"My Lord, what are you guarding against?" Berunik asked as he leaned on the back seat of the carriage.
After bidding farewell to the Four Great Families of Northern Field Town, the moment the carriage left Northern Field Town's sight, Laurist ordered Sadekamp to slow down. He threw a shield to Sadekamp and told him to be careful. Then, he picked up a shield and placed it on top of Berunick's body. He picked up a few javelins and placed them in a convenient position, ready for battle.
"Sigh, it would have been better if I had Padt with me this time. Sadkamp, I've been forcing you to train your combat aura, yet you've only reached Iron-rank. You're useless." Laurist complained.
"But my Lord, didn't you just say that I'm only suitable for wielding a pen? Why are you saying that I'm useless now?"
"Even if you're good at wielding a pen, you should learn from Knight Shredder. He's not any worse than you, but he's still a 3-star Silver. He'll reach Gold-rank in two years."
"My Lord, how can you compare me to Sir Shredder? How can I compare? He's the Prime Minister's talent. I can only handle a manor and a castle at most. "Sadkamp knew his own limits.
Belluniak was bundled up tightly and stuffed into the backseat, his body covered with a large shield. He couldn't help but ask when he saw the master and servant bickering as if they were facing a great enemy.
"Hmm, Brother Beck, don't you find it strange? I didn't ask you to drink the potion Master Dumbasen made for you. You haven't felt any discomfort yet. You can't move your body easily to prevent your organs from shifting. That's all bullshit. You've been deceived by that Master Dumbasen for two whole years. He poisoned you with a qi dispersing poison so you can't train your combat aura to recover. It's like they've put you under house arrest in Northern Field. "Laurist said.
"Cough, cough, cough …" Berunik coughed violently after hearing Laurist's words. He wanted to say something, but he was choked by the cold wind.
Lollister reached out to tidy up Beluniac's scarf and patted his back to make him more comfortable. "Don't talk, Beck. I know what you want to say. You know why they did what they did. Sederkamp, tell me about the family's recent situation. It's the changes in the past three years since Brother Baker was injured. "
Kemp nodded and started telling the story of how the lord died in battle, how the garrison refused to obey orders, how Viscount Gammus bullied them, and how he and Padt went to Moronte City to find Lollister to inherit the title and territory of the family. As for the matter of Laurist organizing a convoy to the north, Sadekamp did not have the time to mention it. Firstly, he did not have the time, and secondly, the target that Laurist was waiting for and guarding against had already appeared in his field of vision.
Six riders appeared from the forest in front of them. The riders' faces were covered with black cloth and they held crossbows in their hands. They aimed as they charged forward.
"Sederkamp, scatter the horse and stop the car. Cover yourself and Beck in the backseat," Laurist said.
Hearing this, Sadekamp pulled the horse to a stop and stabbed the pole next to the driver's seat into the ground, securing the two-wheeled carriage in place. He then untied the reins of the two horses pulling the carriage, in case the horses were frightened or went berserk and caused the carriage to overturn. Then, Sadekamp jumped into the backseat and used his shield to cover himself and Beluniac, who Laurist had stuffed under the seat.
While Sadekamp untied the reins, Laurist leapt onto the back of a strong horse pulling the carriage. He kicked the horse's abdomen and charged towards the rider on the side. He held the reins with one hand and swung his javelin with the other, deflecting an incoming crossbow bolt.
Of the six riders, other than the one on the left who was charging towards Lollister, the other five had their attention on the carriage. In an instant, crossbow bolts flew everywhere, and the shields covering the carriage and the back seats had already been pierced by a dozen arrows.
Laurist had already blocked two bolts in a row, and he was getting closer and closer to the enemy. Seeing that the crossbow bolts were useless, the rider on the other side snorted and put away his crossbow bolts. He pulled out his longsword and urged his horse forward. With a flash of his sword, the rider on the other side was actually a Silver-ranked rider. However, what made Laurist curious was that the rider's sword didn't seem to be stable, flickering erratically.
