I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 214: From the South

Chapter 214: From the South

The Knights of Chemois, who fled the Duke’s Tower after they were sent away by Sir Phillip, faced hell as they traveled. Not only was the weather freezing, especially in the central mountain range that they would have to travel over to get to Hydrogia, but they also had minimal supplies since they left in a rush.

Since going into the Duke’s Tower for supplies was out of the question, they could only go to their barracks and find what was minimally required to travel. Warm clothes, what food they had from other trips, and the weapons already on their person.

The lack of preparation led to slow travel because they had to hunt most of what they ate. They had to cut down trees or hope one was already down if they wanted firewood. They relied on the lands and everything they learned prior was absolutely vital to their journey.

Because of their lack of warning to Hydrogia, the weathered knights showed up on Commander Lothian’s fief with only themselves, their horses, and minimal weapons. They requested guidance, hoping another commander would know what to do.

With a group of worn knights wearing slightly hopeless expressions, Commander Lothian relented.

"I have no other choice but to allow you to stay. You’ll have to take the quarters of apprentices and double up in available rooms. We’re not prepared for a large number of men."

Only ten had arrived from Chemois, but for a knighthood like that of the Knights of Hydrogia, they were always full of boys wanting to become knights and serve under someone as renowned as the peasant commander, Commander Lothian.

The knights from Chemois lived this way for a month. Even in Hydrogia, they had to await permission from the King. Commander Lothian was one of his vassals, after all.

Since the Commander openly said to the King that he would go to Tenetium regardless of the decision of whether he could bring his own men, His Majesty relented halfway. He allowed Commander Lothian to bring half of his forces to see if the issue in the North was worth all of the fuss.

That was how Commander Lothian wound up in Chemois for the second time in a few years.

It wasn’t an easy trek by any means, but they were far more prepared than what the Knights of Chemois arrived with.

Commander Lothian was eager to use his wealth to help another knighthood after knowing how much they had been struggling since the Duke passed away and the Duchess vanished. Not only did he bring wagons of supplies, but he also brought more supplies for a camp.

Even though the Knights of Chemois didn’t arrive in Hydrogia knowing that the others had been entirely kicked out of the Duke’s Tower, the southern Commander arrived prepared for the worst case. His foresight was immaculate because, when they arrived at a shabby encampment with one tent and a meager pen for the horses, they knew that Chemois could use all the help it could get.

An army of men couldn’t go unnoticed by the Knights of Chemois, who had been on high alert. Since they had lost their best three apprentices, the squires took over wall watch during the day, and the knights took over at night. Since monsters were more prevalent when it was dark, that was what seemed to make sense.

At least the coldness they were facing was certainly slowing down the monsters, even if it didn’t stop them altogether as it normally would.

It was only midday and the knights were sleeping, but when Sir Gunnar heard a horn sound at the top of the wall, he sprang out of bed without a second thought and stalked out of the tent with his sword drawn.

His eyes went to the squire at the wall, and William merely pointed south where teams of men were coming down the mountains.

It was such a welcome sight that Sir Gunnar slouched and his sword fell from his hands as his palms met his knees.

Perhaps we have a chance was his only thought.

However, as much as he wanted to sink to the ground and finally give a higher power acknowledgment since his men and more knights returning to him seemed like a miracle, the man managed to get himself together.

He sheathed his sword and strode forward to the shabby pen where he retrieved his horse and climbed onto the animal effortlessly. Without needing to tell the others what he was going to do, he rode forward at full speed for nearly an hour until he made it to the sloping hills that the men were just leaving.

There, Commander Lothian stopped the party to dismount his horse.

Sir Gunnar did the same, and they met in the middle, embracing one another’s forearms with their glove-clad hands.

"Nice to see you again, old friend," Callum greeted. "However, I detest the circumstances that allowed us to meet again."

"I’m relieved to see you," Gunnar admitted. "Surprised that you were able to trek north at all. His Majesty hasn’t been the most... decisive when it comes to our pleas for help."

There was a heavy silence as Callum tried not to speak ill of the King, and Gunnar seemed as if he was doing much of the same.

The men stepped away from one another, and the Commander turned to the rest of his knights.

"Go to the encampment," he ordered. "Set up camp in a way that makes sense. Leave plenty of space between tents." His eyes then turned back to Gunnar. "We have healers? An infirmary tent?"

At Gunnar’s shaking of his head to confirm there was nothing, Callum continued, "An infirmary tent as well with beds inside of it."

There was a rush of action as the others, who were just as eager to get to a place where they could no longer be on horseback. It felt like they had been traveling forever, even though it wasn’t more than a couple of weeks.

Gunnar watched as the men rode past, and he saw many faces he had never seen before, but many more he recognized as either established Knights of Hydrogia or his own men who were sent north in the first place.

Commander Lothian’s dark eyes scanned over the other knight. It was good to see him in one piece and without evident injury, but he silently noted that Gunnar had dropped in weight since their last meeting. The man looked exhausted and starved, as was customary for the front lines.

When the Commander and highest-ranking officer from Chemois returned to the camp, they lent a hand in making improvements to the existing encampment as well as adding their own helpful items. They brought two carriages worth of supplies, and the Commander assured the knights in Chemois that he would have people regularly delivering supplies as long as the weather allowed. The only time it might be difficult was in the depths of winter or the snow melt during spring.

There were a few hours of productivity, but it seemed as soon as the sun began to set, a horn went off from the top of the wall, and all eyes went to the Duke’s Tower.

Surprisingly, the rush of goblins coming towards them was from the forest at that time.