Volume 1 - CH 8

Finally, after half a month of suffering, Reed’s procurement team had eventually returned to Lowell. Along with the necessary equipment and materials, they also brought with them a small mercenary group.

Their arrival brought a bit of liveliness to the small town, but Reed was still astonished when he saw the tired and despondent faces of the welcoming residents. What had happened in the short 20 days he had been away?

He found Saul, and after hearing a brief account of what had happened, Reed looked incredulous. “A band of thieves? It’s nothing more than a group of hungry peasants invading!”

Saul sighed and said, “Whatever it is, these guys are driving Lowell to the brink of dispair. If you hadn’t come back, I might have organized a mass exodus for the whole town to avoid disaster.”

Reed nodded and said, “To prevent any ambush from the adventurer’s guild on our caravan, I’ve hired a mercenary group for protection. It will come in handy. My lord can talk to their leader about this issue.”

The mercenary group was called “Blue Wolf”, and they are not numerous, with only around fifty members. Their leader, Rubens, was a muscular giant with sky-blue eyes, who was quite famous in the mercenary field of work. The nickname “Blue Wolf” and the name of the mercenary group were derived from his eyes.

However, seeing that the other party was only slightly inferior in size to Kress and carried a giant axe on his back, Saul couldn’t help but mutter to himself. “Why call them “Blue Wolf”? I think “Blue Bear” or “Blue Elephant” would be more suitable. “

Rubens, however, was straightforward. After hearing Saul’s explanation of the situation, he nodded without hesitation and said, “As long as you can afford it, there’s no problem.” He was the epitome of a typical mercenary.

Naturally, this was not the time to be stingy with gold coins. Saul quickly reached an agreement with Rubens and invited him to the Lord’s mansion that night to discuss how to deal with the thieves. From then on, they were busy counting and organizing materials, completely swamped with work.

Reed didn’t break his promise. Using the 20,000 gold coins that Saul had provided him, he managed to obtain all the items on the list within 20 days, far exceeding Saul’s expectations, which made him secretly grateful that he had found the right person for the job.

The weapons and armor of the garrison have also arrived, and unlike the goods from the equipment stores in town, these were standard military equipment produced by the territory of Carvey and were of top quality. It seems that Reed’s friendly diplomatic relations among the merchants had been very successful, as he was able to obtain these items in a short time.

When the brand new leather armor, finely crafted steel longswords, and bows and arrows made from nanmu wood were distributed to the members of the garrison, the already low morale of the guards immediately soared.

“Hmph, next time we encounter those thieves, watch me chop them into seven or eight pieces,” one member said, fondling his longsword.

“Forget it, let me handle them with my bow,” another member chuckled. There were many hunters in town, and those who came from those households were skilled in archery.

“Tch, I wonder who was hiding behind a tree and didn’t dare to come out when they were showered with arrows that day,” someone joked.

“You…that’s called strategic hiding. Who used to say all the time that our leather armor was as flimsy as a fishing net? I don’t believe you would dare to charge out,” the other was unwilling to admit defeat, which caused another burst of laughter.

…

At this moment, inside the lord’s mansion, Saul and the others were gathered around a table, discussing their plan to deal with the bandits.

On the table was a map of the town and its surroundings, and Kress was explaining the details to everyone. Finally, he concluded, “Since we have too few people, we cannot defend every single point, so the thieves will always find a way to break through. Even with the help of the Blue Wolf mercenaries, we are still short on manpower.”

The town garrison had a full complement of 34 people, and the Blue Wolf mercenary group had 51 people, but even together, they were still less than a hundred. Saul had anticipated this situation and nodded, “That’s why I’ve decided to take the initiative and attack.”

Rubens, who was quite knowledgeable, chimed in, “Indeed, that’s the only way. Although we have fewer numbers than the enemy, based on the information you provided, their actual combat personnel are not that large, and the rest are just a group of inexperienced individuals. Furthermore, in terms of training and equipment, our mercenaries have the advantage. So, as long as we lure them to a specific location and get the assistance of the town guards, I am confident that we can severely damage these bandits.”

Upon hearing his words, Kress and Bocci immediately frowned. Rubens was obviously belittling the town garrison power. However, this was not surprising, as compared to the battle-hardened mercenaries, the guard team of a small and remote area like Lowell could not be compared. Naturally, under normal circumstances, this should have indeed been the case.

