How a Second Life Knight Lives

9. Meeting with Memories.

“Hold your positions! Stab anyone who breaks into the formation!”

The knight shouted loudly enough for everyone, even those fleeing, to hear.

Still, a few terrified soldiers pushed into the place where the guards had formed a line and blocked the way, only to have their heads cut off without question.

Only then did the brief irrational fear subside, and the soldiers came to their senses. Bram accepted that it was impossible to push the soldiers back into fear again. It was because there was a knight among the guards.

The knight, who had been waiting among the guards, spurred his horse and charged at Bram.

When you think of a merchant, it’s easy to imagine a fat person with a big belly. They would eat better than the average person, and since their main job is dealing with money and goods, there’s a prejudice that they wouldn’t use their bodies.

But the people here were far from such prejudices.

They were merchants who transported and sold rock salt. They even traded contraband salt. They moved valuable goods, or rather money itself, over long distances where security was not properly established. They were merchants, mercenaries, sailors, and sometimes even raiders.

They were a completely different kind of merchant from the friendly shop owners you see in the market.

Bram was the best among the people in the merchant group, despite not looking like a typical merchant leader.

Handling the gigantic sword as if it were part of his body, he continuously sliced through the soldiers, showing a skill level that even knights would find difficult to match.

Christopher, who was following Bram and lending a hand, thought that even he would find it hard to guarantee victory if he faced Bram head-on.

“You scoundrel!”

The knight’s attack on Bram was meaningless.

It was too short.

The knight of Kalmar did not have a spear at the moment. The only weapons he had were a knight’s sword and a bow.

With these weapons, he could only break through the defensive line on horseback, swinging his sword at nearby enemies or attacking fleeing enemies with his sword or bow.

And that was enough.

The mission was merely to capture merchants suspected of espionage, and the soldiers provided by the merchants, who were desperate to avoid the mission, were supposed to handle it all.

Facing enemies who fought desperately like knights protecting their lord was not anticipated.

Still, he was a knight on horseback. He couldn’t blame his weapons. He should have been able to trample a merchant wielding such a monstrous greatsword.

If he couldn’t even do that, wouldn’t it be shameful to bear the title of a knight?

He wasn’t a fool who couldn’t find a noble to knight him and had to be knighted by a senior knight. He was a knight knighted by the Count of Kalmar.

The knight on horseback, dodging Bram’s attack and moving sideways, repeatedly struck with his cavalry sword.

Bram, who wasn’t wearing any significant protective gear, blocked the attack with his greatsword and approached the knight.

Then, it wasn’t the knight but the horse that got scared and backed away.

The momentum of the gigantic sword, thrust out like a spear, made even the horse shrink back in fear.

There were rumors that the guards’ knights were of low quality, and even the horses seemed to be the same. It seemed that well-trained warhorses were hard to find outside the army.

At that moment,

Christopher, who had been smashing the soldiers’ bones with a war hammer as big as two adult fists, slid behind the knight.

His hammer struck the horse’s hind legs.

The horse’s leg bones, naturally weak and prone to breaking from minor incidents, were easily shattered by the blow of the gigantic hammer.

The horse let out a sorrowful cry and collapsed.

The knight on the horse, unable to maintain his balance due to the sudden injury of the horse, staggered. It was a wonder he didn’t fall off.

However, it was enough to slow the knight’s reaction to the attack. The knight let out a low scream as Bram’s gigantic sword struck his shoulder, knocking him backward.

Normally, the guards’ soldiers should be covering the knight.

That’s basic. A knight is not invincible.

If a knight charges into infantry alone, and if the infantry are skilled veterans at fighting knights, the knight will be quickly pulled off his horse and stabbed or beaten to death.

Even the ultimate defensive tank would be destroyed if it crawled into a city alone without infantry support, so a knight charging alone was extremely dangerous.

However, the guards of Kalmar ended up just watching as the knight rushed out alone and fell off his horse. If the knight were to die like this, they would surely be held accountable.

The guards rushed towards the fallen knight faster than a rabbit startled by a noise and fleeing at lightning speed.

Thanks to this, Bram had to retreat without delivering the final blow to the knight.

Only then did the two knights blocking other directions begin to approach slowly.

A good opportunity to break through the encirclement flew away just like that.

*

I was watching all the scenes from behind the guards.

At first, I only saw the backs of the guards’ heads, but then I saw those who had burst out of the building and were swinging their swords, trying to escape. They were all familiar faces.

The one swinging a giant sword as tall as himself was Bram, the salt merchant.

I hadn’t seen him many times, but I couldn’t forget him because he always made a fuss whenever I collected tolls at my checkpoint.