The two riders brushed past each other, and the rider on the other side raised his longsword and slashed downwards. Using the javelin as a lance, Laurist easily blocked the downwards slash of the longsword. Before the rider could recover from his shock, the tip of the javelin had already sunk into his throat …..
Laurist kicked the rider that had already turned into a corpse off his horse. He leapt onto another horse, and nimbly moved from the bareback horse pulling the carriage to a saddle and rein.
The five riders on the other side saw that the crossbow bolts were ineffective, and urged their horses to approach the carriage. The rider at the very front was already in front of the carriage, and the rider had already pulled out his sword. At this moment, a javelin flew over, and the rider was sent flying from his mount, and he flew over three meters away from the carriage. The rider whose chest had been pierced by the javelin struggled for a moment, and then stopped breathing.
The remaining four riders were shocked. They turned to look, and saw that it was Laurist coming from the side. The leader of the riders was furious. He pointed at Laurist and shouted, "Cut him down first …"
The longswords of three of the four riders lit up, but Laurist was not afraid at all. He pulled out his sword and charged forward …
In the blink of an eye, Laurist had already charged past the four riders. The moment the five riders met, their swords flashed like lightning, and the wind and thunder roared.
Laurist turned his horse around, and three of the riders swayed on their horses before falling down one after another. The rider that was lucky enough to survive looked as if he had seen a ghost. He looked at his three fallen comrades in a daze, and only recovered after a long while. He looked at Laurist and cried out in fear. He urged his horse to run away.
Laurist laughed coldly, "Do you think you can escape?"
He took out the crossbow hanging from the back of his horse, nocked it, took aim, and fired. The arrow hit the back of the fleeing rider, and he screamed in pain as he fell off his horse.
Laurist urged his horse towards the carriage and knocked his shield with his sword. "Sadkamp, come out and clean up the battlefield."
The shield moved away, revealing Sadkamp's face. "Sir, is it done?"
"Yes, six. Not a single one escaped."
"Yes, sir. I'll go clean up the battlefield now." Sadkamp quickly got up and happily went to loot the corpses.
Laurist boarded the carriage and helped Belluniac up, placing him in the back seat again. Only then did Laurist realize that Belluniac's face was covered in tears.
"Brother Beck, what happened to you?"
"They, how could they do this? This is rebellion! Without the protection of the Norton Family, how could they have a good life? How could they be so ungrateful! "Belluniac muttered.
"Grateful? Haha … "Laurist laughed." Brother Beck, you think too highly of them. More than two hundred years ago, the ancestors of our family took them in as citizens. You should know the origins of their ancestors. Liars, vagrants, criminals, thieves, gamblers, debtors. Their ancestors had nowhere else to go, so they wandered to the Northern Lands to survive. Our ancestors took them in, built a city for them, and helped them settle down in the North. But did their ancestors ever feel grateful? No. On the contrary, their ancestors took advantage of the negligence of our ancestors and the imperfect rules of our territory to exploit loopholes and wantonly take over our family's interests. Because of our ancestors' benevolence and consideration for others, they could do whatever they wanted. In their eyes, perhaps without the Norton Family, they would be able to live a more comfortable life. "
"Unfortunately, they forgot that Galinthea is a Lord's World. There is no gain without sacrifice. Their ancestors' shortsightedness cut off their descendants' path of advancement. Our family has never treated them as one of our own, and we guard against them even more than we guard against our enemies. They also practiced Dou Qi, but there was no one to answer their questions and guide them on how to practice Dou Qi. They couldn't even organize a caravan to go out and trade. With their status as commoners, they were lucky not to be swallowed alive by the nobles of other territories. That's why they only realized now that they want to obtain quasi-noble status from our family. Haha … "
"But my lord, didn't you allow them to expand the garrison and prepare to bestow three quasi-knights to them?" Belluniac forgot his sadness after hearing Laurist's words. He thought of the promise Laurist had made in Northern Field City.