Quietly gesturing to stop Kress, who was about to jump up and refute angrily, Saul smiled and said, “But this time, my request is a bit more difficult. I hope to capture a few of them first before deciding on the next course of action.”

His words surprised everyone, and Jessica asked in astonishment, “Why?”

Saul scratched his head and said, “Um… I want to catch two bandits first and gather information about their group. Then, we can find their hideout and take them all down in one fell swoop. You know, as the saying goes, ‘Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will emerge victorious in a hundred battles’”

After pondering these two sentences repeatedly, Rubens’s expression changed as he said, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will emerge victorious in a hundred battles. That makes a lot of sense. You’re the employer, so we’ll do it your way. Does anyone have any objections?”

Kress, who was being stared at, widened his eyes and said, “Of course not!”

“Okay, then let’s start planning now,” Rubens grinned and grabbed the map.

※※※

Two days later, in the depths of the night, Rubens’ mercenary group lay in ambush in a dense forest on the eastern outskirts of the town, quietly waiting for the enemy to enter their encirclement. Over the past two days, with the efforts of the entire town’s residents, several roads leading out of the town had been blocked, leaving only this one path. This was not to prevent thieves from running but simply to limit their options for retreat.

One advantage of the small size of Lowell was that outsiders could not hide. Therefore, there was no need to worry about the thieves infiltrating the town. The Blue Wolf Mercenary Group would be a hidden card that would catch the enemy off guard.

The plan was simple. Tonight, Kress would deliberately relax his guard and let the enemy steal another batch of food. When they succeeded, the garrison would launch a surprise attack.  With the burden of a large amount of food, the thieves won’t be able to take the sealed route, so their only option will be that path. What awaited them was the ambush of the entire mercenary group.

“The plan is perfect, but why am I, a non-combatant, in here?” Saul grumbled unhappily hiding in the depths of the forest.

“Because when everyone is working hard, you’re just sleeping in your study. This is your chance to make up for it,” Jessica replied coldly, lying next to him.

“But I am the lord. If I accidentally die, who will lead Lowell on the path of development? You guys can keep busy. I have things to do,” Saul stood up.

Unexpectedly, before he took three steps, he felt a chill around his neck. Jessica’s rapier was already pressed against his neck. “Come back!” she commanded.

With a mournful expression, Saul crawled back and sighed, “Sister, do you have a grudge against me? Why are you always targeting me?”

“Shh, keep quiet. They’re coming!” Jessica whispered, pressing her hand over his mouth.

As she spoke, a chaotic sound of footsteps came from the other end of the town. A group of shadows ran quickly towards them, numbering about two hundred. They were the group of thieves that Kress had driven out of the town.

As expected of the renowned mercenary group, Rubens quietly signaled his team, which silently took their positions as they prepared for battle. In terms of professionalism, the town’s guard team could not compare to them, disregarding their combat abilities. Rubens’ confidence was well-founded.

There was no turning back now for Saul, who reluctantly retreated to the back of the group with a mournful expression. When he heard that he also had to participate in the ambush, he wore two layers of leather armor and a cotton coat, making him look like a bloated panda. Despite the cool night breeze, he was sweating profusely.

Hmph, what can two layers of leather armor do? If Manson had time to make it, I would have worn a full set of heavy armor!

“Aah!” At that moment, a few thieves who were running in front tripped over the ropes that had been tied to the ground and fell, causing the food they were carrying on their shoulders to spill. Those behind them were caught off guard and stumbled, causing more than a dozen of the bandits to fall as well.

“Now’s the time, charge!” Rubens shouted as chaos ensued and the enemy was confused. Suddenly, dozens of torches were lit in the surrounding woods, illuminating the entire area.

The sudden shift from darkness to light blinded the enemy’s eyes. Coupled with the mercenaries’ continuous shouting, the thieves couldn’t tell how many enemies were around them, causing the chaos to spread rapidly.

Under these circumstances, few could remain calm. Someone dropped the food first, and all the thieves followed suit, throwing their bags of food away and fleeing. Since Saul had instructed them beforehand to avoid hurting anyone, the mercenaries did not intervene, allowing the large group of thieves to scatter and escape, while only blocking a few who seemed to be the leaders.