The fact that he was a salt merchant itself meant he had strong backing, but he actively flaunted it and even occasionally resorted to threats. He was clearly someone who transported not only regular salt but also contraband salt, so he must have had many things to hide, yet he never backed down.

If I hadn’t had the common sense that a salt merchant engaging in long-distance trade was practically a paramilitary organization, I wouldn’t have let him off so easily. At that time, I also had a bit of a reckless streak.

And now that I think about it, many of those holding out against the building were familiar faces. They were all people who used to hang out with Bram.

Rough and loyal only to their own group of contraband salt traders.

I had no debts to them, so I had no reason to feel uneasy.

I turned my gaze to Bram’s side.

The one holding a hammer. That guy looks familiar too.

Isn’t that Christopher?

I heard he took down many of the riffraff who set up checkpoints in Kalmar City, but it seems he wasn’t originally from Kalmar.

Could it be Archduke Maximilian?

Or Duke Glenn?

He was a member of the alliance that opposed Kalmar City, but he wielded a sword on the front lines and didn’t know much about internal politics.

I knew even less about Kalmar and his allied forces.

I just treated them as cash cows.

I was half out of my mind at the time, so I acted unlike myself. The basics of business are information, after all.

Looking back, the lack of information was regrettable.

As far as I remember, the electors who wanted to become emperor had practically entered into a civil war. Proxy wars broke out everywhere, and looting became commonplace. Even in the midst of this, Kalmar tried to maintain neutrality.

The role of the alliance encroaching on the interests of the Dalaben River was like a threat to break Kalmar’s neutrality. Of course, Kalmar couldn’t just sit back and watch this situation.

There was a long battle from the river to the mountains, and in the end, Kalmar won.

I lost.

But back then, the guy who played hide-and-seek in the forest for days to cut my throat is right over there.

As an enemy of Kalmar, no less.

How delightful.

I approached the guards who were blocking the road and glaring at me.

“Stop. If you approach, you will die.”

The guard’s warning was fierce. It was understandable since people were dying.

I raised my head and looked around them carefully.

“Sir William. What brings you here?”

Indeed, someone recognized me.

It was a knight in charge of a part of the encirclement.

“I came to buy something at the port, but it’s a mess here. I’m William Burrows.”

“Hugo Lindbergh. I’ve heard a lot about you from Sir Liam. He said you are a person who knows honor, with excellent skills and a humble nature.”

Ah, this is what reputation is.

Even someone I’ve never met recognizes my skills.

“Sir Liam spoke too highly of me. I only hoped to be of some help to the knights of Kalmar.”

Hugo’s face brightened up.

He must have been glad to have a capable knight lend a hand, especially when the resistance from those they had to capture was too strong and skilled.

He must have thought I was trustworthy since I was staying in Kalmar and had proper connections with the people of Kalmar.

“Sir Hugo! The enemies have set fire to the upper building.”

“They must have a lot to hide. Since they even set the building on fire, they’ll all come out soon. Be careful not to let any of them escape!”

Smoke started to seep out of the windows of the upper building, and soon after, flames burst out.

As Hugo said, it was clear that they had burned a large amount of something inside.

They would soon start to rampage to escape.

Bram and Christopher would stand in their way.

*

Bram and Christopher, who had rushed out and swept away the soldiers and even half-killed a knight, had retreated to the building under the guards’ restraint.

And all those who had remained in the building followed them out.

“The brothers?”

“I saw the signal from the port.”

“Then they will come soon.”

Bram looked at the path leading towards the harbor.

It was the direction where he had just taken down a knight.

Now, another knight had come and was with the guards.

The mercenaries of the scattered merchants had also finished preparing for battle and were on standby. They looked a bit scared, though.

So it was worth knocking on the harbor path once more.

It is foolish to expect those who are scared to fight properly. Confusion spreads quickly, and those who are scared often lose their reason and run away. They had already been consumed by fear and fled once, so it was even more so.

The guards from other paths would come, but if they held out a little longer, their brothers would come.

Then they could escape from here.

They should ask Duke Glenn for the reward for the money and time spent so far.

But first, they had to survive.

With their brothers.

Bram picked up his giant sword.

“Let’s go!”

At Bram’s command, the surviving subordinates all charged towards the harbor. Bram was running at the forefront.

And in front of them, the guards who had tasted blood were trying to raise their spirits. Some were clearly scared, and some were burning with determination. It was a mess.

They had fought quite fiercely so far, but the guards had not yet suffered significant damage. Perhaps the biggest blow was seeing the mercenaries mobilized by the merchants being smashed right in front of them.

But from now on, it was going to be different.