How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 267: ????? ??? ???? (1)

Chapter 267: ????? ??? ???? (1)

“Your Excellency Count is quite good!”

Holgretz joked with a smile. His face tinged with confidence, as he believed a seasoned Dwarf like Schweibeck would have no trouble persuading the young Count.

“May I perhaps watch?”

“You?”

“Yes! I wish to learn by observing my uncle’s conduct.”

“. . .Very well. This could be a good opportunity for you.”

Schweibeck grudgingly consented. In truth, he was rather reluctant to do so.

It was a matter of pride. As a respected uncle, he wished to show his nephew only the most dignified aspects of himself.

However, this was an important matter for the Rimpangel clan, and more importantly, the young Dwarf needed to learn.

Though the Count was a rather peculiar individual, Schweibeck took pride in his own abilities. Given enough time, he was confident in persuading him.

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“No, there seems to be a mistake in the calculations.”

“. . . . . .”

As Johan passed by and made his remark, the Dwarves exchanged glances.

While working in a Feudal Lord’s court, there were times when they would encounter such interference.

Sometimes, it was a lesser noble serving under the Feudal Lord who would make such remarks, and other times, it would be a member of the Feudal Lord’s family. However, the most troublesome of all was when the Feudal Lord himself would intervene.

Naturally, in most cases, the Feudal Lord would be wrong and the Dwarves would be correct, but that was of no consequence.

The most important thing, as far as the Dwarves were concerned, was not to offend their well-paying employer.

“Ahem.”

Bengelong, one of the Dwarf technicians, stepped forward. Known as “The Silver-Tongued” Bengelong, he was renowned among the Dwarves for his smooth and persuasive speech.

Even arrogant Feudal Lords would be swayed by Bengelong’s words. . .

“Your Excellency Count, it is likely that you have misread due to the rather messy handwriting of the Dwarves. Even to us, our script can be quite difficult to decipher. Furthermore, the quality of the paper is rather poor. . .”

“I read it three times to make sure, but the calculations are definitely wrong. Please check it again.”

Bengelong found himself unconsciously reviewing the calculations. Since they were written in Empire characters instead of Oriental numerals, even simple calculations took a considerable amount of time.

“. . .It is incorrect?”

“What? Hey, you. . .”

The Dwarves glared at the Dwarf who had done the calculations, their faces pale.

As humans, mistakes were inevitable. When performing such tasks, the calculations were bound to be complex, so it was only natural for mistakes to occur from time to time. These mistakes would be corrected during the final review process.

However, it was unfortunate that such a mistake had been discovered by the Count as he passed by. Wouldn’t he think that the Dwarves were incompetent?

In truth, it wasn’t the fault of the Dwarf who had made the mistake. It was rather strange that the Count, who had merely glanced at the calculations as he passed by, had noticed the error.

However, the flustered Dwarves were in no mood to consider such things. They glared at the Dwarf who had made the mistake as if they wanted to kill him.

“Oh, this is unfortunate. I was only trying to help. Please don’t be so hard on him.”

Unexpectedly, Johan defended the Dwarf who had made the mistake. The Dwarf’s eyes welled up with tears at the Count’s magnanimity, despite having only met him recently.

The Dwarves, who had just disowned their comrade, realized their mistake.

“No, Your Excellency. We will be more careful.”

“Shall I help you with the calculations?”

“No! We can do it ourselves.”

The Dwarves hurriedly declined. For their employer to sit down and participate in the calculations was not only burdensome, but it was also absolutely unacceptable.

If their employer were to learn the details of their work, the Dwarves’ authority would be weakened. If the employer were to call upon cheaper workers and dismiss the Dwarves, where would they go to seek redress?

“Is that so? That’s a pity.”

Johan glanced at them with a slightly disappointed expression. This was a rare instance where Johan had acted with good intentions, so it was disappointing that the Dwarves had rebuffed him.

Once Johan left, the Dwarves heaved a sigh of relief.