Unexpectedly, a group of more than a dozen bandits, led by two of their leaders, used the cover of the small forest to continuously shoot short arrows at the mercenaries, seemingly to cover the remaining thieves’ escape. Their shooting accuracy was impressive, even in the midst of such chaos, injuring several prominent mercenaries who stood out.

“Surround them, be careful of their arrows!” Rubens shouted as someone immediately took their injured comrades away, while more than ten mercenaries fired arrows at the enemy in a suppressive attack.

No one cared about the fleeing thieves anymore, and everyone slowly approached the group. The thieves quickly realized the mercenaries’ intentions, and one of the leaders shouted out. Several thieves kindled the arrows with fire and started firing indiscriminately, while all the thieves charged towards the weakest point in the mercenaries’ defense.

The flaming arrows ignited the fallen leaves on the ground, causing thick smoke and confusion to ensue. These thieves were surprisingly calm under pressure and were able to assess the situation in an instant, making Rubens realize that their leader was no ordinary person.

This move caught Rubens off guard, and he shouted, “Quick, stop them!” His men moved to surround the thieves from both sides, but the fire quickly spread and the mercenaries were unable to get close due to the thick smoke.

Unfortunately, Saul happened to be in the direction where the group of thieves was fleeing. He was terrified as he watched over a dozen fierce and menacing thieves charging towards him. “Excuse me, sirs, did you take the wrong turn!?” he cried out in fear.

Ignoring his frightened plea, the front most few fierce-looking thieves drew their daggers from their waists and charged towards him with a close-combat stance. Upon closer inspection, those daggers were the ones that Kress had picked up earlier, the special knives of the “Night Shadow Brigade” of the Rulin Empire.

With a clang, Jessica unsheathed her rapier and pulled Saul behind her. Several mercenaries scattered the caltrops that had been distributed beforehand, hoping to delay the thieves for a moment. They knew that once the main forces arrived, they could easily capture them.

The effectiveness of the new weapons was finally proven. In the dim forest, it was hard to see what the objects on the ground were, and before the thieves realized it, two of them screamed in agony as the caltrops pierced their feet, causing them to collapse to the ground and howl in pain.

The two remaining thieves were alarmed, yet they were nimble enough to dodge all the caltrops scattered on the ground. However, their companions behind them were not as skilled, and several of them fell into pre-dug traps, screaming in agony.

Without waiting for the thieves to approach, Jessica shouted and wielded her rapier, attacking them first. Meanwhile, the mercenaries advanced towards the remaining thieves, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.

Surprisingly, these two thieves were unexpectedly powerful, despite only having a small dagger. They made Jessica, a skilled swordsman, look clumsy and threatened her life at every turn.

“Elven swordsmanship?” one of the thieves murmured in surprise.

“It’s okay, she hasn’t mastered it yet,” said the other slightly older thief.

Their attack methods were unconventional, never straying more than five inches from their opponent’s side. It seemed like a reckless and dangerous way of fighting, but in reality, it was quite intricate. Jessica’s swordsmanship relied on speed and swiftness, but in front of these two thieves, she couldn’t seem to muster any strength and was quickly forced to retreat.

As Jessica retreated, Saul, who was hiding behind her, had no choice but to follow suit. He couldn’t help but complain in his mind, “Why did this damn woman have to drag me into this? I’m going to die!”

Noticing Saul’s predicament, Jessica gritted her teeth and attacked the thieves with all her might, forcing them to retreat. However, this move also revealed to them that there was an influential individual behind her.

The two thieves had already noticed Saul, who was wearing two layers of leather armor and looked strange, but they were too busy dealing with Jessica to pay much attention to him. At this moment, they exchanged a glance, and one of them lunged into Jessica’s swords, entangling her, while the other nimbly rolled to the ground and pounced towards Saul.

“Ah-ah-ah! I’m going back where I belong!”” Saul exclaimed in panic and turned around to run away. But the more he panicked, the worse things got. He tripped over a rope that his own comrades had tied, falling to the ground.

The thief chuckled and put the dagger in his mouth, then reached out his hands to grab Saul, intending to capture him alive. Saul was shocked and instinctively put his hands in front of him. In this critical moment, a bright white light suddenly emitted from the ring on his right hand, and a sphere of light shot up into the sky.

