht and says,
“But why did you kill the Stragglers……"
Albrecht glances back, smiling as if it were nothing.
“The name is the king of all the licensees. Even the Stragglers are my people. I was on my way to Oberburn to get them home safely. I have summoned the knights, and when they come, I will lead them home. And eliminate the remaining stragglers. ”
Lucas stares up at Albrecht with a blank expression. Why would you do that?
Lucas doesn't understand Albrecht. It was because the concept of a king was much different from that of the Oriental world.
If the king of a centralized country like the Joseon, it was the basic principle that the king encompassed all people.
But here, he only cared about the town within his territory, and mostly the town below the castle. And no matter how much the king had the right to his office, the lands of the dead could not be carelessly interfered with.
Of course, I could press it with Albrecht's personal charisma if I wanted to. But Albrecht had no intention of doing so.
It's a question of rights. Even so, he's too busy ruling his own jurisdiction. Which king cares about people in the realm of service? They're losers, damn it.
Albrecht was only responsible for what he said because he took care of the king of all the licensees.
Lucas doesn't know that. Only, Albrecht seemed immeasurably large. In the past, even when he was a famous knight, dining with ordinary soldiers was a kind of ride.
If I'm that strong, do people behave strangely? Lucas could not comprehend Albrecht's actions.
However, considering that "all licensees" also included themselves, I felt proud, proud, and secure for some reason.
But because I didn't learn anything, I had no way of knowing what I was feeling. I just knew it felt good.
One day, the sun began to set, and the night in the forest was about to come to work early.
As it gets dark around him, Lucas quickly recovers and bows his head again.
“If you will allow me the honor of serving you, I dare to take you. ”
Albrecht smiled softly.
“Take her somewhere nice. I'm a little overwhelmed myself. ”
Albrecht relaxes as if he had met an old comrade. Lucas smiled, knowing what it meant. You get up and guide Albrecht's group.
Lucas' guide to the Inn Village was surprisingly located. Low in height, but carved side by side, each of the inns sits on top of the rock.
After stacking the first floor with bricks and laying another layer of wood on top of it, the wall was neatly painted. The roof was made sharp and put on a giva, but the building looked pretty together.
There were dozens of large inns that were built in the shape of 'b’ or 'b’, in the direction where the rocky areas extended out. The rocky terrain makes it look easy to defend.
Seeing that there was no police, it seemed to have been built that way to protect itself from bandits and gangsters.
That's probably why the men who followed Lucas were so well-armed.
I don't know if I should call it the basement or the first floor, but there was a door on the rock floor underneath the building.
Nearby, I saw stalls selling cabbages, pumpkins, and carrots with freshly caught animals hanging on hooks. It was dark, so I was closing up shop.
The Inn Town made the small city glow. There were a lot of merchants, wagons, and stalls.
A light leaks out from the windows of the inn and a torch is illuminating throughout the inn village.
I also saw a lot of people who were drinking on the sidewalk around the inn. Payroll rushes through the building, picking up beer or honey liquor from a wooden cup or horn glass.
Unlike normal territorial villages, the inn village did not try to cool people down even when it was dark.
There were gambling and drinking plates everywhere, and the sluts' rash laughter rang out.
Albrecht leads the soldiers and walks into the inn with Lucas' guidance, and then the people begin to calm down.
“La, it's King Lysen! ”
“What's going on here? ”
People chatter, shouting in small quantities. Perhaps there were many merchants among the people who recognized Albrecht.
I looked at Albrecht with a frown on the face of merchants and innkeepers, mercenaries, and whores. Albrecht follows Lucas, taking their eyes off him.
And even though the equipment was weak, there were about a hundred soldiers, people looked nervous and watched the situation.
“This way, please. Here it is. I sent someone ahead and left it empty. I took a bath. ”
Lucas stops in front of the biggest building in the inn village. Albrecht nods and steps off the horse. And I embraced Achillia in front of me.
A man comes and grabs Lindehorn's belt and drags him to the stable.
“Diego, Randolph, let the soldiers rest nearby and let you stay here. ”
“I understand.”
Albrecht said this because there were so many rooms for only the Albrecht Rosamunds. He and Rosamund walk up the stairs to the entrance.
People still watch the situation with a worried look on their faces, but just as the soldiers were about to camp out in the tent, they suddenly opened their eyes slightly.
Albrecht took off his clothes and soaked himself in a large bathtub with warm water.
The poison seems to melt and melt together. I thought that the true joy of travel was to feel this flavor.
I wanted to take a bath with Rosamund, but I was left alone because Achilles was swarming to come in with me.
Albrecht closes his eyes for a moment and enjoys the ultimate comfort. Then I washed and washed my hair with my hands.
I was washing myself with a bathing cloth, and I heard soldiers talking outside the building.
“Oh! I've seen it with my own eyes! If you don't believe me, ask all the soldiers here! Or go to the Upper Town and ask the villagers! ”
“But it's not so far-fetched. You slay the devil? Where is he? I'd rather believe there's an Elf. It sounds like an Elf. ”
"My king has slain dragons! If you go to Halberk Castle, you'll find the dragon skull as proof! Can you believe this!?"
"Well, that's not it."
It seemed like the soldiers and the people at the Inn Village were talking. People ask the soldier what's going on, and it sounds like he's talking about vampires.
The man at the Inn Camp couldn't believe it, so the soldier was excited, as was my job. You hear another soldier's voice immediately.
“Look, seriously. I hung the devil's corpse in the middle of town for three days. One of them had a grey body and the other had a firm hand like a knife. That's not the Devil, is it? I heard the king slashed and decapitated the devil with a flash of Illudia. ”
After carrying the other soldiers along, the people couldn't argue anymore. I still had some doubts, but I was relieved. Curiosity filled the place.
“Tell me more. ”
“Barefoot?”
One of the soldiers said softly. At that point, Albrecht stopped worrying and soaked his head in the bath. Albrecht's hair flushes like seaweed in the water.
Albrecht bores me with his tale, though I may not feel good when others hear it.
< 189 > End