“What an idiot!”

“Hey, you make mistakes too!”

“That’s true, but who makes such a big mistake that even Your Excellency Count notices?!”

“What’s the big deal? You didn’t notice it either!”

“Stop fighting already. Just be more careful in the future. It seems like His Excellency has a keen eye, so pay special attention when doing calculations.”

“But how did he even notice it?”

“I saw a Wizard who works in the court passing by just now. She must have told him. After all, the Serpentmen are known for being sly!”

The Dwarves resumed their work, their spirits somewhat dampened. Of course, that didn’t mean that the mistakes would disappear.

As Johan passed by again, he spoke up once more.

“This time, it’s that part that’s wrong.”

“. . . . . .”

The Dwarves were flabbergasted.

They had prevented the Wizards from coming, so how on earth was the Count able to spot the mistakes at a glance?

Even this calculation was so difficult compared to the previous one.

“Why don’t we just use the ancient Empire language?”

“But it’s hard for us to understand as well???”

“Well, we have no choice. Do you want to be pointed out again? How incompetent will we look if we get pointed out once more?”

The dwarves, driven into a corner, took a drastic measure. It was to try to figure it out in the ancient Empire script.

Even among the dwarves, many didn’t know it well, but they had no choice. If they wanted to avoid Count’s uncanny calculating ability, this was the only way.

However. . .

“This time, there are quite a few mistakes. And even the spelling is wrong. I don’t know why you’re using the ancient Empire language, but wouldn’t it be better to just use the Empire script? It seems like you’re making a lot of mistakes because you’re not used to it.”

“. . . . . .”

As soon as the Count left, one of the dwarves started to bang his head against a pillar. Bengelong gave up and spoke.

“Um. . . Your Excellency. If you don’t mind, would you be willing to teach us, who are lacking, your skills? If so, we would consider it a great honor.”

“What. Am I capable of teaching something like that?”

“. . . . . .”

It would be better to act arrogantly. It was more unpleasant to see him being so humble like that.

Whether it was once or several times, no matter how much the dwarves disliked it, they couldn’t help but notice.

The Count’s academic ability was so great that it surpassed the dwarves’ imagination.

If he had that kind of ability, he would have been a cardinal, but it was unfair why he was a feudal lord here, but the dwarves, even if they had ten mouths, couldn’t say anything. When an employee is less capable than their employer, what can they do but keep their mouth shut?

If the other dwarven clans found out, it would be so shameful that they wouldn’t be able to hold their heads up.

“Is this a pulley? Did you use the power of waterwheels?”

“No! It was just a doodle I made because I was bored. I’ll clean it up right away!”

“No. . . I was going to say that it’s fine.”

“. . .Actually, I was thinking of using this this time. I’m glad that Your Excellency said that!”

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“Ugh, what nonsense are you talking about.”

Holgretz, who was settled in the fiefdom, sneered at the news that was delivered from below.

“Why is that?”

“Uncle. I think he’s making fun of me for being young. Please say something instead.”

The dwarven engineer, who had come as a messenger, explained what had happened, gesturing with his hands and feet, looking as if he was about to die from injustice. After hearing the explanation, Schweibeck opened his mouth wide.

“Your Excellency Count. . . is a more extraordinary person than I thought.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. When I talked to him, I often felt like he was more like a high priest than a feudal lord.”

Priest can mean someone who is devout and has a strong faith, but it can also be used in another sense. It was usually the high priests who devoted themselves to research with outstanding academic ability.

Only wizards or priests studied complex mathematics, physics, pharmacology, and alchemy. Nobles with fiefdoms usually didn’t study such things at all.

“That doesn’t make sense no matter how you look at it. I passed by once and saw it, and he calculated it right away. . . He’s not a wizard. Even the smartest orc wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Extraordinary and outstanding people always emerge.”

Schweibeck was very surprised, but he tried to accept it. His accumulated experiences made him flexible.