Both parties were stunned by the unexpected situation, and at that moment, a strange call that sounded like a beast and a bird came from the sky. The light cluster dispersed, and a huge exotic creature appeared in the air.

Its hindquarters were the body of a lion, and its front half was that of an eagle, with a pair of thick, iron-like talons curled up on its chest. On both sides of its lion body, there were a pair of huge wings with a wingspan of about three meters, flapping fiercely and stirring up a strong wind that made the trees and grass below sway, exuding a majestic aura.

This was the Griffin Beast! It had been summoned from the ring that was given to Saul by Albert himself as a gift. After accepting the present, Saul never had a chance to use it, and over time, he even forgot about it. However, in his moment of desperation just now, he had successfully summoned the griffin beast.

But Albert had never told Saul the spell for summoning it, so how had he managed to do it?

No one had expected a griffin to suddenly appear, and for a moment, everyone in the field stopped moving, staring dumbfoundedly at the huge creature in the air. After a moment of shock, the thief beside Saul suddenly reacted and lunged at him again.

Seeing him threaten its master, the griffin let out a long roar and swiftly swooped down, its talons grabbing the thief’s shoulder and lifting him into the air. The sharp claws pierced his flesh, causing him to scream in pain.

The griffin’s eagle head bent down, ready to peck at his neck, but Saul quickly shouted, “Don’t kill him!”

The obedient griffin let out a low roar, flapped its wings, and swooped down, throwing the thief to the ground and leaving him in a daze. It then hovered over the scene, emitting a threatening cry at the remaining resisting thief below.

As Rubens and his men arrived on the scene, the large fire in the forest was finally extinguished. His injured comrades and confused subordinates made it clear to the resisting thief that the battle was lost. With a heavy sigh, he threw his dagger to the ground, sat cross-legged, and surrendered.

Rubens picked up the dropped dagger, and his expression changed dramatically, “The Night Shadow Brigade!?” Before he could even ask, Kress and the guards’ team rushed over. They saw that the thieves had been surrounded and surrendered, and Kress shouted, “Is it over so soon? Nobody was left for me… huh!?”

As he glanced up and saw the griffin in the air, he couldn’t believe his eyes, “Wow, when did we get a griffin in our territory? Hurry up, everyone!” He waved his hand fiercely.

To the amazement of the crowd, the guard team, who were following Kress, came to a halt in unison, bent their bows, and took aim at the griffin with dozens of black arrows.

“Ready, fire…”

“Fire my ass!” Before the order to shoot was given, a loud voice shouted, and Saul rushed forward a few steps, jumped up, and kicked Kress to the ground.

“Damn it, if anyone dares to touch my little griffin, he’ll never get a penny of his salary for the rest of his life!”

※※※

After tying up the band of thieves, Rubens walked silently to one of them, tore open his sleeve, and revealed a vivid bat tattoo on his shoulder.

“So, you guys really are members of the Night Shadow Brigade. What are you doing here?” Rubens exclaimed in shock and anger, holding his axe in his hand.

To everyone’s surprise, including Rubens and Saul, the group of thieves were actually from the Rulin Empire. The thief snorted disdainfully in response to Rubens’ inquiry and turned his head away, seemingly saying ‘you can kill me if you want’.

After a quick investigation, it was discovered that only the first four thieves had bat tattoos, while the others were ordinary people. What was even stranger was that these people had no calluses on their hands from long-term use of weapons. Instead, their calluses were spread out on their palms, and their feet were wide with five forked toes, clearly indicating that they were a group of farmers who had been working in the fields for a long time.

What is going on? Why would the Night Shadow Brigade, which was so famous in the Rulin Empire, specially lead a group of farmers to cross the western mountains and come to Lowell to steal food?

Rubens pulled everyone aside quietly and whispered, “This is too strange. We must get clear answers. However, the members of the Night Shadow Brigade have been specially trained and are unlikely to speak easily, so I will use mercenary methods to make them talk. If you can’t bear to watch, you can leave.”

Knowing that Rubens had made up his mind to use torture, Jessica and the others couldn’t help but look pained, but there was no other way. If they didn’t get to the bottom of this, it could endanger all of Lowell.

Saul stopped him, “Wait. I have a few words to say to them. If they still won’t talk, then let us use your methods.”