"Yes, I am preparing to bestow three quasi-knights, but I am only preparing. I don't mean immediately. If they want to become quasi-knights, they have to work hard to complete my orders until I am satisfied. As for when I will be satisfied, that might be in ten or ten years. Perhaps by then, their families will no longer exist, "Laurist said.
Of course their families would no longer exist. When Fatty Shi's caravan returns to the north, the first thing I will do is destroy Northern Field City. Laurist swore in his heart.
"My lord, you will become a great lord," Belluniac said.
"Of course, I think so too." Laurist nodded solemnly to show that he agreed with this view.
… …
"My lord, I've packed everything." Serdkamp returned with five mounts. On the backs of the mounts were leather armor, crossbows, longswords, and a few other miscellaneous items. Not far away, six naked corpses lay side by side on the ground. Serdkamp hurriedly tied the two healthy horses to the carriage.
When Serdkamp was almost done, Belluniac said, "Serdkamp, drive the carriage over there. I'll see if there are any I recognize."
Serdkamp nodded and went to the back of the carriage. He tied the reins of the five horses he had brought and the one Laurist had stolen to the back of the carriage. He then returned to the driver's seat and drove the carriage to where the corpses were.
Laurist turned Belluniac's body to the side so that he could see the faces of the six corpses.
"I know two people. The one on the far left is Master Dumbasen's nephew. Two years ago, when my wounds had yet to heal, he would often come over with Casey to help me clean up and bathe. He would also ask me questions about the techniques of using Silver-ranked combat chi. At first, I would give him some pointers, but I became wary and kept my mouth shut, so he did not come over again. It was then that my injuries started to relapse. Master Dumbasen said that it was all because of the displacement of my internal organs … "Belluniac said.
"There's also the bearded man in the middle. He's a relative of Master Dumbasen's. He came to the courtyard a few times and even brought me fruits. He was the one who told me the news of Master Dumbasen's death. But other than that, they didn't say anything else. I really don't understand. Why did they just stand by and watch when Viscount Gammus led his troops to attack the manor and castle? They clearly had the strength to defeat Viscount Gammus … Don't they understand that if the Norton family is gone, they will lose their foothold? "
Laurist straightened Belluniac's body and made him sit properly again. He pointed at the few arrows stuck in the shield at the side and said, "Don't you see? This time, they want to deal with you. They want to silence you. If you're dead, Master Dumbasen's plot to poison you will not be exposed. Two years ago, they dared to do this and crippled you, the pillar of the family's military force, on your sickbed. In the eyes of these families in Northern Field Town's garrison, they have never seen themselves as part of the Norton family. They have never thought of sharing weal and woe with our family. When their first act of betrayal was not effectively punished, they mistook our family's magnanimity for our weakness. So, they became even more aggressive and treated these rebellious actions as a matter of course. "
"Brother Beck, now you understand why I insisted on letting your attendant Casey follow Steward Cordan to be in charge of the registration of the survivors and the townspeople who lost their land. I can't trust anyone in Northern Field Town. Other than Sadekamp, I don't even dare to trust Steward Cordan, especially in your current situation. Even a seven or eight year old child can cause fatal damage to you. Casey is your attendant, but he has been in Northern Field Town for many years. You can't guarantee that he won't be bribed. For your safety, I chose to return to the manor and castle with the three of us. "
"In fact, I guessed correctly. That Master Dumbasen could only choose to ambush and kill us. But they didn't expect that the six people they sent would be so easily killed by me. Hehe, this is called swallowing one's teeth after being beaten. Sometimes, I feel that it's embarrassing to compete with these country bumpkins in Northern Field Town who haven't seen the world. Whatever they want to do and what they're thinking are clearly written on their faces. I can guess their schemes with one look. It's really too unfulfilling. Let's go, Steward Cordan. What are you still staying here for? Hurry, let's go home earlier. "
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