Honestly, it was harder to believe that he solved the dwarven formula mentally in passing than that he tore off a troll’s arm, but it happened anyway.

“What we have to do doesn’t change. If Your Excellency Count is an extraordinary person, we just have to do our best to persuade him accordingly.”

“He’s already working with us, but isn’t half of it already over?”

“We can’t just quit, can we?”

The engineers wouldn’t be able to impress the Count with their breathtaking designs, but it was unbelievable that they were being inspected by the Count right now, but they couldn’t just quit.

They had to show the other strengths that the dwarves, who had been called from afar, possessed.

“We’re all set!”

“Good. Have them pack their gear.”

The dwarves were currently camping near the entrance of the discovered mine.

There was only one purpose.

It was to go into the underground mine, explore the inside, and make an estimate.

In some ways, this exploration ability might be even greater than the design skill. Since the dwarves below were being humiliated by the count, the exploration team had no choice but to put more weight on their shoulders.

“Do you really not need any help?”

The soldiers who were standing guard asked as if they were worried. It was well-known among the mercenaries that all sorts of monsters lived under the mine.

“Don’t worry. It’s like everyday life for us. Just like a hunter doesn’t get scared when he goes for a walk in the mountains, dwarves don’t get scared when they go down into the mines.”

“Oh. . .”

The mercenaries were slightly impressed by his heavy and trustworthy figure.

“Why don’t Mackald’s dwarves show that kind of appearance?”

“Those guys are from a warrior clan, not miners.”

“I guess all dwarves are strong underground.”

Receiving the admiring gazes of the mercenaries, the dwarves put on their equipment, grabbed the rope, and began to descend.

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“No. How did you come up with this idea? You’re truly a genius.”

“T-That so? It was nothing special, just a very minor idea. . .”

“No. I’ve never seen a dwarf as outstanding as you.”

“Actually, I thought of something like this as well. It’s a tower that can be used for a siege. This thing is amazing because. . .”

‘Are they baby birds?’

Suetlg, who was sitting near the fireplace, looked at the dwarven engineers with eyes that seemed to want to see all the strange sights.

At first, the guys who were trying to make the Count back down somehow were talking to the Count enthusiastically as if they were under some kind of spell.

They were like baby birds running to their mother bird that had brought them food. The only difference was that they were dwarves with bushy beards.

“I think I know why the Rimpangel clan’s reputation is so high.”

‘??? ????’? ???? ???? ??? ????’? ????, ?? ????. . .’

While Johan was toying with the naive dwarves, a messenger arrived from outside.

“Your Excellency Count! Something seems to have happened to the dwarves who went down!”

“!”

The other dwarves reacted before Johan. They spoke quickly.

“Is there a problem with the exploration team?”

“Yes, but. . .”

“Don’t worry. It’s probably nothing serious. We’ll send support right away.”

Since the inside of the mine was dangerous, there were frequent cases of problems occurring with the exploration team that went in.

In such cases, they had to solve the problem among themselves as quickly as possible without panicking. It should look like something that could happen at any time, something ordinary. It would be a big deal if they panicked and aroused suspicion from the feudal lord.

“We showed you an unsightly appearance. Your Excellency Count. We’ll resolve it soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“Excuse me?”

“From what I heard, none of the dwarves who went down have come back to give information, and the situation inside hasn’t been confirmed. So how are you going to resolve it?”

“Uh. . . that’s. . . that. . .”

Suetlg, who was starting to feel sorry for the dwarves, stood up.

“Come on. Don’t be so hard on them.”

“No, I asked because I was worried. I don’t think it will help solve the problem if you unconditionally say that everything is fine when the situation is not clear. . .”

Most feudal lords didn’t care whether the dwarven engineers died in the mines or not. In some ways, it was infuriating for the dwarves, but it was something that couldn’t be helped since it was a transaction.

However, the dwarves realized.

A feudal lord who showed concern like that was difficult in a different way.

Especially if that feudal lord was someone who could see through any half-hearted lies!