Ignoring everyone’s surprised looks, Saul walked straight to the thieves and said, “I am the Lord of Lowell. I want to know where you come from, why you stole the food, and what your purpose is. Will you tell me?”

“Pah!” The leader of the thieves spat out a mouthful of blood and saliva at him, which Saul calmly dodged.

Phew! Fortunately, having watched many movies before, I was prepared for this move, otherwise, I would have made a fool of myself today. Hey, buddy, why is it that every good person who gets caught by the bad guys during an interrogation has increased saliva secretion and wants to launch his spittle? Hmm… Wait, when did I become the bad guy?

While Saul was secretly feeling depressed, the other thieves followed the lead of their leader and remained silent.

Well, it looks like they won’t talk unless we get tough with them.

Saul smiled faintly and pointed to Rubens and the others, who were keeping watch vigilantly from behind him. “These people are mercenaries, and you should be well aware of what will happen if you fall into their hands. If I’m not mistaken, you’re not just ordinary thieves, you only steal food and don’t harm anyone. There must be some reason for this, right?”

A few of the thieves’ eyes lit up, obviously struck by Saul’s words, and they subconsciously looked up to speak but hesitated. However, the thief who was injured by the griffin remained defiant: “We are just thieves, and now we are in your hands. If you are really kindhearted, release the others, and you can deal with the few of us as you wish.”

“Damn it, I hit the nail on the head, and they still want to act cool,” Saul cursed inwardly.

As persuasion failed, Rubens grew impatient and waved his huge axe: “My lord, I admire your kindness. But without giving these dogs of the Rulin Empire a taste of their own medicine, they will never talk.” Dinar had been at war with Rulin for a large number of years, and the hatred between the two nations was deeply rooted in people’s hearts.

Just then, a young thief suddenly spoke up: “W-wait a minute.”

The leader of the thieves turned pale: “Gavin, what do you want to do?”

Saul waved his hand to stop Rubens and spoke kindly to Gavin: “Do you have something to tell me?”

“Gavin! Have you forgotten the oath we made when we escaped? Are you trying to betray Captain Chipp?” The leader of the thieves shouted angrily.

Upon hearing the name “Chipp”, Gavin flinched, but quickly retorted: “Brother Karl, it was the Empire that wronged us first. Are we still obligated to be loyal to it now? Are we going to be thieves for the rest of our lives? I would rather die than betray Captain Chipp, but I also don’t want to die in vain.”

His words made Karl hesitate, and the other thieves nodded in agreement. Finally, Saul saw the opportunity and quickly struck while the iron was hot: “Speak up, I won’t pry into the whereabouts of your companions.”

“As you suspected, we are not thieves but farmers from a remote village in the border province of Miramasha in the Rulin Empire. The Empire has been heavily arming itself and imposing heavy taxes, and we have all been struggling. This year, Miramasha suffered a drought, and most crops died. We couldn’t pay the taxes, so we had to flee.”

“Nonsense! These guys are clearly members of the Night Shadow Brigade. How could they be refugees with you?” Rubens snorted in disbelief and pointed at Karl.

Gavin quickly interjected: “No, it’s precisely because of them that we were able to escape with our lives. You see…. because so many people in Kalmuck couldn’t pay their taxes, the Lord decided to make an example of us by choosing a hundred people to be executed. Our villages were the most remote, so we were chosen.  The unit led by Captain Chipp was the one who carried out the order.”

“For this order, Captain Chipp disobeyed several times and almost lost his position. The Lord became impatient and sent another unit to execute the order.”

“Out of anger, Captain Chipp rebelled against the empire and fled into the western mountains with people from several nearby villages. Half of his men died at the border while covering our escape. We wandered in the mountains for more than two months before finally arriving at this town. The elderly and women were struggling to survive, so Captain Chipp had no choice but to decide to come down the mountain and steal food.” Gavin hurriedly explained everything to the people present.

“So… how many people do you have?” Jessica asked calmly.

“Including the elderly, the injured, women, and children, there are more than 1,000 people, mostly ordinary farmers and artisans. Nearly 200 people have died in the mountains in the past few months, and now there are only slightly more than 800 left.” Another member of the Night Shadow Brigade interjected, their eyes turning red as they all lowered their heads.

