Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
In a grove outside Ninth Town, a group of dark shadows gathered. On one side, there were over ten people, and on the other side, there was only one.
“You shouldn’t be here, My Lord! Berger has confessed everything he knows!” a man in the armor of the Riptide Regiment said in a low voice. “It’s too dangerous for you to be here! No one can save you if Reg comes!”
“Cremonte, you have finally come to see me,” a soft and delicate voice came from a short soldier in a heavy armor. Obviously, she was a woman. The woman who came to negotiate with Han Jin was hiding behind them; there was no room for her to interrupt.
“What do you mean, My Lord?” the man named Cremonte asked in an astounding voice.
“I have been waiting for you for a whole day and night. Where have you been? Humph… Don’t tell me that you haven’t seen the marks we left!”
“I did want to come to see you, My Lord! But I couldn’t!” Cremonte explained nervously. “Their inspections are much stricter these days. I couldn’t find the right opportunity until now!”
“Oh? Well, even I can understand this,” the woman icily said. But her voice turned sharp all of a sudden, “But what were you doing when Berger was transporting our goods out of Ninth Town? Do you know how great of a loss we have suffered?!”
“You can’t blame me for this, My Lord,” Cremonte explained. “The first group of cavalry took charge of patrol and all the outposts after Ronning returned. What could I do? When they set the traps, I was still sleeping. I couldn’t find out what had happened even when I heard the shouts and cries outside. I am just a squadron leader. Even if they were really planning something, they wouldn’t have let me know in advance! If I were really that influential, would I still have needed to suggest for Young Master Berger to ask for help from Moxinke? I could have helped him transport the goods out myself! We did try it once, but the first group of cavalry only listens to Reg and Ronning, and never listens to the generals of the second group.”
The women kept quiet for a moment and slowly asked, “How long was Berger tied up for?”
“Maybe… half a day.”
“And he told them everything?”
“Almost, because the atmosphere in the camp became intense after that.”
“Humph… He is worse than I expected! Useless idiot!” the woman said in a sarcastic tone.
“Since you guessed that Berger would betray you, why… did you still come here, My Lord?” Cremonte asked in astonishment.
“I have no other choice but to find out their position,” she replied. “It seems that they don’t want to go against us, so they must have some doubt toward my grandfather. However, they show no sign of being on our side either.”
“Then what do they want? They will choose a side, won’t they?”
“I am also wondering the same thing.”
“What is Lord Chasel’s opinion, My Lord?”
“Chasel?” The woman snorted. “Out of courtesy, I shall not speak ill of my elders, but Uncle Chasel… is no better than Berger. He will only make things worse. A pair of stupid father and son. They are just good at destroying our efforts.”
“My Lord, may I tell you what I am thinking?” Cremonte said after a sigh.
“Go on.”
“To be honest, I don’t think Lord Rudolph was an able man.” Cremonte showed a bitter smile. “He shouldn’t have tried to destroy the honor of Knight Conrad, or do those things against Ronning. No matter how I persuaded him, he wouldn’t listen to me! On the other hand, Ronning has a good reputation in the army. He is mentally agile, and is a quick-witted young man with a strong will. He is an extremely rare military talent! Why don’t we draw him over to our side instead of persecuting him?!”
“If Ronning is really as good as what you have described, why would he have nearly been killed by Rudolph’s little tricks if Reg had not saved him?”
“My Lord, Ronning is a general! He is not good at dealing with the little tricks!” Cremonte’s voice slightly raised. “But in terms of fighting a war, none of us are better than him! When His Excellency, the Chief Sheriff, launches the war, we will have to fight with the four castellans on the battlefield. Do you think we can win by these little tricks, and control the whole Beitman through conspiracies?”
“Conspiracies? What do you mean?” The woman seemed displeased.
Cremonte paused and sighed. “These are just my innermost thoughts and feelings, My Lord. My apologies if I have offended you! I understand why General Rudolph did what he did. He wanted to become a regimental commander like Knight Conrad, so he desperately hoped to disintegrate the influences of anyone else in the army and even tried to kill Ronning. Humph… Rudolph was appreciated by His Excellency, the Chief Sheriff, due to loyalty, but is loyalty enough to defeat the troops of the four castellans when the war really starts? Rudolph was afraid that Ronning would be distinguished during the war and replace his position after attracting the attention of His Excellency, the Chief Sheriff!”