No wonder there were so many thieves, and they only stole food. Their quality varied so widely because of such a hidden story. Even Rubens showed a look of pity and asked, “So where are you hiding exactly…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Saul waved his hand to stop him and said to Kress, “That’s enough. Take them down, treat the wounded, and feed the prisoners three meals a day. No mistreatment allowed.”

Upon Kress’s orders, the people were taken down. Jessica, confused, asked, “What’s on your mind now?”

Saul chuckled and asked back, “Do you think these people are thieves?”

This time, Jessica did not hesitate and shook her head, “Of course not.”

Kress added in a low voice, “They are all farmers. Naturally, they are not thieves. Even if they were, it’s because they were forced out by an unscrupulous lord.” The members of the Lowell garrison were all from ordinary families, so they could empathize with this.

Saul sighed, “Yes, Kress is right. Over a thousand people have been forced to this point, anything they have done is understandable. Moreover, they only stole some food and did not harm any residents. If we merely let them go, who knows how many old, weak women and children will die in the mountains?”

Hearing the hidden meaning in Saul’s words, Jessica was shocked, “My Lord, do you want to use the town’s food to help them?”

“Why not? Do you want them to starve?!” Kress shouted in anger. He respected Jessica greatly, but at this moment, he was full of anger when he heard her objections.

Jessica blushed slightly and whispered, “Of course not. But Lowell doesn’t have much food itself. If we don’t plan it properly, everyone may end up with nothing to eat. Besides, if we don’t explain it well to the residents, they won’t understand why we are giving food to the thieves, and discord may arise.”

Jessica’s concern was not unreasonable, but Saul didn’t stop there, “Who said we are giving food to thieves? If we are all one family, then there won’t be such a problem. As for the food issue, I heard that the Barin territory had a bumper harvest this year. Let’s use the land’s money to buy a batch back.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. Jessica couldn’t believe it and said, “My Lord, do you want to accept these refugees from the Rulin Empire? But… but we are hostile countries. If the king finds out, it could be…”

Saul knew he couldn’t hesitate at this moment. His body trembled, his eyes widened, and in an instant, a sense of “domineering aura” emerged within him: “Do you want to watch the others starve to death in the mountains, or do you want to have everyone come down from the mountain and risk it all with Lowell?”

“Of course…. we don’t want either,” the people said, lowering their heads, whether because of Saul’s “domineering aura” or the terrifying consequences.

Saul nodded in satisfaction, “Very well, then let’s do it my way. I, as your lord, will take full responsibility for the consequences!” It felt great to finally be able to assert himself in this new world and have the crowd “Shocked”.

What a cool feeling!

The reason he made this decision was mainly because, in his own world, human ideals had already deeply infused people’s minds. He decided to accept this group of refugees almost subconsciously without considering the possible consequences.

Another reason was that there were simply too few people in Lowell. To develop, funds were certainly important, but having a sufficient population as a basis for the territory was also a crucial factor. As long as he could accept this batch of refugees, Lowell’s population could almost double, it would be a burden in the short term, but in the long run, the benefits would definitely outweigh the costs.

He turned to Rubens and asked, “Captain, are you still willing to help me?”

Rubens looked at Saul for a while before smiling. He shook hands with Saul and said, “I’ve never seen a lord like you before. If it were someone else, they would have probably already led their troops into the mountains to wipe out these refugees and claim credit for the capital. Only you dare to take the risk of accepting them. For this alone, the Wolf Mercenary Group will follow you to the end.”

“But admiring you aside, you still need to provide us with the necessary funds.”

“I knew you would say that…”

Jessica hesitated and asked, “But the mountains are so vast, how will we find them? And even if we capture them, they may not believe us.”

Saul scratched his head and said, “We’ll have to talk about that later. Hmm… Shouldn’t the others be back soon?”

Ignorant of what he was up to, the group had no choice but to wait with him. Shortly after, Vice Captain Bocci hurriedly ran over with several members of the guards’ team who were good at climbing.

“How’s it going? Did you find anything?” Saul quickly asked as he approached.

Bocci wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied happily, “We followed them all the way and found their headquarters.”

“Great! Then tomorrow night, we’ll pay them a visit.” Smiling mysteriously at the crowd, Saul wore a happy expression.