“Plus, will we just stay in Beitman after defeating the four castellans? If we want to expand our territory, will we allow Rudolph to lead the army? He was just like a dog currying favor with his master, and was good at biting others with his sharp teeth. What else could he do? But Ronning is a sharp sword!” Cremonte continued. He didn’t want to say this, but now that he had begun, he decided to vent all out all of his dissatisfaction that had been accumulating these few days. “Rudolph was bound to lose. He had aroused discontent amongst the soldiers for trying to destroy the reputation of Regimental Commander Conrad, and framing Ronning. The soldiers could no longer put up with him, and no one stood up to protect him when he was killed.”
The women was lost in thought. “Forget about it. It has passed, and you won’t mention it again.” She sighed.
Cremonte showed a helpless expression. Suddenly, he remembered something and said after some hesitation, “You must be careful of one man, My Lord!”
“Who?”
“Raphael!”
“Raphael? I have never heard of him.”
“Do you know that Reg has a close relationship with a mercenary team? It is said that this team once saved him when he was in danger.” Cremonte whispered, “And Raphael is the leader of the team!”
“The magician?” The woman paused and asked.
“Not only a magician, but also a puppet manipulator, a priest and a fighter.”
“That’s impossible!” She was astonished.
“It’s true, My Lord.” Cremonte continued, “And he also has an amazing brain. I have never seen Ronning appreciating a person so much!”
“Just because of his appreciation?”
“My Lord, you…” Before Cremonte could finish his words, he stopped all of a sudden and immediately stepped back. A soundless arrow shot obliquely into his shoulder. If he had not reacted that quickly, it would have shot into his heart.
However, Cremonte dodged the arrow but failed to dodge Reg’s shiny dagger, which appeared from behind his neck and quickly stabbed into it due to his fast retreat. His eyes dimmed, his body softened, and he fell down slowly. His hands were still holding the half-unsheathed sword.
“Attack!” All of the ten-odd black figures drew out their weapons.
A wooden giant appeared out of nowhere and opened its arms, dashing toward the black figures. Behind the wooden giant was a man with a murderous look. That was Han Jin. From another direction, Moxinke dashed out, clenching his teeth and uttering no words. It was not his usual style, as he usually let out a roar before chopping down his sword. It seemed that he had really learned a lesson, and had decided to kill his enemies directly instead of talking crap!
Han Jin, Moxinke and Reg were all good at fighting, but their fighting styles were different. Though Moxinke’s movement was fast, it was still inferior to the other two in terms of speed. Moxinke had a strong power and River of Stars fighting strength, while Reg had ghost-like figures and could always appear in an unexpected place. Reg’s movement was extremely fast and hard to predict. He never chopped with a knife, but could accurately stab with a dagger. A slight movement could take away a fresh life.
Han Jin was neither faster than Reg, nor stronger than Moxinke, but he was the most efficient. The wooden giant warded off the attacks from his enemies, attracted their attention, blocked their eyesight, and enabled Han Jin to get close to his enemies and blow their heads off with a mere punch.
Both Moxinke and Reg needed to take into account counterattacks from their enemies to avoid being hurt, whereas Han Jin could fight much more easily with the help of the wooden giant, which was his scapegoat.
The diminutive female fighter made a few steps back, and rays of dazzling white light appeared all of a sudden, covering her all over. Han Jin and the others all perceived that something was wrong, and dashed toward the mist of light.
However, Sunier’s arrow, Moxinke, and Han Jin’s wooden giant all caught nothing after passing through the mist of light. The diminutive female fighter had vanished.
“Interspatial Scroll? Damn it!” Moxinke started to talk crap again.
Reg suddenly twisted his own body and dodged a coming sword from over his head. His dagger was fiercely pulled out, and he almost cut the soldier who was attacking him into two parts. They hadn’t expected that their target would have an Interspatial Scroll. The ambush had failed!
“Ah…” The woman in the field screamed and ran towards the woods.
A wall of earth suddenly appeared and blocked her way, knocking her a few steps backwards, and forcing her to roll down on to the ground. Cessacioun walked out of the woods with a bitter smile. He was responsible for catching runaways, but had never thought that he would only catch the most useless one.
